Details
Track Listing
DISC 1:
1. Aggravatin' Papa
2. Baby Won't You Please Come Home
3. Taint Nobody's Bizness If I Do
4. Jail-House Blues
5. Graveyard Dream Blues
6. Ticket Agent, Ease Your Window Down
7. Boweavil Blues
8. Weeping Willow Blues
9. Dying Gambler's Blues
10. St. Louis Blues
11. You've Been a Good Ole Wagon
12. Cake Walkin' Babies From Home
13. Careless Love Blues
14. I Ain't Goin' to Play Second Fiddle
15. At the Christmas Ball
16. Jazzbo Brown From Memphis Town
17. Backwater Blues
18. After You've Gone
DISC 2:
1. Alexander's Ragtime Band
2. There'll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight
3. Trombone Cholly
4. Send Me to the 'Lectric Chair
5. Good Man Is Hard to Find, A
6. Dyin' by the Hour
7. Me and My Gin
8. Kitchen Man
9. Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out
10. On Revival Day (A Rhythmic Spiritual)
11. Moan, You Moaners
12. Black Mountain Blues
13. Shipwreck Blues
14. Need a Little Sugar in My Bowl
15. Do Your Duty
16. Gimme a Pigfoot (And a Bottle of Beer)
17. Take Me For a Buggy Ride
18. Down in the Dumps
Album Notes
Personnel: Bessie Smith (vocals); Lincoln M. Conaway, Eddie Lang, Bobby Johnson (guitar); Buddy Christian, Charlie Dixon (banjo); Robert Robbins (violin); Coleman Hawkins (clarinet, tenor saxophone); Ernest Elliot, Buster Bailey, Benny Goodman (clarinet); Garvin Bushell (alto saxophone); Chu Berry,
Greely Walton (tenor saxophone); Frank Newton (trumpet); Joe Smith, Louis Armstrong, Tommy Ladnier, Ed Allen, Louis Metcalfe (cornet); Charlie Green,
Jimmy Harrison, Joe Williams, Jack Teagarden (trombone); Bob Escudero, June Cole, Cyrus St. Clair (tuba); Fred Longshaw (piano, reed organ); Clarence Williams, Irving Johns, Fletcher Henderson, Jimmy Jones, James P. Johnson, Porter Grainger, Steve Stevens, Buck Washington (piano); Billy Taylor (acoustic bass); Floyd Casey (drums); The Bessemer Singers (background vocals).
Includes liner notes by Chris Albertson.
Digitally remastered by David Mitson.
This is part of Columbia/Legacy's Roots 'N Blues Series.
For comprehensive coverage of the work of this blues legend and innovator, interested listeners should turn to Columbia/Legacy's five volumes of THE COMPLETE RECORDINGS. However, if nine discs seem somewhat overwhelming to the newcomer, there is no better place to begin than this 2-disc Roots n' Blues set. The digital remastering of these classic 1920s sides has resulted in mind-bogglingly clean sound documents, re-casting Smith's achievements in a beautifully bright light.
Smith's contributions to the development of blues and jazz vocals cannot be overestimated and, even today, there have been few female vocalists in the history of the genre to match her emotional intensity and sheer vocal power. This spectacular 36-track collection features many of Smith's biggest hits, including "Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out," "Need A Little Sugar In My Bowl," "Alexander's Ragtime Band," and "'Taint Nobody's Bizness If I Do" (two decades before Billie Holiday's version). Smith wrote the book on blues/jazz vocals, outshining not only the singers from her era but most since. This set is crucial for even the most casual blues and jazz fans.
Industry Reviews
Included in Vibe's 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century
Vibe (12/01/1999)
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