Bessie Smith

Contrary to Popular Belief, the Blues Were Not Born on the Mississippi Delta
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Contrary to Popular Belief, the Blues Were Not Born on the Mississippi Delta

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 / 16 May 2017
Historians Lynn Abbott and Doug Seroff debunk myths about the origins of blues music, locating them not in the Mississippi Delta but in southern black vaudeville.
How Pioneering Blues Women Were All But Written out of “Official” Blues History
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How Pioneering Blues Women Were All But Written out of “Official” Blues History

By
 / 14 January 2015
While industry gatekeepers were invested in a specific image of black performance, black performers themselves had different ideas.
Singing the Low-Down, Down-Low Blues
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Singing the Low-Down, Down-Low Blues

By
 / 11 July 2014
Women in jazz can sing about their same-sex experiences, while men tend to stay deeply in the closet. Odd, considering the genre once embraced such dalliances.
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Bessie Smith: The Complete Columbia Recordings

By
 / 4 December 2012