Show 63 - Drink Brands

Some blues singers were clearly paid to advertise products. In later years, b.b. king sang songs to famously sold peptikon and sonny boy williamson king biscuit flour. Were gonna take a look at some early songs that may be ads or may just be folks singing about products they enjoy.

J.T "Funny Paper" Smith's 1930 Vocalion recording Good Coffee Blues talks about brands in some interesting ways in classic blues double entendre song:

I Heard you say this morning, mama, that your head was throbbing through and through
Heard you say this morning that your head was throbbing through and through
Come on let me make you some coffee, let me show you what my coffee will do

Pull off your house shoes, mama and lay down on the bed
Pull off your house shoes, mama lay down on the bed
I won't be but a few minutes but I will kill that old headache dead.

Don't rush, take your time lady, go down easy and slow
Don't rush, take your time lady, go down easy and slow
Then when you have a headache again, come back to me, baby, and I'll give you some more.

Your coffee-grinding papa's in town, Lord that good coffee

Now Folger makes coffee, Maxwell makes coffee, White Swan makes coffee, Arbuckle he makes coffee
But I make coffee so good, it will make you bite your tongue
Been all over the world grinding coffee mama, come on let me grind you some

Now when your friend want coffee, please send all your friends to me
When your friend want coffee, send your friends to me
I swear I give them good coffee and won't give them no rotten tea

Memphis Minnie sang about a place to get coffee and something to eat in what sure sounds like a paid advertisement from 1930. North Memphis Blues:

I tell all you people, you can rest and eat You don't have to worry about cooking, go to North Memphis Cafe and eat I tell all you people, you can rest and eat Because the North Memphis Cafe got everything that you really need

I don't buy no wood, even buy no coal
I go to North Memphis cafe and eat and don't be a dope
I tell all you people, you can rest and eat
You don't have to worry about cooking, go to North Memphis cafe and eat

I will tell y'all something, I don't change like the wind
If you go to North Memphis Cafe, eat, you'll go back again
I tell all you people, you can rest and eat
Because the North Memphis cafe got everything that you really need

Now listen to me, good people, I don't aim to make you mad
You go to North Memphis Cafe and get something you never had
I tell all you people, you can rest and eat
Because the North Memphis Cafe got everything that you really need

The Nugrape Twins were Georgia natives Mark and Matthew Little. They recorded a few blues and gospel records and also hosted a radio show sponsored by Nugrape soda. They recorded two songs about that sweet drink including I Got Your Ice Cold Nugrape in 1926:

I got a NuGrape nice and fine
The rings around the bottle is a ginger wine
I got your ice-cold NuGrape

I got a NuGrape nice and fine
There’s plenty imitation but there’s none like mine
I got your ice cold NuGrape

Way down yonder in the Promised Land
Oh, run and tell you mama, “Here the NuGrape man”
I got your ice cold NuGrape

Little children in the backyard playing in the sand
Oh, run and tell you mama, “Here the NuGrape man”
I got your ice cold NuGrape

When you feeling kind of blue, do not know what ailing you
Get a NuGrape from the store, then you’ll have the blues no more
I got your ice cold NuGrape

What’s that makes your lips go flippity flop?
When you drink a NuGrape you don’t know when to stop
I got your ice cold NuGrape

If from work you come home late, rolling pin waits at the gate
Smile and bribe her with NuGrape
Then you see you're in good shape
I got your ice cold NuGrape

Sister Mary has a beau, says he’s crazy and love her so
Buys a NuGrape every day, know he bound to win that way
I got your ice cold NuGrape

Tampa Red's Hokum Jazz Band recorded Good Gordon Gin. The musicians seem to be having a great time and singer Frankie "Hal-fpint" Jaxon seems to be singing about a product he loves when he starts chanting: "A little more of the Gordon gin, I’m talking about good Gordon gin." Big Bill Broonzy also pronounced himself a fan of Gordon Gin in his 1941 song I Feel So Good:

I got a letter, it come to me by mail
My baby says she’s coming home
And I hope that she don’t fail

You know I feel so good
Yes I feel so good
Now I feel so good
Baby, I feel like balling the jack

I feel so good, I hope I always will
I feel just like a Jack out with a Jenny
Well behind the hill

I feel so good
Yes, I feel so good
I feel so good
Baby, I feel like balling the jack

I’m going down to the station, just to meet a train
I'd like to see my baby
You know I’ve got dead aim

You know I feel so good
Yes, I feel so good
I feel so good
I just feel like balling the jack

I love my tea, crazy about my Gordon gin
When I get high now baby
Feel like floating around in the wind

You know I feel so good
Yes, I feel so good
I feel so good baby
I feel like balling the jack

Memphis Slim's Old Taylor probably wasn't a paid ad for the bourbon, but the folks at the distillery were probably pretty glad to hear the song:

Now I love to sing that good Old Taylor blues I love to sing that good Old Taylor blues When we want another drink I swear we just can't lose

Now you see, Mr. Melrose, standing in the floor Oh, I see that man that's standing in the floor He gonna give us a little drink Now, just before he goes

Now we want Old Taylor, Lord We want, Old Taylor now We want, Old Taylor now We want, Old Taylor now We want, Old Taylor Bring it on, bring it on, bring it on

Now, you'll say what's fine and mellow You'll say what's fine and mellow Oh, you'll say what's fine and mellow You'll say, what's fine and mellow Now, you'll say what's fine and mellow Bring it on, bring it on, bring it on

You'll say, was twenty years old You'll say, was twenty years old Now you'll say, was twenty years old You'll say, was twenty years old Now, you'll say was twenty years old Bring it on, bring it on, bring it on

Now, is he popping? Yeah, man Now, is he popping? Yeah, man I believe he's popping Yeah, man I believe he's popping Yeah, man I believe he's popping Yeah, man Pop on, pop on, pop on

Memphis Slim singing mentions Mr. Melrose’s is gonna give him a drink referring to Lester Melrose who ran Bluebird Records. It’s one of many songs where a blues singer sang about a brand he liked. That one’s probably not a paid endorsement, but I’m sure the folks at the Old Taylor distillery would have been thrilled to hear it. Musical inspiration can come from many sources including products on the shelf. Whether a cup or coffee or a glass of bourbon it resulted in some pretty good blues songs.

Songs:
Good Coffee Blues - Funny Paper Smith
North Memphis Blues - Memphis Minnie
I Got Your Ice Cold Nugrape - Nugrape Twins
Good Gordon Gin - Tampa Red's Hokum Jazz Band
I Feel So Good - Big Bill Broonzy
Old Taylor Blues - Memphis Slim

Show 48 - Disease Blues

Pneumonia -- it’s a disease of the lungs. Even by the first part of the twentieth century, medical developments had improved the prognosis for people with pneumonia, but it was still dangerous in the 1920s (as it is today). In 1929, Blind Lemon Jefferson sang about the aches and pains after catching pneumonia while running down alleys in a cold rain trying to catch his woman cheating. Pneumonia Blues:

I'm aching all over, believe I got the pneumonia this time
I'm aching all over, believe I got the pneumonia this time
And it's all on account of that lowdown gal of mine


Slinking around the corner, running up alleys too
I said slinking around corners, running up alleys too
Watching my woman trying to see what she going to do


Stood out in the street one cold dark stormy night
I stood out in the street one cold dark stormy night
Trying to see if my good gal going to make it home alright


I believe she's found something that probably made her fall
She must have found something that made her fall
I stood out in the cold all night and she didn't come home at all


Wear BVDs in the winter, traveling around in the rain
Wear BVDs in the winter, traveling around in the rain
Last time my baby give me this pneumonia pain


Now when I die, bury me in a Stetson hat
I said when I die, bury me in a Stetson hat
Tell my good gal I'm going but I'm still standing pat

Big Bill Broonzy talked about aches from pneumonia in Pneumonia Blues (I Keep on Aching) in 1936:

I’m feeling sick and bad, my head is hurting too
Go get the doctor so he can tell me just what to do
Because I keep on aching, yes I ache both night and day
Yes, doctor, doctor please drive this old pneumonia away


I have got the pneumonia, I’ve got it in both my sides
My friends treat me so bad, til I just cant keep from crying for me
I keep aching, yes I ache both night and day
Yes, doctor, doctor please drive this old pneumonia away


I have used big fan(?), I used everything my friends say
Now I believe I’ll drink a hot toddy and go to bed
Because I keep aching, yes I ache both night and day
Yes, doctor, doctor please drive this old pneumonia away


My friends told my wife they had did all they could
They said put him in the hospital before he ruins the neighborhood
I keep aching, yes I ache both night and day
Yes, doctor, doctor please drive this old pneumonia away


The doctor said my fever was 103
The nurse said put him in crowded room, that’s where he ought to be
Because he keeps aching, yes I ache both night and day
Yes, doctor, doctor please drive this old pneumonia away

Influenza or the flu killed countless millions around the world in the twentieth century. One of the pandemics broke out in 1918. This was a few years before blues music was being recorded, but given the incredible virulence of what they called Spanish Flu, it’s surprising there aren’t more blues records about it. At east a couple recording artists did mention the flu including gospel great Blind Willie Johnson when he recorded Jesus is Coming Soon:

Well, we done told you, our God's done warned you, Jesus coming soon
We done told you, our God's done warned you, Jesus coming soon


In the year of 19 and 18, God sent a mighty disease
It killed many a-thousand, on land and on the seas
We done told you, God's done warned you, Jesus coming soon
We done told you, God's done warned you, Jesus coming soon.


Great disease was mighty and the people were sick everywhere
It was an epidemic, it floated through the air
We done told you, God's done warned you, Jesus coming soon
We done told you, God's done warned you, Jesus coming soon


The doctors they got troubled and they didn't know what to do
They gathered themselves together, they called it the Spanish influ
We done told you, God's done warned you, Jesus coming soon
We done told you, God's done warned you, Jesus coming soon


Soldiers died on the battlefield, died in the count too
Well the Captain said to the lieutenant, "I don't know what to do"
We done told you, God's done warned you, Jesus coming soon
We done told you, God's done warned you, Jesus coming soon


Well, God is warning the nation, He's a-warning them every way
To turn away from evil and seek the Lord and pray
We done told you, God's done warned you, Jesus coming soon.
We done told you, God's done warned you, Jesus coming soon.


Well, the nobles said to the people, "You better close your public schools"
"Until the events of death has ending, you better close your churches too"
We done told you, God's done warned you, Jesus coming soon
We done told God's done warned you, Jesus coming soon

Read the book of Zacharias, bible plainly says
Said the people in the cities dying, account of they're wicked ways

Ace Johnson was recorded for the Library of Congress by John Lomax at Clemens State Farm, Brazoria, Brazoria County, Texas.  Influenza:

In nineteen hundred and twenty-nine, men and women sure was dying
From the disease, what the doctors called the flu
People was dying everywhere, death went creeping through the air
For the groans of the sick sure was sad


It was God's almighty hand, he was judging this old land
North and South, East and West can be seen
Yes, he killed the rich and poor, and he's going to kill more
If you don't turn away from your sins


It was Memphis, Tennessee, doctors said it soon would be
In a few days, influenza we’ll control
But God showed that He was head, and He put the doctor to bed
And the nurse they broke down with the same


It was God's almighty hand, he was judging this old land
North and South, East and West can be seen
Yes, he killed the rich and poor, and he's going to kill more
If you don't turn away from your sins


Influenza is a disease, that makes you weak all in your knees
Tis a fever everybody sure does dread
Puts a pain in every bone, a few days and you are gone
To a place in the ground called the grave


It was God's almighty hand, he was judging this old land
North and South, East and West can be seen
Yes, he killed the rich and poor, and he's going to kill more
If you don't turn away from your sins

Silicosis, is a lung disease caused by inhalation of crystalline silica dust. It’s common to tunnel diggers and mine workers. Josh White sang something of a labor protest song called Silicosis is Killing Me:

I said silicosis, you made a mighty bad break of me
Awww, silicosis made a mighty bad break of me
You robbed me of my youth and health
All you brought poor me was mis..


Now silicosis, you're a dirty robber and a thief
Awww silicosis, dirty robber and a thief
Robbed me of my right to live and all you brought poor me was grief


I was there digging that tunnel for six bits a day
I was there digging that tunnel for six bits a day
Didn't know I was digging my own grave, silicosis eating my lungs away


I says mama, mama, mama, cool my fevered head
I says mama, mama, come and cool my fevered head
I’m going to meet my Jesus, God knows I'll soon be dead


Six bits I got for digging, digging that tunnel hole
Six bits I got for digging, digging that tunnel hole
Takes me away from my baby, it sure done wrecked my soul


Now tell all my buddies, tell all my friends you see
Now tell all my buddies, tell all my friends you see
I'm going way up yonder, please don't grieve for me

Blind Blake used the parasitic hookworm as a metaphor for that man you don’t want hanging around:

Hookworm in your body and your food don't do you no good
Hookworm in your body, your food don't do you no good
Same way with a rounder come in a nice neighborhood


Dirty old hookworm got into my room, causes me to walk, groan and moan
Man like a hookworm got a hold to my baby
He got to point it fast people and I don't mean maybe


Never can tell what a hookworm man will do
You never can tell what a hookworm man will do
Take your baby and make her stop loving you


I'm going to leave my baby and let her have her way
I'm going to leave my baby and let her have her way
She’ll want me back some day when he throws her down


Mmmmm, mmmm, mmmm, mmmm
Her man like a hookworm taking a hold to my babe

Bumble Bee Slim used or a cold or tonsilitis to address a fear of pain and death in I Done Caught My Death of Cold:

Doctor, please give me something just to ease these awful pains
Doctor, please give me something just to ease these awful pains
I done caught my death of cold and it’s settling on my brain


I can’t hardly breathe, I got a wheezing in my chest
I can’t hardly breathe, I got a wheezing in my chest
Well, I’m having tonsilitis, doctor you should know the rest


Give me Oil of ninety-nine, three-sixty , anything
I done caught my death of cold
Lord have mercy


Ay doctor, is there any cure for me?
Ay doctor, is there any cure for me?
Well I’m in so much misery, I’m in so much misery


I done caught my death of cold, now my friends cannot be found
I done caught my death of cold, well my friends cannot be found
Well I been wading deep water and I been sleeping on the ground

It’s great to see how these different musicians use diseases. Blind Lemon Jefferson sees the aches and pains of pneumonia as yest another consequence of being with a no-good woman. Big Bill sees the aches and pains as a blues situation themselves and Bumble Bee Slim does something similar singing about his tonsilitis. Blind Blake uses the hookworm as a metaphor for a man showing up where’s he’s not wanted. The common thread is the abandonment of friends, family, or lovers with the disease. The fear of sickness and death was all to real, but the fear of the blues that comes from being truly alone never leaves.


Songs:
Pneumonia Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson
Pneumonia Blues (I Keep on Achin') - Big Bill
Jesus is Coming - Blind Willie Johnson
Influenza - Ace Johnson
Silicosis is Killing Me - Josh White
Hookworm Blues - Blind Blake
I Done Caught My Death of Cold - Bumble Bee Slim

Show 38 - WPA Blues

With all the recent talk in the U.S. about the government bailouts during the financial crisis it seemed like a good time to turn back to the biggest U.S. government actions in history during the New Deal. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was the largest of the New Deal agencies and there were quite a few blues songs recorded about it. The WPA employed millions affected by the Great Depression in an effort to get people off relief and onto work on useful projects. This included huge numbers of African-Americans whose options for employment were limited.
Casey Bill Weldon recorded WPA Blues in 1936. It gets at the complex attitudes toward the WPA. Jobs are provided, but there are negative aspects too including the completion of some unwanted projects. The singer lives in a home about to be torn down by the slum clearance crews of the WPA.

Everybody's working in this town and it's worrying me night and day
Everybody's working in this town and it's worrying me night and day
If that mean working too, have to work for the WPA

Well well the landlord come this morning and he knocked on my door
He asked me if I was going to pay my rent no more
He said you have to move if you can't pay
And then he turned and he walked slowly away

So I have to try find me some other place to stay
That housewrecking crew's coming from the WPA

Well well went to the relief station and I didn't have a cent
If that's the only way you stand you don't have to pay no rent
So when I got back home, they was tacking a notice on the door
This house is condemned and you can't live there no more

So a notion struck me, I better be on my way
They're going to tear my house down, that crew from the WPA

Well well I went out next morning I put a lock on my door
I thought I would move but I have no place to go
The real estate people they all done got so
They don't rent to no relief clients no more

So I know, have to walk the streets night and day
Because that wrecking crew's coming from that WPA

Well well a notion struck me, I'll try to stay a day or two
But I soon found out that that wouldn't do
Early next morning while I was laying in my bed
I heard a mighty rumbling and the bricks come tumbling down on my head

So I had to start ducking and dodging and be on my way
They was tearing my house down on me, that crew from that WPA

There are countless songs about men and women leaving each other when they no longer depend on a partner for money. Billie McKenzie recorded one about losing her man when he got a job working for the WPA, That Man on the WPA.

I'll tell you girls what my man done to me one day
I'll tell you girls what my man done to me one day
He was so nice and kind, til he started for that WPA

Before then I gave him my money, even bought his shoes and clothes
I said I gave him my money, even bought his shoes and clothes
Got a job on the WPA and put poor me outdoors

Be a good friend to me girls, please try and see it my way
Be a good friend to me girls, please try and see it my way
If you want a good man, don't get one on that WPA

I did everything I could to keep that man from going down
I did everything I could, girls, to keep that man from going down
I even pawned my clothes and kicked mud all around this town

But I knew he was jiving when he laid down across my bed
Now I knew he was jiving when he laid down across my bed
Smoking his good doing reefers and talking all out his head

Casey Bill Weldon who recorded a followup to his hit WPA Blues in 1937. It's a story about a gambler who's luck turns and he's forced to find a job on the WPA, Casey Bill's New WPA.

Said my baby told me this morning, just about the break of day
My baby told me this morning, just about the break of day
Said: "You oughta get up this morning, get you a job on that WPA"

I says, "I am a gambler, and I gamble night and day,"
I says, "I am a gambler, I gamble night and day,"
Says, "I don't need no job on that WPA."

She said, "I'm leaving you now, daddy, yeah, that's all I got to say,"
She said, "I'm leaving you now, daddy, yeah, that's all I got to say,"
She said, "I'm gonna get me a man, that's working on that WPA."

And all the women hollering, and they hollering night and day
All the women hollering, and they hollering night and day
"I'm gonna quit my pimp, get me a man on that WPA."

"So hard luck has overtaken me, had to throw my dice and cards away,"
"Hard luck has overtaken me, had to throw my dice and cards away,"
Yeah, I've gotta try to get me a job on that WPA."

Casey Bill Weldon singing about having to work for the WPA because he can't win money gambling. Also, a funny line about women quitting their pimps in favor on WPA men.
Like Casey Bill Weldon, Peetie Wheatstraw recorded multiple songs about the WPA. New Working on the Project is the second in his trilogy of WPA songs. Recorded in 1937, around the time the Roosevelt administration was making cuts in some New Deal programs and laying off workers. It's about a man working on the WPA scared to get his 304 discharge form telling him he's lost his job:

Working on the project, what a scared man, you know
Working on the project, what a scared man, you know
Because every time I look around, somebody's getting their 304

Working on the project with a big furniture bill to pay
Working on the project with a big furniture bill to pay
But time I got my 304, the furniture man come and taken my furniture away

Working on the project, the rent man is knocking on my door
Working on the project, the rent man is knocking on my door
I am sorry Mr. Rent Man, I just got my 304

Working on the project, my partner got his 304 too
Working on the project, my partner got his 304 too
So you better look out because tomorrow it may be you

Working on the project, a 304 may make you cry
Working on the project, a 304 will make you cry
There's one thing sure, you can tell the project goodbye

Despite its successes, the songs show there were many complaints about WPA policy. More popular was the Civilian Conservation Corps. Washboard Sam compares it to the WPA in his 1938 song CCC Blues:

I'm going down, I'm going down, to the CCC
I'm going down, I'm going down, to the CCC
I know that the WPA won't do a thing for me

I told her my name and the place I stay
She said she'd give me a piece of paper, come back some other day
I'm going down, I'm going down, to the CCC
I know that the WPA won't do a thing for me

I told her I had no people and the shape I was in
She said she would help me, but she didn't say when
I'm going down, I'm going down, going down to the CCC
I know that the WPA won't do a thing for me

I told her I needed a job and no relief
On my rent day, she sent me a can of beef
I'm going down, I'm going down, to the CCC
I know that the WPA won't do a thing for me

She said she'd give me a job, everything was nice and warm
Taking care of the dead in a funeral home
I'm going down, I'm going down, to the CCC
I know that the WPA won't do a thing for me

Big Bill Broonzy recorded a couple of WPA songs including a celebratory number in 1938 called WPA Rag that starts off as a kind of old fahioned field holler and turns into a jazz number.

Oh... I feel like hollering, but the town is too small
Yeah... But the town is too small

Let's play that rag

I want all you women and I mean all you stags
I want all you women and I mean all you stags
Just to spend your money, while you play this WPA Rag
Oh yeah, Oh yeah, Oh yeah, Oh yeah

The WPA provided as many as 3 million jobs at times. When workers were getting laid off, it was reflected in blues songs and when more workers were being hired it was reflected in blues songs. The songs are amazing documents of how the government programs affected people.

Songs:
WPA Blues - Casey Bill Weldon
That Man on the WPA - Billie McKenzie
Casey Bill's New WPA - Casey Bill Weldon
New Working on the Project - Peetie Wheatstraw
CCC Blues - Washboard Sam
WPA Rag - Big Bill Broonzy

Show 31 - Mississippi Road Trip

For this show, I thought we'd travel around Mississippi listening to songs that talk about various towns and parts of the state. We'll start in the small Delta town of Avalon in Caroll County a little north of Greenwood. It's the home of Mississippi John Hurt and this is the song that led to his return to playing music in the 1960s when researcher Tom Hoskins looked in Avalon to see if John Hurt was still in the hometown he sang about in 1928:

In New York this morning, just about half past nine
In New York this morning, just about half past nine
Thought of my mama in Avalon, couldn't hardly keep from crying
Avalon my home town, always on my mind
Avalon my home town, always on my mind
Pretty mamas in Avalon want me there all the time

When the train left Avalon throwing kisses and waving at me
When the train left Avalon throwing kisses and waving at me
Says come back daddy, stay right here with me

Avalon's a small town, have no great big range
Avalon's a small town, have no great big range
Pretty mamas in Avalon sure will spend your change

New York's a good town, but it's not for mine
New York's a good town, but it's not for mine
Going back to Avalon, stay there with pretty mama all the time

As he sang in Avalon Blues, John Hurt was clearly a Mississippi guy, but his playing often sounds more typical of an east coast musician from North Carolina or Virginia. But another Mississippi musician was a Mississippi guy all the way through. He sang like he was from Mississippi, played guitar like he was from Mississippi, and sang songs about Mississippi. It's Charley Patton, the greatest chronicler of Mississippi in blues song. In Stone Pony Blues from 1934, he sings about Vicksburg, Greenville, Lula, and Natchez.

I got me a stone pony and I don't ride Shetland no more
I got me a stone pony and I don't ride Shetland no more
You can find my stone pony hooked to my rider's door

Vicksburg's my pony, Greenville is my great mare
Vicksburg's my pony, Greenville is my great mare
You can find my stone pony down in Lula town somewhere

And I got me a stone pony, don't ride Shetland no more
Got a stone pony, don't ride Shetland no more
And I can't feel welcome, rider nowhere I go

Vicksburg's on a high hill and Natchez just below
Vicksburg's on a high hill, Natchez just below
And I can't feel welcome, rider nowhere I go

“Stone Pony” was an expression for anything good. Patton's uses the phrase as a metaphor for young women he has around Mississippi.

Big Bill Broonzy was one of the many who made the trek out of Mississippi to Chicago. But he never forgot the South. In Lowland Blues from 1936 he sings about Jackson, Greenwood, and anywhere in Mississippi being his true home.

When I get down in the lowland, I won't be mistreated no more
I'm going to Jackson, Greenwood is where I belong
I'm going to Jackson, Greenwood is where I belong
Anywhere in Mississippi is my native home

Bukka White sang about his troubled times with the women in Aberdeen, Mississippi.

I was over in Aberdeen on my way to New Orleans
I was over in Aberdeen on my way to New Orleans
Them Aberdeen women told me they will buy my gasoline

There's two little women that I ain't never seen
There's two little women that I ain't never seen
These two little women they're from New Orleans

I'm sitting down in Aberdeen with New Orleans on my mind
I'm sitting down in Aberdeen with New Orleans on my mind
Lord I believe them Aberdeen women going to make me lose my mind

Aberdeen is my home but the men don't want me around
Aberdeen is my home but the men don't want me around
They know I will take these women and take them out of town

Listen you Aberdeen women, you know I ain't got no dime
Listen you women, you know I ain't got no dime
They had the poor boy all hobbled down

New Orleans is over 300 miles away from Aberdeen. But that was nothing to many blues musicians willing to pick up and go for any reason. For Bukka White it was to get away from the Aberdeen women and to get to some new ones down in New Orleans. Like Mississippi John Hurt, Bukka White returned to playing because of that song when a letter came addressed to Bukka White, Blues Singer, Aberdeen, Mississippi. It was from the great guitar player, John Fahey. And it resulted in White playing music across the country and the world.

The legendary Son House recorded a song about Clarksdale that was finally released last year, Clarksdale Moan:

Clarksdale's in the South, and lays heavy on my mind
Clarksdale's in the South, lays heavy on my mind
I can have a good time there, if I ain't got but one lousy dime

Clarksdale, Mississippi always gonna be my home
Clarksdale, Mississippi always gonna be my home
That's the reason you hear me sit right here and moan
...

Nobody knows Clarksdale like I do
Nobody knows Clarksdale like I do
And the reason I know it, I follows it through and through

Every blues fan should visit Clarksdale. It's not surprising that a student of Son House also sang songs about Missisippi. Indeed, the legend of Robert Johnson, can't be separated from his travels from Mississippi town to Mississippi town. He sang about it on Traveling Riverside Blues:

If your man gets personal, want to have your fun
If your man gets personal, want to have your fun
Just come on back to Friar's Point mama and barrelhouse all night long

I've got womens in Vicksburg, clean on into Tennessee
I've got womens in Vicksburg, clean on into Tennessee
But my Friar's point rider now, hops all over me

I ain't going to state no color, but her front teeth crowned with gold
I ain't going to state no color, but her front teeth is crowned with gold
She got a mortgage on my body and a lien on my soul

Lord I'm going to Rosedale, going to take my rider by my side
Lord I'm going to Rosedale, going to take my rider by my side
We can still barrelhouse baby, because it's on the riverside

The amount of blues talent that's emerged from Mississippi is staggering.
Sometimes it seems like every small town in the Delta, and other parts of the state, was home to some musician who made a great record. It's tough to say why and its at least probably because scouts for the record companies were more aware of Mississippi talent than they were of other regions. But the Mississippi Delta, dominated by cotton fields and harsh plantation labor has been called the most Southern place on earth, and it's not a coincidence that so much of this great Southern music came from Mississippi. I'm glad so many musicians recorded songs about its towns.
Songs:

Avalon Blues - Mississippi John Hurt
Stone Pony Blues - Charley Patton
Lowland Blues - Big Bill Broonzy
Aberdeen Mississippi Blues - Bukka White
Clarksdale Moan - Son House
Traveling Riverside Blues - Robert Johnson