William Christopher Handy Handy was an American black composer and compiler of "BLUES" music. He was born in Florence, Alabama. He was educated at the Negro Agricultural and Mechanical College near Huntsville, Alabama. He was the son of former slaves. He was educated in the public schools and by his father and paternal grandfather, both of whom were clergymen. Handy was the first to bring the African- American blues to the general publics attention with the publication of his MEMPHIS BLUES in 1912. He began his musical career as a cornet soloist and bandmaster with minstrel shows; one of his earislst engagements was with the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. Handy also founded a music publishing house and edited and wrote several books , including the autobiographical Father of the Blues (1941). Originally, the blues were a type of black folk song little known beyond the southern United States. Handy's songs brought the blues to international attention. Handy's career was rooted in popular music. He began his career in 1896 as a minstrel show and vaudville corntist and bandleader and then became one of the first publishers of music by black composers. William Christopher Handy was born on Nov,16, 1873, in Florence, Ala, the son of former slaves . As a 15-year-old he left home to work in a traveling minstrel show, but he soon returned when his money ran out. He attended Teachers Agreicultural & Mechanical College in Huntsville, Alabama, and worked as a school teacher and bandmaster. In 1893, during an economic depression, he formed a quartet to perform at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. For several years afterward he drifted around the country working at different jobs. Eventually he settled in Memphas, Tenn. Although he lost his eyesight at age 30, after WW1 he conducted his own orchestra from 1903 intill 1921. His eyesight partially returned, but he became completely blind after a fall from a subway platform in 1943. Handy wrote music during the period of transition from ragtime to jazz. The music he had absorbed during his youth consisted of spirituals, work songs,
Blues refers to the music genre that originated from the African-American societies mainly from the deep southern region of the United States in the late 19th century. The blues form of music is characterized by notes that are played gradually bent or flattened. The blues notes comprised 12 measures or bars. These notes are used in jazz music, rhythm and blues. The inventors of the blues included slaves and the descendants of the slaves. There is a general belief that the blues originated from African folk songs. The blues spread out significantly from the south in the late 1930s and early 1940s. The music quickly progressed into various styles according to regions. Well-known pioneers of blues music in the 1920s include Blind Lennon Jefferson, W.C. Handy, Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton and Son House. Blues exist in popular music in many areas today.
On the surface a discussion of the "blues" may seem a bit high-minded. How seriously can one take works entitled "Aggravatin Papa," "Need a Little Sugar in my Bowl," "Gimme a Pigfoot and a Bottle of Beer, "when placed next to a work of such literary boldness as Cane; a work that William Braithwhite gushingly refers to as "a book of gold and bronze, of dusk and flame, of ecstasy and pain, and Jean Toomer is a bright morning star of a new day of the race in literature" (Baker 16). A closer examination of both forms reveal startling similarities in theme, structure and content and that most important attribute - spirit.
The blues emerged as a distinct African-American musical form in the early twentieth century. It typically employed a twelve-bar framework and three-lined stanzas; its roots are based in early African-American songs, such as field hollers and work songs, and generally have a melancholy mood. The blues can be divided into many sub-genres, including Classical, Country, and Urban. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the careers of two of Classical blues most influential and legendary singers: Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith.
For Stanley, the blues tell the stories of the African-American community. Some of the stories talk about the harshness of their lives, but they also talk about the good times they had. [People] play the blues to get rid of the blues not to get them." (Lamb, 1). When people play or even listen to the blues, they are letting all of their worries go. They are not worrying about their job, the bills, or their kids. They are just trying to enjoy the moment when the blues are playing. The blues are some people's release from the stresses of their lives.
8. V. Bogdanov, C. Woodstra, S. T. Erlewine. 2003. All Music Guide to the Blues: The Definitive
Blues music is popular because of the characteristics it contains, for example, the musical form of the style. The simple but “expressive ‘microtonal’ pitch inflections, a three-line textual stanza of the form AAB, and a 12-measure form.” The pitch inflections or expressive notes are called “blue notes.” These notes were not found in the Western major and minor scale systems but did derive from the African musical practice. The form of the blues music was distinct from Western music because of the incorporation of African American musical practices; therefore, validating Amiri Baraka’s assessment of blues being the product of African American experiences and
Ragtime and Blues are different in that they originated from different places. Blues developed in the south. Blues is mainly a vocal music. It was emotional, in that the earliest form was singing and hand clapping. The blues started out with slaves because they would use it to sing about their pain and problems. However, ragtime was popular among many Americans and flourished. The term “ragged time” came to be used to describe its key trait which was syncopation. Ragtime music is tuneful, but it is primarily rhythmic. Whereas a blues song can be sung freely by one person, or a chorus, without a strict rhythm, ragtime is more like a march. The popularity of ragtime flourished at world fairs and was welcomed by many people. Both styles
The Delta Blues was created in the Mississippi Delta when slaves were striped from their homelands. Then they were forced to work grueling hours in plantations. As a way to distract from the pain, slaves would sing “field chants”. It was also a way for slaves to communicate which wasn’t allowed by their owners. Through the chants, slaves could easily coordinate their labor and interact across fields.
It is very difficult to determine the exact origin of the blues. Although its earliest roots evolved from West Africa, the blues probably emerged in the United States around the 1800's relative to the African America plight into slavery, as spirituals, work songs, and "arhoolies" (traditional, vernacular, or regional music) (The Arhoolie Foundation). All had some form of influence on the blues as a distinct form of music. The emergence of the blues would have occurred with the social and economic circumstances of the African Americans. (Crosby) Blues was a way of communicating discontent. But it was the spiritual blues that was the music of an unhappy people - the music that told of death, and suffering, and a cry for some hope of freedom and liberation from their torment. Yes, the slaves did get their freedom but were still bound to their "Chains" by racism.
the fact that he is sent away at an early age something that many slave owners do to their
Around the time period of the Civil War, Gospel Music started to become more and more popular within the soundscape of the south. While Spiritual music focused more on traditional sense of folk songs, Gospel was gained inspiration from spiritual and focused its aesthetics on congregations and hymns with references referring back to its roots. Not only did Spiritual music have an effect on the progression of Gospel music, this lead to the creation of Blues and Jazz. Blues is typically associated with music that had evolved from African spirituals, chants, work songs and hymns that expressed through trials and tribulations from the heart of the folksongs. Jazz evolved and grew to be a popular phenomenon from the fundamentals and the premise of the Blues and instilled a genre that would become one of America most recognized genres of
Blues music originated in the cotton fields of the southern United States where the majority of the slave hands were put to work. “The earliest folk-blues were sung by nameless African-Americans living and working in the South’s cotton belt in the early 1880’s and 1890’s- in particular, the region from the Mississippi Delta to East Texas”(Barlow 3). It was believed that this began as a call and response style, which matured into the work song. From that standpoint, after the release of the slaves, the work song then matured into their Spirituals, and later was introduced to the whites through black-faced Minstrel of Medicine shows (How the Blues Overview). As the music matured and became more renowned, its influence became prominent in the music styles of the time, and in the intertwining relationships between the races.
The blues, a uniquely American art form, was born on the dusty street corners of the Deep South in the late 1800s. An evolution of West African music brought to the United States by slaves, created the blues which was a way for black people in the south to express their hardships, heartbreaks, religion, passion, and politics that they experienced in their day-to-day lives. The majority of blues songs were never written down, let alone recorded, but instead, were passed on from one musician to another and played on a variety of instruments including a number of stringed instruments, harmonicas, and horns. Once blues songs began to be officially recorded in the 1920s, the most frequently found instruments were guitars and pianos. However, the basic 12-bar style and three.-chord progression have remained the same throughout the years and continue to be key components of the blues.
In addition, they agree that slaves from these regions carried with them their culture and started singing a type of genre that did not exist in the United States. However, as the groups from different linguistic cultures gathered and worked together, there was a telling influence giving rise to the blues. The two authors contrasted heavily while explaining the type of influence leading to the blues. On the one hand, Palmer associates the blues origin with country music. On the other hand, Barlow notes that the blues origin had to do with rural folk songs including African-American