Singing the Blues: Bessie Smith during the Great Depression

      The abrupt end of the Jazz Age with the stock market crash of 1929 saw the end of some of the most talented musicians of that era.  Among them was Bessie Smith one of the most innovative Jazz-Blues singers of all times.  Encountering great success during the 1920s, Smith became very successful in a time where it was very difficult for African American musicians to do so on such a wide scale.  The record industry failed after the stock market crash Smith’s career was in large part over.
    During the Depression she married a bootlegger and was rumored to be working as a hostess in a speakeasy.  Though in reality she was continuing to tour she had largely lost her audience.  She had made her name working vaudeville and they had largely gone out of style during the 30s.  In a business like music where it is difficult to stay popular even during times of economic stability her great success was all in the past.  After she died young in a car accident in 1937, it was not until years later that she was once again acknowledged for her great talent and achieved legendary status. Her story relfects the many musicians from the 1920s who were forgotten during the decade of the depression but have since reemerged in more recent eras.