St. Louis Blues

Handbill for the Douglass Theatre advertising films, probably 1929 Dec. 1 [Digital Public Library of America](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/women-and-the-blues/sources/436)

Handbill for the Douglass Theatre advertising films, probably 1929 Dec. 1 Digital Public Library of America

The Blues are one of the most rooted genres in music, and its origin dates back to the 1920s. When people think of the Roaring Twenties they often think about flappers, lavish parties, and lots of wealth, however, the blues is also a piece of that time in history. Its origin dates back to African American peoples in the South, who made music as a form of expression. This genre produced countless sorrowful, country-esque songs, and one of the most famous is titled “St. Louis Blues” performed by Bessie Smith.

The Blues Era began in the 19th century in the Mississippi Delta. It was primarily sung by African Americans and incorporated their culture. It emphasized higher notes and more upbeat tunes. Normally known as “blues notes,” using a Fiddle, Harmonica, and Guitar. It was to sing about the hardships of the South and what they were going through during that time period. This slowly progressed to using Electric Guitar and Drums. This era was the blueprint for songs and genres today. It has a big influence on popular music. There were lots of songs that have repeated lyrics, usually to make a point.

Bessie Smith & The Inspiration for Her Songs

Bessie Smith was an African American woman who sang this song in 1925 from humble origins in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Maintaining a big part of the Blues era in the 1920s, Smith was one of six siblings and was left to be raised by her aunt. She sang this song with famous singer Louis Armstrong and earned the name “Empress of Blues.” Her first major hit was a song titled “Down-hearted Blues” and was released in 1923. Two years later, Smith recorded her cover of “St. Louis Blues” with Louis Armstrong playing the trumpet for backing. She was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. By the time she was in her early twenties, Smith was performing solo shows, and she signed with Columbia Records.

Known as one of the most fundamental songs in the Blues music genre, “St. Louis Blues” by Bessie Smith plays a critical role in the evolution of the genre. Most likely taking influence from W. C. Handy, also known as the “Father of the Blues,” his 1914 version of “The Saint louis Blues” helped curate Bessie Smith’s illustrations of the blues in her own traditions, which are characterized in her “St. Louis Blues” Recording: “that man got a heart like a rock cast in the sea,” which is almost a direct parallel with Father of the Blues’s “An Autobiography by W. C. Handy,” in which he meets a disgruntled woman in the streets of St. Louis that had failed to get drunk and said near him, “Ma man’s got a heart like a rock cast in de sea.” Intrigued by the statement, W. C. Handy sought to understand the purpose behind the statement; themes of love and abandonment directly reflecting the women’s sentiments ended up in the W.C. handy’s; which ended up in Bessie Smith’s “St. Louis Blues” Recording.

Impact of Harlem Renaissance

The Harlem Renaissance Era was the start of this music genre. This was a huge movement back in the 1900s. It gave the African American people a way to express their music and what they wanted to sing. The history behind this was being able to socially and culturally express themselves in the ways that they want to do and show themselves publicly as freed members of society. There was a huge outbreak of this culturally, and it had an impact that has lasted till today. The Great Depression also had an impact on this era. The Harlem Renaissance was known for its literary and performing arts. It paved the way for African American artists and performers today being able to express themselves. It was a way to link themselves to their African American heritage. Art that was presented and made during this era was an aspect of what their heritage is. The Jim Crow laws had a hold on this and drove racism and diminished the work that they had done. People of different cultures didn’t view it as art that was acceptable to be viewed as “art” at the time. The art was very particular to their culture and what they wanted to be represented as.

Louie armstong’s Influence

Prior to recording “St. Louis Blues”, Louis Armstrong was a famous singer and trumpet player who rose to fame during the Roaring Twenties. Armstrong was born in 1900 in the violent Battlefield of New Orleans. Similarly to Bessie Smith’s upbringing, Armstrong did not have a lot of money, and he was forced to drop out of school at fifth grade to start working to provide for himself and his family. On New Years Eve in 1912, he was arrested for firing a gun into the air, and he was sent to the Colored Waif’s Home for Boys. It was here that he was taught how to play the cornet by his teacher and sparked his love of music and instruments. Armstrong is most famous for his mastery of the trumpet which he played while traveling throughout the South exploring multiple kinds of music, but primarily the blues genre. In 1925, Armstrong and Bessie Smith recorded Handy’s, “St. Louis Blues”. Their masterful creation quickly cemented their place in musical history.

Louis Armstrong Plays W. C. Handy” [Source]([https://rmoa.unm.edu/docviewer.php?docId=nmu1unma028.xml](https://www.louisarmstronghouse.org/virtual-exhibits/theyre-my-tops-the-making-of-louis-armstrong-plays-w-c-handy))

Louis Armstrong Plays W. C. Handy” Source

Political Climate for Bessie Smith

Known as the era for the most social change and resistance in America, the 1920s, often referred to as the roaring twenties, witnessed strict segregation, rampant racism, and yet an enduring flowering of the African American culture. Emerging from the post-emancipation era, the imagery and sound of the Jazz Age reflected both hardship and innovation. Author and scholar Angelea Davis observed, “The historical context within which the blues developed a tradition of openly addressing both female and male sexuality reveals an ideological framework that was specifically African-American.”(Davis, 1998) Often reflecting the new freedom and social realities of Black Culture, women in particular were captured after slavery. These themes were often carried into the African American audience and artists who were navigating the complexities of economic hardship and the social shift occurring in the 1920s.

Intended Audience

The intended audience is the African American culture. It is considered a blues song, which was a part of the African American culture at the time. It is reflecting on the hardships that they had to go through during that time. It eventually happened to move over to the white culture. There was a breakthrough for the era that was important in a certain time and period for African Americans. The composer of the song is W. C. Handy. This led to the working class listening to and enjoying this type of music, including her song. In the 1920s there was a variety in the musical landscape; the “St. Louis Blues” was placed among the top for the interaction of race, gender, and most definingly class, and it even created a market for African Americans spearheaded by Bessie Smith referred to as the “race records.” Further curating the blues craze around the early 1920s, Bessie Smith rose to fame and ended up being the highest-paid black entertainer of her day; this, as you would imagine, would challenge racial and gender limitations. Setting her performance style asserted bold independence and resilience and commanded the respect of the society and, most importantly, the working class. Focusing her basis on the middle class, Bessie Smith almost created an honest and grounded emotional approach that allowed her to connect to a broader audience that naturally rejected higher-class/elite phonemes.

The Impact of the Great depresstion

The Great Depression put a hold on Smith’s short career, making her last recording in 1933. By the time she was twenty-four, she was singing solo acts and was performing throughout the South and East Coast. She sadly passed away on September 26, 1936, from her injuries in an automobile accident. Smith was a powerful woman for this era and generations to come. Her challenging experiences inspire the emotion that she brings into her music. It is sorrowful and melancholic, and it resonated deeply with her listeners. Although she was known as a paramount figure in the blues genre, Bessie Smith wasn’t the only one to contribute to her success; in fact, She was accompanied by a small ensemble that included fellow famous artists like a young Louis Armstrong and Fred Longshaw on the harmonium. In conjunction with these personal styles, Smith and Armstrong are able to create the deeply notable blues song “St. Louis Blues,” which is often regarded as the finest version of the song. Most likely, Bessie Smith and her song, “St. Louis Blues,” are at the hand of multiple artists and a collective collaboration that would suggest it was more of a band than a solo act. The song was instantly popular at the time, becoming the second most recorded song of the 20th century, after “Silent Night.” It likely resonated with people due to the collective feeling of heartbreak that everyone experiences at some point throughout their life.

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