Bessie smith autobiography
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Bessie Smith
(1894-1937)
Who Was Bessie Smith?
Bessie Smith began to sing at a young age and in 1923 signed a contract with Columbia Records.
Bessie smith autobiography
Soon she was among the highest-paid Black performers of her time with hits like "Downhearted Blues." By the end of the 1920s, however, her popularity had lessened, though she continued to perform and made new recordings at the start of the Swing Era.
Her comeback and life were cut short when she died on September 26, 1937, from injuries sustained in an automobile accident outside of Clarksdale, Mississippi.
Early Life
Smith was born on April 15, 1894, in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
She was one of seven children. Her father, a Baptist minister, died soon after her birth, leaving her mother to raise her and her siblings. Around 1906 her mother and two of her brothers died and Smith and her remaining siblings were raised by their aunt.
It was around this time that Smith began to perform as a street singer, accompanied on the guitar