George Avakian's Interview With W.C. Handy
๐ต 1877 characters
โฑ๏ธ 4:25 duration
๐ ID: 19968075
๐ Lyrics
I like naturalness, you know what I mean
That's the thing I liked about Louis, if he likes a thing
He's just gon' put himself into it
What was your first encounter with Louis?
I heard him when he used to run on the steamboat
From New Orleans to St. Louis
That would probably be the SS Capital, I suppose
That's right, that's when the blues were new
There's always some motivating force that directs my attention
To composing some particular number
Then one day at noon, I heard a minister speaking to a crowd on Broadway
And he was chiding them for adulterating goods and merchandise, and food
They're adulterating everything, but I said they're adulterating loving
Because I'd wanna write, this little thing that Louis did, "Careless Love"
As we used to play that down in Alabama (yes indeed)
I went back to the office, caught a train to Chicago
Where Louis played with Erskine Tate's orchestra (at the Vendome Theatre)
Vendome, and I sat down and wrote "Loveless Love"
And used the terms that people were using then
In the days of milkless milk and silkless silk
I orchestrated it, and carried it in to Tate, Tate played it
And I sent it off and had it printed
And printed these words to "Loveless Love" that Louis sang
Well that's why I did "Loveless Love" and "Aunt Hagar's Blues"
And Louis used to draw large crowds every night
Singing just whatever number that he wanted to sing
But I had some very pleasant experiences with him in Chicago
With the Vendome Theatre
Do you feel that at that time, the public realised what a great artist Louis was?
They came there to hear him play and sing
They realised, that it was something different
But they went to hear Louis sing, and I don't mind telling you
There was something in that voice that they appreciated, the pride of race
And I think that was the feeling about Louis
And the Vendome Theatre when I went afterwards
That's the thing I liked about Louis, if he likes a thing
He's just gon' put himself into it
What was your first encounter with Louis?
I heard him when he used to run on the steamboat
From New Orleans to St. Louis
That would probably be the SS Capital, I suppose
That's right, that's when the blues were new
There's always some motivating force that directs my attention
To composing some particular number
Then one day at noon, I heard a minister speaking to a crowd on Broadway
And he was chiding them for adulterating goods and merchandise, and food
They're adulterating everything, but I said they're adulterating loving
Because I'd wanna write, this little thing that Louis did, "Careless Love"
As we used to play that down in Alabama (yes indeed)
I went back to the office, caught a train to Chicago
Where Louis played with Erskine Tate's orchestra (at the Vendome Theatre)
Vendome, and I sat down and wrote "Loveless Love"
And used the terms that people were using then
In the days of milkless milk and silkless silk
I orchestrated it, and carried it in to Tate, Tate played it
And I sent it off and had it printed
And printed these words to "Loveless Love" that Louis sang
Well that's why I did "Loveless Love" and "Aunt Hagar's Blues"
And Louis used to draw large crowds every night
Singing just whatever number that he wanted to sing
But I had some very pleasant experiences with him in Chicago
With the Vendome Theatre
Do you feel that at that time, the public realised what a great artist Louis was?
They came there to hear him play and sing
They realised, that it was something different
But they went to hear Louis sing, and I don't mind telling you
There was something in that voice that they appreciated, the pride of race
And I think that was the feeling about Louis
And the Vendome Theatre when I went afterwards
โฑ๏ธ Synced Lyrics
[00:00.58] I like naturalness, you know what I mean
[00:03.73] That's the thing I liked about Louis, if he likes a thing
[00:07.23] He's just gon' put himself into it
[00:10.78] What was your first encounter with Louis?
[00:13.26] I heard him when he used to run on the steamboat
[00:17.22] From New Orleans to St. Louis
[00:22.07] That would probably be the SS Capital, I suppose
[00:24.72] That's right, that's when the blues were new
[00:30.66] There's always some motivating force that directs my attention
[00:37.00] To composing some particular number
[00:41.37] Then one day at noon, I heard a minister speaking to a crowd on Broadway
[00:47.43] And he was chiding them for adulterating goods and merchandise, and food
[00:55.76] They're adulterating everything, but I said they're adulterating loving
[01:03.36] Because I'd wanna write, this little thing that Louis did, "Careless Love"
[01:09.41] As we used to play that down in Alabama (yes indeed)
[01:14.19] I went back to the office, caught a train to Chicago
[01:18.13] Where Louis played with Erskine Tate's orchestra (at the Vendome Theatre)
[01:24.12] Vendome, and I sat down and wrote "Loveless Love"
[01:28.47] And used the terms that people were using then
[01:32.02] In the days of milkless milk and silkless silk
[01:37.33] I orchestrated it, and carried it in to Tate, Tate played it
[01:42.64] And I sent it off and had it printed
[01:45.03] And printed these words to "Loveless Love" that Louis sang
[01:50.39] Well that's why I did "Loveless Love" and "Aunt Hagar's Blues"
[01:56.19] And Louis used to draw large crowds every night
[02:00.39] Singing just whatever number that he wanted to sing
[02:04.16] But I had some very pleasant experiences with him in Chicago
[02:09.36] With the Vendome Theatre
[02:12.23] Do you feel that at that time, the public realised what a great artist Louis was?
[02:18.45] They came there to hear him play and sing
[02:22.15] They realised, that it was something different
[02:26.22] But they went to hear Louis sing, and I don't mind telling you
[02:31.28] There was something in that voice that they appreciated, the pride of race
[02:36.49] And I think that was the feeling about Louis
[02:40.40] And the Vendome Theatre when I went afterwards
[02:43.49]
[00:03.73] That's the thing I liked about Louis, if he likes a thing
[00:07.23] He's just gon' put himself into it
[00:10.78] What was your first encounter with Louis?
[00:13.26] I heard him when he used to run on the steamboat
[00:17.22] From New Orleans to St. Louis
[00:22.07] That would probably be the SS Capital, I suppose
[00:24.72] That's right, that's when the blues were new
[00:30.66] There's always some motivating force that directs my attention
[00:37.00] To composing some particular number
[00:41.37] Then one day at noon, I heard a minister speaking to a crowd on Broadway
[00:47.43] And he was chiding them for adulterating goods and merchandise, and food
[00:55.76] They're adulterating everything, but I said they're adulterating loving
[01:03.36] Because I'd wanna write, this little thing that Louis did, "Careless Love"
[01:09.41] As we used to play that down in Alabama (yes indeed)
[01:14.19] I went back to the office, caught a train to Chicago
[01:18.13] Where Louis played with Erskine Tate's orchestra (at the Vendome Theatre)
[01:24.12] Vendome, and I sat down and wrote "Loveless Love"
[01:28.47] And used the terms that people were using then
[01:32.02] In the days of milkless milk and silkless silk
[01:37.33] I orchestrated it, and carried it in to Tate, Tate played it
[01:42.64] And I sent it off and had it printed
[01:45.03] And printed these words to "Loveless Love" that Louis sang
[01:50.39] Well that's why I did "Loveless Love" and "Aunt Hagar's Blues"
[01:56.19] And Louis used to draw large crowds every night
[02:00.39] Singing just whatever number that he wanted to sing
[02:04.16] But I had some very pleasant experiences with him in Chicago
[02:09.36] With the Vendome Theatre
[02:12.23] Do you feel that at that time, the public realised what a great artist Louis was?
[02:18.45] They came there to hear him play and sing
[02:22.15] They realised, that it was something different
[02:26.22] But they went to hear Louis sing, and I don't mind telling you
[02:31.28] There was something in that voice that they appreciated, the pride of race
[02:36.49] And I think that was the feeling about Louis
[02:40.40] And the Vendome Theatre when I went afterwards
[02:43.49]