- Beale Street Blues
"Beale Street Blues" is a 1916 song by American composer and lyricist
W.C. Handy . The title refers toBeale Street inMemphis, Tennessee , the main entertainment district for the city'sAfrican American population in the early part of the twentieth century, and a place closely associated with the development of the blues. The song was published by the Pace and Handy music company in 1917, but was first popularized for a mass audience when sung on Broadway byGilda Gray in the 1919 musicalrevue "Schubert's Gaieties".Like many of Handy's songs, Beale Street Blues is a hybrid of the blues style with the popular ballad style of the day, the opening lyrics following a line pattern typical of
Tin Pan Alley songs and the later stanzas giving way to the traditional three-line pattern characteristic of the blues."Beale Street Blues" has been recorded by dozens of noted artists, from early recordings by
Louis Armstrong ,Bix Beiderbecke , andAlberta Hunter , to more modern versions byNat King Cole ,Lena Horne , andTommy Dorsey . The song itself is now in thepublic domain in theUnited States , due to expiration of thecopyright , though most of the recordings of it are still covered by their own copyrights.Lyrics
: I've seen the lights of gay Broadway,: Old Market Street down by the Frisco Bay,: I've strolled the Prado, I've gambled on the Bourse;: The seven wonders of the world I've seen,: And many are the places I have been,: Take my advice, folks, and see Beale Street first!
: You'll see pretty browns in beautiful gowns,: You'll see tailor-mades and hand-me-downs,: You'll meet honest men, and pick-pockets skilled,: You'll find that business never ceases 'til somebody gets killed!
: If Beale Street could talk, if Beale Street could talk,: Married men would have to take their beds and walk,: Except one or two who never drink booze,: And the blind man on the corner singing "Beale Street Blues!"
: I'd rather be there than any place I know,: I'd rather be there than any place I know,: It's gonna take a sergeant for to make me go!
: I'm goin' to the river, maybe by and by,: Yes, I'm goin' to the river, maybe by and by,: Because the river's wet, and Beale Street's done gone dry
External links
[http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=267 NEH Blues page, with links to on-line recordings of "Beale Street Blues"]
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