Description:
The self styled "Empress of the Blues" not that anyone would disagree, Bessie Smith was the music's first truly great female performer. On a series of chronological CDs released by the European reissue label Nimbus, nearly the complete oeuvre of this iconoclastic singer is made available, and a treasure trove it is. An enormous influence on nearly every blues and jazz singer to follow, Smith possessed inimitable phrasing that reshaped even familiar songs into startling new forms. Not to be overlooked are the enormously talented backing musicians featured here, including a young Louis Armstrong. This 20 track compilation includes such Smith classics as "Gimme a Pigfoot and a Bottle of Beer," "I Want Ev'ry Bit of It," and the lesser known but nonetheless remarkable "Nashville Woman's Blues." |
 The Yellow Dog Blues
Nashville Woman's Blues
Careless Love Blues
I Ain't Gonna Play No Second Fiddle
I Want Ev'ry Bit Of It
Money Blues
One And Two Blues
Muddy Water (A Mississippi Moan)
Lock And Key
A Good Man Is Hard To Find
Dyin' By The Hour
Foolish Man Blues
I Used To Be Your Sweet Mama
Standin' In The Rain Blues
I'm Wild About That Thing
Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out
Blue Spirit Blues
Do Your Duty
Gimme A Pigfoot
I'm Down In The Dumps |
Personnel: Lincoln Conaway, Bobby Johnson, Ed Lang guitar; Charlie Dixon banjo; Buster Bailey, Benny Goodman clarinet; Garvin Bushnell alto saxophone; Chu Berry, Coleman Hawkins tenor saxophone; Demas Dean, Frank Newman, Tommy Ladnier trumpet; Ed Allen, Louis Armstrong, Joe Smith cornet; Charlie Green, Jimmy Harrison, Jack Teargarden trombone; June Cole, Cyrus St. Clair brass bass; Fletcher Henderson, James P. Johnson, Fred Longshaw, Buck Washington, Clarence Williams piano; Billy Taylor |
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