"Dallas Blues", written by Hart Wand, was the first true blues song ever published. "Oh, You Beautiful Doll

Oh, You Beautiful Doll

"Oh, You Beautiful Doll" is a ragtime love song published in 1911 with words by Seymour Brown and music by Nat D. Ayer. The song was one of the first with a twelve-bar opening. It is well-known by its chorus:*...

", a Tin Pan Alley song whose first verse is twelve-bar blues, had been published a year earlier. Also, two other songs with blues in their titles were published in 1912; "Baby Seals Blues" (August 1912), a vaudeville tune written by Arthur "Baby" Seales, and "The Memphis Blues

The Memphis Blues

"The Memphis Blues" is a song described by its composer, W.C. Handy, as a "Southern Rag." It was self-published by Handy in September, 1912 and has been recorded by many artists over the years.-"Mr. Crump":...

", written by W.C. Handy (September 1912). Neither, however, were genuine blues songs.

The song, although written for standard blues tempo (Tempo di Blues. Very slowly), is often performed as Ragtime

Ragtime

Ragtime is an original musical genre which enjoyed its peak popularity between 1897 and 1918. Its main characteristic trait is its syncopated, or "ragged," rhythm. It began as dance music in the red-light districts of American cities such as St. Louis and New Orleans years before being published...

 or Dixieland

Dixieland

Dixieland music, sometimes referred to as Hot jazz, Early Jazz or New Orleans jazz, is a style of jazz music which developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century, and was spread to Chicago and New York City by New Orleans bands in the 1910s.Well-known jazz standard songs from the...

.

In 1918, Lloyd Garrett added lyrics to reflect the singer's longing for Dallas:

There's a place I know, folks won't pass me by,

Dallas, Texas, that's the town, I cry, oh hear me cry.

And I'm going back, going back to stay there 'til I die, until I die.

No date is found for the actual composition of "Dallas Blues" but Samuel Charters

Samuel Charters

Samuel Charters, born Samuel Barclay Charters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, August 1, 1929 , is an American music historian, writer, record producer, musician, and poet...

, who interviewed Wand for his book, The Country Blues (1959), states that Wand took the tune to a piano playing friend, Annabelle Robbins, who arranged the music for him. Charters further states that the title came one of Wand's father's workmen who remarked that the tune gave him the blues to go back to Dallas. Since Wand's father died in 1909, the actual composition must have predated that.

In any case, within weeks of its publication it was heard the length of the Mississippi River, and its influence on all the blues music that followed is well documented.

Early recordings

Early recordings.
Date	Artists	Label
1918	Wilbur Sweatman's Jazz Band Wilbur Sweatman Wilbur C. Sweatman was an African-American ragtime and dixieland jazz composer, bandleader, and clarinetist....	Columbia A-2663
1925	Fred Hall's Sugar Babies Fred Hall (musician) Fred Hall was an American pianist, bandleader and composer.-Life and career:Fred Hall was born in New York and began his musical career working as a song-plugger for various music publishers....	Okeh 40437
1925	Lee Morse Lee Morse Lee Morse was an US jazz and blues singer and songwriter whose most popular years were in the 1920s and early 1930s, although her career began around 1917 and continued until her death in 1954...	Perfect 11582
1927	Bob Fuller Bob Fuller Bob Fuller was an American blues and jazz saxophonist and clarinetist, best known for his recordings accompanying female singers of the 1920s....	Brunswick 7006
1929	Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra Louis Armstrong Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....	Okeh 8774
1930	Andy Kirk's 12 Clouds of Joy Andy Kirk Andrew Dewey Kirk was a jazz saxophonist and tubist best known as a bandleader of the "Twelve Clouds of Joy," popular during the swing era....	Brunswick 6129
1931	Ted Lewis & His Band Ted Lewis (musician) Theodore Leopold Friedman, better known as Ted Lewis , was an American entertainer, bandleader, singer, and musician. He led a band presenting a combination of jazz, hokey comedy, and schmaltzy sentimentality that was a hit with the American public. He was known by the moniker "Mr...  (v. Fats Waller Fats Waller Fats Waller , born Thomas Wright Waller, was a jazz pianist, organist, composer, singer, and comedic entertainer... )	Oriole 3132
1934	Isham Jones & His Orchestra Isham Jones Isham Jones was a United States bandleader, saxophonist, bassist and songwriter.-Career:Jones was born in Coalton, Ohio, to a musical and mining family, and grew up in Saginaw, Michigan, where he started his first band...	Victor 24649
1936	Wingy Manone & His Orchestra Wingy Manone Wingy Manone was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, singer, and bandleader. His major recordings included "Tar Paper Stomp", "Nickel in the Slot", "Downright Disgusted Blues", "There'll Come a Time ", and "Tailgate Ramble".- Biography :Manone was born Joseph Matthews Mannone in New Orleans,...	Bluebird 6375A
1939	Woody Herman & His Orchestra Woody Herman Woodrow Charles Herman , known as Woody Herman, was an American jazz clarinetist, alto and soprano saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading various groups called "The Herd," Herman was one of the most popular of the 1930s and '40s bandleaders...	Decca 2629A

External links

• YouTube
• "Dallas Blues" (Tempo di Blues) New Optimus Orchestra—Linköping, Sweden (7.06 min).
• "Dallas Blues" (Dixieland) Bob Schulz Frisco Jazz Band—Puget Sound Traditional Jazz Society (5.23 min).
• "Dallas Blues" (Dixieland) Titanic Jazz Band—Orange County Classic Jazz Festival (4.45).