W.C. Handy's Memphis Blues Band - W.C. Handy's Memphis Blues Band
(Click here)
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
CD Details
Artist: W.C. Handy's Memphis Blues BandEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1994-06-28
Music Label: Memphis Archives
Soundtracks:
- Fuzzy Wuzzy Rag
- Snakey Blues
- Ole Miss Rag
- That Jazz Dance
- The Old Town Pump
- Moonlight Blues
- Hooking Cow Blues
- Bunch O Blues
- Sweet Child
- Livery Stable Blues
- St. Louis Blues
- Yellow Dog Blues
- Muscle Shoals Blues
- She's A Mean Job Blues
- Gulf Coast Blues
- Farewell Blues
Music reviews of W.C. Handy's Memphis Blues Band
Music Review: Solid introduction to W. C. Handy's work
Rating: 4 Stars
The CD's notes begin by saying: "William Christopher Handy, `The Father of the Blues,' was born in Florence, Alabama on November 16, 1873." He began his musical career in earnest in 1893. One of his best known works, "St. Louis Blues," appeared in 1914; it is described as "one of the most recorded songs in history and has been hailed as the `National Anthem of the Blues.'" It seems to me that his music crosscuts ragtime, jazz, and blues.
The recording quality varies from poor to adequate. Many of the cuts are very scratchy but on a par with the technology of the time period. The various works were recorded between 1917 and 1923.
Some illustrations: "Moonlight Blue" is played at a more stately pace. There is an orchestra of 12 persons (plus Handy as Conductor and Coronet player). The resulting sound is distinctively Handy's. No vocals. There is some nice piano playing (apparently by Charles Hillman).
"St. Louis Blues"--the musicians are unknown (except for Handy). The tune begins with some bawdy brass and the song is taken at a quick pace. It is, in effect, most infectious. Overall, the playing is pretty crisp, although is sounded to me like things got a little loose toward the middle. Nonetheless, a lot of fun to listen to, scratchy sound and acoustic technology notwithstanding.
"Yellow Dog Blues" is another sprightly paced tune. After listening to a number of cuts, one can begin to pick up what might be called the W. C. Handy "sound."
Finally, "Muscle Shoal Blues." Again, an infectious tune, well played.
This represents a useful beginning to the work of W. C. Handy. This is the first CD I have ever heard of his work, so I can't say how it compared with any other recordings. But it seems, to me, like a very nice introduction to his body of work.
Description of W.C. Handy's Memphis Blues Band
William Christopher Handy "The Father of the Blues," was born in Florence, Alabama, on November 16, 1873. As a young boy, Handy had an almost insatiable desire to learn more about music. While the Florence Concert Band practiced inside the local barber shop, Handy would peek through the windows and play his cornet, along with the help of a fingering chart displayed on a blackboard. In 1893, he organized a vocal quartet and travelled to Chicago, St.Louis and Evansville, Indiana, ending up in Henderson, Kentucky, where he joined Mahara's Colored Minstrels. Handy stayed on the road for the next seven years, save two years spent at A&M College in Huntsville, Alabama, where he taught music. The year 1903 found W.C.Handy leading the "Knights of Pythias" Band in Clarksdale, Mississippi. One afternoon in Tutwiler, Mississippi, he heard an itinerant musician playing a guitar with a knife blade and singing "Going where the Southern Crosses the Yellow Dog." (The Southern and The Yellow Dog were railroad lines). Handy made a particular mental note of the singer and his unique songs and style and moved to Memphis. Trying to keep in step with the demand for music in Memphis, Handy organized his own band to compete for the more lucrative jobs in a burgeoning musical community. There was, however, stiff competition with the likes of Eckford and Higgins' Imperial Orchestra and Bynum's Superb Orchestra. The mayoral race in 1909 saw a ticket with three candidates and three bands. Handy and his band were hired by the Crump campaign to draw and entertain the crowd's (E.H.Crump had a huge political machine that ran Memphis for most of the first half of the twentieth century). Handy turned to the blues form, and to that itinerant street musician for his composition "Mister Crump" (this song would later be retitled "The Memphis Blues." In 1913, Theron Bennett, a Denver publisher, reissued "The Memphis Blus" with lyrics added by George A.Norton. The song was a huge success, however, Handy was misled by Bennett and Phillips into thinking the song has flopped and, consequently, sold the copyright for $50.00. Undaunted, Handy went back to writing and produced "St.Louis Blues" in 1914, a song which has been one of the most recorded songs in history and has been hailed as the "National Anthem of the Blues." In September of 1917, Handy, along with four band members from Memphis, made the trip to Chicago. There, Handy acquired 4 Chicago musicians and 4 others who had previously played under his direction. With the band assembled, Handy's Orchestra of Memphis headed to New York to make their first recordings. For the first time in over three quarters of a century the recordings of W.C.Handy have been preserved and are available from Memphis Archives in this unique collection.---Richard James Hite
General CDs
Music Genres
Bestsellers in General CDs
Various - Cadillac Records (Deluxe)(Music From the Motion Picture)Sony; Release date: 2008-12-02; Music CD
Best price: $14.48
Price in other shops:
Chris Smither - Time Stands StillRelease date: 2009-09-29; Music CD
Best price: $9.78
Price in other shops:
Ray Charles - The Spirit of ChristmasRelease date: 2009-10-06; Music CD
Best price: $7.07
Price in other shops:
Joe Bonamassa - The Ballad of John HenryRelease date: 2009-02-24; Music CD
Best price: $12.55
Price in other shops:
Delbert McClinton & Dick50 - Acquired TasteDig; Release date: 2009-08-18; Music CD
Best price: $12.42
Price in other shops:
Live from Madison Square GardenWEA-DES MOINES VIDEO; Release date: 2009-05-19; DVD
Best price: $16.55
Price in other shops:
Rodrigo y Gabriela - Rodrigo y Gabriela (with Bonus DVD)Release date: 2006-10-03; Music CD
Best price: $9.53
Price in other shops:
Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood - Live from Madison Square GardenRelease date: 2009-05-19; Music CD
Best price: $13.87
Price in other shops:
O Brother, Where Art Thou?Release date: 2000-12-05; Music CD
Best price: $6.68
Price in other shops:
Rodrigo y Gabriela - 11:11Dig; Release date: 2009-09-08; Music CD
Best price: $10.45
Price in other shops:
Similar CDs
Elmore James - The Sky Is Crying: The History of Elmore JamesJAMES,ELMORE; Release date: 1993-04-06; Music CD
Best price: $4.87
Price in other shops:
Leadbelly - Best of Lead BellyCleopatra; Release date: 2000-05-02; Music CD
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops:
Louis Armstrong and His All-Stars - Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. HandyRelease date: 1997-03-25; Music CD
Best price: $2.99
Price in other shops:
Son House - The Original Delta BluesSon; Release date: 2008-02-01; Music CD
Best price: $2.74
Price in other shops:
Willie Dixon - I Am the BluesDixon; Release date: 2008-02-01; Music CD
Best price: $2.97
Price in other shops:
Bessie Smith - The Essential Bessie SmithSony; Release date: 1997-09-23; Music CD
Best price: $12.26
Price in other shops:
Louis Armstrong and His All-Stars - Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. HandyArmstrong; Release date: 2008-02-01; Music CD
Best price: $6.98
Price in other shops:
Robert Johnson - The Complete RecordingsSony; Release date: 1990-08-20; Music CD
Best price: $13.48
Price in other shops:
Father Of The Blues: An Autobiography (Da Capo Paperback)by W. C. Handy
Da Capo Press; Published: 1991-03-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.95
Price in other shops:
W.C. Handy's Beale Street--Where The Blues BeganRelease date: 2003-01-02; Music CD
Best price: $12.99
Price in other shops: