Danny Barker - early 20th Century

from Hear Me Talkin' To Ya: The Classic Story of Jazz as Told by the Men Who Made It, page 243:

Bessie Smith was a fabulous deal to watch. She was a pretty large woman and she could sing the blues. She had a church deal mixed up with it. She dominated a stage. You didn't turn your head when she went on. You just watched Bessie. […] She was unconscious of her surroundings. She never paid anybody any mind. When you went to see Bessie and she came out, that was it. If you had any church background, like people who came from the South as I did, you would recognise a similarity between what she was doing and what those preachers and evangelists did, and how they moved people. The …   more >>

cite as

Nat Hentoff and Nat Shapiro, Hear Me Talkin' To Ya: The Classic Story of Jazz as Told by the Men Who Made It (London, 1992), p. 243. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1435250225366 accessed: 6 December, 2024

Listeners

Danny Barker
banjoist, Composer, Guitarist, Singing […]
1909-1994

Listening to

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Blues performed by Bessie Smith

Experience Information

Date/Time early 20th Century
Medium live
Listening Environment in the company of others, indoors, in public

Originally submitted by 5011Henning on Thu, 25 Jun 2015 17:37:06 +0100
Approved on Tue, 30 Aug 2016 17:04:46 +0100