Charter 6: Bluesmen/Blueswomem

important influence; Eric Clapton has called Johnson "the most important blues singer that ever lived." Johnson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an "Early Influence" in their first induction ceremony in 1986. In 2003, David Fricke ranked Johnson fifth in Rolling Stone's list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.

Women also make the Blues

Not only the male talent lives Blues. The female vocal and genius have always been part of the genre. Of course, in many cases, not with the same emphasis, but certainly always present, ready to show it can do great Blues. I'll talk about the two most important and controversial women of the scenario:

 Bessie Smith

 Bessie, like most black musicians of Blues and Jazz, had a very painful life. Born on April 15, 1894 in Tennessee, since childhood has helped support his family by working as a street performer and then singing in brothels. In 1923 he went to New York for his first recording, signing with Columbia Records. After that, Bessie was consecrated as Blues singer due to his rhythmic sense and his ability to improvise, adding to it all, a perfect voice. She became known forever as the "Empress of the Blues." There are several stories involving his name. At the beginning of the last century (between 1910 and 1930) the repression of blacks in the United States was very strong, which caused Bessie to get involved in conflicts in defense of thousands of black people. A famous story is that alone would have put Bessie to run a group of Ku Klux Klan wanted to prevent the occurrence of an event with jazz musicians and black audience. This was absurd prejudice that led the singer to death. After suffering a car accident in Mississippi on September 26, 1937, she died at age 43, because he had immediate medical attention, as the hospitals in the region did not meet black people.

Bessie Smith was known as the most influential singer of his time, not only in the Blues, but also in jazz and later on Rock and Roll. A famous story is that of singer Janis Joplin in honor of the Blues Diva, erected a tombstone for her, because when Bessie Smith died, her ex-husband Jack Gee stole all the money for his funeral and she was buried in a grave with no name. The "Empress of the Blues" was also famous for another reason: The sexual equality. Bessie advocated gender equality and women's rights. Many say that Bessie was bisexual assumed, which for the time must have caused many problems and prejudices to the singer.