Teaching school was just about the worst job he could imagine. Confined in a class room for eight hours a day, it seemed to spell the end to his musical aspirations But for Willie Handy, it was a job. At least it put food on the table.
Born in 1873, as the son of a Methodist preacher, Willie decided at a young age he wanted to be a musician. But his family, all stalwart hell-fire and brimstone, God-fearing people, thought a musician was nothing but a blatant sinner in disguise.
In an effort to pacify his father, who wanted him to become a minister, Willie agreed to finish school and take the examination to become a schoolteacher. After graduation, however, he found the job opportunities in Birmingham to be much more profitable. He soon landed a job at one of the iron mills working as a laborer, making more money than he could ever expect to make as a teacher.
Willie had not lost his desire to be a musician, though. He quickly became friends with most of the black musicians in Birmingham and it was not long before he had formed his own group and was playing around town at night while still working in the mills during the day. One of the first gigs he had in Birmingham, according to legend, was playing in a notorious dive. The owner, after listening to the audition, asked what the group's name was.
"Don't have one." Willie replied.
"Well, what's your name?"
"Willie."
"Sounds like a damn Uncle Tom name to me. What's your whole name?"
"William Christopher."
"Hell, that's even worse! We'll just call you by your initials."
W.C. Handy soon tired of Birmingham, though, and moved to Huntsville where he got a job teaching at Alabama A&M as a music instructor. Among his many duties as an instructor, Handy was also responsible for organizing recitals for his students.
Unfortunately, the headmaster at A&M believed that classical music was the only music that should be performed. He even insisted on personally approving the programs for every recital.
For his first recital Handy chose a piece, written by an obscure song-writer, he said, entitled, "La' Overture Toussaint." With a name like that, it was no trouble getting the headmaster to approve it. Handy diligently rehearsed the students, who were by this time enraptured with the new musical composition.
The day of the concert arrived and it was an instant success. Even the staid headmaster was seen sitting in the front row tapping his foot to the music.
W.C. Handy's career as an instructor did not last long. He was still determined to make his mark as a musician. After leaving Huntsville, he moved to Memphis where he wrote the all-time classic, "Memphis Blues," which he sold for $100. Still a poor man, he next ended up in St. Louis, and after being forced to sleep in alleys and pool rooms, composed the song 'Saint Louis Blues," a song that made him wealthy and famous and earned him the title of "Father of the Blues."
Ironically, he was to become best known for the piece he had composed while teaching at A&M—after he changed its name to "My Ragtime Baby."
