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1894:  Elizabeth (Bessie) Smith was born into poverty in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Around 1906: Smith was raised with her 5 remaining siblings in Tennessee by her aunt after both her parents and 2 of siblings passed away during her early childhood years. She also began singing and performing on the street alongside on of her brothers who was a guitarist.
Around 1919: Smith was discovered by famous blues singer Ma Rainey who became her mentor.
Early 1920's : Smith relocated to Philadelphia after having traveled and performed throughout the South.
1923:  Smith was discovered by a representative of Colombia Records and began recording with them. One of her songs , "Down Hearted Blues" took off and made her a blues star. It was around this time that she met and married Jack Gee whom she would later divorce in 1929.
Late 1920's: Throughout her career Smith worked with other influential artists of the time such as Louis Armstrong and Fletcher Henderson. One of her most famous songs was "Backwater Blues." Much of her music focused on poverty, oppression, and love.
1930's: Her career eventually began to decline due to the start of the Great Depression, a cultural shift, and her alcoholism. However, she was wildly successful known as the "Empress of Blues" and was the highest paid black performer at the time. She continued to tour and produce music up until her death even after ending her contract with Colombia Records.
1937: Smith dies in Clarksdale, Mississippi due to injuries sustained from a car accident. Many people believed that she would have survived if she had been given proper medical attention and had instead been a white woman instead.

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Down Hearted Blues Important Lyrics and Meaning

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Down Hearted Blues Important Lyrics and Meaning

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Composed in 1922 by American jazz singer Alberta Hunter, and fellow musician Love Austin, "Down Hearted Blues" was released as Bessie Smith's first single. The song immediately became a hit, with around 780,000 copies sold in the first six months of the songs release, and eventually two million copies sold in total. The lyrics of the first few lines of the song are as follows:

Gee, but it's hard to love someone
When that someone don't love you
I'm so disgusted, heartbroken, too
I've got those down-hearted blues...

The song tells the story of a woman who has lost the love of her life, and shows how fragile and rare love is. It exposes listeners to the woman's feelings of utter heartbreak. The ideas presented by this song fit unsurprisingly with those of the 1920's American Blues.

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Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out: 1929

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Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out: 1929

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Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out Important Lyrics and Meaning

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Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out Important Lyrics and Meaning

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"Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out," written by Jimmie Cox, became one of Bessie Smith's greatest hits of all time. The song was written in 1923, five years after World War I, and right at the peak of the Roaring Twenties. Though the song was written in the face of all the optimism, it exposes the erratic nature of prosperity and wealth, and urges listeners to be more cautious with their possessions. Bessie Smith sings:

Once I lived the life of a millionaire
Spendin' my money, I didn't care
I carried my friends out for a good time
Buying bootleg liquor, champagne and wine,
Then I began to fall so low
I didn't have a friend and no place to go
So if I ever get my hand on a dollar again
I'm gonna hold on to it till them eagle's grin
Nobody knows you
When you're down and out
In my pocket not one penny
And my friends, I haven't any...

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"Bessie Smith." Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, 28 Apr. 2017. Web. https://www.biography.com/people/bessie-smith-9486520 Accessed 6 Jan. 2018.

"Bessie Smith." Britannica School, Encyclopedia Britannica, 31 Oct. 2017.school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Bessie-Smith/68273. Accessed 7 Jan. 2018.

“Bessie Smith – Nobody Knows When    You're Down and Out.” Genius, genius.com/Bessie-smith-nobody-knows-when-youre-down-and-out-lyrics.

Bettmann. “The Duke Ellington Orchestra performs ‘Take the A Train’ with singer Bette Roche in the film Reveille with Bevelery.” Biography.com, Getty Images, Jan. 1943, https://www.biography.com/news/duke-ellington-facts-duke-ellington-day

“Down Hearted Blues Lyrics.” Bessie Smith - Down Hearted Blues Lyrics | MetroLyrics, www.metrolyrics.com/down-hearted-blues-lyrics-bessie-smith.html.

RagtimeDorianHenry. “Bessie Smith (Down Hearted Blues, 1923) Jazz Legend.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 3 June 2009. Web. 6 Jan. 2018.

RagtimeDorianHenry. “Bessie Smith (Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out, 1929) Jazz Legend.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 4 June 2009. Web. 6 Jan. 2018.

Van Vechten, Carl. "Bessie Smith." Wikimedia Commons, United States Library of Congress, 3 Feb. 1936, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bessie_Smith_(1936)_by_Carl_Van_Vechten.jpg#/media/File:Bessie_Smith_(1936)_by_Carl_Van_Vechten.jp

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Bessie Smith became known as the "Empress of the Blues" and has influenced musicians such as Billie Holliday, Aretha Franklin, and Janis Joplin. She has also been the topic of many movies and plays especially those surrounding the circumstances of her death and was recently played by Queen Latifah in a biopic. Smith's music immortalized "the frustrations and hopes of a whole generation of black Americans" (Bessie Smith Britannica) during the Harlem Renaissance.