http://wrti.org en http://wrti.org/post/mythic-power-bessie-smith <em>Vocalist Bessie Smith's musical career, spanning 1923-33, has been collected in a new 10-CD box set, </em>Bessie Smith: The Complete Columbia Recordings.<p>Recorded shortly before the 1927 floods that devastated the Mississippi River valley, <a href="http://www.npr.org/artists/15404953/bessie-smith">Bessie Smith</a> had written "Back Water Blues" in sympathy with flood victims she'd encountered near Cincinnati months earlier, who, the story goes, asked her to bear witness to their pain. Wed, 21 Nov 2012 18:26:00 +0000 Kevin Whitehead 4771 at http://wrti.org The Mythic Power Of Bessie Smith