Bessie Brown, (March 2, 1890– November 12, 1955) like so many other female classic Blues singers of the 1920s. had a background in vaudeville and musical theatre. Throughout the 1920s she appeared in musical revues such as the “Moonshine Revue”, “The Whirl Of Joy” and “Dark-Town Frolics”. Brown also sang in cabarets on the East coast.
Her recording career lasted from 1925 to 1928. Some of her records were issued under the pseudonyms of Sadie Green or Caroline Lee. She left show business in 1932 and had three children. Brown died of a heart attack in 1955.
| Bessie Brown and her Jazz Band |
| Title | Recording Date | Recording Location | Company |
| Ain’t Much Good In The Best Of Men These Days (Eugene Hunter) |
8-10-1926 | New York, New York | Oriole 716 6767-2 |
| Ain’t Much Good In The Best Of Men These Days (Eugene Hunter) |
8-10-1926 | New York, New York | Banner 1833 Domino 3781 Regal 8142-B 6767-3 |
| Arkansas Blues (Spencer Williams) |
4-3-1928 | Chicago, Illinois | Vocalion 1182 |
| Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man (Kern / Hammerstein) |
1-31-1928 | Chicago, Illinois | Vocalion 15688-B |
| Chloe (Song Of The Swamp) (Gus Kahn / Neil Moret) |
1-31-1928 | Chicago, Illinois | Brunswick 3817-A |
| Double Crossing Daddy | 1923 | Chicago, Illinois | Columbia A3974 |
| He Just Don’t Appeal To Me
(Porter Grainger |
3-1929 | Chicago, Illinois | Vocalion 4409 |
| Hoodoo Blues Accompaniment by “Alabamba Joe” (Spencer Williams) |
New York, New York | Columbia 14029-D |
|
| How Can I Get It? (When You Keep On Snatchin’ It Back) Accompaniment by “Alabamba Joe” |
New York, New York | Columbia 14029-D |
|
| How Could I Be Blue? (Anday Razaf / Dan Wilson) |
6-1926 | New York, New York | Domino 3781-A Oriole 698-B 6707-2 |
| How Could I Be Blue? (Anday Razaf / Dan Wilson) |
6-1926 | New York, New York | Domino 3781-A 6707-3 |
| Mississippi Delta Blues (Spencer Williams) |
6-1924 | New York, New York | Columbia 14036-D 81916 |
| Nobody But My Baby Is Getting My Love | 9-1926 | New York, New York | Banner 1859 6813-1 |
| Papa De Da Da (Clarence Williams / Clarence Todd / Spencer Williams) |
11-10-1925 | New York, New York | Pathe Actuelle 32156 Perfect 12235 |
| Papa, Don’t You Mean Your Mama No Good (Fletcher Henderson, Piano) | 1923 | New York, New York | Columbia 130060 81368 |
| Pork Chop Blues | 1924 | New York, New York | Columbia 14036-D 81924 |
| Satisfied Blues | 1923 | New York, New York | Columbia A3974 81157 |
| Senorita Mine (Clarence Williams / Fats Waller) |
8-10-1926 | New York, New York | Oriole 716 |
| Smile (Eddie Heywood) |
4-2-1928 | Chicago, Illinois | Vocalion 3922 |
| Someone Else May Be There While I’m Gone (Irving Berlin) |
1-31-1928 | Chicago, Illinois | Brunswick 3817-B |
| Song From A Cotton Field (Irving Berlin) |
1-31-1928 | Chicago, Illinois | Brunswick 4409-B |
| Sugar | 4-3-1928 | Chicago, Illinois | Vocalion 1112 |
| Tain’t Nobody’s Fault But My Own (Lawnhurst) |
4-1929 | New York, New York | Brunswick 4346 |
| The Blues Singer From Alabam (Castleton / Williams) |
4-1929 | New York, New York | Brunswick 4346 |
| Them Has Been Blues | 11-10-1925 | New York, New York | Pathe Actuelle 32156 Perfect 12235 |
| The Song From A Cotton Field (Porter Grainger) |
3-1929 | New York, New York | Vocalion 4409 |
| What’s The Matter Now? (Clarence Williams / Spencer Williams) |
11-10-1925 | New York, New York | Banner 1833-A Domino 3781-B Oriole 698-A Regal 8142-A |
| Artist | Instrument |
| Buster Bailey | Clarinet |
| Harvey Boone | Alto Saxophone |
| Porter Grainger? | Piano |
| Charlie Green | Trumpet |
| Coleman Hawkins | Tenor, Bass or Baritone Saxophones |
| Fletcher Henderson | Piano |
| Clarence Holiday | Banjo |
| Charlie Irvis | Cornet |
| Benny Moten | Clarinet |
| Bobby Stark | Trumpet |
| Rex Stewart | Cornet |
| Del Thomas | Bass Brass |
| Clarence Williams | Piano |
| unknown | Banjo, Vocals |
Redhotjazz.com was a pioneering website during the "Information wants to be Free" era of the 1990s. In that spirit we are recovering the lost data from the now defunct site and sharing it with you.
Most of the music in the archive is in the form of MP3s hosted on Archive.org or the French servers of Jazz-on-line.com where this music is all in the public domain.
Files unavailable from those sources we host ourselves. They were made from original 78 RPM records in the hands of private collectors in the 1990s who contributed to the original redhotjazz.com. They were hosted as .ra files originally and we have converted them into the more modern MP3 format. They are of inferior quality to what is available commercially and are intended for reference purposes only. In some cases a Real Audio (.ra) file from Archive.org will download. Don't be scared! Those files will play in many music programs, but not Windows Media Player.
