Bessie Smith

USA, 1920–1937

American blues singer (1894-1937), billed as the Empress of the Blues and the highest-paid Black performer of the 1920s. Her recordings with Louis Armstrong and others are central documents of classic blues.

MusicRoots documents 1 artist who influenced Bessie Smith and 7 artists Bessie Smith influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.

Who influenced Bessie Smith?

• Ma Rainey — Ma Rainey was Bessie Smith's early mentor, taking her on tour and teaching her the classic blues tradition.

Which artists did Bessie Smith influence?

• Janis Joplin — Bessie Smith was Joplin's primary vocal model; Janis paid for Bessie's gravestone in 1970.
• Dinah Washington — Washington carried Bessie Smith's irrepressible blues spirit and flair — she devoted an entire album to Smith's songs.
• Mahalia Jackson — Jackson admitted in interviews that as a young woman she secretly listened to Bessie Smith records despite her family's religious ban on secular music.
• Billie Holiday — Bessie Smith was the other half of Holiday's self-declared formula — the 'big sound' she chased from childhood listening.
• Big Mama Thornton — Thornton named Bessie Smith among the voices she grew up on — the classic blues shouting tradition she carried into R&B.
• LaVern Baker — Baker revered Bessie Smith deeply enough to record a full tribute album, 'LaVern Baker Sings Bessie Smith' — the classic-blues power beneath her R&B.
• Bob Wills — Wills idolised Bessie Smith — he once rode 35 miles on horseback to see her perform — and folded her rowdy 'city blues' into the western-swing sound.