Cat No DRCD11374

A ‘best of’ compilation covering Bessie Smith’s whole career - and featuring an all-star cast : Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Coleman Hawkins, Pee Wee Russell, Jack Teagarden, Buster Bailey, Chu Berry, Fletcher Henderson & Clarence Williams, among many others. This 24 track selection begins with her first session and ends with her last. It also includes all the masters she recorded with the great Louis Armstrong in 1925 and many other jewels. Total time: 78 min. Booklet with detailed and insightful liner notes.

Bessie Smith was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on April 15, 1894. As one of ten children of a black family stricken by poverty in the segregated South, Bessie overcame tremendous odds to become the Empress of the Blues – the best blues singer of her era, and the source of numerous legends. Above all, Bessie had a powerful and beautiful voice, and a strong personality which she imposed on every tune she chose to sing. Some of the tunes from her repertoire were composed by or for her, while she selected others from the vaudeville shows she often performed in. Most of the songs were blues about lost lovers and personal problems. She died in a car crash in 1937, an event that became another source of legend.