Bessie

Product Description Bessie Smith, the great singer known as the “Empress of the Blues,” is considered by many to be the greatest blues singer of all time. She was also a successful vaudeville entertainer who became the highest-paid African American performer of the Roaring Twenties. Chris Albertson’s revised and expanded edition of the biography of this extraordinary artist debunks many of the myths that have circulated since her untimely death in 1937. Albertson writes with insight and candor about the singer’s personal life and her career, supplementing his historical research with dozens of interviews with her relatives, friends, and associates, including Ruby Walker Smith, a niece by marriage who toured with Bessie for over a decade. Review “The most devastating, provocative, and enlightening work of its kind ever contributed to the annals of jazz literature.” —Los Angeles Times About the Author Chris Albertson is the acknowledged authority on Bessie Smith. A longtime contributor to Stereo Review, Down Beat, Saturday Review, and other publications, he has written extensive liner notes for jazz and blues albums and has produced a wide array of recordings, radio, and television programs.