The Mississippi Roots of John Lee Hooker

We’ll take a look at the Mississippi John Lee Hooker, his roots and influences, the music that impacted him when he was young. John Lee Hooker’s music has an undeniable urban grit that came from his detroit surroundings, but Mississippi was at his core and you could hear it in every song he ever recorded. The Hook was born August 22, 1912 outside of Clarksdale. His early years would have been musically defined by church music. But before long he discovered the blues.

Hooker’s earliest blues influence was another Clarksdale bluesman, Tony Hollins. Hollins is best remembered today because he’s associated with two songs that became standards: Crawling King Snake and Cross Cut Saw. The story of his association with John Lee Hooker begins with Hollins dating a young John Lee’s sister. The sister had responsibility for taking care of her younger brother. Hollins was quick to discover that when you stuck a guitar in Hooker’s hands, the kid would be occupied for hours, freeing up the sister for some alone time. Hollins gave Hooker his first guitar and John Lee would go onto to cite his influence his whole life.Let’s start with a song of Hooker would later incorporate into his own music: Traveling Man Blues:

Boys, when my first wife quit me, Lord, it put me on the road
I said, when my first wife quit me, boys, it put me on the road
I ain't got no home, ain't got no place to go

Lord, and I've been traveling ever since my wife been gone
Lord, and I've been traveling ever since my wife been gone
I ain't found nobody that I could call my own

Lord, she was a kind-hearted girl, just as good as she could be
Lord, she was a kind-hearted girl, just as good as she could be
But the reason we ain't together today, baby, I wanted every woman I'd see

Lord, when I started to traveling I never had no place to go
I said, when I started to traveling, never had no place to go
But if I get my wife back again, ooh boys, I ain't gonna travel no more

Crawlin' King Snake:

I'm gonna crawl into your window, baby, crawl into your door
Got anything I want, mama, gonna curl up on your floor
'Cause I'm a crawling king snake, and I rule my den
Don't wanna catch you hanging around my mate, gonna use you for my friend

Well I need feeding mama so I can get it down
If you don't feed me I'm gonna crawl back in the ground
'Cause I'm a crawling king snake, and I rule my den
Don't wanna catch you hanging around my mate, gonna use you for my friend

Well you caught me crawling baby, the bed was very high
Gonna keep on crawling mama until the day I die
'Cause I'm a crawling king snake, and I rule my den
Don't wanna catch you hanging around my mate, gonna use you for my friend

I'm gonna crawl into your window, baby, crawl into your bed
Make you remember the words that you have said
'Cause I'm a crawling king snake, and I rule my den
Don't wanna catch you hanging around my mate, gonna use you for my friend

More than anyone else, John Lee Hooker credited his stepfather Will Moore as the key influence in developing his sound. Hooker always said it was Moore that put the boogie in the music. Will Moore never recorded, but he was an associate of Charley Patton and one of Patton's numbers, Pea Vine Blues was a song that Moore frequently played:

I think I heard the Pea Vine when it blowed
I think I heard the Pea Vine when it blowed
It blow just like my rider getting on board

Well, the levee sinking, you know I...
(spoken: Baby, you know I can't stay!)
The levee is sinking, Lord, you know I cannot stay
I'm going up the country, mama, in a few more days

Yes, you know it, she know it, she know you done done me wrong
Yes, you know it, you know it, you know you done done me wrong
Yes, you know it, you know it, you know you done done me wrong

Yes, I cried last night and I ain't gonna cry anymore
I cried last night and I, I ain't gonna cry anymore
'Cause the good book tells us you've got to reap just what you sow

Stop your way of living and you won't...
(spoken: You won't have to cry no more, baby!)
Stop your way of living and you won't have to cry no more
Stop your way of living and you won't have to cry no more

I think I heard the Pea Vine when she blowed
I think I heard Pea Vine when she blowed
She blowed just like she wasn't gonna blow no more

John Lee Hooker recorded his own version of Pea Vine Blues that on his Country Blues of John Lee Hooker album released in 1960:

Well, I thought I heard that pea vine when she blow
Well, I thought I heard that pea vine when she blow
You know it blow just like it, ain't gonna blow no more

I'm gonna catch my pony boys, saddle up my black mare, oh yeah
I'm gonna catch my little pony boys, gonna saddle up my black mare
I'm gonna find my baby, she's in the world somewhere

I ain't got no money boys, I can't ride the train
I ain't got no money boys, I can't ride that train
But I thought I heard this morning that pea vine when she blow

Carrying my baby away, carrying my baby away
Carrying my baby away, carrying my baby away
Carrying my baby away

You know it blow just like
Ain't gonna bring my baby back no more
I'm gonna catch my pony boys
Gonna saddle up my black mare
I'm gonna leave ya jogging
Jogging on away from here

John Lee Hooker was of the generation that learned not only from the people they knew, but had the opportunity to learn music from records. Blind Lemon Jefferson was one of the most popular of the eraly coutry blues musicians. John Lee Hooker would have known is records and probably listened to the frequently as a young man. See That My Grave is Kept Clean:

Well, there's one kind favor I ask of you
Well, there's one kind favor I ask of you
Lord, there's one kind favor I'll ask of you
See that my grave is kept clean

It’s a long lane got no end
It’s a long lane and it's got no end
It’s a long lane and it's got no end
It's a bad wind that never change

Lord, it’s two white horses in a line
Well, it’s two white horses in a line
Well, it’s two white horses in a line
Gonna take my to my burying ground

My heart stopped beating and my hands got closed
My heart stopped beating and my hands got closed
Well, my heart stopped beating, Lord, my hands got closed
It wasn't long 'fore they took me to a cypress grove

Have you ever heard a coffin sound?
Have you ever heard a coffin sound?
Have you ever heard a coffin sound?
Then you know that the poor boy is in the ground

Oh, dig my grave with a silver spade
Just dig my grave with a silver spade
Well, dig my grave with a silver spade
You may lead me down with a golden chain

Have you ever heard them church bells toll?
Have you ever heard them church bells toll?
Have you ever heard them church bells toll?
Then you know that the poor boy's dead and gone

In 1949, John Lee Hooker was recorded playing a private party with just an acoustic guitar. The songs included Two White Horses in a Line:

Two white horses in a line
Yes, two white horses in a line
Gonna take me to my burying ground

Dig my grave with a silver spade
Dig my grave with a silver spade
Let me down with a golden chain
Dig my grave with a silver spade

Yes, it's a mighty long lane ain't got no end
Yes, it's a mighty long lane ain't got no end
Yes, it's a mighty bad wind, don't never change
It's a long long lane ain't got no end

You can dig my grave with a silver spade
You can dig my grave with a silver spade
And let me down with a golden chain

Yes, there's two white horses in a line
Yes, there's two white horses in a line
Gonna take me to my burying ground
And dig my grave with a silver spade

And lay my guitar by my head
And lay my old guitar down by my head
Yes and dig my grave
All you can say I'm dead and gone

Yes, there's two white horses in a line
Yes, there's two white horses in a line
Gonna take me to my burying ground
Long long lane ain't got no end

Leroy Carr was arguably the most popular blues musician of his time. His records certainly influenced John Lee Hooker including When the Sun Goes Down:

In the evening, mama
When the sun goes down
In the evening, baby
When the sun goes down

Well, ain't it lonesome
Ain't it lonesome, babe
When your love is not around?
When the sun goes down

Last night, I laid a-sleeping I was thinking to myself
Last night, I laid a-sleeping I was thinking to myself
Well, what I been thinking Is why that the one that you love
Will mistreat you for someone else? 

When the sun goes down

The sun rises in the east and it sets up in the west
The sun rises in the east, mama and it set's in the west
Well, it's hard to tell, hard to tell, which one will treat you the best
When the sun goes down

Good-bye old sweetheart and pals, yes, I'm going away
But I may be back to see you again some old rainy day
Well, in the evening, in the evening when the sun goes down
When the sun goes down

John Lee Hooker played When the Sun Goes Down at that same 1949 party:

In the evening, when the sun goes
In the evening, when the sun goes
That’s when I miss you darling

I can’t keep from crying, just can’t keep from crying
You know I miss you, I just can’t keep from crying
I want you by my side darling everywhere i go
Because night time is the right time to be with the one you love
With the one you love

You know I miss you so
I can’t stand to see you go baby
You know it hurts me so
Because night time is the right time to be with the one you love
With the one you love

Every morning when I wake up
You know I hang out my tears darling
My tears to dry
You know I miss you darling
Can’t stand to see you go
Just to see you go

Although I miss you, you so far away
Because night time is the right time to be with the one you love
With the one you love

John Lee Hooker continued the great Mississippi blues tradition of describing natural disaster when he recorded the song about the Tupelo, Mississippi flood. Hooker's describing events of decades earlier when he recorded Tupelo Blues for the 1960 Country Blues album.

Did you read about the flood?
Happened long time ago in Tupelo, Mississippi
There were thousands of lives destroyed
It rained, it rained both night and day
The poor people was worried, didn't have no place to go
Could hear may people, crying "Lord, have mercy"

'Cause You're the only one that we can turn to
Happened a long time ago
A little town  way back in Mississippi, in Tupelo

There was women, and there was children
They were screaming and crying
Crying, "Lord, have mercy
You're the only one now, that we can turn to

Way back down in Mississippi, a little country town
I know you read about it
'Cause I'll never forget it
The mighty flood in Tupelo, Mississippi

Been years ago
Lord, have mercy
Wasn't that a mighty time?
Tupelo's gone

John Lee Hooker repeatedly said that Mississippi had the best blues because it was the worst state. His experiences as a child and young man in the state clearly shaped the musician he became.

Show 62 - Historical Figures and the Law

Many blues songs feature real historical figures. Some are figures who operate on both side of the law, sometimes straddling that divide. These are all folks from Memphis, North Mississippi and Arkansas. We'll start with a song about a man Jim Kinane, the man who ran the Memphis underworld including club’s featuring live music including Beale Street’s Monarch Club which might be the place Robert Wilkins is singing about. It was a gambling hall where you could find whiskey, drugs, and women. Old Jim Canaan’s was recorded in 1935:

I wished I was back at old Jim Canan's
I’d take my baby to old Jim Canaan’s
I wished I was back at old Jim Canan's
I'd stand on the corner and wave my hand
And if you don't believe that I'm a drinking man

Just baby stop by here with your beer can
I wish I was back at old Jim Canan's
I’d take my baby to old Jim Canaan’s

I wished I was back at old Jim Canan's
I’d take my baby to old Jim Canaan’s
I wished I was back at old Jim Canan's
I’d take my baby to old Jim Canaan’s
I'm going uptown, buy me coke and beer
Coming back and tell you how these women is
They drink their whiskey, drink their coke and gin
When you don't play the dozens they will ease you in

Still I wished I was back at old Jim Canan's
I’d take my baby to old Jim Canaan’s
I wished I was back at old Jim Canan's
I’d take my baby to old Jim Canaan’s
I wished I was back at old Jim Canan's
I’d take my baby to old Jim Canaan’s

The men and women running hand in hand
Going to and fro to old Jim Canan's
Drinking their whiskey sniffing cocaine
That's the reason why I wished I was back at Jim Canan's
I wished I was back at old Jim Canan's

E.H. Crump acted as political boss in Memphis running the machine that operated the city. In this time that meant understanding what was happening on both sides of the divide between the law abiding and those that wanted the city wide open. When the Memphis Sheiks recorded it, this was probably already an old song, but Crump would continue to run Memphis for several decades. Mr. Crump Don’t Like It:

If Mr Crump don't like it, he ain't going to have it here
If Mr Crump don't like it, he ain't going to have it here
If Mr Crump don't like it, he ain't going to have it here
No barrelhouse women, God and drinking no beer
If Mr Crump don't like it, he ain't going to have it here

I saw the Baptist sister jumped up and began to shout
I saw the Baptist sister jumped up and began to shout I saw the Baptist sister jumped up and began to shout
But I'm so glad that that whiskey vote is out
If Mr Crump don't like it, he ain't going to have it here

I saw the Methodist sister jumped up and they had a fit
I saw the Methodist sister jumped up and they had a fit
I saw the Methodist sister jumped up and they had a fit
She was doggone sorry wasn't king corn here
If Mr Crump don't like it, he ain't going to have it here I saw the Presbyterian sister turn around and began to grin

I saw the Presbyterian sister turn around and began to grin
I saw the Presbyterian sister turn around and began to grin
Lord I believe I'll start out to barrelhousing again
If Mr Crump don't like it, he ain't going to have it here I saw the deacon look around sister why in the world don't you hush

I saw the deacon look around sister why in the world don't you hush
I saw the deacon look around sister why in the world don't you hush
I'd rather see you get drunk than wear this awful skirt You don't like my peaches don't shake my tree
You don't like my peaches don't shake my tree
You don't like my peaches don't shake my tree

If Mr Crump don't like it, he ain't going to have it here
If Mr Crump don't like it, he ain't going to have it here
If Mr Crump don't like it, he ain't going to have it here
No barrelhouse women, God and drinking no beer
If Mr Crump don't like it, he ain't going to have it here

I saw the Baptist sister jumped up and began to shout
I saw the Baptist sister jumped up and began to shout
I saw the Baptist sister jumped up and began to shout
But I'm so glad that that whiskey vote is out
If Mr Crump don't like it, he ain't going to have it here

I saw the Methodist sister jumped up and they had a fit I saw the Methodist sister jumped up and they had a fit
I saw the Methodist sister jumped up and they had a fit
She was doggone sorry wasn't king corn here
If Mr Crump don't like it, he ain't going to have it here I saw the Presbyterian sister turn around and began to grin

I saw the Presbyterian sister turn around and began to grin
I saw the Presbyterian sister turn around and began to grin
Lord I believe I'll start out to barrelhousing again
If Mr Crump don't like it, he ain't going to have it here

I saw the deacon look around sister why in the world don't you hush
I saw the deacon look around sister why in the world don't you hush
I saw the deacon look around sister why in the world don't you hush
I'd rather see you get drunk than wear this awful skirt

You don't like my peaches don't shake my tree
You don't like my peaches don't shake my tree
You don't like my peaches don't shake my tree
Don't like my fruit, let my orange juice be
Mr. Crump don’t allow now...
Don't like my fruit, let my orange juice be
Mr. Crump don’t allow now...  

Mississippi legend Charley Patton was no stranger to run-ins with the law and he recorded the names of several real-life law enforcement figures in his songs. Tom Rushen Blues recalls Deputy Sheriff Tom Rushing of Cleveland, Ms. The song walks the difficult line of describing the difficulties of dealing with the law as a black man in Mississippi in 1929 while perhaps trying to simultaneously get in good favor with the lawman by immortalizing him in song. Tom Rushen Blues:

I lay down last night hoping I would have my peace
I lay down last night hoping I would have my peace
But when I woke up, Tom Rushen was shaking me 

When you get in trouble, there's no use of screaming and crying
When you get in trouble, there's no use of screaming and crying
Tom Rushen will take you back to Cleveland flying 

It was late one night, Holloway was gone to bed
It was late one night, Holloway was gone to bed
Mr Day brought the whiskey taken from under Holloway's head 

It takes booze and booze, Lord, to carry me through
It takes booze and booze, Lord, to carry me through
Thirty days seem like years in the jailhouse where there is no booze 

I got up this morning, Tom Day was standing around
I got up this morning, Tom Day was standing around
If he lose his office now, he's running from town to town 

Let me, tell you folksies just how he treated me
I'm going to tell you folksies just how he treated me
Ah he brought me here and I was drunk as I could be 

The song also describes Merigold, Ms. town marshal Tom Day. Five years later when Patton was back in the recording studio, he had a whole new set of lawmen to sing about. The record company producer had reportedly found Patton locked up in Belzoni, Ms. in Humphreys County where John D. Purvis was sheriff and R. Carlos Webb was his deputy. High Sheriff Blues:

Get in trouble in Belzoni, ain't no use to screaming and cry
Get in trouble in Belzoni, ain't no use to scream and cry
Mr. Webb will take you back to Belzoni jailhouse flying 

Let me tell you folks how he treated me
Let me tell you folks just how he treated me
And he put me in a cellar, it was dark as it could be

It was late one evening, Mr Purvis was standing around
It was late one evening, Mr Purvis was standing around
Mr. Purvis told Mr. Webb to let poor Charley down

It takes booze and booze, Lord to carry me through
It takes booze and booze, Lord to carry me through
Thirty days seem like years in a jailhouse where there is no booze

I got up one morning feeling mmm
I got up one morning feeling mighty bad
And it must not have been them Belzoni jail I had, blues I had

When I was in trouble it ain't no use to scream and cry
When I was in prison, it ain't no use to scream and cry
Mr. Purvis the only man who can ease that pain of mine 

Let’s head across the Mississippi River to Helena, Arkansas where Memphis Minnie sang about the baddest copper ever to walk a beat. I don’t have his real name, but he seems to be a historical figure that the locals called Reachin’ Pete. It’s another one that walks the thin line between explicitly stating how tough the local police were on black people without offending the people you mention and causing even more trouble for yourself. Reachin’ Pete:

When you go to Helena stop on Cherry Street
When you go to Helena stop on Cherry Street
And just ask anybody to show you Reaching Pete

He's the tallest man walks on Cherry Street
He's the tallest man walks on Cherry Street
And the baddest copper ever walked that beat

He met me one sunny morning just about the break of day
Lord, he met me one sunny morning just about the break of day
I was drinking my moonshine he made me throw my knife away

Well he taken my partner, carried her to the jail
Well he taken my partner, carried her to the jail
After he locked her up he turned and went her bail

Reaching Pete's all right but his buddy Old Buzzell
Reaching Pete's all right but his buddy Old Buzzell
Every time he meet you he's ready for plenty hell

Somebody get out of the way too
What you say about it, partner?
Aw, it’s good to me
Looks like to me, you can’t take it

Songs:
Old Jim Canaan's - Robert Wilkins
Mr. Crump Don't Like It - Beale Street Sheiks
Tom Rushen Blues - Charley Patton
High Sheriff Blues - Charley Patton
Reachin' Pete - Memphis Minnie

Show 57 - Ponies and Heifers

These songs are all from men singing about women, specifically young women. And more specifically songs where those young women show up in metaphors about horses and cows. There’s no better place to start than with Charley Patton who recorded several songs with this type of comparison. Here’s the earliest, from 1929, Pony Blues:

Hitch up my pony, saddle up my black mare
Hitch up my pony, saddle up my black mare
I'm gonna find a rider, baby, in the world somewhere
Hello central, what’s the matter with your line?
Hello central, matter, Lord, with your line?
Come a storm last night and tore the wire down
Got a brand new Shetland, man, already trained
Brand new Shetland, baby, already trained
Just get in the saddle, tighten up on your reins
Ain’t a brownskin woman like something fit to eat?
Brownskin woman like something fit to eat
But a jet black woman, don't put your hands on me
Took my baby to meet the morning train
Took baby to meet that morning train
And the blues come down, baby, like showers of rain
I got something to tell you when I get the chance
Something to tell you when I get a chance
I don't wanna marry, just wanna be your man

Big Joe Williams borrowed some of Patton’s ideas when he recorded My Grey Pony in 1935. Interestingly, his song starts with the same pony already trained, but she gets old and gray by the end of the song.

I got me a pony Lord and she already trained
I got me a pony Lord and she already trained
When I get in my bed mama, baby tighten up on your reins
Well I got something to tell you, mama when I get a chance
Mama, I got something to tell you, mama when I get a chance
Well I don't want to marry, baby just want to be your man
I got a brownskin woman, she don't pay me no mind
I got a brownskin woman, she don't pay me no mind
And I know you going to miss me, baby when I leave this town
And I know my woman, she going to scream and cry
Lord, I know my woman, she going to scream and cry
When she gets that letter, baby Lord I pass my ? by
I got me a gray pony down in my pasture somewhere
I got me a gray pony down in my pasture somewhere
I'm going to find my woman baby in this world somewhere

Fare you well, maybe tomorrow or today
Fare you well, mama, maybe tomorrow or today
I want you to know, babe I didn't come here to stay
I ain't got nobody to talk baby talk to me
Well, I ain't got nobody, mama, to talk baby talk to me
Said my mama's getting old, Lord her hair done got grey
Lord my mama she got older now and her hair done got grey
Well well if I break her heart you know, Lord treat her this way
Fare you well, maybe tomorrow or today

Sonny Boy Nelson recorded Pony Blues in 1936

I’m gonna get my pony, put my hands all in its main
I’m gonna let my pony lead me, I’ll defend my vain(?)
When I had my money, friends for miles around
When I had my money, friends for miles around
Since I spent all of my money, none of them can be found
I was born in Texas, but I was raised out on the sandy(?) field
I was born in Texas, but I was raised out on the sandy field
And you know about that baby, can’t make no fat mouth out of me

There are probably even more songs about young cows or heifers than there are about ponies. Charley Patton recorded one of these too. Jersey Bull Blues:

If you’ve got a good bullcow, you ought to keep your bull at home
If you’ve got a good bullcow, you ought to keep your bullcow at home
There may come along a young heifer and just tow your bull from home
Oh my bull's in the pasture babe, Lord where there's no grass
Oh my bull's in the pasture babe, Lord where there's no grass
I swear every minute it seems like it's going to be my last
And my bull got a horn, long as my arm
And my bull got a horn, baby, long as my arm
And my bull got a horn long as my arm
I've an old five pound ax and I'll cut two different ways
I've an old five pound ax and I'll cut two different ways
And I cut my little women both night and day
I've an old five pound ax and I just dropped in your town
I've got an old five pound ax and I just dropped in your town
I got weight enough behind me just drive that old ax on down
And I remember one morning between midnight and day
And I remember one morning between midnight and day
I was way upstairs throwing myself away

Tommy Griffin  recorded young heifer, 1936 for the Bluebird label, singing about that young cow he wants to raise for himself without any interference from the old cows or the bulls:

I got a real young heifer, I’m gonna raise her for myself
I got a real young heifer, raising her for myself
Gonna teach her to love me, not to love nobody else
She’s a mule-headed heifer, I mean she ain’t got no home
She’s a mule-headed heifer, mean she ain’t got no home
Don’t want to catch no milkcow trying t o lead my heifer wrong
Going to build me a pasture, keep her from running around
Going to build me a pasture, keep her from running around
If she gets with a bull, he got to tear my pasture down
When I build my pasture, going to build it well
When I build my pasture, going to build it well
If a bull tears it down, people he’s going to catch some hell
Going to keep her in the pasture, keep her all alone
Going to keep her in the pasture, keep her all alone
So I won’t have so much trouble teaching my heifer right from wrong
Gonna tell all you bulls something, everyone that’s around
Gonna tell all you bulls something, everyone that’s around
If I catch you with my heifer, I’m gonna tear your playhouse down

Mose Andrews also recorded a Young Heifer Blues. He emphasized the importance of feeding her:

If you gotta young heifer, you better feed her good at home
If you gotta young heifer, you better feed her good at home
If you don’t, some bull will pull her away from home
My heifer is strong, I feed her three times a day
My heifer is strong, I feed her three times a day
I believe to my soul, some bull is going my way
If you got a young heifer, you better keep her under your command
If you got a young heifer, you better keep her under your command
If you don’t, some bull will make her understand
I swear before god, you oughta be ashamed of yourself
I swear before god, you oughta be ashamed of yourself
God, I swear, you better hold her by yourself

My heifer young, she won’t let a mule come down
My heifer young, she won’t let a mule come down
If she bares a leg, she will overflow the town

Kokomo Arnold recorded a series of blues about milk cows. Milk Cow Blues No. 4 describes some trouble with a young heifer:

I can't get my milk in the morning, I can't get my cream no more
I can't get my milk in the morning, I can't get my cream no more
And I want somebody to come here, help me get this bull from my door
Says I went out to my barn this morning, he didn't have one word to say
Says I went out to my barn this morning, he didn't have one word to say
He was laying down by my heifer's side, please on a pile of hay
Then I walked away and I hung my head and cried
Said I walked away and I hung my head and cried
Says I feel so lonesome, I ain't got my heifer by my side
Now there's nothing that I could do for that old bull has troubled me
Now there's nothing that I could do for that old bull has troubled me
When I get myself another heifer, I'm going to move back to Tennessee
Says I'm still in love with my milkcow, I just can't stand the way she do
Says I'm still in love with my milkcow, I just can't stand the way she do
I don't mind her drinking her whiskey, but please don't ballyhoo

Black Ace from Dallas, Texas sang about the sweet sounds he heard from his Lowing Heifer:

I’ve been a mighty good bullcow, oh lord, but I’ve gotta go
I’ve been a mighty good bullcow, oh lord, but I’ve gotta go
I found me a pigmeat heifer, I can tell by the way she lows
She lows all night long, you can hear it for a solid mile
She lows all night long, you can hear it for a solid mile
I can’t stand it here alone, I cry just like a child
Oh babe, your bullcow got to go
Oh babe, your bullcow got to go
I can’t stay here no longer, she calls me when she lows
Mama, I’m gone with a horn long as your right arm
Mama, I’m gone with a horn long as your right arm
And when I get to hooking, I’ll have me a brand new happy home
Goodbye, goodbye if I don’t see you no more
Goodbye, mama, if I don’t see you no more
Just remember me at night when you hear that mamlish heifer low

There are countless songs comparing men and women to animals. Most of these singers had backgrounds in the rural South. They would have grown up around ponies, heifers, and admiring at least some aspects of the life of the bull with the long horn, knowing when to keep other bulls away and seeing that the young heifer learn from the old cows. It’s only natural to sing about it. And of course, it’s funny.

Songs:
Pony Blues - Charley Patton
My Grey Pony - Big Joe Williams
Pony Blues - Sonny Boy Nelson
Jersey Bull Blues - Charley Patton
Young Heifer - Tommy Griffin
Young Heifer Blues - Mose Andrews
Milk Cow Blues No. 4 - Kokomo Arnold
Lowing Heifer - Black Ace

Show 54 - The 1930 Drought

In the spring of 1930, a horrible drought began in nearly every Southern state. It was particular tough for those dependent on agricultural work. As supply of crops dwindled, prices dropped with the Depression. People were starving. Mississippi and Arkansas were particular hard hit, so it’s no surprise that there are a few great blues songs about it. Charley Patton recorded Dry Well Blues that year at sessions for Paramount in Grafton Wisconsin focusing on the suffering of folks in his then hometown of Lula, Mississippi:

Way down in Lula, I was living at ease
Way down in Lula, hard living has done hit
Lord, your drought come and caught us, and parched up all the trees

Aw, she stays over in Lula, bid the old town goodbye
Stays in Lula, bidding you the town goodbye
Well it would come to know the day, oh, the Lula well was gone dry

Lord, there are citizens around Lula, all was doing very well
Citizens around Lula, all was doing very well
Now they're in hard luck together??, 'cause rain don't pour nowhere

I ain't got no money and I sure ain't got no home
I ain't got no money and I sure ain't got no home
Hot weather done come in, parched all the cotton and corn

Boy, they tell me the country, Lord, it will make you cry
Lord, country, Lord, it'll make you cry
Most anybody, Lord, hasn't any water nearby

Lord, the Lula women, Lord, putting Lula men down
Lula men, oh, putting Lula men down
Lord, you oughta been there, Lord, the women all leaving town

Also along on those sessions in Grafton were Son House, Willie Brown and pianist Louise Johnson. The story goes that Louise Johnson started out as Charley Patton’s girl, but by the end of the trip from Mississippi to Wisconsin, she was Son House’s girl. If Son House took Patton’s girl, he also seemed to take his theme. He recorded Dry Spell Blues in two parts due to technical limitations on recording length. Unlike Patton’s local focus, Son House shows the universality of the suffering from drought:

Part I:

The dry spell blues have fallen, drug me from door to door
Dry spell blues have fallen, drug me from door to door
The dry spell blues have put everybody on the killing floor

Now the people down South soon won't have no home
Lord, the people down South, soon won't have no home
'Cause this dry spell has parched all this cotton and corn

Hard luck's on everybody, ain't missing but a few
Hard luck's on everybody, ain't missing but a few
Now it’s been dry, oh, ain’t got even a dew

Lord, I fold my arms and I walked away
Lord, I fold my arms and I walked away
Just like I tell you, somebody's got to pray

Pork chops forty-five cents a pound, cotton is only ten
Pork chops forty-five cents a pound, cotton is only ten
I can't keep no women, no not one of them

 So dry old boll weevil turn up his toes and die
So dry old boll weevil turn up his toes and die
No ain't nothing to do, but bootleg moonshine and rye

Part II

It has been so dry, you can make a powderhouse out of the world
Well, it has been so dry, you can make a powderhouse out of the world
And holler money men, like a rattlesnake in his quirl

I done throwed up my hands, Lord, and solemnly swore
I done throwed up my hands, Lord, and solemnly swore
It ain't no need of me changing towns, it's the drought everywhere I go

It's a dry old spell everywhere I’ve been
Oh, it's a dry old spell everywhere I’ve been
I believe to my soul this whole world is bound to end

Well, I stood in my backyard, wrung my hands and screamed
I stood in my backyard, I wrung my hands and screamed
Well, I couldn't see nothing, couldn't see nothing green

Oh, Lord, have mercy if you please
Oh, Lord, have mercy if you please
Let your rain come down and give our poor hearts ease

These blues, these blues is worthwhile to be heard
Oh, these blues, worthwhile to be heard
Lord, it’s even likely bound to rain somewhere

Son House probably wrote that song specifically for the recording session in 1930. He never played it when he returned to music in the 1960s and it’s possible his only performance of it may have been at that studio session.

St. Louis musician Spider Carter recorded a number with the same title as Son House’s song in 1930 singing about the hard times resulting from the drought. Dry Spell Blues:

Dry spell is on, many a man ain’t got no homeDry spell is on, many a man ain’t got no homeThey have caused poor me to wander and roam

I woke up this morning just about half past fourI woke up this morning just about half past fourAll I could feel was my love knocking on my door

Hard times are driving me madHard times are driving me madThey are the worst off feeling that I’ve ever had

It’s so dry down home, most can’t plant cotton and cornIt’s so dry down home, most can’t plant potatoes and cornAnd don’t I miss it, since the dry spell’s been on

Everywhere that I went was nothing but bad newsEverywhere that I went was nothing but bad newsThat’s why I’m singing these lonesome dry spell blues

The great spiritual singer and slide guitar player Blind Willie Johnson also recorded about rain in 1930. He might not have been singing about the drought specifically, but it’s about God’s gift of rain. Willie B. Richardson is the female vocalist.The title is Rain Don’t Fall on Me, but the lyrics sound close to “rain done fell on me:”

Oh the rain, that old rain, that old rain done fell on me
Oh the rain, that old rain, oh the rain, that old rain
that old rain, that old rain done fell on me
Oh the rain, that old rain, oh the rain, that old rain
that old rain, that old rain done fell on me

Don’t you know promise it’s true
It was sent from heaven to you
it was sent to the beloved son of God

Oh the rain, that old rain, that old rain done fell on me
Oh the rain, that old rain, oh the rain, that old rain
that old rain, that old rain done fell on me
It’s for you, it’s for you and your children too

Oh the rain, that old rain, that old rain done fell on me
Oh the rain, that old rain, oh the rain, that old rain
That old rain, that old rain done fell on me

The main reason that the 1930 drought doesn't get much historical attention is that the dust bowl droughts of the mid-1930s overshadow it. Woody Guthrie was the greatest chronicler of that drought in song. He recorded a blues number Dust Bowl Blues:

I just blowed in, and I got them dust bowl blues
I just blowed in, and I got them dust bowl blues
I just blowed in, and I'll blow back out again

I guess you've heard about every kind of blues
I guess you've heard about every kind of blues
But when the dust gets high, you can't even see the sky

I've seen the dust so black that I couldn't see a thing
I've seen the dust so black that I couldn't see a thing
And the wind so cold, boy, it nearly cut your water off

I seen the wind so high that it blowed my fences down
I've seen the wind so high that it blowed my fences down
Buried my tractor six feet underground

Well, it turned my farm into a pile of sand
Yes, it turned my farm into a pile of sand
I had to hit that road with a bottle in my hand

I spent ten years down in that old dust bowl
I spent ten years down in that old dust bowl
When you get that dust pneumonia, boy, it's time to go 

I had a gal and she was young and sweet
I had a gal and she was young and sweet
But a dust storm buried her--sixteen hundred feet 

She was a good gal, long, tall and stout
Yes, she was a good gal, long, tall and stout
I had to get a steam shovel just to dig my darling out

These dusty blues are the dustiest ones I know
These dusty blues are the dustiest ones I know
Buried head over heels in the black old dust, I had to pack up and go
And I just blowed in and I'll soon blow out again

Further reading: Luigi Monge's essay on Son House's Dry Spell Blues in the David Evans book Ramblin' On My Mind and Nan Woodruff's book As Rare as Rain about the drought and federal assistance programs providing relief.

Songs:
Dry Well Blues - Charley Patton
Dry Spell Blues Parts 1 and 2 - Son House
Dry Spell Blues - Spider Carter
Rain Don't Fall on Me - Blind Willie Johnson
Dust Bowl Blues - Woody Guthrie

Show 40 - Boll Weevil Blues

The boll weevil--its a beetle that's less than a quarter of an inch long, but capable of destroying entire crops of cotton. In the 1920s, the boll weevil infested virtually every cotton growing area in the United States. To singers in these areas, the boll weevil became simultaneously a disaster that could destroy someone's livelihood and something that could be identified with. A seemingly powerless creature capable of completely subverting the goals of the agricultural ruling class. Its no surprise that one of the Mississippi delta's great storytellers wrote and recorded a song about the boll weevil. Charley Patton recorded Mississippi Bo Weavil at his first recording session in 1929 but there are reports of him playing the song a early as 1908 when the boll weevil might first have shown up at Dockery plantation where he lived.

It's a little boll weevil moving in the .... lord
You can plant your cotton and you won't get half a bale, lord
Boll weevil boll weevil, where's your little home?
"Louisiana and Texas is where I'm bred and born, lord"

Well I saw the boll weevil, Lord a‑circle Lord in the air, lord
The next time I seen him, Lord he had his family there, lord
Boll weevil left Texas, Lord he bid me fare you well, lord
Where you going now?

"I'm going down to Mississippi, going to give Louisiana hell"
Boll weevil told the farmer that I ain't going to treat you fair
Took all the blossoms and leave you an empty square
Next time I seen you, you have your family there, lordy

Boll weevil and his wife went and sit down on the hill
Boll weevil told his wife let's take this forty in
Boll weevil told his wife, I believe I may go north, lord

Aw, I won't tell nobody

Let's leave Louisiana and go to Arkansas
Well I saw the boll weevil, Lord a‑circle Lord in the air, lord
Next time I seen him, lord he had his family there, lord
Boll weevil told the farmer that I ain't going to treat you fair

...
Boll weevil boll weevil where your little home?
"Most anywhere they raise cotton and corn, lord"
Boll weevil boll weevil call that treating me fair, lord
Next time I seen you, you had your family there

Paramount Records originally released Mississippi Boweavil Blues under the artist name "The Masked Marvel." The song tells the story of the Boll Weevil coming from Texas and spreading throughout the South. Ma Rainey also sang about the boll weevil being everywhere you go in her 1923 recording Bo-Weavil Blues:

Hey boll weevil, don't sing the blues no more
Hey hey boll weevil, don't sing the blues no more
Boll weevils here, boll weevils everywhere you go

I'm a lone boll weevil, been out a great long time
I'm a lone boll weevil, been out a good long time
I'm going to tell you people, the evil boll weevil loves some vine

I don't want no man to put no sugar in my tea
I don't want no man to put no sugar in my tea
That bug is so evil, I'm afraid it might poison me

I went downtown and bought me a hat
I brought it back home, I put it on the shelf
Looked at my bed, I'm getting tired of sleeping by myself

Harmonica player Jaybird Coleman also recorded a boll weevil song. Its one of the many that explicitly compares the boll weevil to a man out to give the farmer a hard time. Boll Weevil Blues:

Boll weevil boll weevil you think you treat me wrong
Eat up all of my cotton, you done started on my corn

...
If you don't let me have it, down the road I'm going

Boll weevil's got mustache, boll weevil's got hands
Sometimes he's walking in the tall canes, just like a natural man

Boll Weevil told the farmer
... your cotton, plant it in your yard

Blind Willie McTell recorded a great take on the Boll Weevil theme:

Boll Weevil, Boll Weevil where you get your great long bill?
"I got it from Texas, I got it from the western hills."
"I got it from Texas, I got it from the western hills."

Boll Weevil, he told the farmer, said "don't you buy no more pills,"
"You aint gonna make enough money to pay your drugstore bills."
"You aint gonna make enough money to even pay your drugstore bills"

Boll Weevil, he told the farmer, "don't you plow no more."
"Ain't gonnna make enough flour in your back door."
"Ain't gonnna make enough flour to even put in your back door."

Boll Weevil, he told the farmer, "don't buy no Ford machine"
"You aint gonna make enough money to even buy gasoline."
"Aint gonna make enough money to even buy gasoline.

Boll Weevil said to the farmer, "don't buy no fields"
"You aint gonna make enough money to even buy your meal."
"Won't make enough money to even buy your meal."

Boll Weevil, Boll Weevil where you say you got your great long bill?
"I got it from Texas, out in the western hills."
"Way out in the panhandle, out in the Western hills."

Boll Weevil ballads were recorded by dozens of artists in the 20s and 30s. The black singer's identification with the boll weevil is clear, some singers even took Boll Weevil for their name. The best know recorded for Vocalion under the name Sam Butler. His real name was probably James Jackson, but he's known best from the name on his Paramount recording, Bo Weavil Jackson. Devil and My Brown Blues is his take on the boll weevil.

Charlie Dad Nelson recorded another song about the interaction between farmer and boll weevil, Cotton Field Blues:

Boll weevil, boll weevil, where did you come from?
Boll weevil, boll weevil, where did you come from?
From Beaumont Texas, I'm just over here on the farm

Farmer said to the boll weevil, don't you know you doing me wrong?
Farmer said to the boll weevil, don't you know you doing me wrong?
Eat up all my cotton and eat up all my corn

Says I'm going to town to buy a little gasoline
Says I'm going to town to buy a little gasoline
He's the worst boll weevil I believe I ever seen

With Let Me Be Your Boll Weevil, Lee Brown took a different take on the boll weevil, finding the sexual metaphor in its burrowing inside of the cotton boll.

Dozens of field recordings were made of boll weevil songs. Check out the Document Records collection, Boll Weevil Here, Boll Weevil Everywhere. Finious "Flat Foot" Rockmore recorded one of the more memorable versions.

Songs about the Boll Weevil were recorded in every cotton state. The devastation caused by the little bug had a tremendous impact on the lives of those connected to agriculture. The weevil seemed indestructible and did its work in secret, hatching in the boll to consume from within. You can see why it might appeal to those oppressed by the agricultural system in the American South. The boll weevil continued to frequently destroy crops in North America until the US Department of Agriculture started the Boll Weevil Eradication Program in 1978. Now, the weevil may not be the force it once was, but the songs testify to its ability to wreak havoc with the agricultural ruling class.


Songs:
Mississippi Boweavil Blues - Charley Patton
Bo-Weavil Blues - Ma Rainey
Boll Weevil - Jaybird Coleman
Boll Weevil - Blind Willie McTell
Devil And My Brown Blues - Boweavil Jackson
Cotton Field Blues - Charlie "Dad" Nelson
Let Me Be Your Bo Weavil- Lee Brown
Boll Weevil - Finious "Flat Foot" Rockmore

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

Show 29 - Dealing with the Law

Show 29 - Dealing with the Law

One of the most difficult thing about living in a discriminatory society is having the law work against you rather than to protect you. This situation for African-Americans in the Jim Crow era is well documented. Even lawyers of the time referred to an unwritten “negro law” that treated black men without regard to their rights. This was implemented at every level of justice from the police to the courthouse to the prisons and jails. Reminiscent of slavery times, black men and woman would need the protection of white man to avoid ending in trouble with local police. This protection would often be unavailable for someone living a blues lifestyle. A huge number of blues songs were recorded about dealing with the law.
Bo Carter expressed the trouble that can come from a black man having even a little alcohol in the age of prohibition in his 1931 song “The Law Gonna Step on You”:

I done told you to quit hounding liquor and gambling too
Look here baby you going too fast, the law's gonna step on your... yes, yes, yes

Now you can twist you can twist you can step on it's tail, you're gonna need someone to post your bail
Look here baby your going too fast, the law's gonna step on your... yes, yes, yes

Now you may think that they're doing you wrong, but they'll send you to the county farm
Look here baby your going to fast, the law's gonna step on your... yes, yes, yes

Now if you wanna leave from home and muck around with a bottle of corn
Look here baby you're traveling too fast, the law's gonna step on your... yes, yes, yes

Memphis musician Robert Wilkins recorded “Police Sergeant Blues” in 1930. The song equates trouble with his woman to trouble with the law. He describes the inevitability of a sentence once the police come for you.

I am going to tell the judge, I know that I done wrong
You go and get some lawyers to come and go my bond
I know the judge is going to give me thirty long days

Charley Patton liked to sing about events and characters in his native Mississippi. He recorded two songs about local sheriffs. The first, “Tom Rushen Blues” from 1929 described Patton's arrest by Merigold, Mississippi sheriff Tom Rushing. The second 1934's “High Sheriff Blues” told a similar story about an arrest in Belzoni and Patton's treatment at the hands of Humphreys County sheriff John Purvis and his deputy R. Carlos Webb:

Get in trouble at Belzoni, there ain't no use screamin' and cryin'
Get in trouble in Belzoni, there ain't no use-a screamin' and cryin'
Mr. Webb will take you, back to Belzoni jailhouse flyin'
Let me tell you folks, how he treated me
Let me tell you folks, how he treated me
And he put me in a cell, it was dark as it could be

There I laid one evening, Mr. Purvis was standing 'round
There I laid one evening, Mr. Purvis was standing 'round
Mr. Purvis told Mr. Webb to let poor Charley down

It takes booze and booze, Lord, to carry me through
Takes booze and booze, Lord, to carry me through
But it did seem like years in a jailhouse where there is no booze
I got up one morning, feeling oh
I got up one morning feeling mighty bad
And it must not a-been them Belzoni jail I had
(spoken: Blues I had, boys)
I was in trouble, ain't no use screaming
When I was in prison, it ain't no use screaming and crying
Mr. Purvis the onliest man could ease that pain of mine

In his song "Shelby County Workhouse Blues," Hambone Willie Newbern sang about the difficulties in court and the inability for a man like Newbern to make his case:

Well the lawyers talk so fast, didn't have time to say not nary word
Well the lawyer pleaded, and the judge he done wrote it down
Says I'll give you ten days buddy, out in little old Shelby town

Newbern represents the typical experience for a black man in court in the 20s or 30s, however there were a few lawyers that provided exceptions to the rule. Sleepy John Estes recorded a song about one lawyer who acted as a true advocate for his client.

But you know I like Mr Clark, yes he really is my friend
He say if I just stay out of the grave, he see that I won't go to the pen

Now Mr Clark is a lawyer, his younger brother is too
When the battles get hard, he tell him just what to do
I like Mr Clark, yes he is my friend
He say if I just stay out of the grave, he see that I won't go to the pen

Now he lawyers for the rich, he lawyers for the poor
He don't try to rob nobody; just bring along to the store
Now once I got in trouble, you know I was going to take a ride
He didn't let it reach the courthouse, he kept it on the outside
you know I like Mr Clark, yes he really is my friend
He say if I just stay out of the graveyard, Poor John I see you won't go to the pen

Now Mr Clark is a good lawyer, he good as I ever seen
He the first man that proved, that water run upstream

Blind Blake recorded a song about being thrown in jail and he wished someone would have told him "What a Low Down Place the Jailhouse Is." In the song, Blake was thrown in jail by a judge. Even worse than getting sent to jail for a few weeks was being sentenced to the state prison, Leroy Carr's “Prison Bound Blues” describes the feeling of knowing your headed to the penitentiary and losing the life you enjoyed.

Early one morning the blues came falling down
Early one morning the blues came falling down
All locked up in jail, I'm prison bound

All last night, I sat in my cell alone
All last night, I sat in my cell alone
Thinking of my baby and my happy home

Baby you will never see my smiling face again
Baby you will never see my smiling face again
But always remember your daddy has been your friend

Sometimes I wonder why don't your write to me
Sometimes I wonder why don't your write to me
If I've been a bad fellow, I did not intend to be
When I had my trial baby, you could not be found
When I had my trial baby, you could not be found
It's too late now mistreating mama, I'm prison bound.

The number of blues songs about police, lawyers, judges, jails, and prisons testifies to the difficulty of dealing with the law for those living a blues lifestyle. Though the stories of lynching and and murder are told frequently, its fortunate that we have these songs to help document the smaller problems with the law that African-Americans could have on a nearly daily basis in the Jim Crow South. These could include being thrown in jail without a second thought from a police officer and being sentenced without little more consideration from a judge. That's particularly true for those living an itinerant lifestyle like many bluesmen did.

Songs:
The Law is Gonna Step on You - Bo Carter
High Sheriff Blues - Charley Patton
Police Sergeant Blues - Robert Wilkins
Shelby County Workhouse Blues - Hambone Willie Newbern
Lawyer Clark Blues - Sleepy John Estes
What a Low Down Place the Jailhouse Is - Blind Blake
Prison Bound Blues - Leroy Carr

Show 20 - Death Tributes

Show 20 - Death Tributes

Songs:
Death of Leroy Carr - Bumble Bee Slim and Scrapper Blackwell
Death of Blind Boy Fuller - Brownie McGhee
Oh Death - Charley Patton and Bertha Lee
Death of Walter Barnes - Leonard 'Baby Doo' Caston
Death of Holmes' Mule - Charlie Turner and Winston Holmes
Death of Sonny Boy Williamson - Peck Curtis and Houston Stackhouse

Show 6 - High Water: Songs of the Mississippi Flood of 1927

Show 6 - High Water: Songs of the Mississippi Flood of 1927


High Water Everywhere Part 1 - Charley Patton
High Water Everywhere Part 2 - Charley Patton
The Flood Blues - Sippie Wallace
When the Levee Breaks - Kansas Joe and Memphis Minnie
Rising High Water Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson
Mississippi Heavy Water Blues - Barbecue Bob

Show 1 - Cocaine Blues

The Memphis Jug Band recorded Cocaine Habit Blues with Hattie Hart on lead vocals in 1930.  That was towards the end of a cocaine craze and you can hear Hart mention that cocaine is going out of style:

Cocaine habit mighty bad
It's the worst old habit that I ever had
Hey, hey, honey take a whiff on me


I went to Mr Beaman's in a lope
Saw a sign on the window said no more dope
Hey, hey, honey take a whiff on me


If you don't believe cocaine is good
Ask Alma Rose at Minglewood
Hey, hey, honey take a whiff on me


I love my whiskey and I love my gin
But the way I love my coke is a doggone sin
Hey, hey, honey take a whiff on me


Since cocaine went out of style
You can catch them shooting needles all the while
Hey, hey, honey take a whiff on me


It takes a little coke to give me ease
Strut your stuff long as you please
Hey, hey, honey take a whiff on me

The drug was made illegal in the US in 1914 by the Harrison Narcotics Act.  So by 1930 it was recognized as a dangerous drug and was no longer commonly used like it was in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century when it was legal.  But coke was still around frequently enough to have quite a few songs written about it in the late 20s and early 30s.  So I wanted to play a few of those records.

Let’s get away from Beale Street in Memphis and head to my home state of Virginia.  Luke Jordan was from Lynchburg, Virginia, which is Jerry Falwell country now, but it was a different story back in 1927.  Here’s Luke Jordan with Cocaine Blues:

Oh come on gal, don't you take me for no fool
I'm not going to quit you pretty mama while the weather's cool
Around your back door says honey I'm going to creep
As long as you make your two and a half a week


Now I got a girl, she works in the white folk's yard
She brings me meal, I can swear she brings some lard
She brings me meat, she brings me lard
She brings everything I swear that she can steal


Now Barnum Bailey Circus came to town
They had a dancer looking good and brown
They didn't know it was against the law
But the monkey stopped at a Fine drugstore


Stepped around the corner just a minute too late
Another one sitting there at the big back gate
I’m simply wild about my good cocaine


I called my Cora, hey hey
She come on sniffing with her nose all sore
The doctor's gone going to sell no more
Say run doctor, ring the bell
The women in the alley
I’m simply wild about my good cocaine


Now the furniture man came to my house it was last Sunday morn
He asked me was my wife at home and I told she has long been gone
He backed his wagon up to my door, took everything I had
He carried it back to the furniture store and I swear I did feel sad


What in the world has anyone got dealing with the furniture man?
If you've got no dough, to stand up for sure, he certainly will drag you back
He will take everything from an earthly plant, from the skillet to a frying pan
If there ever was a devil born without any horns, it must have been the furniture man.


I called my Cora, hey hey
She come on sniffing with her nose all sore
Doctor swore gonna smell no more
Saying coke's for horses not women or men
The doctors say it'll kill you, but they didn't say when
I’m simply wild about my good cocaine


Now the baby's in the cradle in New Orleans, it kept a-whipping till it got so mean
It kept a-whipping had to fix it so
The joke with laughter, fell on more(??)
Saying, run doctor, ring the bell, the women in the alley
I'm simply wild about my good cocaine


I called my Cora, hey hey
She come on sniffing with her nose all sore
The doctor swore she's gonna smell no more
Saying, run doctor, ring the bell, the women in the alley
I'm simply wild about my good cocaine

That’s Luke Jordan – simply wild about his good cocaine.  Jordan recorded only 12 sides but he was very influential around Virginia and the East Coast.  One fan of his was a West Virginia coal mine worker by the name of Dick Justice.  In 1929, Justice recorded his own version of Cocaine Blues.  He might have seen Jordan play, but its clear from listening that Justice learned  the song from Jordan’s record.  It’s interesting to hear a white man sing the song and keep lyrics like “I’ve got a girl that works in the white folks yard.  She brings me meal I swear she brings me lard.  She brings everything that a girl can steal.”  

Charley Patton was the biggest blues musician in the Mississippi Delta in the 1920s.  He recorded his take on cocaine addiction in 1929 with A Spoonful Blues. Listen to how Patton uses the slide guitar to finish his vocal lines.  After the first line of the song, Patton never says the word spoonful with his voice.  He lets his guitar do the talking.  Charley Patton is a little less positive about cocaine than some of the other singers.  He really gets at the intensity of addiction in that song.  He sings “All I want in this creation is a spoonful.  Would you kill a man? Yes, I will kill just about a spoonful.”

(spoken: I'm about to go to jail about this spoonful)
In all a-spoon, about that spoonful
The women going crazy, every day in their life about a...


It's all I want, in this creation is a...
I go home (spoken: wanna fight!) about a...
Doctor's dying (way in Hot Springs)
About a...
These women going crazy every day in their life about a...


Would you kill a man dead? (spoken: yes, I will!) just about a...
Oh babe, I'm a fool about my...


(spoken: Don't take me long!) to get my...
Hey baby, you know I need my...
It's mens on Parchman (done lifetime) just about a...


Hey baby, (spoken: you know I ain't long) about my...
It's all I want (spoken: honey, in this creation) is a...
I go to bed, get up and wanna fight about a...


(spoken: Look-y here, baby, would you slap me? Yes I will!) just about a...
Hey baby,
(spoken: you know I'm a fool about my...
Would you kill a man?
(spoken: Yes I would, you know I'd kill him)
just about a...
Most every man (spoken: that you see is)
fool about his...


(spoken: You know baby, I need)
that old...
Hey baby,
(spoken: I wanna hit the judge about a)
About a...
(spoken: Baby, you gonna quit me? Yeah honey!)
just About a...
It's all I want, baby, this creation is a...
(spoken: look here, baby, I'm leaving town!)
just about a...
Hey baby, (spoken: you know I need)
that old...
(spoken: Don't make me mad, baby!)
Cause I want my...
Hey baby, I'm a fool about that...
(spoken: Look-y here, honey!)
I need that...


Most every man leaves without a...
Sundays mean (spoken: I know they are)
about a...
Hey baby, (spoken: I'm sneakin' around here)
and ain't got me no...
Oh, that spoonful, hey baby, you know I need my...

That transcription is based on the one in the Screamin’ and Hollerin’ the Blues - The Worlds of Charley Patton box set by Dick Spottswood.

Charley Jordan recorded his version of the song for the Vocalion record label in 1930 with the title, Just a Spoonful

All I crave, this creation is a spoonful
Big fat mules, little plantation and a spoonful
I want some, just a spoonful
Just a spoonful, just a spoonful


I smacked the judge and I go to jail for a spoonful
I go to jail, I don’t want no bail for a spoonful
My baby says I couldn’t get that spoonful
I said “Look here gal, don’t you fool with me about my spoonful”


I walk the street all night long looking for my spoonful
Spoonful, for my spoonful
I said “Look here gal, don’t you fool with me about my spoonful”


It’s a spoonful, just a spoonful
My baby cried all night long for a spoonful
She thought that she wasn’t gonna get that little old spoonful


Police caught me, he knocked me down for a spoonful
I caught the train, I left the town for a spoonful

These songs marked the end of the cocaine era of the first few decades of the last century as other drugs grew in popularity, cocaine faded away not to be the popular drug until a reemergence in the 60s and full blown popularity in the seventies and eighties when we got songs like White Lines and the Eric Clapton/John Cale piece, Cocaine.  If you ask me, the Memphis Jug Band, Luke Jordan, Charley Patton and the others did a better job with the coke songs back in the late 20s and early 30s. 

Show 1 – Cocaine Blues
Cocaine Habit Blues - Memphis Jug Band
Cocaine Blues - Luke Jordan
Cocaine - Dick Justice
Spoonful Blues - Charlie Patton
Just a Spoonful - Charley Jordan