W.C.Handy interview at Library of Congress with Alan Lomax
W.C. Handy was called “Father of The Blues” by Robert Ripley in his popular column “Believe it or Not” in 1938. The appellation stuck & Handy (who did not refer to himself as such) was vilified by some including a famous “dust up” with JellyRoll Morton in the pages of “Downbeat” magazine.
Handy’s 1941 autobiography is full of interesting details about his life and a world that no longer exists. It is well worth reading and your library might have a copy.
The link below should take you to 2 mp’s with about 15 minutes of a 1938 interview conducted by Alan Lomax at the Archive of Folksongs for the Library of Congress.
I read that such an interview took place and contacted the Library of Congress and they sent me an almost unlistenable CD version. A buddy of mine ran it through his editing software and the result is much better.
Handy plays guitar and sings and waxes on about some fascinating stuff!
If Lomax’s questions (which are sometimes hard to hear) sound rather naive remember that there were few folks doing this kind of work with this kind of music and if not for Lomax (Jr. & Sr.) there would be huge holes in our sound track & understanding. pax doug
Alan Lomax interviews W.C. Handy 1937 by dstrobel