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Bessie Smith

A Poet's Biography of a Blues Legend

Author Jackie Kay
Read by Jackie Kay, Adjoa Andoh
Listen to a clip
Audiobook Download
$17.50 US
Audio | Random House Audio
On sale Sep 28, 2021 | 325 Minutes | 978-0-593-45835-8
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  • History > Topical History > History of Music
  • History > U.S. History > African American
  • Music > Music Appreciation > American
  • Music > Music Appreciation > Blues
  • Music > Music Appreciation > Jazz
  • Music > Music History > 20th Century Music
  • About
  • Awards
  • Author
A beautiful genre-bending tribute to the larger-than-life blues singer Bessie Smith. Scotland’s National Poet blends poetry, prose, fiction, and nonfiction to create an entirely unique biography of the Empress of the Blues.

There has never been anyone else like Bessie Smith. Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1894 and orphaned by the age of nine, Bessie Smith sang on street corners before becoming a big name in traveling shows. In 1923, she made her first recording for the newly founded Columbia Records. It sold 780,000 copies and catapulted her to fame. Known for her unmatched vocal talent, her timeless and personal blues narratives, her tough persona, and her ability to enrapture audiences with her raw voice, the Empress of the Blues remains a force and an enigma.
 
In this remarkable book, Kay combines history and personal narrative, poetry and prose to create an enthralling account of an extraordinary life, and to capture the soul of the woman she first identified with as a young Black girl growing up in Glasgow. Powerful and moving, Bessie Smith is at once a vivid biography of a central figure in American music history and a personal story about one woman’s search for recognition.
 
A VINTAGE ORIGINAL.
  • FINALIST | 2022
    Triangle Literary Award
  • FINALIST | 2022
    Triangle Literary Award
  • FINALIST | 2022
    Triangle Literary Award
JACKIE KAY is the author of the memoir Red Dust Road as well as several critically acclaimed poetry collections—including The Adoption Papers (winner of the Scottish Arts Council Book Award), Off Colour (shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize), and Life Mask (a Poetry Book Society Recommendation)—almost all of which were collected in Darling: New & Selected Poems. Her first novel, Trumpet, won the Guardian Fiction Prize and was shortlisted for International Dublin Literary Award. A former National Poet of Scotland, she has also written several plays and children's books. She lives in Manchester, England. View titles by Jackie Kay

About

A beautiful genre-bending tribute to the larger-than-life blues singer Bessie Smith. Scotland’s National Poet blends poetry, prose, fiction, and nonfiction to create an entirely unique biography of the Empress of the Blues.

There has never been anyone else like Bessie Smith. Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1894 and orphaned by the age of nine, Bessie Smith sang on street corners before becoming a big name in traveling shows. In 1923, she made her first recording for the newly founded Columbia Records. It sold 780,000 copies and catapulted her to fame. Known for her unmatched vocal talent, her timeless and personal blues narratives, her tough persona, and her ability to enrapture audiences with her raw voice, the Empress of the Blues remains a force and an enigma.
 
In this remarkable book, Kay combines history and personal narrative, poetry and prose to create an enthralling account of an extraordinary life, and to capture the soul of the woman she first identified with as a young Black girl growing up in Glasgow. Powerful and moving, Bessie Smith is at once a vivid biography of a central figure in American music history and a personal story about one woman’s search for recognition.
 
A VINTAGE ORIGINAL.

Awards

  • FINALIST | 2022
    Triangle Literary Award
  • FINALIST | 2022
    Triangle Literary Award
  • FINALIST | 2022
    Triangle Literary Award

Author

JACKIE KAY is the author of the memoir Red Dust Road as well as several critically acclaimed poetry collections—including The Adoption Papers (winner of the Scottish Arts Council Book Award), Off Colour (shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize), and Life Mask (a Poetry Book Society Recommendation)—almost all of which were collected in Darling: New & Selected Poems. Her first novel, Trumpet, won the Guardian Fiction Prize and was shortlisted for International Dublin Literary Award. A former National Poet of Scotland, she has also written several plays and children's books. She lives in Manchester, England. View titles by Jackie Kay

Additional formats

  • Bessie Smith
    Bessie Smith
    A Poet's Biography of a Blues Legend
    Jackie Kay
    978-0-593-31427-2
    $16.95 US
    Paperback
    Vintage
    Sep 28, 2021
  • Bessie Smith
    Bessie Smith
    A Poet's Biography of a Blues Legend
    Jackie Kay
    978-0-593-31428-9
    $12.99 US
    Ebook
    Vintage
    Sep 28, 2021
  • Bessie Smith
    Bessie Smith
    A Poet's Biography of a Blues Legend
    Jackie Kay
    978-0-593-31427-2
    $16.95 US
    Paperback
    Vintage
    Sep 28, 2021
  • Bessie Smith
    Bessie Smith
    A Poet's Biography of a Blues Legend
    Jackie Kay
    978-0-593-31428-9
    $12.99 US
    Ebook
    Vintage
    Sep 28, 2021

Other Books by this Author

  • Trumpet
    Trumpet
    A Novel
    Jackie Kay
    978-0-375-70463-5
    $16.95 US
    Paperback
    Vintage
    Jul 11, 2000
  • Trumpet
    Trumpet
    A Novel
    Jackie Kay
    978-0-375-70463-5
    $16.95 US
    Paperback
    Vintage
    Jul 11, 2000
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