William Christopher Handy
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The Father of the Blues If you're ever on Jeopardy, use this information to win money, but don't get in a bar fight over it. Many people can can lay claim to the above statement, but W.C. Handy is most widely honored with this title. He was born in Florence, Alabama in 1873 in a log cabin, which he also grew up in. As a child he loved music and it seemed to come naturally to him. This love for music, however, was not shared by his parents. At one point he had finally saved up enough money to buy a guitar he had his eye on. When his father found out, he was made to exchange it for a dictionary. This small obstacle didn't stop young William, after all, he was a blues man. As a teenager he secretly joined a local blues band, buying a cornet from a fellow band member. He spent all his time practicing and soon formed his own band called the "Lauzetta Quartet". They spent some time playing locally until he was able to join a more successful band. It was while playing with that band that W.C. was asked to join the "Mahara's Minstrels". He spent the next three years traveling the country playing for the glamorous salary of $6 a week. At this point W.C. decided to settle back down and take a teaching job he had been offered at the only black college in Alabama, The Agricultural and Mechanical College in Normal, Alabama. It didn't take too long for W.C. to become disenchanted with college life and he thought he could make a lot more money touring again. So in 1909 W.C., wife and daughter in tow, took his band to Memphis and set up shop on Beale Street. This is where he started to shape his musical sound into what later would be called "the blues". His first work was actually a campaign song for the Mayoral candidate E.H. Crump. The name of the song, "Mr Crump", would later be changed to "Memphis Blues". It became a very popular song and was published in 1912, unfortunately he had sold the rights for $100. In 1914 he published his most well known work, "St. Louis Blues". He continued to write songs and opened his own publishing company, working steadily thru the 20's and 30's. In 1943, after a fall, he totally lost his already failing vision. He suffered a stroke at the age of 81, confining him to a wheelchair and in 1958 the world lost a blues legend. He was buried in New York City with an estimated 150,000 people lining the funeral route. This is about all my fingers can take for tonight, but I urge you to do your own research on W.C. Handy-"Father of the Blues" Selected works: Blues: An Anthology , 1926 |
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