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A review by rhythmvick
Bessie Smith by Jackie Kay
5.0
'There is the perception, on the one hand, of the blues as lowlife (the view of middle class jazz fans and critics) and on the other hand, the blues as high life, royalty (for classic blues singers and their fans). This combination can't be bettered: the result is a Black working class queen'.
Such an interesting and moving short book, a book you could really feel. Particularly moving that this working class queer Black woman is profiled by a working class lesbian Black woman. This is the power of own voices - because I've read a fair few musical biographies in my time (of white people and people of colour, of straight and queer people) and they've never captured the meaningfulness of a contribution of an artist to the culture as this one did. Jackie Kay outlined both the meaning Bessie had to the Black community at the time, and the meaning Bessie had to Jackie growing up adopted in a white Scottish village. And by doing that she made the Empress come alive. A legacy that should be remembered forever; a keeper of Black history and legacy and longing.
The rage and tempest, the lack of impulse control, the generosity, the binges, the addiction. The chronic childhood trauma of early orphaning, and being raised by siblings. The mean men. The trauma of poverty and racism. A passionate heart and a pure gift. Rest well, Bessie Smith.
Such an interesting and moving short book, a book you could really feel. Particularly moving that this working class queer Black woman is profiled by a working class lesbian Black woman. This is the power of own voices - because I've read a fair few musical biographies in my time (of white people and people of colour, of straight and queer people) and they've never captured the meaningfulness of a contribution of an artist to the culture as this one did. Jackie Kay outlined both the meaning Bessie had to the Black community at the time, and the meaning Bessie had to Jackie growing up adopted in a white Scottish village. And by doing that she made the Empress come alive. A legacy that should be remembered forever; a keeper of Black history and legacy and longing.
The rage and tempest, the lack of impulse control, the generosity, the binges, the addiction. The chronic childhood trauma of early orphaning, and being raised by siblings. The mean men. The trauma of poverty and racism. A passionate heart and a pure gift. Rest well, Bessie Smith.