Bessie Smith
"Empress of the Blues"
my music
I'd Rather Be Dead and Buried
blues
I wrote this back in 1926, one of my best. "I'm like a fox without a hole, a ship without a sail"....I got that right. Dig Louie Armstrong's wild cornet playing at the beginning and throughout this song. Maybe it's time to be swearin' off men for good!
I Used To Be Your Sweet Mama
blues
Ain't it amazing what a bad man can do to a good woman? This is some of the best lyrics I ever wrote:
"you had your chance, and proved unfaithful. So now I'm gonna be, mean and hateful ~ I used to be your sweet mama, sweet papa, but now I'm just as sour as can be."
Pinpocket Blues
blues
I loved recording this one with Louie and Fletcher ~ check out the great call and response I have going with the horns! We could barely record it since we were laughing so hard through the whole thing! These boys just crack me up. If you look around this site you'll find them here too!
Thinking Blues
blues
Did you ever set thinkin' with a thousand things on your mind? Well I'd say just about everyday. I'm really proud of the vocal I put down on this one, of course I always sing best when I've got a broken heart...
Foolish Man Blues
blues
You know sometimes I play the Fool, and sometimes I don't, but I wrote this one for my man. I know he's a Fool most of the time. oh yes. Crooked as a corkscrew and evil as a copper headed snake.
Check out Louie Armstrong's lovely horn on this one.
Dyin' By the Hour
blues
This song is the dark sister to "Downhearted Blues". Both of these songs so low and empty there just ain't nothing left to do but moan a little. The horns cry along with me in this tune.
Looking For My Man Blues
blues
There's some great chords in this song ~ and I swear Coleman Hawkins finds every last one. This song is alive with feeling and quietly reflecting at the same time.
Homeless Blues
blues
This is me and Louie Armstrong circa 1927. So glad these recordings came out so well! You can really get a feel for what we sounded like back then. Course I'm so blessed to have these great musicians playing on my tunes.
A Good Man is Hard to Find
blues
I always thought of switchin the words "good" and "hard" in this song's title. Might end up being a little more interesting eh? Ha! No couldn't do that though, too many righteous folk around in my day ~ it would've given them a heart attack.
Mean Old Bed Bug Blues
blues
Well I've been in flophouses all over the South on my tours, and let me tell you I've had experiences with all kinds of things in my bed. And these bugs aren't even the worst thing!
Lock and Key
blues
"When I get home I'm gonna change my, lock and key. When you get home you'll find a change in me." This song has some of the funniest lyrics I ever wrote ~ I got inspired to write it after I kicked this guy out in his underwear! Ha! Best not be making me angry.
Sweet Mistreater
blues
I love the call and response with the piano on this tune. Wish I could take credit for it, but it was written by Henry Creamer in 1927. That's me singing and James Johnson playing piano!
Hot Spring Blues
blues
Hot Spring water sure run good and hot. Loved soaking in them when I was singing around the country, back in my day. The whole band would go and we'd drink and carry on all night. Those were the days.
Them Graveyard Words
blues, country blues
Where Useless Words Go to Die. Of course this song is referring to something else. When my man told me he was running around with another girl behind my back, I had to tell him it's over. He sent our love to the graveyard.
Send me to the 'Lectric Chair
blues
Judge, judge, good mister judge,
Let me go away from here
I wanna take a journey
To the devil down below
I done killed my man
I wanna reap just what I sow
Oh judge, judge, lordy lordy judge
Send me to the 'lectric chair
Trombone Cholly
blues
Oh Charlie Green, love to hear you blow that horn. Charlie has been described as "A superior blues player who could also swing fairly early". He was one of the early trombonists and the first strong jazz soloist in the Fletcher Henderson orchestra (joining slightly before Louis Armstrong).
There'll Be A Hot Time IN The Old Town Tonight
blues, swing/big band, standards, classic jazz
Here's a classic jazz tune for you written in 1896 ~ I bet you'll know the melody already!
"Come along get you ready
Wear your bran, bran new gown,
For dere's gwine to be a meeting
In that good, good old town,
Where you knowed everybody,
And they all knowed you,
And you've got a rabbit's foot
To keep away the hoodoo
Muddy Water (Mississippi Moan)
blues, delta
This song was recorded in 1927 with my boys. There were some amazing musicians in my band at the time. The pulse of the horns in this song is as mysterious as the River herself ~
Buster Bailey: Clarinet
Coleman Hawkins: Tenor Saxophone
Bob Fuller: Clarinet, Alto Saxophone
Jimmy Harrison: Trombone
Joe Smith: Cornet
Alexander's Rag Time Band
jazz, swing/big band, standards
New Orleans lives! Listen to our fabulous version of Irving Berlin's huge hit from 1911. All the horns are singing in this one! This tune was played on the decks of the Titanic by the ship's band, as the ship sank on April 15, 1912.
The song has been recorded by many artists, including Al Jolson, Billy Murray, Louis Armstrong, George Formby, Bing Crosby, The Andrews Sisters, Bessie Smith (me), Ella Fitzgerald, and Ray Charles.
After You've Gone
blues, jazz blues
Remember that movie "All That Jazz" about Bob Fosse from many years ago? This song was featured in one of the dream sequences. Too bad I wasn't around to collect on it! I'd be a rich angel now, sittin' up in heaven. Dig the ORIGINAL here baby! I do it better.
