Bessie Smith - St. Louis Blues (1929)

[killgreed]

Absolutely priceless, complete forever classic video!!

[13velvety]

oh holy hell help me lord

[CMloveify]

love

[myfanniejigglesaboot]

a lot of power in all these voice singing together. it confuses me

[MissSparkles10]

watching this for my American Popular Music class =)

[pleasureman666]

oldest music video in the world!

[fishpaw100]

I THANK YOUTUBE FOR GIVING US A CHANCE TO SEE THE BEST!

[Livvikate1]

It's good job for Silas and his snowball hair people I am not kidding.

[Quaaludedude714]

I like Her Schtuf:) QC

[MSMETALBABY]

I love her voice.

[dbbrown1949]

I wish Queen Latifah would make a biopic of Bessie Smith.Who else could pull it off?

[CZWTNAANDINDYZ]

wow love this song in Kill Bill can't believe it's here.

[Boossology]

TheQueen!!!!! love you for ever!

[MrKazikes]

Bessie to jak chodzenie po mokrej trawie

[gdl0748]

This woman didn't have a tombstone until Janis Joplin bought one for her. There would be no blues without her. God bless you, Bessie. You have millions of fans around the world still today.

[itchytooth]

I am COVERED in goosebumps. Wow.

[cajanwitch60]

Look for the movie The Saint Louis Blues! Starring NAT KING COLE & THE BEAUTIFUL EARTHA KITT. The music is Well Hell there just isn't words. You will be astounded at what some of these amazing composers had to go through just to do what comes natural to them.

[sTapleEVA]

aw the 20s :) remember them fondly. just kidding aha

[cynthia2221]

WOW! Very cool!

[net60man]

I like and try to understand,this time, hope I can. the

world differs,

[ArtisticPropaganda]

GAH 2:35! Gives me CHILLS!

[ArtisticPropaganda]

HANDS DOWN!!! THE BEST VERSION EVER RECORDED OF THIS SONG!! I'VE LISTENED TO IT 3 TIMES IN A ROW AND HAVE RESORTED TO TYPING IN ALL CAPS!!

[net60man]

We have to remember, they showed the way, Some of them great.

[stacey8830]

Wow. Just wow. This is what music should be about...how it should sound...what a legend.

[lightninginthesky]

@pArTyBOE82 I'm black, so I'll stay put.

[tempress100]

i love her

[kailuagirl87]

@pArTyBOE82 im good. id rather not go back to shameless racism, sexism and violence. Oh wait, thats now too, isn't it?......Let me know whats up with your little time rocket ship thing.

[kidinconverse]

what an excellent voice she had...

[Jadensamma]

Kill Bill sent me.

[tempress100]

@Jadensamma This is the real version. It's so cute lol

[vinobody]

I may shock some purists but i find a lot of common grounds in the way she and Jim Morrison sing the Blues...of course she did it first...

[Kamten]

KILLBILL!!!!!!

[liveandmore]

I'm speechless. What a gem!

[ChenoahOwassa]

The choir did not need mics you can hardly hear Bessie.

[willpn100]

The honking melody of rock and roll music has a clearly defined ancestry in jazz going back to Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith of 85 years ago. Bessie Smith was ahead of her time.

[dramaticafantastica]

I can't find this version anywhere else :(

[OnlyThus]

I love the bartender.

[WolfPackLeader]

This woman was sensational. If she were recording today with the hi-fidelity she'd rule the airwaves.

[Crashontheone]

Amazing to know that we, as musicians, have made no movement away from this classic piece of work. This is a great example showing that nothing is "new". Nice work Bessie. Peace.

[magsmagenta]

@pArTyBOE82 Its on my list if The Doctor ever comes to call with his Tardis, along with Duke Ellington at the Cotton Club, Iron Maiden at the Cart and Horses, and Adam Lambert at the Upright Cabaret.

[cherrrianna]

There's the part where Jimmy comes back and takes her money...?

[Ktonrider]

The 1st music video ever. Period.

[crayonplane]

Wow! what a great clip and singer! Very amazing.

[bessie333]

lul my name is bessie :]

[amandalectron]

Wow, an old classic...my dad played her records when I was a kid...I remember that my mom & I were slightly scandalized...glad I had her to swing to as a wee one...

[janisjiji]

@pArTyBOE82

yeah im up or it! when shall i move?x

[bettyfelon1]

This is by far the coolest thing I've seen on You Tube!

[fedep19]

Que heermosa vooz (L

[fizetr]

Totally a Goddes

[TheWeeklyCorn]

What a tremendous beautiful voice and talent. She's influenced so much it's tragic how she died so young. She was to good to die from a drug overdose like today's singers

[kukanonote1]

Que hermoso Blues.....



[Eloybb1]

TALENTO

[highihigh]

can she come and clean my house??

[MsTWEEKIE]

@highihigh Fuck you! GOD GIFTED THIS WOMAN WITH AN AMAZING VOICE SO SHE DIDN,T HAVE TO WORK FOR POOR WHITE TRASH LIKE YOU.

[MsTWEEKIE]

@highihigh This lady was and still is  famous,a legend still loved and remembered by millions. Who is going to remember your racist ignorant ass?

[MsTWEEKIE]

@highihigh She sounds like an angel. I,m thrilled this stereotypical film was made.? Her talent was and is phenomenal. I don,t think she cleaned any crackers nasty ass houses. She made enough money to hire help. 

[bri343]

i was born way after (1984) but man what the fuck happened to talent

[killgreed]

@bri343 It will get better, it will not be televised though? You are it?!

[MissPaulih]

@killgreed well i was born in 1993 and i think this is amazing!

[Foogayzee]

Does anyone know the history of this video? What is it's origin?

[ersy100]

@Foogayzee

In 1929, Smith made her only film appearance, starring in a two-reeler titled St. Louis Blues, based on W. C. Handy's song of the same name. In the film, directed by Dudley Murphy and shot in Astoria, she sings the title song accompanied by members of Fletcher Henderson's orchestra, the Hall Johnson Choir, pianist James P. Johnson and a string section — a musical environment radically different from any found on her recordings.

[kukanonote1]

@Foogayzee sorry for my bad english.... the Saint Louis Blues is a Film... early sound film....

[brunodanx]

1:25 Will Smith in the trumpet and Barack Obama in the sax.

[Vladislaussy]

@brunodanx lol

[m6Ds]

INCREDIBLE VOICE!!

[duggy51]

I'm loving the bartender. That cigarette's like a fucking cigar!! I want one!

[gemskii42]

@poser077 Listen to About Her by Malcolm McLaren. You will find your answer.

[poser077]

does n e 1 knw where i can get this version all of them are with music???

[TAfTfilms]

Straaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa­awberry woman!

[postatility]

Could Queen Latifah play her in a biopic? I'm serious---it just might work...

[Nickyk729]

@postatility

I heard that rumor years ago that Queen Latifah was going to do a movie about Bessie. But that rumor has been around since 1995. I don't know if she's still going to do it. To my knowledge Latifah has never mentioned it. She would be perfect for the role. See how she looks alot like Bessie and they both like women.

[iluvyouwyatt]

Haunting voice.

[fherguzonFletcher]

awesome

[StevensReviews]

Interesting, this track has now lost it's copyright. If someone were to remake this, they'd be on the money!

[teamfuq]

If only we were lucky enough to be alive when it was possible to know her.

[XampyFontinhas]

The Marvelous One!

[sprigglebot]

She's absolutely amazing. I envy her vocal talent.

[akronsthehardest]

was this during prohibition

[RememberSoCal]

@akronsthehardest yeah, probably mid to late 20s

[jpablo1128]

Hey, that video is very nice, i like much, it is my favorit years...

[jpablo1128]

Me encanta esta canción, aunque no puede vivir esta fabulosa época la anhelo mucho...

[kevinherbert]

The first music videos....

[udongo106]

...I hear ya in 2011....Wsir

[Monkeyspankerelite]

I think Big Mama Thornton listened a lot to Bessie. This is real BLUES!! Gotta love it :)

[busessuck1]

... apparently the guitarist and harpist in the bandstand are Bobby Leecan & Robert Cooksey... which would've been considered class if people knew who they were

But then "Fatalion" means jack shit and people seem to like it so whatever

[bklyngurlygurl]

sing BESSIE sing!

[michelle061566]

She is soooooo awesome

[michelle061566]

She is soooooo awsome

[BWMcT]

@1:19 rousing

[wings744]

This gal had an AMAZING talent! Crude, foul-mouthed, violent, she was all that sure, but take an historical look at the time and strata of society that she had to endure and live in, it doesn't diminish the the fact that the power of her voice resonates through our collective culture, I would be surprised if a Gaga, Brittany or X-tina could accomplish the same. O, and what IS a 'fatalion'?

[sagat4]

How come nobody is exactly sure of her date of birth?

[theiceman74]

I wish I had a gurl who became alcoholic cuz of me.....:) Ofcourse I would heal her

[gabobeaulieu]

is it like the first music video ever doned? I hope so, this should be on TV

[WakkoLuver39]

nowadays we have dummies such as Ke$ha and Willow Smith are Overrated or Fake-Popular! Bessie Smith is TRUE Popular and famous!

[ThatsaCryinShame]

@WakkoLuver39 i love bessie smith too! but on a separate note there people back then who thought this music sucked, and preferred opera and classical. music is funny like that, someday our grandkids will look back at kesha like music today sucks. scary no?

[scoobt00b]

@ThatsaCryinShame Ke$ha does sucks ass

[wings744]

@ThatsaCryinShame- I get ya, I try to be open, but I can't help wonder if I'm gonna be chilling with a snifter of twelve year old Brandy or a six month old wine cooler. Either way, I keep trying to dance to it!

[ElectricShark]

Heard her sing in Kill Bill.

She's amazing!

[plasmoplasmoplasmo]

what i would give to be in that room to hear beauty.

[AAErikCO]

This clip is so great! James P. Johnson at the piano too. I've heard this is the only film he ever appeared on, is this true?

[freddyratly]

When I listen to beauties like this, I feel ashamed for what modern music has turned into. Some modern music may be catchy, but this... This is a work of art.

[D8271]

I was a child when this was on tv...since that, I am jazzy as hell.

[1982Breezy]

I love watching this clip because Bessies voice was so strong & powerful but soo sad at the same time.I cant even begin to imagine what times were like for these people back then but you can sure see it in their faces.And Im also like wow how that band was playing together in such a small space all smushed together like that.Amazing,thanx so much for this post! The youth of america needs to see this!They think they disearve everything they get,like something is owed to the spoiled brats!

[LaVivaLaRosa]

@1982Breezy

What a powerful voice

[1982Breezy]

@LaVivaLaRosa Very much so,The first time I heard her when I was a teenager-I cried.

[aurumdrakone]

that voice just makes you tremble

[Puppylove358]

Wow! Such a powerful voice...

[whythewar1]

I would so do her...

[amd77j]

I still remember the first time I saw this clip as a child. I was as stunned back then that anyone could express such sorrow and power as I am now.

[willastley]

Yeah... What is "fatalion"?

[oancitizen]

@willastley I think it means "death by lion"

[HDcamera97]

This was back when there was no auto tune. That's how you know that this is real talent!

[XPIOLT]

Incredible! No body can sing the blues like Bessie! Thanks for posting this gem.

[EthanOberlin]

Hollywood should recreate this, i would be the happiest person in the world. Amber Riley, Quenn Latifa, Jennifer Hudson should do this it would be awesome.

[ChuChu353]

HO - LEE - SHIT!!!!! This is it..... this is what it's all about! This is where it all started :-D

[keds93]

Holy crap, it's the first music video! I don't feel so old anymore for remembering the early days of MTV.

[nubiansista4life]

@keds93 This was a two-reel movie which is the only one known to feature Bessie Smith as the lead character. She is in a speakeasy during the Prohibition era which was filmed around 1929.

[mellain]

gave me goosebumps

[mandylee87]

sang this song my junior year in high school...in my chorus class. i absolutely LOVED this song...still do!!!! =)

[tlaalsrud204]

Jazz is an extremely powerful tool to move and unite people. I am an Asian, but I can really feel those emotions that African Americans would've had in the early 1900s. Cheers for Bessie Smith, the wonderful jazz vocalist.

[JAZZ8507]

šteta što danas nema ovakvih velikana koji se slušaju desetljećima i nikad ne blijede...hvala Roberte

[MsL0vie]

I have some of this clip from william greeve's "that's black entertainment" I'd love to see the movie.

[bluemedusa]

to all the great grandpa's and great grandma's ...

[laohare]

Really? You're comparing Beyonce to Bessie Smith? LOL

[MsTWEEKIE]

So pure. FANTASTIC! BETTER EACH TIME I LISTEN TO HER> REAL LIFE.

[starrbootyspinster]

I don't know how anyone could put beyonce knowles name alongside of Bessie, Billie or Aretha. Blasphemy!

[Lixstar91]

She is THE QUEEN...

[rizzo592]

what a great voice

[Cynicruss2]

Bessie Smith> Aretha Franklin> Beyonce Knowles

Hmmm I wonder who was Bessie smith's inspiration. 

[guywalker29]

@Cynicruss2 Ma Rainey

[KittyKattyYukiLvr]

@Cynicruss2 Ma Rainey

[ichigatsujohn]

When you hear this piece, it reminds you how radical early blues must have seemed to most people... to sing so openly about pain, with so much feeling - it must have flipped people out! Fantastic clip, Bessie is unbelievable.

[Panagyra]

@ichigatsujohn For the black community, emotions and pain were a part of every day life. The blues were a combination of all their ways of singing of pain. The African roots of the blues was based on emotion. They had music for nearly every daily action, from work to play. They had music for their weddings and funerals. Music was used to express themselves, so much more so for the slaves. They would sing about all their pains, so for the black community, it was a way of life,

[ichigatsujohn]

@Panagyra That adds a lot of context and meaning (thank you!) I wonder, too, if there was an immediate connection between all blacks who would hear the blues because it was part of a common cultural experience, like a pain that all people in that community could understand. I think it resonates so much with Europeans and European Americans because it's enviable to see someone sing with so much emotion, true heart and soul. 'White' music was liberated by the blues, I think.

[Panagyra]

@ichigatsujohn Well, for some songs, like the songs about the hardness of life, it would certainly resonate more with every slave. And I agree that "white" music definetly was freed up by the blues and other forms of music like it.

[lilpiglet1989]

i really like this....

[tinaolson]

This is incredible!

[lizzyvance]

She is real talent. No computers or tricks. PURE TALENT.

[cdc2200]

this musta been a music video of it's day

[NIUEANWARRIOR275]

has there been a movie done of this lady??? i could see Queen Latifah portray her.....blessed emotions....

[richventures]

just great that we can see Bessie in her actual scene, thank you :)) Rich

[tpars14075]

is this song southern heritage?

[shedevil92]

This is one of my favorite things to sing

[RedtownMac]

EMPRESS OF THE BLUES

[PeteyPoison]

First time I ever heard this was when it was sampled on the song "About Her" by Malcolm McLaren. I love Bessie Smith =)

[BeMyBigHero]

. . .OMG -- wow!! Amen, Sister . . .

Saw part of this years ago . . . absolutely stunning!

Some nifty computer work would do wonders toward erasing much of the damage that neglect has done to this priceless moment in all our world history.

[invadersue]

What a wonderful blues!

[jessicolombis]

I wish music like this was heard on the radio instead of all these stupid new artists.

[Smokey6479]

One of the greatest - bessie smith tell us whats blues! Great thing! Thats why bluessingers never dies - they have write HISTORY!!!!

[PolskiRomantyk]

Now there is the finest example of a real african-american soul. Just listen for those cryings, this torment and expression in the voices- about all the torment and grief that white folk gave to the black people....simply outstanding!!

[opmandrake]

every one of these people is dead.

these are ghosts you're seeing here, singing the blues.

“remember us, for we too have lived, loved, and laughed”

[smartalek1]

@opmandrake

So true.

As they once were, so we now are.

And as they now are, so we all shall be.

That's your cheery Happy Thought for the day.

[theoriginalbadbob]

This was produced by Mr. W.C. Handy himself.

[Sakiera423]

hmm...malcolm mclaren borrowed this in about a girl

[Kaknelson]

ORIGINALITY TO THE FULLEST. THUMBS UP EVERYTIME.

[TheReeferMadness13]

awww..

i like watchin this old stuff

i wasnt born back then but i hate how everything is nowadays

[musicismylife736]

great really great blues singer but very sad story how she die ...

[NapalmWeed]

Truly deserving of the title Empress of the Blues.

[nfsrf]

if lady gaga had met bessie smith

she would die from fatalion

[rockshrine]

@nfsrf What does fatalion mean?

[Sabrehockeylw29]

@nfsrf Or Bes would just stab her for what shes doing to music....

[guitarslim56]

@nfsrf , What is "fatalion"?

[revolv909]

@nfsrf lady who???........

[ecstasyintokyo]

@revolv909 exactly

[ecstasyintokyo]

@nfsrf fuck off with lady gaga

[Poemsapennyeach]

Lots of love to this woman...!

[Brautworst]

...beyond words. Nobody lays it out there like Ms. Bessie.

Aside from the sheer perfection of that song, what a neat film clip. Gives us a nice peek into a speakeasy.

[glorigog]

SHE IS THE BOSS

[jennigoesvegan]

bows humbly....

[sabrinasjourney]

where'd they get this footage!?

[jordisod]

I'm getting goosebumps.  Thank you for sharing this.

[RememberSoCal]

that was amazing