Introduction
The Blues started to come around in the 1920s after Ragtime. The blues is a 12 bar beat with the sad songs that go with it. The men of Blues were expressing their struggles are black men in the United States. Meanwhile, women singing the Blues were singing about sex and sadness. So even though the music business is male-dominated, the women’s music industry took over the blues.
Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith started her recording career in 1923. Smith had a rich voice and was more than capable of moving and shaking listeners. Smith is known for being one of the first performers of either gender to include Blues in her stage act. Smith’s track “Downhearted Blues” sold about an estimated amount of 800,00 copies. Smith dies at the age of 43 in a car crash. Smith died being known as “The Empress of the Blues.”
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Sister Rosetta Tharpe started in the church and was heavily influenced by the gospel. In the 1930s, Tharpe released her first sides on Decca records. While Tharpe is singing “This little light of Mine,” it is evident that Tharpe has a passion for gospel colored with blues. As a guitarist, she has significantly influenced the next generation of rock and roll musicians after her. Tharpe died on October 9th of a stroke in Philadelphia.
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was the first of either gender to bring highly personal lived experiences to the Blues. Holiday cut her first song in 1993, but it was recorded in the 1940s. Holiday’s song “Stange Fruit” starts with Mexican horns over heavy minor chords. The naked fragility of her voice makes it so compelling to a listener. Unfortunately, holiday died from complications that started from years of alcohol and drug abuse in 1959.
