Editing W. C. Handy (section)

=== Move to New York ===
[[File:YellowDogRagCover.jpeg|left|thumb|1914 sheet music cover of "[[Yellow Dog Rag]]"]]
In 1917, Handy and his publishing business moved to New York City, where he had offices in the [[Embassy Five Theatre|Gaiety Theatre office building]] in Times Square.<ref name="broadway">[https://books.google.com/books?id=rqi3d1925IcC&pg=PA180 Bloom, Ken (2003). ''Broadway: An Encyclopedia''. 2nd ed. Routledge.] {{ISBN|0415937043}}.</ref> By the end of that year, his most successful songs had been published: "Memphis Blues", "[[Beale Street Blues]]", and "[[Saint Louis Blues (song)|Saint Louis Blues]]". That year, the [[Original Dixieland Jazz Band]], a white New Orleans jazz ensemble, had recorded the first jazz record, introducing the style to a wide segment of the American public. Handy had little fondness for jazz, but bands dove into his repertoire with enthusiasm, making many of these songs jazz standards.

Handy encouraged performers such as [[Al Bernard]], a soft-spoken white man who nonetheless was a powerful blues singer. He sent Bernard to [[Thomas Edison]] to be recorded, which resulted in a series of successful recordings. Handy also published music written by other writers, such as Bernard's "Shake Rattle and Roll" and "Saxophone Blues", and "Pickaninny Rose" and "O Saroo", two black traditional tunes contributed by a pair of white women from [[Selma, Alabama]]. Publication of these hits, along with Handy's blues songs, gave his business a reputation as a publisher of black music.<ref>Handy (1941). pp. 196–197.</ref>

In 1919, Handy signed a contract with [[Victor Talking Machine Company]] for a third recording of his unsuccessful 1915 song "[[Yellow Dog Blues]]".<ref>[[Elijah Wald|Wald, Elijah]]. ''Escaping the Delta: Standing at the Crossroads of the Blues''. HarperCollins. p. 283. {{ISBN|0060524235}}.</ref> The resulting [[Joseph C. Smith|Joe Smith]] recording of the song was a strong seller, with orders numbering in the hundreds of thousands of copies.<ref>{{cite web|title=Joseph C. Smith: America's First Famous Dance Band Recording Artist|url=http://www.phonostalgia.com/smith/|access-date=January 22, 2018|website=Phonostalgia.com}}</ref><ref>Handy (1941). p. 198</ref>

Handy tried to interest black singers in his music but was unsuccessful; many musicians chose to play only the current hits, and did not want to take risks with new music.<ref name=":1">Handy (1941). p. 195.</ref> According to Handy, he had better luck with white bandleaders, who "were on the alert for novelties. They were therefore the ones most ready to introduce our numbers."<ref name=":1" /> Handy also had little success selling his songs to black women singers, but in 1920, [[Perry Bradford]] convinced [[Mamie Smith]] to record two non-blues songs ("That Thing Called Love" and "You Can't Keep a Good Man Down") that were published by Handy and accompanied by a white band. When Bradford's "Crazy Blues" became a hit as recorded by Smith, black blues singers became popular. Handy's business began to decrease because of the competition.<ref>Handy (1941). pp. 200–202.</ref>

In 1920, Pace amicably dissolved his partnership with Handy, with whom he also collaborated as lyricist. Pace formed [[Pace Phonograph Company]] and [[Black Swan Records]], and many of the employees went with him.<ref>Handy (1941). p. 202.</ref> Handy continued to operate the publishing company as a family-owned business. He published works of other black composers as well as his own, which included more than 150 sacred compositions and folk song arrangements and about 60 blues compositions. In the 1920s, he founded the Handy Record Company in New York City; while this label released no records, Handy organized recording sessions with it, and some of those recordings were eventually released on [[Paramount Records]] and [[Black Swan Records]].<ref>"Handy Record Co.". ''[[The New Grove]] Dictionary of Jazz''. St. Martin's Press, 1994, p. 480.</ref> So successful was "Saint Louis Blues" that, in 1929, he and director [[Dudley Murphy]] collaborated on a [[RCA]] motion picture of the same name, which was to be shown before the main attraction. Handy suggested blues singer [[Bessie Smith]] for the starring role because the song had made her popular. The movie was filmed in June and was shown in movie houses throughout the United States from 1929 to 1932.

The importance of Handy's work as a musician and musicologist crossed the boundaries of genre, coming to influence European composers such as [[Maurice Ravel]], who was inspired during a stay in Paris of Handy and his orchestra for the composition of the famous [[Violin Sonata No. 2 (Ravel)|sonata nr 2 for violin and piano]] known not by chance as the Blues sonata.{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}}

In 1926 Handy wrote ''Blues: An Anthology—Complete Words and Music of 53 Great Songs''. It is an early attempt to record, analyze, and describe the blues as an integral part of the South and the history of the United States. To celebrate the publication of the book and to honor Handy, Small's Paradise in Harlem hosted a party, "Handy Night", on Tuesday October 5, which contained the best of jazz and blues selections provided by [[Adelaide Hall]], [[Lottie Gee]], Maude White, and Chic Collins.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/40138126/|title=The Pittsburgh Courier from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |date=October 16, 1926 |page=10|website=Newspapers.com|access-date=January 22, 2018}}</ref>