BESSIE SMITH 78 ALEXANDERS RAGTIME BAND / HOT TIME IN THE OLD TOWN PARL R2477 E-
£
19
$
25
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Description
A GREAT EARLY 78 FROM THE EMPRESS OF THE BLUES - BESSIE SMITH
ALEXANDER'S RAGTIME BAND
b/w THERE'LL BE A HOT TIME IN THE OLD TOWN TONIGHT
Bessie Smith earned the title of “Empress of the Blues” by virtue of her forceful vocal delivery and command of the genre. Her singing displayed a soulfully phrased, boldly delivered and nearly definitive grasp of the blues. In addition, she was an all-around entertainer who danced, acted and performed comedy routines with her touring company. She was the highest-paid black performer of her day and arguably reached a level of success greater than that of any African-American entertainer before her.
Smith was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1894. Like many of her generation, she dreamed of escaping a life of poverty by way of show business. As a teenager she joined a traveling minstrel show, the Moss Stokes Company. Her brother Clarence was a comedian with the troupe, and Smith befriended another member, Gertrude “Ma” Rainey (a.k.a. the “Mother of the Blues"), who served as something of a blues mentor. After a decade’s seasoning on the stage, Smith was signed to Columbia Records in 1923. Her first recording - “Down Hearted Blues” b/w “Gulf Coast Blues” - sold an estimated 800,000 copies, firmly establishing her as a major figure in the black record market. Smith sang raw, uncut country blues inspired by life in the South, in which everyday experiences were related in plainspoken language - not unlike the rap music that would emerge more than half a century later.
Some of her better-known sides from the Twenties include “Backwater Blues,” “Taint Nobody’s Bizness If I Do,” “St. Louis Blues” (recorded with Louis Armstrong), and “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out.” The Depression dealt her career a blow, but Smith changed with the times by adapting a more up-to-date look and revised repertoire that incorporated Tin Pan Alley tunes like “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.” On the verge of the Swing Era, Smith died from injuries sustained in an automobile accident outside Clarksdale, Mississippi, in September 1937.
RECORD DETAILS:-
UK PARLOPHONE R 2477 10" 78rpm SHELLAC
ORIGINAL RECORDING DETAILS - BESSIE SMITH AND HER BLUE BOYS
Alexander's Ragtime Band (Irving Berlin)
RECORDED 2nd March 1927 New York
There'll Be A Hot Time In The Old Town To-Night (Theodore Metz)
RECORDED 2nd March 1927 New York
This Parlophone record was pressed from the original US stampers but not issued in the UK until 1938
Record Condition = E-
A CLASSIC BESSIE SMITH 78
DON'T MISS OUT
DON'T LEAVE IT TOO LATE - BUY NOW!
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