Show 52 - Ford Blues

Transportation is one of the most common themes in the blues. These were men and women who like to get around. Walking and trains come up often, but by the 1920s when recording blues became common, it was the car that was dominating American culture. Blues musicians sang about all kinds of makes and modes, but this time we’re gonna look at songs about Fords. The mass production of the Model T had made Ford the car of the people. A lot of bluesmen may have wanted a Cadillac, but they were driving a Ford.

In DB Blues, Blind Lemon Jefferson singing about a few different kinds of cars after he shows up in his new Ford:

(Oh, here come Lemon in that new Ford sedan. Oh, listen to the motor roar.)


Who is that coming, hey, with his motor so strong?
I say, who is that coming, hey, with his motor so strong?
That's Lemon and his DB, people thinks he's got his good luck(?) on


Gonna get out of my four-cylinder Dodge, I'm gonna get me a Super Six
Get out of my four-cylinder Dodge, get me a Super Six
I'm always around the ladies, and I like to have my business fixed


I'm crazy about a Packard, but my baby only rates a Ford
I'm crazy about a Packard, my baby only rates a Ford
A Packard is too expensive, Ford will take you where you want to go


Come here, brownskin, listen to my motor roar
Come here, fair brown, and listen to my motor roar
Because my Super Six sufficient to take you where you want to go


I never did like no horses and I never could stand no seal(?)
I never did like no horses, I never could stand no seal(?)
Every since I'm old enough to catch a brown, give me the automobile

Blind Lemon Jefferson mentions driving a Ford along with Dodges, Packards, and the Super six that was a model from Hudson. DB stands for Dodge Brothers.

Sleepy John Estes recorded Poor Man’s Friend (T Model) in 1937. The Model T was out of production by 1927, so this was probably an older song when recorded in 1937. But the T-Model was clearly an iconic automobile at that point:

Well, well, when you see it in the winter, please throw your winder over in the bin
Well, well, when you see it in the winter, I want you to throw your winder over in the bin
Well, well, probably next spring, I want to rig up my T-Model again


Well, well, a T-Model Ford, I say, is a poor man's friend
Well, well, a T-Model Ford, I say, is a poor man's friend
Well, well, it will help you out, even when your money's thin


Well, well, one thing about a T-Model, you don't have to shift no gear
Well, well, one thing about a T-Model, you don't have to shift no gear
Well, well, just let down on your brake and feed the gas and the stuff is here


Well, well, a V-8 Ford, and it done took to start
Well, well, a V-8 Ford, and it done took to start
Well, well, it reach all the way from ninety down to a hundred miles


Well, well, somebody, they done stole my winder out on the road
Well, well, somebody, done stole my winder out on the road
Well, well, let's find somebody got a T-Model Ford

The Model T did have to be started with a hand crank, that;'s probably the winder that Estes refers to.

Roosevelt Sykes recorded a song named for the founder of the Ford Motor Company, Henry Ford Blues from 1929:

Now, lady, won’t you let me drive your Ford
Now, miss lady won’t you let me drive your Ford
Now I ain’t your chauffeur, but I can’t hold it anymore


Now there was a woman, now she owned a Chevrolet
Now there was a woman, now she owned a Chevrolet
Now she been driving fourteen years, hasn’t had an accident yet


Now I tried so hard to treat my baby right
Now I tried so hard to treat my baby right
I tried so hard to keep down a fuss and a fight


You talking about your brick house, lord, you ought to see my frame
Now you spoke about your brick house, you ought to see my frame
I don’t take up no time with no goo dame


There was a late model car, it was named Roosevelt’s straight eight
There was a late model car, it was named Roosevelt’s straight eight
Lord the good lord must be righteous for me to drive it into your back gate

Cedar Creek Sheik’s real name was Philip McCutchen he recorded in Charlotte, NC in 1936 including Ford V-8:

Soon as I get my record all straight
Put my money in a Ford V-8
Lord, and I ain't gonna walk no more


Drive into Charlotte from the Baltimore
Park my Ford in Miss Etta Prince door
Lord, gonna play my radio


Now, Pete and Frances lying in the bed
Pete turned over and Frances said
Lord, she don't credit no more


Now, soon as I get my record all straight
Put my money in a Ford V-8
Lord, I ain't gonna pray no more


Some pray to the altar, I pray out the gate
I start gearing on the Ford V-8
Lord, and I sure won't pray no more


Sue in Charleston want to be convinced
Wish I'd married to Miss Etta Prince
And Lord, then I won't be lonesome no more


Dave Hardee and Booth Key sitting on a log
Hands on a trigger, eye on a hog
Lord, Jimmy ain't gonna credit no more


Some pray to the altar, I pray in the road
Ask God to give me John Henry Ford
Lord, I sure won't pray no more


Some pray to the altar, I pray out the gate
Ask God to give me one of the Ford V-8
Lord, and I sure wouldn't want no more


Some pray to the altar, I pray in the field
Ask God to give me an Oldsmobile
Lord, and I sure wouldn't want no more


Now, soon as I get my record all straight
I'm gonna buy a Ford V-8
Lord, and I ain't gonna walk no more


I'll drive in Charlotte from the Baltimore
Park my Ford in Miss Etta Prince door
Lord, want to play my radio

The car radio was commercially introduced by the Galvin manufacturing company in 1930. Radios were being commonly installed in cars including Fords when that song was recorded in 1936.

Joe Williams recorded Brother James in 1937. It has to be one of the earlier warnings about drunk driving:

Brother James went out riding, riding in that ’29 Ford
Brother James went out riding, riding in that ’29 Ford
That poor man was drinking bad whiskey, well boys he sure done lose his soul


Lord I went out in Greenville, looked down in brother James' face
I says sleep on brother James, I'll meet you Resurrection Day


Lord brother James died under surgery and he didn't have the time to pray
Brother James died under surgery, didn't have the time to pray
I said goodbye brother James, ooo well I'll meet you Resurrection Day


Now he left sister Lottie, trying to save her wicked soul
She ain't going to drink no more whiskey, ooo well boys going to ride no ’29 Ford


I went to the graveyard and I peeped down in brother James' face
Lord I went to the graveyard and I peeped down in brother James' face
Says you know you died drunk brother James and you didn't have no time to pray


Farewell brother James, hope we will meet some day
Farewell brother James, hope we will meet some day
I will be at the fishing table, ooo well when they send brother James away

Cleo Gibson only recorded two blues songs. One of them was I’ve Got Ford Movement in My Hips in 1929. It plays on a vaudeville era song “Elgin movement in My Hips”. Elgin movement was a slogan of the Elgin watch company refrring to the precision of the internal working of their timepieces. The phrase entered popular culture and showed up in many songs, most notably in the blues in Robert Johnson’s Walking Blues. Here, Cleo Gibson, say a watch is nothing, I’ve got a car in my hips:

Now listen kind folks what I have to say
Happened about a week ago
All about Valentino down to Loving Joe


Valentino, he was smooth, such as a Packard and such
But Loving Joe was like a Ford, handling a little bit too rough
Now you know all about the machine
Got a movement you ain't never seen


I’ve got Ford engine movements in my hips
Ten thousand miles guarantee
A Ford is a car everybody wants to ride, Jump in, you will see


You can all have a Rolls Royce, your Packard and such
Take a Ford engine boys to do your stuff
I've got Ford engine movements in my hips, ten thousand miles guarantee
I say ten thousand miles guarantee


I’ve got Ford engine movements in my hips
Ten thousand miles guaranteed
A Ford is a car everybody wants to ride, Jump in, you will see


You can all have a Rolls Royce, your Packard and such
Take a Ford engine boys to do your stuff
I've got Ford engine movements in my hips, ten thousand miles guarantee
I say ten thousand miles guaranteed

Kid Prince Moore recorded Ford V-8 Blues in 1938 comparing his woman to cars:

My girl is shaped like a Cadillac, she shift like a v-8 Ford
She’s shaped like a Cadillac, she shift like a v-8 Ford
When she shift from 1st to 2nd to high she said baby I ain’t got my load


She’s long and tall, you know she’s little and slim
She’s long and tall, you know she’s little and slim
The way she shift her gears, you know she’s bound to win


I used to have a gal everybody called a Cadillac 8
I used to have a gal everybody called a Cadillac 8
She could not burn enough gasoline to keep my third gear straight


I trade my Cadillac and got myself a Ford v-8
I trade my Cadillac and got myself a Ford v-8
When she starts to burning gas, I mean she just won’t wait


She can burn it all day, she loves to burn it at night
She can burn it all day, she loves to burn it at night
She starts her motor to running, her carburetor starts just right

Walter Roland is best known as a piano player and accompanist to Lucille Bogan. He also played guitar on his own records including T-Model Blues:

Said it's mmm baby mmm baby mmm
Said it's mmm baby mmm baby mmm
Say you know you do not love me like I say I love you


Say you know these here women sure do treat me mean
ooo, these here women sure do treat me mean
You know I ask one for a drink of water, she give me gasoline


Says mmm baby, you won't do nothing you say
Says mmm baby, you won't do nothing you say
You know you told me you love me but what about that man I seen you with the other day


These here women would call themselves a Cadillac, ought to be a T Model Ford
These here women would call themselves a Cadillac, ought to be a T Model Ford
You know they got the shape all right but they can't carry no heavy load


Says you know I'm going to sing this here verse now, ain't going to sing no more
Says you know I'm going to sing this here verse now, ain't going to sing no more
Because you know I've got to go home and get on my old lady because she won't come back no more

With the Model T, Ford made cars affordable they became the car of the common people. This could be both an insult and praise. Some men wanted something fancier, some just appreciated their Ford, whether it was an actual car or a woman.

Songs:
DB Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson
Poor Man's Friend (T-Model) - Sleepy John Estes
Henry Ford Blues - Roosevelt Sykes
Ford V-8 - Cedar Creek Sheik
Brother James - Big Joe Williams
I've Got Ford Movements in my Hips - Cleo Gibson
Ford V-8 Blues - Kid Prince Moore
T-Model Blues - Walter Roland

Show 47 - T.B. is Killing Me

Tuberculosis is a deadly disease that attacks the lungs.  It's been around since ancient times and there's something about it that compels stories about the suffering it cause.  This includes a lot of blues songs. Georgia bluesman Buddy Moss who recorded T.B. is Killing Me in 1933.  He sings that he's headed to the graveyard with T.B. 

I went to the doctor of the sea

I sat right down and he looked at me

He said Y hate to tell you but you got disease

You ain't got nothing but them old T.B.s

Oh T.B. is killing me

I used  to have friends, but none of them that I can see

mmmm, T.B. is killing me

And it won't be long before some lonely graveyard I'll be

I had a good girl and a happy home

But the T.B. got me, she left me all alone

said now, mmmm, T.B. is killing me

And it won't be long before some lonely graveyard I'll be

Now boys, these days I'm just hanging on

And it wont be long before I'll be gone

Said now, mmmm, T.B. is killing me

And it won't be long before some graveyard I will be

The disease often was a death sentence when that song was recorded.  That was due to mostly to the inadequate care available, particularly to poor black men and women.  Victoria Spivey who recorded the first of  the string of T.B. song when she made the often covered T.B. Blues in 1927.  She continued exploring the idea in 1929 with Dirty T.B Blues:

Here I lay a crying
Something is on my mind
It's midnight, I wonder where the nurse can be

I feel down, not a friend in this town
I'm blue and all alone
Sisters are gone, brothers are too
Nowhere to call my own

I can't keep from crying
Left alone while I am dying
Yes, it may look crazy, for me to beat on my knee
But if the Lord 's forgiven between the breaks(?) and T.B


Oh Lord, yes he railroaded me to the sanitarium
Its too late, too late mother, I've finished my run
This is the way all good women are done
When they got the dirty T.B.

Yes I run around for months and months
From gin mill to gin mill to honky tonks
Now its too late, yes look what I gone done
I got the dirty T.B, oh Lord, mmmm

Harmonica legend Sonny Boy Williamson recorded T.B. Blues in 1939:

Now but oh, T.B. is killing me

Now I want my body buried way down in Jackson, Tennessee

Now when I was up on my feet now I couldn't even walk down the street

For the women looking at me from my head to my feet

But oh, T.B. is killing me

Now I want my body buried way down in Jackson, Tennessee

I ain't going to buy you no more pretty dresses, I ain't going to even buy you no diamond rings
And I'm going to sell my V‑8 Ford because I don't want a doggone thing

Because oh, the T.B. is killing me

Now I want my body buried way down in Jackson, Tennessee

Well now my mother she said one thing, you know my father said the same

You keep on fooling around, Sonny Boy, they going to change your name

But I told them Oh, mama T.B. is killing me

Now I want my body buried way down in Jackson Tennessee

Well now here I am here sick baby, you know and I'm laying here in my bed

And now even won't none of my friends come and even rub my aching head

Because oh, T.B. is killing me
Now I want my body buried way down in Jackson Tennessee

In 1028, New Orleans Willie Jackson recorded his version of Victoria Spivey's T.B. Blues:

Too late, too late, too late, too late, too late
too late, too late, too late, too late, too late
I'm on my way to Denver and papa mustn't hesitate

TB is alright to have if your friends don't treat you so lowdown
TB is alright to have if your friends dont treat you so lowdown
Don't you ask 'em for no favors, they'll even stop hanging around

Oh T.B. is killing me, Oh T.B. is killing me
I am like a prisoner always wishing I was free

When I was up on my feet I couldn't walk down the street
For you women looking at me from my head to my feet
But oh now T.B. is killing me

I want my body buried in the deep blue sea
Oh oh, I got tuberculosis, consumption's killing me

In 1936, Victoria Spivey herself returned to the T.B. theme with T.B.'s Got Me

Here I lay a crying Something is on my mind It's midnight, I wonder where the nurse can be

T.B.'s got me, all my friends done throwed me down

T.B.'s got me, and all my friends done throwed me down

But they treated me so nice when I was up able to run around

Ooaah my poor lungs are hurting me so

Mmmm my poor lungs are hurting me so

I don't get no peace or comfort no matter where I go

Lord, my good man don't want me no more

MMMM my good man don't want me no more

Well I wished I was dead and in the land I'm doomed to go

Sleepy John Estes talked about consumption in Milk Cow Blues:

Now ask sweet mama let me be her kid
She says, "I might get boogied Like to keep it hid"
Well, she looked at me, she begin to smile
Says, "I thought I would use you for my man a while"
That you just don't let my husband catch you there
Now, just don't let my husband catch you there"

Now, went upstairs to pack my leaving trunk
I never saw no whiskey, the blues done made me sloppy drunk
Say, I never saw no whiskey, blues done made me sloppy drunk
Now, I never saw no whiskey but the blues done made me sloppy drunk

Now some said disease some said it was dream
But it's the slow consumption killing you by degrees
Lord, it's the slow consumption killing you by degrees
Now, it's the slow consumption and it's killing you by degrees

The songs share a lot of verses and musical ideas, but even when the lyrics are totally different they all dress abandonment by friends, family, and lovers when suffering from a disease that's going to send you to the grave.  That kind of abandonment is really the classic blues situation.

T.B. is Killing Me - Buddy Moss
Dirty T.B. Blues - Victoria Spivey
T.B. Blues - Sonny Boy Williamson
T.B. Blues - Willie Jackson
T.B.'s Got Me - Victoria Spivey
Milk Cow Blues - Sleepy John Estes

Show 44 - Snow Blues

Songs:
Ice and Snow Blues - Peetie Wheatstraw
Easin' Back to Tennessee - Sleepy John Estes
South Bound Backwater - Lonnie Johnson
Cold Winter Blues - Kokomo Arnold
Cold Winter Day - Blind Willie McTell
Ice and Snow Blues - Clifford Gibson

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