BESSIE SMITH - A GOOD MAN IS HARD TO FIND

A GOOD MAN IS HARD TO FIND

BESSIE SMITH

SONGWRITER: EDDIE GREEN

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: I’M VOILÁ ABOUT THAT THINGS

LABEL: COLUMBIA RECORDS

GENRE: BLUES

YEAR: 1928

 

       Bessie Smith(April 15, 1894 – September 26, 1937) was an African-American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Nicknamed the "Empress of the Blues", she was the most popular female blues singer of the 1930s. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, she is often regarded as one of the greatest singers of her era and was a major influence on fellow blues singers, as well as jazz vocalists.

        Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Smith was young when her parents died, and she and her six siblings survived by performing on street corners. She began touring and performed in a group that included Ma Rainey, and then went out on her own. Her successful recording career with Columbia Records began in 1923, but her performing career was cut short by a car crash that killed her at the age of 43.

[Verse 1]

My heart is sad and I'm all alone

My man's treating me mean

I regret the day that I was born

And the man I ever seen

My happiness is less today

My heart is broke, that's why I say

 

[Chorus:]

Lord, a good man is hard to find

You always get another kind

Just when you think that he's your pal

You look and find him foolin' 'round some old gal

Then you rave, you all crave

You want to see him in his grave

So if your man is nice, take my advice;

Hug him in the morning, kiss him at night

Give him plenty lovin'; treat your good man right

Oh, a good man is so hard to find

 

[Chorus:]

We always get that roughed old kind

Just when you think that he's your pal

You like and find him hangin' 'round some old gal

Then you rave, how you crave

You wanna see him dead layin' in his grave

So if your man is nice, take my advice

Hug him in the morning, kiss him at night

Give him plenty love madam, treat your man right

Cause a good man nowadays sure is hard to find.