According to Wikipedia, this is supposed to be an earlier version of MR. CRUMP DON'T LIKE IT, but I don't see any similarity, at least not with the lyrics. (I'll let someone who can read music be the judge of that.) The lyrics don't even mention Mr. Crump.

From the sheet music at Indiana University:


MEMPHIS BLUES
"Successfully featured by Ed. V. Cupero's Band and Orchestra in Geo. Evans' 'Honey Boy' Minstrels"
"A Southern Rag by W. C. Handy"
"George A. Norton's song founded on W. C. Handy's world wide 'blue' note melody"
Words, George A. Norton. Music, W. C. Handy.
New York: Joe Morris Music Co., 1913.

1. Folks, I've just been down,
Down to Memphis town.
That's where the people smile,
Smile on you all the while
Hospitality!
They were good to me.
I couldn't spend a dime,
And had the grandest time.
I went out a-dancin' with a Tennessee dear,
They had a fellow there named Handy with a band you should hear,
And while the whi' folks gently swayed,
All dem darkies played
Real harmony.
I never will forget the tune
That Handy called the Memphis Blues.
Oh, them blues!

CHORUS. They got a fiddler there
That always slickens his hair,
An', folks, he sure do pull some bow!
And when the big bassoon
Seconds to the trombones' croon, croon,
It moans just like a sinner on the Revival Day, on Revival Day.
That melancholy strain,
That ever-haunting refrain,
Is like a darkies' sorrow song.
Here comes the very part
That wraps a spell around my heart, heart.
It sets me wild to hear that lovin' tune again, the Memphis Blues.

2. Oh, that melody
Sure appealed to me,
Just like a mountain stream
Rippling on, it seemed.
Then it slowly died
With a gentle sigh,
Soft as the breeze that whines
High in the summer pines.
Hear me, people! Hear me, people! Hear me, I pray.
I'm going to take a million lessons 'til I learn how to play,
Because I seem to hear it yet,
Simply can't forget
That blue refrain.
There's nothin' like the Handy Band
That play'd the Memphis Blues so grand.
Oh, them blues!