Bessie Smith - Yellowdog Blues

[MrKazikes]

Bessie jesteśmy w haven

[shakablane]

love

[shakablane]

i me some Bessie

[tattooninja]

i'm only 3 yrs old and i like this

[ThisIsFrancake]

@tattooninja you sure?

[Parsa9]

Sgt. Hulka says, "Lighten up Francis."

[cphstreet]

Justin Bieber and musicians like him is the equivalent of McDonald's and other fast food "restaurants". Fast, machine like, mass produced and cold calculated.. Bessie and other legendary musicians like her.. is like home grown, home made food from your loving grandmother..

[ElIiZ48EeThw0niiT4]

@cphstreet ....are one of the best wines in the world right!!! (best preserved)

[CobinRain]

@cphstreet The best comment I've seen on music then and music now....

[HopeWithPandora]

A big Sunday stretch of contentment...

What a 'delivery' and voice!!!

[lennietristanojazz]

What a dream lineup

[kimrabb]

Ignoring the genesis of the Blues is like ignoring history, like erasing it. White people can sing the Blues now days, I love Jonny Lang, I am Black and I think he is the real thing. But Janis man so not the Blues. I do not think Blacks should feel pressure not to speak about race just because it makes some white people uncomfortable, that is more of the same crap we have been dealing with but said in a nicer way, a way to promote guilt and shame, another way to try to make people less than

[kimrabb]

I look at Janis and she is okay, she is not a Blues singer but more rock but white people get upset if you say this, she is like some great white hope, there is always a great white hope. We have a racial history in America that will not go away by telling people not to think about it, it is real and it has been tragic. This music in the original form was not about White people , it was a reflection of Blacks dealing with Whites but it has changed since then, now it is mixed but know the origins

[kimrabb]

I think maybe more people of color would not be so angry if more white people could just pay homage to the originators. Saying a specific music is mostly associated with a certain race is not a bad thing, it is a fact and that should okay. It comes down to the ongoing insistence of labeling a white person the King or Queen of everything, when you are African American and you know your history and you are proud of it, it can grate on your nerve to always be told to ignore your roots and culture

[kimrabb]

I think people get into the color thing because historically speaking, African American people have never been given proper credit for the music they invented. Historically speaking, whenever a Black person came up with a new genre it was immediately given credit to a white person, it is always the same, a white person becomes the King or Queen of a genre they did not create and the creators are told not to focus on race . It is about being frustrated and being instructed how to feel and react.

[kimrabb]

@LivinginDogville America has a terrible racial history so it is part of our nature to act a fool about race even though it was the Europeans that started it in America, we have been dealing with the aftermath of systematic racism and what have you every since. Oh, and they do have racism in Europe...I use to live there and married a man from Italy, it is everywhere.

[MsTWEEKIE]

Music has no color. God gave a lot of folks a gift, some more than others. this lady could sing. SHE WAS GIFTED . SO WAS MS. JOPLIN.

[kimrabb]

@MsTWEEKIE I agree and disagree. Music like the Blues were born out of frustration of living Black in a white world, the Blues at the start. Joplin, well many like her but she sounds like she is pain to me. I do not call what she sang Blues but then again I grew up with a very Black Southern parents born in the 30's that were treated like crap by white people, they sang THE BLUES LOL!!!!!

[DontLogOffordie]

this wasnt in bioshock, this sucks

[01reiden]

I don't understand you guys why are you talking about her race,it doesn't matter! just fuckin listen and enjoy her amazing voice !!!

[somnolentable]

Reading some of your comments guys, don't care if Bessie was blue or orange or black or pink or purple, not the point, could she sing? Wow could she sing, there is a god, he gave us Bessie Smith. Never mind the silly comments, listen to the music.

[jossb199211]

Hold up guys and gals. Why is there a race arguement going on?? Yes, Bessie was black. Yes she was amazing. Yes, Elvis was white. Yes he was amazing. Amazing music should not come down to wether someone is black or white. If it's good it's good. End of. And bigmarty, it shouldn't be 'tricky' living amongst other races. So what they have a different skin colour. EVERYONE looks different anyways but we all have the same make-up in the end. Back to the point - GREAT SONG. Not enough of this today.

[bigmarty11288]

and just because someone's black doesn't make them qualified to decide what white people should do.

[bigmarty11288]

(No Offense) Brown noser isn't a racial slur. It's another word for "ass kisser." I read your comment and assumed you were an over-compensating white person.

[chrisdarroch]

@bigmarty11288 Yeah..................i'm 'white' and I often find myself considering whether I am over compensating sometimes or more often than I am comfortable with, as I live amongst many people of other races mainly Africans. It's tricky.

[nicodagger]

No white person can ever approach the soul and power of the great black artists like Bessie Smith. Whateverr they do will be just an imitation; maybe a good imitation, but always falling short. White folks should not attempt the blues. African-Americans are responsible for the greatest music ever to come out of America: jazz, blues, rock, funk, swing......and still we treat them like shit, when they should be perpetually honored and gratefully thanked.

[bigmarty11288]

@nicodagger Just so you know, your comment was eloquent, well-written, and legible. I gave it a most enthusiastic thumbs down, you day-late, dollar-short, no-talent brown noser.

[nicodagger]

@bigmarty11288 Yes, a PROUDLY a brown nose, you arrogant smarmy piece of human waste. yes, a brown nose, like the rest of me.

[Armydicked]

@nicodagger

You racist piece of shit!!!! Music is Music and nobody 'owns' it. Should Jimi Hendrex be barred from playing Heavy Metal because he's black? Should Authur Lee (America's Black Hippy) be barred singing Psychedellia because he is black? I am a big Bessie Smith fan but Janis Joplin would give 'The Emperess' a run for her money singing Hesitation Blues (1916) a song Bessie Smith sung. You don't have to be a Chicken to know what a rotten egg smells like, asshole!!!

[kimrabb]

@Armydicked I do not think Janis sang the Blues. She did a lot of yelling and screaming and falling down but the Blues? I love Arthur Lee from Love and my uncle Luther Rabb had his first band with Jimi, toured with Jimi with his own band later called The Ballingjacks, was the house band for the Filmore East and West and his band was mixed back then but we are from Seattle and it has always been a mixed place musically and otherwise but Janis really did not sing Blues, she was not close to Bessie

[0m]

Bessie's voice is some sweet, sweet honey baby! Love this lady's work :-D This here's real singin'.

[STORMYB]

I LISTENS EVERY DAY! YES BESSIE GETTIN MY SOUL TOGETHER NOTE BY NOTE!

[mattdamian]

thanks for you for posting

[ss06033]

Who are the 7 stooges who push the dislike botton?

[marlothedick]

she was such a lively soul. what i would give to be able to see her perform. sometimes i think i was born into the wrong generation.

[cheechwizrd]

@marlothedick ... i hear ya, sista

[Carlvskansas]

this makes me want to run for office and reform the radio playlists but then again no one would vote for a suspicious panamanian.

[NotStuckJustResting]

Lady Gaga ain't toppin this shit.

[DaSassyDanca]

@NotStuckJustResting huh..

[xanglat]

Really cool and good !

I love her voice a lot

Really splendid

Thank you very much for sharing

SMILES

6******

[wesrace1]

Man, thanks for posting this. I got this on her orange Lp when I was a sophomore in high school. I memorized the words to this day. Maybe I'll go down to my local Blues Jam In Ft. Worth and sing them "Yellow Dog Blues" where the Southern Cross The Yellow Dog.

[leitros]

I so wish Bessie had lived longer. She would have had better backing, better material and better recording. Nothing compares with her last 4 takes working with a swing band. BTW, that she was treated differently from the white crash victims because it happened in the South is a myth.

[zookeeper1959]

what a woman!

[Romamb]

oh my! that lady could fair sing.

(nice pic too)

[dasheekybubba]

man i wish i could go back to the good ol' Harlem days of the 20's or the bebop era of the great 40's where music like this was much more appreciated than what the youth of my generation listen to there is some good stuff out now but it isn't appreciated or well beloved like the great artist like miss bessie smith or ella fitzgerald the scat queen man bring back the good times man

[jhb134]

@dasheekybubba - We can't turn-back the clock, man. The talents of time were unique, exceptional ... and jazz/blues were GROWing musics, back then. It's great to have indelible "evidence" of the inspirations, musicians and results, even now.

[jasonito23]

The music was good. Life wasn't good ol' times for Black folk. The music is so great because it contains all the pain and suffering of the soul. But I feel you. It would be WONDERFUL to actually go to see Billie Holiday sing live at Cafe Society or any 'integrated' venue in Harlem. And actually see her close the concert with Strange Fruit.

[Cheryi812]

"He’s wondering where her Easy Rider's gone.." (Interesting gender play..?)

[MrPetepohl1]

Unfortunatly,BESSIE probably died because She was "colored".She was involved in a traffic accident. All the "white" victimes were taken to hospital before She was!....or so the story goes. She was,however,one of the greatest Blues Singers, I have been listening to Her,on & off,for the past 65 yrs. It is a pity that She is not so well known to the youngsters of today!

[Ubendorf]

your wrong im 25 and i LOVE HER

[JoshuaWJW93]

@MrPetepohl1 I'm 17! Some of us have taste.

[busessuck1]

@MrPetepohl1 that's not true ... it was made up by a dude called john hammond, she was in a crash and was driven to a hospital for black people but didn't make it

I'd post a link but yt won't let me... people should look up blues artists from a more reliable source than wiki

[tarisone]

do you want to know what's refreshing, these legendary artist did not die from drug abuse, unless i'm mistaken

[sagat4]

@tarisone Some did. Billie Holiday died of drug abuse and drink and some died of smoking - Nat King Cole died of lung cancer caused from smoking. It is a shame but their music lives on in places like YouTube

[tarisone]

@sagat4 wow i had no idea, this makes really sad no one great can have an honorable death without the stain of drug abuse or insanity but never the less they are legends and musical heros

[bckm54]

@sagat4 very true, sagat4.  For example, Big Mama Thornton...

[OriginalLifeActx]

Empress of Blues. I'd heard this song a many times, but I can' seem to master the beauty of your sizzlin' vocals. Empress of Blues, how'd ya do it?

[sharonanony]

Macy Grey has her tone, and would do good playing her. Macy will be in For colored Girls only. Nov 2010

[jhb134]

One of Joe Smith's best accompaniments to Bessie, and he had a NUMBER of them. Charlie Green simply sounds primitive, and Buster Bailey contributes nothing special ... but Joe sounds like Bix Beiderbecke, in certain passages. Thanks for the video!

[DCPLAY800]

Wow! this was actually before the reign of rock n' roll! Feel the spirit!

[zombiesnoopy]

Janis Joplin. Yes, her voice was cool, but not strong like Bessie Smith. I remember hearing how she could not be heard in concerts. Take that for what is worth. Probably not much.

[zombiesnoopy]

Thank you so much. She is fantastic.

[jamakadave]

how can you be a version of someone that was born five years have she died. I realized after watching these great blues artist how the people I grew up listening to were not greats but imitators. I can say one thing there is one hell of a blues band in heaven! can't compare modern tunez to these wonderful pieces of art!!!! show nuff!!!

[panicxitsxbrea]

@jamakadave That's the thing though, you can't hold it against people like Janis and Jimi and all them because they never denied how much influence they took from blues artists. Janis herself admitted that she loved Bessie Smith and tried to emulate her while performing in bars while she was younger.

[HarborGuy]

The Greatest of her day and still is.

[blessOTMA]

She transcended the recording technology of her day ....she didn't need the later mikes sensitivity! What power! This girl BRINGS it every time.

[lonergan2468]

Bessie, the greates blues diva of the twentieth centuary RIP xxxxx

[scooch2010]

fantastic recording she sounds great!! thanx

[johnabenford]

What are you children squabbling about? I've been listening to this for 50 years or so. Just open you ears and brain and listen to one of the greatest artists of the 20th century . This is, in my opinion, her greatest recording - and certainly her best session. (And thank you, Joe Smith.)

[wa1ufo]

Awesome!! TNX!!

[kingofheartsxyz]

remind of Fallout

[Nathalia599]

No hay como el Blues

[Bibi42able]

i just love this song, nothing better!

[phati129]

what a beautiful voice! God rest her soul! +

[MrJustin2782]

Yes yes yes! Girl, Give me life!

[cmMerlin]

Nice!  I'll fix that chair for ya, :-)

Bless you Bessie!

[yodavidnavarro]

Whjat a great singer! Just a few singers sang and/or sing with that kind of commitment and believability!

[whenyourethisbig]

Black or White Bessie Smith's voice transcends race

[jeanpeters100]

@whenyourethisbig.

one great blues singer

[HarborGuy]

@whenyourethisbig You should be proud to say she is black. It was women and men like her in the teens and 2o's of the last century that broke the ice of entertainers for today's world of bad music called RAP.

[donottawaguitar]

mine isnt real blues

[markie65]

@donottawaguitar what are you talking about your blues for?who gives a toss?

[LeSoleilBris]

she's absolutely awesome!

[gmm02004]

been loving this since i first heard it 40 years ago. really, really means a lot to me. Miss Smith is a great and timeless artist. we are so privileged to hear hear her today. life lessons in every recording.

[brasiliennr1]

oh god i heard this soo often! never get tired of it!

[fatmanquawn]

bessie smith is like the greates blues singer

[tehpwnzorbobz]

@fatmanquawn WOW YOU MADE A TYPO

Also your choice of music is as gay as you are.

[LandOfMarcos]

where did you get the photo???

[FranciscoBonito]

michael jackson? lol black americans should be proud they produced the greatest of all times: James Marshall Hendrix

[mychalsimonzmusic]

There's no need for all this bickering. Didn;t we learn anything from Michael Jackson? Bessie Smith and her peers paved the way for others... Bessie smith is why we have a Jill Scott or Indie Arie!

We no longer have to prove to any people what we as a people have contributed to Entertainment. Wasn't Micheal a clear example of what black America has given? and even Michael was made to strip in an effort to defame his success? ... Thank you!

[mrbrianmccarthy]

Hahah-----How typical--Calling Bessie Smith the "Black Janis Joplin" is like calling Otis redding the "black Michael bolton"---Jesus white people can be so lame--how embarrassing.

[emiiheart]

hahhaha! janis joplin is the black bessie smith?

[StylistecS]

You don't know a thing about hip hop so quit while you're ahead. The point was dont' call her the black anything. Just call her Bessie Smith and call Janis Joplin Janis Joplin.

[salynredoran]

I don't pretend to know anything about hip hop, because its a superficial and fake form of "art."

[StylistecS]

superficial and fake how? What do you know about it outside of what you hear on the radio.what of the culture of hip hop do you know about it?

[g3nby]

@StylistecS

Aggressive Know-all

[g3nby]

@StylistecS

What the blazes has Hip Hop got to with Know-all?

[StylistecS]

@g3nby please know the facts before you come at me with any comments regarding my posting, appreciate it.

[bckm54]

@StylistecS AMEN! All music offers something to learn...

[Zipemova1]

@StylistecS Janis was Janis and Bessie was Bessie, but the fact is the Bessie Smith influenced many woman blues singers. Nothing wrong with that.

[kimrabb]

@StylistecS She was a great artist that was Black. I am not very P.C., I just call it the way it is. In America race does matter, we ignore it, we pretend it does not matter, we do everything and say anything to not just admit the truth. I hate that kind of b.s. it does not mean you are a racist if you speak the truth, we are all part of one group or another. I am African American and I am just sick of this whole ignore the truth movement.

[rogerrrubin]

@kimrabb FYI this vid is all about the music and this great artist, and not about you! As the Doobie Brothers say "Listen to the Music" Be happy, don't worry. Oh, and you might want to remember: " When i was 5 years old, my mother told me happiness was the key to life. when i went to school they asked me what i wanted to be when i grew up. i wrote down "happy ". they told me i didn' t understand the assignment. i told them they didn' t understand life " - *John Lennon* %>}

[jwwindsor]

One thing, Bessie Smith had no gravestone. She lay buried in an unmarked grave, somewhere in Tennessee. Janis Joplin paid for and had installed a tombstone for Bessie Smith. So now her grave is at least noted.

Joplin was very influenced by Bessie Smith. Joplin claimed this. Perhaps Janis Joplin was a white Bessie Smith.

[81tokits81]

She is the black Janis Joplin

[papazell]

Thanks! ....Nice of You to say that but in reality...Janis Joplin is the white Mamie Smith.

[hoagiesandi]

thas the truth shkin an i,m white bessie was a belter an some fine lady whose mamie ---kilby----

[oegaziz43]

Ouch!!!

[ThatsABiggon]

@81tokits81 WTF? Not only is Bessie superior, but she was decades before Janis Joplin. Bessie Smith deserves far more respect than to be referred to as the black anything, had it not been for Bessie there would've been no one for Janis to imitate.

[warplan]

VERSE(CONTINUED)Fill our hearts with glee/This message comes from Tennessee/CHORUS:/Dear Sue your Easy Rider struck this burg today/On a south bound rattler side door Pullman car/Seen him there 'an he was on the hog/Easy rider's got a stay away/So he had to vamp it but the hike ain't far/He's gone where the Southern 'cross' the Yellow Dog/(END) As I said, dumb lyrics, but great Bessie!

[warplan]

Handy wrote dumb lyrics, but Bessie makes everything OK with the unsuprssed beauty of her blues voice. VERSE:"E'er since Miss Susan Johnson lost her Jockey, Lee/There has been much excitement, and more to be/You can hear her moaning night and morn/Wonder where Easy Rider's gone?/Cablegrams come of sympathy/Telegrams go of inquiry/Letters come from down in "Bam"/And everywhere that Uncle Sam/Has even a rural delivery/All day the phone rings/But it's not for me/At last good tidings/(CONTINUED)

[smurfette2234]

This has nothing to do with a yellow dog. The yellow dog is a railroad line that crosses the southern railroad line in Mississippi.

[warplan]

You got that almost right. The Southern Railroad line crossed the Yellow Dog River in either Georgia, Alabama, or Mississippi. In 1947, a well know white journalist was so taken by the blues that he visited the spot where the Southern crossed the Yellow Dog.

[smurfette2234]

Have you ever seen that painting by Carroll Cloar called "Where the Southern Crosses the Yellow Dog'? That was why I thoughht the Yellow Dog was a railroad. It is a picture of a black man crossing a railroad track in autumn. Look up Carroll Cloar, you might see it.

[warplan]

You are right! Google LONG STEEL RAIL: THE RAILROAD IN AMERICAN FOLKSONG for a complete account of how Handy got the name YELLOW DOG BLUES. Sorry for my error.

[ZombiexRylo]

How Pretty.

[tuggers1]

awesome song

[nadia59]

sad but true.

[lola11de6]

i have to do a project on this lady.....what did she used to wear anyone know?

[stevenking94]

hey im steven i have to do a praject on her too well she wore rag clothes witch are basicly peaces of cloth sown to make shirts pants and even socks

[friendstacy]

she dressed in high fashion for her time, like a flapper. there are far better sources of information than comments at youtube, huh? rags?!! OMG!

[OL55CADDY]

Buried in an unmarked grave in Philadelphia untl Janis Joplin found out and had a head stone placed on Miss Bessie's grave in 1970.

[jbsaave]

Yes, this a rad when i read i little further into her past, Bessie Smith that is.

[joannamichelle72]

wow I never knew about that arm loss and hospital thing... How disgusting was racial prejudice... shame on them who were... And are!!

[davidglow3]

It has been subsequently found out,the hospital thing was fictitious.She died at the roadside attended to by a white doctor.The story got out thru rumour as a form of reverse racism

[whatsnewpussycat23]

*gasp*

[berlynn2]

the top comment i dont know how true it is but, its ashame our people had to suffer this way i dont understand why the color of youre skin still hinders us today just like it did back then sad very sad.

[OnThisDayInHistory]

Sep 26 1937 The Empress of the Blues, Bessie Smith, sustains grave injuries in a traffic accident on US Highway 61. She is taken to a colored hospital in Clarksdale, Mississippi and her arm amputated. Smith dies later that day from blood loss. According to legend, Bessie had been refused treatment by a closer, whites-only hospital.

[Edjamro]

I believe that this has proven to be NOT true. Anyway, what a loss!

[OL55CADDY]

She was attended by a white doctor roadside tho. He was a passerby who stopped to help.

[Parisjune]

Yes, this is the true story.

[woodbelly2]

Any more information about the photograph?

[DOGULOX]

Splendid. Bessie was truly the greatest blues singer of all time.

[fluffem]

Ill second that. Thankyou

[noonienotjune]

wow this is Bessie at her best...voice in true pitch...and so strong...thank you for this...

[BachLoveNat]

Thank you for the video! :)