Sold Date: December 26, 2022
Start Date: July 20, 2021
Final Price: $60.00 (USD)
Seller Feedback: 13811
Buyer Feedback: 53

Clara Smith
Volume One (1923 Recordings In Chronological Order)
Volume Two (1923-1924 Recordings In Chronological Order)
Two 12" Vinyl Record Albums

Description: This 29-track double volume features extensive album notes on the back covers. The vinyl records are in glossy clean excellent to near mint condition, stamp sticker on one record label. The covers are in very good condition, black ink at top left corner of volume one, no seam splits. Released in England by Vintage Jazz Music. Please see pictures. The pictures in this listing are of the actual record album you will receive. Check out our other listings for a wide variety of vinyl records and CDs. We ship worldwide in secure, padded packaging. Please let us know if you have any questions for a prompt reply. Tracklist and additional album information below.

Tracklist:
   Volume One
I Got Ev'rything A Woman Needs
Every Woman's Blues
Kind Lovin' Blues
Down South Blues
All Night Blues
Play It A Long Time Papa
I Want My Sweet Daddy Now
Irresistable Blues
I Never Miss The Sunshine (I'm So Used To The Rain)
Awful Moanin' Blues
Don't Never Tell Nobody
Waitin' For The Evenin' Mail
Kansas City Man Blues
Uncle Sam Blues
   Volume Two
Far Away Blues
I'm Going Back To My Used To Be
It Won't Be Long Now
Hot Papa
I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down
I Don't Love Nobody (So I Don't Have No Blues)
Good Looking Papa Blues
You Don't Know My Mind
My Doggone Lazy Man
Chicago Blues
31st Street Blues
War Horse Mama
Cold Weather Papa
West Indies Blues
Mean Papa Turn In Your Key

Clara Smith (1894-1935) was one of the first of the Blues Divas. She was an American classic female blues singer, billed as the "Queen of the Moaners", although she had a lighter and sweeter voice than many of her contemporaries. Clara Smith was not related to the singers Bessie Smith and Mamie Smith. Clara Smith was born in September of 1892 to parents Selena and William Smith in Spartanburg County, South Carolina. She is not believed to have any siblings. Clara was never enrolled in school but was recorded on the census as able to read and write. Blues historians thinks that Clara most likely was introduced in her youth to traveling tent shows that frequently stopped in Spartanburg and sparked her interest in performance. In 1910, Smith began working on African-American theater circuits, in tent shows, and vaudeville. By the late 1918 she was appearing as a headliner with the Theater Owners Bookers Association circuit across Southern states. By 1923, she had performed at major theatres of the time such as the Lyric in New Orleans, the Dream Theatre in Columbus, Georgia, the Bijou Theatre in Nashville, and the Booker T. Washington Theatre in St. Louis. In 1923, she settled in New York City, appearing at cabarets and speakeasies there. She was immediately signed by Columbia Records. That same year she made the first of her commercially successful series of gramophone recordings with Columbia Records, working with many other musicians such as Fletcher Henderson, Louis Armstrong, and Don Redman. She recorded two duets with Bessie Smith: "My Man Blues" and "Far Away Blues" on September 1, 1925. She recorded Tom Delaney's "Troublesome Blues" in 1927. Clara's music began as gloomy accounts of love lost, however, she progressed to more upbeat songs. Her May 1926 recording of "Whip It to a Jelly", was noted as "one of the more overt sexual blues". Clara recorded exclusively with Columbia records, amassing a total of 122 tracks, with her record sales being topped only by Bessie Smith. Clara was known all across the country, even performing on the West coast, which was rare for a Blues singer. During her time performing, Clara met young Josephine Baker and chose to mentor to her. Clara Smith is also accredited for giving Josephine Baker her start in the recording business, having hired her as a dresser for her at the age of 13. Clara and Josephine Baker are thought to have had a romantic relationship for a time, notably being referred to as lady lovers by a colleague. In 1933 she was on the road in Detroit, Michigan, and worked at theaters in revues there until her hospitalization in early 1935 for heart disease of which she later died. (wiki)
We will be listing over 100 blues albums withing the next month, so check back!


<<Check out our Top Rated Store listings for a wide variety of vinyl records and CDs>>