BESSIE SMITH - The Complete Recordings Vol. 1 (1923-1924) 2CD (1991) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Bessie Smith wasn't the first of the classic blues singers to record, but once she did, she became the form's dominant force, with a voice that combined clear diction, great power, and a unique capacity to convey complex emotions. Weariness gives way to resilience and sorrow to joyous triumph in Smith's performances, and there's nobility in her delivery of even the sometimes tritely comic lyrics she sang. This is the first of five two-CD sets that gather all her known recordings. The first 38 songs, from February 1923 to April 1924, are here. Smith was a presence when she first arrived in the studio: "Downhearted Blues," her first record and already a hit for its composer, Alberta Hunter, would sell nearly 800,000 copies in its first six months of release. It's a riveting performance, but there's greater substance just a couple of months later in the bending notes of "Oh Daddy Blues." There are many majestic performances here, with Smith usually accompanied by just piano, played by songwriter Clarence Williams, her working accompanist Irving Johns, or Fletcher Henderson. When her accompaniments begin to expand, Don Redman makes an appearance on clarinet, but the great band recordings with Louis Armstrong remain in the future. The liner notes, by Smith's biographer, Chris Albertson, are excellent, filled with illuminating background 

Tracklist 1:

1. Down Hearted Blues 3:28

2. Gulf Coast Blues 3:07

3. Aggravatin' Papa 3:19

4. Beale Street mama 3:37

5. Baby Won't You Please Come Home 2:58

6. Oh Daddy Blues 3:07

7. 'Tain't Nobody's Bizness If I Do 3:29

8. Keeps On A-Rainin' (Papa, He Can't Make No Time) 3:09

9. Mama's Got The Blues 2:58

10. Outside Of That 3:30

11. Bleeding Hearted Blues 3:08

12. Lady Luck Blues 3:09

13. Yodling Blues 3:14

14. Midnight Blues 3:20

15. If You Don't, I Know Who Will 3:38

16. Nobody In Town Can Bake A Sweet Jelly Roll Like Mine 3:34

17. Jail-House Blues 3:16

18. St. Louis Gal 3:30

19. Sam Jones Blues 2:47

Tracklist 2:

1. Graveyard Dream Blues 2:46

2. Cemetery Blues 3:31

3. Far Away Blues 3:02

4. I'm Going Back to My Used to Be 2:56

5. Whoa, Tillie, Take Your Time 3:12

6. My Sweetie Went Away 3:13

7. Any Woman's Blues 3:28

8. Chicago Bound Blues 3:18

9. Mistreating Daddy 3:19

10. Frosty Morning Blues 3:16

11. Haunted House Blues 3:31

12. Eavesdropper's Blues 3:13

13. Easy Come, Easy Go Blues 3:11

14. Sorrowful Blues 3:19

15. Pinchbacks - Take 'Em Away 3:17

16. Rocking Chair Blues 3:16

17. Ticket Agent, Ease Your Window Down 3:20

18. Boweavil Blues 2:54

19. Hateful Blues 3:09

BESSIE SMITH - The Complete Recordings Vol. 2 (1924-1925) 2CD (1991) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Bessie Smith, even on the evidence of her earliest recordings, well deserved the title "Empress of the Blues" for in the 1920s there was no one in her league for emotional intensity, honest blues feeling, and power. The second of five volumes (the first four are two-CD sets) finds her accompaniment improving rapidly with such sympathetic sidemen as trombonist Charlie Green, cornetist Joe Smith, and clarinetist Buster Bailey often helping her out. However, they are overshadowed by Louis Armstrong, whose two sessions with Smith (nine songs in all) fall into the time period of this second set; particularly classic are their versions of "St. Louis Blues," "Careless Love Blues," and "I Ain't Goin' to Play Second Fiddle." Other gems on this essential set include "Cake Walkin' Babies From Home," "The Yellow Dog Blues," and "At the Christmas Ball." by Scott Yanow

 Tracklist 1:

1. Frankie Blues 3:34

2. Moonshine Blues 3:19

3. Lou'siana Low-Down Blues 3:25

4. Mountain Top Blues 3:14

5. Work House Blues 3:23

6. House Rent Blues 3:08

7. Salt Water Blues 3:29

8. Rainy Weather Blues 3:38

9. Weeping Willow Blues 3:12

10. The Bye Bye Blues 3:20

11. Sing Sing Prison Blues 3:06

12. Follow the Deal on Down 3:18

13. Sinful Blues 3:11

14. Woman's Trouble Blues 3:07

15. Love Me Daddy Blues 3:16

16. Dying Gambler's Blues 3:00

17. The St. Louis Blues 3:12

18. Reckless Blues 3:05

19. Sobbin' Hearted Blues 3:01

Tracklist 2:

1. Cold In Hand Blues 3:15

2. You've Been a Good Ole Wagon 3:30

3. Cake Walkin' babies (From Home) 3:11

4. The Yellow Dog Blues 3:05

5. Soft Pedal Blues 3:21

6. Dixie Flyer Blues 3:11

7. Nashville Woman's Blues 3:45

8. Careless Love Blues 3:27

9. J.C. Holmes Blues 3:05

10. I Ain't Goin' to Play Second Fiddle 3:23

11. He's Gone Blues 3:11

12. Nobody's Blues But Mine 2:53

13. I Ain't Got Nobody 3:11

14. My Man Blues 3:32

15. New Gulf Coast Blues 3:23

16. Florida Bound Blues 3:15

17. At the Christmas Ball 3:26

18. I've Been Mistreated and I Don't Like It 2:55

BESSIE SMITH - The Complete Recordings Vol. 3 (1925-1928) 2CD (1992) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Listening to this collection, recorded from 1925 to 1928 as Bessie Smith's popularity grew, one only wishes that the recording technology of the day were a match for Smith's incredible voice. Naturally, this two-disc set contains many of her classic recordings, including "Back Water Blues," "Send Me to the 'Lectric Chair," "Lock and Key," "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," and "After You've Gone." This collection's also worth hearing for the backing musicians, who include Fletcher Henderson, James P. Johnson, Coleman Hawkins, and other luminaries of the day. To listen to Bessie Smith is to hear the blues unadulterated, and to understand what inspired so many contemporaries and later singers, from Billie Holiday to Janis Joplin. by Genevieve Williams

Tracklist 1:

1. Red Mountain Blues 3:13

2. Golden Rule Blues 3:05

3. Lonesome Desert Blues 3:26

4. Them "Has Been" Blues 03:33

5. Squeeze Me 2:53

6. What's The Matter Now? 2:46

7. I Want Every Bit Of It 2:38

8. Jazzbo Brown From Memphis Town 3:21

9. The Gin House Blues 3:14

10. Money Blues 3:12

11. Baby Doll 3:01

12. Hard Driving Papa 2:59

13. Lost Your Head Blues 2:56

14. Hard Time Blues 3:14

15. Honey Man Blues 3:14

16. One And Two Blues 02:55

17. Young Woman's Blues 3:09

18. Preachin' The Blues 2:52

19. Back Water Blues 3:19

20. After You've Gone 2:57

21. Alexander's Ragtime Band 2:58

Personnel includes: Bessie Smith (vocals);
Lincoln M. Conaway (guitar);
Charlie Dixon (banjo);
Don Redman (clarinet, alto saxophone);
Buster Bailey, Coleman Hawkins (clarinet);
Shelton Hemphill, Joe Smith (cornet);
Fletcher Henderson, Clarence Williams, James P. Johnson, Porter Grainger (piano).
Recorded between 1925 and 1928.This is part of Legacy's Roots N' Blues series.Volume 3 of Columbia's five-box, ten-CD set finds Bessie Smith at the height of her career as a touring artist, recording consistently with high-caliber pianists like Fletcher Henderson and stride king James P. Johnson. While she was billed as "Empress of the Blues," Smith's accompanists handled her material in the small-group jazz style of the day, and her repertoire drew as much from tin pan alley, novelty and the vaudeville stage as it did from hokum and twelve-bar sources. There are many blues tunes here, but often the word was used as a marketing device rather than to connote a specific rhyme scheme or chord structure. On some of the later sides in Volume 3, the ensemble is expanded to include two horns--usually Joe Smith on cornet, with Jimmy Harrison or Charlie Green on trombone--and for one session, clarinet (a young Coleman Hawkins on "Alexander's Ragtime Band") and banjo. Chris Albertson's detailed history of Smith's life and career is continued in the accompanying booklet, which features numerous photographs of Smith and her colleagues and reproductions of various advertisements, studio logs, and 78 labels.

Tracklist 2:

1. Muddy Water (A Mississippi Moan) 3:08

2. There'll Be A Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight 3:20

3. Trombone Cholly 3:12

4. Send Me To The 'Lectric Chair 3:23

5. Them's Graveyard Words 2:59

6. Hot Spring Blues 2:57

7. Sweet Mistreater 3:02

8. Lock And Key 2:59

9. Mean Old Bedbug Blues 3:14

10. A Good Man Is Hard To Find 3:02

11. Homeless Blues 3:01

12. Looking For My Man Blues 2:50

13. Dyin' By The Hour 3:00

14. Foolish Man Blues 2:55

15. Thinking Blues 3:10

16. Pickpocket Blues 2:44

17. I Used To Be Your Sweet Mama 2:51

18. I'd Rather Be Dead And Buried In My Grave 2:57

BESSIE SMITH - The Complete Recordings Vol. 4 (1928-1931) 2CD (1993) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

The fourth of five volumes (the first four are two-CD sets) that reissue all of Bessie Smith's recordings traces her career from a period when her popularity was at its height down to just six songs away from the halt of her recording career. But although her commercial fortunes might have slipped, Bessie Smith never declined and these later recordings are consistently powerful. The two-part "Empty Bed Blues" and "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" (hers is the original version) are true classics and none of the other 40 songs (including the double-entendre "Kitchen Man") are throwaways. With strong accompaniment during some performances by trombonist Charlie Green, guitarist Eddie Lang, Clarence Williams's band and on ten songs (eight of which are duets) the masterful pianist James P. Johnson, this volume (as with the others) is quite essential.

Tracklist 1:

1. Standin' In The Rain Blues 2:56

2. It Won't Be You 2:49

3. Spider Man Blues 3:24

4. Empty Bed Blues (Part 1) 3:03

5. Empty Bed Blues (Part 2) 3:22

6. Put It Right Here (Or Keep It Out There) 3:00

7. Yes Indeed He Do! 3:17

8. Devil's Gonna Git You 3:12

9. You Ought To Be Ashamed 3:08

10. Washwoman's Blues 3:10

11. Slow And Easy Man 2:58

12. Poor Man's Blues 3:26

13. Please Help Me Get Him Out Of My Mind 2:58

14. Me And My Gin 2:52

15. I'm Wild About That Thing 2:50

16. You've Got To Give Me Some 2:44

17. Kitchen Man 2:58

18. I've Got What It Takes (But It Breaks My Heart To Give It Away) 3:11

19. Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out 3:00

20. Take It Right Back ('Cause I Don't Want It Here) 3:20

Tracklist 2:

1. He's Got Me Goin' 3:15

2. It Makes My Love Come Down 2:58

3. Wasted Life Blues 3:05

4. Dirty No-Gooder's Blues 3:00

5. Blue Spirit Blues 2:58

6. Worn Out Papa Blues 2:51

7. You Don't Understand 3:06

8. Don't Cry Baby 3:12

9. Keep It To Yourself 3:33

10. New Orleans Hop Scop Blues 2:59

11. See If I'll Care 3:26

12. Baby Have Pity On Me 3:21

13. On Revival Day (A Rhythmic Spiritual) 2:57

14. Moan, You Moaners 3:13

15. Hustlin' Dan 3:33

16. Black Mountain Blues 3:11

17. In The House Blues 3:02

18. Long Old Road 3:28

19. Blue Blues 3:15

20. Shipwreck 3:20

These recordings reaching from the height of Bessie Smith's fame into her decline in popularity are required listening, covering the years 1928 through 1931. Not only was her voice stronger than ever, but her control over the material was topnotch; she balanced on the fine line between seductive charm and overt sexuality with apparent ease. Some of her best material ever appears on volume 4 of this 5-volume set, including "Standin' in the Rain Blues," "Empty Bed Blues" (speaking of overtness...), "Devil's Gonna Git You," "I'm Wild About That Thing," "Blue Spirit Blues"... but it's useless to even try to list favorites. Smith's voice is so rich and expressive despite the primitive recording technology of the day, one can only imagine what it must have been like to hear her live. And trombonist Charlie Green and pianist James P. Johnson are featured prominently here as well. by Genevieve Williams

BESSIE SMITH - The Complete Recordings, Vol. 5 : The Final Chapter (2CD) 1996 / FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Bessie Smith cut 160 sides for the Columbia and OKeh labels between 1923 and 1933, and the four previous two-CD/cassette box sets of her complete recordings released in the 1990s covered 154 of them, which introduces the question, what can a fifth two-CD/cassette box set contain in addition to the remaining six cuts? First, there are five previously unreleased alternate takes; second, there is the 15-minute low-fi soundtrack to the two-reel short St. Louis Blues, which constitutes the only film of Smith; and third, taking up all of the second CD/cassette, there are 72 minutes of interview tapes of Ruby Smith, Bessie Smith's niece, who traveled as part of her show. The box contains a "Parental Advisory -- Explicit Lyrics" warning because of the nature of Ruby Smith's reminiscences. You won't learn much about Bessie Smith's music from her niece's remarks, but you will learn a lot about her sexual preferences. by William Ruhlmann

The last two-CD set in this five-volume collection contains a lot of curiosities, and several pieces of required listening as well: "Need a Little Sugar in My Bowl," "Do Your Duty," and "Gimme a Pigfoot" are all here. For curiosities, there's the St. Louis Blues soundtrack, from a film short that contains the only footage of Smith. The second CD consists entirely of interviews with Smith's niece, Ruby Smith, which, while of secondary interest to the music, make for fascinating listening. In a gradual, rambling way, Ruby constructs an image of her famous aunt that reveals additional facets of the Empress of the Blues. by Genevieve Williams

Tracklist 1:

1. Need A Little Sugar In My Bowl 2:50

2. Safety Mama 3:26

3. Do Your Duty 3:27

4. Gimme A Pigfoot 3:31

5. Take Me For A Buggy Ride 2:38

6. I'm Down In The Dumps 3:12

7. The Yellow Dog Blues 3:18

8. Soft Pedal Blues 3:22

9. Nashville Women's Blues 3:19

10. Careless Love Blues 3:30

11. Muddy Water (A Mississippi Moan) 3:16

12. St. Louis Blues Soundtrack - Band Intro 0:45

13. St. Louis Blues Soundtrack - Crap Game 5:43

14. St. Louis Blues Soundtrack - St. Louis Blues 8:19

 Tracklist 2:

1. Bessie Smith & Ruby Smith - Bessie Disappears 4:50

2. Bessie Smith & Ruby Smith - Waldorf-Astoria Party 7:15

3. Bessie Smith & Ruby Smith - Bessie & Jack, I 2:52

4. Bessie Smith & Ruby Smith Bessie & Jack II - Bessie & The Ladies 10:23

5. Bessie Smith & Ruby Smith - Life On The Road, I 11:14

6. Bessie Smith & Ruby Smith - Life On The Road, II 14:02

7. Bessie Smith & Ruby Smith Bessie & Gertrude Saunders - Life On The Road, III 21:18

CD 1: tracks 1-6 - 20 November 1931 - 24 November 1933

CD 1: tracks 7-12 (Alternate Takes & Live) - 6 May 1925 - Late June 1929

CD 2: Ruby Smith Dialogue/Interview