Clara smith

African-American blues singer, known as the Queen of the Moaners. Like those of many blues singers, Clara Smith's early years are obscure. She was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina , in , and endured poverty and discrimination.

Clara smith athlete

From to , she recorded mostly for Columbia. Her throbbing, moaning voice was backed by such prominent jazz artists as Louis Armstrong on the cornet, Coleman Hawkins on the sax, Don Redman on the clarinet, and James P. Johnson on the piano. Clara, who recorded two duets with Bessie Smith , preferred suffering, tragic heroines for her subject, such as the ones featured in "Every Woman's Blues" and "Awful Moaning Blues.

Three years later, she died of a heart attack at age 41 in Detroit, Michigan. Encyclopedia of the Blues. Translated by Brigitte Debord. Kinkle, Roger D.