Bessie Tucker ((Bessies Moan)) Aug 29 1928 (KD Johnson Piano)

Bessie Tucker ((Bessies Moan)) Aug 29 1928 (KD Johnson piano) A young and very attractive near-white looking singer. Tucker possessed a powerful voice, a kind of female equivalent to Charlie Patton, which goes back to the very roots of the Blues. Like Patton, her hollered and deep moaning vocals belie the slight physical stature of the singer. Apart from a tenuous reference to both Bessie Tucker and Ida Mae/May Mack, by Whistlin' Alex Moore in a 1960 interview with Paul Oliver; nothing else has been discovered despite long and fruitless searches by other collectors as well as Oliver himself Little is known about Bessie Tucker. Believed to have been from Texas, she may have come from the town of Katy. In 1928 she traveled on a train to Memphis, TN. to record, along with the Dallas pianist K.D. Johnson, fellow female blues singer Ida Mae Mack, and an elderly guitar playing gentleman by the name of Charlie Kyle. Tucker had another session in Dallas the following year, once again backed by Johnson on piano as well as other area musicians. Some of her song titles give dark images of 1920's and earlier life in Texas that makes you wonder about her childhood and teen years. "Got Cut All To Pieces", "Mean Old Jock Strapper Blues" and "Mean Old Master". No one knows what happened to her after her recording sessions and unlike most of her peers of the day, one photo of her survives. Bessie Tucker:Vocals K.D. Johnson:Piano Recorded in Memphis, TN. Wednesday, August 29, 1928

Added 2 Apr 2026