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W.
C. Handy
Birth
Name: William Christopher Handy
Induction
Year: 1983
Date
of Birth: 11/16/1873
Place
of Birth: Florence, AL
Date
of Death: 3/28/1958
Place
of Death: New York, NY
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Former Occupations:
water
boy
cotton
picker
printing
press operator
teacher
(grade school and college)
worked
in a pipe works plant
iron
mill worker |
Education:
Grade
School--Florence District School for Negroes |
Career Milestones:
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1892--first
heard Delta blues during his travels |
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1896--joined
W.A. Mahara's Minstrels as a cornet soloist, later became the
group's musical director |
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1897--made
first record with his minstrel band on an old cylinder machine |
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1908--requested
to write a campaign song to help elect E. H. "Boss" Crump
the mayor of Memphis; the song was called "Mr. Crump";
titled later changed to "Memphis Blues" |
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1912--published
"Memphis Blues"; considered to be the first song composed
and published with the word "blues" in it |
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1913--formed
publishing company, Pace & Handy Music Co. in Memphis with
partner Harry H. Pace |
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1914--published
"St. Louis Blues" and "Yellow Dog Shoes" |
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1916--published
"Beale Street Blues" |
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1917--went
to New York with his band to record for Columbia |
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1918--brought
publishing company to New York City |
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1922--founded
record company, Handy Record Co. |
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1938--concert
held at Carnegie Hall in New York City commemorating Handy's 65th birthday |
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1938--wrote
his autobiography, "Father of the Blues" |
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1941--published
his autobiography, "Father of the Blues" |
Awards:
Memphis
Blues
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Artists:
W.C. Handy, Eubie Blake, Duke Ellington, Earl "Fatha"
Hines, Jo Stafford
St.
Louis Blues
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Artists:
Louis Armstrong, Pearl Bailey, Count Basie, Cab Calloway, Nat King
Cole, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Thomas "Fats"
Waller, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman, Earl "Fatha" Hines,
Billy Holiday, Eartha Kitt, Pete Seeger, Peggy Lee, Bob Wills &
His Texas Playboys
Yellow
Dog Blues
Beale
Street Blues
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Artists:
Louis Armstrong, Jimmy Dorsey, Duke Ellington, W.C. Handy, Lena
Horne, Guy Lombardo, Jelly Roll Morton
Ole
Miss Blues
Hesitating
Blues
Harlem
Blues
John
Henry Blues
Friendless
Blues
Atlanta
Blues
Basement
Blues
Big
Stick Blues March
Comments:
Known
as "Father of the Blues"
In
the early 1920s, an eye disease caused Handy to go
blind--concentrated mostly on publishing and composing
Around
1943 Handy sustained severe injuries when he fell onto a NYC subway track
Received
on honorary degree from Wilberforce University
On
03/29/1931 Handy had a city square in Memphis named after him
The
feature film "St. Louis Blues," about Handy's life was
released in 1958, starring Nat King Cole |