Biography
If surnames truly reflected personal conduct, Jack Gee might have carried a far harsher designation, one unfit for polite print. His actual history reveals little interest in earning a living; instead he relied entirely on the earnings of his wife, the classic blues singer Bessie Smith. Within the rough-and-tumble world of the blues, Gee stood out for particularly unsavory behavior. Any conventional account of a man named Gee credited as a songwriter on blues sides would normally begin with a pun on the surname before questioning whether he contributed anything beyond fetching lunches at recording sessions.
With this particular Gee, however, the record demands immediate attention to his documented actions. He wed Bessie Smith during the summer of 1923, at which time he had already been characterized as a semi-literate night watchman, although certain accounts upgrade the occupation to that of policeman. Gee also assumed a managerial role in Smith’s professional affairs, yet the repeated misfortunes that marked her career throughout their marriage would scarcely have justified a one-third share of her income. Responsibility for those setbacks cannot fairly be assigned to him, as he was either intoxicated or occupied with other romantic entanglements. Contemporary accounts state that he struck her on multiple occasions, endured repeated nervous breakdowns, abducted their adopted son Jack Gee, Jr., and absconded with Smith’s niece, the blues singer also known as Ruby Smith and Ruby Walker.
By the late 1920s Gee had secured three thousand dollars in production funds for a proposed Smith vehicle titled Steamboat Days. Rather than apply the money to the show, he spent it on Gertrude Saunders, another performer with whom he was involved. Smith’s own calamitous biography has supplied material for numerous novels, films, and theatrical works, each of which presents Gee as an unambiguously villainous figure. One misfortune he cannot be held accountable for is the imprisonment of Jack Gee, Jr. in a basement; that treatment came from the boy’s biological father after he obtained custody, citing inadequate safeguards within the Smith-Gee home. From a purely artistic standpoint, Gee fully justified his authorship of such bleak compositions as “Cold in Hand Blues,” most notably “Reckless Blues.”
With this particular Gee, however, the record demands immediate attention to his documented actions. He wed Bessie Smith during the summer of 1923, at which time he had already been characterized as a semi-literate night watchman, although certain accounts upgrade the occupation to that of policeman. Gee also assumed a managerial role in Smith’s professional affairs, yet the repeated misfortunes that marked her career throughout their marriage would scarcely have justified a one-third share of her income. Responsibility for those setbacks cannot fairly be assigned to him, as he was either intoxicated or occupied with other romantic entanglements. Contemporary accounts state that he struck her on multiple occasions, endured repeated nervous breakdowns, abducted their adopted son Jack Gee, Jr., and absconded with Smith’s niece, the blues singer also known as Ruby Smith and Ruby Walker.
By the late 1920s Gee had secured three thousand dollars in production funds for a proposed Smith vehicle titled Steamboat Days. Rather than apply the money to the show, he spent it on Gertrude Saunders, another performer with whom he was involved. Smith’s own calamitous biography has supplied material for numerous novels, films, and theatrical works, each of which presents Gee as an unambiguously villainous figure. One misfortune he cannot be held accountable for is the imprisonment of Jack Gee, Jr. in a basement; that treatment came from the boy’s biological father after he obtained custody, citing inadequate safeguards within the Smith-Gee home. From a purely artistic standpoint, Gee fully justified his authorship of such bleak compositions as “Cold in Hand Blues,” most notably “Reckless Blues.”