MUS 15: Blues and the American Century

Lecture 6: Rural Blues and Recording

In class writing

1) To the best of your ability, reconstruct the argument of Angela Davis’s article, Blame it on the Blues. What is her thesis?

2) Do you agree or disagree with this thesis? In your response, mention at least one blues song.

Factors leading to the recording of blues

● Electric recording (vs. acoustic recording)– Travel to the south to record (not just chicago and

NY), temporary studios in Memphis, Dallas, Atlanta, New Orleans

● Popularity of radio● Several important books about the blues

– On the Trail of Negro Folksongs (1925), by Dorothy Scarbourgh

– Blues: An Anthology (1926), by WC Handy

“The (First) Great Migration”

● 1910 Cotton industry collapses in the south.● 1914 WW I; increased demand for manufactured goods from

industrial North, decreased supply of immigrant labor from Europe.

● Robert S. Abott publishes Chicago Defender● Churches (AME and Baptist) advertise migration clubs,

promise assistance to migrants– Swell in membership

● “Why They Leave the South”, article published in 1916● Sources: letters to the Defender

Example of a letter to the Defender

● “Dear Sir –– Having been informed through the Chicago

Defender paper that I ca secure information from you. I am a constant reader of the Defender and am contemplating on leaving here for some point north. Having your city in view I thought to inquire of you about conditions for work, housing, wages, and everything necessary.”

● (quoted in Harris, The Great Migration North, 1910-1970, p. 32)

Some demographic information, 1910-1920

● Chicago’s black population grew from 44,000 to 234,000

● Detroit: 6,000 to 120,000 (1900%)● Cleveland: 8,500 – 72,000● NYC: 100,000 – 328,000

– (Harris, p. 33)

Some demographic information, 1910-1920

● Chicago’s black population grew from 44,000 to 234,000

● Detroit: 6,000 to 120,000 (1900%)● Cleveland: 8,500 – 72,000● NYC: 100,000 – 328,000

– (Harris, p. 33)

Reception in the North

● WEB Du Bois, NAACP founded in 1909– The Crisis

● AME, Baptist, and Pentecostal churhces, as well as “storefront” churches

● Hostility from the Unions (favorable to bosses)

Early bluesmen

● Sylvester Weaver (and Sara Martin), Longing for Daddy Blues (1923)

● Sylvester Weaver, Guitar Rag (1923?)● Sylvester Weaver, Guitar Blues● Papa Charlie Jackson, Airy Man Blues (1924)● Lonnie Johnson, Falling Rain Blues (1925)● Lonnie Johnson, Blue Ghost Blues (1927)● Lonnie Johnson with Duke Ellington, Hot and B

othered (1928)

Furniture men and the blues

● HC Speir and Ralph Lembo● Charley Patton: Delta Blues

– Pony Blues, 1929

– Screamin and Hollerin the Blues, 1929

– Down the Dirt Road, 1929

– High Water Everywhere, 1929● lyrics

Technological innovations

● Radio● Electric vs. acoustic recording● Portable recording:

– “There are 12 million colored people in the US, and in that number is hid an enormous amount of musical talent.” (Harry Pace, quoted in Gioia, p. 61)

Patton

● Distinctive raspy vocal timbre– Sam Chatmon: “it sound nasty” (in Gioia)

● Percussive guitar accompaniment– “The performer plays little heed to the nice symmetries of Western

music” (Gioia)

● Guitar tricks, performance antics● Vocal range● Relationship to Chatmons and racial politics● Relationship to HC Speir

– patton’s letter of inquiry, spelling?

Pony Blues

Baby, saddle my pony, saddle up my black mareBaby, saddle my pony, saddle up my black mareI'm gonna find a rider, baby, in the world somewhere"Hello central, the matter with your line?""Hello central, matter, Lord, with your line?""Come a storm last night an' tore the wire down"Got a brand new Shetland, man, already trainedBrand new Shetland, baby, already trainedJust get in the saddle, tighten up on your reinsAnd a brownskin woman like somethin' fit to eatBrownskin woman like somethin' fit to eatBut a jet black woman, don't put your hands on meTook my baby, to meet the mornin' trainTook baby, meet that mornin' trainAn' the blues come down, baby, like showers of rainI got somethin' to tell you when I gets a chanceSomethin' to tell you when I get a chanceI don't wanna marry, just wanna be your man

Screamin and Hollerin the Blues

Jackson on a high hill, mama, Natchez just below Jackson on a high hill, mama, Natchez just below I ever get back home, I won't be back no more Oh, my mama's gettin' old, her head is turnin' gray My mama's getting old, her head is turnin' gray Don't you know it'll break her heartKnow, my livin' this-a way? Ever woke up in the mornin', jinx all around your bed? Ever woke up in the mornin', jinx all around your bed? Children, I know how it is, baby Turned my face to the wall and I didn't have a word to say No use a-hollerin', no use a-screamin' and cryin' No use a-hollerin', no use a-screamin' and cryin'For you know you got a home, mama, long as I got mine Hey, Lord have mercy on my wicked soul Oh, Lord have mercy on my wicked soul You know I wouldn't mistreat youI wouldn't mistreat you, baby, for my weight in gold Oh, goin' away, baby, don't you wanna go? I'm goin' away, mama, don't you wanna go? I know you wanna go, babyTake God to tell when I'll be back here anymore

Blind Lemon Jefferson

● “Deacon LJ Bates”– I want to be like Jesus in My Heart (1926)

– All I want is that Pure Religion (1926)

● “The phrasing of his songs was often improvisatory…” (Govenar, That Black Snake Moan)– Long Lonesome Blues, 16.5 bar opening stanza

– Black Horse Blues, opening has 13.5 bars

But wait...bars?

● Bars?

Re-significations

● See Henry Louis Gates, The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of African American Literary Criticism

● Two White Horses in a line→● See that my grave is kept clean● See See Rider → Corinna Blues

See that my grave is kept clean (1928)

Well, there's one kind-a favor I'll ask of youWell, there's one kind-a favor I'll ask of youThere's just one kind favor I'll ask of youYou can see that my grave is kept clean

And there's two white horses following meAnd there's two white horses following meI got two white horses following meWaiting on my burying ground

Did you ever hear that coughin' sound?Did you ever hear that coughin' sound?Did you ever hear that coughin' sound?Means another poor boy is underground

Did you ever hear them church bells tone?Have you ever hear that church bells tone?Did you ever hear them church bells tone?Means another poor boy is dead and gone

And my heart stopped beating and my hands turned coldAnd my heart stopped beating and my hands turned coldAnd my heart stopped beating and my hands turned coldNow I believe what the Bible told

There's just one last favor I'll ask of youAnd there's one last favor I'll ask of youThere's just one last favor I'll ask of youSee that my grave is kept clean

Matchbox Blues

●How far to the river, mama, walk down by the seaHow far to the river, walk down by the seaI got those tadpoles and minnows all in over me

Standing here wonderin' will a matchbox hold my clothesI'se sittin here wonderin' will a matchbox hold my clothesI ain't got so many matches but I got so far to go

Lord, Lord, who may your manager be?Hey, mama, who may your manager be?Reason I ask so many questions, can't you make friends match for me?

I got a girl cross town she crochet all the time (or is it "coochies" as in hoochi-coochie?)I got a girl cross town crochet all the timeMama if you don't quit crochet-in you gunna lose your mind.

I wouldn'y mind marryin', but I can't stand settlin' downI Don't mind marryin', but Lord, settlin' downI'm gonna act like a preacher so I can ride from town to town

Well, I'm leavin' town, but that won't make me stayI leavin' town, cryin' won't make me stayBaby, the more you cry, the farther you drive me away.

Black Snake Moan (1926)

Eddie James “Son” House

● Preacher● Imprisoned in 1928 – details unclear● Preachin the Blues, 1930

– lyrics

● Dry Spell Blues, 1930

Bo Chatmon

● Chatmon Family (Mississippi Sheiks), I am the Devil Blues

● Bo Chatmon, Banana in Your Fruit Basket– lyrics

● Bo Carter, Please Warm my Weiner– lyrics

Leroy Carr

● “It is no coincidence that the audience that hailed both Carr and Waters as up-to-date stars was overwhelmingly black, while the one that rejected Carr as over-sophisticated and reinvented Waters as a link to Robert Johnson was overwhelmingly white. Very few African-Americans have ever been nostalgic for Depression-era Mississippi, while the image of the Devil-haunted Delta bluesman has been a romantic touchstone for everyone from the Stones to the White Stripes.”

Leroy Carr

● How long, how long blues● In the evening, when the sun goes down● Midnight Hour Blues● Stylistic features of Leroy Carr?

Jug Bands: memphis

● Memphis Jug Band, Cocaine Habit Blues (1929)

● Gus Cannon and Jug Stompers, Money Never Runs Out

● Gus Cannon Can you Blame the Colored Man?

Three common sub-genres

● Delta– Son House, Charley Patton, Willie Brown

● Piedmont – “east coast”– Blind Blake, Josh White, Blind Boy Fuller

● Texas – Blind Lemon Jefferson, Alger “Texas” Alexander,

Bobby “blue” Bland

Writing assignment #4

● 350-500 words, due Tuesday, July 24th at midnight● 1) (from Gioia) Who was HC Speir, and what was he like?● 2) Similarly, characterize Charley Patton – who was he,

what was he like, what are his contributions to the blues?● 3) (from Govenar) Characterize Blind Lemon Jefferson –

what was he like, and what was his contribution to the blues?

● 4) Of all the bluesmen we listened to today, who is your favorite and why?