Bessie Smith Photographs by Carl Van Vechten: Picture 5
The Empress of the Blues: Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith's success did not exempt her from segregation; one way she dealt with segregated railway travel was buying her own railroad car, to carry herself and the others accompanying her on tours.
She performed on record and in person with many of the jazz greats. She collaborated with Louis Armstrong on "St. Louis Blues" and "Cold in Hand Blues" in 1925 in acoustic recordings, and "Careless Love Blues," "Ain't Gonna Play No Second Fiddle," and "Nashville Woman's Blues" after the move to electrical recordings.
Pictures in this series: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Index
Images of Bessie Smith courtesy of Library of Congress
