Product Details

• Actors: Bessie Smith, Lena Horne
• Format: Black & White, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: View Video
• VHS Release Date: July 1, 1991
• Run Time: 60 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301267850
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #251,164 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Culled from rare black-and-white footage from the early to mid-20th century, this excellent anthology showcases a number of gems from the best and brightest female vocalists in America. There's the radiant "Empress of the Blues" Bessie Smith in her only recorded film appearance singing "St. Louis Blues." The gospel great Sister Rosetta Tharpe delivers a down-home version of "That Lonesome Road," which is contrasted by jazzy and sassy Dinah Washington's "Lean Baby." The immortal Billie Holliday's touching 1957 TV performance of "Fine and Mellow," recorded with saxophonists Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, and Gerry Mulligan two years before her death in 1959, is the finest clip in this collection. From Ethel Waters and Sarah Vaughan to Lena Horne, Ida Cox, and Peggy Lee, this set shows why women have been the standard bearers of the American vocal tradition. --Eugene Holley Jr.

Product Description

WINNER OF:
-The American Video Conference/Billboard Magazine
-The International Film & TV Festival of NY
-The American Film & Video Festival

The "Ladies" who created an art form and sang their way into legend… a bygone era is recaptured in this filmed salute to the women who started it all… whose turn of phrase made musical history.

Priceless footage of the great American divas (complete songs, not just tantalizing excerpts) Billie Holiday backed by the most extraordinary band ever formed-Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Benny Webster, Roy Eldridge, and Gerry Mulligan. The great Bessie Smith in her only film appearance…Dinah Washington from the stage of The Apollo Theatre…Peggy Lee, Sarah Vaughan, Lena Horne, and others, singing their classics. For many of them, this was their only performance on camera…Certainly some of the greatest performances! Performances thought to be lost to time!

V.I.E.W. Video is proud to present "THE LADIES SING THE BLUES"…a gallery of those women who were the major force in American musical culture. See these stars like you've never heard them before! An entertaining masterpiece. A classic for your library.
SELECTIONS:
1 St. Louis Blues- Bessie Smith
2 Darkies Never Dream- Ethel Waters
3 Quicksand- Ethel Waters with Count Basie & His Orchestra
4 Fine and Mellow- Billie Holiday with Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young,ect...
5 When You Lose Your Money Blues- Ida Cox with Jesse Crump
6 That Lonesome Road Sister- Rosetta Tharp
7 Nobody's Sweetheart Now- Connee Boswell
8 Lean baby- Dinah Washington
9 Only A Moment Ago- Dinah Washington
10 Have A Good Time- Ruth Brown
11 The Man I Love- Lena Horne
12 Unlucky Woman- Lena Horne with Teddy Wilson & His Orchestra
13 You're Mine You- Sarah Vaughan
14 I Cried For You- Helen Humes with Count Basie & His Orchestra
15 Why Don't You Do Right?- Peggy Lee with Benny Goodman & His Orchestra
16 I Cover The Waterfront- Peggy Lee with Dave Barbour

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Buyer Sings the Blues, December 10, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Ladies Sing The Blues (DVD)

The songs may be "complete" as the DVD claims, but what isn't mentioned is the inane narration over the beginning of just about every clip on the disk, which spoiled much of the enjoyment for me. I bought the DVD for the Connee Boswell clip (love those Boswell Sisters), but after the narration there's just eighteen seconds of the song left. By the way, even accounting for the age/rarity of the clips, the quality of them often leaves something to be desired, as well.

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent documentary featuring American legends of song., July 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Ladies Sing the Blues [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This acclaimed compilation brings together full-length, rare performances from the great ladies of song: Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith, Peggy Lee, Lena Horne, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan and Ethel Waters. Hailed by Entertainment Weekly as "a grand parade of American miracles," Ladies captures the excitement of the most distinctive female vocalists in Jazz.

#1313 (60 min, B&W, Hi-Fi)

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good additional material for class, February 17, 2005

By 

Scott R. Harding (St. Johns, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ladies Sing the Blues [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I have to agree with one of the earlier reviewers: the complete "videos" on this tape are fantastic, but the narrated voice-over (delivered in a near-monotone) during the opening bits isn't of much use. Still, I use portions of this tape in my Jazz History class, and at least the narration backs up the info that students are given in their textbooks. In all, I like certain clips in here better than the Burns "Jazz" anthology simply because they ARE complete.