Handy Ushers in the Commercial Blues Era
At a glance:
- Series: Great Events from History II: Arts and Culture Series
- Categories: Music
- Subcategories: African Americans, Blacks, Entertainment, Entertainers, Composers, Songwriters, Musicians, Singers
- Curriculum: American History 1901-1950, African American History
- Geographical Location: Mississippi, Louisiana
- Date: The 1910’s
Article abstract: W. C. Handy transformed the native music of the Southern backwoods, work camps, and cotton fields into a commercial craze.
Summary of Event
Along the Lower Mississippi from Memphis down to New Orleans, the blues evolved during the post-Civil War years. At a train station in Tutwiler, Mississippi, a black musician named William Christopher Handy “Rediscovered” the blues in 1903 while listening to a guitarist use a knife to strum a song that Handy subsequently wrote as his own “Yellow Dog Blues.” The occasion reminded him that,...
[The entire page is 2043 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
