Monday, July 31, 2017

St. Louis Blues Times 9

One of W.C. Handy's most celebrated compositions is "St. Blues Blues," which has been recorded countless times and become a blues and jazz standard. At the East Coast Blues Conference in 1988 in Washington DC, Joe Savarin, then Head of the Blues Foundation, stated it was the most recorded song ever, a statement that may or may not be true, but no question it has been done countless times. Here is a number of performances of this classic number.


First, here is W.C. Handy's Band performing this classic number 


While there is a film short of Bessie Smith performing this, 
here is her recording with Louis Armstrong on cornet


Here is Louis Armstrong's 1929 Recording of the song


Bill Williams was a marvelous fingerstyle guitarist who was influenced by Blind Blake 
and did a wonderful rendition 


Here is an early country blues recording by Sylvester Weaver & Walter Beasley


Here is the great Sidney Bechet



Earl 'Fatha' Hines did a wonderful "Boogie on the St. Louis Blues



Johnny Copeland heard doing this classic


Then the tough tenor sax and band of Booker Ervin

And I could found easily another dozen renditions. 

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