1 or 12. I did a piece based on events from her life for the Charcoll show "Blue". Happily I sold the piece right away. Unhappily I didn't document it very well. I only got a slightly blurry picture of it. So, for as many 
years as I have listened to Bessie's music I never until recently discovered her contemporary, Clara Smith. With a name like that one would think I would have heard of her. She was labeled the Queen of the Moaners which I thought was a bit odd since her voice is much sweeter than other singers of her era. She was not as popular as Bessie but they did work together alot. They were actually close friends until Bessie had a little too much to drink one night and hit Clara. Clara also gave Josephine Baker her first job in show business as a dresser. I love her voice and can't help but like her name. You can hear some of her songs here. http://www.sc.edu/csam/csamaudioarchive_clara_smith.htm
years as I have listened to Bessie's music I never until recently discovered her contemporary, Clara Smith. With a name like that one would think I would have heard of her. She was labeled the Queen of the Moaners which I thought was a bit odd since her voice is much sweeter than other singers of her era. She was not as popular as Bessie but they did work together alot. They were actually close friends until Bessie had a little too much to drink one night and hit Clara. Clara also gave Josephine Baker her first job in show business as a dresser. I love her voice and can't help but like her name. You can hear some of her songs here. http://www.sc.edu/csam/csamaudioarchive_clara_smith.htm