W. C. Handy is known as the ‘father of the blues.’ He was a composer, musician, and publisher. His early years were spent in Clarksdale, Mississippi where he certainly heard the music that we would eventually associate with the true blues of the Mississippi Delta. Later he lived in Memphis and then New York City where he went to escape the Jim Crow south. In 1912 he published “Memphis Blues” which brought the blues form into the public eye. His music has been performed by everyone from Bessie Smith to Nat Cole. His most famous composition is “St. Louis Blues.”

“Wall Street Blues” was written during the months following the 1929 stock market crash. This is a version by Lee Hunter.