O Death, Where Is Thy Sting? The Pace & Handy Story
- Veronica Carr
- Aug 10
- 2 min read
Let's go to church!
There's no business like show business
“O Death, Where Is Thy Sting?” (It's a play on a biblical verse: I Corinthians 15:55)
Published in 1918 by Pace and Handy Music Co, Inc
Music and lyrics by #ClarenceAugustineStout, white songwriter from Indiana
There's so much that we don't know about historic Black songwriters and music publishers. Long before #QuincyJones, #BerryGordy, and #MissyElliott made their impact on the world of Black songwriters, there was Pace and Handy.

William Christopher AKA W.C. Handy and Harry Pace met and formed their company in 1912. A year later in 1913, they published their first song, "Jogo Blues", written by Handy. According to several sources, the Pace and Handy Music Co was the second Black owned music publishing company; Gotham-Attucks, formed in 1905, was the first. These companies offered Black musicians and publishers an alternative to selling and recording their music for white owned record labels, who "were making a fortune off these negative portrayals of Black people," according to friend, scholar, and early Black music specialist Bill Doggett.
Pace and Handy went their separate ways in 1921. Handy became known as the "Father of the Blues", with his distinctive style of blues music, and Pace formed #BlackSwanRecords.
Peep the stereotypical illustration: Preacher is proselytizing about the dangers of sin (women, gambling, and alcohol), while one man stands and looks excited. Truthfully, some of us knew relatives and friends (and ancestors) who partied on Saturday night and showed up for Sunday morning service.
"I don't care now 'bout the pearly gates
Or hear those angels sing
With booze and women down below
Mister devil and I will put on a show
If what you say is the positive truth
O Death where is thy sting?"
Listen to the rest of the song here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBTLmLH8gi4
Courtesy of Nanny Jack & Co Archives
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