That William Prentice Barnett (Feb. 20, 1891 – April 10, 1969) is “W.P. Barnett”, the composer of “Whoop ‘Em Up Blues” (1925) is certain.
WPB was the eldest child of William Overton Barnett (July 12, 1868 – August 11, 1949) and Verturia [sic] Willis Barnett (September 1, 1873 – July 5, 1916), both from Indiana, where they married on June 7, 1889. William Prentice, sometimes known by his middle name, was born in 1891, followed by Rentice (24 August 1893), Richard (10 Nov. 1895), daughter Eunice (or Unice) (13 January 1899, possibly 1898), another son Clarence (12 October 1901), and daughter Lilliwah (19 May 1909.
In the 1910 census, 19-year-old WPB is listed as Prentice Barnett, barber. WPB married Leila A. Ridge (sometimes the first name is rendered as Lila, or Lelia) on 6 January 1912. While WPB appears in the Evansville, Indiana city directory for 1912 as a barber, the newspaper mention of his marriage in the Princeton, Indiana Daily Clarion on 6 January 1912 says that he is in the “insurance business”, and indeed in 1913 he appears, as “Prentice W. Barnett”, as a solicitor (i.e., sales agent) for the Life Insurance Co. of Virginia, a career in which he spent much of his working life pursuing. He is listed in the same way in the directories for 1914 and 1915. But it seems evident that he was a serious musician, apparently playing the trombone as his primary instrument – in the 1916 Evansville directory, he is listed, as “W. Prentice Barnett”, as a musician at the New Grand Theatre in Evansville. His listing is identical in 1917 and 1918, while in the 1919 edition he Is listed as a musician but not at a specific venue.
WPB’s WWI draft registration:
also identifies him as a musician in Evansville.
That the trombone was WPB’s primary instrument is documented by newspaper mentions of him playing trombone solos on various occasions, and that he is a member of an ensemble playing the trombone.
An example from the Evansville Press, Feb. 19, 1919:
From the Evansville Indiana Press, September 30, 1921. Not only is
W.P. Barnett mentioned as being featured as a trombone soloist, the band plays
the Henry Fillmore 1918 trombone “smear” “Slim Trombone”, in which it is
certain that Barnett was also heavily featured.
Barnett is definitely still in Evansville in 1922, because he was caught driving with one headlight (Evansville Press July 18, 1922):
It seems possible that by 1924 Barnett has taken to the road for gigs. According to an item in the Evansville Journal-Sun of August 17, 1924, he may have travelled as far as Mexico in that year. It seems clear that what is meant by “Professor” in this context has no implication of collegiate standing:
Barnett has definitely relocated to Minneapolis, Minnesota by later in 1924 as the Minneapolis Star of January 7 1925 informs us:
According to this article, W.P. Barnett has adopted the nom-de-trombone “Barney Barnett” when he joined the Dick Long Nankin Café orchestra. He is shown front and center with the band in the photo. The band has recently recorded Barnett’s “Whoop ‘Em Up Blues” for Victor, according to the caption.
In fact, the Victor company recorded the band playing Barnett’s tune, including Barnett on trombone, on November 21, 1924, in Minneapolis. The recording can be heard at
https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/matrix/detail/800005421/B-31202-Hoop_em_up_blues
and the label on the Victor release (Victor 19581), is shown here:
At the UC Santa Barbara website, one can listen to four of the six sides that the band recorded in November 1924 in Minneapolis, and Barnett’s trombone is clearly audible throughout.
Note that Whoop ‘Em Up Blues was copyrighted as a published work, published by the composer, immediately after the record on which he played was released, on January 26, 1925 and the required pair of published copies was received by the Copyright Office on February 6.
Barnett’s first appearance in the Minneapolis city directory is in 1925, wherein he is listed as a musician residing at 2312 Lyndale Avenue S. Interestingly, this building still stood in increasingly decrepit condition as recently as 2022, at which time (July 2022) it was condemned:
A photo taken in October 2022 shows the building:
The already-condemned building was the site of a fire on December 3, 2022 after which the city of Minneapolis ordered its demolition. Update: by the end of 2023, the building has been demolished and the rubble apparently cleared by the city.
The other composition of Barnett’s that has been located is an unpublished tune entitled “Stupid Steve stomp”, registered as an unpublished work March 22, 1926, by “William P. Barnett, Minneapolis”.
Barnett appears in the Minneapolis city directories for 1927-1930, (1931 is not available for inspection), 1934-1938 inclusive. Starting with the 1930 listing, Lela (again, the spelling varies from year to year) is listed alongside her husband. Possibly she moved to join her husband only once he felt established in the music business in Minneapolis. It seems somewhat remarkable that Barnett was able to make his living in the music business in the depths of the Depression, but so it seems. WPB visited his father, William O. Barnett, in Winslow, IN in 1936, according to the Princeton (IN) Daily Clarion of July 17, 1936, where it is mentioned that he is visiting from Minneapolis.
By the 1940 census, it appears that WPB has given up the music business and returned to the life insurance racket, which was his occupation for the remainder of his working career. He lived in Vincennes, Indiana, about 30 miles northwest of Winslow, where he had been born, for the rest of his life, where he became a prominent citizen and was active in musical circles. The Vincennes Municipal Band was directed by him for many years and apparently was known as “Barney Barnett’s Band” locally.
Barnett did renew the copyright of his single published composition, as was his right as author, on 28 January 1952, and again the later published version on 21 April 1952. He died at home (2002 Washington Avenue, Vincennes) on April 10, 1969 at the age of 78. His wife since 1912 died on April 23, 1973 at a facility in nearby Lawrenceville, Illinois at age 84. The couple is buried together at Memorial Park Cemetery in Vincennes (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/63115941/william-p-barnett ). Somehow, the obituary does not mention “Whoop ‘Em Up Blues” or “Stupid Steve Stomp”.
