Father of the Blues: The Life and Music of W.C. Handy

Father of the Blues: The Life and Music of W.C. Handy is a must-read for any fan of the blues. This book tells the story of Handy’s life and how he helped to shape the sound of the blues.

W.C. Handy’s Life

William Christopher Handy was born in 1873 in Florence, Alabama to a family of ex-slaves. He was a musical prodigy and was playing the violin by the age of seven. Handy’s father wanted him to become a preacher, but after hearing a local band play, he was drawn to the music and decided to become a musician.

Handy’s early life and musical influences

William Christopher Handy was born on November 16, 1873, in Florence, Alabama. He was one of nine children born to Charles and Elizabeth Handy. Handy’s father was a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and his mother was a schoolteacher.

From an early age, Handy showed an interest in music. He learned to play the violin and the cornet, and he also began to compose his own songs. One of his earliest compositions, “The Memphis Blues,” would later become one of the most popular songs in the world.

Handy’s formal education ended when he was just eleven years old, but he continued to teach himself music. In 1895, he moved to Clarksdale, Mississippi, where he worked as a bandleader and composer for several years. It was during this time that he truly began to develop his own unique style of music, which combined elements of blues, jazz, and ragtime.

Handy’s years as a musician and bandleader

W.C. Handy was born in Florence, Alabama, on November 16, 1873, the eldest of nine children of Charles and Elizabeth Handy. Elizabeth was a former slave who managed to buy a small plot of land after the Civil War; Charles worked as a sharecropper and later as a carpenter and railroad worker. In his youth, Handy was influenced by the fife-and-drum bands he heard playing at Saturday afternoon picnics and Sunday morning church gatherings. He learned to play the cornet in a local band led by his uncle Richard Owens and eventually took over Owens’s band, which became known as the “Silver Cornet Band.”

In 1893, at the age of 19, Handy moved to Clarksdale, Mississippi, to live with his father and teach music in local black schools. It was there that he began hearing the music that would come to be known as “the blues.” The following year he moved to Memphis, Tennessee, to work as an organist and music teacher; he also found work playing cornet in minstrel shows and theater orchestras. In 1896 he joined the Knights of Pythias Band as first cornetist; the band eventually became one of the most popular in Memphis.

In 1900 Handy took a job as bandleader on the steamship Sidney with the Queen & Crescent Line; he was soon leading bands on other ships in the line’s fleet. His experiences traveling up and down the Mississippi River exposed him to a wide variety of musical styles, from ragtime to gospel. He began incorporating these styles into his own music, creating a unique sound that would come to be known as “blues.”

Handy’s later years and legacy

After the publication of his autobiography in 1941, Handy’s health began to fail and he made fewer public appearances. He died of pneumonia in New York City on March 28, 1958, at the age of 84. He was survived by his wife and two daughters.

Handy’s contributions to American music are immeasurable. He has been called the “Father of the Blues,” and his music has influenced generations of musicians. His most lasting legacy is probably the catchiness and simplicity of his melodies, which are instantly recognizable and have been adapted by musicians in a variety of genres.

W.C. Handy’s Music

W.C. Handy is considered the “Father of the Blues” for his contributions to the genre of music. Handy was born in Mississippi in 1873 and taught himself to play the cornet. He began his musical career playing in minstrel and vaudeville shows. Handy’s music is a mix of blues, ragtime, and jazz. His most famous song, “St. Louis Blues,” was published in 1914 and has been covered by many artists over the years.

Handy’s early compositions

W.C. Handy’s firstbig hit, “The Memphis Blues,” was published in 1912. Two years later, he published “Saint Louis Blues.” Handy composed “Beale Street Blues” in 1916, and “Yellow Dog Blues” in 1917. In 1918, he wrote “Aunt Hagar’s Children,” which many believe was the first blues composition ever written down.

Handy’s most famous compositions

“St. Louis Blues” is a popular American song co-written by W.C. Handy in 1926 and published in September of that year. It was one of the first blues songs to achieve widespread popularity and remains one of Handy’s best-known compositions. Though primarily a jazz standard, it has been performed and recorded by musicians in many genres, including pop, rock, country, folk, and classical. “St. Louis Blues” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998 as a recording by Louis Armstrong.

“Beale Street Blues” is a song written by W.C. Handy in 1916 that celebrates Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee, which was then (and still is) considered ” America’s Most Famous Street”. The lyrics tell the story of a raid on the street by police who were ostensibly looking for illegal gambling but really just wanted to roust the people who were enjoying themselves there. Despite the heavy-handed police action, the people return to Beale Street because that’s where they feel at home.

“Yellow Dog Blues” is a composition by W.C. Handy first published in 1913 as an instrumental tone poem called “Barrel House Rag”. It is better known in its vocal form with lyrics by Frank Loesser, which were added when the song was revived in the late 1930s by big band leader Artie Shaw and his Gramercy Five jazz group. The Shaw version featured a young Billy Dexter on piano who later went on to have his own successful career as a bandleader and sideman with Benny Goodman, Harry James, and others.

Handy’s influence on the blues and jazz

As the “Father of the Blues,” W.C. Handy was one of the most influential American musicians of the early 20th century. His music helped to shape the sound of both the blues and jazz, two genres that would go on to have a profound impact on popular music.

Handy was born in rural Alabama in 1873, and he first began playing music on a homemade fife. He later took up the cornet, and he eventually learned to play a wide variety of brass instruments. In 1896, he joined a travelling minstrel show called Mahara’s Minstrels, which exposed him to a variety of different musical styles.

After stints with other bands, Handy settled in Memphis, Tennessee in 1903, where he became leader of the cornet section for the Grand Opera House orchestra. It was here that he began to experiment with blending elements of different musical genres, creating a unique sound that would come to be known as the ” Memphis blues.”

Handy’s influence on American music can be heard in the work of many later musicians, including Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Miles Davis. His legacy continues to this day, as his songs are still performed and recorded by artists all over the world.