Bessie: Revised and expanded edition - Softcover

"The most devastating, provocative, and enlightening work of its kind ever contributed to the annals of jazz literature."-Leonard Feather, Los Angeles Times (on the first edition) "A remarkably clear-eyed examination of Smith's personality (and sexuality) and, more important, of the gritty and greedy music business."-Benjamin Schwarz, Atlantic Monthly "The first estimable full-length biography not only of Bessie Smith but of any black musician."-Whitney Balliett, New Yorker (on the first edition)

This book-a revised and expanded edition of the definitive biography of Bessie Smith, known as the "Empress of the Blues"-debunks many of the myths that circulated after her untimely death in 1937. For this new edition, Chris Albertson provides more details of Bessie's early years, new interview material, and a chapter devoted to events and responses that followed the original publication.