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Bessie Smith - The Complete Recordings Vol. 1 - 5
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Label: Columbia/Legacy C2K 47091 | 10 Discs
The first major blues and jazz singer on record and one of the most powerful of all time, Bessie Smith rightly earned the title of "The Empress of the Blues." Even on her first records in 1923, her passionate voice overcame the primitive recording quality of the day and still communicates easily to today's listeners (which is not true of any other singer from that early period). At a time when the blues were in and most vocalists (particularly vaudevillians) were being dubbed "blues singers," Bessie Smith simply had no competition.
In the 1970s, Bessie Smith's recordings were reissued on five double LPs. Her CD reissue series also has five volumes with the main difference being that the final volume includes all of her rare alternate takes (which were bypassed on LP). The first set (which, as with all of the CD volumes, is housed in an oversize box that includes an informative booklet) contains her first 38 recordings. During this early era, Bessie Smith had no competitors on record and she was one of the few vocalists who could overcome the primitive recording techniques; her power really comes through. Her very first recording (Alberta Hunter's "Down Hearted Blues") was a big hit and is one of the highlights of this set along with "'Tain't Nobody's Bizness If I Do" (two decades before Billie Holiday), "Jail-House Blues," and "Ticket Agent, Ease Your Window Down." Smith's accompaniment is nothing that special (usually just a pianist and maybe a weak horn or two), but she dominates the music anyway, even on two vocal duets with her rival Clara Smith. All of these volumes reward close listenings and are full of timeless recordings.
Bessie Smith, even on the evidence of her earliest recordings, well deserved the title "Empress of the Blues" for in the 1920s there was no one in her league for emotional intensity, honest blues feeling, and power. The second of five volumes finds her accompaniment improving rapidly with such sympathetic sidemen as trombonist Charlie Green, cornetist Joe Smith, and clarinetist Buster Bailey often helping her out. However, they are overshadowed by Louis Armstrong, whose two sessions with Smith (nine songs in all) fall into the time period of this second set; particularly classic are their versions of "St. Louis Blues," "Careless Love Blues," and "I Ain't Goin' to Play Second Fiddle." Other gems on this essential set include "Cake Walkin' Babies From Home," "The Yellow Dog Blues," and "At the Christmas Ball."
On the third volume the great Bessie Smith is greatly assisted on some of the 38 selections by a few of her favorite sidemen: cornetist Joe Smith, trombonist Charlie Green, and clarinetist Buster Bailey. But the most important of her occasional musicians was pianist James P. Johnson, who makes his first appearance in 1927 and can be heard on four duets with Bessie, including the monumental "Backwater Blues." Other highlights of this highly recommended set (all five volumes are essential) include "After You've Gone," "Muddy Water," "There'll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight," "Trombone Cholly," "Send Me to the 'Lectric Chair," and "Mean Old Bed Bug Blues." The power and intensity of Bessie Smith's recordings should be considered required listening; even 80 years later they still communicate.
The fourth volume traces her career from a period when her popularity was at its height down to just six songs away from the halt of her recording career. But although her commercial fortunes might have slipped, Bessie Smith never declined and these later recordings are consistently powerful. The two-part "Empty Bed Blues" and "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" (hers is the original version) are true classics and none of the other 40 songs (including the double-entendre "Kitchen Man") are throwaways. With strong accompaniment during some performances by trombonist Charlie Green, guitarist Eddie Lang, Clarence Williams's band and on ten songs (eight of which are duets) the masterful pianist James P. Johnson, this volume (as with the others) is quite essential.
Bessie Smith cut 160 sides for the Columbia and OKeh labels between 1923 and 1933, and the four previous two-CD/cassette box sets of her complete recordings released in the 1990s covered 154 of them, which introduces the question, what can a fifth two-CD/cassette box set contain in addition to the remaining six cuts? First, there are five previously unreleased alternate takes; second, there is the 15-minute low-fi soundtrack to the two-reel short St. Louis Blues, which constitutes the only film of Smith; and third, taking up all of the second CD/cassette, there are 72 minutes of interview tapes of Ruby Smith, Bessie Smith's niece, who traveled as part of her show. The box contains a "Parental Advisory -- Explicit Lyrics" warning because of the nature of Ruby Smith's reminiscences. You won't learn much about Bessie Smith's music from her niece's remarks, but you will learn a lot about her sexual preferences.
Tracklisting:
Volume 1 - disc 1
01 - Down Hearted Blues
02 - Gulf Coast Blues
03 - Aggravatin' Papa
04 - Beale Street Mama
05 - Baby Won't You Please Come Home
06 - Oh Daddy Blues
07 - 'Tain't Nobody's Bizness If I Do
08 - Keeps On A-Rainin' (Papa, He Can't Make No Time)
09 - Mama's Got The Blues
10 - Outside Of That
11 - Bleeding Hearted Blues
12 - Lady Luck Blues
13 - Yodling Blues
14 - Midnight Blues
15 - If You Don't, I Know Who Will
16 - Nobody In Town Can Bake A Sweet Jelly Roll Like Mine
17 - Jail-House Blues
18 - St. Louis Gal
19 - Sam Jones Blues
Volume 1 - Disc 2
01 - Graveyard Dream Blues
02 - Cemetery Blues
03 - Far Away Blues
04 - I'm Going Back to My Used to Be
05 - Whoa, Tillie, Take Your Time
06 - My Sweetie Went Away
07 - Any Woman's Blues
08 - Chicago Bound Blues
09 - Mistreating Daddy
10 - Frosty Morning Blues
11 - Haunted House Blues
12 - Eavesdropper's Blues
13 - Easy Come, Easy Go Blues
14 - Sorrowful Blues
15 - Pinchbacks - Take 'Em Away
16 - Rocking Chair Blues
17 - Ticket Agent, Ease Your Window Down
18 - Boweavil Blues
19 - Hateful Blues
Volume 2 - Disc 1
01 - Frankie Blues
02 - Moonshine Blues
03 - Lou'siana Low-Down Blues
04 - Mountain Top Blues
05 - Work House Blues
06 - House Rent Blues
07 - Salt Water Blues
08 - Rainy Weather Blues
09 - Weeping Willow Blues
10 - The Bye Bye Blues
11 - Sing Sing Prison Blues
12 - Follow the Deal on Down
13 - Sinful Blues
14 - Woman's Trouble Blues
15 - Love Me Daddy Blues
16 - Dying Gambler's Blues
17 - The St. Louis Blues
18 - Reckless Blues
19 - Sobbin' Hearted Blues
Volume 2 - Disc 2
01 - Cold In Hand Blues
02 - You've Been a Good Ole Wagon
03 - Cake Walkin' babies (From Home)
04 - The Yellow Dog Blues
05 - Soft Pedal Blues
06 - Dixie Flyer Blues
07 - Nashville Woman's Blues
08 - Careless Love Blues
09 - J.C. Holmes Blues
10 - I Ain't Goin' to Play Second Fiddle
11 - He's Gone Blues
12 - Nobody's Blues But Mine
13 - I Ain't Got Nobody
14 - My Man Blues
15 - New Gulf Coast Blues
16 - Florida Bound Blues
17 - At the Christmas Ball
18 - I've Been Mistreated and I Don't Like It
Volume 3 - Disc 1
01 - Red Mountain Blues
02 - Golden Rule Blues
03 - Lonesome Desert Blues
04 - Them 'Has Been' Blues
05 - Squeeze Me
06 - What's The Matter Now
07 - I Want Every Bit Of It
08 - Jazzbo Brown From Memphis Town
09 - The Gin House Blues
10 - Money Blues
11 - Baby Doll
12 - Hard Driving Papa
13 - Lost Your Head Blues
14 - Hard Time Blues
15 - Honey Man Blues
16 - One And Two Blues
17 - Young Woman's Blues
18 - Preachin' The Blues
19 - Back Water Blues
20 - After You've Gone
21 - Alexander's Ragtime Band
Volume 3 - Disc 2
01 - Muddy Water (A Mississippi Moan)
02 - There'll Be A Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight
03 - Trombone Cholly
04 - Send Me To The 'Lectric Chair
05 - Them's Graveyard Words
06 - Hot Spring Blues
07 - Sweet Mistreater
08 - Lock And Key
09 - Mean Old Bedbug Blues
10 - A Good Man Is Hard To Find
11 - Homeless Blues
12 - Looking For My Man Blues
13 - Dyin' By The Hour
14 - Foolish Man Blues
15 - Thinking Blues
16 - Pickpocket Blues
17 - I Used To Be Your Sweet Mama
18 - I'd Rather Be Dead And Buried In My Grave
Volume 4 - Disc 1
01 - Standin' In The Rain Blues
02 - It Won't Be You
03 - Spider Man Blues
04 - Empty Bed Blues (Part 1)
05 - Empty Bed Blues (Part 2)
06 - Put It Right Here (Or Keep It Out There)
07 - Yes Indeed He Do!
08 - Devil's Gonna Git You
09 - You Ought To Be Ashamed
10 - Washwoman's Blues
11 - Slow And Easy Man
12 - Poor Man's Blues
13 - Please Help Me Get Him Out Of My Mind
14 - Me And My Gin
15 - I'm Wild About That Thing
16 - You've Got To Give Me Some
17 - Kitchen Man
18 - I've Got What It Takes (But It Breaks My Heart To Give It Away)
19 - Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out
20 - Take It Right Back ('Cause I Don't Want It Here)
Volume 4 - Disc 2
01 - He's Got Me Goin'
02 - It Makes My Love Come Down
03 - Wasted Life Blues
04 - Dirty No-Gooder's Blues
05 - Blue Spirit Blues
06 - Worn Out Papa Blues
07 - You Don't Understand
08 - Don't Cry Baby
09 - Keep It To Yourself
10 - New Orleans Hop Scop Blues
11 - See If I'll Care
12 - Baby Have Pity On Me
13 - On Revival day (A Rhythmic Spiritual)
14 - Moan, You Moaners
15 - Hustlin' Dan
16 - Black Mountain Blues
17 - In The House Blues
18 - Long Old Road
19 - Blue Blues
20 - Shipwreck
Volume 5 - Disc 1
01 - Need A Little Sugar In My Bowl
02 - Safety Mama
03 - Do Your Duty
04 - Gimme A Pigfoot
05 - Take Me For A Buggy Ride
06 - I'm Down In The Dumps
07 - The Yellow Dog Blues
08 - Soft Pedal Blues
09 - Nashville Women's Blues
10 - Careless Love Blues
11 - Muddy Water (A Mississippi Moan)
12 - St. Louis Blues Soundtrack - Band Intro
13 - St. Louis Blues Soundtrack - Crap Game
14 - St. Louis Blues Soundtrack - St. Louis Blues
Volume 5 - Disc 2
01 - Smith, Bessie & Ruby Smith , Bessie Disappears
02 - Smith, Bessie & Ruby Smith , Waldorf-Astoria Party
03 - Smith, Bessie & Ruby Smith , Bessie & Jack, I
04 - Smith, Bessie & Ruby Smith Bessie & Jack II , Bessie & The Ladies
05 - Smith, Bessie & Ruby Smith , Life On The Road, I
06 - Smith, Bessie & Ruby Smith , Life On The Road, II
07 - Smith, Bessie & Ruby Smith Bessie & Gertrude Saunders , Life On The Road, III
Booklet scans (included in torrent):
Volume 1: http://img.cx/g/1810
Volume 2: http://img.cx/g/D9NY
Volume 3: http://img.cx/g/FJ2S
Volume 4: http://img.cx/g/HF0S
Volume 5: http://img.cx/g/39GR
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