Father of the Blues: An Autobiography

I am a blues fan and I thought this would be as far back in the beginnings as anyone should have to go. I wanted to know something of the man who brought the blues to the American mainstream. Wow, what a story. I don't care if you have any interest in the music at all, just as an American this was a great story. What a film this would be. Forget the blues, and all he did for music, and you are still left with an amazing man who did more than I would have thought possible in the time he lived. This story was so much more than I bargained for. Inspiring, funny, and IMPRESSIVE. And in the mans own words. I loved it! Daniel Vickery

W. C. Handy's autobiography is a fascinating story. The historical information about early blues provides an excellent overview of his experiences with different musical groups. The descriptions of his performances on street corners, with minstrel groups, in nightclubs such as Pee Wee's on Beale Street, and on the concert stage are especially vivid and engaging. I also was interested in his descriptions of the various musical genres that formed the basis for the development of blues and jazz. His descriptions of various style of music helps readers piece together the history of this "pre-blues" music, and Handy's observations show that the story is far more complex than the contention that blues evolved from "simple" field hollers. Handy also provides an interesting discussion of his own role in shaping blues music. He modestly describes his contributions in publishing and popularizing the genre, and he doesn't make any claim to be the "Father of the Blues." Instead, he suggests that its roots are with the forgotten singers such as the blues guitarist whom he listened to in Tutwiler, MS in 1903. Handy's autobiography also challenges the idea that Memphis was the original home of the blues. He writes that Memphis gained that credit because of its publishing industry, and he suggests that other cities, such as New Orleans, also were homes to blues singers prior to the Memphis blues connections. Along with the wealth of historical information and personal reminiscences, the book also is finely written. Handy was well read and eloquent, and he blends together the traditional proverbs and old sayings of African-American folk traditions with insights from contemporary writers, thinkers, artists, and musicians. Handy, himself, emerges as a man of integrity and perseverance, who openly discusses the racial tensions and overt bigotry that he faced, but who also emerged with an inspiring dignity and life-affirming peace-of-mind.

This is a look at how jazz and blues began, from the man who was instrumental in getting it started. W.C. Handy tells us how the transition was made from marches, classical music, dance music, Stephen Foster, vaudville tunes and folk blues to the arranged and orchestrated blues and jazz of the 20th Century. Not only did Handy help create the music, but he also helped preserve it through recordings and publications. In this book, he tells in detail how he came to compose his most famous pieces, including Memphis Blues, St. Louis Blues and Beale Street Blues. Handy is a superb storyteller who paints a vivid picture of life in the Reconstruction South, and the world of the African-American entertainer during the minstrel show days and the birth of the jazz era.

W.C. Handy is well known in Memphis, TN because of the blues, but his story begins in Florence, Alabama. I teach 8th graders a unit comparing and contrasting his life with his neighbor from Tuscumbia, Helen Keller. Handy's life was rich with music, travel, hard times, discrimination, and fame. The picture he paints of minstrel days and struggling to live on the road sticks in your mind. His words provide a rich setting for the birth of music that my students listen to today. The book is too long to require them to read, but I read them sections to give them a flavor of the South they do not comprehend. I highly recommend this book to lovers of jazz, Southern history and stories about people who overcome great adversity and succeed.