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Song by Gilda Gray From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Beale Street Blues" is a song by American composer and lyricist W.C. Handy. It was named after Beale Street, a center of African-American music in Memphis, Tennessee, and was published in 1917.
| "Beale Street Blues" | |
|---|---|
Sheet music cover | |
| Song by Gilda Gray | |
| Published | 1917 |
| Genre | Blues |
| Songwriter(s) | W.C. Handy |
The title refers to Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee, an entertainment district for the city's African-American population in the early part of the 20th century.[1] Accounts of Handy's inspiration vary: one is that he observed a pianist playing in a cafe on that street;[2] another credits a barber commenting on closing early because no one had been murdered on the street that day.[3]
"Beale Street Blues" "juxtaposes the 12-bar blues form with an 8-bar counter-theme".[1] The song was published in 1917.[1] Difficulty in securing a good publishing deal meant that Handy published it himself.[4]
The publication of the song coincided with the beginning of jazz recordings.[1] An early version by Earl Fuller's Famous Jazz Band earned Handy's firm $2,857 in royalties.[1] A version by singer Marion Harris was a top 10 hit in December 1921.[1] More typically, however, in the early years after it was written, jazz musicians played instrumental versions of the song.[1]
Jack Teagarden used the song as a vocal showcase in the 1930s and 1940s, and recorded it with several bands in that period.[1] In the big band era, only a few of the well-known bands recorded it; these included Tommy Dorsey and Duke Ellington.[1] Since the 1950s, the song has been associated with trad bands.[1]
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