1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910451793303321

Autore

Albertson Chris

Titolo

Bessie [[electronic resource] /] / Chris Albertson

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New Haven, Conn. ; ; London, : Yale University Press, 2003

ISBN

1-4945-0370-0

9786611740658

1-281-74065-9

0-300-12706-5

Edizione

[Rev. and expanded ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (335 p.)

Disciplina

782.421643092

Soggetti

African American women singers

Singers - United States

Blues (Music) - 1931-1940

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Originally published: New York, N.Y. : Stein and Day, 1972.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references, discography and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- Author's Note -- Acknowledgments -- Bessie -- Epilogue -- Notes -- Suggested Reading -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

Considered by many to be the greatest blues singer of all time, Bessie Smith was also a successful vaudeville entertainer who became the highest paid African-American performer of the roaring twenties. This book-a revised and expanded edition of the classic biography of this extraordinary artist-debunks many of the myths that have circulated since her untimely death in 1937.Chris Albertson writes with insight and candor about the singer's personal life and her career, supplementing his historical research with dozens of interviews with her relatives, friends, and associates, in particular Ruby Walker Smith, a niece by marriage who toured with Bessie for over a decade. For this new edition he includes more details of Bessie's early years, new interview material, and a chapter devoted to events and responses that followed the original publication in 1971.