'Send Me to the 'Lectric Chair'

Bessie Smith

Bessie Smith had a tough life, lived hard and died young, but she articulated the blues like no other.  Most performers who followed her used her as a yardstick for excellence.

 Billie Holiday was one of those who admired Smith, as she took the hard life she had, with men and domestic violence and a host of issues African American women faced, and had that same sense of understanding and therefore ability to sing with great feeling.

Send me to the 'Lectric Chair is one of those songs that offers the story of doing wrong and suffering the consequences that people tended to accept because its hard time story was the lover kills the man who done her wrong was still wrong.  In other words, one could sing about the crime but include the moral ending, of the punishment that is to suit the crime.

But still the excitement of sex, violence, drug, men and hard luck times formed the bulk of Smith's work.  Folks who lived the high life in the 1920's liked the devil-may-care attitude of Smith's music.  Others liked her brazenness and lived that edgy style through Smith's music.  For at the same time Smith was singing "I Just Love That Thang," referencing sex for sure, white folks performed songs that alluded to physical love, but mostly of the kiss-and-hold-your-hand type.  Smith's music went to more than the heart, and it was the tittilating lyrics and sultry melodies that grabbed and held both black and white audiences.

The Blues Empress she was, and Send Me to the 'Lectric Chair offers the evidence of Smith's royalty.  The song, composed by George Brooks, was first recorded by Bessie Smith in 1927.  Dinah Washington later recorded the song as did David Bromberg.

A tribute to Bessie Smith and a demonstration of the universal nature of her music is presented her with baritone ukulele, vocal and harmonica: