Really the 'Walking ': , , and the Development of a Traditional Blues Author(s): John Cowley Source: Popular Music, Vol. 1, Folk or Popular? Distinctions, Influences, Continuities (1981), pp. 57-72 Published by: Cambridge University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/853243 Accessed: 05-11-2017 07:04 UTC

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This content downloaded from 204.147.202.25 on Sun, 05 Nov 2017 07:04:07 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Really the 'Walking Blues': Son House, Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson and the development of a traditional blues by JOHN COWLEY

On the surface, a study of the evolution of a particular regional Afro- American folk-music style does not appear to be directly connected with the development of popular music. Yet, in one way or another since the 1930s, Son House, Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters, aspects of whose music I discuss here, have all influenced both the development of black blues and, in a much wider context, American and European popular music in general. Johnson and then House became cult figures of the 1960s American folk-music 'revival'; Waters's Chicago rhythm and blues, which he developed in the late 1940s, have sustained him with black and, subsequently, white audiences since that time, his early commercial recordings being absorbed and sometimes emulated by groups such as the Rolling Stones. Despite the undoubted influence of these three bluesmen and an obvious connection between their performing styles, the precise nature of their musical relationship within the folk culture of north- western Mississippi has never been adequately discussed. This is surprising as carried out an extensive survey of the black folk music of a key area in this region, Coahoama County, which resulted in many important field recordings. Using Lomax's docu- mentation and the commercial and field recordings of House, Johnson and Waters - listed in the primary discographies (Godrich and Dixon 1969 and Leadbitter and Slaven 1968)- I offer this study as a contribu- tion to the discussion. It has become customary to state that Alan Lomax's 1941-2 recording trips to the Coahoama County area were made principally because he was searching for Robert Johnson and that, although Lomax was unable to find Johnson, because he was dead, Muddy Waters was recorded in his stead. In fact Lomax probably knew Johnson was dead (Cowley 1979, p. 2) and was not specifically searching for him. He was engaged in a very comprehensive folk-song survey, jointly sponsored by the Library of Congress Archive of American Folk Song and Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee, the aims of which were to 'explore objectively and exhaustively the musical habits of a single Negro

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This content downloaded from 204.147.202.25 on Sun, 05 Nov 2017 07:04:07 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 58 John Cowley community in the Delta, to find out and describe the function of music in the community, to ascertain the history of music in the community, and to document adequately the cultural and social backgrounds for music in the community' (Lomax n.d. [1941]). Interest in Johnson, therefore, was secondary, not primary. Account, however, had to be taken of his musical involvement in Coahoama society and this is the likely origin of the half-truth that Lomax was solely searching for Johnson and his songs. The purpose of the survey is exemplified by three previously unpub- lished interviews recorded by Muddy Waters in August 1941 which help distinguish his early influences and musical development. Re- sponding to questions from Alan Lomax, Muddy said that he made up '' (AFS* 4769 (4770) A 1), which he had just recorded, 'about the eighth of October in '38', when he was 'fixing a puncture on a car. I had been mistreated by a girl and it looked that it run into my mind to sing that song.' Asked 'Is that the tune for any other blues you know?', Muddy replied 'Well yes, there's been some blues played like that.' Lomax, not happy about this response, queried 'What tune - other blues do you remember runs to the same tune?' and received the answer 'Well this song came from the cotton field and the boy went and put the record out, Robert Johnson, he put out "Walkin' Blues".' Lomax asked 'Did you know the tune before you heard it on record?' 'Yes sir', said Muddy, 'I knowed the tune before I heard it on the record.' 'Who did you learn it from?' 'I learned it from Son House.' 'Son House, who's that?', Lomax quickly asked, and received a brief description and directions as to where House was living. 'How old is Son House?', he queried. 'I imagine Son, he's aged - he's about forty-four', said Muddy. 'Did you know Johnson yourself?' 'Robert Johnson? No, I didn't know him personally.' 'Is House a better player than Johnson do you think?' 'I think they're both about equal.' Lomax then asked Muddy how and why he decided to learn to play the guitar. 'I just loved the music and I saw Son Simms done playing and I just wanted to do it and I took after it', said Muddy, stating that he practiced 'An hour-and-a-half to two hours' daily during the period he was learning. 'Do you remember what the first piece you ever tried to learn was?', questioned Lomax. 'First piece I ever tried to learn was "How Long Blues"; Leroy Carr piece', Muddy responded, explaining that his technique was to learn it by ear 'from the record'. 'Well how did you learn to play with this bottle?' 'Picked that up from Son House.' 'What do you call that?' 'Bottleneck, I call it a slide', ran the ensuing questions and answers, Muddy stating that he wore the bottle

* AFS denotes the Library of Congress catalogue prefix, Archive of Folk Song.

This content downloaded from 204.147.202.25 on Sun, 05 Nov 2017 07:04:07 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Really the 'Walking Blues' 59 on his little finger and that his guitar was tuned in 'Spanish'. He knew 'Natural' tuning too, and 'Straight E' (or 'Cross Note' as he also called it). Muddy then went on to play 'I Be's Troubled' (AFS 4769 (4770) A 2) after which John Work of Fisk University took up the questioning. 'How did you come to make it [the song] up, tell us the story?' 'Well, the reason I come to make the record up, once I was just walking along the road and I heard a church song kinda in mind of that and I deal off a little song from that and I started singing it.' 'Well do you make up verses and things often like that, just sitting around?' 'Yes I make up verses pretty often.' . . . 'And then how do you get the music, get the tunes for it after you get the verses?' 'After I get my verses made up then I get my guitar and try two or three different tunes, see which one takes best - a, be better to play it in - then I got it.' 'Are there many of these country blues around this neighbourhood?' 'No sir, ain't so many round here .. .' 'Do the people round here like them?' 'Yes, they're crazy about them.' 'Do they like them better than anything else at the dances?' 'Yes sir.' Muddy, when asked 'What kind of music do you like to play best?', replied 'I like to play the blues best', also indicating 'we play a little love songs' and 'we can play the break- downs', these, presumably, with his small string band. The third interview, also conducted by John Work, follows a pre- viously undocumented Waters 1941 recording, 'Burr Clover Farm Blues' (AFS 4770 B). The dialogue consists of announcements by Son Simms and then Waters - 'Name, McKinley Morganfield, nickname "Muddy Waters", Stovall's famous guitar player' - and a description of how and why they had made up this song. 'Stovall invented the "Burr Clover Farm" and we named it "Burr Clover Farm" so he would like the blues', said Muddy. 'How long have you lived out here on the Stovall place?', asked Work. 'Seventeen years', Muddy replied. 'Work- ing at the same place all the time?' 'Same place all the time.' 'Mr Stovall always been the owner of the farm?' 'Yes, Stovall always owner of the farm.' Stovall, incidently, is the name both of the plantation where Muddy worked and of Howard Stovall, its owner. I have detailed these interviews so as to establish an accurate record of what was said, for they have previously been misquoted. Alan Lomax, for example, wrongly reports that Muddy composed 'I Be's Troubled' 'while he was changing a tire' (Lomax n.d. [1942]) but, as one can see, it was 'Country Blues' Muddy said he composed while 'fixing a puncture on a car'. Pete Welding (1966) also wrongly inter- prets Lomax's interview by stating that Waters told Lomax he had almost totally patterned his music on that of Robert Johnson - again, one can see, Muddy does not say this.

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Alan Lomax too emphasises Robert Johnson's role in the develop- ment of Waters's music:

McKinley Morganfield (nicknamed Muddy Waters), a shy, handsome young Negro, lives and works on a huge cotton plantation near the Mississippi river, not far from Clarksdale, Mississippi. Saturday evenings he makes a few dollars by playing for the local dances and parties of his Negro neighbors. He learned to play the guitar only three years ago, learning painfully, finger by finger, from a friend. Since that time he has learned a great deal more by listening to commercial records of blues guitarists from other parts of the country. His style is largely derived from the records of Robert Johnson, who recorded for the Columbia Phonograph Company in the 1930's. Robert Johnson grew up only a few miles away, but Muddy Waters never saw him face to face. (Lomax n.d. [19421)

Lomax's notes suggest that Waters plagiarised Johnson's recordings in his own performances, yet even a cursory listen to Waters's 1941-2 Library of Congress recordings shows that, in comparison to Johnson's recorded repertoire, Muddy was his own man, both lyrically and musically. These Waters recordings are discussed later. Other statements in Lomax's notes can also be questioned. Muddy's claim to be 'Stovall's famous guitar player' and his forthright replies to questions belie Lomax's 'shy' description. Also, Muddy told Pete Welding (1970, p. 4) that 'it was around 1932 when I commenced with the guitar' and this date is much more plausible than Lomax's 'three years ago'. Lomax's notes are undated (it is likely they were written in 1942 - see below) but he probably assumed that 1938, when Muddy said he composed 'Country Blues', was when Muddy began to play the guitar. During my most recent research at the Library of Congress Archive of Folk Song (November 1978) I discovered a handwritten letter, in pencil, from that 'shy, handsome young Negro' Alan Lomax had recorded in August 1941. It reads: Stovall, Miss. Sept. 21, 1941

Alan Lomax, [?] Co This is the boy that put out Burr Clover Blues and Number One Highway Blues and several more Blues. Want to know did they take? Please sir if they did, please send some to Clarksdale, Miss. Please sir answer soon to

M. G. Morganfield and Sun Sim

Lomax was tardy in sending a reply and it was not until early in the new year that he wrote to Muddy, sending two of his recordings under separate cover:

This content downloaded from 204.147.202.25 on Sun, 05 Nov 2017 07:04:07 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Really the 'Walking Blues' 61

Mr M. A. Morganfield January 27, 1942 Stovall, Miss.

Dear Mr. Morganfield Everyone here in the Library certainly liked your records, because they were very beautifully performed, and I am sending you under separate cover a copy of your two best blues. I think that you should keep in practice because I feel sure that sometime you will get the break you deserve. I am sorry I could not write sooner. With very best regards and many thanks, I am

Sincerely yours, Alan Lomax, Assistant in Charge, Archive of American Folk Song [Miss. 13B 1 & B 2 47691

These letters confirm my suggestion (Cowley 1974, P. 13) that broken and missing discs may have contained further recordings by Waters, especially as he recalls in his letter a previously unknown 'Number One Highway Blues' (Stovall is on Mississippi State Highway I). There is further correspondence between Lomax and Waters in the Archive of Folk Song files. On 17 March 1942, Alan Lomax wrote to Muddy asking permission to press copies of his 'Country Blues' and 'I Be's Troubled' for demonstration to Latin American countries, stating that, if Muddy agreed, the Library of Congress would pay a fee and include 'for non commercial use only' as well as the artist's name on the label legends. Lomax felt that this release would help Muddy get his name known. 'I think the released [sic] of this record will serve to make you known in quarters where greater use might be found for your talent.' A form of contract was enclosed which Muddy signed and returned on 6 April. Release of the record must have followed fairly quickly for the issue of 'a series of thirty representative pressings of Archive records, pre- pared for distribution in North and South America' is mentioned in the 1942 Report of the Librarian of Congress (pp. 114-15); Lomax's record notes must, therefore, date from this period. Muddy was sent two copies of 'Record 18 in Iv' and returned a signed slip acknowledging their receipt on 23 January 1943. His address at the time was still Stovall, Mississippi, although later in the year (about April or May) he moved to Chicago and immediately became involved in the city's music scene (Rowe 1973, PP. 53, 66). In the summer of 1942, when Alan Lomax returned to Coahoama County to make further recordings for the AAFS-Fisk folk-song survey,

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Muddy was again recorded at Stovall, together with the four-piece string band he ran with Son Simms. During his formative years at Stovall, Muddy obtained a wide musi- cal experience, Son Simms and one Scott 'Bowhandle' being the ear- liest influences on his guitar playing (Oliver 1959, p. 2; 1965, p. 49). Amongst others Muddy also heard bottleneck player James Smith (Rooney 1971, p. 107), members of the Chatmon family, and Willie Brown (Leadbitter n.d. [19731, p. 9). Above all, however, Muddy saw and learnt bottleneck from Brown's 1930s playing partner, Son House. 'I had been learning guitar from this Scott Bowhandle. I thought he could play. But then I saw Son House and I realised he couldn't play nothing at all. Son House played the same place for about four weeks in a row and I was there every night. You couldn't get me out of that corner, listening to what he's doing', Muddy told Don de Michael (Guralnick 1971, p. 46). 'I ran across Son House lots of times', he recalled. 'Then I was just trying to begin to pick the guitar. And I liked that style. I used to use a bottleneck on the slide' (Welding 1970, p. 4). The influence of House on Muddy's playing is made clear too in the answers Muddy gives to Lomax's questions and, also, in his reminis- cences to Paul Oliver:

But the best [musician] we had to my ideas was Sonny House. He came from a plantation east of Clarksdale, Marks or Lambert way I think, and I think he's out there yet, farmin'. Well I guess he'd be about in his sixties now. He used to have a neck of a bottle over his finger, little finger, touch the strings with that and make them sing. That's where I got the idea from. You break it off, hold it in a flame until it melts and gets smooth. He made some records you know, Sonny, but to my ideas he never did sound so good on record as he did when you heard him. (Oliver 1965, p. 66)

Muddy also heard and enjoyed the music of another House prot6g6, Robert Johnson - though, as he told Lomax, he 'didn't know him personally'. Muddy, however, may have seen Johnson perform once or twice.

Then of course there was Robert, Robert Johnson. He used to work the jukes. I don't know what sort of work he did. He always had a guitar with him whenever I saw him around. I never did talk to him much. He was the kind of guy you wanted to listen to, get ideas from ... But he didn't seem to stay in any one place too long you know, kind of restless. (Ibid. pp. 66-7)

'When I first heard him real good', he told Pete Welding, it was in 1937.' It was Johnson's records, however, that made an impression. 'You see, I was digging Son House and Robert Johnson. I saw House in person and I did get to see Robert play a few times, but I was digging

This content downloaded from 204.147.202.25 on Sun, 05 Nov 2017 07:04:07 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Really the 'Walking Blues' 63 his records too. Because he used a very nice slide' (Welding 1970, p. 4). But, as Muddy has always maintained, it was Son House who was his major influence.

I consider myself to be what you might call a mixture of all three. I had a part on my own, part of Son House, and a little part of Robert Johnson. Robert? No, I seen him at a distance a couple of times, but I never actually seen him to play. I regret that very much, because I liked his style. I thought he was real great from his records. Beautiful. Really though, it was Son House who influenced me to play. I was really behind Son House all the way. (Guralnick 1971, p. 46)

Robert Johnson's recordings were made in November 1936 and June 1937, and most were released during 1937. By August, however, Johnson was dead, killed, according to Mack McCormick's research, 'by a man who had previously told him to leave his wife alone' (Guralnick 1976, p. 13). At this point it is instructive to examine more closely Muddy's Library of Congress recordings in the light of Alan Lomax's 1942 statement that Muddy's style was 'largely derived from the records of Robert Johnson', a statement which has generally been accepted since that time but is not borne out by the facts. The particular recording usually associated with Johnson's style is Muddy's 1941 'Country Blues' (AFS 4769 (4770) A 1), issued as one side of AAFS 18. Comparison is made between this and Johnson's 1936 recording, 'Walkin' Blues' (Vocalion 03601). Both are sung to bottle- neck guitar accompaniments. The guitar style used by Johnson to accompany his 'Walkin' Blues', however, bears very close comparison with Son House's accompaniment to his 1930 recording, 'My Black Mama' (parts I and II), issued on Paramount 13042. This in itself would not be of special significance if we did not know of House's tutelage of Johnson. House's story of teaching Johnson is now well known (two versions are: House 1965, pp. 41-2; and Wilson 1966, p. 7). This is supported by other evidence given in two interviews to Pete Welding. Mississippi bluesman David Edwards told Welding 'He [Johnson] came on under Willie Brown and Son House' (Welding 1968, p. 9), and Howlin' Wolf, talking of Johnson, said 'I believe Son House mostly taught him. ... 'cause Son House always played guitar with that thing (bottleneck) on his hand' (Welding 1969, p. 7). The first observation to be made is that all three songs we are considering use the ABAB verse form exclusively, Son House's May 1930 'My Black Mama' (parts I and ii) being the first example (for a lyric transcription see Groom 1967, pp. 19-20). House learned the 'my black mama' lyrics, which occur in part I of the song, from one of his mentors, James McCoy, and 'made up' the

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'death letter' theme of part ii. Son used McCoy's 'black mama' lyrics for this song almost exclusively between 1927 and 1928, but then decided to add a new set of lyrics with a 'death letter' theme; thus in 1930 the piece was in a transitional stage. During the 1930s Son's song was called 'Walking Blues' and, according to Al Wilson, this is the source of the title of Robert Johnson's song (Wilson 1966, p. 4). It should be noted that House's bottleneck accompaniment to 'My Black Mama' remained in his repertoire throughout the 1930s - he recorded it twice for Lomax: 'Walking Blues' (AFS 4780 B 2), 1941, and (AFS 6606 B, test) 1942. One of the points of comparison between Johnson's 'Walkin' Blues' and Waters's 'Country Blues' is the similarity of their bottleneck playing. Waters, as I have established, was heavily influenced by House and told Lomax he had learnt the bottleneck accompaniment for 'Country Blues' from House. Johnson, too, must have learnt this accompaniment from House and this is the main explanation for any similarities between Johnson's and Waters's performing styles, the influence of Johnson's recordings being of a secondary nature. To emphasise this, it is useful to analyse the lyrics of key recordings by House, Johnson and Waters. This is especially important because of Waters's evidence that his knowledge of Johnson's music was primar- ily from recordings. Al Wilson's assertion that House's 'My Black Mama' became a song titled 'Walking Blues' is supported by a recorded interview between House and Lomax which follows Son's 1942 'Walking Blues' (AFS 6607 B 3), recorded for the Library of Congress. The words to this song are on the 'death letter' theme of Son's 'My Black Mama' part ii; the accompaniment, however, is not the bottleneck one discussed above. As well as telling Lomax that he could sing these words to a different tune (therefore allowing for the other accompaniment), Son also said that he had 'made it up' and recorded it for Paramount: 'I recorded that a long time ago . . . about ten or twelve years, but I didn't name it that [Lomax had asked was it called "Death Letter Blues"]. I called it the "Walking Blues".' He also confirmed to Lomax that the record had been issued. 'Yes sir it was ... I've heard it several times.' This establishes that Son was referring to his 1930 'My Black Mama' (for he did not use the 'death letter' theme for any of his other issued Para- mount recordings) and that he sometimes called the song 'Walking Blues'. However, the lyrics of House's 'My Black Mama' parts I and ii, as Bob Groom has rightly observed (1976, pp. 12-13), have only one verse in common with Johnson's 'Walkin' Blues': the sixth stanza of 'My Black Mama' part ii is the same as the fourth verse of Johnson's recording.

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We must now consider the complete lyrics of Johnson's 'Walkin' Blues' (matrix SA 2630-1) recorded in November 1936. I woke up this morning, feelin' round for my shoes, Tell everybody I've got these old walkin' blues, Woke up this morning, feeling round, oh, for my shoes, But you know about that, I've got these old walkin' blues.

Lord, I feel like blowin' my old lonesome home, Got up this morning, now, Bern-ice, was gone, Lord, I feel like blowin' my old lonesome home, Well, I got up this morning, all I had was gone.

Well, leave this morning if I have to, oh, ride the blinds, I've been mistreated, and I don't mind dyin', Leavin' this morning, I have to ride the blinds, Babe, I've been mistreated, baby, and I don't mind dyin'.

Well, some people tell me, that the worried blues ain't bad, Worst old feeling, I most ever had, Some people tell me, that the worried blues ain't bad, It's the worst old feeling I most ever had.

She's got an Elgin movement, from her head down to her toes, Break in on a dollar most anywhere she goes, Oooh, from her head down to her toes, Oh, how nice, (spoken) Lord, she break in on a dollar, most anywhere she goes.

In his 1976 article Groom discusses precedents on record for verses in this Johnson recording, most of which he considers to be original to Johnson - although it must be remembered this does not take into account direct learning of stanzas from another person. It must be stressed here that I am not writing about the originality of an indi- vidual's performance but the oral development of a particular song. It has been established that Alan Lomax was interested, though not exclusively, in the influence of Robert Johnson on blues performed in Coahoama County. I suggest that on finding Muddy Waters in 1941, Lomax may have asked him whether he knew Johnson's 'Walkin' Blues' and was offered 'Country Blues'. This could have partly in- fluenced the lyrics Waters used for his song. It must also be remem- bered that, on the evidence of the recorded interview following 'Coun- try Blues', Lomax was not aware of Son House's existence until after this performance. The lyrics to Muddy's song are: Ah, getting on in the evening, child, I feel like, blowing my home, I woke up this morning, find my, my little baby gone, Late on in the evening, man, man, I feel like blowing my home, Well, I woke up this morning, baby, find my baby gone.

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Well, now, some folks say the worried old blues ain't bad, That's the miserabliest feeling, child, I most, most ever had, Some folks tell me, man, that the worried blues ain't bad, Well, that's the miserabliest feeling, honey now, ooh girl, I most ever had.

Well, brooks run into the ocean, the ocean, the ocean run in, into the sea, If I don't find my baby, somebody goin', goin' to bury me, Brooks run into the ocean, child, ocean run into the sea, Well, if I don't find my baby now, oh well, girl, you're goin' to have to bury me.

Yes, minutes seem like hours and hours seem like days, Seems like my baby will stop her, her lowdown ways, Minutes seem like hours, child, and hours seem like days, Yes, seem like my woman, now, oh well girl, she might stop her lowdown ways.

Well allright, play that thing man. (spoken)

Well, now, I'm leaving this morning if I have to, oh, ride the blinds, I feel mistreated, girl, you know, now, I don't mind dyin', Leaving this morning, if I have to, now, ride the blinds, Yes, I been mistreated, now, babe, and I don't mind dyin'.

The first comparison that can be made between Johnson's and Waters's lyrics is that the latter's song is not a direct copy of Johnson's recording; Muddy uses lyrics not in Johnson's record and those verses which are similar are not sung in the same sequence. Specifically, Muddy's first verse is similar to Johnson's second; Muddy's second verse is similar to Johnson's fourth (but, as has been pointed out, this was also in House's repertoire); Muddy's third verse had not been recorded by either House or Johnson; Muddy's fourth verse occurs in Willie Brown's May 1930 recording, 'Future Blues' (Paramount 13090), and in two recordings Son House subsequently made for Lomax - 'Walking Blues' (AFS 4780 B 2), 1941, and 'Jinx Blues' (AFS 6608 B 1), 1942; Muddy's fifth verse is similar to Johnson's third. As the above evidence shows, two of these verses were used by Son House and Willie Brown prior to Johnson's recording, and Waters could have learned them from House or Brown in person as easily as from Johnson, who, in any case, features only one of them in his record. Indeed Muddy could have learned other of his verses from House, Brown and other contemporaries. House, incidentally, also used the 'walking blues' stanza, not used by Muddy, for the first verse of his 1941 'Walking Blues' - this twelve-verse song has no other verses

This content downloaded from 204.147.202.25 on Sun, 05 Nov 2017 07:04:07 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Really the 'Walking Blues' 67 in common with Johnson's recording and only one with Waters's, the 'minutes seem like hours' stanza. Along with the other evidence, all this suggests that Son House's 'Walking Blues' consisted of a number of 'floating' stanzas, some of which appealed to Johnson and some of which appealed to Waters. Waters may have learned two or three stanzas direct from Johnson's recording but this is not necessarily the case. Indeed Muddy's inter- view with Lomax gives a very good indication of where the song's verses came from: 'Well this song come from the cotton fields', Muddy says, and only after making this statement does he confirm that John- son made a recording called 'Walkin' Blues' which used similar verses. I submit, therefore, that Waters's song also consisted of floating stanzas, some obtained from other performers and some original. This is further supported by the lyrics Muddy used for his second 'Country Blues' recording for Lomax (made in 1942) which has only one verse, the first, in common with a verse of Johnson's 'Walkin' Blues', and only two verses in common with his first 'Country Blues'. Muddy's lyrics are:

Well, it's gettin' late on in the evenin', I feel like, feel like blowin' this home, Just like to wake up some mornin' find my, my little easy gone - hey, Late on in the evenin', man, I feel like, like blowin' home, Let me wake up some mornin' baby, now, ooh well gal, and find my little easy gone.

Well, minutes seem like hours and hours, now, goin' to seem like days, Seem like my little woman ought to stop her lowdown, her lowdown evil ways, Seem like hours boys, and hours seem like days, Well, seem like my baby, man, man, ooh well gal, she ought to stop her lowdown ways.

Well, I believe I go back to Memphis boy goin' to have this old, this here hambone boiled, I done laid round in Clarksdale and I'm 'bout to let my old, my little old hambone spoil - hey, Goin' back to Memphis, boys, I got to have my hambone boiled, Well, I done laid round in Clarksdale, man, man, ooh well gal, I'm 'bout to let this old hambone spoil.

Yes, I'm goin' back to St. Louis, I'm goin' to have my, my little churnin' done, I can't find no country woman to make my lowdown, my little old butter come - hey, Goin' back to St. Louis, I got to have my churnin' done, Well I done laid round here so long, man, oh oh well gal, tain't nobody make my butter come.

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All right, hit on that thing boy. (spoken)

Well, now bye-bye babe, I ain't got me, no more to say, Just like I been tellin' you gal, you gonna have to, now, oh need my help - hey, Bye-bye baby, now, I ain't got, no more to say, Well, just like I been tellin' you now, baby now, ooh well gal, you gonna need my help.

The two verses common to both 'Country Blues' are not sung in the same verse sequence. This adds further support to my floating-stanza argument, as does Muddy's evidence to Lomax, when replying to a question on how he composed his first 'Country Blues'. 'Well, I just felt blue and the song came into my mind, come to me just like that song, and I started singing and went on.' One other point of comparison between Johnson and Waters is their use of 'falsetto' for dramatic effect. This device, however, is employed by a number of Mississippi singers and, according to Fiddlin' Joe Martin, who sang and played with Son House and Willie Brown from 1935 to the early 1940s, all three (Martin, House and Brown) 'used to sing falsetto' during this period (Evans 1968, p. 3). Both Johnson and Waters could, therefore, have learned this vocal style from House in person. A final point regarding Muddy's 'Country Blues' is that he made two commercial recordings of the 'walking blues' theme between 1948 and 1950. The first version, entitled 'I Feel Like Going Home' (Aristocrat 1305), utilises verses one, three and four (in that order) of his 1941 'Country Blues' and was recorded in April 1948. Only the first verse occurs in Robert Johnson's 'Walkin' Blues'. The second version, en- titled 'Walkin' Blues' (Chess 1426), utilises verses one, four and three (in that order) of Johnson's 'Walkin' Blues' and was recorded in February 1950. This may have been based entirely on Johnson's record (if so it is Muddy's only version of the 'walking blues' theme that was) but, as has been shown, at least two of the verses were in Son House's repertoire and, interestingly, Waters does not use Johnson's verse sequence. It is worth noting here that Muddy had a good memory for the words of records; 'although he had not heard them for more than twenty years he could remember the words of Blind Blake's 'Detroit Bound', of Texas Alexander's 'Corn Bread Blues' and Blind Lemon Jefferson's 'Matchbox Blues' without difficulty and without promp- ting' (Oliver 1959, p. 3). It was, therefore, almost certainly from choice that, on his 1948 'Kind Hearted Woman' (Chess LP 1511), his one recording that is definitely based on a Johnson record ('Kind Hearted Woman Blues' (ARC 7-03-56)), Muddy sang his verses in the same

This content downloaded from 204.147.202.25 on Sun, 05 Nov 2017 07:04:07 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Really the 'Walking Blues' 69 order as Johnson's. To put this into perspective, however, between September 1947 and February 1950 Muddy made about twenty-nine commercial recordings, and at most two are directly attributable to Robert Johnson recordings. Muddy, of course, continued to record after February 1950 but, as far as I am aware, none of his later 1950s records has any connection with those of Robert Johnson. Having discussed Waters's 'Country Blues' in detail, it is useful to briefly summarise what is known about his other (known) 1941-2 recordings. (1) AFS 4769(4770) A 2'I Be's Troubled' : Waters told John Work that this was his own composition, based on a church song (or perhaps he meant a church tune). The guitar accompaniment is bottleneck. Paul Oliver notes that this was Muddy's personal holler and Muddy attri- butes his lyrics to his dissatisfaction with 'the way things were down there - in Mississippi' (Oliver 1965, p. 30). Muddy later adapted this song for his commercial recording, 'I Can't Be Satisfied' (Aristocrat 1305). (2) AFS 4770 B 1 and 6628 B 3 'Burr Clover (Farm) Blues': in 1941 Waters told John Work that he and Son Simms had 'made up' this song. The subject is Stovall's farm where Muddy then worked. The two performances have their first two, key, verses in common but are otherwise dissimilar. Guitar accompaniment to 4770 B I is not bottleneck but Muddy plays bottleneck on 6628 B 3. Son Simms plays second guitar on both performances. (3) AFS 6628 A 6 'Ramblin' Kid Blues': the field notes state 'key of G; composed by Morganfield'. This string band performance does not have bottleneck guitar accompaniment. (4) AFS 6628 A 7 'Rosalie': the field notes state 'key of G; composed by Morganfield'. This string band performance does not have bottle- neck guitar accompaniment. (5) AFS 6628 B 2 'Take a Walk with Me': the field notes give no composer. Son Simms plays second guitar. This song was first re- corded by Robert Lockwood in July 1941 (Bluebird B-8820). Waters's recording uses all five of Lockwood's verses (in sequence except that verses four and five are transposed) but Muddy's final (sixth) verse is not in Lockwood's recording. Muddy could have learned this from the record, in person, or, most likely, from the radio, for Robert Lockwood (together with Rice 'Sonny Boy Williamson' Miller) began broadcasting from the nearby KFFA radio station at Helena, Arkansas, at the end of 1941. Lockwood continued with this station (their programme was 'King Biscuit Time') until 1943 (Leadbitter 1973, PP. 4-5). The guitar accompaniment to Muddy's performance is not bottleneck (neither is Lockwood's).

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(6) AFS 6628 A 1 and A 2 'I Be Bound to Write to You': the field notes give no composer but state the guitar is tuned in 'Spanish'. There are two distinct versions of this piece. The tune is the same as for 'I Be's Troubled' and the guitar accompaniment is bottleneck. (7) AFS 6629 A 3 and 6667 A 1 'You Gonna Miss Me When I'm Dead and Gone': the field notes give no composer but state the guitar is tuned in 'E natural' on 6629 A 3. There are two distinct versions of this piece. The tune and the choruses are probably based on a January 1933 Buddy Moss recording, 'When I'm Dead and Gone' (Banner 32688). The guitar accompaniments to Moss's and Waters's recordings are bottleneck. Muddy later adapted this piece for his commercial recording, 'You're Gonna Miss Me' (Aristocrat 1307). (8) AFS 6666 A 3 'You Got to Take Sick and Die Some of These Days': the field notes give no composer. The theme is, probably, a religious one. The guitar accompaniment is bottleneck. Muddy later adapted this song for his commercial recording, 'Diamonds at your Feet' (Chess 1630). (9) AFS 6666 B 1 'Why Don't You Live so God Can Use You?': the field notes give no composer. This is a religious song. The guitar accompaniment is bottleneck. (10) AFS 6667 B 2 '32-20 Blues': there are no details in the field notes. The song is about a disquieted lover, but personalised. The guitar accompaniment is not bottleneck. Accepting that Muddy learned bottleneck from Son House, it will be seen that there is no direct link between any of these recordings and those of Robert Johnson (listed in Godrich and Dixon 1969, pp. 380-1). The Library of Congress-Fisk researches into the music of Coahoama County remain unpublished, so their findings on the in- fluence of Robert Johnson, and others, on the music of that community are unknown. It is believed that Alan Lomax and his fellow- researchers discovered some details of Johnson's life, for Lomax has mentioned that he found Johnson's mother (address at the Library of Congress, Archive of Folk Song, 5oth Anniversary Symposium, November 1978) and, researching at the Archive of Folk Song, Tony Russell located a 1941 letter from Lomax to Dr Charles S. Johnson (in charge of the project at Fisk) asking that a researcher interview Son House about Robert Johnson (personal communication from Tony Russell). It should be remembered, however, that from recent re- search, we know that Robert Johnson was a well-travelled musician who is especially recalled by fellow-musicians who worked in Helena, Arkansas, Memphis, Tennessee and the Arkansas hinterland during the mid-193os. This was Johnson's main period and, probably, his main area of personal influence. It was before 1935 that Johnson had

This content downloaded from 204.147.202.25 on Sun, 05 Nov 2017 07:04:07 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Really the 'Walking Blues' 71 lived near Robinsonville, Mississippi, where Son House and Willie Brown resided, and had learned from both musicians. By 1935, accord- ing to, amongst others, Fiddlin' Joe Martin (Evans 1968, p. 4), Johnson had left Mississippi to live in Arkansas. Son House, too, was a much-travelled musician and, on Muddy Waters's evidence, Muddy must have learned from Son in the early 1930s. Indeed, the music of Son and Willie Brown is readily recalled by those who lived, worked and played music in the upper Mississippi Delta throughout the 1930s when they must have been very popular and influential musicians. House, however, has never been given his due credit as a primary teacher of Muddy Waters as well as of Robert Johnson and, in light of this, his influence on the history of recorded blues must be rewritten.

References

Cowley, John H., 'Walking Blues', Blues Unlimited, 1o6 (February-March 1974), p. 13. Insert notes for Walking Blues, Flyright FLY LP 541 (1979). Evans, David, 'The Fiddlin' Joe Martin story', Blues World, 20 (July 1968), PP. 3-5. Godrich, John, and Robert M. W. Dixon (compilers), Blues & Gospel Records 1902-1942 (London, 1969). Groom, Bob (transcriber), 'Lyric transcript no. 3, "My Black Mama", Son House, Paramount 13042', Blues World, 14 (May 1967), pp. 19-20. 'Standing at the Crossroads: Robert Johnson's recordings', 2, Blues Unlimited, 119 (May-June 1976), pp. 11-14. Guralnick, Peter, 'Muddy Waters: gone to Main Street', in Feel Like Going Home (New York, 1971), pp. 42-66. 'The search for Robert Johnson', (25 March 1976), p. 13. House, Son (ed. Julius Lester), 'I can make my own songs', Sing Out, 15:3 (July 1965), PP. 38-45. Leadbitter, Mike, 'Bring it on Home', Blues Unlimited, 98 (January 1973), pp. 4-13. Insert notes for Genesis: The Beginnings of Rock, Chess 6641 047, n.d. [19731]. Leadbitter, Mike, and Neil Slaven (compilers), Blues Records 1943-1966 (Lon- don, 1968). Lomax, Alan, 'The folk song survey in collaboration with Fisk University' (Washington, DC, Archive of Folk Song file, n.d. [1941]). Insert notes for 78 rpm record AAFS 18, Washington, Dc, n.d. [1942]. Morganfield, M. G. ('Muddy Waters'), Letters to Alan Lomax, with replies; Library of Congress Archive of Folk Song file. Oliver, Paul, 'Muddy Waters-"Hoochie-Coochie Man"', Jazz Monthly, 4:11 (January 1959), pp. 2-6. Conversation with the Blues (London, 1965). Report of the Librarian of Congress for the Fiscal Year Ending June 1942 (Washington, DC, 1942).

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Rooney, James, Bossmen: Bill Monroe & Muddy Waters (New York, 1971). Rowe, Mike, Chicago Breakdown (London, 1973). Welding, Pete, Sleeve notes for Muddy Waters: Down on Stovall's Plantation, Testament T-2210, 1966. 'David "Honey Boy" Edwards', Blues Unlimited, 54 (June 1968), pp. 3-12. 'Howlin' Wolf: an interview with bluesman Howling Wolf', 3, Blues Un- limited, 61 (April 1969), pp. 7-8. 'An interview with Muddy Waters', American Folk Music Occasional, 2 (New York, 1970), pp. 2-7. Wilson, Al, 'Son House', Collector's Classics, 14 (Bexhill-on-Sea, 1966).

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