Journal 2 – The Empress of the Blues
Read the article about Bessie Smith, “The Empress of the Blues”, from The Pop, Rock, and Soul Reader by David Brackett.
Reflect and write about two or three interesting sentences or ideas that “gave you pause” or food for thought.
Bessie Smith, a young black woman whose voice was heard by the promoter Frank Waller, in a place where African American voices could be heard without prejudice. She possessed an extremely powerful voice that required no amplification. Bessie Smith incorporated conventional blues and harmonic patterns into her singing and also incorporated devices from contemporary song. Bessie was in a car crash in Mississippi where in the south at that time an African Americans life was not important, so tragically that day, Ms. Smith lost her life, but her legacy still lives on today.
A couple of sentences that stood out to me were, “If you had any church background, like people who came from the South as I did, you would recognize a similarity between what she was doing and what those preachers and evangelists from there did, and how they moved people.” and “She could bring about mass hypnotism.” said by Danny Barker.
This told me that her singing had a “divine” nature. Her voice was so powerful along with the emotion she displayed, that it would leave her audience basking in its beauty with no possible interruptions. All eyes and ears were on her performance at all times.
The first sentence that stood out to me was “She could bring about mass hypnotism.” said by Danny Barker. I believe this stood out as I feel that blues music is very hypnotic, it is almost haunting but beautiful. It feels like every beat has a story and the story is being told in such a hypnotic way.
The second sentence that stood out to me was “That was how the lonesome road ended up for the greatest folk singer this country ever heard—with Jim Crow directing the traffic.” said by Mezz Mezzrow. This is such a powerful and profoundly sad sentence. It’s awful to think that she could have potentially lived a longer life had the first hospital she was transported to after her car accident not have discriminated against her and sent her away.
“She was blues from the time she got up in the morning until she went to bed at night.”
“That was how the lonesome road ended up for the greatest folk singer this country ever heard—with Jim Crow directing the traffic.”
“Nobody, least of all today, could ever match Bessie Smith.”
In this article it talks about Bessie Smith’s influence. “Her influence on subsequent female blues, jazz, and rock singers was strong and was felt by everyone from Billie Holiday to Dinah Washington to Janis Joplin.” Even with as long as I have been into music, it still amazes me how a black woman from a time that was not known for its hospitality to black folks, has this much influence on three different genres of music. A woman who gave of herself for others. As Frank Walker says, “Yes, Bessie had a heart as big as all outdoors, but she gave it all away.” Bessie Smith was a giver, and she died too young, all because her skin was a different color. Bessie Smith was in an auto accident and needed immediate medical service. “They brought her to the hospital but it seemed like there wasn’t any room for her just then – the people around there didn’t care for the color of her skin.” I can’t fathom how a doctor, someone who takes an oath to uphold and value life, could willingly turn away someone who was on the verge of death.
One interesting idea I read in the PDF was “it all came out in her singing. Almost all of the blues she sang told sort of a story”. The moment I read Bessie Smith at the top of the PDF, I immediately started listening to her. And the second I read this line, it became incredibly apparent to me that they were without a doubt telling the truth. The sheer energy in her voice is immaculate and her phrasing is quite amazing. Anyway bringing it back, I read that, and listened to Bessie, and it felt like a lightbulb had clicked. Like I finally understood what it meant by blues being a story, or communication between musicians to talk.
Another interesting idea I read in the PDF was “the singers might have something written out to remind them what the verse was but there was no music written on it.” I find this interesting because I always wondered how a majority of singers like to sing. Of course each person is different but one thing that caught my eye listening to I think it was vulfpeck was the melody guitarist would mimic the solo he was doing, with his voice, and the guitar at the same time. It was very impressive that he not only was able to play a solo, but know each and every single note he was about to play, and also sing it to pitch. I would assume something along the same lines happens to these people who sing without any music, they can kind of just sing it to feeling as long as they knew the key, and the energy that they wanted to represent when they were singing.