Pat Blythe – Squirrels, Applesauce and Swing

I have recently rediscovered (for the umpteenth time) an entire box of music, lyrics, short stories and pics stretching from the late 1930s to 1949. The collection once belonged to my late mother-in-law, Penny Blythe. Since she was born in 1924, by my calculation, she started collecting Hit Parader, Sing, Hit Radio Songs, Big Song Magazine, Song Hit Folio, etc. when she was a young teenager. They contain hundred of song lyrics and the list of performers is endless. Some names I am familiar with but many I’ve never heard of.

Pat Blythe: Women of Blues 3 – Bessie Smith – The Empress of The Blues

“The blues is not about people knowing you, it’s about you knowing the people.” –– Ma Rainey, (from the HBO movie Bessie)