Luke Chillingsworth

History of Music Videos

St Louis Blue’s – Bessie Smith

(1929)

Blues singer Bessie Smith appeared a short film

called Saint Louis Blues in 1929. This featured a

dramatized performance of the song which was

shown in theatres until 1932. This could be

considered the first music video. The film was

also a landmark for being one of the very first

“talkies” ever made.