Today's playlist. This 12th installment features the blues artist "Bessie Smith".
I bought it at Flash Disc Ranch, my favorite record store in Shimokitazawa.
This is a record store I've been going to ever since I first moved to Setagaya. It's popular because of its amazing point card system, which is valid as long as the store is open. Once you collect 50 stamps, you can buy any number of records under 15,000 yen for half price.
Shimokitazawa: A place that makes you want to spontaneously get off the train on your way home on the Odakyu Line.
Whenever I get off at Shimokitazawa, I always stop by here and buy a few records.
I've been doing that for about five years now.
Bessie Smith was a singer who was active primarily from the 1920s to the 1930s.
She achieved great success as a Black singer of her time and was called the "Empress of the Blues" and the "Queen of the Blues." She captivated audiences with her overwhelming vocal power, which was said to "shake buildings," and her ability to maintain rich emotion in her singing, and her popularity and fame as a great blues singer are still talked about today.
However, her final moments were unimaginable in today's world.
In 1937, Smith was involved in an unfortunate car accident when her car was rear-ended by a truck. She was taken to a nearby hospital, but because it was a whites-only hospital, she was stubbornly refused admission. After being transferred several times, she was finally taken to a black-only hospital in Clarksdale, Mississippi. However, Smith passed away shortly thereafter. She died at the age of 43.
I bought this record by chance at a record store. I wondered what artist's record I had bought today, and when I looked it up, I was confronted with a history I never expected.
This might also have some meaning.
WAITER-U offers not only camping gear, but also a curated selection of music, books, and movies.
I've also created a playlist on Spotify, so please feel free to listen to it in the car on your way to a camping trip.
