Beale Street Blues

Beale Avenue has been a tourist attraction for the city of Memphis for over a century. The area is now filled with great food, music and if you take the time, great characters. In 1916 William Christopher Handy wrote "Beale Street Blues" and that influenced the establishment to change the designation of the "avenue" to "street". A wise move. One of the earliest renditions of "Beale Street Blues" was recorded by Earl Fuller's Famous Jazz Band (Earl Fuller, Walter Kahn, Ted Lewis, John Lucas and Harry Raderman) apparently earned Mr. Handy close to three thousand dollars.

In 1921 Marion Harris (Harrison) recorded "Beale Street Blues" (W.C. Handy) and hit the era's top ten in December. Marion was the first well known white singer to focus on blues and jazz tunes. A flapper girl, Marion appeared in the Ziegfeld Follies, on Broadway and made her film debut in 1929. In the thirties she was performing in London where she met and married her husband. Their home was bombed by the Nazis in World War Two so her husband sent her to New York City for her own safety. It was there that she fell asleep with a lit cigarette and perished in a fire.