Browsing: Bessie Smith

“balling the jack” a popular phrase from blues songs, rail yards, dance halls, and even Harlem plays and eventually the silver screen! Find all about “Balling the Jack”!

Fifty four years ago today, one of the most powerful, influential vocalists of the modern era passed away. Though her life was plagued with pain, she overcame all odds to create a stunning musical legacy.

Bessie Smith is rumored to have died, after an automobile crash, at a local hospital in Clarksdale. Could she have been saved? What really happened that night on Highway 61 outside of Clarksdale, Mississippi

Where a decade ago, popular blues-playing women were hard to come by, today, there is no shortage of vastly popular & endlessly talented ladies in the blues. While it took a deplorable seven decades, the timing is perfect.

Holy cow, Hugh Laurie (Dr. House) is one hardcore blues fan with amazingly insightful things to say about the blues and his many, often very early blues favorites.