The Empress of the Blues, Bessie Smith, was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee on April 15, 1894. She was the most popular blues singer of the 1920s. Bessie’s father, a preacher, died when she was so young that she did not remember him, and her mother passed away before Bessie was nine. Bessie and her brother Andrew would often sing and dance on the streets of Chattanooga to make money for the family, which was now headed by her older sister Viola.

In 1912 another of Bessie Smith’s brothers, Clarence arranged to have her audition for a travelling show of which he was a member. Bessie was hired as a dancer because the troupe already had a singer - the blues great Ma Rainey. Rainey did not need to teach Bessie to sing (she could already do that!), but she did help her improve her stage presence and by 1913 Bessie had formed her own act and was performing at a theater in Atlanta.

In the early 1920s sales of fellow blues singer Mamie Smith’s record Crazy Blues were so impressive that record labels went in search of other such talents. By now Bessie Smith had acquired quite a following in the south and along the east coast of the United States. She was signed by Columbia Records and her first studio date for them was on February 15, 1923. Soon her Downhearted Blues was a best-seller and her popularity was growing nationwide. Bessie Smith was signed by the Theater Owners Booking Association and she soon became their top performer. Smith became the highest paid Black entertainer of the 1920s and travelled the country in her own 72-foot railroad car.

During her career Smith made 160 records for Columbia and was often backed by some of the premier musicians of the era including James P. Johnson, Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkins and Fletcher Henderson. In 1929 Bessie Smith appeared on film in a short entitled “St. Louis Blues” in which she sang the title tune by W.C. Handy. That same year she appeared on Broadway in the short-lived musical “Pansy.” Although her career was adversely affected by the Great Depression, she did make some recording for Okeh Records in the 1930s. Some of the records attempted to cater to the changing tastes of the listening public with nods to a more swing-oriented repertoire. On these sides she appeared with Jack Teagarden, Chu Berry and Benny Goodman.

Bessie Smith died on September 26, 1937 after being severely injured in an automobile accident on U.S. Route 61 south of Memphis, Tennessee.

Here is a link to that 1929 filmed performance of Bessie Smith singing St. Louis Blues:

"ST. LOUIS BLUES"