Bessie Smith "The World's Greatest Blues Singer" 2XLP (1970)

Details: Gatefold shows ring wear and shelf wear from storage but in decent condition, and inside booklet looks NM. Records also seem NM. Very cool find! Description: "Along with Ma Rainey and Mamie Smith, singer Bessie Smith helped pioneer the genre of blues music and propel it into popular culture. Her early death at the age of 43 cut short a career that influenced the direction of American music and contributed to the success of African Americans in the performing arts. Smith was born into poverty most likely on April 15, 1894, in Chattanooga, Tennessee to William Smith, a preacher, and Laura Smith. Both parents died when Bessie was young. To help support her orphaned siblings, Bessie began her career as a Chattanooga street musician, singing in a duo with her brother Andrew to earn money to support their indigent family. In 1912 at the age of 18, she joined the traveling Moses Stokes Company, where she met and became friends with Georgia blues performer Gertrude “Ma” Rainey. Smith