W.C. HANDY - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 12/08/1932 - HFSID 147702

W.C. HANDY
W. C. Handy sends a typed letter about "St. Louis Blues".
Typed Letter Signed: "W.C. Handy/Treas", 1p, 8½x11. New York, New York, 1932 December 8. On letterhead of Handy Brothers Music Co. Inc. to Mr. H.C. Darnell, RCA Victor Company, Inc., Camden, New Jersey. In full: "We are enclosing contracts covering your recording of 'ST. LOUIS BLUES' for your ($.20) records only and your special (Whiteman Souvenir Record). You will notice we have made an amendment to one of the contracts and have initialed and signed same and would thank you to do likewise and return one copy of each contract for [o]ur files. We would appreciate it if you would let us know the [nam]es of the other numbers being used in the (Whiteman Souvenir [Reco]rd and thanking you for same, we are Very truly yours". Typed at lower left margin are the names of 11 songs, including "Mississippi Mud", which was also recorded by Whiteman. Whiteman had first recorded "St. Louis Blues", written by W.C. Handy in 1914, for Victor (#20092) on March 29, 1926. He would make other recordings of the song, including recording it live on two radio performances (NBC, February 16, 1936; CBS, October 19, 1938). PAUL WHITEMAN (1890-1967) first led a dance band before becoming known as "The King of Jazz". One of Whiteman's greatest contributions to American music, however, was commissioning George Gershwin to write Rhapsody in Blue, which became Whiteman's signature song. Songwriter, cornetist and bandleader W.C. HANDY (1873-1958), who was known as the "Father of the Blues", did not invent the "Blues", but he was one of the first to use the term in a song title ("Memphis Blues" in 1912), and he published "blue notes" in his compositions, which also included "Beale Street Blues" (1916). Handy, who conducted his own band (1903-1921)before becoming a music publisher in the 1920s, was a popular performer until the mid-1940s, when he retired due to failing eyesight. Lightly creased. 1½x3-inch paper loss at left margin affects 3 lines of type, removing portions of 3 words (bracketed in text). Paper loss is repaired on verso. Pencil notes (unknown hands) at upper and lower right margins. Overall, fine condition.