One of the catalysts for the Blues here was the great Memphis musician W.C. Handy (1873-1958) who reportedly “stood on the banks of the Mississippi River and made his mark on the world of music when he wrote, I Hate To See The Evenin’ Sun Go Down. Beginning with the crisp piano melodies of Ragtime, this reverie became St. Louis Blues and one of the world’s most recorded songs. As such, it has forever positioned St. Louis as the city that influenced Blues music around the globe. With Blues and Jazz musicians traveling up and down the Mississippi River between St. Louis, Memphis, Natchez and New Orleans, it is little wonder that St. Louis contributed a long line of nationally recognized African American composers and performers in the Blues and Jazz genres.
Bragging rights about who was first has placed the city in a tug of war with Memphis in the claim of where W.C. Handy made his most important contribution to the Blues. Most of the evidence favors Memphis in that battle. Yet there is little doubt that the communities of Laclede’s Landing, Soulard, Midtown, The Ville and the city of East St. Louis made major contributions to the cultivate the Blues offshoots of Boogie-Woogie, stride piano and more importantly, Rhythm and Blues.
Rhythm and Blues (R&B) appeared on the landscape after World War II in 1946-1947. America was finally leaving the Depression behind, but with only a pittance of economic gains and most doors of society still closed to them, large percentages of the best and brightest African Americans got in the music game. St. Louis being the largest and wealthiest city on that musical conveyor belt otherwise known as the Mississippi River, could employ larger numbers of Black Jazz and Blues musicians. Their greatest commercial and artistic impact was evolving the Blues beyond simple guitar chords and growling vocals with their own distinct lyrics, intonations, instrumental enrichment and sometimes dance. An up-tempo danceable beat grabbed hold of the Blues in the nightclubs of St. Louis and Memphis, in particular.
St. Louis had more money, African Americans and nightclubs, so it employed more R&B musicians to sharpen their craft and record. Aside W.C. Handy, pioneering Blues and R&B legends from and living in St. Louis’ include Bennie Smith, Willie Mae Ford Smith, Chuck Berry, Fontella Bass and Ike & Tina Turner to name a few. As a result, St. Louis with an assist from Memphis, put R&B on the map. Thus St. Louis makes the strongest argument as the “Birthplace of R&B.” In that sense it joins New Orleans as the birthplace of Jazz and Memphis as the Birthplace of the Blues and the birthplace of Rock n’ Roll.
America does not celebrate the birth of R&B like it celebrates other music genres. Here are four reasons why it should:
1. Like Jazz and Blues, R&B was born along the Mississippi River
2. R&B is musically and commercially distinct from Blues and Jazz
3. Prejudice prevented R&B records from being marketed and sold to all Americans while showcasing the original artists.
4. R&B gave birth to the first Rock n’ Roll record in 1952
As late as 1952, to the white media, R&B and Blues was considered Race Music that should not be sold in white record stores or played on white radio stations. In fact, the first Rock n’ Roll record, Rocket 88 sung by Jackie Berensten and produced by Ike Turner is really a R&B record with a lead guitar that was sold undercover by a white record label, Sun Records of Memphis. Sun did not put Jackie’s picture on the cover so they could slipped it into the record racks with their other offerings from white artists. They also convinced white radio station DJs to play it. When a particular white DJ, Alan Freed of Cleveland, heard that song and others that followed, he promoted the term to his predominantly white audience as “Rock n’ Roll”. Keep in mind that for many years earlier, “Rock n’ Roll” was a Black slang term for sexual intercourse, a point which Alan Freed knew about. Nevertheless, Sun and similar record labels quickly latched on to Freed’s marketing of term “Rock n’ Roll” term for that record and others to follow.
What businessman could blame them? R&B hits sold less than a hundred thousand. Rock n Roll hits sold hundreds of thousands and eventually millions to the white teen majority before their parents knew where Little Johnny and Susie were spending their allowance. As the years passed, Rock n’ Roll took on a white ethos. R&B, with a strong assist from Gospel artists and STAX, Motown, and Atlantic record companies, evolved to Soul Music. Thus, original R&B is seminal to most music that has filled our ears since World War II ended and clearly deserves props.
Speaking of props, Cleveland and Memphis have Rock n’ Roll Museums. Memphis and Detroit have Soul Music museums. Chicago has a Blues Museum. New Orleans has a Jazz museum. Why doesn’t St. Louis have a R&B museum?
St. Louis Artist Reviews & Audio Clips courtesy of:
BLACK CULTURAL TRAVEL MADE EASY