Early Morning Booze

You know you got it bad when the first thing you do before and above anything else is pour you a shot taking it straight to the head. Bessie Smith came from an impoverished household forced to perform on the streets with her guitarist brother to earn money to feed herself and her siblings. Saying she had it rough would be an understatement. Smith perspired, and blossomed as a blues artist after Columbia Records signed her to initiate the labels new series “race records.”

Bessie went on to do theatre and eventually became the highest paid entertainer of color of her time. A lack of trust and fear of anyone stealing her spotlight evolved Smith into a very difficult person to work with. Early on she became an excessive drinker, rarely was Smith ever seen sober. The booze as well as the Great Depression and the end of vaudeville deeply hindered the Empress of the Blues almost terminating her career. Unlike many artists today Bessie didn’t care who knew her for who she really was or the pain she was actually going thru. Watch her sing and chug her sorrows away in this video.