Bessie Smith | Empress Of The Blues (Biography)

Bessie Smith - April 15, 1894 - September 26, 1937
Blues singer
Narrator: Sherri Lillian
Resources:
Books:
Brown Sugar by Donald Bogle
Bessie by Chris Albertson
Websites:
wams.nyhistory.org/confidence...
www.npr.org/2019/08/05/747738...
nysmusic.com/2020/10/24/bessi...

[@TheOnyxQueenChannel]

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[@savcts5776]

SHE WUZZA BO-DAGGAH!!! IN DA END SHE KNEW BETTA DEN 2DIE IN DAT SIN SO SHE CHOSE2 MARRY A MAN IN HER LATTER YEARS

[@angellouiswong4203]

Finally! Many likes for this video and the Empress of Blues!

[@travelingman3732]

Thanks for the videos. They're interesting and well made. Hard to believe there aren't more documentaries out there on the lives of these early American blues artists like Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey. They laid the foundations for so much that followed on the American music scene.

[@gigi-dadovolkman1097]

Amazing Performer and Blues Trailblazer and Icon!! Keep on Singing, Empress Bessie...❤

[@stefanschleps8758]

Thank you. That was an easy subscription!

[@TheOnyxQueenChannel]

Thanks for your support!

[@stefanschleps8758]

@@TheOnyxQueenChannel You and Bessie deserve as much. Till next time.

[@user-sq4jz9up6g]

Janis Joplin was a big fan of Bessie She bought a headstone for her grave which was unmarked in 1970

[@bamgrok]

WOW !!!!!!!

[@AnnetteTaborn]

You don't mess with Bess

[@dramatictiming]

About to get an A on this presentation 🤩

[@TheOnyxQueenChannel]

Nice! Be sure to hit that like button.

[@jerryleeelvisberryrichard6247]

Legend has it that a teenaged Bob Wills rode 50 miles on horseback to see Bessie Smith. She was by far the best.

[@jamesswapinski9190]

Nothing like the Empress....#1:then and now.

[@terrancetyson7535]

Can you make videos for Clara Ward and Mattie Moss Clark?

[@saundrabrown-um1xs]

I read on the internet back in 2013 that Bessie Smith had a tent revival concert in Concord NC back in the 1920's and she stopped her show and ran the klan away by herself and after that she continues her show. I went to Barber -Scotia College back in 1987 and I'm wondering if Bessie Smith 's concert was on that campus because that college was a all women college fresh after slavery back in 1867. And back in 1987 Concord NC was very much still racist towards the black people and because of that I still don't like even going into Concord, NC which is really up the street from Charlotte, NC. This was a great video of the empress of blues Bessie Smith. ❤️🙌🖤🤎✊

[@TheOnyxQueenChannel]

The incident happened in 1927. The klan was at it's heights of terror down south. Bessie caught half-dozen klansmen trying to collapse her tent during one of her shows, and indeed she ran them away single handedly, Bessie was something else. You can find the full account of the story in Chris Albertson's biography of Bessie Smith. Thanks for watching and sharing.

[@idankoos4156]

Judith Durham quoted her as one of her biggest inspirations...she covered loads of her songs

[@garveygraystone2961]

Nice very nice. I am currently investigating her death. Let me say this: She was denied the best care for racial reasons but not as famously known but from the decisions made by the Dr. (Dr. Hugh Smith) on the scene. The death certificate widely available is issued in 1971. There are accounts that she arrived at the hospital at 11:30am,this certificate list time of death at or around that time. No arrest_ for the driver of the truck who left the scene, excuse being, he didn't have to because he used this truck for US Mail delivery, only on this night he's said to have been delivering newspapers. I could go on and on and on. it is my humble but notable opinion that not only was Bessie murdered but she was tortured and tormented at the scene. I'm still grappling with the question of how a truck tailgate from those days could shear off the roof of a car the height of her Packard.

[@TheOnyxQueenChannel]

Interesting. Keep investigating, there are so many conflicting accounts of her death.