CLARA SMITH 78 31st STREET BLUES / CHICAGO BLUES ORIGINAL US COLUMBIA 14009-D E-
  £   16
  $   21

 


£ 16 Sold For
Jul 13, 2019 Sold Date
Jul 3, 2019 Start Date
£   12 Start price
3   Number Of Bids
  Great Britain Country Of Seller
eBay Auctioned at
 
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Description

 A NICE COPY OF THIS RARE BLUES 78 FROM CLARA SMITH

CHICAGO BLUES

b/w  31st STREET BLUES


ON THE ORIGINAL US GOLD COLUMBIA LABEL


Little is known about Clara Smith's early life other that that she was from Spartanburg, South Carolina. She worked in vaudeville in the late Teens and early 1920s and eventually became a popular performer on the TOBA circuit. In 1923 she moved to Harlem where she worked in cabarets and theaters and began recording exclusively for Columbia. Many critics consider her late 1920's Blues recordings to be second only to Bessie Smith's records in quality. She was billed as the Queen of the Moaners and the World's Greatest Moaner and on her early records she was frequently accompanied by Fletcher Henderson on piano and on her later records featured bands that included first rate Jazz musicians like, James P. Johnson, Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkins and Don Redman. She recorded three duets "Far Away Blues" and "I'm Going Back To My Used To Be" and "My Man Blues" with Bessie Smith. Bessie and Clara were not related, but they were close personal friends until Bessie got drunk one evening in 1925 and beat up Clara. An interesting bit of trivia was that Clara gave Josephine Baker her first taste of show business in 1920 when she gave the thirteen year old Baker a job as her dresser in her touring company. They also briefly became lovers. Clara Smith continued to record until 1932 and performed live until she died of a heart attack in Detroit in 1935. 


 

DISC DETAILS:

US COLUMBIA 14009-D  10" 78rpm 

Title Recording Date Recording Location Original Issue 31st STREET BLUES 
(Wen Hall & Harry Geise) 31st JAN 1924 New York, New York Columbia
14009-D CHICAGO BLUES 
(Biese / Altier / Williams) 31st JAN 1924 New York, New York Columbia
14009-D

CONDITION -  E-

 

A CLASSIC EARLY BLUES 78  IN GREAT CONDITION

 

SO DON'T MISS IT

BID NOW!



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