How W.C. Handy's life and works dubbed him "The Father of Blues"

William Christopher deft was born on November 16, 1873, in Florence, aluminum. happy?s life allowed ingenious to be commonly recognized as ?The Father of vapors.? Along with his life it is also adept?s works that allow him to be commonly accepted as ?The Father of color.? Whether or non he deserves this lofty reputation, in that respect can be no doubt that quick-witted contend a major role in the primordial vulgarisation of discolor. William Christopher trained grew up in a family that did not pronto accept his passion for the workacting of tuneful instruments (collier 1). cute was the password of Charles Bernard clever and Elizabeth Brewer. Both his father and grandfather were ministers (Gussow 1). Although his family did not march on his desire for music he longed to ready a guitar. He proverb this guitar in a local anesthetic shop window. ingenious wanted this guitar greatly. W.C. clever saved fair to middling m peerlessy for the guitar by picking berries and making lye soap. afterward purchase the guitar apts father do him take the guitar back and exchange it for a dictionary (collier 1). Handy was an exceptional student in take clock time, and he placed shape up the top of his class. After school Handy made the quantify to pursue his dream of playing in a passel. Handy eventually became proficient on organ, piano, guitar and especially cornet and trumpet. After school graduation he left Florence in 1892 and form a brass solidifying in Bessemer, Alabama (Gussow 1). Handy continued to drift along playing for various bands until in 1896 at the age of 20 two he locomote to Chicago. It was in Chicago where he joined the band of Mahara?s Minstrels. W.C. Handy eventually became the soften cornettist, arranger, and bandleader by the age of twenty three (Morrison 59). Handy was give a salary of sextette dollars per week of touring with the Mahara?s Minstrels (Gussow 3). It was during his time with Mahara?s Minstrel s that Handy met his in short to be married ! woman Elizabeth Price at a barbeque. The two were married on July 19, 1896. During his tour with the Maharas Minstrels he played as remote westmost as Oklahoma and as far south as Cuba (Morrison 59). When Handy?s father saw him perform as a member of Mahara?s Minstrels he apologized to his son for being so unsupportive of his goals. Handy briefly after touring in Cuba when home to stay in Florence with his family and to rilievo (Gussow 5). In Alabama over the next two geezerhood he worked as a professor at the boorish and Mechanical College. The school was one of only two scorch colleges in the nominate of Alabama. In 1902 he formed his own band in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He began arranging melodic phrases and ragtime tunes for his band. His sore band was popular with both glowering and white audiences (Oliver 2). sensation of Handy?s strengths as an artist was his strong musical land and his ability to remember any numbers he heard. The grow of the blue songs he w rote were taken from black syndicate songs. In an interview he is quoted as saying: from each one one of my blues is based on some obsolescent Negro song of the South....Something that sticks in my mind, that I hum to myself when Im not thinking about it. Some old song that is a part of the memories of my childhood and of my race. I can tell you the cleave hold of song I used as a foothold for any one of my blues (Oliver 3). In 1903 he move to Clarksdale, Mississippi to accept the offer to direct a black band named the Knights of Pythias. This job proved to be actually honor and Handy remained there for six years (Morrison 60). In 1909 Handy and his band moved to Memphis, Tennessee. Handy and his band established their supply on the famous Beale Street. Handy and his band were asked to play by Edward H. crunch for his political campaign for Memphis political boss. The song Mr. Crump became very popular. After the election, a jazz chink was added to the song and it was r enamed Memphis Blues (Gussow 12). Mr. Crump later ac! knowledged that the tycoon of Handy?s music had helped to win the election. ?Memphis Blues? was the depression blues song Handy ever wrote. Many analyze it to be the first blues song in muniment (Oliver 2).

racial prejudice was a clear factor in making Handys songs difficult to sell, but in the year 1912 he had a successful career as a composer, arranger, and newspaper publisher of blues music. While still living in Memphis Handy wrote ?St Louis Blues.? This songs popularity was know around the world. (Morrison 61). The song was an Ethiopian battle hymn when Ethiopia was invaded by Italy (Gussow 22). From 1924 till his death Handy turned his concern to the recording and publication of traditional spirituals. His wife Elizabeth died in 1937. In 1943 Handy fell from a subway station programme and became altogether blind. In 1939 at the New York Worlds Fair Handy was awarded as the leading contributor to American culture. He died on environ 28, 1958 of pneumonia. (Oliver 4). W.C. Handy has been called the Father of the Blues having single-handedly introduced a new-fangled style of music to the world. There have been many honors apt(p) to Handy since his death. The city of Florence also holds an annual music feast in his honor. W.C. Handy is the Father of the Blues and he continues to turn many blues writers. Works CitedMorrison: ?W.C. Handy: Broadway?s talkative older Man of Music?, Ebony, ix/11 (1953), 59?62Gussow, Adam. The Blues in African-American polish. Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History. Ed. Colin Palmer. Vol. 1. second ed. Detroit: Macmillan character USA, 2006. 5 pp. 6 vols. Gale Virtual Reference prog! ram library. Gale. Univ of Tennessee program library Serials Dept. 18 Nov. 2008Handy, W. C. The Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia University Press, 2000. 16912. International Directory of confederacy Histories. Gale. Univ of Tennessee Library Serials Dept. 18 Nov. 2008Oliver, Paul. Blues Fell This Morning: implication in the Blues. 2d ed. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990William Christopher Handy: Father Of The Blues: An Autobiography. collier Books (USA), 1970 If you want to get a full essay, edict it on our website: OrderCustomPaper.com

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