Empty Bed Blues Bessie Smith

[sacharova]

what a voice! wow

[oscardoombug]

love the dirty jazz and what a voice....late night listening for me .....

[TheGurra96]

5 peopels was born 1999



[deathpill100]

@TheGurra96 I was born in '98 and this kind of music is one of my favorite genres. Close-minded much?

[operamichael]

Great stuff !!

[warmwarmerdisco]

much love for this lady. absolutely brilliant music!

[DasHinchen]

wow, I want this guy too. ;D

[zingaradel63]

Avevano chiuso gli occhi ,la camera era quasi al buio e si sentiva stridere la puntina sul vecchio disco....rabbrividendo a ritmo o a contrattempo..singhiozzando dentro di sè per non allontanarsi dai blues del letto vuoto,l'indomani,le scarpe nelle pozzanghere,immagine cenerina dell'alba nello specchio ai piedi del letto,i blues,il cafard infinito della vita.....perchè era così quel blues quando era cantato da Bessie..?

[Beatlesgirl74]

Thank you!

[angelssuger07]

i looked up this song because

they talk about this song and a

few others in the new Midnight Breed book

"Deeper Than Midnight" by Lara Adrian

[ItsAncientHistory]

@angelssuger07 Me Too!

[dog1cats3bird1]

Thank you for posting this.

[allieddrsc1]

Bessy Smith, undoubtedly you are the mother of all singers. I just can't get enough of you music, your style, and everything your craft encloses. Your voice lift my soul like Jesus raised Lazarus from his grave.

[beautifulmoon14]

buuuuuuu este video da asco es aburridisimo arriba yo siiiiiiiiiii

s

[3Glimpse3]

@beautifulmoon14 a mi me encanta. "BUUU"? En serio, estas en kinder garden? Por seacaso, no soy una vieja, tengo 17. "BU" tú

[unclealand]

Rowdy, down and dirty, Bessie Smith didn't even mean to set the bar that high. It was just good singin' to her, but this stuff is as tasty today as it was when she first made it. And this is the first time I've heard the complete version of "Empty Bed Blues." Many thanks. Many, many thanks.

[Broblem12]

Sassy and sexy and just plainly brilliant. Thank you and blessings. :{ )

[kircholagh]

she has an amazing voice!!! RIP Bessie

[nicodagger]

Is that Jack Teagarden playing the Bone?

[MoleDFigg]

@nicodagger

It is Charlie Green on tmb. (Read my notes by clicking the double arrows to the right)

[gailfinn]

@nicodagger Oh hell no!!!!

[animasola49]

When my bed get empty make me feel awful mean and blue

My springs are getting rusty, sleeping single like I do

Bought him a blanket, pillow for his head at night

Bought him a blanket, pillow for his head at night

Then I bought him a mattress so he could lay just right

[bdoach]

I am a deep sea diver!!!!!!!!!! And u already know im long winded

[gladys4321]

What is this song about? Can somebody explain please?

[MoleDFigg]

@gladys4321

As Louis Armstrong said, when asked "What is jazz?"

"If you gotta ask, you'll never know!!"

[XiaoPow]

@MoleDFigg

I disagree, that's not the same thing. He probably wanted to know what the back story to this song was.

[geo4bio]

@MoleDFigg I'm pretty sure it was Fats Waller who said that.

[unseenarchives]

@gladys4321

its about sex.

[guitarslim56]

@gladys4321 Inadequacies of the electoral college in a post-modern industrialized society.

[revolution1940]

@gladys4321 it is sexually suggestive..... think about it ;)

[JackieVCole]

@gladys4321 *ahem* well, I always thought that it was about, erm, a ...Just think of the coffee grinder as a...you know what? I defer to MoleDFigg's answer.

[noirpoetix1]

@gladys4321 The song is about her losing her boyfriend to her friend Lu. She talks about how good her man is in bed and after telling Lu about it she realized Lu was acting as if she had slept with him as well. She also talks about him coming home and making love to her "what he had to give me made me raise my hands and cry". It's all about sexual innuendos back then.

[rtifishul]

Oh, Bessie, who hurt you? 

[opheliarises]

Full lyrics would rock!

[treintamillones]

this is so tom y jerry

[54Tutu]

She sings it like it is!

[lauralikes]

sexy song

[musicaldawnful]

Love those dresses she's wearing. Brilliant singer, and woman.

[MichaelJackson0o]

What a song, brilliant song! I go around singing it all day long x]

[Corrie121]

Some Lady: Some song!

Thanks for sharing.

[68shamoa]

remarkable song! sha sang pain as no one never did, also with humor I think...great!

[KatzenImNebel]

What a fantastic song / video! Thanks for sharing!

[22483511]

Hi Clive,MoleDFigg. Got this one too.Think it is the same version. Mine is on Columbia Swing Music Series D.B.2796 (2 sides of course) .Doesn't give the date though.

Ah! memories of my youth. Roy.

[storgodt]

i have to hear this :'(

[Nayakan]

Sing It Lady, You Sing It

[TheLittleFelloow]

I woke up this morning with a awful aching head

I woke up this morning with a awful aching head

My new man had left me, just a room and a empty bed

Bought me a coffee grinder that's the best one I could find

Bought me a coffee grinder that's the best one I could find

Oh, he could grind my coffee, 'cause he had a brand new grind

[sandydidit]

Some historians argue she is the most influential pop singer of the 20th century -- that you can trace her influence as a belter and as an original lyric stylist from Billie Holliday to Etta James to Aretha Franklin to Frank Sinatra to Janis Joplin, Robert Plant, and the classic rock cosmos of "cock-rock" singers. Bessie Smith is a glorious pioneer who deserves constant rediscovery.

[MoleDFigg]

Thanks for your comments. I agree that her influence was monumental, but I wonder what she would have thought about today's lyric-less drivel!!

[lynnetteb711]

@sandydidit: Well put and spot on.

[Exkwsit]

oh and we were couldn't help but laugh at the sexual metaphors in the lyrics which is another trait of rural blues (or urban i forget)

[MoleDFigg]

Urban, I think.  And, yes, the metaphors tickled me too (grind, stroke, head, lay etc.) but I wonder how she got away with the references to her elbows being sore (to say nothing of the penultimate verse) in those days!

Thanks for your comments.

Clive.

[DrumlineArchives]

Studying this in my history of jazz class. THanks for posting!

As for the sexual innuendo, this was considered a race record, and the mainstream white music industry didn't really care what the African American population listened to. Later, when African music began to influence mainstream music (IE rock and roll), THEN it started to be cleaned up by record labels.

[lynnetteb711]

@DrumlineArchives: the white music industry did care as they are the ones that named the recordings, "race" records. African Americans not only influence "mainstream" music, they basically invented it and that includes rocknroll.

[nicodagger]

@lynnetteb711 Damn skippy!!!!!!!!!

[apolloniasixer]

@Exkwsit Word!

[Exkwsit]

she really made an impact with the 12 bar blues (a blues form) that showed up in future blues and country

[giantsboy96]

imagine if they had duke ellington playing piano

[COLYERFAN]

Thanks for that - I have an LP somewhere. She was only 42 when she died!

[LindaMoyer]

Nothing better than Bessie-great record from one of history's best singers. She sounds fresh in any era. Love this.

[Jazzbobill]

Glad to see that you finally dug this one out of the archives Clive. In my opinion, it's one of Bessie's best. Charlie was also a mean horn player.

[old6is]

great recordingn and what can one say 'bout Ms Smith? What a gal.

[jphar]

Superb, fantastic!

Thanks Clive,

John

[tamla1942domino]

great stuff thanks

[fredjmp]

Obrigado Clive muito bom . Gosto de Bessie !