Female Blues Singers - Milestones Of Legends - 10 CD Box Set

Mamie Smith is hailed as the first female singer ever to record a Blues-song in 1920, nearly a century ago. Singers like her and her successful colleagues Bessie and Clara Smith (no relation) of the 1920s and Beyoncé today are seemingly worlds apart, but the latter would be almost unthinkable without the great singers, who are gathered on these 10 CDs. Anyone doubting that should watch the movie "Cadillac Records", in which Beyoncé plays (and sings!) the young Etta James so convincingly, that one can’t but wish for the superstar to eventually record a blues tribute album of her own.Bessie Smith remains the "Empress of the Blues", as her work continues to be honored in new editions ever since the 1960s. One gets to hear her in direct comparison with her and Clara with some of the duets that can be found here, alongside those with Louis Armstrong. Memphis Minnie played the guitar herself, as her male colleagues regularly did, and also wrote her own music, making her a pioneer in that res