Instant Access To 100,000+ Essays!

Bessie Smith Bessie Smith was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Her exact date of birth is unknown but it is said to be around 1894-6. She is known as ‘Empress of the Blues’. Her career took of when she was discovered by Ma Rainey when her show was passing through town in 1912. Ma took Bessie on the road with her. From then on Bessie worked in small-time travelling tent shows such as hony-tonks, carnivals and other small groups. Her first recording was called ‘Down Hearted Blues’ and was released in the spring of 1923. It was a total success and in the first year of it being released it had sold 2 million copies. In the mid-twenty’s she toured the entire south and most of the major northern cities. She was always the star attraction, but being the highest paid black entert