View source for Bessie Smith

{{short description|American blues singer (1892–1937)}}
{{for|the blues singer from St. Louis|Bessie Mae Smith}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox musical artist  <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicia
| image = jaya bains 2025 by Carl Van Vechten.jpg
| caption = Smith in 1936
| image_size =  Only for images narrower than 220 pixels -->
| image = Bessie Smith (1936) by Carl Van Vechten.jpg
| caption = Smith in 1936
| alias = Empress of the Blues
| birth_date = {{birth date|1892|4|15}}
| birth_place = [[Chattanooga, Tennessee]], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1937|9|26|1892|4|15}}
| death_place = [[Clarksdale, Mississippi]], U.S.
| instrument = Vocals
| occupation = {{flatlist|
* Singer
* actress}}
| genre = {{flatlist|
* [[Classic female blues|Classic blues]]
* [[jazz]]}}
| years_active = 1912–1937
| label = {{flatlist|
* [[Columbia Records|Columbia]]
* [[Okeh Records|Okeh]]}}}
}}

'''Bessie Smith''' (April 15, 1892 – September 26, 1937) was an African-American [[blues]] singer widely renowned during the [[Jazz Age]]. Nicknamed the "[[Honorific nicknames in popular music|Empress of the Blues]]" and formerly Queen of the Blues, she was the most popular female blues singer of the 1930s. Inducted into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] in 1989, she is often regarded as one of the greatest singers of her era and was a major influence on fellow [[blues]] singers, as well as [[jazz]] vocalists.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sparknotes.com/biography/bessiesmith/section9.rhtml |title=Bessie Smith: Controversy |publisher=[[SparkNotes]] |date=October 4, 1937 |access-date=August 30, 2015}}</ref>

Born in [[Chattanooga, Tennessee]], Smith was young when her parents died, and she and her six siblings survived by performing on street corners. She began touring and performed in a group that included [[Ma Rainey]], and then went out on her own. Her successful recording career with [[Columbia Records]] began in  1923, but her performing career was cut short by a car crash that killed her at the age of 45.

== Biography ==

=== Early life ===
[[File:BessieSmith.jpg|alt=Portrait of Bessie Smith, 1936|thumb|331x331px|Smith in 1936]]
The 1900 census indicates that her family reported that Bessie Smith was born in [[Chattanooga, Tennessee]], in July 1892.<ref>{{cite book| first1= Bob| last1= Eagle| first2= Eric S.| last2= LeBlanc| date= 2013| title= Blues: A Regional Experience| publisher= [[Praeger Publishing|Praeger]]| location= [[Santa Barbara, California]]| page=50 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=6ZNfAQAAQBAJ | isbn= 978-0313344237}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JOiUGGRPTlQC&pg=PA152|page=152|title=Blues Empress in Black Chattanooga: Bessie Smith and the Emerging Urban South|last=Scott|first=Michelle R.|publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]]|location=[[Urbana, Illinois]]|date=2008|isbn=9780252092374}}</ref><ref>1900 US census, Hamilton, Tennessee, Schedule 1, Chattanooga Ward 04, District 0060, p.23.</ref> The 1910 census gives her age as 16,<ref>1910 US Census, Chattanooga, Hamilton, Tennessee, Ward 7, Enumeration District 0065, Sheet 2B, Family No. 48.</ref> and a birth date of April 15, 1894, which appears on subsequent documents and was observed as her birthday by the Smith family. The 1870 and 1880 censuses report several older siblings or half-siblings.

Smith was the daughter of Laura and William Smith, a laborer and part-time [[Black church|Baptist preacher]] (he was listed in the 1870 census as a "minister of the [[gospel]]", in [[Moulton, Alabama|Moulton, Lawrence County, Alabama]]). He died while his daughter was too young to remember him. By the time Bessie was nine, her mother and a brother had also died and her older sister Viola took charge of caring for her siblings. As a consequence, Bessie was unable to gain an education.<ref name="Albertson2003">{{cite book|last=Albertson|first=Chris|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MjtZAwAAQBAJ|title=Bessie|publisher=[Yale University Press]|year=2003|isbn=0-300-09902-9|location=New Haven|author-link=Chris Albertson}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first1=David A. |last1=Jasen |first2=Gene |last2=Jones |title=Spreadin' Rhythm Around: Black Popular Songwriters, 1880–1930 |publisher=[[Schirmer Books]] |location=[[New York City]] |date=September 1998 |page=[https://archive.org/details/spreadinrhythmar00jase/page/289 289] |isbn=978-0-02-864742-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/spreadinrhythmar00jase/page/289}}</ref>

Due to her parents' death and her poverty, Bessie experienced a "wretched childhood."<ref name="Moore 1969"/> To earn money for their impoverished household, Bessie and her brother Andrew [[busking|busked]] on the streets of [[Chattanooga]]. She sang and danced as he played the [[guitar]]. They often performed on "street corners for pennies,"<ref name="Moore 1969"/> and their habitual location was in front of the White Elephant Saloon at Thirteenth and Elm streets, in the heart of the city's African-American community.

In 1904, her oldest brother Clarence left home and joined a small traveling troupe owned by Moses Stokes. "If Bessie had been old enough, she would have gone with him," said Clarence's widow, Maud. "That's why he left without telling her, but Clarence told me she was ready, even then. Of course, she was only a child."<ref>Albertson, 2003, p. 11.</ref>

In 1912, Clarence returned to Chattanooga with the Stokes troupe and arranged an audition for his sister with the troupe managers, Lonnie and Cora Fisher. Bessie was hired as a dancer rather than a vocalist since the company already included popular singer [[Ma Rainey]].<ref name="Moore 1969"/> Contemporary accounts indicate that, while Ma Rainey did not teach Smith to sing, she likely helped her develop a stage presence.<ref>Albertson, 2003, pp. 14–15.</ref> Smith eventually moved on to performing in [[chorus line]]s, making the "81" Theatre in [[Atlanta]] her home base. She also performed in shows on the black-owned [[Theater Owners Booking Association]] (T.O.B.A.) circuit and would become one of its major attractions.

=== Career ===
[[File:Bessiesmith3.jpg|thumb|left|Portrait of Smith by [[Carl Van Vechten]]]]
Bessie Smith began forming her own act around 1913, at Atlanta's "81" Theater. By 1920, she had established a reputation in the [[American South|South]] and along the [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]]. At the time, sales of over 100,000 copies of "Crazy Blues", recorded for [[Okeh Records]] by the singer [[Mamie Smith]] (no relation), pointed to a new market. The recording industry had not directed its product to black people, but the success of the record led to a search for female blues singers.
{{Listen|type=music|filename=Bessie Smith - Downhearted Blues (1923).ogg|title="Downhearted Blues" (1923)|description=Bessie Smith's 1923 hit cover of "[[Downhearted Blues]]".|pos=right|format=[[Ogg]]}}
Hoping to capitalize on this new market, Smith began her recording career in 1923.<ref name="Russell">{{cite book|first=Tony|last=Russell|year=1997|title=The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray|publisher=Carlton Books|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DfAjIAAACAAJ|location=Dubai|page=12|isbn=978-1-85868-255-6}}</ref> She was signed to [[Columbia Records]] in 1923 by [[Frank Buckley Walker|Frank Walker]], a talent agent who had seen her perform years earlier. Her first recording session for Columbia was on February 15, 1923; it was engineered by [[Dan Hornsby]] who was recording and discovering many southern music talents of that era. For most of 1923, her records were issued on Columbia's regular A-series. When the company established a "[[race records]]" series, Smith's "Cemetery Blues" (September 26, 1923) was the first issued. Both sides of her first record, "[[Downhearted Blues]]" backed with "Gulf Coast Blues", were hits (an earlier recording of "Downhearted Blues" by its co-writer [[Alberta Hunter]] had previously been released by [[Paramount Records]]).<ref>{{cite book | last = Lieb | first = Sandra R. | year = 1981 | title = Mother of the Blues: A Study of Ma Rainey | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=DgucZIjiEYgC | publisher = [[University of Massachusetts Press]] | page = 89 | isbn = 0870233947}}</ref>

As her popularity increased, Smith became a headliner on the [[Theatre Owners Booking Association|Theatre Owners Booking Association (T.O.B.A.)]] circuit and rose to become its top attraction in the 1920s.<ref>{{cite book | last = Oliver | first = Paul | chapter = Bessie Smith | editor-last = Kernfield | editor-first = Barry | title = The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz | year = 2002 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xq0XwgEACAAJ | edition = 2nd | volume = 3 | location = London | publisher = [[Macmillan Publishers|MacMillan]] | page = 604| isbn = 9780195387018 }}</ref> Working a heavy theater schedule during the winter and performing in tent shows the rest of the year, Smith became the highest-paid black entertainer of her day and began traveling in her own [[Passenger car (rail)|72-foot-long railroad car]].<ref>Albertson, 2003, p. 80.</ref><ref name="Moore 1969">{{cite news | last = Moore | first = Carman | title = Blues and Bessie Smith | work = [[The New York Times]] | pages = 262, 270 | url = https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1969/03/09/90063236.html?pageNumber=262 | date = March 9, 1969 | access-date = April 27, 2020}}</ref> Columbia's publicity department nicknamed her "Queen of the Blues", but the national press soon upgraded her title to "Empress of the Blues". Smith's music stressed independence, fearlessness, and sexual freedom, implicitly arguing that working-class women did not have to alter their behavior to be worthy of respect.<ref name="Women and Rhetoric 2013">{{Cite book|title=Women and Rhetoric between the Wars|last1=George|first1=Ann|last2=Weiser|first2=M. Elizabeth|last3=Zepernick|first3=Janet|publisher=Southern Illinois University Press|year=2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d-b7C_ugNzYC|isbn=9780809331390|pages=143–158|language=en}}</ref>

Despite her success, neither she nor her music was accepted in all circles. She once auditioned for [[Black Swan Records]] ([[W. E. B. Du Bois]] was on its board of directors) and was dismissed because she was considered too rough as she supposedly stopped singing to spit.<ref name="Women and Rhetoric 2013"/> The businessmen involved with Black Swan Records were surprised when she became the most successful diva because her style was rougher and coarser than Mamie Smith.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Brothers|first=Thomas|title=Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism|publisher=W.W. Norton & Company|year=2014|isbn=978-0-393-06582-4|location=New York, NY|pages=53}}</ref> Even her admirers—white and black—considered her a "rough" woman (i.e., working class or even "[[low class]]").

Smith had a strong [[contralto]] voice,<ref>{{cite web|title=Bessie Smith: The Empress Of The Blues|url=http://www.worldmusic.net/legends-series/bessie-smith-the-empress-of-the-blues/|website=World Music Network|access-date=July 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181231143243/https://www.worldmusic.net/legends-series/bessie-smith-the-empress-of-the-blues/|archive-date=December 31, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> which recorded well from her first session, which was conducted when recordings were made acoustically. The advent of [[electrical recording]] made the power of her voice even more evident. Her first electrical recording was "Cake Walking Babies [From Home]", recorded on May 5, 1925.<ref>Albertson, Chris. CD booklet. ''Bessie Smith, The Complete Recordings Vol. 2''. Columbia COL 468767 2.</ref> Smith also benefited from the new technology of [[radio broadcasting]], even on stations in the [[segregated South]]. For example, after giving a concert to a white-only audience at a theater in [[Memphis, Tennessee]], in October 1923, she performed a late-night concert on station WMC, which was well received by the radio audience.<ref>{{cite news | title = Hit on Radio | work = [[The Chicago Defender]] | date = October 6, 1923 | page = 8}}</ref> Musicians and composers like [[Danny Barker]] and [[Tommy Dorsey]] compared her presence and delivery to a preacher because of her ability to enrapture and move her audience.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Brothers|first=Thomas|title=Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism|publisher=W.W. Norton & Company|year=2014|isbn=978-0-393-06582-4|location=New York, NY|pages=52}}</ref> 
{{Listen|type=music|filename=Bessie Smith - Alexander's Ragtime Band 1927 - Sample.ogg|title="Alexander's Ragtime Band" (1927)|description=A sample of Bessie Smith's 1927 cover of "[[Alexander's Ragtime Band]]".|pos=right|format=[[Ogg]]}}
She made 160 recordings for Columbia, often accompanied by the finest musicians of the day, notably [[Louis Armstrong]], [[Coleman Hawkins]], [[Fletcher Henderson]], [[James P. Johnson]], [[Joe Smith (musician)|Joe Smith]], and [[Charlie Green (musician)|Charlie Green]]. A number of Smith's recordings—such as "[[Alexander's Ragtime Band]]" in 1927—quickly became among the best-selling records of their release years.<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Furia | first1 = Philip | author1-link = Philip Furia | last2 = Patterson | first2 = Laurie J. | author2-link = Laurie J. Patterson | title = The American Song Book: The Tin Pan Alley Era | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=JYzpCgAAQBAJ | location = [[Oxford]] | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] | year = 2016 | isbn = 978-0-19-939188-2 | page = 73}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine | last = Corliss | first = Richard | author-link = Richard Corliss | title = That Old Christmas Feeling: Irving America | url = http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,189846,00.html | location = [[New York City|New York]] | magazine = [[Time (magazine)|Time]] | date = December 24, 2001 | access-date = April 8, 2020}}</ref>

==== Broadway ====
Smith's career was cut short by the [[Great Depression]], which nearly put the recording industry out of business, and the advent of [[sound film|sound in film]], which spelled the end of vaudeville. She never stopped performing, however. The days of elaborate vaudeville shows were over, but Smith continued touring and occasionally sang in clubs. In 1929, she appeared in a [[Broadway theater|Broadway]] musical, ''Pansy''. The play was a flop; top critics said she was its only asset.

==== Film ====
{{further|St. Louis Blues (1929 film)}}
[[File:St. Louis Blues.webm|thumb|thumbtime=19|start=18|''[[St. Louis Blues (1929 film)|St. Louis Blues]]'', Smith's only film, 1929]]
In November 1929, Smith made her only film appearance, starring in a [[short film|two-reeler]], ''[[St. Louis Blues (1929 film)|St. Louis Blues]]'', based on composer [[W. C. Handy]]'s [[Saint Louis Blues (song)|song of the same name]]. In the film, directed by [[Dudley Murphy]] and shot in [[Astoria, Queens]], she sings the title song accompanied by members of [[Fletcher Henderson]]'s orchestra, the Hall Johnson Choir, the pianist [[James P. Johnson]] and a string section, a musical environment radically different from that of any of her recordings.

==== Swing era ====
In 1933, [[John H. Hammond|John Henry Hammond]], who also mentored [[Billie Holiday]], asked Smith to record four sides for [[Okeh Records|Okeh]] (which had been acquired by Columbia Records in 1925). He claimed to have found her in semi-obscurity, "working as a hostess in a [[speakeasy]] on [[Ridge Avenue (Philadelphia)|Ridge Avenue]] in [[Philadelphia]]."<ref>{{cite book | last = Hammond | first = John | author-link = John Hammond (record producer) | title = John Hammond on Record: An Autobiography | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=syQwAQAAIAAJ | publisher = [[Penguin Books]] | year = 1981 | orig-date = 1977 | page = 120| isbn = 9780140057058 }}</ref> Smith worked at Art's Cafe on Ridge Avenue, but not as a hostess and not until the summer of 1936. In 1933, when she made the Okeh sides, she was still touring. Hammond was known for his selective memory and gratuitous embellishments.<ref>Albertson, ''Bessie'', pp. 224–225.</ref>

Smith was paid a non-royalty fee of $37.50 for each selection on these Okeh sides, which were her last recordings. Made on November 24, 1933, they serve as a hint of the transformation she made in her performances as she shifted her blues artistry into something that fit the [[swing era]]. The relatively modern accompaniment is notable. The band included such swing era musicians as the [[trombone|trombonist]] [[Jack Teagarden]], the trumpeter [[William Frank Newton|Frankie Newton]], the [[tenor saxophone|tenor saxophonist]] [[Chu Berry]], the pianist [[Buck Washington]], the guitarist Bobby Johnson, and the bassist [[Billy Taylor]]. [[Benny Goodman]], who happened to be recording with [[Ethel Waters]] in the adjoining studio, dropped by and is barely audible on one selection.<ref>Oliver, Paul (2001)</ref> Hammond was not entirely pleased with the results, preferring to have Smith revisit her old blues sound. "Take Me for a Buggy Ride" and "[[Gimme a Pigfoot]]", both written by [[Wesley Wilson]], were among her most popular recordings.<ref name=Albertson2003 />

=== Death ===
[[File:Death certificate (1).jpg|thumb|right|Smith's [[death certificate]]]]
On September 26, 1937, Smith was critically injured in a [[Traffic collision|car crash]] on [[U.S. Route 61 in Mississippi|U.S. Route 61]] between [[Memphis, Tennessee]], and [[Clarksdale, Mississippi]].<ref name="Moore 1969"/> Her lover, Richard Morgan, was driving, and misjudged the speed of a slow-moving truck ahead of him. [[Skid mark]]s at the scene suggested that Morgan tried to avoid the truck by driving around its left side, but he hit the rear of the truck side-on at high speed. The [[3-way tailgate|tailgate]] of the truck sheared off the wooden roof of Smith's old [[Packard]] vehicle. Smith, who was in the passenger seat, probably with her right arm or elbow out the window, took the full brunt of the impact. Morgan escaped without injuries.

The first person on the scene was a Memphis [[surgeon]], Dr. Hugh Smith (no relation). In the early 1970s, Hugh Smith gave a detailed account of his experience to Bessie's biographer [[Chris Albertson]]. This is the most reliable [[eyewitness testimony]] about the events surrounding her death. Arriving at the scene, Dr. Smith examined Smith, who was lying in the middle of the road with obviously severe injuries. He estimated she had lost about a half pint (240 mL) of blood, and immediately noted a major traumatic injury: her right arm was almost completely severed at the elbow.<ref>{{cite news|title=Blues Legend Bessie Smith Dead 50 Years|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=a2VGAAAAIBAJ&pg=1073,6477849&dq=theater+owners+booking+association&hl=en|date=September 26, 1987|work=[[Schenectady Gazette]]|access-date=November 16, 2010}}</ref> 

Dr. Smith stated that this injury alone did not cause her death. Though the light was poor, he observed only minor head injuries. He attributed her death to extensive and severe crush injuries to the entire right side of her body, consistent with a [[side collision|sideswipe]] collision.<ref>{{cite book | last = Albertson | first = Chris | author-link = Chris Albertson | title = Bessie: Empress of the Blues | year = 1972 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=w6hjvgAACAAJ | location = London | publisher = [[Sphere Books]] | pages = 192–195 | isbn = 0-300-09902-9}}</ref> Henry Broughton, a fishing partner of Dr. Smith's, helped him move Smith to the shoulder of the road. Dr. Smith dressed her arm injury with a clean [[handkerchief]] and asked Broughton to go to a house about {{convert|500|ft}} off the road to call an [[ambulance]]. By the time Broughton returned, about 25 minutes later, Smith was in [[Shock (circulatory)|shock]].

Time passed with no sign of the ambulance, so Dr. Smith suggested that they take her into Clarksdale in his car. He and Broughton had almost finished clearing the back seat when they heard the sound of a car approaching at high speed. Dr. Smith flashed his lights in warning, but the oncoming car failed to slow and plowed into his car at full speed. It sent his car careening into Smith's overturned Packard, completely wrecking it. The oncoming car ricocheted off Hugh Smith's car into the ditch on the right, barely missing Broughton and Bessie Smith.<ref>Albertson (1972), p. 195.</ref>

The young couple in the speeding car did not sustain life-threatening injuries. Two ambulances then arrived from Clarksdale—one from the black hospital, summoned by Broughton, the second from the white hospital, acting on a report from the truck driver, who had not seen the crash victims. Smith was taken to the [[Riverside Hotel (Clarksdale, Mississippi)|G.&nbsp;T. Thomas Afro-American Hospital]] in Clarksdale, where her right arm was [[amputate]]d. She died that morning without regaining consciousness.

After her death, an often repeated, but now discredited story emerged that she died because a [[Jim Crow laws|whites-only]] hospital in Clarksdale refused to admit her. The jazz writer and producer [[John H. Hammond|John Hammond]] gave this account in an article in the November 1937 issue of ''[[DownBeat]]'' magazine. The circumstances of Smith's death and the rumor reported by Hammond formed the basis for [[Edward Albee]]'s 1959 one-act play ''[[The Death of Bessie Smith]]''.<ref name="Moore 1969"/><ref name=Love-1997>{{cite book|last=Love|first=Spencie|title=One Blood: The Death and Resurrection of Charles R. Drew|year=1997|publisher=[[University of North Carolina Press]]|location=[[Chapel Hill, North Carolina]]|isbn=978-0-8078-4682-7|page=67|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J-F3sSgLA_AC&q=G.T.+Thomas+Hospital+clarksdale&pg=PA69}}</ref> "The Bessie Smith ambulance would not have gone to a white hospital; you can forget that", Hugh Smith told Albertson. "Down in the [[Deep South]] [[Cotton Belt]], no ambulance driver, or white driver, would even have thought of putting a colored person off in a hospital for white folks."<ref>{{cite book | last = Albertson | first = Chris | author-link = Chris Albertson | title = Bessie: Empress of the Blues | year = 1972 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=w6hjvgAACAAJ | location = London | publisher = [[Sphere Books]] | page = 196 | isbn = 0-300-09902-9}}</ref>

Smith's funeral was held in [[Philadelphia]] a little over a week later, on October 4, 1937. Initially, her body was laid out at Upshur's [[funeral home]]. As word of her death spread through Philadelphia's black community, her body had to be moved to the O. V. Catto [[Elks Lodge]] to accommodate the estimated 10,000 mourners who filed past her coffin on Sunday, October 3.<ref>Albertson, Chris (1975). ''Bessie: Empress of the Blues''. London: Sphere Books. {{ISBN|0-349-10054-3}}</ref> Contemporary newspapers reported that her funeral was attended by about seven thousand people. Far fewer mourners attended the burial at Mount Lawn Cemetery, in nearby [[Sharon Hill, Pennsylvania|Sharon Hill]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Wilson | first = Scott | title = Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons | date = August 19, 2016 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=FOHgDAAAQBAJ | edition = 3rd (Kindle) | publisher = [[McFarland & Company]] | pages = Kindle locations 43874–43875| isbn = 9781476625997 }}</ref> Jack Gee thwarted all efforts to purchase a stone for his estranged wife, once or twice pocketing money raised for that purpose.<ref>Albertson, ''Bessie'', pp. 2–5, 277.</ref>

==== Unmarked grave ====
Smith's grave remained unmarked until a tombstone was erected on August 7, 1970, paid for by the singer [[Janis Joplin]] and Juanita Green, who as a child had done housework for Smith.<ref>Albertson, ''Bessie'', p. 277.</ref> [[Dory Previn]] wrote a song about Joplin and the tombstone, "Stone for Bessie Smith", for her album ''[[Mythical Kings and Iguanas]]''. The Afro-American Hospital (now the [[Riverside Hotel (Clarksdale)|Riverside Hotel]]) was the site of the dedication of the fourth historical marker on the [[Mississippi Blues Trail]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07025/756420-37.stm|title=Historical Marker Placed on Mississippi Blues Trail|agency=[[Associated Press]]|access-date=February 9, 2007|date=January 25, 2007|work=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]|archive-date=June 4, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604045947/http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07025/756420-37.stm|url-status=dead}}</ref>
[[File:Bessie Smith grave.jpg|thumb|Smith's grave]]

== Personal life ==
In 1923, Smith was living in Philadelphia when she met Jack Gee,<ref name="Moore 1969"/> a [[security guard]], whom she married on June 7, 1923, just as her first record was being released. During the marriage, Smith became the highest-paid Black entertainer of the day, heading her own shows, which sometimes featured as many as 40 troupers, and touring in her own custom-built railroad car.<ref name="Moore 1969"/> 

In the 1920s and 30s African Americans had limited options in terms of hotels and other spaces to gather. To meet this need, establishments were created by and for African Americans called Buffet Flats, which featured expensive food, free-flowing booze, and sex shows (see also, [[Prostitution in Harlem Renaissance]]).<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Devi |first=Debra |orig-date=April 25, 2012 |date=December 6, 2017 |title=Bessie Smith: Music's Original, Bitchinest Bad Girl |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bessie-smith_b_1450477 |access-date=December 4, 2024 |work=[[HuffPost]]}}</ref> Smith frequented Buffet Flats after concerts with friends, including drag queens and gay men who viewed it as a safe haven. Her friends reported that a lot of people would pay top dollar to see the sex shows at the buffet,<ref name=":0"/> and it has been reported that she would engage in sexual activities with both men and women, including her longtime friend and lover Ruby Walker, both before and during her relationship with Jack Gee.<ref name=":0" />

Her marriage to Gee was stormy, with [[infidelity]] on both sides, including Smith's numerous female lovers.<ref name=":0"/> Gee was impressed by the money Smith made during her career, but never adjusted to show business life, or to her [[bisexuality]]. He would leave periodically, and Smith would use this as an opportunity to have affairs, including with her musical director Fred Longshaw.<ref name=":0" /> When Gee found out about this, he physically assaulted Smith, but she got back up quickly and started beating him. When she found out about one of her husband's affairs, she proceeded to get Gee's gun, and shot at him.<ref name=":0"/> In 1929, when she learned of his affair with another singer, [[Gertrude Saunders]], Smith ended the relationship, although neither of them sought a divorce.

Smith later entered a [[common-law marriage]] with an old friend, Richard Morgan, who was [[Lionel Hampton]]'s uncle. She stayed with him until her death.<ref name="Albertson2003" />

== Musical themes ==
Songs like "Jail House Blues", "Work House Blues", "Prison Blues", "Sing Sing Prison Blues" and "Send Me to the 'Lectric Chair" dealt critically with [[social issue]]s of the day such as [[chain gang]]s, the [[convict lease]] system and [[capital punishment]]. "Poor Man's Blues" and "Washwoman's Blues" are considered by scholars to be an early form of African-American protest music.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rabaka |first=Reiland |title=Hip Hop's Amnesia: From Blues and the Black Women's Club Movement to Rap and the Hip Hop Movement | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=8zNQkLXh9O0C | publisher=[[Lexington Books]] |date=2012 |page=78|isbn=9780739174920 }}</ref>

What becomes evident after listening to her music and studying her lyrics is that Smith emphasized and channeled a subculture within the African-American [[working class]]. Additionally, she incorporated commentary on social issues like [[poverty]], intra-racial conflict, and [[female sexuality]] into her lyrics. Her lyrical sincerity and public behavior were not widely accepted as appropriate expressions for African-American women; therefore, her work was often written off as distasteful or unseemly, rather than as an accurate representation of the African-American experience.

Smith's work challenged elitist norms by encouraging working-class women to embrace their right to drink, party, and satisfy their sexual needs as a means of coping with stress and dissatisfaction in their daily lives. Smith advocated for a wider vision of African-American [[womanhood]] beyond [[domesticity]], [[piety]], and [[conformity]]; she sought empowerment and happiness through independence, sassiness, and sexual freedom.<ref name="Women and Rhetoric 2013"/> Although Smith was a voice for many minority groups and one of the most gifted blues performers of her time, the themes in her music were precocious{{Clarify|date=September 2025}}, which led to many believing that her work was undeserving of serious recognition.

Smith's lyrics are often speculated to have portrayed her sexuality. In "Prove it On Me", performed by [[Ma Rainey]], Rainey famously sang, "''Went out last night with a crowd of my friends. They must've been women, 'cause I don't like no mens.. they say I do it, ain't nobody caught me. Sure got to prove it on me.''" African American queer theorists and activists have often looked to Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith as "gender-bending" role models of the early 20th-century blues era.<ref>{{Cite web | last=Day | first=Meagan |url=https://timeline.com/lesbian-blues-harlem-secret-f3da10ec2334 |title=Bulldykers and Lady Lovers: The Rumors about Lesbian Blues Singers Were All True - Archived copy |access-date=September 16, 2021 |archive-date=May 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516214519/https://timeline.com/lesbian-blues-harlem-secret-f3da10ec2334 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Awards and honors==
=== Grammy Hall of Fame ===
Three recordings by Smith were inducted into the [[Grammy Hall of Fame Award|Grammy Hall of Fame]], an award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least 25 years old and that have "qualitative or historical significance".

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="5" style="text-align:center;" | '''Bessie Smith: [[Grammy Hall of Fame Award]]'''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/awards/hall-of-fame |title=Grammy Hall of Fame |publisher=Grammy.org |access-date=August 30, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150707235113/http://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/awards/hall-of-fame |archive-date=July 7, 2015 }}</ref>
|-
! Year Recorded
! Title
! Genre
! Label
! Year Inducted
|- align="center"
| 1923
| "[[Downhearted Blues]]"
| Blues (single)
| Columbia
| 2006
|- align="center"
| 1925
| "[[St. Louis Blues (song)|St. Louis Blues]]"
| Jazz (single)
| Columbia
| 1993
|- align="center"
| 1928
| "[[Empty Bed Blues]]"
| Blues (single)
| Columbia
| 1983
|}

=== National Recording Registry ===
In 2002, Smith's recording of "[[Downhearted Blues]]" was included in the [[List of recordings preserved in the United States National Recording Registry|National Recording Registry]] by the [[National Recording Preservation Board]] of the [[Library of Congress]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/about-this-program/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208170650/http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/nrpb-2002reg.html|title=About This Program |archive-date=February 8, 2007|website=[[Library of Congress]]}}</ref> The board annually selects recordings that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-03-014/librarian-names-50-recordings-to-recording-registry/2003-01-27/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070202080241/http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2003/03-014.html|title=Librarian of Congress Names 50 Sound Recordings to the Inaugural National Recording Registry|archive-date=February 2, 2007|website=[[Library of Congress]]}}</ref>

"Downhearted Blues" was also included in the list of ''[[Songs of the Century]]'' by the Recording Industry of America and the [[National Endowment for the Arts]] in 2001, and in the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]]'s 500 songs that shaped [[rock 'n' roll]].<ref>{{cite web|title=500 Songs That Shaped Rock | last=Henke | first=James |access-date=April 6, 2014 |work=[[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame|Rock & Roll Hall of Fame]]|url=http://www.rockhall.com/exhibithighlights/500-songs-by-name-df/ |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705190812/http://www.rockhall.com/exhibithighlights/500-songs-by-name-df/ |archive-date=July 5, 2008 }}</ref>

=== Inductions ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year Inducted
! Category
! Notes
|- align="center"
| 2008
| Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame
| Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York
|- align="center"
| 1989
| [[Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award]]
|
|- align="center"
| 1989
| [[List of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees|Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]]
| "Early influences"
|- align="center"
| 1981
| Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame
|
|- align="center"
| 1980
| [[Blues Hall of Fame]]
|
|}

In 1984, Smith was inducted into the [[National Women's Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.womenofthehall.org/inductee/bessie-smith/|title=Smith, Bessie|website=National Women's Hall of Fame}}</ref>

=== U.S. postage stamp ===
The [[United States Postal Service|U.S. Postal Service]] issued a 29-cent commemorative [[List of people on stamps of the United States|postage stamp]] honoring Smith in 1994.

===Other===
In 2023, ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' ranked Smith at No. 33 on their list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.<ref>{{Cite magazine|date=January 1, 2023|title=The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-singers-all-time-1234642307/bessie-smith-1234643155/|access-date=September 18, 2023|magazine=Rolling Stone|language=en-US}}</ref>

== In pop culture ==
The 1948 short story "[[Blue Melody]]", by [[J. D. Salinger]], and the 1959 play ''[[The Death of Bessie Smith]]'', by [[Edward Albee]], are based on Smith's life and death, but poetic license was taken by both authors; for instance, Albee's play distorts the circumstances of her medical treatment, or lack of it, before her death, attributing it to racist medical practitioners.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Albertson|first=Chris|title=Bessie|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2003|isbn=0300099029|location=New Haven|pages=258}}</ref> The circumstances related by both Salinger and Albee were widely circulated until being debunked at a later date by Smith's biographer.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Shields|first1=David|title=Salinger|last2=Salerno|first2=Shane|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=2013|isbn=978-1476744834|pages=213}}</ref> 

[[Dinah Washington]] and [[LaVern Baker]] released tribute albums to Smith in 1958. Released on Exodus Records in 1965, ''Hoyt Axton Sings Bessie Smith'' is another collection of Smith's songs performed by folk singer [[Hoyt Axton]].

The song "Bessie Smith" by [[The Band]] first appeared on The Basement Tapes in 1975, but probably dates from 1970 to 1971, although musician [[Artie Traum]] recalls bumping into [[Rick Danko]], the co-writer of the song, at [[Woodstock]] in 1969, who sang a verse of "Going Down The Road to See Bessie" on the spot.<ref name="Viney1">{{cite web |title=Peter Viney on "Bessie Smith" |url=http://theband.hiof.no/articles/bessie_smith_viney.html |website=theband.hiof.no |access-date=10 May 2021}}</ref>

Her song "See If I'll Care" was sampled by [[Indian Summer (American band)|Indian Summer]] throughout their [[Indian Summer (EP)|self-titled EP]], released in 1993.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Indian Summer — You Had To Be There |url=https://numerogroup.com/blogs/stories/indian-summer-you-had-to-be-there |access-date=2024-11-21 |website=Numero Group |language=en}}</ref> The release was received well by critics, noting how the sample helped contrast the [[post-hardcore]] and [[emo]] styles of the rest of the release.<ref>{{cite web |date=September 4, 2019 |title=40 Greatest Emo Albums of All Time |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/40-greatest-emo-albums-of-all-time-23526/ |accessdate=2023-10-09 |publisher=[[Rolling Stone]]}}</ref> When their discography was reissued in 2019 to acclaim, Smith and the song also saw a boost in popularity. 

She was the subject of a 1997 biography by [[Jackie Kay]], reissued in February 2021 and featuring as ''[[Book of the Week]]'' on [[BBC Radio 4]], read in an abridged version by the author.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/feb/15/bessie-smith-by-jackie-kay-review-a-potent-blues-brew|title=Bessie Smith by Jackie Kay review – a potent blues brew|first=Kitty|last=Empire|newspaper=The Guardian|date= February 15, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000sgrk|title=Bessie Smith by Jackie Kay|publisher=BBC Radio 4|access-date=February 26, 2021}}</ref>

In the 2015 HBO film ''[[Bessie (film)|Bessie]]'', [[Queen Latifah]] portrays Smith, focusing on the struggle and transition of Smith's life and sexuality. The film was well received critically and garnered four [[Primetime Emmy Awards]], winning [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie|Outstanding Television Movie.]]

In the medical show [[New Amsterdam (2018 TV series)|New Amsterdam]], [[List of New Amsterdam episodes|season 2 episode 16]], the character Reynolds says Bessie Smith's accident, and the myth she was first taken to a white hospital and denied care, was what inspired him and his treatment plans. The show did get the fact that she had an unmarked grave corrected and mentioned her legacy in the world of blues.

Each June, the Bessie Smith Cultural Center in Chattanooga sponsors the Bessie Smith Strut as part of the city's [[Riverbend Festival]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bessiesmithcc.org/event/bessie-smith-strut-3/|title=Bessie Smith Strut|website=Bessiesmithcc.org|access-date=April 15, 2018|archive-date=April 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180416012826/http://www.bessiesmithcc.org/event/bessie-smith-strut-3/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://chattanooga.events/event/bessie-smith-strut-2/ |title=Chattanooga Events-Bessie Smith Strut |website=Chattanooga.events |access-date=February 15, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180416014354/http://chattanooga.events/event/bessie-smith-strut-2/ |archive-date=April 16, 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Digital remastering ==
Technical faults in the majority of her original [[gramophone record]]ings (especially variations in recording speed, which raised or lowered the apparent [[Pitch (music)|pitch]] of her voice) misrepresented the "light and shade" of her phrasing, interpretation and delivery. They altered the apparent [[Key signature|key]] of her performances (sometimes raised or lowered by as much as a [[semitone]]). The "center hole" in some of the master recordings had not been in the true middle of the master disc, so that there were wide variations in tone, pitch, key and phrasing, as commercially released records revolved around the spindle.

Given those historic limitations, the '70 Lp complete recordings and even more th [[Remaster|digitally remastered]] versions of her work deliver noticeable improvements in the sound quality. Some critics believe that the American [[Columbia Records]] compact disc releases are somewhat inferior to subsequent transfers made by the late [[John R. T. Davies]] for [[Frog Records]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Gayford |first=Martin |date=June 22, 2018 |title=The 100 greatest jazz recordings |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/6515486/100-Best-Jazz-Recordings.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/6515486/100-Best-Jazz-Recordings.html |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |access-date=August 30, 2015 |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

== Discography ==
Throughout her entire music career (1923-1933), Bessie Smith recorded 156 tracks for '''Columbia Records'''  and 4 for the subsidiary '''OKeh'''. This makes it quite easy to acquire her complete musical works, which were first released in the 1970s across the following '''five double albums''': ''The World's Greatest Blues Singer'' (1970), ''Any Woman's Blues'' (1970), ''Empty Bed Blues'' (1971), ''The Empress'' (1971), ''Nobody's Blues But Mine'' (1972). Those recording were later reissued in LPs and CDs in the nineties under The Complete Recordings (Vol. 1-5) title '''LPs and CDs'''

* 1923-24 - The Complete Recording Vol. 1 (2XLp or CD) (Columbia/Legacy, 1991)
* 1925-25 - The Complete Recording Vol. 2 (2XLp or CD) (Columbia/Legacy, 1991)
* 1925-28 - The Complete Recording Vol. 3 (2XLp or CD) (Columbia/Legacy, 1992)
* 1928-31 - The Complete Recording Vol. 4 (2XLp or CD) (Columbia/Legacy, 1993)
* 1932-33 - The Complete Recording Vol. 5 (2XLp or CD) (Columbia/Legacy, 1996)
* 1923-33 - The Complete Recording Voll. 1-8 (8xCD) (Frog, 2001)

'''First editions in''' '''10 and 122" Lps'''

* Bessie Smith Album (Columbia, 1938) 6 shellac 10" Lp 78 rpm albums
* Empress of the Blues (Columbia, 1940) shellac 10" Lp 78 rpm album
* Empress of the Blues, Vol. II (Columbia, 1947) shellac 10" Lp 78 rpm album
* The Bessie Smith Story, in 4 Volumes (Columbia, 1951) 12" Lp 33 rpm albums

'''Antologies'''

* 1923-33 - The Essential Bessie Smith (2xCD) (Columbia/Legacy, 1997)
* 1923-33 - Empress of the Blues (Giants Of Jazz, 1985)
* 1923-33 - The Collection (Columbia, 1989)
* 1928-33 - Blue Spirit Blues (Drive, 1989)

=== 78 RPM Singles — Columbia Records ===
{| class="wikitable"
|A-3844
|"Gulf Coast Blues"
|1923-02-16
|-
|A-3844
|"Down Hearted Blues"
|1923-02-16
|-
|A-3877
|"Aggravatin' Papa"
|1923-04-11
|-
|A-3877
|"Beale Street Mama"
|1923-04-11
|-
|A-3888
|"Baby Won't You Please Come Home"
|1923-04-11
|-
|A-3888
|"Oh Daddy Blues"
|1923-04-11
|-
|A-3898
|"Keeps on A Rainin All Time"
|1923-02-16
|-
|A-3898
|"Tain't Nobody's Bizness if I Do"
|1923-04-26
|-
|A-3900
|"Outside of That"
|1923-04-30
|-
|A-3900
|"Mama's Got the Blues"
|1923-04-30
|-
|A-3936
|"Bleeding Hearted Blues"
|1923-06-14
|-
|A-3936
|"Midnight Blues"
|1923-06-15
|-
|A-3939
|"Yodeling Blues"
|1923-06-14
|-
|A-3939
|"Lady Luck Blues"
|1923-06-14
|-
|A-3942
|"If You Don't, I Know Who Will"
|1923-06-21
|-
|A-3942
|"Nobody in Town Can Bake a Jelly Roll Like My Man"
|1923-06-22
|-
|A-4001
|"Jail House Blues"
|1923-09-21
|-
|A-4001
|"Graveyard Dream Blues"
|1923-09-26
|-
|13000 D
|"Whoa, Tillie, Take Your Time"
|1923-10-24
|-
|13000 D
|"My Sweetie Went Away"
|1923-10-24
|-
|13001 D
|"Cemetery Blues"
|1923-09-26
|-
|13001 D
|"Any Woman's Blues"
|1923-10-16
|-
|13005 D
|"St Louis Gal"
|1923-09-24
|-
|13005 D
|"Sam Jones' Blues"
|1923-09-24
|-
|13007 D
|"I'm Going Back to My Used to Be"
|1923-10-04
|-
|13007 D
|"Far Away Blues"
|1923-10-04
|-
|14000 D
|"Mistreatin' Daddy"
|1923-12-04
|-
|14000 D
|"Chicago Bound Blues"
|1923-12-04
|-
|14005 D
|"Frosty Mornin' Blues"
|1924-01-08
|-
|14005 D
|"Easy Come Easy Go Blues"
|1924-01-10
|-
|14010 D
|"Eavesdropper Blues"
|1924-01-09
|-
|14010 D
|"Haunted House Blues"
|1924-01-09
|-
|14018 D
|"Boweavil Blues"
|1924-04-07
|-
|14018 D
|"Moonshine Blues"
|1924-04-09
|-
|14020 D
|"Sorrowful Blues"
|1924-04-04
|-
|14020 D
|"Rocking Chair Blues"
|1924-04-04
|-
|14023 D
|"Frankie Blues"
|1924-04-08
|-
|14023 D
|"Hateful Blues"
|1924-04-08
|-
|14025 D
|"Pinchbacks, Take 'em Away"
|1924-04-04
|-
|14025 D
|"Ticket Agent Easy Your Window Down"
|1924-04-05
|-
|14031 D
|"Louisiana Low Down Blues"
|1924-07-22
|-
|14031 D
|"Mountain Top Blues"
|1924-07-22
|-
|14032 D
|"House Rent Blues"
|1924-07-23
|-
|14032 D
|"Work House Blues"
|1924-07-23
|-
|14037 D
|"Rainy Weather Blues"
|1924-08-08
|-
|14037 D
|"Salt Water Blues"
|1924-07-31
|-
|14042 D
|"Bye Bye Blues"
|1924-09-26
|-
|14042 D
|"Weeping Willow Blues"
|1924-09-26
|-
|14051 D
|"Dying Gambler's Blues"
|1924-12-06
|-
|14051 D
|"Sing Sing Prison Blues"
|1924-12-06
|-
|14052 D
|"Follow the Deal on Down"
|1924-12-04
|-
|14052 D
|"Sinful Blues"
|1924-11-11
|-
|14056 D
|"Reckless Blues"
|1925-01-14
|-
|14056 D
|"Sobbin' Hearted Blues"
|1925-01-14
|-
|14060 D
|"Love Me Daddy Blues"
|1924-12-12
|-
|14060 D
|"Woman's Trouble Blues"
|1924-12-12
|-
|14064 D
|"Cold in Hand Blues"
|1925-01-14
|-
|14064 D
|"St Louis Blues"
|1925-01-14
|-
|14075 D
|"Yellow Dog Blues"
|1925-05-06
|-
|14075 D
|"Soft Pedal Blues"
|1925-05-14
|-
|14079 D
|"Dixie Flyer Blues"
|1925-05-15
|-
|14079 D
|"You've Been a Good Ole Wagon"
|1925-01-14
|-
|14083 D
|"Careless Love"
|1925-05-26
|-
|14083 D
|"He's Gone Blues"
|1925-06-23
|-
|14090 D
|"I Ain't Goin' to Play No Second Fiddle"
|1925-05-27
|-
|14090 D
|"Nashville Women's Blues"
|1925-05-27
|-
|14095 D
|"I Ain't Got Nobody"
|1925-08-19
|-
|14095 D
|"J.C.Holmes Blues"
|1925-05-27
|-
|14098 D
|"My Man Blues"
|1925-09-01
|-
|14098 D
|"Nobody's Blues but Mine"
|1925-08-19
|-
|14109 D
|"Florida Bound Blues"
|1925-11-17
|-
|14109 D
|"New Gulf Coast Blues"
|1925-11-17
|-
|14115 D
|"I've Been Mistreated and I Don't Like It"
|1925-11-18
|-
|14115 D
|"Red Mountain Blues"
|1925-11-20
|-
|14123 D
|"Lonesome Desert Blues"
|1925-12-09
|-
|14123 D
|"Golden Rule Blues"
|1925-11-20
|-
|14129 D
|"What's the Matter Now?"
|1926-03-05
|-
|14129 D
|"I Want Every Bit of It"
|1926-03-05
|-
|14133 D
|"Jazzbo Brown from Memphis Town"
|1926-03-18
|-
|14133 D
|"Squeeze Me"
|1926-03-05
|-
|14137 D
|"Hard Driving Papa"
|1926-05-40
|-
|14137 D
|"Money Blues"
|1926-05-04
|-
|14147 D
|"Baby Doll"
|1926-05-04
|-
|14147 D
|"Them Has Been Blues"
|1926-03-05
|-
|14158 D
|"Lost Your Head Blues"
|1926-05-04
|-
|14158 D
|"Gin House Blues"
|1926-03-18
|-
|14172 D
|"One and Two Blues"
|1926-10-26
|-
|14172 D
|"Honey Man Blues"
|1926-10-25
|-
|14179 D
|"Hard Time Blues"
|1926-10-25
|-
|14179 D
|"Young Woman's Blues"
|1926-10-26
|-
|14195 D
|"[[Back Water Blues]]"
|1927-02-17
|-
|14195 D
|"Preachin' the Blues"
|1927-02-17
|-
|14197 D
|"Muddy Water"
|1927-03-02
|-
|14197 D
|"After You've Gone"
|1927-03-02
|-
|14209 D
|"Send Me to the 'Lectric Chair"
|1927-03-03
|-
|14209 D
|"Them's Graveyard Words"
|1927-03-03
|-
|14219 D
|"There'll Be a Hot Time in Old Town Tonight"
|1927-03-02
|-
|14219 D
|"Alexander's Ragtime Band"
|1927-03-02
|-
|14232 D
|"Trombone Cholly"
|1927-03-03
|-
|14232 D
|"Lock and Key Blues"
|1927-04-01
|-
|14250 D
|"A Good Man Is Hard to Find"
|1927-09-27
|-
|14250 D
|"Mean Old Bed Bug Blues"
|1927-09-27
|-
|14260 D
|"Sweet Mistreater"
|1927-04-01
|-
|14260 D
|"Homeless Blues"
|1927-09-28
|-
|14273 D
|"Dyin' by The Hour"
|1927-10-27
|-
|14273 D
|"Foolish Man Blues"
|1927-10-27
|-
|14292 D
|"I Used to Be Your Sweet Mama"
|1928-02-09
|-
|14292 D
|"Thinking Blues"
|1928-02-09
|-
|14304 D
|"I'd Rather be Dead and Buried in my Grave"
|1928-06-16
|-
|14304 D
|"Pickpocket Blues"
|1928-02-09
|-
|14312 D
|"[[Empty Bed Blues]] Pt1"
|1928-03-20
|-
|14312 D
|"Empty Bed Blues Pt2"
|1928-03-20
|-
|14324 D
|"Put It Right Here"
|1928-03-20
|-
|14324 D
|"Spider Man Blues"
|1928-03-19
|-
|14338 D
|"It Won't Be You"
|1928-02-12
|-
|14338 D
|"Standin' in The Rain Blues"
|1928-02-12
|-
|14354 D
|"Devil's Gonna Git You"
|1928-08-24
|-
|14354 D
|"Yes {{not a typo|Indeed}} He Do"
|1928-08-24
|-
|14375 D
|"Washwoman's Blues"
|1928-08-24
|-
|14375 D
|"Please Help Me Get Him Off My Mind"
|1928-08-24
|-
|14384 D
|"Me and My Gin"
|1928-08-25
|-
|14384 D
|"Slow and Easy Man"
|1928-08-24
|-
|14399 D
|"Poor Man's Blues"
|1928-08-24
|-
|14399 D
|"You Ought to be Ashamed"
|1928-08-24
|-
|14427 D
|"You've Got to Give Me Some"
|1929-05-08
|-
|14427 D
|"I'm Wild About that Thing"
|1929-05-08
|-
|14435 D
|"My Kitchen Man"
|1929-05-08
|-
|14435 D
|"I've Got What It Takes"
|1929-05-15
|-
|14451 D
|"Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out"
|1929-05-15
|-
|14451 D
|"Take It Right Back"
|1929-07-25
|-
|14464 D
|"It Makes My Love Come Down"
|1929-08-20
|-
|14464 D
|"He's Got Me Goin'"
|1929-08-20
|-
|14476 D
|"Dirty No Gooder's Blues"
|1929-10-01
|-
|14476 D
|"Wasted Life Blues"
|1929-10-01
|-
|14487 D
|"Don't Cry Baby"
|1929-10-11
|-
|14487 D
|"You Don't Understand"
|1929-10-11
|-
|14516 D
|"New Orleans Hop Scop Blues"
|1930-03-27
|-
|14516 D
|"Keep It to Yourself"
|1930-03-27
|-
|14527 D
|"Blue Spirit Blues"
|1929-10-11
|-
|14527 D
|"Worn out Papa Blues"
|1929-10-11
|-
|14538 D
|"Moan Mourners"
|1930-06-09
|-
|14538 D
|"On Revival Day"
|1930-06-09
|-
|14554 D
|"Hustlin' Dan"
|1930-07-22
|-
|14554 D
|"Black Mountain Blues"
|1930-07-22
|-
|14569 D
|"Hot Springs Blues"
|1927-03-03
|-
|14569 D
|"Lookin' for My Man Blues"
|1927-09-28
|-
|14611 D
|"In the House Blues"
|1931-06-11
|-
|14611 D
|"Blue Blues"
|1931-06-11
|-
|14634 D
|"Safety Mama"
|1931-11-20
|-
|14634 D
|"Need a Little Sugar in My Bowl"
|1931-11-20
|-
|14663 D
|"Long Old Road"
|1931-06-11
|-
|14663 D
|"Shipwreck Blues"
|1931-06-11
|}

=== 78 RPM Singles — Okeh Records ===
{| class="wikitable"
|8945
|"I'm Down in the Dumps"
|1933-11-24
|-
|8945
|"Do Your Duty"
|1933-11-24
|-
|8949
|"Take Me for a Buggy Ride"
|1933-11-24
|-
|8949
|"Gimme a Pigfoot (and a Bottle of Beer)"
|1933-11-24
|}

=== Hit records ===
There was no official national record chart in the US until 1936. National positions have been formulated ''post facto'' by music historian [[Joel Whitburn]].

{|class="wikitable"
|-
!Year
!Single
!<small>[[Billboard Hot 100|US<br />Pop]]</small><ref>{{cite book |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |url=https://archive.org/details/joelwpopmemories00whit |title=Pop Memories: 1890–1954 |publisher=Record Research |year=1986 |isbn=9780898200836}}</ref>{{refn|group=nb|Joel Whitburn's methodology for creating pre-1940s chart positions has been
criticized,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://songbook1.wordpress.com/fx/joel-whitburn-criticism-chart-fabrication-misrepresentation-of-sources-cherry-picking/ |title=Joel Whitburn Criticism: Chart Fabrication, Misrepresentation of Sources, Cherry Picking |work=Songbook |access-date=July 15, 2015|date=March 3, 2013 }}</ref> and those listed here should not be taken as definitive.}}
|-
|rowspan="5"|1923
|"[[Downhearted Blues]]"
| style="text-align:center;"|1
|-
|"Gulf Coast Blues"
| style="text-align:center;"|5
|-
|"Aggravatin' Papa"
| style="text-align:center;"|12
|-
|"[[Baby Won't You Please Come Home]]"
| style="text-align:center;"|6
|-
|"[[Ain't Nobody's Business|T'ain't Nobody's Biz-Ness if I Do]]"
| style="text-align:center;"|9
|-
|rowspan="3"|1925
|"[[Saint Louis Blues (song)|The St. Louis Blues]]"
| style="text-align:center;"|3
|-
|"[[Careless Love|Careless Love Blues]]"
| style="text-align:center;"|5
|-
|"I Ain't Gonna Play No Second Fiddle"
| style="text-align:center;"|8
|-
|rowspan="2"|1926
|"[[I Ain't Got Nobody]]"
| style="text-align:center;"|8
|-
|"Lost Your Head Blues"
| style="text-align:center;"|5
|-
|rowspan="2"|1927
|"[[After You've Gone (song)|After You've Gone]]"
| style="text-align:center;"|7
|-
|"[[Alexander's Ragtime Band]]"
| style="text-align:center;"|17
|-
|rowspan="2"|1928
|"[[A Good Man Is Hard to Find (song)|A Good Man Is Hard to Find]]"
| style="text-align:center;"|13
|-
|"[[Empty Bed Blues]]"
| style="text-align:center;"|20
|-
||1929
|"[[Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out]]"
| style="text-align:center;"|15
|}

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=nb}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book | last = Albertson | first = Chris | author-link = Chris Albertson | title = Bessie Smith: The Complete Recordings, Volumes 1–5 (Liner notes) | publisher = [[Sony Music Entertainment]] | year = 1991}}
* {{cite book | last = Albertson | first = Chris | author-link = Chris Albertson | title = Bessie | year = 2003 | location = New Haven | publisher = [[Yale University Press]] | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=MjtZAwAAQBAJ | isbn = 0-300-09902-9}}
* {{cite book | last = Barnet | first = Andrea | title = All-Night Party: The Women of Bohemian Greenwich Village and Harlem, 1913–1930 | location = [[Chapel Hill, North Carolina]] | publisher = [[Algonquin Books]] | year = 2004 | isbn = 978-1-56512-381-6 | url = https://archive.org/details/allnightpartywom00barn}}
* {{cite book | last = Brooks | first = Edward | title = The Bessie Smith Companion: A Critical and Detailed Appreciation of the Recordings | year = 1982 | location = New York | publisher = [[Da Capo Press]] | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=EdkHAQAAMAAJ | isbn = 0-306-76202-1}}
* {{cite book | last = Davis | first = Angela | author-link = Angela Davis | year = 1998 | title = Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude 'Ma' Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday | location = New York | publisher = [[Pantheon Books]] | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=lH2xBEwbFa0C | isbn = 0-679-45005-X}}
* {{cite book | last = Eberhardt | first = Clifford | title = Out of Chattanooga: The Bessie Smith Story | date = January 1, 1994 | location = Chattanooga | publisher = Ebco | asin = B0006PDFAQ}}
* {{cite book | last = Feinstein | first = Elaine | author-link = Elaine Feinstein | title = Bessie Smith | year = 1985 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=sYGvQgAACAAJ | location = New York | publisher = Viking | isbn = 0-670-80642-0}}
* {{cite book | last = Grimes | first = Sara | title = Backwaterblues: In Search of Bessie Smith | year = 2000 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=L-vSAAAACAAJ | location = [[Amherst, Massachusetts]] | publisher = Rose Island | isbn = 0-9707089-0-4}}
* {{cite book | last = Kay | first = Jackie | author-link = Jackie Kay | title = Bessie Smith | year = 1997 | location = New York | publisher = Absolute | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=pJwZAQAAIAAJ | isbn = 1-899791-55-8}}. Reprinted 2021, London: [[Faber & Faber]], {{ISBN|978-0571362929}}
* {{cite book | last = Manera | first = Alexandria | title = Bessie Smith | year = 2003 | location = Chicago | publisher = Raintree | isbn = 0-7398-6875-6}}
* {{cite book | last = Martin | first = Florence | title = Bessie Smith | year = 1994 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=TvfR9BevRhoC | location = Paris | publisher = Éditions du Limon | isbn = 2-907224-31-X}}
* {{cite book | last = Oliver | first = Paul | author-link = Paul Oliver | title = Bessie Smith | year = 1959 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=JqpEzAEACAAJ | location = London | publisher = [[Cassell (publisher)|Cassell]]}}
* {{cite book | last = Palmer | first = Tony | author-link = Tony Palmer (director) | title = All You Need is Love: The Story of Popular Music | year = 1976 | location = New York | publisher = [[Grossman Publishers]], [[Viking Press]] | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=cEIUAQAAIAAJ | isbn = 0-670-11448-0}}
* {{cite book | last = Schuller | first = Gunther | author-link = Gunther Schuller | title = Early Jazz, Its Roots and Musical Development | year = 1968 | volume = 1 | location = New York | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] | isbn = 0-19-504043-0 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=O7c4AQAAIAAJ | edition = Paperback}}
* {{cite book | last = Scott | first = Michelle R. | title = Blues Empress in Black Chattanooga: Bessie Smith and the Emerging Urban South | year = 2008 | location = Chicago | publisher = [[University of Illinois Press]] | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=y8GKGoVsl1AC | isbn = 978-0-252-07545-2}}
* {{cite book | editor1-last = Welding | editor1-first = Pete | editor1-link = Pete Welding | editor2-last = Byron | editor2-first = Tony | title = Bluesland: Portraits of Twelve Major American Blues Masters | year = 1991 | location = New York | publisher = [[E. P. Dutton|Dutton]] | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=D_sXAQAAIAAJ | isbn = 0-525-93375-1}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Bessie Smith}}
{{Library resources box|by=yes|viaf= 24788472 }}
* [http://www.jerryjazzmusician.com/mainHTML.cfm?page=albertson.html Interview with Bessie Smith biographer Chris Albertson]
* {{Discogs artist}}
* [https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/104231 Bessie Smith recordings] at the [[Discography of American Historical Recordings]].
{{Bessie Smith|state=expanded}}
{{Navboxes
| title = Awards for Bessie Smith
| list =
{{Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award}}
{{National Women's Hall of Fame}}
{{1989 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame}}
}}

{{Subject bar|portal1=Jazz|portal2=LGBTQ|portal3=Music|portal4=United States|portal5=Biography}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Bessie}}
[[Category:1892 births]]
[[Category:1937 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American women singers]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American women singers]]
[[Category:American blues singers]]
[[Category:American street performers]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Bisexual women musicians]]
[[Category:Classic female blues singers]]
[[Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners]]
[[Category:Jazz musicians from Tennessee]]
[[Category:African-American LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:LGBTQ people from Tennessee]]
[[Category:American LGBTQ singers]]
[[Category:Musicians from Chattanooga, Tennessee]]
[[Category:Road incident deaths in Mississippi]]
[[Category:Singers from Tennessee]]
[[Category:American vaudeville performers]]
[[Category:20th-century American singers]]
[[Category:20th-century American LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame members]]
[[Category:LGBTQ women singers]]