Post 564: THE 12-BAR BLUES AND 'OH, YOU BEAUTIFUL DOLL'

Everyone knows the CHORUS of Oh, You Beautiful Doll. But do you know the VERSE?

I was very interested to find that the VERSE is in fact a standard pattern 12-bar blues! In the sheet music, the 12 bars are played through twice in the key of Eb. Then there is a switch into the key of Ab and the familiar Chorus begins. (Of course, such transitions from the dominant to the tonic are very common in music, as one theme leads into another.)

Nat D. Ayer (who also wrote the music for If You Were The Only Girl in the World) composed the piece in 1911 - yes, all that long ago. So I think this is a fine example of the way the 12-bar blues form was influencing popular music even during those very early years in the Twentieth Century when traditional jazz bands were beginning to emerge. Handy's pioneering Memphis Blues, also with the standard 12-bar main theme, had appeared just a year earlier.

And, as we all know, the 12-bar blues went on to be the basis of about a tenth of the tunes our bands have played in their performances ever since; and of course it became the basis of rock'n'roll.

Here, from the original sheet music, is the transition point where the 12-bar blues (VERSE) ends and the CHORUS begins.

Post 443: W. C. HANDY AND MEMPHIS

Only once in my life have I been to Memphis, Tennessee. That was on 17 October 2016. Naturally, I headed to Beale Street.

And of course I had to be photographed with the statue of the great William Christopher Handy.

I also enjoyed seeing the house where he lived for the eight years during which he led his own band playing on Beale Street, and wrote some of his best-known work, establishing the importance of the 12-bar blues. In fact, a few recordings of Handy and his Memphis Orchestra, made in 1917, still exist (you can find them on YouTube).

The house was originally located at 659 Janette Street, but was transported in 1983 to this new site tucked away just behind Beale Street, near the statue. 

Handy in 1892

And here is his band in Memphis in 1918.

Handy lived from 1873 to 1958. Apart from being a trumpet-player and band-leader, he is best known as a composer - 'The Father of the Blues'. Among his compositions are some of the most enduring pieces in the traditional jazz repertoire: Memphis Blues, St. Louis Blues, Beale Street Blues, Ole Miss Rag, Chantez Les Bas, Atlanta Blues, Yellow Dog Blues, and Aunt Hagar's Blues.

Unfortunately, on the one day when I was in Beale Street, the live music in the bars was disappointing. But I guess I was just unlucky. Apart from 'meeting' W. C. Handy, my greatest pleasure in Memphis was a lovely stroll by the Mississippi.

And Mrs. Pops Coffee was thrilled to meet local resident Melvin - just three weeks old. Melvin's ambition is to become a jazz trumpet player.

Post 44: 'MEMPHIS BLUES'

Well, we have our ways of playing W. C. Handy's Memphis Blues. Most bands play a 4-bar Introduction. Then some play the 'Verse' as 16 bars, followed by the 12-bar 'Chorus'. I have heard others playing the Verse as 32 bars (the 16-bar theme twice). And there are even a few bands playing the Verse as 36 bars (essentially 16 + 16 PLUS a 4-bar tag).

I have heard bands playing both the Verse and the Chorus in the same key (usually F); and others playing the Verse in F and then going into Bb for the Chorus.

There is even an occasional band that plays a 12-bar theme (sometimes twice) before what I have been calling the 'Verse'. (This is probably - see below - an 'authentic' interpretation.)

It's interesting, when we come across some vintage sheet music of such a tune, to discover how the composer originally expected it to be played. As you can see from the music below, it seems that the 36-bar version of the Verse is 'correct', and that there IS a 12-bar theme BEFORE the 'Verse'. Here's the Introduction and the first 12-bar theme.

Then comes the 'Verse' theme and - as you can see - if played correctly, it contains 36 bars. The is the Verse we think of as starting with the words (added later by George A. Norton) Folks I've just been down, been down to Memphis Town, That's where the people smile, Smile on you all the while,.... (in the gravelly voice of Louis Armstrong!):

Finally we have the 12-bar theme (twice through on this last page of the sheet music). And you will notice that the key DOES change - from F to Bb.

You may recall that Norton's words to the Chorus begin They've got a trumpet man leading the band, And folks he sure blows some horn, etc.

Two other little curiosities. First, the tune is sometimes sub-titled Mr. Crump. Legend has it that this was because it was written originally (in 1909) for use in his successful political campaign to become Mayor of Memphis by a Mr. Edward Crump. Second, you may have noticed that the tune is described on the cover page as 'A Southern Rag'. It does not sound like a 'rag' when played by jazz bands today, but it could be raggy if played with certain emphases and at the right tempo in the piano arrangement above. We must also bear in mind that this was possibly the first blues ever to be published, so perhaps a distinction between rags and blues had not yet been established. Handy's Yellow Dog Blues was also originally published as Yellow Dog Rag.

Post 27: TRADITIONAL JAZZ TUNES FROM 1910

Sometimes it's fun and interesting to pick a year at random and then find out which tunes from that year are still in the repertoire of traditional jazz bands today. Usually you come up with some really 'good ol' good ones', as Louis Armstrong would have said. They are bound to be good: they have stood the test of time.

So let's go way way back - to 1910. Are there any tunes from that year we still play?

I guess most of us have in our repertoire Washington and Lee Swing, Memphis Blues, Down By The Old Mill Stream (that used to be a favourite of Kid Thomas), Shine, Let Me Call You Sweetheart, Some of These Days and Silver Bell.

I hope there are still a few bands playing Dill Pickles.

A clarinet-playing friend makes a feature of All That I Ask of You is Love and another plays Joshua.

I don't think that's a bad crop from a year so long ago.

But does anybody still play The Spaghetti Rag? I doubt it.