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 14: 'YELLOW DOG BLUES'

It is a rare treat to get hold of early sheet music of the jazz classics. When you have tried to pick up a tune by ear, it is so good to see the original music and find out whether you got it right.

I came across the sheet music for Handy's Yellow Dog Blues (originally, it seems, also called The Yellow Dog Rag) in my computer's archives and can't remember how it came to be there. But I think it must be thanks to the great Audrey VanDyke.

I have never had the pleasure of meeting Audrey, who lives somewhere in Michigan, I think. But during the years since I started taking an interest in traditional jazz, I have learned that the world owes her a great debt of gratitude for her scholarship relating to early jazz, for her enthusiasm and especially for building up a large collection of vintage sheet music and making much of it available to the rest of us through the Internet.

As for Yellow Dog Blues, yes: I think most bands play it in a way Handy would have admired - with the long narrative Verse (three blocks of twelve bars each) about the woes of Miss Susie Johnson, followed by the Chorus (two blocks of twelve bars, each with that great rising opening  - Ea - sy Ri - der.... ). But I doubt whether many bands these days consider it as a piece in 2/4 time. We treat it as 4/4. And I don't know of any band playing it in Handy's original key of D. Eb is preferred.