W. C. Handy Statue, Beale Street

W. C. Handy is often called "The Father of the Blues", and he and his band moved to Memphis in 1909 to establish their musical presence on Beale Street. His famous song, "Memphis Blues", was originally titled "Mr. Crump", as it was written for then-Mayoral candidate Edward H. "Boss" Crump. It was so popular that he later rewrote it and changed the name to "Memphis Blues". It is considered by some to be the first blues song. You can read more about W. C. Handy here.

This is one of my favorite statues, not only on Beale Street, but in all of Memphis. (All colored bold script should provide a clickable link for more information. Please click on the photo(s) to see an enlarged version.)

edited to add: Annie asked this question: "I've always wondered if B. B. King named his guitar after W. C. Handy's first child. Do you know?"

Per Wikipedia: "One of his trademarks is "Lucille", the name he has given to his guitars since the 1950s after he escaped a fire at a juke joint he was playing in. The fire was started by two men who were fighting over a woman named "Lucille". During their fight, they knocked over the bucket of burning kerosene used for heat. When King escaped the building, he realized that he had left his guitar in the burning building. He ran back inside to get it and after learning of what happened, he named his guitar "Lucille" to remind himself not to do it again." You can read the entire entry here.