As Handy's fame spread, he was drawn north to Memphis and was living there by the end of Just one of many aspiring musicians in a town with well-established bands, he sought help from the Knights of Pythias, a fraternal order that had sponsored his Clarksdale band.
By , Handy was a leading area bandleader, and in the mayoral election of that year he was hired to draw crowds for candidate Edward Crump. He won the election, and Handy's catchy campaign song, "Mr. Crump," swept town. Three years later, Handy combined the folk-based "Mr. Crump" with some original ragtime elements in a piano instrumental that he called "The Memphis Blues," which he published himself in The following year, Bennett republished "The Memphis Blues" with lyrics, and the song was a hit.
Handy was stung by the realization that he had signed away a considerable profit, but the lyrics praised Handy and his Memphis band and spread his renown. Their first publications, some with lyrics by Pace, were mediocre, but in Handy penned his masterpiece, "St. Louis Blues" was a genuine blues piece, and the first published blues to include a section in a minor key.
The rhythm for this section is a habanera, or tango, with a sultry air. The song has three sections in all and allows for a variety of tempi, moods, and interpretations.
Early recordings of "St. Louis Blues" tend to be brisk, in keeping with the mania for dancing during the World War I years, although it was only a minor hit during the first few years after its release. Beginning around , it grew in popularity and became an immense hit that made it the second-most recorded piece in the history of jazz and much-performed in blues, folk, country, and pop settings.
The version, featuring Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong, set the standard for slower, bluesier versions. Handy co-wrote the movie St.
Louis Blues, which starred Smith. Early in , Pace struck out on his own to found Black Swan Records, the first successful African American record company. Most of the best talent in the office, excited by the new opportunity, left with Pace. At the same time there was a downturn in business, and, in a cruel twist of fate, Handy suffered an infection that left him temporarily blind and with diminished sight after his recovery.
His brother Charles and sister-in-law Ruth worked nights and weekends at the office shipping music and answering mail, and with the help of a few remaining staff members, Handy managed to hold on to his business, reincorporated as Handy Brothers Music Company. By the mids, his fortunes were improving. In , he was interviewed by the lawyer and folk music scholar Abbe Niles, and together the pair created the remarkable Blues: An Anthology , combining enlightening commentary with numerous music examples.
Handy was now becoming a household name in America; he crowned this success with a concert featuring his music at Carnegie Hall in With his hit-writing days waning, he turned to arranging spirituals and publishing music by other composers.
The world of blues music is arguably incomplete without the works of William Christopher Handy W. His family was religious conservatives that out-rightly shunned the complete idea of music, making it all the more difficult for Handy to buy his first guitar.
He was, however to begin his musical journey by learning the organ and cornet first. In his early years, Chris Handy became so proficient with sheet notes and musical instruments that he began teaching and touring other music lovers on the road, before finally taking up a professorship in the Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University.
His career is one of striking magnificence and uniqueness, in the way that it took shape and reached prominence not just in the local setting but as well as at the national and international stages. He grew up learning music, mostly by ear, as he travelled on tours with various minstrel groups, bands and quartets.
His incredible capability to transcribe point-accurate music by ear gave him a significant advantage when it came to composing his own works. In his autobiography, Handy traced the key events in his discovery of the blues back to his time in the Mississippi Delta, beginning in His schoolmaster, Young A.
Wallace, also taught him hymns and classical music. Even the sounds of birds, frogs and farm animals were music to his ears. As he began to play cornet and travel, he assimilated more music in St. Handy, who had been playing marches, waltzes, rags, classics and popular music, moved to Clarksdale, Mississippi, to lead a band in
0コメント