Bessie Revised & Expanded - Hardcover

Abertson, Chris

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300099029 ISBN 13: 9780300099027

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2003

Synopsis

A biography of Bessie Smith, the great singer known as the "Empress of the Blues". Considered by many to be the greatest blues singer of all time, Bessie Smith was also a successful vaudeville entertainer who became the highest paid African-American performer of the roaring twenties. This revised and expanded edition of the biography of this extraordinary artist, debunks many of the myths that have circulated since her untimely death in 1937. Chris Albertson seeks to write with insight and candour about the singer's personal life and her career, supplementing his historical research with dozens of interviews with her relatives, friends and associates, in particular Ruby Walker Smith, a niece by marriage who toured with Bessie for over a decade. For this edition he includes more details of Bessie's early years, new interview material, and a chapter devoted to events and responses that followed the original publication in 1971.

About this title

Review:

"The first estimable full-length biography not only of Bessie Smith but of any black musician." -- Whitney Balliett, New Yorker

"The most devastating, provocative, and enlightening work of its kind ever contributed to the annals of jazz literature." -- Leonard Feather, Los Angeles Times

About the Author:

Chris Albertson is the acknowledged authority on Bessie Smith. A long-time contributor to Stereo Review, Down Beat, Saturday Review, and other publications, he has written extensive liner notes for jazz and blues albums and has produced a wide array of recordings, radio, and television programmes.

About this edition

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0300099029
• ISBN 13: 9780300099027
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 288