Bessie Smith: In Memoriam
Bessie Smith was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee on April 15, 1894. As an adult, Bessie was what my uncle Mack would call a "big ol’ fine woman!" She stood around 6 feet tall and weighed in excess of 200 lbs. She was a heavy weight, big boned, thick, dark and lovely, big beautiful woman ( BBW ) of African descent; an Empress. Did I say Empress? Yes, they called her the Empress of the Blues. She knew the Blues personally and sang them like the evening news. Bessie could curse and caress in the same breath. She was a very quiet and sweet woman, but with her money and feelings you couldn’t mess. She loved hard liquor, hard men, but a woman soft and sweet she’d take. She was an equal opportunity lover and in her lyrics she wouldn’t fake. She’d croon: “I ain’t no high yella, I’m a deep killer brown. I ain’t gonna marry, ain’t gonna settle down. I’m gonna drink good moonshine and rub these browns down, See that long lonesome road, Lawd you know it’s gonna end, And I’...