The St. Louis Blues / Cold in Hand Blues

by Bessie Smith

The St. Louis Blues / Cold in Hand Blues cover art
  • Type: Single
  • Released: April 1925
  • Label: Columbia
  • Country: United States
  • Length: 1:04:40
  • Community rating: 3.64/5 from 2 ratings

Album Notes & Community Reviews

Featuring beautifully subdued cornet accompaniment by a young Louis Armstrong, this acoustic recording remains an absolute zenith of classic female blues. The deeply resonant, mournful vocal phrasing transformed W.C. Handy's iconic composition into a permanent cornerstone of American popular music.

Genres

Descriptors: acoustic, breakup

Tracklist

  1. Midnight Blues (3:18)
  2. Gulf Coast Blues (3:05)
  3. Graveyard Dream Blues (2:44)
  4. Aggravatin Papa (3:17)
  5. Oh Daddy Blues (3:05)
  6. Down Hearted Blues (3:26)
  7. Yodeling Blues (3:12)
  8. If You Don't, I Know Who Will (3:36)
  9. Cemetery Blues (3:30)
  10. Beale Street Mama (3:35)
  11. Keeps on a-Rainin' (Papa, He Can't Make No Time) (3:07)
  12. Mama's Got the Blues (2:57)
  13. Baby Won't You Please Come Home (2:56)
  14. Nobody in Town Can Bake a Sweet Jelly Roll Like Mine (3:32)
  15. Jail House Blues (3:14)
  16. Outside of That (3:28)
  17. Lady Luck Blues (3:08)
  18. Bleeding Hearted Blues (3:06)
  19. Taint Nobody's Bizness if I Do (3:27)
  20. Sam Jones Blues (2:48)

Credits

  • Bessie Smith - primary artist, vocals
  • Louis Armstrong - cornet [uncredited]
  • Fred Longshaw - organ [uncredited], piano [uncredited], written-by
  • W. C. Handy - written-by
  • Jack Gee - written-by

More from Bessie Smith: full discography