St. Louis Blues

W.C. Handy's first successful composition was "Memphis Blues" but, because the producers couldn't obtain the rights to the song, his first successful song was presented in the film as being "Yellow Dog Blues", which was written several years after Handy had established himself.

Early in film, a man tells Handy to meet him "at the corner of Beale and Jackson at 4:00" to give him a job. Beale Street and Jackson Avenue do not intersect. Jackson is not straight, but it's more than a mile between them at their closest point.