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Home , Atlanta blues, Blind John Davis, Blues ballad, Curtis Jones (pianist), Drive Me Away, Frank Stokes (musician)

New World Records NEW WORLD RECORDS 701 Seventh Avenue, New York, New York 10036; (212) 302-0460; (212) 944-1922 fax email: [email protected] www.newworldrecords.org

Let’s Get Loose: Folk and Popular Styles from the Beginnings to the Early New World NW 290

lues began to be sung in the eighteen- Kentucky, and Maryland, and in the western Bnineties. By the nineteen-twenties they had states, where blacks were a fairly small minority, become the dominant folk- and popular- and where there was a certain amount of social form among American blacks and had exerted mobility, became popular among the enormous influence on white popular and folk black working class in the cities and towns. music.At the time of their earliest development, Drawing about equally on black and white folk blues were part of an extraordinary ferment tak- and popular styles, ragtime quickly spread into ing place in black cultural circles. By the nineties the cities of the North and Deep South and a new generation had grown to maturity, born developed various folk offshoots.A kind of vocal out of slavery but still struggling to obtain the ragtime developed among quartets that got freedom and to chart the direction of their cul- together at barber shops and at social gatherings. ture in America. Some of the more fortunate Quartets also sang , reinjecting some of members of this generation graduated from the the syncopation, antiphonal style, and dis- many newly established black colleges and tinctively black approach to harmonizing that entered professions such as the ministry,the law, had been removed from these in the business, medicine, and education. Others process of arranging them for the concert and became skilled tradesmen—carpenters, black- choir. smiths, stonemasons—or catered to the needs of In the cities of the Deep South, such as New the black community that whites were unwilling Orleans, Memphis, Mobile, and Pensacola, black to service, becoming barbers, undertakers, working-class instrumentalists, often combining boarding house operators, and tavern keepers. with Creole musicians from families whose for- Black political leaders like Booker T.Washington tunes had slipped, produced the first stirrings of and W.E. B. Dubois began to make their commu- , a more syncopated and improvisational style nity a national force. Black soldiers distinguished than ragtime. By World War I jazz would begin themselves in the Spanish-American War, helping moving north and west and replacing ragtime in Teddy Roosevelt win the decisive Battle of San popularity. Jazz instrumentation and style were Juan Hill. And there was a flowering of black lit- also incorporated into the churches of the new erature and art that witnessed the emergence of pentecostal denominations that were drawing such figures as the poet Paul Lawrence Dunbar many adherents in the southern cities and towns and the painter Henry Ossawa Tanner. and in the rapidly growing northern ghettos. In music, blacks at the higher social levels White performers and composers not only became accomplished composers and perform- attempted to learn and adapt these styles but ers in the classical tradition. If they paid any also created a song form that both imitated and attention to distinctively black musical forms, it parodied black expression, the “,” was usually to the old spirituals of slavery days, which enjoyed a great vogue from the eighteen- but these songs were highly arranged in a nineties to the nineteen-twenties. Some blacks Europeanized manner for concert and choir pre- also composed coon songs and other humorous sentation. In the border states like Missouri, tunes, and these were performed in revues and

1 vaudeville in the cities and in traveling tent and to the audience. singer might actually be medicine shows in the southern towns. surrounded by adoring women, but he would sing Blues fit into this musical scene at the lowest about the problems of love because he knew that level, and they were the last of these forms to some of the people in his audience had such prob- become popularized.They were most prevalent in lems. Or he might sing about being arrested and the rural South and among recent migrants to the put in jail because there were bound to be listen- cities. Blacks in the older rural communities clung ers who had had similar experiences. By dramatiz- to folk-song traditions or shunned the blues in ing the ups and downs of life as it was lived by the favor of church music. It was the large class of lowest and most marginal class of blacks, the blues uprooted rural blacks that gave sustenance to the singer helped make life seem more bearable. It was new blues tradition. This class included the share- as if he took upon himself the worries and troubles croppers, renters, and hired hands who moved of others in the community and cast them out in from one large plantation to another in search of his songs, while the people rocked, danced, better work and better times, the workers in the laughed, and had fun to the sound of his music. In coal and iron mines and the levee and lumber this sense the ’s role paralleled that of camps, the railroad workers and the hoboes who the preacher in the more respectable lower-class rode tire rails, and the small-time hustlers, gam- black community, and many older black preachers blers, prostitutes, and other underworld figures. are in fact ex-bluesmen, having made a relatively Blues first made an impression on the composer W. easy transition from an emotional singing style to C. Handy in 1903, when he heard them sung by a an equally emotional sermon style. ragged player in the railroad station of Although early blues exhibited some influence Tutwiler, . About this same time Jelly from spirituals and group work songs, the main Roll Morton was learning his first blues in contributing traditions were the and brothels and gambling dens. Howard the . Field hollers were very loosely struc- W. Odum, the first folklorist to do serious field tured unaccompanied songs sung by farm work- work among folk-blues singers, heard blues in ers and other manual laborers. They often con- Mississippi and Georgia between 1905 and 1908 tained falsetto singing, moaning, humming, or and noted that many of them were performed by whistling. Some had no words at all, while others traveling "" "musicianers,” and "music might repeat a single verse over and over. Some physicianers." The themes of many of the blues had more developed texts.They dealt with work- that he collected dealt with trains, hoboing, under- ing conditions, stubborn mules and the hot sun, world life, and most of all the exploits and prob- and inevitably with the singer's woman. These lems of love. Odum noted that blues were mainly field hollers contributed the basic vocal material performed among groups gathered for parties in to the early blues. This material was given struc- the evenings after work, at gatherings after church, ture and a stanza form by the ballad. By the eigh- at dances, by individuals sitting alone on their teen-nineties a type of narrative folk song that has doorstep or by the fireside, and during courtship. come to be known as the "" had devel- He also noted that the local white people listened oped among blacks. It contains some of the loose, to these songs. The singers would often mix their shifting, emotional qualities of the blues but is blues with other types of folk songs or with popu- sung from a third-person point of view about vari- lar tunes, ragtime pieces, and occasional religious ous folk heroes of the lower-class black communi- tunes, depending on the season. Many blues singers ty. (Southern whites also sang and composed had a special repertoire of popular and hillbilly blues during this period and contributed songs for white audiences. much to the development of the form.) Most of Blues are sung from a first-person point of view, the characters in these songs were underworld but this does not necessarily mean that they are figures, like Stacker Lee the gambler, Railroad Bill autobiographical. Most of the early folk blues used the train robber, and Frankie and Albert (or traditional lyrics drawn from a storehouse of verses Johnnie), a prostitute and pimp. Many of these that the singers could mix freely in performance or ballads employed a stanza form consisting of a construct into more permanent compositions that couplet plus a one-line refrain. They were fre- they would retain in their repertoires. Sometimes quently accompanied by musical instruments in a they would put their own feelings and experiences harmonic pattern of the tonic chord (I) for the into their songs, but their main criterion was that first line, the subdominant chord (IV) for the first the blues "tell the truth" in a manner recognizable part of the second line, and the dominant chord

2 (V) for the first part of the third line. continued to flourish in the ghettos, mainly among Blues singers borrowed this verse and accompa- people with strong and recent ties to the South. niment pattern and fit the vocal approach of the Hastened by the hit and star system of the record field holler into it.Their favorite instruments were industry, a series of new performance styles grew the guitar, piano, and harmonica, which tended to up, containing elements that reminded the listener replace the banjo and of older folk-music tra- of the South but also reflecting the increasing ditions.The tempo of the blues ballad was slowed sophistication and complexity of city life. Styles as couple dances replaced set dances, and longer emanating from the cities had an influence on breaks were introduced at the ends of the vocal southern rural blues singers through records and lines for responsorial instrumental phrases. The through the recording artists' personal appear- result was the standard twelve-measure AAB blues ances, while at the same time the urban blues stanza, consisting of a vocal line repeated once and scene was nourished by a steady stream of new a different rhyming or assonant third line, with an performers arriving from "down home." instrumental response at the end of each line.The The blues on this album, all from commercial following is a typical blues stanza with the mea- recordings, illustrate the major styles in which sures numbered and the harmonies of the accom- blues were performed from the turn of the centu- paniment indicated in parentheses. ry to the outbreak of World War Il. Side One con- tains styles already in existence at the advent of re- I'm going away to wear you off my mind... (Response) cording, including examples of early white folk- /1 (I) /2 (I) /3 (1) /4 (I) and popular-blues styles. Side Two presents styles I'm going away to wear you off my mind... (Response) /5 (IV) /6 (IV) /7 (1) /8 (I) that developed or came into prominence largely You keep me worried and bothered all the time... (Response) after or as a result of commercial recording. /9 (V) /10 (V, IV, or I) /11 (I) /12 (I) Examples of the kinds of folk songs that influ- enced the blues are found in Roots of the Blues By no means do all blues conform to this pattern. (New World Records 80252-2), while develop- There are many two-line and four-line blues, and ments after World War II are illustrated in the three-line blues themselves often exhibit varia- Straighten Up and Fly Right: , tions on this basic form. Many self-accompanied from the Close of the Swing Era to the Dawn of folk-blues singers, perhaps still under the influence Rock ’n’ Roll (NW 261). of the looser field holler, extend their lines by repeating instrumental phrases in the response DAVID EVANS is associate professor of anthropology at part, while others shorten the response and rush California State University, Fullerton, and the record-review the vocal lines. Another common variation, which editor for the Journal of American Folklore. He is the author of Tommy Johnson (London: Studio Vista, 1971), a study of a developed as the blues became popularized, is to folk-blues singer; is currently preparing a book, Big Road crowd a rhymed couplet into the first line of the Blues: Tradition and Creativity in the Folk Blues, for publica- pattern illustrated above, eliminating the instru- tion by the University of California Press; has written mental response; the second and third lines then numerous articles and reviews for folklore journals and blues magazines; and is the producer of ten albums of his become another rhymed couplet, which serves as a field recordings of black . refrain repeated in every stanza. These and other variations on the form are illustrated in the songs on this album. Blues did not long remain purely a folk music. Early in this century professional traveling enter- tainers in the South, many of them women, began to incorporate blues into their stage acts. In 1912 the first blues sheet music appeared, and very shortly the blues moved into the mainstream of white popular music as well as southern white folk music. In 1920 the first blues record by a black vocalist appeared, initiating a flood of thousands of commercial recordings that continues today.These popularizing trends took place in a historical con- text of increasing migration of rural southern blacks to the northern urban centers. Blues have

3 T HE RECORDINGS Side One "earth bow" played in many I'm gon' climb up on your top African societies.The washboard limb. Band 1 is an American adaptation of the I'm gon' get my stepladder, I'm scraping percussion instruments gon' climb up on your top Peach Tree Blues found in Africa, and even the har- limb. (Yank Rachell) monica is played in a style that If I get a bunch of your yellow seems to recapture the tone of peaches, you know it's gon' be Yank Rachell, vocal and guitar; African reed instruments from too bad, Jim, Sonny Boy Williamson, harmoni- the savanna region. The shift (Spoken) Yes, yes, yes. ca; Alfred Elkins, washtub bass; between duple and triple , washboard. rhythms that occurs throughout Every time I start to climb your Recorded December 11, 1941, this piece also recalls the tree, babe, I wonder what make in . Originally issued on polyrhythmic basis of much you smile. (Repeat) Bluebird B-9033. African music. All these Old You want me to climb up your World characteristics have been tree ever since you was a child. Much of the apparent freedom incorporated here into the dis- in blues singing is attributable to tinctly American blues song Band 2 the origin of the blues vocal in form. the field holler. "Peach Tree James "Yank" Rachell was horn Brownskin Woman Blues" is sung in a hollering style in 1908 and raised on his father's that features descending melis- farm near Brownsville, Pillie Bolling, vocal and guitar. matic phrases and variants of a Tennessee. He learned to play Recorded April 20, 1930, in single melodic line repeated mandolin, guitar, harmonica, and Atlanta. Originally issued on throughout the song in a litany fiddle as a boy, and as he grew Columbia 14654-D. style. The song's theme is rural, up he teamed with local musi- with lyrics such as a farm worker cians like guitarist Sleepy John Pillie Bolling is one of the many might compose. The imagery at Estes and harmonica player John self-accompanied folk-blues one level describes a work situa- Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson. All singers who played in the south- tion but at a deeper level sug- three made a number of popular ern small towns and rural com- gests lovemaking. blues records in the thirties and munities in the first few decades The style of the holler is espe- forties. "Peach Tree Blues" was of the twentieth century. The cially close to the vocalizing one of the more popular of over success of Blind Lemon style of the savanna region of thirty songs Rachell had record- Jefferson, a guitar-playing blues West Africa to the north of the ed by the beginning of World singer from who was first coastal rain forest. Many slaves War II. Its thematically coherent recorded in 1926, led the phono- were taken from this area to the and developed text makes it a graph companies to record New World, and they have left more deliberate composition dozens of these performers in their imprint on various forms of than most field hollers, but it still the next few years. A few, like Afro-American music. West preserves the basic musical Jefferson, , and African characteristics also figure approach of the older form. Hicks, recorded in Yank Rachell's guitar playing. Rachell has lived in extensively, but most had only with its insistent repeated phras- since 1955. He continued to play one or two brief sessions and es at the ends of vocal lines and with Estes (now deceased) and then returned to play a local cir- its neutral third or "" in recent years has appeared at cuit or fade into obscurity. They actually built into the tuning. several concerts and recorded a played mostly for house parties The bass is made by inverting a number of albums. and at juke joints in the towns or washtub or large can and attach- out in the country. Some played ing a string to its bottom center. Don't them peaches look mellow on the streets or traveled season- A stick is propped against the hanging way up in your tree? ally with minstrel shows and bottom rim and attached to the (Repeat) medicine shows. Bolling, one of other end of the string.The play- I like your peaches so well, they the more obscure players, er plucks the string, varying its have taken effect on me. recorded only four blues. tautness to change the pitch.This Nineteen-thirty was an inauspi- instrument is derived from the I'm gon' get my stepladder, babe, cious time to begin a recording 4 career, as the Depression had cut Too old to marry, too young to of white performers imitating record sales drastically and many settle down. (Repeat) and adapting black music. Black of the companies would soon go Lord, I done quit work, babe; I and southern white string bands out of business. Evidently Bolling b’lieve I'll ramble 'round. incorporated the guitar and man- performed locally around dolin around the beginning of Greenville, , as on two Lord, these my blues; I love to the twentieth century, and of his other recordings he was sing my song. among blacks the banjo gradual- accompanied by Lord, these my blues; swear I ly dropped out of most string ("Barefoot Bill"), another guitarist love to sing my song. bands. Many of these groups also from there. Bell became a I got a brownskin woman, Lord, had a bass fiddle or a home-made preacher and died some years and she won't come home. one-string bass (Side One, Band ago, but Bolling was recently (Spoken) Lord, babe, I'm worried 1; Side Two, Band 7). By the thir- reported still living in Mobile. now; sure won't be worried ties the harmonica began replac- Except for one stanza, long. ing the fiddle in black groups. “Brownskin Woman" is in the The white string-band tradition, standard AAB form. The musical Lord, it's some folks say the wor- with fiddle and banjo, continues lines, however, are lengthened by ried blues ain't bad. today, but among southern stretching out the guitar phrases Lord, it's some people say that blacks this style declined by the that respond to the singing. This the worried blues ain't bad. forties. tendency is characteristic of folk (Repeat) "Violin Blues" illustrates a fully blues. Like Bolling, many per- Lord, the worst old feeling that a developed string-band style of formers were content to only man most ever had. blues, with Nap Hayes's violin approximate the twelve-bar stan- reproducing many of the inflec- za pattern, and the looseness of Have you ever lied down with tions of the human voice as well their approach gives their songs your good gal on your mind? as providing some fine double- a spontaneous quality often lack- (Repeat) stopping. The musicians here ing in more commercialized I got a brownskin woman, keeps play in a regularized twelve-bar recordings. Bolling sings tradi- me bothered all the time. pattern without any sponta- tional blues verses, most of them neous extensions such as were used by countless other singers Hear the freight train hollering, found in Pillie Bolling's blues in various combinations with coming 'round the bend. (Side One, Band 2). String bands other traditional lines and stan- (Repeat) tend to keep to these formal pat- zas. In the typical manner of folk You ain't had no loving since the terns in order to coordinate their blues he builds up a set of con- God knows when. playing, and improvisation trasts in the words of the song, in occurred only within the piece's this case between his having set framework. Such groups "the finest woman" and her Band 3 probably played an important unwillingness to come home, role in standardizing the blues and between his love for her and Violin Blues form. his desire to "ramble ’round." The Johnson Boys: T. C. Johnson, With a somewhat shifting per- These thoughts are interspersed guitar; Nap Hayes, vocal and vio- sonnel, groups led by T. C. with lines about the blues them- lin; Matthew Prater, mandolin. Johnson recorded thirteen selves. Recorded February 15, 1928, in pieces in Memphis in 1928. Memphis. Originally issued on Scattered references and recol- I got a brownskin woman, she's Okeh 8708. lections indicate that this group all right with me. (Repeat) was known in Memphis and Got the finest woman that a man The violin and string-band tra- Vicksburg. Possibly they were most ever seen. ditions in black folk music go one of the many bands that back to the nineteenth century. played in the towns along the Lord, I can't stay here, and my The fiddle and banjo were the Mississippi, on the riverboats, lover gone. (Repeat) usual nucleus of the nineteenth- and in the lowland farms coun- Sometimes I wonder; my brown- century string band, a combina- try of the . skin, she won't come home. tion popularized through the Groups like this often played in minstrel stage tradition cities, and in Memphis and 5 Louisville in particular they often century many of these groups the matter now now now, now used a jug for a bass instrument, sang both religious and secular now now calling themselves jug bands material, calling themselves alter- Told me late last night I don't rather than simply string bands. nately jubilee or jazz quartets. need no mama nohow-how, Sometimes they would play for The present group used both how-how. large black picnics or for parties appellations on its five issued given by local whites. These records. The singers truly sound And I went and stood upon bands were made up of more like a vocal version of a small some high old lonesome hill. technically accomplished musi- jazz band of the twenties, with (Repeat) cians with a large and varied interlocking parts and a variety And I looked down, mama, repertoire and usually got higher of tonal colors. The lead role is where I used to live. pay than single blues artists. shared among the singers rather "Violin Blues" is essentially a than performed by a single Tell me, Lord, what is the matter slow dance tune without a voice. now now now, now now now lengthy vocal part. In the last line Little research has been done now? of each stanza the musicians on the early quartets—their Lord, what is the matter now illustrate their versatility by play- members, their history, the now now, now now now? ing a ragtime chord progression. places where they performed. Told me late last night I don't The present group probably need no mama nohow-how, Oh, my baby don't treat me good identified themselves as from how-how. no more. (Repeat) Norfolk because of the earlier When I was sick and down, she success on records of the Said I'd rather be a catfish, swim- drove me from her door. Norfolk Jubilee/Jazz Quartet. In ming in that deep blue, 'hind a fact, the other group recorded a submarine, boys, under a float- I just found out why my baby version of this song earlier in ing boat, treats me so unkind. (Repeat) 1929. The verses are all tradi- Said I'd rather be a catfish, swim- When she go to bed every night, tional, but they probably were ming in that deep blue sea, da she tells everything what's on drawn for this composition from da, dee dee dee, her mind. a number of recently popular Than to stay around here treated (Spoken) Violin, sing the blues blues records.The recurring cho- like they want to do poor me, for me. rus is found in Blind Lemon dee dee, dee dee dee. Jefferson's 1927 record of "Black (Spoken) Pick it low, boys, pick Snake Moan," while other stan- Singing, Lord, what is the matter it low. zas were heard in Victoria now now now, now now now Spivey's 1926 "Black Snake now? Band 4 Blues" and 's 1927 Lord, what is the matter now "Back Water Blues." now now, now now now? What's the Matter Now? She told me late last night I don't Monarch Jazz Quartet of Norfolk: Eating and drinking all night need no mama nohow-how, unaccompanied vocal quartet, long down at jubilee dance. how-how. personnel unknown. Recorded October 16, 1929, in Richmond, Oh, what is the matter now now Do you see that spider crawling Virginia. Originally issued on now, now, boys, now, now now 'side the wall-wall, wall-wall? Okeh 8736. now? (Repeat) Singing, oh, what is the matter He's crawling up there to get his Like the string band, the vocal now now now, now now now? ashes hauled-hauled, hauled- quartet used the blues and Told me late last night I don't hauled. helped to regularize it. Harmony need no mama nohow-how, singing by vocal groups became how-how. Singing, Lord, what is the matter very popular in the eighteen- now now now, now now now nineties, when the blues were Tell me, Lord, what is the matter now? being created, and such groups now now now, now now now Lord, what is the matter now remain a feature of black music now? now now, now now now? today. In the early decades of this Lord, hear me singing, what is Told me late last night I don't 6 need no mama nohow-how, by this musical influence. In the forties and fifties blues how-how. The Buck Mountain Band, with formed an important part of the its somewhat varying personnel, honky-tonk and styles. Now my gal done quit me, and was from the mountain town of (NW 287, : South she talks all over town town, Galax, Virginia, in one of the and West, contains two perfor- town, pretty mama. heartlands of Anglo-American mances by Jimmie Rodgers as And my gal done quit me, the folk-music tradition. Many fine well as examples of western talk's all over town town, town performers emerged from this swing and honky-tonk.) town town. area, and for many years the She'll run and tell everybody that town has actively promoted tra- Rather be on the mountain sit- she done turned me down ditional music through an annual ting on a log down, down. old-fiddlers' convention. Than to be in Galax treated like In 1915 W. C. Handy had copy- a dog. Singing, Lord, what is the matter righted a version of this song (as Tell me how long have I got to now now now, now now now "The Hesitating Blues"), which wait? now? led to its great popularity, but it Can I get you now? Must I hesi- Lord, Lord, what is the matter was already a traditional piece tate? now now now, now now now? before Handy arranged it. The (Yodel) She told me late last night I don't present singer has localized the I've got a girl; she got a sister need no mama nohow-how, piece to Galax and added new too. how-how, how-how, how-how. lyrics that make the singer If I don't get her, I know what I'll appear to want all the women in do. his girlfriend's family. The chord Tell me. Band 5 changes in the accompaniment are unusual for a blues though If I don't get her, don't want any Yodeling Blues not inappropriate for this song. at all. Buck Mountain Band: probably They probably indicate that the Not after the girl but the mother- Earl Edwards, vocal and guitar; blues were not a familiar form to in-law. Van Edwards, fiddle; Wade Ward, this mountain band. In fact, blues Tell me. banjo. Recorded October 16, were only a small part of the 1929, in Richmond, Virginia. group's repertoire, which ranged These rocks in the mountain just Originally issued on Okeh over dance tunes, ballads, senti- as big as the sea. 45428, Clarion 5292-C, and mental songs, lyric folk songs, That Galax girl made a fool out Velvet Tone 2358-V. and religious pieces. of me. The yodeling refrain was intro- And tell me.... Although this piece was record- duced into the blues in 1927 by ed at the same session as the pre- Jimmie Rodgers, a white singer Went down to the river to jump ceeding, no two blues could be from Mississippi, who recorded a in and drown. more different. "Yodeling Blues" number of very popular "blue Seen my woman smile, and I illustrates the complete absorp- yodels." The yodel itself is from couldn't go down. tion of the blues form into the German/Swiss tradition by way Tell me. southern Anglo-American folk- of the American popular stage or © Copyright 1923 MCA Music,A Division of music tradition. Southern whites early popular recordings, but its MCA Inc., New York. NY. Copyright renewed. Used By Permission. All Rights Reserved. undoubtedly heard blacks sing use in the blues may have been the blues almost from the very suggested by the falsetto singing beginning, and whites them- and whooping sometimes heard Band 6 selves were singing and compos- in black folk blues and field ing them several years before hollers. Blues enjoyed continued Doggone My Good-Luck World War I. Black railroad work- popularity in southern white Soul ers and itinerant bands carried music in the thirties through the blues up into the Hattie Hudson, vocal; Willie recordings by a host of blues Tyson, piano. Recorded Appalachians, where there was yodelers in the Rodgers style and only a tiny resident black popula- December 6, 1927, in . through jazz-influenced perfor- Originally issued on Columbia tion, so even the mountain mances by western-swing bands. whites did not remain untouched 14279-D. 7 lyrics are largely traditional and Doggone my good-luck soul! Most of the early stage singers of were probably arranged by Hey, two more in my way. blues were women. Very few of Hudson herself. And if this good luck don't leave them played an instrument, but me, I'll love myself away. instead they were usually accom- (Spoken) Oh, play that thing, panied by a pianist or a small Miss Jefferson. Band 7 jazz band. Often their songs The time ain't long now. were composed by , Let's Get Loose and the singers usually included I've got a gold horseshoe, going (Gray) a great amount of nonblues to put it on my door. material in their repertoires. Doggone my good-luck soul! Clara Smith, vocal; Ed Allen, cor- They sang in vaudeville theaters, Hey, put it on my door. net; unknown clarinet and piano. in cabarets, saloons, and tent Bad luck has gone from here, it Recorded December 31, 1929, shows, and at private parties. can't come back no more. in New York. Originally issued During the twenties a number on Columbia 14497-D. achieved great fame as recording Oh, Lord, I just got lucky, I artists. Nothing is known about believe I'll bet and win. Most of the great jazz musicians Hattie Hudson, and she recorded Doggone my good-luck soul! of the twenties recorded some of only two songs, but she is repre- Hey, believe I'll bet and win. their finest work as accompa- sentative of the wealth of talent The man I've got right now, took nists, and many jazz bands made that could be heard during this him from my best friend. frequent appearances with period. Probably she sang locally women vocalists. In 1920 the in the Dallas area, and she never Oh, mama, I can't be good; Lord, I first blues recordings by a black achieved the fame of her con- believe I'll just quit trying. singer, Mamie Smith, were temporaries based in the north- Doggone my good-luck soul! accompanied by a band, and the ern cities and recording centers. Hey, believe I'll just quit trying. style remained popular through Willie Tyson is equally unknown. I don't live in the country, on the decade. The best perfor- He contributed a number of fine paved streets all the time. mances have come to be known accompaniments to several blues as "classic blues" among critics singers and recorded two piano Been with my same little sugar and record collectors. solos that were never issued. just ten long years today. Little is known about Clara Most pianists who accompanied Doggone my good-luck soul! Smith, although she was an women blues singers were con- Hey, ten long years today. immensely popular recording tent to play unimaginative lines And if he should quit loving me, artist whose career lasted from at a slow tempo, letting the I'll throw myself away. 1923 to 1932. She has been singer take the spotlight. Tyson's reported as having been born in playing on this piece is unusual Oh, poor little rabbit, you can 1885 or 1895 in Spartanburg, for its liveliness and general hop all in my yard. South Carolina. By 1918 she was excellence. Doggone my good-luck soul! a star on the black theater cir- "Doggone My Good-Luck Soul" Hey, hop all in my yard. cuit. During her recording career is an answer to "Bad Luck Blues," I ain't going to take your feet nor she was billed as "the world's recorded in October, 1926, by fill your head with stars. champion moaner," and she was . His piece a rival of such other great singers uses a similar melody, with the Oh, where's the mean for- as Bessie Smith, Mamie Smith, refrain "Doggone my bad-luck tuneteller and the black cat Trixie Smith (none of them relat- soul." From her spoken introduc- that failed? ed), Ma Rainey, Ida Cox, Alberta tion it would appear that Hattie Doggone my good-luck soul! Hunter, Bertha "Chippie" Hill, Hudson was trying to give the Hey, the black cat that failed. , and Lucille impression that she was the Come around to see me in the Hegamin. Clara Smith died in pianist and that she was related morning, I'm carrying keys to Detroit in 1935 while living in to Jefferson. Her attempt was the jail. retirement. Carl Van Vechten foiled by Columbia, which print- described her performance style ed Willie Tyson's name as the I got three good men, but it's in a March, 1926, article in pianist on the . The two more in my way. Vanity Fair: 8 pussycat, tainment, like Morton Harvey, Al Her voice flutters agonizingly What the tomcat done was tight Bernard, Marie Cahill, Marion between tones. Music critics like that. Harris, Dolly Kay, and Sophie would say that she sings off the Don't you tell me that my man Tucker, recorded blues, usually key. What she really does, of ain't tight. accompanied by bands playing course, is to sing quarter tones. If he ain't, a snake ain't got no watered-down jazz. Even so, this Thus she is justifiably billed as the bite. music was often considered radi- "World's greatest moaner."....As she comes upon the stage through Oh, let's get loose; honey, let's get cal, and the blues were an impor- folds of electric blue hangings at loose. tant influence on popular cul- the back, she is wrapped in a Come along with me,... ture in the twenties. black evening cloak bordered with "Nigger Blues" was composed white fur. She does not advance, Never walk without my walking in Dallas in 1912 by Leroy but hesitates, turning her face in cane. "Lasses" White, a blackface min- profile. The pianist is playing the Want to ride, ’tain't gon' be no strel entertainer, and published characteristic strain of the Blues. train. the following year. It was proba- Clara begins to sing. . . . Her tones Met a redheaded bowlegged man bly the first twelve-bar blues to become poignantly pathetic; tears today; be published. Its tune and lyrics roll down her cheeks. . . . Her voice dies away in a mournful wail of Bound to get his goat when I get are traditional, and White's role pain and she buries her head in my pay. was probably simply that of the curtains.... Clara Smith's tones Let's get loose; oh, let's get loose. arranger. The tune is full of syn- uncannily take on the colour of Come along with me, ... copation, though George the saxophone; again of the clar- O'Connor's delivery is a bit stiff inet. Her voice is powerful or If I get too weak, understand, at times, indicating perhaps melancholy, by turn. It tears the I can get fixed up with a monkey some unfamiliarity with this new blood from one's heart. gland. type of music. The vocal and At the Tinware Ball they all's on instrumental lines contain both "Let's Get Loose" is hardly a hand. the major and minor third rather melancholy song, but it does dis- Mister Mule walked in and than attempting neutral thirds play Smith's great vocal expres- showed his can ("blue notes"). This remained a siveness while illustrating the And hollered, "Let's get loose; oh, characteristic of popular white lighter side of the blues. Like let's get loose. handling of the blues during this almost all her hundred and ten Come along with me, period.The accompanying group issued recordings, it was com- We will make whoopee, on this record was a typical stu- posed by someone else, in this And let's get loose." dio band, and the simulated train case a named Gray. noises were a common novelty The lyrics, which are simply an effect on records. "Nigger Blues" invitation to have a good time, Band 8 entered the southern black and contain many phrases from the white folk repertoire and was slang of the Roaring Twenties. Nigger Blues recorded under a variety of (Leroy "Lasses" White) titles. Got a feeling that I can't define, George H. O'Connor (1874- Like a snake was crawling up my George O'Connor, vocal; un- 1946) was a prominent Wash- spine. known trumpets, trombone, ington lawyer and businessman Had my drink of gin, so now I tuba, and clarinet, with simulated who had a second career as an feel train noises. Recorded July 18, entertainer. He specialized in I can do more wiggling than an 1916, in New York. Originally dialect material, particularly eel. issued on Columbia A-2064. Negro character songs. In fact, Honey, let's get loose; oh, let's get the blues that he and other loose. Blues sheet music was first white singers recorded were Come along with me, published in 1912, and by 1914 probably perceived by the popu- We will make whoopee. white singers began making lar audience not as a separate Honey, let's get loose. commercial blues recordings. musical form but simply as part Through the twenties some of of the long-standing tradition of When the bulldog chased the the biggest names in stage enter- minstrel pieces, coon songs, and 9 vocal ragtime. Ethnic character often recorded. Here it is given a types, including the Anglo- I'm gwine to lay my head, I'm blues arrangement. The cornet American rube, were common gwine to lay my head down on player provides some of the subjects of popular songs and some railroad line. finest solo work ever recorded stage entertainment for most of I'm gwine to lay my head down on that instrument, and one the nineteenth century and on some railroad line. would very much like to know through the nineteen-twenties. Let the Santa Fe try to pacify my his identity. He uses a mute on O'Connor recorded many such mind. his horn after the third stanza. pieces between 1914 and 1918. He entertained at banquets and Side Two When I was a lad, dad had a parties in the Washington area Band 1 mule. up to the time of his death and He was so devilish, I couldn't was a favorite of nine presidents, Dad's Ole Mule ride to school. from McKinley to Truman. (Charles and Effie Tyus) He acted just like he didn't have no sense. Oh, the blues ain't nothing, oh, Tyus and Tyus (Charles and Effie Put a saddle on his back, he the blues ain't nothing but a Tyus), vocals; unknown cornet jumped a ten-foot fence. good man feeling bad. and piano. Recorded August 31, Oh, dad's old mule. (You couldn't Oh, the blues ain't nothing but a 1931, in New York. Originally put the saddle on.) good man feeling bad. issued on Columbia 14638-D. Dad's old mule. (You couldn't Oh, that's a feeling that I've often put the saddle on.) had. The man-woman duet was popu- He wouldn't let you put it on; lar on stage and in recordings in you couldn't put the saddle on You can call the blues, you can both white and black music in Dad's old mule, dad's old mule. call the blues any old thing you the early decades of the century. please. These teams usually played out Dad's old mule, name was Pete. You can call the blues any old some version of the battle of the He had long ears and great big thing you please. sexes or performed other novel- feet. But the blues ain't nothing but ty pieces, often combining their He'd creep around like he's the doggone heart disease. singing with dancing and come- almost dead; dy routines. Most of their songs Put a saddle on his back, he'd When a man gets blue, when a were ragtime vocals, which pre- kick a knot on your head. man gets blue, he takes a train ceded the blues in mass popular- When I was young way down and rides. ity, but these acts incorporated south, When a man gets blue, he takes a some blues by the twenties or I saw dad's mule kick his pipe train and rides. perhaps even earlier. Butterbeans out 'f his mouth. When a woman gets blue, she and Susie, Grant and Wilson, and I got in his way while I was out hangs her little head and cries. George Williams and Bessie at play; Brown were among the more He kicked me so hard, I thought Oh, yonder comes, oh, yonder popular black duets, performing 'twas judgment day. comes the train coming down in theaters and tent shows as Oh, dad's old mule... the track. well as having successful record- Oh, yonder comes the train com- ing careers. Dad's mule was so poor, he was ing down the track Nothing is known about thin as a rail; To take me away, but it ain't Charles and Effie Tyus, though The biggest thing about him was gwine to bring me back. they must have been fairly popu- his head and tail. lar, as they recorded twelve If you'd put a saddle on that old Oh, when I die, oh, when I die, issued pieces from 1924 to 1931. hound, honey, honey, don't you wear "Dad's Ole Mule" belongs to a He'd haul off and kick his stable no black. class of folk songs about this down. Oh, when I die, honey, don't you obstinate creature, which was so He was so old, he didn't have a wear no black, important to the southern tooth. 'Cause if you do, my ghost will farmer. It is the kind of novelty That old mule was too uncouth. come sneaking back. piece that the man-woman teams He kicked dad so hard, he turned 10 black and blue. Tom recorded a blues called "It's Everybody wants it when it's Just the wind from his foot give Tight Like That," which became good and clean. dad the flu. immensely popular and opened Oh, dad's old mule.... a flood of recordings of "" blues songs that lasted well into My gal's got a room, and it sure is Whenever dad wanted to have the thirties. These pieces usually nice. fun, featured humorous and sexually I've been around there more He tried to ride that old son of a suggestive lyrics about "it" or than twice, gun. "that stuff" and were set to a live- 'Cause she keeps it clean, yeah, That old mule would kick up so ly beat provided by a combina- she keeps it much dirt, tion such as two or guitar clean. All you could see was dad's old and piano. Most of the songs had Everybody wants it when it's red shirt. refrains, often sung in two or good and clean. Dad's old mule was awful mean, three-part harmony. Hokum The meanest old mule I ever blues were essentially party seen. music for dancing and good Paint and powder may be all He kicked dad so high one after- times. In social terms they could right, noon, he viewed as an escape from the But take your bath on Saturday I thought dad was the man in troubles that many blacks experi- night. the moon. enced during the Depression. You got to keep it clean. Hot Oh, dad's old mule.... The brothers Rufus and Ben mama, won't you keep it clean? Quillian, along with James Everybody wants it when it's Dad loved his mule, hair and McCrary, were from Gainesville, good and clean. hide. Georgia, but they moved to He kept him forty years until he Atlanta in the twenties. Rufus died. Quillian (1900-1946) was a Old Aunt Susie is old and tough, He lived so long till his head got pianist (he learned to play But still she keeps on selling that bald. through a correspondence stuff, I thought that old devil wouldn't course), a songwriter, and the Because she keeps it clean, oh, die at all. leader of a vocal group called the yeah, she keeps it clean. When dad's mule laid down and Blue Harmony Boys, which Everybody wants it when it's died, included Ben Quillian and James good and clean. He made a pair of boots out of McCrary. The group performed his old hide. at dances and parties and had a She's got good trade, but it's all But his old hide was so hard and radio show for a time. Rufus worn out, tough, moved to California in 1939 and And I'm a-gonna tell you what Dad couldn't wear his boots continued his musical career it's all about. when he strut his stuff. there. He composed many You know, she keeps it clean, Oh, dad's old mule.... hokum blues as well as ragtime yeah, she keeps it clean. pieces and even gospel songs. Everybody wants it when it's Hee, haw, hee, haw, dad's old McCrary died not long after good and clean. mule. Rufus. Ben Quillian, born in 1907, moved to St. Louis in 1933 We all get dirty now and then, Band 2 and was recently reported still But just to stay dirty is a doggone living there. He joined the sin. Keep It Clean church long ago and sings only Oh, won't you keep it clean, hot Rufus and Ben Quillian: Rufus religious songs now. mama, won't you keep it clean? Quillian, vocal and piano; Ben Everybody wants it when it's Quillian, vocal; James McCrary, Listen here, folks, what I've got good and clean. vocal and guitar. Recorded April to tell. 23, 1930, in Atlanta. Originally You know good and doggone I got a little gal that's just all issued on Columbia 14560-D. well, right. You got to keep it clean, yes, I don't mind seeing her every In 1928 and Georgia keep it clean. night, 11 Because she keeps it clean, yeah, turns of phrase and sung in a sin- died in a shooting scrape in 1962 she keeps it clean. cere, wistful manner; the piano when he was perhaps on the Everybody wants it when it's was usually played in a gently verge of a successful second good and clean. rolling and harmonic style cross- musical career in the folk-revival cut by biting guitar lines. The circuit. Old Uncle Henry was a natural- style was first popularized by born fool. and Scrapper Black- I been sitting here blue all night, He never spent a doggone day in well, who recorded over a hun- baby, and I'm dissatisfied. school. dred blues from 1928 to 1935. I been sitting here blue all night, But he keeps it clean, oh, yes, he They had many imitators and and I'm dissatisfied. keeps it clean. admirers, among the most suc- I sometimes feel like catching Everybody wants it when it's cessful of whom were Bumble me, catching me a train and tak- good and clean. Bee Slim (Amos Easten) and Bill ing a ride. Gaither (who recorded as When my gal works, she don't "Leroy's Buddy"). Seems like bad luck is on me, fol- raise no steam. Carr was born in Nashville in lows me everywhere I go. She's sweeter than peaches with 1905 but moved to Indianapolis (Repeat) lots of cream. as a child. As a young man he Think I'll leave this bad luck Oh, yeah, she keeps it clean, oh, learned to play the piano, ran off town. I don't care where I go. she keeps it clean. with a circus, served in the army Everybody wants it when it's in Arizona, married and had a I can't make no money. My good and clean. daughter, did a stretch in prison woman she just won't act right. for bootlegging, worked as a I can't make no money. My You can have my silver, you can laborer, and made music among woman just won't act right. have my gold, the fast-life crowd at parties and Every time I see her, she wants But listen here, mama, while I get speakeasies in Indianapolis. His to do nothing but fuss and you told. first record, "How Long—How fight. You got to keep it clean, hot Long Blues," propelled him and mama, got to keep it clean. Blackwell to instant national I just feel dissatisfied, baby, now Everybody wants it when it's fame, and a string of hits fol- sometimes don't know what to good and clean. lowed, many of them distin- do. guished for their fine poetry and I just feel dissatisfied, baby. Band 3 interesting melodies. Carr's suc- Sometimes I don't know what cess only served to exacerbate to do. Blue Night Blues his personal problems. and he Have you ever had that same (Leroy Carr) died at the age of thirty from feeling, babe, to come over nephritis, the result of excessive you? Leroy Carr, vocal and piano; drinking. Well, I ain't going to worry, ain't Francis "Scrapper" Blackwell, gui- Blackwell was born in gonna sit and sigh. tar. Recorded August 14, 1934, Syracuse, North Carolina, in 1903 Well, I ain't gonna worry, ain't in New York. Originally issued of partly Cherokee ancestry and, gonna sit and sigh. on Vocalion 03233. like Carr, also moved to India- That's all I've got to say, old napolis as a child. He learned to friends. Fare you well, good- While hokum blues represent- play guitar from local musicians bye. ed a form of escape from the but developed a tone and phras- Depression, there was another ing all his own. He was also an Band 4 style that more closely reflected accomplished pianist and singer. the melancholy mood of that Following Carr's death Blackwell House Lady Blues period. This was the slow blues restricted his musical career to , vocal and piano. with guitar-and-piano accompa- occasional local appearances at Recorded July 19, 1933, in New niment, typically on a theme of parties and taverns. In the late York. Originally issued on lost love or hard times.The lyrics fifties he was rediscovered by Banner 32832, Melotone M- were usually original composi- Indianapolis blues enthusiasts 12762, Oriole 8257, Perfect tions containing many poetic and recorded a couple of LPs. He 0252, and Romeo 5257. 12 made under the pseudonym of Horace Malcolm, piano; John For most of the twenties the Alabama Sam, was his biggest hit Lindsay, string bass; Fred Flynn or dominant black piano styles and has become a blues stan- Pearlis Williams, drums. Recorded were ragtime and stride or else a dard. His "House Lady Blues," April 28, 1937, in Chicago. usually ponderous and unimagi- also a hit, nicely captures both Originally issued on Decca native style for accompanying the music and the mood of a 7351. blues vocalists. At the end of rent party. These were usually 1928 Clarence "Pine Top" Smith put on just before the rent was Most jazz histories convey the recorded a number of pieces, due by the lady of the house, impression that the classic New including the famous "Pine Top's who sold food and drinks and Orleans small jazz groups of the Boogie Woogie," and there soon sometimes charged a small twenties either disappeared or followed a host of recordings by admission price. She hired a were absorbed into big-band jazz other singer-pianists who played pianist and usually gave him all during the thirties, only to be in a strong two-fisted boogie- the refreshments he wanted, resuscitated by the "jazz revival" woogie or barrelhouse style.This although a few tried to be stingy, of the forties.Actually, traditional style was nurtured in the juke like the subject of Roland's song. jazz was kept quite alive and joints in southern lumber and This piece illustrates an impor- well during the thirties by a levee camps and at rent parties tant role of the blues singer as younger generation of musicians in the towns and cities of the someone who can shape opinion who performed in groups like South and North. Many of the in the community through praise the . But since players were itinerant and made or censure in his or her songs. these groups almost always fea- only a handful of recordings, but tured blues vocalists, particularly a few, like and Says, it's hey, house lady, seems like male singers, they fail to fit the (William you hard to hear. critics' and historians' stereotype Bunch), had successful recording Says, hey, house lady, seem like you of classic jazz and are also careers extending through the hard to hear. neglected by most blues fans and Well, if you is not got no whiskey, thirties or even later. Others, like researchers because they sound say, bring me just one bottle of and , your beer. too jazzy. The Hamfats did occu- combined elements of barrel- py a position between blues and house with the gentler approach Says, hey, house lady, please, ma'am, jazz, as they consisted essentially of Leroy Carr (Side Two, Band 3) don't get bad. (Repeat) of a Mississippi string band cen- and his followers and had equal- I just wants another little drink of tered around the brothers Joe ly successful careers. that stuff what I just now had. and Charlie McCoy and a New Little is known about Walter Orleans jazz section of four or Roland, although he recorded Says, hey, house lady, say, you sure do five pieces. In "I'm Cuttin' Out" over three dozen issued titles treat me mean. (Repeat) the jazz portion of the group is Say, you treats me just like that I is from 1933 to 1935 and was on dominant, with the McCoys' not no human being. many more records as an accom- presence restricted to a driving panist to and Bessie Says, I been sitting here playing, blues vocal by Joe. Groups like Jackson (). These mama, for the whole night long. this can be viewed as the fore- musicians were all from Says, hey, house lady, I been playing runners of the rhythm-and-blues Birmingham, and it is likely that for you the whole night long. combos that recorded in the for- Roland remained there or played And I says you is not even given me ties and fifties with such singers a local circuit rather than seek- just one drink of corn. as Eddie Vinson, , ing greater fame through travel- , and Roy ing. He was part of a tradition of Band 5 Milton. fine piano players from that city Joe McCoy was originally from that included Charles "Cow I'm Cuttin' Out Jackson, Mississippi, where he Cow" Davenport, Jabo Williams, (Wilber "Joe" McCoy and Herb played guitar in the twenties and Robert McCoy. Roland was Morand) with other blues singers and also an accomplished guitarist string bands along with his and played that instrument on Harlem Hamfats: Wilber "Joe" brother Charlie, who was an several of his recordings. "Red McCoy, vocal; , excellent guitar and mandolin Cross Blues," his first record, trumpet; Odell Rand, clarinet; player. Joe had a long recording

13 career in a variety of formats. In Now look here, gal. I know what it's town of Greenwood, about fifty 1929 he began recording with all about, miles to the north. He was a real his wife as Kansas Joe and And now I am cutting out. product of the Mississippi planta- , based in You don't know, you don't know tion system. When the white Memphis and later in Chicago. when you got enough, promoter Lester And I'm not going for that kind of They split up in 1934 after hav- Melrose went down to stuff. ing made many fine records Mississippi to get McClennan for together featuring their distinc- You wanted me and my buddy too. his first recording session, the tive two-guitar sound and good Listen here, woman, that will never owner of the plantation where vocals by both singers. For the do. McClennan was working ran next couple of years Joe record- You don't know, you know when Melrose off. In Big Bill Blues the ed as the "Mississippi Mudder" you got enough, more sophisticated blues singer and "Georgia Pine Boy." He even And I'm not going for that kind of (Side Two, Band got religion for a while and in stuff. 7) recalls that McClennan didn't 1935, as "Hallelujah Joe," record- fit well into the Chicago social You's a dirty mother for you, you ed some sermons with singing. environment and tells that works too fast. In 1936 he formed the Harlem Now get you another place to lay McClennan was driven from a Hamfats, and the group recorded your yas yas yas. party and his guitar smashed seventy-five issued sides through You don't know, don't know when because he sang the word "nig- 1939. McCoy was called you got enough, ger" in one of his songs. From "Hamfoot Ham" or "Hamfoot And I'm not going for that kind of 1939 to 1942 McClennan record- McCoy" on the labels.The group stuff. ed forty blues, many of them also accompanied many other hits. He sang in a rather frantic blues singers, such as Johnnie Band 6 style that was uncompromisingly Temple, , and "country" and played a crude but Frankie "Half Pint" Jaxon. The Deep Blue Sea Blues driving guitar. He faded into band was actually based in (Tommy McClennan) obscurity during World War Il, re- Chicago rather than Harlem and portedly became an alcoholic, performed blues mainly in the Tommy McClennan, vocal and and died in the early sixties. recording studio. According to guitar; unknown string bass. "Deep Blue Sea Blues" is a tradi- Johnnie Temple, who often per- Recorded September 15, 1941, tional Mississippi piece that was formed with the group, most of in Chicago. Originally issued on first recorded in March, 1941, by their live appearances were in Bluebird B-9005. . McClennan and taverns operated by Chicago Petway were partners for many gangsters, where they played The folk-blues tradition was years around Greenwood and mainly polkas and Italian music. kept alive in the thirties and had developed such similar musi- In the early forties McCoy early forties on records by such cal styles that many listeners recorded as "Big Joe" in groups popular singer-guitarists as Blind took them to be brothers. that featured him and Charlie Boy Fuller, , Petway's recording was called along with string bass and wash- , and Tommy "Catfish Blues," the title by board. Both McCoy brothers died McClennan. Many of these which the song is best known in 1951. "I'm Cuttin' Out" is typi- artists, including McClennan, today. Both versions were popu- cal of the many hard-hitting and played a steel-bodied National lar and influenced many postwar cynical blues recorded in the guitar with a built-in resonator, recordings of the piece by blues thirties that reflected the mood which gave their playing greater singers from Mississippi and else- of the Depression. volume than the old wood where. The song features a high- acoustic guitars. This instrument ly distinctive melody with a Went down in the bottom trying to was a forerunner of the electric remarkable range of two octaves. find my gal. guitar that would be heard in I found her loving my best pal. blues of the forties and later. (Spoken) I wants to make this one She don't know, she don't know Tommy McClennan was born right now. It's the best one I got. when she got enough, in Yazoo City, Mississippi, in 1908 And I'm not going for that kind of I'm gwine, babe, I'm gwine, and cry- stuff. and by the thirties was perform- ing blues there and around the ing won't make me stay. 'Cause the more you cry now now, 14 baby, further you drive me away, such artists as , baby. Ah, take me home with further you drive me away, I Howlin' Wolf, and . In you. mean, drive me away, further you fact, "Love Me, Baby" sounds as if Love me, love me, baby, just like you drive me away. it could easily have been record- used to do. ed ten years later, the only clue to I want you to love me over, baby; Now I wish that I was a bullfrog mama, love me over slow. its earlier date being Sonny Boy swimming in the deep blue sea. I want you to love me, baby, till I Lord, I would have all these good- Williamson’s use of unamplified won't want you to love no more. looking womens now now now harmonica.The type of ensemble fishing after me, fishing after, I heard here became popular in I want you to take me in your car, mean, after, sure 'nough, after me. the late thirties in southern juke baby, and ride me around all over joints and among recent migrants town. Now I went to my baby's house and to the northern cities from the Love me, love me, baby, till my love I sat down on her step. southern rural areas. Williamson, come down. She said, "Walk on in now now, who began recording in 1937, I want you to love me over, baby; Tommy. My husband just now represented the first generation mama, love me over slow. left, my husband just now, I But I want you to love me, baby, and to bring this style to the North, mean, just now, sure 'nough, just I won't want you to love no now left. Oh, Lord, just now left, while most of the other popular more. Lord, just now left." postwar Chicago bluesmen came north during or shortly after (Spoken) You got it, Big Bill.Take it Now ain't none of, none of my busi- World War II. and keep it. Listen now. ness, baby, but you know I know Sonny Boy Williamson was it ain't right. born in Jackson, Tennessee, in (Spoken) Yes! Honey, hush.Yes, you Stay with your kid man all day long 1921 and was only a teenager know. Honey, work on in now. and play sick on your husband at when he began to record. A night, on your husband at night, I speech impediment gave his I want you to roll me, roll me, baby, mean, your husband at night, like your grandfather used to roll singing a tongue-tied and hectic sure 'nough, your husband at his wagon wheel. night. Oh, Lord, your husband at, quality that proved quite popular Roll me, roll me, baby; you don't oh, Lord, your husband at, oh, and spawned many imitators. He know how good that makes me Lord, your husband at night. was a prolific composer of mem- feel. orable songs and had many hits Now I want you to roll me over, (Spoken) Long time now! that became blues standards in baby; babe, I want to let you roll postwar years. He recorded over me over slow. Now Lord, oh, Lord, baby, hear me a hundred blues in a career that I want you to roll me, baby; I won't blow the blues. lasted until 1948.Williamson was want no love no more. Darling, ain't got no bottom now probably the first widely influen- now now in my last pair of Well, I'm going way back down in tial blues harmonica player, and shoes, in my last pair, in my last Jackson, way back where I pair.... his style continues to be imitated belong. today. His complete mastery of Because of this wicked life I've been Band 7 the instrument—including a vari- living, John, God knows, I can't ety of special playing tech- last long. Love Me, Baby niques, such as fluttertonguing— 'Cause this woman don't love me. is demonstrated in this record- No, baby. She won't roll Sonny (John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson) ing, which was one of his hits. Boy over slow. Now she won't sit down and talk John Lee "Sonny Boy" (He can also be heard on Side One, Band 1.) Williamson was with me, and I won't want to Williamson, vocal and harmoni- even love no more. ca; Big Bill Broonzy guitar; Blind murdered in 1948 at the height of his popularity, apparently in a John Davis, piano; Alfred Elkins, Band 8 one-string bass. Recorded July robbery attempt, though the cir- 30, 1942, in Chicago. Originally cumstances remain cloudy. He My Buddy Blues issued on Bluebird 34-0713. was personally well liked in Chicago and the South and was (Eugene Gilmore) This piece displays the Chicago generous with his money as well as in helping other musicians. The Five Breezes: Gene Gilmore, blues sound popularized in the lead vocal; Leonard "Baby Doo" late forties and early fifties by I want you to hold me in your arms, 15 Caston, vocal and guitar; Joseph other Five Breezes records. (Spoken) Yes, yes, yes. Bell and Willie Hawthorne, Leonard "Baby Doo" Caston vocals; , one-string learned folk-blues guitar in the I have signed my name. It won't be bass. Recorded November 15, country outside Natchez. He set- long before I go. (Repeat) 1940, in Chicago. Originally tled in Chicago in the late thir- I woke up this morning, the mail- man had my numbers at my issued on Bluebird B-8614. ties and joined the Five Breezes. door. Performing at local taverns, the Black vocal groups continued group wore zoot-suit uniforms If you're twenty-one, buddy, I advise to be popular through the thir- for an audience of young jitter- you not to hide, (Repeat) ties. The most successful were bugs. As "My Buddy Blues" indi- Because when that wagon roll the Mills Brothers and the Ink cates, the prewar draft broke up 'round, I declare, you've got to Spots, which featured very the group. Caston formed a trio ride. smooth harmonizing and a reper- and learned a more sophisticated toire mostly of popular songs kind of music. His group played Uncle Sam is calling for you, and you and few blues.They were a vocal popular music overseas for the know you got to go. He's calling for all you jitterbugs like counterpart to the big-band jazz USO. In the late forties he and he never called before. popular during the period. The Willie Dixon from 'the old Five The charity's been taking care of Five Breezes performed in a Breezes formed the Big Three you for a very long long time, slightly rougher style with more Trio, which had several hit Now Uncle Sam is calling you, and of a blues emphasis, due mainly records in a popular and jazz you know what's on his mind. to the presence of instrumental- style. Caston continued in the Buddy, buddy, I advise you not to ists and Willie direction of popular music and hide, Dixon, from Natchez and Vicks- now plays in cock- Because when that wagon roll burg, Mississippi, respectively. tail lounges, having left the blues 'round, I declare, you've got to This group thus occupies a tran- far behind. Willie Dixon, on the ride. sitional place between the other hand, returned to the blues If you should happen to see a smoother early groups and the and became a session , smoke, mama, and it ain't no rhythm-and-blues groups of the songwriter, recording director, wind around, (Repeat) fifties. They also represent a and tour organizer in the Just tell all your friends that's the departure from the more egali- Chicago blues scene. He is one Five Breezes leaving town. tarian structure of vocal groups of the most active and versatile of the twenties (Side One, Band figures in the blues today. 4) to one containing clearly de- "My Buddy Blues" features an lineated lead and chorus roles. urbane vocal style coupled with Little is known of Gene a more down-home instrumental Gilmore, but one of his other accompaniment. The lyrics are songs suggests that he may also representative of a trend toward have been from Natchez. He topical themes that developed in played piano on some of the the thirties.

16 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY General Background Courlander, Harold. Negro Folk Music U.S.A. New York: Columbia University Press, 1963, Odum, Howard W., and Johnson, Guy B. The Negro and His Songs. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1925. Southern, Eileen. The Music of Black Americans:A History. New York: Norton, 1971. Stearns, Marshall. The Story of Jazz. New York: Oxford University Press, 1958.

Blues Magazines Blues Unlimited. 36 Belmont Park, Lewisham, London SE13 5DB, England. Living Blues. 2615 N.Wilton Ave., Chicago, IL 60614.

History, Discography, Analysis Bastin, Bruce. Crying for the Carolines. London: Studio Vista, 1971. Charters, Samuel. The Bluesmen. New York: Oak, 1967. ____. The . New York: Rinehart, 1959. ____. The Poetry of the Blues. New York: Oak, 1963. Dixon, Robert M.W., and Godrich, John. Recording the Blues. New York: Stein & Day, 1970. Garon, Paul. Blues and the Poetic Spirit. London: Eddison, 1975. Godrich, John, and Dixon, Robert M.W. Blues & Gospel Records 1902-1942. London: Storyville, 1969. Handy.W. C. (ed.). Blues:An Anthology. With a historical and critical text by Abbe Niles. Revised by Jerry Silverman. New York: Macmillan, 1972. Leadbitter, Mike (ed.). Nothing but the Blues. London: Hanover, 1971. Oakley, Giles. The Devil's Music:A History of the Blues. London: British Broadcasting Corporation, 1976. Oliver, Paul. Conversation with the Blues. New York: Horizon, 1965. ____. The Meaning of the Blues. New York: Collier, 1963. ____. Savannah Syncopators:African Retentions in the Blues. New York: Stein & Day, 1970. ____. The Story of the Blues. London: Barrie & Rockliff, 1969. Olsson, Bengt. and Jug Bands. London: Studio Vista, 1970. Russell,Tony. Blacks, Whites and Blues. New York: Stein & Day, 1970. Sackheim, Eric. The Blues Line:A Collection of Blues Lyrics. New York: Grossman, 1969. Stewart-Baxter, Derrick. Ma Rainey and the Classic Blues Singers. New York: Stein & Day, 1970. Titon, Jeff Todd.Early Downhome Blues:A Musical and Cultural Analysis.Urbana:University of Press, 1977.

Artists and Composers Albertson, Chris. Bessie. New York: Stein & Day, 1972. Bradford, Perry. Born with the Blues. New York: Oak, 1965. Broonzy William. Big Bill Blues. Revised. New York: Oak, 1964. Evans, David. Tommy Johnson. London: Studio Vista, 1971. Fahey, John. Charley Patton. London: Studio Vista, 1970. Garon, Paul. The Devil's Son-in-Law:The Story of Peetie Wheatstraw and His Songs. London: Studio Vista, 1971. Handy,W. C. Father of the Blues. New York: Collier, 1970. Titon, Jeff. From Blues to Pop:The Autobiography of Leonard "Baby Doo" Caston. Los Angeles: John Edwards Memorial Foundation, 1974. zur Heide, Karl Gert. Deep South Piano:The Story of Little Brother Montgomery. London: Studio Vista, 1970.

SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY Individual Artists /Peetie Wheatstraw. Blues Classics 4. Blind Blake. Bootleg Rum Dum Blues. Biograph BLP-12003. The Young Big Bill Broonzy 1928-1936. Yazoo L-1011. Cannon's Jug Stompers. Double LP. Herwin 208. Leroy Carr. Blues Before Sunrise. Columbia CL-1799. Georgia Tom Dorsey. Come on, Mama, Do That Dance, 1928-1932. Yazoo L-1041. . Blues Classics 11. Bessie Jackson/Walter Roland, 1927-1935. Yazoo L-1017. Blind Lemon Jefferson, 1926-29. Biograph 12000. Lonnie Johnson. Mr Johnson's Blues, 1926-1932. Mamlish S-3807. Robert Johnson. King of the Singers. Columbia CL-1654. Blind Willie McTell: 1927-1933, the Early Years. Yazoo L-1005. 17 Memphis Minnie. Blues Classics 1. Mississippi & Sheiks, 1927-1932. Biograph BLP-12041. Little Brother Montgomery. Crescent City Blues. Double LP. Bluebird AXM2-5522. Charley Patton, Founder of the Delta Blues. Double LP. Yazoo L-1020. Ma Rainey. Double LP. Milestone M-47021. Bessie Smith. Nobody's Blues but Mine. Double LP. Columbia G-31093. Tampa Red. Bottleneck Guitar, 1928-1937. Yazoo L-1039. Henry Thomas. Ragtime Texas. Double LP. Herwin 209. Washboard Sam. Blues Classics 10. Bukka White. Parchman Farm. Columbia C-30036. Sonny Boy Williamson. Blues Classics 3.

Anthologies Alabama Country. Origin Jazz Library 14. The . RBF 15. The Blues in Memphis, 1927-1939. Origin Jazz Library 21. The Blues in St. Louis, 1929-1937. Origin Jazz Library 20. East Coast Blues, 1926-1935. Yazoo L-1013. Favorite Country Blues Piano-Guitar Duets (1929-1937). Yazoo L-1015. ' Dream:, 1927-1931. Yazoo L-1008. The Great Jug Bands. Origin Jazz Library 4. Jackson Blues, 1928-1938. Yazoo L-1007. Mississippi Blues, 1927-1936. Yazoo L-1001. The Mississippi Blues, 1927-1940. Origin Jazz Library 5. Mister Charlie's Blues. Yazoo L-1024. Piano Blues. RBF 12. Please Warm My Weiner: Old Time Hokum Blues. Yazoo L-1043. Really! The Country Blues. Origin Jazz Library 2. Rugged Piano Classics. Origin Jazz Library 15.

Side One Total time 24:38 1 PEACH TREE BLUES (Yank Rachell) ...... 2:44 (publ. Duchess Music Corporation) Yank Rachell, vocal and guitar; Sonny Boy Williamson, harmonica;Alfred Elkins, washtub bass; Washboard Sam, washboard

2 BROWNSKIN WOMAN ...... 3:19 Pillie Bolling, vocal and guitar

3 VIOLIN BLUES ...... 3:16 The Johnson Boys: T. C. Johnson, guitar; Nap Hayes, vocal and violin; Matthew Prater, mandolin

4 WHAT’S THE MATTER NOW ...... 3:12 (publ. MCA Music, A Division of MCA, Inc.) Monarch Jazz Quartet of Norfolk, vocals

5 YODELING BLUES ...... 2:56 (Publ. MCA Music, A Division of MCA Inc.) Buck Mountain Band: probably Earl Edwards, vocal and guitar;Van Edwards, fiddle;Wade Ward, banjo

6 DOGGONE MY GOOD LUCK SOUL ...... 3:06 Hattie Hudson, vocal;Willie Tyson, piano

7 LET'S GET LOOSE (Gray) ...... 2:40 Clara Smith, vocal; Ed Allen, cornet; unknown clarinet and piano

8 NIGGER BLUES (Leroy "Lasses" White) ...... 2:54 George O'Connor, vocal; unknown trumpets, trombone, tuba, and clarinet, with simulated train noises

18 Side Two Total time 24:28 1 DAD'S OLE MULE (Charles and Effie Tyus) ...... 3:14 Tyus and Tyus, vocals; unknown cornet and piano

2 KEEP IT CLEAN ...... 3:24 Rufus and Ben Quillian: Rufus Quillian, vocal and piano; Ben Quillian, vocal; James McCrary, vocal and guitar

3 BLUE NIGHT BLUES (Leroy Carr) ...... 2:53 Leroy Carr, vocal and piano; Francis "Scrapper" Blackwell, guitar

4 HOUSE LADY BLUES ...... 2:53 Walter Roland, vocal and piano

5 I'M CUTTIN' OUT (Wilber "Joe" McCoy and Herb Morand) ...... 2:36 Harlem Hamfats:Wilber "Joe" McCoy, vocal; Herb Morand, trumpet; Odell Rand, clarinet; Horace Malcolm, piano; John Lindsay, string bass; Fred Flynn or Pearlis Williams, drums

6 DEEP BLUE SEA BLUES (Tommy McClennan) ...... 2:57 Tommy McClennan, vocal and guitar; unknown string bass

7 LOVE ME, BABY (John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson) ...... 3:20 John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson, vocal and harmonica; Big Bill Broonzy, guitar; Blind John Davis, piano; Alfred Elkins, one-string bass

8 MY BUDDY BLUES (Eugene Gilmore) ...... 2:46 The Five Breezes: Gene Gilmore, lead vocal; Leonard "Baby Doo" Caston, vocal and guitar; Joseph Bell and Willie Hawthorne, vocals;Willie Dixon, one-string bass

Full discographic information for each selection may be found within the individual discussions of the works in the liner notes.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Our thanks to CBS Records for "Brownskin Woman"; "Violin Blues"; "What's the Matter Now?"; "Yodeling Blues"; "Doggone My Good Luck Soul"; "Let's Get Loose"; "Nigger Blues"; "Dad's Ole Mule"; "Keep It Clean"; "Blue Night Blues"; and "House Lady Blues"; to RCA Records for "Peach Tree Blues"; "Deep Blue Sea Blues"; "Love Me, Baby"; and "My Buddy Blues"; and to MCA Records for "I'm Cuttin' Out."

We wish to thank Bob Vinisky, Norm Cohen, Charles Wolfe, and Dave Freeman for their help and consultation. We are grateful to Frank Scott, Bob Vinisky, Eugene Earle, David Evans, and the John Edwards Memorial Foundation for making their record collections available to us.

Program consultant: David Evans Rerecording engineer: Frank Scott,Advent Productions Mastering: Lee Hulko, Sterling Sound Cover art: J. J. Lankes. "Spring Twilight." Woodcut. Private collection, New York. Cover design: Elaine Sherer Cox Library of Congress Card No. 78-750470

LINER NOTES © Recorded Anthology of American Music, Inc. q 1978 © 1978 Recorded Anthology of American Music, Inc. All rights reserved.

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