Ambrose and His Orchestra plays “Memphis Blues” on Decca 660, recorded on March 20, 1935. <br /><br />The Rhythm Sisters provide vocals. <br /><br />At one point the Rhythm Sisters were Tressa Dale (her married named was Tressa Dale Marshall), Betty Dale, and Kay Munro-Smythe. The trio had a shifting line up. Sometimes Jean Conibear, Helen Raymond, or others sang instead of the two Dales. <br /><br />Bert Ambrose was an English bandleader and violinist. He lived from 1896 to 1971. <br /><br />Folks I've just been down, down to Memphis town, <br />That's where the people smile, smile on you all the while. <br />Hospitality, they were good to me. <br />I couldn't spend a dime, and had the grandest time. <br /><br />I went out a dancing with a Tennessee dear, <br />They had a fellow there named Handy with a band you should hear <br />And while the folks gently swayed, all the band folks played Real harmony. <br />I never will forget the tune that Handy called the Memphis Blues. <br />Oh yes, them Blues. <br /><br />They've got a fiddler there that always slickens his hair <br />And folks he sure do pull some bow. <br />And when the big Bassoon seconds to the Trombones croon. <br />It moans just like a sinner on Revival Day, on Revival Day. <br /><br />Oh that melody sure appealed to me. <br />Just like a mountain stream rippling on it seemed. <br />Then it slowly died, with a gentle sigh <br />Soft as the breeze that whines high in the summer pines. <br /><br />Hear me people, hear me people, hear I pray, <br />I'm going to take a million lesson's 'til I learn how to play <br />Because I seem to hear it yet, simply can't forget <br />That blue refrain. <br /><br />There's nothing like the Handy Band that played the Memphis Blues so grand. <br />Oh play them Blues. <br />That melancholy strain, that ever haunting refrain <br />Is like a sweet old sorrow song. <br />Here comes the very part that wraps a spell around my heart. <br />It sets me wild to hear that loving tune a gain, <br />The Memphis Blues. <br /><br />Ambrose and His Orchestra “Memphis Blues” (1935) Rhythm Sisters = Kay Munro-Smythe
