35TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION Super Hero W.C. HANDY

W.C. Handy 

William Christopher Handy's father was a former slave and Methodist minister who discouraged his son's interest in music. He allowed Handy to pursue it only if he didn't get involved in what his parents called "that low-down" music—ragtime and blues. But Handy was a teenager; he wanted to do what teens of any era want to do—swing with the rhythms of the day. 

Handy was born November 16, 1873, in Florence, Alabama. In high school, he studied organ and trained in formal music theory to satisfy his parents, but on the side he played coronet in a local brass band and sang with church groups and minstrel troupes. 

By age 18, he was an outstanding trumpet player. Two years later, his quartet enjoyed acclaim after appearing at the Chicago Columbian Exposition of 1893. Buoyed by that success, Handy's band toured the United States, Mexico, and Cuba, playing ragtime and minstrel music, including the marches of John Philip Sousa and the songs of Stephen Foster. 

Traveling through the South, Handy became enamored of the rich musical heritage perpetuated by itinerant Black blues singers playing on homemade guitars. 

In Memphis in 1909, a political jingle he wrote in a bluesy fashion for a mayoral candidate (the infamous "Boss" Crump) enjoyed widespread popularity. Stimulated by that success, Handy started composing blues songs and collecting Black folk music, which he published in blues form. This folk music was dramatically different from traditional Black spirituals and work songs. The most famous of these pieces is "St. Louis Blues," which Handy had published in 1914. 

He moved to New York to make his first recordings in 1918. Soon, his highly successful publishing company led the field in introducing the music of African-American songwriters to the general public. This led to the "race records" marketing craze of the 1920s. Handy's songs became national hits and moneymakers. 

Because of his formal training, Handy was able to capture in written form what was until then orally handed-down folk music of Blacks in the South. His success in the commercial marketplace allowed him to promote this music nationally and eventually worldwide. If not for Handy, the blues may have remained virtually unknown or stayed in regional obscurity. 

Handy lost his sight following World War I, then partially regained it. In 1943, he fell from a subway platform and became totally blind. He suffered a stroke in 1955, which left him wheelchair-bound, and he died March 28, 1958, of pneumonia.

Handy was survived by his second wife, Louise, whom he had married at the age of 80, the same year that Handy was portrayed in the movie St. Louis Blues by Nat "King" Cole.

From Great African Americans.  Copyright, Publications International, Ltd.