Complete Recordings, Volume 5 Review

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Complete Recordings, Volume 5 ReviewNot every song on this album is a keeper, but Bessie does a great job, no matter. (And too bad the artwork for the CD cover is so second-rate, but I guess we can't have everything!) The highlights for me are "Young Woman's Blues," "Backwater Blues" and "After You've Gone." And I am so grateful to hear these songs clearly for the first time.
Some of the accompanying instrumentalists are downright lame. (Piano player Clarence Williams was having a bad day on "What's The Matter Now" and "I Want Every Bit Of It," and John Capes makes mention of this in his CD liner notes.) Some are great. But not all of these songs are the best, as written or arranged. And although it is pointless to wish after the fact, since Bessie died before a possible comeback, I cannot help wondering what would have happened if she had been teamed with some of the top arrangers of the day.
By the way, I downloaded the MP3 of "Young Woman's Blues" only (not the whole album, just this one song) from Empress Of The Blues Volume 2: 1926-1933 (CD A, 1926-1928) to compare with the same song on Complete Recordings, Volume 5.
Another customer reviewer here has warned, apparently on reliable information, that the digital transfers used to create Empress Of The Blues Volume 2: 1926-1933 (CD A, 1926-1928) were stolen from the UK label Frog Records' set of 8 volumes (of which Complete Recordings, Volume 5 comprises one installment).
I am a classical musician, and my ears are trained to detect subtle differences from the perspective of a performer and recording artist. Even though I don't always know the technology or techniques used in editing and mixing (in the case of new recordings) or with transfers and noise reduction (with old or archival recordings), I very much appreciate the effort engineers put into their work when it is of a high quality. I can hear it.
Yes, there is a difference between "Young Woman's Blues" on Empress Of The Blues Volume 2: 1926-1933 (CD A, 1926-1928) and the same song on Complete Recordings, Volume 5, and I prefer the latter.
Both are huge improvements over those godawful Columbia transfers (Bessie Smith Collection, Columbia Jazz Masterpieces, Columbia, CD, 1989), which a friend loaned me and which got me hooked on Bessie Smith. Those recordings made her sound like she was singing through a metallic tube. Instead, the Frog Records transfers give you the sense that she is in a room with four walls, a ceiling and a floor and with the air in between all resonating. The JSP version does sound like there has been additional noise reduction, but in my opinion this is not an improvement over Frog UK.
And as an artist who has had my work sold on the open market without compensation to me by unscrupulous recording companies and others, over the years, I feel it is important that, as a consumer, I make the extra effort to reward one of the good guys. If the story can be believed, Frog UK is the way to go. And anyway I like this version the best. So skip the one from JSP.
THE SONG LIST:
1What's the Matter Now?
2I Want Every Bit of It
3Jazzbo Brown from Memphis Town
4The Gin House Blues
5Money Blues
6Baby Doll
7Hard Driving Papa
8Lost Your Head Blues
9Hard Time Blues
10Honey Man Blues
11One and Two Blues
12Young Woman's Blues
13Preachin' the Blues
14Backwater Blues
15After You've Gone
16Alexander's Ragtime Band
17Muddy Water [take 1]
18Muddy Water [take 2]
19There'll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight
20Trombone Cholly
21Send Me to the 'Lectric Chair
22Them's Graveyard Words
23Hot Springs BluesComplete Recordings, Volume 5 Overview

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