(born November 16, 1873, Florence, Alabama; died
March 28, 1958, New York, New York)
On September 28, 1912, the publication of William
Christopher Handy's "Memphis Blues" changed the course
of American popular song. Handy introduced an
African-American folk tradition, the blues, into
mainstream music. By the 1960s, the blues sound had
significantly influenced the development of jazz and
rock and roll, quintessential American musical forms.
Born in Alabama in 1873, W.C. Handy attended Teachers
Agricultural and Mechanical College in Huntsville.
After a short stint teaching school, he began playing
cornet with dance bands traveling the Mississippi
Delta. Handy transcribed and collected blues songs he
heard on the road in the 1890s, but continued to play
the ragtime dance tunes audiences demanded.
By 1909, Handy had settled in Memphis, Tennessee, a
Delta city with a cosmopolitan population and a
limitless appetite for music. In Memphis, even mayoral
races warranted musical accompaniment. As one of the
top bandleaders in town, Handy was hired by aspiring
mayor E.H. Crump.
To attract attention to his candidate, Handy wrote an
original tune entitled "Mister Crump." In "Mister
Crump," Handy merged the blues sound with popular
ragtime style by slightly flattening the third tone of
the scale. Overwhelmingly popular, the song
contributed to electoral success for Crump and musical
success for Handy.
On Saturday, September 28, 1912, Handy's "Mister
Crump," retitled "Memphis Blues," went on sale at
Bry's Department Store in Memphis. Although the first
thousand copies sold out in three days, Handy was told
the song flopped. When the publisher offered to buy
the rights for just fifty dollars, the composer
agreed.
Swindled out of his first big hit, Handy went on to
produce "St. Louis Blues" in 1914, "Beale St. Blues"
in 1916, and other popular works. By the time of his
death in 1958, W. C. Handy was recognized across the
world as the "Father of the Blues."
