Album
The Essential Bessie Smith
1997Blues · Music · Jazz · Trad Jazz · Chicago Blues
Building a lonesome mood with The Empress of the Blues.
Tracks
- 13:18
- 22:56
- 33:26
- 43:15
- 52:45
- 63:19
- 72:53
- 83:11
- 92:59
- 103:10
- 113:28
- 123:10
- 133:26
- 143:22
- 153:25
- 163:20
- 173:18
- 182:55
- 193:00
- 203:19
- 213:11
- 223:21
- 232:59
- 242:59
- 252:49
- 262:56
- 272:58
- 282:56
- 293:12
- 303:07
- 313:21
- 322:48
- 333:26
- 343:28
- 352:37
- 363:09
About this album
Bessie Smith's wistful voice helped soundtrack the Roaring '20s, and her vital cuts serve as a master class in crafting a bluesy, lonesome mood. The sassy "Aggravatin' Papa" kicks things off as she takes aim at a two-timing beau, while the yearning "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" pairs her pained, at times guttural vocal with a sparse, lonely piano. By the time of the brilliantly doleful "Me and My Gin," she'll have you happy to wallow in a blues state of mind.