St. Louis Blues (song)

E158987

"St. Louis Blues" is a landmark 1914 American blues song by W.C. Handy that became one of the most famous and influential standards in early jazz and popular music.

All labels observed (2)

Label Occurrences
"St. Louis Blues" 2
St. Louis Blues (song) canonical 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf blues standard
jazz standard
popular song
song
composer W. C. Handy
countryOfOrigin United States of America
surface form: United States
culturalStatus American popular music standard
standard of early jazz repertoire
featuredPerformer Bessie Smith
Louis Armstrong
W. C. Handy
firstPublisher W. C. Handy
genre blues
jazz
popular music
hasHarmonicFeature mix of blues harmony and popular song harmony
hasMelodicFeature call-and-response phrasing
hasNotableFilm St. Louis Blues (1929 short film)
St. Louis Blues (1958 film)
hasNotableRecording Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong 1925 recording
Bing Crosby recordings
Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra
surface form: Duke Ellington Orchestra recordings

Glenn Miller and his Orchestra recordings
Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra recordings
hasRhythmicInfluence Latin and tango rhythms in American popular music
includedIn Great American Songbook
surface form: Great American Songbook (commonly regarded)
influenced development of urban blues style
use of blues form in jazz arrangements
influencedGenre early jazz
popular music
swing
key commonly performed in C major
language English
lyricist W. C. Handy
mediaType sheet music
sound recording
notableAs one of the earliest blues songs to achieve mass popularity
one of the most recorded songs of the early 20th century
placeInCareer one of W. C. Handy's most famous compositions
publicationDate 1914
rhythmicElement tango-like habanera rhythm in the bridge
setting St. Louis, Missouri, United States
surface form: St. Louis, Missouri
structure 12-bar blues sections
16-bar habanera-like bridge
subjectOf numerous musicological studies of early blues
theme heartbreak
lost love
urban blues experience
yearOfComposition 1914

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

St. Louis Blues namedAfter St. Louis Blues (song)
Handy Brothers Music Company hasNotableWorkPublished St. Louis Blues (song)
this entity surface form: "St. Louis Blues"
St. Louis Blues (1929 short film) featuresSong St. Louis Blues (song)
this entity surface form: "St. Louis Blues"