Blues Artist Biography : Bessie Smith by Katherine Toole https://padlet.com/toolek/jy6h4zc77bwp Music Appreciation 5B Mr. Mills en-us 2019-03-21 15:28:24 UTC 2026-01-16 19:04:46 UTC hello@padlet.com Childhood toolek https://padlet.com/toolek/jy6h4zc77bwp/wish/343849721 Bessie Smith was born on April 15, 1894. She was born in a small town in Tennessee called Chattanooga.  Her parents were William Smith and Laura Owens, married into the name Smith. Her father was a part-time Baptist Preacher and her mother who did not work. When Bessie was 9 her mother died along with her brother. She had and older sister named Viola who took care of her siblings after that. Before that Bessie's father had also died. To make money Bessie and her brother Andrew performed on the streets also know as busking.]]> 2019-03-21 15:30:58 UTC https://padlet.com/toolek/jy6h4zc77bwp/wish/343849721 New Beginnings toolek https://padlet.com/toolek/jy6h4zc77bwp/wish/343856917 Bessie's recording career started in 1923 when she auditioned for Black Swan Recordings but she did not get the part because they said she was to aggressive. Bessie believed that she did not get the part because several of the casting agents were white. After that Bessie moved to Philadelphia and meet her husband to be, named Jack Gee.  ]]> 2019-03-21 15:41:38 UTC https://padlet.com/toolek/jy6h4zc77bwp/wish/343856917 Music Career toolek https://padlet.com/toolek/jy6h4zc77bwp/wish/344877457 Bessie first made her appearance in 1913 at the Atlantis '81' Theater.   By 1920 she developed a name in the East and South. Bessie got her first record deal in 1923 with the Columbia Records by Frank Walter. After many songs and albums with Columbia, she was nicknamed the "Queen of Blues".  By this time in her career she had many songs, for example, Gimme a Pigfoot and Nobody Knows You.  Her music contained themes and tones of what it is like to be a black woman in the 1920s.]]> 2019-03-25 15:32:28 UTC https://padlet.com/toolek/jy6h4zc77bwp/wish/344877457 Bessie's Music toolek https://padlet.com/toolek/jy6h4zc77bwp/wish/344886305 An example of one of Bessie's songs is "The Gin House Blues".  
In the song "The Gin House Blues" . Bessie just wants to drink Gin and have fun instead of sleeping and doing work. I do think that the lyrics still apply to modern society because people still would rather have fun and drink than do what they need to do like sleep and take care of child and go to work.  

I don't think so many people would still listen too it because blues is not popular any more. To make the song relevant to todays society you would probably have to take away the saxophone and put in an instrument like a bass guitar.


]]> 2019-03-25 15:48:18 UTC https://padlet.com/toolek/jy6h4zc77bwp/wish/344886305 Bessie Smith toolek https://padlet.com/toolek/jy6h4zc77bwp/wish/344893567 2019-03-25 16:00:51 UTC https://padlet.com/toolek/jy6h4zc77bwp/wish/344893567 Bibliography toolek https://padlet.com/toolek/jy6h4zc77bwp/wish/344894403 Works Cited
“Bessie Smith.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Mar. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessie_Smith.
Sullivan, Jim. “'Her Voice Is Needed Now': The Cabot Honors Blues Legend Bessie Smith.” 'Her Voice Is Needed Now': The Cabot Honors Blues Legend Bessie Smith | The ARTery, WBUR, 30 Nov. 2018, www.wbur.org/artery/2018/11/30/bessie-smith-empress-blues-the-cabot.

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