SECOND REGULAR SESSION

House Concurrent Resolution No. 27

97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES MAY (Sponsor), BUTLER, PETERS, LAFAVER, ROORDA, MORGAN, KIRKTON, NICHOLS, PIERSON, PACE, SMITH, MIMS, RUNIONS, CARPENTER, SWEARINGEN, ELLINGTON AND MCCANN BEATTY (Co-sponsors).

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            WHEREAS, the contributions of composer, musician, and publisher W.C. Handy helped shape African-American folk music into what would be called "The Blues"; and

            WHEREAS, W.C. Handy, the "Father of the Blues", was born in Alabama, the son of former slaves. His first instrument was the cornet, and he advanced from lessons in a barbershop quartet to studying classical music; and

            WHEREAS, at age twenty, W.C. Handy organized a quartet to play at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, a gathering that attracted other musical luminaries of the time, notably ragtime pianist Scott Joplin; and

            WHEREAS, when the fair was postponed for a year, W.C. Handy headed for St. Louis where the quartet was soon forced to disband because the country was experiencing an economy in panic; and

            WHEREAS, the St. Louis days would imprint themselves on W.C. Handy's mind and music. Surrounded by misery and opulence alike, the young black man suffered from hunger and lice, slept in a vacant lot, slumped in a poolroom chair, in a horse's stall, and on the cobblestones of the levee of the Mississippi; and

            WHEREAS, as he related in his autobiography "Father of the Blues", his inner voice said repeatedly, "Your father was right. Your place is in ministry" and his old schoolteacher's words rang through his head, "What can music do but bring you to the gutter?"; and

            WHEREAS, W.C. Handy never gave in. He continued to eke out a living playing his cornet and later noted that these down-and-out days would lead to the birth of the "St. Louis Blues"; and

            WHEREAS, published 100 years ago in 1914, the "St. Louis Blues" had phenomenal sales success, garnering worldwide acclaim and entering the repertoire of blues diva Bessie Smith; and

            WHEREAS, in 1958, only months after W.C. Handy's death, his life story played on the silver screen in theaters across the country in the film "St. Louis Blues", with starred singer Nat King Cole as the legendary composer; and

            WHEREAS, W.C. Handy's other songs include "The Memphis Blues", "Beale Street Blues", "Aunt Hagar's Blues", and "Yellow Dog Blues"; and

            WHEREAS, W.C. Handy's legacy continues to shine in the annals of music, with his songs continually reinterpreted in idioms of blues, jazz, pop, and classical music; and

            WHEREAS, today, the W.C. Handy Award is a prestigious prize reserved for blues musicians; and

            WHEREAS, the composer of more than 80 hymns, marches, and blues tunes, W.C. Handy did more to carry the blues into the mainstream of music than any other man; and

            WHEREAS, his contribution is a legacy that has exerted a profound and lasting influence on music; and

            WHEREAS, a larger than life bronze of W.C. Handy has been commissioned for placement in front of the National Blues Museum in downtown St. Louis; and

            WHEREAS, in the fall of 2014, the documentary "Mr. Handy's Blues", produced by Emmy-winning producer Joanne Fish, will premiere in St. Louis to coincide with the unveiling of the Handy statue:

            NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the members of the House of Representatives of the Ninety-seventh General Assembly, Second Regular Session, the Senate concurring therein, hereby recognize the week of September 7 to September 13, 2014, as "W.C. Handy Week" in honor of the legendary "Father of the Blues" and writer of the song "St. Louis Blues"; and

            BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Chief Clerk of the Missouri House of Representatives be instructed to prepare a properly inscribed copy of this resolution for the W.C. Handy Memorial Foundation.

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