empty cell Clara Smith
Clara Smith was an American blues singer born on March 13, 1894, in Spartanburg, South Carolina. She began her career in traveling tent shows and black vaudeville, earning nicknames such as "Queen of the Moaners" and "World's Champion Moaner." In 1923, she moved to New York City and over the next nine years recorded 125 songs. She collaborated with notable musicians like James P. Johnson, Coleman Hawkins, and Joe Smith. Her most renowned recordings include "I Got Everything A Woman Needs," "Awful Moanin’ Blues," and "I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down." She was the only vocalist to record duets with Bessie Smith, including "Far Away Blues" and "My Man Blues." Her career concluded with the onset of the Great Depression.
