"Downhearted Blues" is a blues song composed by Alberta Hunter and Lovie Austin. The first line immediately sets the theme for the song: "Gee but it's hard to love someone when that someone don't love you".
Alberta Hunter used to sing it during her engagement at the Chicago Dreamland Cafe, where she performed with Joe "King" Oliver's band. She also made a recording of the song in 1922.
It was recorded by blues singer Bessie Smith (vocal) and Clarence Williams (piano) February 16, 1923. Released as Bessie Smith's first single (along with B-side "Gulf Coast Blues"), it sold 780,000 records in the first six months and would go on to sell 2 million copies.
Smith's recording was included by the National Recording Preservation Board in the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry in 2002. The board selects songs in an annual basis that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
It was also included in the list of Songs of the Century, by the Recording Industry of America and the National Endowment for the Arts in 2001 and is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the 500 songs that shaped rock. Smith's recording received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 2006.
"Downhearted Blues" has later been played by several musicians, among others: Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra, Eva Taylor, Lucille Hegamin, Edna Hicks, Mildred Bailey & Her Alley Cats, Cab Calloway & His Orchestra, Teddy Wilson, Kid Ory, Juanita Hall, Ella Fitzgerald, Son House, Teresa Brewer.
Famous quotes containing the word blues:
“The blues women had a commanding presence and a refreshing robustness. They were nurturers, taking the yeast of experience, kneading it into dough, molding it and letting it grow in their minds to bring the listener bread for sustenance, shaped by their sensibilities.”
—Rosetta Reitz, U.S. author. As quoted in The Political Palate, ch. 10, by Betsey Beaven et al. (1980)