Library of Congress, published on YouTube on Dec.11, 2017
A two-reeler made both for "race theater"
distribution and RKO's experiments with early recording of musical shorts in
its theater chains, "St. Louis Blues" features the only film
recording of Bessie Smith, "Queen of the Blues," backed by an
outstanding cast of African-American artists. According to film historian
Donald Bogle, the film "was marred by its white director's overstatement,
but it was distinguished by Bessie Smith's extraordinary ability to express
black pain. … Haughty, husky, hungry, earthy, confident, and supremely
committed to her music, Bessie Smith is magnificently larger than life here, a
true dark diva, who lives up to her legend as one of America's great original
artists." Named to the National Film Registry in 2006.
Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post showcases the 1914 song "Saint Louis Blues" by W. C. Handy. The title for that song is most often given as "St. Louis Blues".
Lyrics for "St Louis Blues" are included in this post along with a 1929 film clip of Bessie Smith singing this song.
This post also includes information about this song and notes about some vernacular terms in its lyrics.
The content of this post is presented for culural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
Thanks to W. C. Handy for composing "Saint Louis Blues"and thanks also to Bessie Smith for her performance of this song in 1929. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the Library of Congress for publishing the 1929 film clip on YouTube of Bessie Smith singing this song.
-snip-
Hat tip to Anonymous Oct. 9, 2021 for sharing information about this song in the comment section for the 2020 pancocojams post https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/02/names-of-books-songs-movies-television.html "The Blacker The Berry, The Sweeter The Juice" (African American Saying time line: 1914 to 2015)"
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From https://genius.com/Bessie-smith-the-st-louis-blues-lyrics ; notes about this song by tcbassist, 2018
"Reminiscing on a chance encounter with a distraught woman in the streets of St. Louis, Missouri, W.C. Handy, aptly nicknamed “the Father of Blues,” wrote “St. Louis Blues” in a Memphis bar titled Pwee. The song, published on September 11th of 1914, was soon to become one of the most celebrated songs of the Great American Songbook and an essential of any jazz and blues repertoire. Going as far as to be the direct inspiration for a William Faulkner novel, a Disney film, and even an NHL hockey team name, it is fair to say that Handy’s lucky encounter has been cemented into the foundation of American popular culture.
However, Handy’s voice was not of that first associated with the song’s popularity. No, such privilege rather goes to Bessie Smith. Sporting an equally apt nickname to Handy, “the Empress of Blues,” Smith has been recognized as the most popular female blues singer of the 20’s and 30’s. Inside of this prevalence, her 1925 recording of “The St. Louis Blues” is amongst her most well known and most powerful performances.
Billed as ‘Bessie Smith with Orchestra’, players on the 1925 notably include Louis Armstrong on Cornet and Fred Longshaw on Harmonium. The relatively simple, shortened recording of the song lacks the choir and percussion instrumentation that can be found on other takes featuring Smith in lead. However, it is Smith’s mournful growl and potent phrasing over the minor vamp that takes the spotlight in this performance, beckoning the listener to sympathize with her woeful tale of love lost. Perhaps equally as potent, though, is Armstrong’s cornet. Howling in a call and response with Bessie for the entirety of the track, Louis’ signature, inventive style shines through, emblematic of his skill in the middle of his Fletcher Henderson Orchestra era.
Being released by Parlophone and peaking at number 3 on the US pop charts, Bessie Smith was contracted for a film of the same name, “St. Louis Blues,” in 1929, further securing her connection to the song. Indeed, through Broadway renditions and subsequent re-releases of the original recording, the 1925 recording never faded out of popular culture and went on to be inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1993. As the song gained popular renditions by Billie Holiday (1940), Dizzy Gillespie (1959), Duke Ellington (1959), Etta James (1974), Herbie Hancock (1998), and countless others, it is fair to say that Bessie Smith’s mournful cry of “I hate to see the evenin’ sun go down” should be considered a legendary influence on popular music."
Annotation for the line "Dat man got a heart lak a rock cast in the sea." by tcbassist, 2018
"It has been said that, as the writer WC
Handy was walking around a dark street of St. Louis, he heard a woman cry “My
man’s got a heart like a rock cast in the sea.” Just as potent as this imagery
is Bessie Smith’s interpretation at the climax of the narrative, a complete and
utter acceptance of desperation circling love lost".
-snip-
Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._C._Handy for information about composer, musician (W.C. Handy) William Christopher Handy (November 16, 1873 – March 28, 1958).
Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessie_Smith for information about Bessie Smith (April 15, 1894 – September 26, 1937) .
INFORMATION ABOUT BESSIE SMITH'S FILM CLIP OF "ST. LOUIS BLUES"
LYRICS TO SAINT LOUIS BLUES
(W.C. Handy)
I hate to see that evenin' sun go down
I hate to see that evenin' sun go down
'Cause my baby, he done lef' this town.
Feelin' tomorrow lak ah feel today.
Feel tomorrow lak ah feel today.
I'll pack my trunk, make my getaway.
St. Louis woman, wid her diamon' rings
Pulls dat man around by her apron strings.
'Twant for powder an' for store-bought hair,
De man I love would not gone nowhere.
Got de St. Louis blues jes as blue as Ah kin be
Dat man got a heart lak a rock cast in the sea.
Or else he wouldn't have gone so far from me.
(spoken) dog-gone-it!
Been to de Gypsy, to get ma fortune tol'
To de Gypsy, done got ma fortune tol'
'Cause I'm most wile 'bout ma Jelly Roll.
Gypsy done tol' me, "Don't you wear no black,"
Yes she done tol' me, "Don't you wear no black,"
Go to St. Louis, you can win him back.
Help me to Cairo, make St. Louis by maself.
Get to Cairo, find ma ol' friend Jeff
Gwine to pin maself close by his side
If I flag his train, Ah sho' can ride.
I loves dat man lak a schoolboy loves his pie,
Lak a Kentucky Cunnel loves his mint an' rye.
I'll love my baby till the day I die.
A black-headed woman make a freight train jump the track,
Said a blac[k-headed gal make a freight train jump the track;
But a long tall gall makes a preacher ball the jack.
You ought to see dat stovepipe brown of mine
Lak he owns the Diamon' Joseph line;
He'd make a cross-eyed woman go stone blin'.
Blacker than midnight, teeth lak flags of truce,
Blackest woman in de whole St Louis;
Blacker de berry, sweeter is de juice.
About a crap game, he knows a pow'ful lot,
But when work-time comes, he's on de dot.
Gwine to ask him for a cold ten spot,
What it takes to git it, he's cert'nly got.
Lawd a blonde-headed woman makes a good man leave the town
I said blonde-headed woman makes a good man leave the [t]own
But a red-headed woman makes a boy slap his papa down.
Oh, ashes to ashes, and dust to dust,
I said ashes to ashes, and dust to dust.
If my blues don't get you, my jazzing must.
-snip-
Here's a comment about the English dialect that is used in this song:
"(Note: songs written from a black perspective were typically written in dialect like this back in the day. Yes, it's racist by today's standards, but that was just the norm back then. I mean, W. C. Handy himself was black.)" - Anonymous, Oct. 9, 2021 in the pancocojams post ""The Blacker The Berry, The Sweeter The Juice" (African American Saying time line: 1914 to 2015)" [new title] https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/02/names-of-books-songs-movies-television.html "The Blacker The Berry, The Sweeter The Juice" (African American Saying time line: 1914 to 2015)"
****
(as sung by Bessie Smith, 1929)
I hate to see the evening' sun go down
I hate to see the evening' sun go down
It makes me think I'm on my last go 'round
Feeling' tomorrow like I feel today
Feeling' tomorrow like I feel today
I'll pack my grip and make my getaway
Saint Louis woman with her diamond rings
Pulls that man around by her apron strings
Wasn't for powder and the store-bought hair
The man I love wouldn't go nowhere, nowhere
I got them Saint Louis Blues; just as blue as I can be
He's got a heart like a rock cast in the sea
Or else he wouldn't have gone so far from me
online source: https://genius.com/15546537
EXPLANATIONS FOR SOME VERNACULAR TERMS IN W. C. HANDY'S "SAINT LOUIS BLUES"
by Azizi Powell
These explanations for some vernacular terms in W. C. Handy's "Saint Louis Blues" are given in the order that they are found in that song.
Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.
Additions and corrections are welcome.
'Twant for powder an' for store-bought hair, [if it wasn't for powder and store-bought hair"
1. powder" probably refers to facial powder (make up);
2. store-bought hair might refer to a wig or dye for hair coloring
3. "Got de St. Louis blues"... The woman singing has the "St. Louis blues" (is feeling depressed) because her man moved to Saint Louis, Missouri to be with a woman from that city.
4. "doggone it!" - an American expression of anger and annoyance, a euphemism for "God damn"; "Damn"
5. 'Cause I'm most wile 'bout ma Jelly Roll.= "Jelly Roll" here means "my man". Here's more information about the slang term "Jelly Roll" from https://www.americanbluesscene.com/language-blues-jelly-roll/ Debra Devi, Oct 16, 2014
..."A jelly roll is a dessert made of sponge cake that has been spread with jam (or jam mixed with cream) and rolled up into a log. Jelly roll is also one of many evocative culinary euphemisms for female genitals heard in the blues. Bessie Smith bragged that “Nobody in Town Can Bake a Sweet Jelly Roll Like Mine.”
“Jelly” was a popular nickname for bluesmen, especially smooth and flashy types such as pianist Jelly Roll Morton, bassist Jelly Williams, and guitarist Jelly Thompson."...
6. " Gypsy done tol' me, "Don't you wear no black,"= Dress up [in bright colors and "fix yourself up" with make up etc.] Don't "dress" like you're going to a funeral.
7.Help me to Cairo" = Cairo, Illinois [Cairo is a city that a train would reach before getting to St. Louis, Missouri.
8. "Gwine to pin maself close by his side" - The woman singing has decided to "hook up with" (be in a relationship with) Jeff instead of the man she was crying about earlier in this song.
..."The train was the jack–short for “the jackass carrying the load.” To “ball” meant to go flat out, and came from the railman’s balled-up fist – his signal to the crew to pour on the coal and speed up.
By the 1920s, the expression “balling the jack” had leapt from the rail yards into the popular lexicon as an expression for any wild, all-out effort–from dancing to sex to, for gamblers, risking everything on a single toss of the dice. Shortened to “balling,” it came to mean having a wild time in and out of bed.
11. "You ought to see dat stovepipe brown of mine" ="Stovepipe brown" in the context of these lyrics means a Black man who has a certain type of brown skin coloring.
"Stovepipe brown" was a colloquial referent for a type of brown color. Google searches for "stovepipe brown" result in various drawings of hats and pants with that color.
Here's some definitions for stovepipe from https://www.definitions.net/definition/stovepipe
"stovepipe - chimney consisting of a metal pipe of large diameter that is used to connect a stove to a flue
dress hat, high hat, opera hat, silk hat, ... top hat...
a man's hat with a tall crown; usually covered with silk or with beaver fur"....
Also, click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stovepipe_Johnson for information about Stovepipe Johnson, a confederate officer during the United States Civil War.
13. "Blacker de berry, sweeter is de juice." = African American vernacular saying that praises dark skin.
14. ..."he's on de dot" = He's right where he's supposed to be [This line praises her man's work ethics.]
15. "a cold ten spot" = a ten dollar bill
16. a red-headed woman makes a boy slap his papa down= a woman whose hair is dyed red will make a man go wild and do things that no sane person would do [like slap his father.] "Red hair" in these lyrics conveys an image of a woman who is the opposite of reserved and modest.
17. "If my blues don't get you, my jazzing must."
This is a play on words for the Blues and Jazz music genres. W. C. Handy is saying that this composition is both Blues and Jazz. "Blues" then was "old school" and "Jazz" was a new way of making music. If one of these genres doesn't move you (make you feel; make you love it) then the other definitely would.
"jazzing" = add elements of Jazz into the way that composition is played and/or sung
"Jazzes up" = make something more interesting and exciting. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jazz%20up
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Visitor comments are welcome.
With regard to the Bluesmen with the nickname "Stovepipe," I haven't found any online references that directly indicate that they were Black.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the http://www.thebluestrail.com/artists/dstove.htm article on Daddy Stovepipe indicates that he was associated with the Rabbit Foot Minstrels.
Wikipedia indicates that The Rabbit's Foot Company, also known as the Rabbit('s) Foot Minstrels and colloquially as "The Foots", was a long-running minstrel and variety troupe that toured as a tent show in the American South between 1900 and the late 1950s. It was established by Pat Chappelle, an African-American entrepreneur in Tampa, Florida."
Another bluestrail.com article indicates that "During the first half of the 20th century, the African American entertainers of the Rabbit Foot Minstrels played a major role in spreading the blues"...
The bluestrail.com article on Daddy Stovepipe also indicates that "Daddy Stovepipe played the blues almost exclusively on his early records, but used a straight harp style more associated with white folk music."