Bessie Smith
The Essential Bessie Smith
Album · Blues · 1997
Bessie Smith's wistful voice helped soundtrack the Roaring '20s, and her vital cuts serve as a master class in crafting a bluesy, lonesome mood. The sassy "Aggravatin' Papa" kicks things off as she takes aim at a two-timing beau, whilst the yearning "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" pairs her pained, at times guttural vocal with a sparse, lonely piano. By the time of the brilliantly doleful "Me and My Gin", she'll have you happy to wallow in a blues state of mind.