Bessie Smith Songbook

The notes may be 'correct', but it sure's not the way she sings them, not even near for her own compositions. If you play the songs as written, they won't sound right at all. The notes are different (not just transpositions) and the emphasis way off. Playing along with her singing is the way to get it right.

My husband was very happy to have a new Bessie Smith songbook to replace the one he's had for 305 years!

I think this is the only Bessie Smith songbook available (though I'm sure you can find some of these songs in other places). The arrangements are good, though maybe a bit too simple.My only complaint is some of the missing songs; "Sugar in My Bowl" is noticibly absent, as well as some other Bessie favorites.

Simple piano partitures, some more accurate than others and not actual full transcriptions but you can't get Bessie sheets otherwise or even such a comprehensive collection of Clarence Williams songs. A must have.

Nice to see a reprint of this old classic. Contains some material not in the original.

38 songs by the glorious Empress of the Blues? Um, yes please! It also includes a short biography and 5 photos.

This is a good guide to learning some of Bessie Smith's best known songs, plus a concise but complete biography of this wonderful blues singer. The songs come with guitar chords for those who just want to do chords, notation for those of us who want to do more. I recommend it highly.

Although I enjoy Bessie Smiths recordings I also like Laverne Bakers versions of Bessies songs and this book covers some of them! Thanks!

WHAT CAN I SAY I JUST LOVE ALL THE SONGS OF BESSIE SMITH ....THIS IS A GREAT COLLECTION OF HER GREAT SONGS SHE WAS THE GREATEST BLUES LADY !