The Father of the Blues 1876-1958 - Part One

Did you know that there are only forty days before the 21st Annual WC Handy
Awards. And three months till the WC Handy Festival presented by the Blues Foundation. Consequently, I realized that not since my first article way back in 1998 has 
there been any reference or discussion about the person known as The
Father of the Blues William Christopher Handy. So I guess that now is an 
appropriate time to look at the life and times of this world-famous pioneer 
of blues music. 

WC Handy, was born 16 November 1873, in a tiny log cabin on the west side of 
Florence, Alabama, near the banks of the Tennessee River. He spent his 
childhood in the post-slavery South of the late 19th century. 

As both the son and grandson of African Methodist Episcopal ministers, 
Handy's first exposure to music occurred in his family's church, Greater 
St. Paul AME. Attending Sunday services, WC found himself instantly 
consumed by the soul-stirring sounds of sacred hymns and Negro spirituals. 
He maintained a strong affinity for religious music especially black 
spirituals throughout the rest of his life. 

From his earliest days in Florence the inquisitive young Handy would sneak 
down to the banks of the Tennessee River, where he'd listen intently for 
hours while dirt-poor black laborers sang their primitive songs of toll and 
triumph. He got his first lessons on the Cornet in a barbershop, not an unusual 
spot for musical lessons at the time. Handy taught school before he was 19, 
After his father objected to Handy's desire to become a professional 
musician, the young piano and trumpet player left Florence and embarked on 
a musical odyssey that carried him to St. Louis and Memphis. 

He first worked in a factory in Bessemer, Alabama, because it paid more. Around 
1893, he organized a quartet that performed at the Chicago World's Fair, an 
exposition which attracted a large number of musicians, including many 
rag-playing pianists like Tom Turpin and Scott Joplin. 

In 1902, Handy formed his own band in Clarksville, Mississippi. This group 
was as much a marching band as a dance orchestra, and they performed for 
whites and blacks alike. At one of the performances for a white audience, 
Handy was asked to play some of your own music. When he began to play, 
the audience loudly protested, Handy and his group were asked to step aside. 
Then three local black men came on stage with string instruments and performed a type of primitive blues. It was obvious to Handy from the crowd reaction that there was something missing 
in his musical education: the rural sounds had both musical merit and 
crowd-pleasing potential. It was a lesson that would change Handy's life. 

Handy's strengths as an artist were his strong musical background and his 
ability to remember any song he heard. The roots of the blues he created 
lay in black folk songs, and he freely acknowledged these origins. 

In 1909, Handy and his band were asked to play for the campaign of the 
Memphis political boss, Edward H. Crump. At the time, the most popular song 
in their repertoire was a piece called Mr Crump which contained some 
lines not exactly complimentary to their patron: But Boss Crump was not interested in the lyrics if he ever even heard them. What he was interested in was the drawing power of Handy's music, which 
proved so successful that Crump won the election. Later new words by George 
Norton were added, and the title was changed to The Memphis Blues. 

Memphis Blues was the first blues Handy ever wrote. Many consider it to be the first 
blues song in history, although due to Handy's problems finding a publisher 
it was preceded in print by Baby Seals Blues by Artie Matthews, in August 
of 1912 and the Dallas Blues by Hart A. Wand in September of the same 
year. 
Handy's song, which had been released as an instrumental in 1910, 
came out at the end of September 1912, when Handy finally decided to publish it himself. 

Hear original recording of W.C. Handy Singing the St. Louis Blues in Real Audio 
 

GO TO PART TWO