Music Edition

Bessie Smith ( Chattanooga, Tennessee, April 15th 1894. – Clarksdale, Mississippi, September 26th 1937.) was an American blues singer. She is considered one of the most popular and successful female blues performers in the twenties of the 20th century .

In 1912. she sang in the same show as Ma Rainey, who took her under her wing. Eight years later, in 1920., she had her own show and her name was already established in much of southern and eastern United States.
In 1923. she signed as one of the first blues artists, a recording contract with Columbia Records. The classic female blues, which she was a major exponent, had its heyday at that time. With the inclusion of Bessies Alberta Hunter Downhearted Blues, she was an overnight sensation. Bessie Smith became the highest paid black performer of her time. They played with some of the best musicians of the twenties, including Louis Armstrong, James P. Johnson, Joe Smith and Charlie Green.
In 1933. she recorded with John Hammond, under whose influence she has tried to become more a swing singer develop her last songs.

On September 26th 1937. Bessie got seriously injured in a car accident while she was on route to U.S. Route 61 between Memphis and Clarksdale with her ​​lover (and uncle of Lionel Hampton ) Richard Morgan at the helm. She was taken to the black Afro-American Hospital (currently operated as “Riverside Hotel” on the banks of the Sunriver) of Clarksdale where the doctors amputate her arm. Still she died from injuries that same morning. Bessie Smith was 43 years old. Her tomb has long remained unchecked until Janis Joplin and Juanita Green dozens of years later, bought stone inscription for it.