Song Clearance Sheet
8 sources citedSt. Louis Blues
Blues1910sPictured: Original sheet music (public domain) · source
70BPM
E♭ majKey
More around 70 BPM → · More in E♭ major → · More “Public Domain” →
The verdict
Public Domain
In the public domain — but check the Rights Status below; a specific host's copy can carry its own caveat.
Used by independents?
Yes — it’s in the public domain — free for any independent artist to use, with no clearance needed.
Origin
Composed by W.C. Handy, published 1914 through Pace & Handy Music Company — the publishing house he co-founded with Harry Pace to retain control of his own compositions, one of the first African American-owned music publishers
"Father of the Blues" — an important precision
Handy is called the "Father of the Blues," but that describes his role as the first to notate, publish, and commercially popularize the genre — not its literal originator. The blues predates Handy, emerging from field hollers, work songs, and spirituals among Black communities in the South
The formative moment
Handy credited a 1903 encounter — hearing a musician play slide guitar with a knife at the Tutwiler, Mississippi railroad station — with inspiring him to incorporate blues elements
A musical first
Per New York Festival of Song program notes, its second section uses a dotted habanera (tango) rhythm in a minor key — reportedly the first minor-key section in any published blues, and the only one among blues published before 1920
Rights Status
Licenses explained →Public domain is not one blanket badge — each source can carry its own caveat
The compositionPublic domain
The early recordingPublic domain — the 1925 Bessie Smith recording (Columbia 14064-D)
Cultural Impact
Documented covers, adaptations, and cultural echoes — each with a real, dated source
A direct tribute from George Gershwin
Gershwin inscribed a copy of his "Rhapsody in Blue" to Handy: "To W.C. Handy, whose ‘St. Louis Blues’ was the father of all my blues."
NYFOS · read it →
Built its reputation on the vaudeville circuit
The first to sing it professionally was female impersonator Charles Anderson (Oct 1914), spreading it town-to-town on the African American vaudeville circuit before radio; Ethel Waters later performed it in 1917.
American Songwriter · read it →
A real, honest ethical complexity
Scholars raise a genuine question about the "Father of the Blues" framing itself — that it risks obscuring the Black folk communities whose traditions were commercialized (by Handy and the broader "race records" industry) without direct compensation. Presented as documented scholarly discussion, not a settled judgment.
StudyGuides.com · read it →
Covered across generations
Recorded by Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, and Nat King Cole, among many others — called possibly "the most famous blues song in the world."
Southern Cultures · read it →
Can You Use It for Free?
How to check PD →Is it public domain?Yes — free to use without clearance
References
Every source cited on this page — 8 in total
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Page history · 2 updates
Jul 2026Page created — full PD research (batch NEW)
Jul 2026BPM/Key pending a separate manual keyfinder pass