W. C. Handy

William Christopher Handy (November 16, 1873 - March 28, 1958) was an African American blues composer, often known as "The Father of the Blues".

Early life

He was born in Florence, Alabama to freed slaves, Charles Bernard Handy and Elizabeth Bewer Handy. His father was pastor of a small charge in Guntersville, Alabama, another small town in northeast central Alabama. Handy wrote in his 1941 autobiography "Father of the Blues," that he was born in the log cabin built by his grandfather William Wise Handy, who became a African Methodist Episcopal minister after Emancipation.

Related Topics:
Florence, Alabama - Slaves - Pastor - Guntersville, Alabama - Alabama - Autobiography - Log cabin - Grandfather - African Methodist Episcopal - Minister - Emancipation

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Handy was a deeply religious man, whose influences in his musical style were found in the church music he sang and played as a youth, and in the sounds of nature in his hometown, Florence, Alabama.

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He cited the sounds of nature, such as "whippoorwills, bats and hoot owls and their out outlandish noises" the sounds of Cypress Creek washing on the fringes of the woodland, and "the music of every songbird and all the symphonies of their unpremeditated art" as inspiration.

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Growing up he apprenticed in carpentry, shoemaking and plastering, and bought his first guitar without his parents' permission. His father, dismayed at his actions, asked him, "What possessed you to bring a sinful thing like that into our Christian home?" He then ordered him to "Take it back where it came from," and enrolled him in organ lessons. His days as an organ student were short lived, and he moved on to learn the trumpet.

Related Topics:
Carpentry - Shoemaking - Plastering - Guitar - Organ - Trumpet

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