Bessie Smith

Original version

BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

BBC Radio 4

Radio 4

Radio 4 (FM)

BBC Radio 4 LW

Bessie Smith by Jackie Kay: Episode 1

Bessie Smith by Jackie Kay

Episode 1

BBC Radio 4 - Bessie Smith by Jackie Kay, Episode 1

A portrait of the tempestuous life of the iconic blues singer by Scotland’s national poet.

Scotland’s national poet brings to life the tempestuous story of the Empress of the Blues. Read by Jackie Kay with Adjoa Andoh.

Scotland’s national poet Jackie Kay brings to life the tempestuous story of the greatest blues singer who ever lived. 

Orphaned by the age of nine, Bessie Smith sang on the street to support her siblings and was swept into travelling shows as a young woman. Facing extreme racial prejudice, she brawled under the influence of bathtub gin and had tumultuous love affairs with men and women. She also sold hundreds of thousands of records and became a genuine superstar.

“The first time I saw Bessie Smith, it really was like finding a friend…”

Mixing biography, fiction, music and memoir, the Makar remembers the electric thrill of identification when, as a young black girl growing up in Glasgow, she was first gifted the music of the Empress.

Abridged by Rosemary Goring
Read by Jackie Kay with Adjoa Andoh
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Audiobooks

Podcasts

Factual

A portrait of the tempestuous life of the iconic blues singer by Scotland's national poet.

Book of the Week. A portrait of the tempestuous life of the pioneering and iconic blues singer by Scotland's national poet.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Bessie Smith by Jackie Kay

Episode 1

Genres

Series

BBC Radio 4 FM

About BBC Radio 4