Show 56 - Delivery Man Blues

In the pre-war period, people were dependent on delivery men coming to their doors with the necessities of life: coal to keep warm, ice to keep food fresh, and that food itself was often delivered. There were also plumbers and other repairmen showing up at your home. These men were necessary, but the way a lot of blues singers saw it they were trouble. A man showing up at your house when your woman is home alone couldn’t do any good. Washboard Sam recorded a song about it that became a classic - We Gonna Move:

When I get you mama, we going to move on the outskirts of town
When I get you mama, we going to move on the outskirts of town
Because I don't want nobody always hanging around

Well the reason mama, I don't want you to stay here
I don't need no iceman, I'm going to get me a frigidaire
That's why I'm going to move on the outskirts of town
Because sweet baby, I don't want no iceman hanging around

Well I'm going to heat with gas mama and not with coal
I don't need no coalman stopping and hauling coal
That's why we going to move on the outskirts of town
Because I don't want no coalman always hanging around

Well I'm going to bring my groceries mama myself every day
That’s going to keep that grocery boy, I know, away
That's what I'm going to do when we move on the outskirts of town
Because I don't want no delivery boy always hanging around

Well it may be funny mama, as funny as can be
If we have any babies, I want them all to look like me
That's why I'm going to move on the outskirts of town
Because I don't want nobody always hanging around

Blind Boy Fuller recorded the same song a few months after Washboard Sam. His version was titled I'm Going to Move (To the Edge of Town):

I‘m gonna take my baby and move on to the edge of town
Yes, I‘m gonna take my baby, gonna move on out of your town
‘Cause I don't want nobody always hanging around

Now the reason why, now baby, I don't want you to stay here
I don't need no iceman, I'm going to get me a Frigidaire
That’s what I’m gonna do mama, when I move on out of your town
Yes, I don’t want nobody always hanging around

Then I’m going to heat with gas mama and not with coal
I ain’t gonna have no coalman stopping and hauling coal
That’s why mama, I’m gonna move on out of this town
Cause I don’t want nobody, always hanging around

Well I'm going to bring my groceries baby, myself every day
That’s going to keep that grocery boy, I know, away
That’s why I’m gonna do when I move on out of your town
Cause I don’t want no grocery boy always hanging around

I may be funny mama, funny as daddy can be
If we raise any babies, I want them all to look like me
That’s why I’m gonna do when I move on out of your town
Cause I don’t want nobody, always hanging around

Papa Charlie Jackson took a different perspective with Coal Man Blues in 1927. His song was about the coal man on the road whose woman was at home alone:

I get up early in the morning, sweet mama and I comb and curry my horse
I get up early in the morning, sweet mama and I comb and curry my horse
Because I don't want nobody not to see my pa

Then I go up to the coal pile, get me a thing of ? coal
Then I go up to the coal pile, get me a thing of ? coal
Then I get on my wagon, then I'm a coal‑traveling soul

I ought to tell ‘em how much for coal: thirty‑five cents a bag
I ought to tell ‘em how much for coal: thirty‑five cents a bag
And if you want to know my name, just look around on my sack

I got on my wagon, trying my best to sell my coal
I got on my wagon, trying my best to sell my coal
My baby's back home serving my jellyroll

Now a lot of you women, some of you ought to be put in jail
Now a lot of you women, some of you all ought to be put in jail
Some standing on the corner trying to get themselves in jail

I’ve got coal
I’m selling coal
I’m selling coal
I’m delivering coal

Baby, baby, baby can’t you see your papa’s got coal?

Peg Leg Howell recorded Coal Man Blues about a tragedy involving a coalman on the road:

Woke up this morning 'bout 5 o'clock
Got me some eggs and a nice pork chop, cheap cigar and a magazine
Had to run pretty fast to catch the 5:15

Let me tell you something that I seen
Coal man got run over by the 5:15
Cut off his arms and it crushed his ribs, did the poor man die? No, the poor man lived

Let me tell you something that I know
Coal man got run over by the 5:44
Cut off his arms and it crushed his head, did the poor man die? No, the poor man lived

Hard coal, stovewood, man
Hard coal and the stovewood man
I ain't got but a little bit left, if you don't come get it, gonna burn it myself

Just the wood in the stove and the match in your hand
Get the wood in the stove and the match in your hand
Wood in the stove and the match in your hand
You run to the door and stop to tell the coal man

Sell it to the rich and I sell it to the poor
Sell it to the rich and I sell it to the poor
Sell it to the rich and I sell it to the poor
I sell it to the nice brown standing in the door

Furnish your wood, furnish your coal
Furnish your wood and I furnish your coal
Furnish your wood and I furnish your coal
Make you love me, doggone your soul

I've got your water, got your gas
Got your water and got your gas
Got your water and I've got your gas
You treat me mama, then that’s your last

Let me tell you, mama, what's the matter now
Let me tell you, mama, what's the matter now
Let me tell you, mama, what's the matter now
You don't want me, take me anyhow

Sweet mama, sweet mama, what's on your mind?
Mama, sweet mama, what's on your mind?
Mama, sweet mama, what's on your mind?
Says, "You can't quit me, no need of trying”

I'm going up the country, don't you want to go?
Going up the country, don't you want to go?
Going up the country, don't you want to go?
Leaving here, ain't coming back no more

Me and my rider and two or three more
Me and my rider and two or three more
Me and my rider and two or three more
We're going up the country don't you want to go?

Went down the road, feeling bad
Went down the road, mama, feeling bad
Went down the road, mama, feeling bad
I feel so worried as I ever had

Me and my
Me and my mama and two or three more
Me and my brown, two or three more
Going up the country don't you want to go?

Going away and it won't be long
Going away and it won't be long
Going away and it won't be long
Don't believe I'm leaving, count the days I'm gone

Sonny Boy Williamson sang about wanting to be a coalman or an iceman who can visit women in their homes. Coal and Iceman Blues:

Lord, I would love to be your iceman, but I would like to be your coalman too
I said, I would love to be your iceman, but then, and I would wanna be your coalman too
Now, you wouldn't be telling your coalman, you know what your iceman do

I'm going to give you my phone number, so you can call Sonny Boy up everyday
I'm going to give you my phone number, so you can call Sonny Boy up everyday
Now you need any ice or coal, you must let Sonny Boy know right away

Now, I believe you need some ice, baby, your ice has done gotten old
I believe you need some ice, baby, your ice has done gotten old
Now I won't disturb none of your people, baby, I'll ease it in through your back door

Now tell me what the matter with your basement? I don't believe you use Sonny Boy's coal no more
Oh, tell me what the matter with your basement? I don't believe you use Sonny Boy's coal no more
Well, I always been nice to you, I would bring it in through your back door

Sonny Boy was offering ice and coal to get into that woman’s house as often as he could. In a similar vein, Bo Carter offered absolutely any service that you could possible need. It’s one of Bo Carter’s classic example of that sexual innuendo that can barely be considered innuendo, All-Around Man from 1936:

Now I ain't no butcher, no butcher's son
I can do your cutting 'til the butcher man comes
'Cause I'm a all-around man, oh I'm an all-around man
I'm mean I’m an all-around man, I can do most anything that comes to hand

Now I ain't no plumber, no plumber's son
I can do your screwing ‘til the plumber man comes
'Cause I'm an all-around man, oh I'm an all-around man
I mean I'm an all-around man, I can do most anything that comes to hand

Now I ain't no miller, no miller's son
I can do your grinding ‘til the miller man comes
'Cause I'm an all-around man, oh I'm an all-around man
I mean I’m an all-around man, I can do most anything that comes to hand

Now I ain't no milkman, no milkman's son
I can pull your titties 'til the milkman comes
'Cause I'm an all-around man, oh I'm an all-around man
I mean I'm an all-around man, I can do most anything that comes to hand

Now I ain't no spring man, no spring man's son,
I can bounce your springs 'til the spring man comes
'Cause I'm an all-around man, oh I'm an all-around man
I mean I'm an all-around man, I can do most anything that comes to hand

Now I ain't no auger man, no auger man's son
I can blow your hole 'til the auger man comes
'Cause I'm an all-around man, oh I'm an all-around man
I mean I'm an all-around man, I can do most anything that comes to hand

Bluesmen both feared delivery and service men coming to their house and wanted to be those men. Having your woman cheat on you is the ultimate blues situation and these are some great songs about being on . You can try and avoid the ice man with new technology like the frigidaire, but in the world of the blues a man with the woman home alone means trouble and it seem to be unavoidable.


Songs:
We Gonna Move - Washboard Sam
I'm Gonna Move (to the Edge of Town) - Blind Boy Fuller
Coal Man Blues - Papa Charlie Jackson
Coal Man Blues - Peg Leg Howell
Coal and Ice Man Blues - Sonny Boy Williamson
All Around Man - Bo Carter

Show 30 - Prison Blues

Show 30 - Prison Blues

After taking a look at justice and the law, I thought I'd continue with a focus on prisons and songs that describe life in the penitentiary. Furry Lewis sang about the inevitability of ending up in the penitentiary once he ended up in the court of Judge Harsh. Furry Lewis singing about heading to prison despite never having harmed a man. His woman offers money to the judge, but its not enough to keep the penitentiary from becoming his home.

They arrest me for murder, I ain't never harmed a man
Women hollered murder and I ain't raised my hand...
Because I'm arrested baby, please don't grieve and moan
Penitentiary seems just like my home
People all hollering about what in the world they will do
Lots of people had justice and been in penitentiary too

Field recordings from Southern penitentiaries were a frequent pursuit of folklorists recording for the Library of Congress or universities. Alan Lomax recorded some remarkable songs by prisoners about their experiences including a harmonica feature from a man known only as Alex and a haunting vocal from Tangle Eye.

Prison Blues

Well now yall be standing around the courthouse babe
Lord knows when Judge Davis(?) give me my time
Lord yall be standing around the courthouse
When Judge Davis give me my time
When I begin to leave my baby crying
Lord knows Mr. Judge you give him too long
Said now that’s all right baby lord
knows I’ll make it over one old day
Said now that’s all right baby I’ll make
it over one old day
Now some of the days soon, I’ll make it back home
Now fare you well, fare you well babe
Lord knows I’m on my last go-round
Now fare you well, fare you well
Lord knows I’m on my last go-round
Well you know if I can live to be in this town
Babe I won’t be hollering
down in prison no more

Tangle Eye:

Oh Lord
Well I wonder will I ever get back home?
Oh Lord
Well it must have been the devil that pulled me here
more down and out
Oh Lord… if I ever get back home, I’ll never do wrong
If I can just make it home I won’t do wrong no more
Lord I won’t do wrong no more
Lord I left mae will and the baby in the courthouse crying daddy please don’t go
Lord I’ll be back home
Well, Lord I’ll be home one day before long
Away from here
Lord I been here rolling but it stays so long
Lord I’m down and out... must be
Come and see what’s done happened to me
Lord If I’d listened to what my dear old mother said
But she’s dead and gone, Lord she’s dead and gone
But I’m gonna do now

Many commercial blues singers also concerned themselves with the prison experience including Blind Lemon Jefferson's "Prison Cell Blues" from 1928.

Got a red eyed captain : and a squabbling boss
Got a mad dog sergeant
honey and he won't knock off
I asked the government to knock some days off my time
Well the way I'm treated, I'm about to lose my mind
I wrote to the governor, please turn me a loose
Since I didn't get no answer I know it ain't no use
I hate to turn over and find my rider gone

Aside from his loneliness, Jefferson sang about the difficulties with his captain, boss, and sergeant. These were common complaints for the prisoner. Jefferson also refers to writing to the governor. That was common for many prisoners, usually to no avail. However, letters to the governor or a judge accompanied by the support of a local white man, who might need the black prisoner, for his own labor, at times were enough to allow the release of a convict in the Deep South (this includes John and Alan Lomax influencing Governor Oscar K. Allen of Louisiana to grant Leadbelly his second pardon).

Peg Leg Howell recorded several songs about crimes and prison. In "Ball and Chain Blues" recorded in Atlanta in 1929, he sings a song about the hard labor that comes with a sentence. Labor was a constant in Southern prisons and it took various forms. Howell discusses being part of a chain gang working in a mine.

I asked the judge what might be my fine
Get a pick and shovel, dig down in the mine
I told the judge, I ain't been here before
If you give me light sentence, I won't come here no more

Mr judge Mr judge, please don't break so hard
I always been a poor boy, never hurt no John
So the next day they carried the poor boy away
Said the next day I had a ball and chain
Take the stripes off my back, chains from around my legs
This ball and chain about to kill me dead

Howell served time in Georgia prison camps for bootlegging offenses. He knew
what it was like to endure physical labor for the state as a prisoner. Chain
gang work had a reputation for harshness, but equally harsh systems in states
like Mississippi with Parchman Farm and Louisiana with Angola penitentiary had
their prisoners work the fields of a prison plantation. Nearly all observers
remarked on the similarities between these prisons and the systems of plantation
slavery that had ended decades earlier in those same states. Bukka White
recorded two songs about prison including "Parchman Farm Blues," recounting his
experience there.

Judge give me life this morning down on Parchman Farm
I wouldn't hate it so bad but I left my wife and my home
Oh goodbye wife all you have done gone
But I hope some day you will hear my lonesome song

Oh listen men I don't mean no harm
If you want to do good you better stay off of Parchman Farm
We goes to work in the morning just the dawn of day
Just at the setting of the sun, that's when the work is done

I'm down on old Parchman Farm, I sure want to go back home
But I hope some day I will overcome

Parchman Farm's crops created a huge amount of revenue for the state of Mississippi creating an incentive to imprison laborers for the fields. The prison's brutality was the stuff of legend. One of the few ways to be released early, was for one prisoner to kill another that was thought to be trying to escape. The state farms and the chain gangs held many in an era when hard labor was the punishment for those who ended up in prisons, some guilty of violent crimes, others lesser offenses that still violated the Jim Crow system. This include countless blues musicians who recorded dozens of songs that create a fascinating document of prisons in the 20s and 30s.

Further reading: Worse than Slavery: Parchman Farm and the Ordeal of Jim Crow Justice by David M. Oshinksy, Blues Fell this Morning: Meaning in the Blues (Goin' to take a rap chapter) by Paul Oliver.


Songs:
Judge Harsh Blues - Furry Lewis
Prison Blues - Alex
Tangle Eye Blues - Tangle Eye
Prison Cell Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson
Prison Wall Blues - Gus Cannon
Ball and Chain Blues - Peg Leg Howell
Parchman Farm Blues - Bukka White