The Birth of the Blues

According to W.C. Handy (popularly known as the father of the blues) all blues songs come from one song, "Joe Turner," that was popular in the 1870's among migrant workers and share croppers. Apparently the 12 bar form was unusual and many folk musicians copied it. During this "oral transmission" many new verses were created and slowly the song "Joe Turner" spawned all the blues music we are familiar with today. W.C. Handy himself was educated in the classics and had an orchestra that played at social functions. One day he heard a Mississippi River dock worker playing a blues song and was captivated by the unusual sound.

The first published blues song was "Memphis Blues," by W.C. Handy, 1909. It was a sheet music hit. (this was before record albums). Unfortunately the publisher stole all the profits and W.C. Handy actually lost money. In 1914 W.C. Handy published "St.Louis Blues" which became, in time, a legendary music standard.


Curiously, legend has it, that Gospel Music was "invented" by the trombone player in Bessie Smith's Orchestra after a religious conversion in 1927. He said that he wanted to have some "good music" for the faithful to listen to also. It could be concluded that he  "Saw the Light" and the rest is history.


And while we are on the subject, Born Again Evangelical Theology is a relatively recent phenomenon, being created in the "Tent Revivalist Meetings" that were very popular in Rural America starting in the 1830's. These meeting were a cultural phenomenon and somewhat of a reaction to the Transcendentalist movement started by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and others.  Prior to that time, the philosophy of Born Again Evangelism, and the practice was virtually unknown.

Most educated Americans at the time of the American Revolution in 1776 were Protestants, or Deists - a belief that has fallen from favor and disappeared from history. Almost all the founding fathers including Thomas Jefferson ascribed to the Deist beliefs.   Thomas Jefferson even edited a "Deist" Bible.


copyright (c) 2017
William Schaeffer