BESSIE SMITH: Empress of Blues
This is a student project of AMST 370 at the College of William & Mary
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"Bessie Smith might have been a "blues Queen" to the society at large, but within the tighter Negro community where the blues were a total way of life, and major expression of an attitude toward life, she was a priestess, a celebrant who affirmed the values of the group and man's ability to deal with chaos." -Ralph Ellison |
Bessie Smith, the "Empress
of Blues," was one of the best known and most influential women in America in
the 1920's. Her fame rose from her powerful voice, original style,
down-home roots and her love for music. Her new style helped develop the
blues sound and set the standard by which consequent blues music would be
judged. Outside of the recording studio, Bessie Smith's lived the blues
that she sang. Known for drunken brawls and a promiscuous sexual life,
Smith's life shows the social freedom afforded to women and blacks in America in
the 1920's and 1930's.
