This excellent 1970 compilation was the first of Columbia’s five double albums of Smith’s incomparable work. Rather than issue her output chronologically, Columbia took the approach of putting Smith’s 16 earliest issued sides from 1923 together with her last 16 from 1930-33 for this album. Thus the set includes her first release (and biggest hit) ‘Down Hearted Blues’, which reputedly sold over three quarters of a million copies, and also catches her at the low ebb of her recording career when Columbia pressed only 400 copies of one of her 78s. The 1923 sides were recorded acoustically, with Smith accompanied usually only by Clarence Williams or Fletcher Henderson on piano, while a new electrical recording process resulted in improved sound on the 1930s tracks, which feature duos or larger groups behind the Empress. Bessie biographer Chris Albertson’s booklet and liner notes trace her career with care and he notes that, after her star had waned in the ’30s, she did not want to record the same type of downcast blues that first made her famous, hence the jazzier bounce of her final session, proudly produced by a young John Hammond, with an all-star cast including Jack Teagarden, Chu Berry, and on one song, Benny Goodman.
Released as Columbia GP 33 (2-album set) in 1970; CD (66258) released in 1999.
–Jim O’Neal
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