Eighty years ago today…
On April 21, 1931, jazz composer, lyricist, bandleader, singer and playwright Noble Sissle visited the Brunswick Records studio in Chicago to record three sides: W.C. Handy’s “Basement Blues (Low-Downer Than Any Low-Down Blues)” was one of them.
Its lyrics (“Lots of lowbrows [and] highbrows, I’m telling you the facts”) appeal to us; the song is terrific. Check it out:
The Basement Blues by HILOBROW
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Editor: Joshua Glenn
Arts Editor: Peggy Nelson
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