Blues is a genre of music that is influenced by country music and the American folk culture. Moreover, the music draws from work hollers and songs, folk ballads, European hymns, traditional songs, and a rich mix of African-American spirituals. The first recorded blues was published as sheet music in the 1910s when the music had taken the form of AAB lyrical structure, 12 bars, and an unprecedented scale with the seventh and third notes flatted (Jackson 14). Blues is also an evolution of West African music that was brought to the United States by slaves who used it to express their politics, passion, religion, heartbreaks and hardships (Handyside 23). The early blues were never written down for many years as they were passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth. By the time the early blues were being recorded in the 1920s, pianos and guitars were the most common used instruments by the artists of the time, and the two instruments have continued defining blues to this day (Jackson 17). Additionally, blues have been evolving around a number of varieties including the passionate and raw Delta blues of Son House and Robert Johnson, the classical blues, the relaxed and upbeat Texas blues, and the brassy New Orleans blues. Some of the pioneering blues musicians include Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Bessie Smith and Memphis blues (Handyside 17). I will, therefore, review Bessie Smith’s blues album: The Complete Recordings, Vol. 1 to further illustrate the music and the musicians of the era in this essay.
Bessie Smith possessed a very powerful voice that is still fresh today. She is a singer from the 1920’s, yet her music sounds vital and fresh. She was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee in April 1894 to Laura and a Baptist preacher: William Smith. Her life had many lows and highs as she was born in a poor black family (Handyside 11). Most importantly, she made many music albums that have stood the test of time. As much as her songs and albums were very successful, one of her albums namely The Complete Recording, Volume one was the most successful; hence, it is the album that I will review. The album contains twelve songs which are; Need A Little Sugar In My Bowl, Safety Mama, Do Your Duty, Gimme A Pigfoot, Take Me For A Buggy Ride, I’m Down In The Dumps and The Yellow Dog Blues. Furthermore, the album contains Soft Pedal Blues, Nashville Women’s Blues, Careless Love Blues, Muddy Water and St. Lois Blues Soundtrack. The album was the first in a series of albums that collects all of the work that she recorded. The music in this volume was recorded between Feb 23 of 1923 and April of 1924. The primary instrument in use is the piano (Handyside 31). Her songs had different themes that expressed hopelessness, endless struggle, pain, and hate. She sings with confidence and admiration. Smith is singing with confidence and with a distinct touch. Moreover, her voice combines unique capacity to express complex emotions, high power, and clear diction. The album sold over 800,000 copies placing Smith as one of the key figures in black recording market of the time. The album would sell 100,000 copies within a week.
As I listen to all the songs in this album by Smith, it is evident that her lyrics are intensely personal as they deal with unrequited love, desertion and the pain of betrayal. Additionally, other lyrics in her songs address unhappy situations such as being away from home, unfaithful lover, loneliness, hunger and joblessness (Jackson 24). The message in her lyrics is evident, but the songs are in a very irregular rhythm and are followed by speech patterns. The first line is repeated severally in a number of the songs in the album, and the third line is dissimilar to the first two lines. As she repeats the first line, I can hear the rhyme and rhythm that makes the sound of the songs even better and ensures the message in the following line is impactful.
A song that strikes me the most in this album is ST. Louis Blues. I have heard many versions of this song by other singers, but none is as good as the version by Bessie Smith. The way she has sung, it seems to be revealing that she is a tormented Southern Black Woman, and the song is directly speaking to her. She gives life to the song with her energetic voice making me feel her pain. The power in this song illustrates why this album by Smith was very successful.
In conclusion, some of the songs in Smith’s album ‘The Complete Recording, Volume1’ have a tritely comic lyric that brings vocal power and vocal sophistication to the blues scene. She effectively utilizes ‘blue notes’ that fall somewhere between minor and major modes. Moreover, she incorporates vocal slides, groans, and moans to most of her songs in this album rather than just focusing on the lyrics making the album very powerful (Handyside 35). Smith died at the age of forty-three after encountering an automobile accident where she sustained serious injuries that lead to her death. However, the foundation she laid has been a stepping stone for many other female blues singers including Norah Jones, Janis Joplin and Billie Holiday.
Works Cited
Handyside, Chris. A History of Blues: A History of American Music. Oxford: Heinemann Library, 2006. Print.
Jackson, Buzzy. A Bad Woman Feeling Good: Blues and the Women Who Sing Them. New York: W.W. Norton, 2005. Print.
