Bessie Smith
About 1913 Bessie Smith toured in a show with Ma Rainey, one of the first of the great blues singers, from whom she received some training. After 1920 she made her home in Philadelphia, and it was there that she was first heard by Clarence Williams, a representative of Columbia Records. In February 1923 she made her first recordings, including the classic “Down Hearted Blues,” which became an enormous success, selling more than two million copies.