*Keeping The Blues/Folk Lamp Burning- The Music of Les Sampou-"Les Sampou"

Click On Title To Link To YouTube's Film Clip Of Les Sampou.

CD Review

Les Sampou, Les Sampou, Rounder Records 1993

The substance of this review was originally used in the review of Les Sampou’s “Borrowed And Blue” album. I have revised that review and most of the points made apply to the other three CD’s reviewed in this space as well.

The name Les Sampou most recently came up in this space, in passing, as part of a review of blues/folk stylist/ songwriter Rory Block’s work. I made the point there that Rory (and Les, Bonnie Raitt, Maria Muldaur and precious few others) were performing a great service by keeping the female blue singer tradition alive (and, for that matter, male-witness the songs covered by all four). And along the way doing the same for the more amorphous contemporary folk tradition with their own fair share of masterful songwriting efforts. Since I placed Les Sampou in such august company it was, thus, only a matter of time before I got around to giving her a few kudos of her own. The following paragraph from the Rory Block review can serve here for Les as well:

“But more than that, thanks for this great album of country blues classics some famous, some a little obscure and known only to serious aficionados but all well worth placing in the album with the quirky little Rory Block treatment that makes many of the songs her own. Oh, did I also mention her virtuoso strong guitar playing. Well, that too. I have gone on and on elsewhere in this space about the old time women blues singers, mostly black, like Bessie Smith, Victoria Spivey and Ida Cox. I have also spilled some ink on more modern, mainly white, women blues singers like Bonnie Raitt, Maria Muldaur and a local talent here in Boston, Les Sampou, and their admirable (and necessary) efforts to carry on this proud tradition. Rory belongs right up there with these women.”

As For “Les Sampou” here is the ‘skinny’:

There are a lot of ways to be “in” the contemporary folk scene. One way is to write some topical songs of love, longings for love, maybe, a little politics thrown in and maybe some snappy thing about the vacuity of modern life. Yes, that is the easy stuff and Les can, if the occasion calls for it, summon up some very powerful lyrics to make those points. Witness “Broken Pieces” and the almost self-explanatory “Hanging By A Thread”. But, something more is going on here. This is a woman who has been through the emotional wringer, and survived. Listen to the heartrending “Happy Anniversary” and the slightly, just slightly, more hopeful “Same Fine Line”. You can’t fake that stuff.

*Keeping The Blues/Folk Lamp Burning- Les Sampou's "Fall From Grace"

Click On Title To Link To YouTube's Film Clip On Les Sampou.

CD Review

Fall From Grace, Les Sampou, Flying Fish CD, Rounder Records, 1996

The substance of this review was originally used in the review of Les Sampou’s “Borrowed And Blue” album. I have revised that review and most of the points made apply to the other three CD’s reviewed in this space as well.

The name Les Sampou most recently came up in this space, in passing, as part of a review of blues/folk stylist/ songwriter Rory Block’s work. I made the point there that Rory (and Les, Bonnie Raitt, Maria Muldaur and precious few others) were performing a great service by keeping the female blue singer tradition alive (and, for that matter, male-witness the songs covered by all four). And along the way doing the same for the more amorphous contemporary folk tradition with their own fair share of masterful songwriting efforts. Since I placed Les Sampou in such august company it was, thus, only a matter of time before I got around to giving her a few kudos of her own. The following paragraph from the Rory Block review can serve here for Les as well:

“But more than that, thanks for this great album of country blues classics some famous, some a little obscure and known only to serious aficionados but all well worth placing in the album with the quirky little Rory Block treatment that makes many of the songs her own. Oh, did I also mention her virtuoso strong guitar playing. Well, that too. I have gone on and on elsewhere in this space about the old time women blues singers, mostly black, like Bessie Smith, Victoria Spivey and Ida Cox. I have also spilled some ink on more modern, mainly white, women blues singers like Bonnie Raitt, Maria Muldaur and a local talent here in Boston, Les Sampou, and their admirable (and necessary) efforts to carry on this proud tradition. Rory belongs right up there with these women.”

As For “Fall From Grace” here is the ‘skinny’:

I will make the same point I made in reviewing the “Les Sampou” album because that same spirit pervades this effort. There are a lot of way to be “in” the contemporary folk scene. One way is to write some topical songs of love, longings for love, maybe, a little politics thrown in and maybe some snappy thing about the vacuity of modern life. Yes, that is the easy stuff and Les can, if the occasion calls for it, summon up some very powerful lyrics to make those points. Witness “Holy Land ” and “Home Again”. But, something more is going on here. This is a woman who has been through the emotional wringer, and survived. Listen to the heartrending “Weather Vane” and the slightly, just slightly, more hopeful “Ride The Line”. An extraordinary track is “Flesh And Blood” about the all too real traumas of youthful sexual identity. You can’t fake that stuff.

*Keeping The Blues/Folk Lamp Burning- Les Sampou's "Sweet Perfume"

Click On Title To Link To YouTube's Film Clip Of Les Sampou Doing "Oil And Water Don't Mix".

CD Review

Sweet Perfume, Rounder Records, 1993

The substance of this review was originally used in the review of Les Sampou's "Borrowed And Blue" album. I have revised that review and most of the points made apply to the other three CD's reviewed in this space as well.

The name Les Sampou most recently came up in this space, in passing, as part of a review of blues/folk stylist/ songwriter Rory Block's work. I made the point there that Rory (and Les, Bonnie Raitt, Maria Muldaur and precious few others) were performing a great service by keeping the female blue singer tradition alive (and, for that matter, male-witness the songs covered by all four). And along the way doing the same for the more amorphous contemporary folk tradition with their own fair share of masterful songwriting efforts. Since I placed Les Sampou in such august company it was, thus, only a matter of time before I got around to giving her a few kudos of her own. The following paragraph from the Rory Block review can serve here for Les as well:

"But more than that, thanks for this great album of country blues classics some famous, some a little obscure and known only to serious aficionados but all well worth placing in the album with the quirky little Rory Block treatment that makes many of the songs her own. Oh, did I also mention her virtuoso strong guitar playing. Well, that too. I have gone on and on elsewhere in this space about the old time women blues singers, mostly black, like Bessie Smith, Victoria Spivey and Ida Cox. I have also spilled some ink on more modern, mainly white, women blues singers like Bonnie Raitt, Maria Muldaur and a local talent here in Boston, Les Sampou, and their admirable (and necessary) efforts to carry on this proud tradition. Rory belongs right up there with these women."

As For "Sweet Perfume" here is the `skinny':

I will make the same point I made in reviewing the "Les Sampou" album because that same spirit pervades this effort. There are a lot of way to be "in" the contemporary folk scene. One way is to write some topical songs of love, longings for love, maybe, a little politics thrown in and maybe some snappy thing about the vacuity of modern life. Yes, that is the easy stuff and Les can, if the occasion calls for it, summon up some very powerful lyrics to make those points. Witness "Holy Land " and "String Of Pearls". But, something more is going on here. This is a woman who has been through the emotional wringer, and survived. Listen to "Chinatown" and "Sweet Perfume". You can't fake that stuff.

In The Time Of The Time Of An Outlaw Country Music Moment- The Belfast Cowboy Rides Again Van Morrison’s “The Best Of Van Morrison, Volume Two”

Click on the headline to link a YouTube film clip of Van Morrison performing his classic Into The Mystic.


CD Review

The Best Of Van Morrison, Volume Two, Van Morrison, Polydor, 1993

The basic comments here have been used, used many times, to review other Van Morrison albums from various points in his long and honorable career.

Apparently just now, although this time rather accidentally, I am on something of an outlaw country moment tear, again. I have mentioned on previously occasions when I have discussed county music, or rather more correctly outlaw country music, that I had a very short, but worthwhile period when I was immersed in this genre in the late 1970s. After tiring somewhat of Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and other more well know country outlaws I gravitated toward the music, eerily beautiful and haunting music, of Townes Van Zandt whose Steve Earle tribute album Townes I have recently reviewed in this space. As I noted there, as well, while this outlaw country thing was short-lived and I scrambled back to my first loves, blues, rock and folk music I always had time to listen to Townes and his funny mix of blues, folk rock, rock folk, and just downright outlaw country.

And that brings us to the album under review, The Best Of Van Morrison, Volume Two l, and another “outlaw” country music man, the Belfast cowboy Van Morrison. Wait a minute, Van Morrison? Belfast cowboy? Okay, let me take a few steps back. I first heard Van Morrison in his 1960s rock period when I flipped out over his Into The Mystic on his Moondance album. And when I later saw him doing some blues stuff highlighted by his appearance in Martin Scorsese PBS History of Blues series several years ago I also flipped out, and said yes, brother blues. But somewhere along the way he turned again on us and has “reinvented” himself as the “son”, the legitimate son, of Hank Williams. But Van Morrison is no one-trick pony as his long and hard-bitten career proves.

If you do not believe me then just listen to him ante up on his cover of Bob Dylan’s It’s All Over now Baby Blue, a classic folk bluesy number; the thoughtful Sense Of Wonder; the pathos of Real Real Goner; the song I’ll Tell Ma; and, something out of time,Hymns To The Silence . The Belfast cowboy, indeed, although I always thought cowboys wore their emotions down deep, not on their blues high white note sleeves.

***From Out In The Be-Bop Blues Night- Sippie Wallace's "Women Be Wise"

Click on the headline to link to a YouTube film clip of Sippie Wallace performing her classic, Women Be Wise (also covered by Bonnie Raitt and Maria Muldaur among others).
Markin comment:

Well I will just let Sippie tell it like it is for once. Truth. Without further comment. Okay. lol in cyber-slang.
******
Wallace Sippi

Women Be Wise

Women be wise, keep your mouth shut
Don't advertise your man
Don't sit around gossiping
Explaining what he really can do
Some women now days
Lord they ain't no good
They will laugh in your face
They'll try to steal your man from you

Women be wise, keep your mouth shut
Don't advertise your man

Your best girlfriend
Oh she might be a highbrow
Changes clothes three time a day
But what do you think she's doing now
While you're so far away?
You know she's lovin your man
In your own damn bed...
You better call for the doctor
Try to investigate your head

Women be wise, keep your mouth shut
Don't advertise your man

Women be wise, keep your mouth shut
Don't advertise your man
Now don't sit around girls
Telling all your secrets
Telling all those good things he really can do
Cause if you talk about your baby
Yeah you tell me he's so fine
Honey I might just sneak up
And try to make him mine

Women be wise, keep your mouth shut
Don't advertise your man --
Don't be no fool!
Don't advertise your man
Baby don't do it!

Good Rockin', Tonight- The Legacy of Sun Records

DVD REVIEW



Good Rockin' Tonight- The Legacy of Sun Records, PBS American Masters, 2001



Howlin’ Wolf, Roscoe Gordon, Rufus Thomas and an assortment of black blues notables in the early days. Elvis, Carl Perkins, Johnnie Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis and an assortment of white rockabilly notables in the mid to late 1950’s. What do they have in common? Well, one thing, and make that an important one thing, is that they passed through Mr. Sam Phillips’ Sun Records recording studio in Memphis, Tennessee on the way to some kind of career. Amazing. With the possible exception of Chess Records in Chicago, that moreover concentrated on the blues, no other studio can claim so much as the catalyst for what became rock and roll in the mid- 1950’s, the youth of the present writer and of his Generation of ‘68.

The format here, as in most of the Public Broadcasting Station’s American Masters series, is to have a generous round of ‘ talking heads’ interspersed with some performances, in this case, to honor the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the Sun Records (1950). An added touch here is that some of the performances by the old Sun recording artists are covered by more recent performers like Paul McCartney and Kid Rock.

The ‘talking heads’ here also include many of the old Sun artists who did not attain the stardom of those mentioned in the first paragraph yet who nevertheless had some interesting things to say about the meaning of the Sun Record experience. A recurring theme is that mainly it got them the hell off the farms and out of the fields, especially those damn cotton fields or out of those dead end jobs. And they had fun and got paid for it. And met girls. How can you beat that? My take on this is that they were good old boys who got more out of the Sun, if not financially then musically, than they had originally bargained for. And all of this trip down memory lane is presided over by the impresario himself, the late Sam Phillips.

Along the way there are discussions, sometimes heated, about the roots of rock and roll- black blues or white country. That will never, ultimately, get resolved although I think the case for the blues gets stronger the more I see and read about the early 1950’s and the shift of the blues from a country sound to a city sound. But that can be argued another day. What we have here is recollections, funny and bittersweet, by those who were either one-shot johnnies or were ‘put on the shelf’ by one Sam Phillips. That is the kind of influence that he had for that one golden decade of the 1950’s. Another nice touch here is that the one- shot johnnies not only get their ‘hit’ covered by currently popular musicians but they get one last 15 minutes of fame by belting out their own classics. Who can forget Lonely Weekend or Rock and Roll Ruby after this retrospective to speak nothing of Good Rockin’, Tonight.

A note on sound- no, not of this American Masters production which like virtually all PBS productions is technically of high quality. No, I am referring here to the sound in Sun Studio. I do not believe in ghosts or other such things but tell me this. Why, for example, does Johnny Cash in his Sun Records days sound like god’s own creation when on work from other recordings I can take him or leave him? And that goes for Elvis, Carl, Jerry Lee and the others as well. The gods and goddesses of Rock and Roll were smiling on that joint- thanks.

In The Time Of The Time Of An Outlaw Country Music Moment- The Belfast Cowboy Rides Again Van Morrison’s “Pay The Devil”

Click on the headline to link to a YouTube film clip of Van Morrison performing his pre-Belfast Cowboy Into The Mystic.

CD Review

Pay The Devil, Van Morrison, Exile Productions, 2006

Apparently just now, although this time rather accidentally, I am on something of an outlaw country moment tear, again. I have mentioned on previously occasions when I have discussed county music, or rather more correctly outlaw country music, that I had a very short, but worthwhile period when I was immersed in this genre in the late 1970s. After tiring somewhat of Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and other more well know country outlaws I gravitated toward the music, eerily beautiful and haunting music, of Townes Van Zandt whose Steve Earle tribute album Townes I have recently reviewed in this space. As I noted there, as well, while this outlaw country thing was short-lived and I scrambled back to my first loves, blues, rock and folk music I always had time to listen to Townes and is funny mix of blues, folk rock, rock folk, and just downright outlaw country.

And that brings us to the album under review, Pay The Devil, and another “outlaw” country music man, the Belfast cowboy Van Morrison. Wait a minute, Van Morrison? Belfast cowboy? Okay, let me take a few steps back. I first heard Van Morrison in his 1960s rock period when I flipped out over his Into The Mystic on his Moondance album. And when I later saw him doing some blues stuff highlighted by his appearance in Martin Scorsese PBS History of Blues series several years ago I also flipped out, and said yes, brother blues. But somewhere along the way he turned again on us and has “reinvented” himself as the “son”, the legitimate son, of Hank Williams. And hence the Belfast cowboy.

If you do not believe me then just listen to him ante up on There Stands The Glass, a classic honky-tonk midnight sorrows tune; the Williams’ classic Your Cheatin’ Heart; the pathos of Back Street Affair; the title song Pay The Devil; and, something out of about 1952, and the number one example of his cowboyishness (whee!),Till I Gain Control Again. The Belfast cowboy, indeed, although I always thought that was in the North.

*A Blues Piano Treat- The Blues Of Mr. Memphis Slim

Click On Title To Link To YouTube's Film Clip Of Memphis Slim Doing "Beer Drinking Woman".

DVD REVIEW

Memphis Slim: Live At Ronnie Scott’s, Memphis Slim, 1986

If you listen to enough blues. If you watch enough films about the blues. If you read enough blues liner notes you not only will become “educated” about this genre but will be able to separate the wheat from the chaff. In other words who’s paid the dues to the blues, and who hasn’t. I have spilled plenty of ink in this space discussing the various personalities, who formed that great post-World War II electric blues explosion centered on Chicago and its environs. I have extolled Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Magic Slim, John Lee Hooker and the like. And rightly so. However, every once in a while one needs to freshen up the list as one reviews more material. That was the case with my recent “discovery” of the legendary country blues master, Bukka White. I now add Memphis Slim to the electric blues side.

It is not as if I did not know the name Memphis Slim. And heard his work in various blues compilations, especially from his Chess Record days and on the American Folk Blues series from the 1960's. As noted above once you are immersed in the blues genre and begin to find out who the blues greats acknowledge as their own these things get sorted out quickly. I kept hearing the name Memphis Slim uttered from their lips, as companion and influence. Strangely, after the golden age of the barrel house piano player in the 1920’s and 1930’s there was something of a hiatus in the blues piano as the electric guitar began to dominate. Memphis Slim carries that blues piano tradition forward to the “new age”.

Frankly, every once in awhile a blues piano is the kind of thing that you need to while away your own blues. It provides a more evocative, cleaner sound that the hyper-energetic electric guitar of late Saturday nights. As Memphis Slim himself mentions in between songs in the film, when discussing what he believes the blues are all about, the blues are about hunger, sorrow, longing for love, lost loves and the like. But they are also about happier events as well. Both lyric renditions and piano styles are on display here as Memphis goes through his paces to an appreciative British audience (Ronnie Scott’s is, or was, a famous night spot in London) in 1986. So if you want to watch a master at the blues piano and no mean blues vocal stylist this is your address.

"Rack 'em Back Jack"

You know I'm gonna pray
Lord, never let me love, again
I'm gonna pray
Lord, never let me love, again
They tell me love is a gamble
But I've never been able to win

Blue an' disgusted
That's the way I feel
Feel like a broken spoke
In some farmer's wagon wheel
My baby walked out on me
You know she gave me a raw, raw deal
(piano &

I come home ev'ry night
My baby goes out about ten
Come home ev'ry night
My baby goes out about ten
An' when I go to work ev'ry mornin'
My baby, she's just comin' in

That's why I'm blue an' disgusted
An' that's the way I feel
So blue an' disgusted
People, that's the way I feel
Feel like a broken spoke
In some farmer's wagon wheel

"Beer Drinking Woman"

(piano 'Dragnet' intro)

Spoken:

The story's true ladies and gentlemen.
All the names have been changed to
protect the innocent.
The year 19 hundred and forty.
The city, Chicago. The place, Rubin's Tavern
The story goes something like this:

I walked into a beer tavern
To give a girl a nice time
I had forty-five dollars when I enter
When I left I had one dime

Wasn't she a beer drinkin' woman?
Don't ya know, man don't ya know?
She was a beer-drinkin' woman
And I don't want to see her no more

Now, when I spend down to my last dime
She said, 'Darlin' I know you're not through'
I said, 'Yes, baby doll
And the trophy belongs to you'

Wasn't she a beer drinkin' woman?
Don't you know, man don't you know?
She was a beer-drinkin' woman
And I don't wanna see her no more

Now she'd often say, 'Excuse me a minute
I've got to step around here'
And ev'ry time she came back
She had room for another quart of beer

Wasn't that a beer drinkin' woman?
Don't ya know, man, don't ya know?
She was a beer drinkin' woman
And I don't want to see her no mo'.

"I.c. Blues"

(harmonica & piano)

Gonna catch that Illinois Central
Gonna ride around the bend
I'm gonna catch that Illinois Central
I'm gonna ride around the bend
Well, and the Lord only know
Just when I'll be back again
I'm goin' back home
Where I know I have a friend
Well, I'm goin' back home
Where I know I have a friend
They'll be so glad to see me
They won't even ask me where I've been

Conductor, raise your hand
So the engineer can ring the bell
Conductor, raise your hand
So the engineer can ring the bell
When those wheels start turnin' over
I wanna be at the north, farewell

(harmonica & piano)

This time, tomorrow
There's no tellin' where I'll be
This time, tomorrow
There's no tellin' where I'll be, Lord
But you can bet your bottom dollar
I'll be somewhere down on the I. C.


"Baby Doll"

What's wrong, baby doll?
We can't get along
What's wrong, baby doll?
We can't get along
We'll have fun together
Now baby, tell me what's wrong
Have your mind made up
Before you walk out that door
Have your mind made up
Before you walk out that door
Because one woman, one chance
You don't get back no mo'

(guitar & instrumental)

I've been good to you
As I intend to be
I've been good to you
As I intend to be
Now, it seem like, baby doll
You tryin' to run out on me.

"Blue And Disgusted"

You know I'm gonna pray
Lord, never let me love, again
I'm gonna pray
Lord, never let me love, again
They tell me love is a gamble
But I've never been able to win

Blue an' disgusted
That's the way I feel
Feel like a broken spoke
In some farmer's wagon wheel
My baby walked out on me
You know she gave me a raw, raw deal
(piano &

I come home ev'ry night
My baby goes out about ten
Come home ev'ry night
My baby goes out about ten
An' when I go to work ev'ry mornin'
My baby, she's just comin' in

That's why I'm blue an' disgusted
An' that's the way I feel
So blue an' disgusted
People, that's the way I feel
Feel like a broken spoke
In some farmer's wagon wheel.


"When Your Dough Roller Is Gone"

Did you ever wake up an' find
Your dough roller, gone?
Did you ever wake up an' find
Your dough roller, gone?
Well, an' you hang your head
You cry all night long

I've got the blues so bad
It hurt my feet to walk
I've got the blues so bad
It hurt my feet to walk
People, I've got the blues so bad
It hurt my tongue to talk
(piano)

Lord, I told my dough roller
Before I left that town
Well, I told my dough roller
Before I left that town
'Baby, don't let nobody
Tear my playhouse down.

When The Blues Is Dues- When A Girl Has Got To Have It- Bessie Smith’s“Put A Little Sugar In My Bowl”-Take Two

… she admitted it, had admitted to herself earlier that evening, she needed, no, she wanted a man, a good man, hell, an average man, that night. She was tired of turning herself on her stomach in bed, her lonesome bed, and manipulating her tongue- wetted fingers deep down between her thighs rapidly for some thrills (rapidly, unlike some women, according to her girl talk friends, was the best way that she could get her thrills).After a streak of bad breaks (she, before she got her current job working as a pool secretary, had been a waitress, a cocktail waitress, in a joint where every guy, married, single, a fag or two even, thought he could hit on her, and the management had expected her to take the cue, which she did for a while until she felt that she was nothing but low-priced whore and left) this bad karma , and bad, almost evil men she had, what did Bessie Smith call it in that gin house, barrelhouse song, oh yah, she had her wanting habits on. No question.

So fortified with a few shots of home scotch, high shelf-stuff some long ago guy, some guy with dough and maybe his own wanting habit son had brought along to seal the deal when she was on an earlier prowl, she went out, hailed the nearest cab, and went up to the Cotton Club all by her lonesome. If the sight of a good-looking dame with alabaster white skin, blue eyes, blond, real blonde, well, blonde with brownish highlights as she told the girls at the water cooler at work when they noticed, as they would, her new “color,” long legs and bedroom-begging hips ready to play house didn’t wake up some good, hell again, average guy, she swore she would go into a nunnery, well, maybe not a nunnery but do something like that to cure her itch and get back at those bastards who took her for a ride and then left her flat.

The point was to be a little subtle when she got there, since a single woman looking like she looked, all long legs slinky dress, and looking like she was on the prowl, at that club meant only one thing and she would not have to draw the right guy a diagram to know what that thing was, if he was a right guy. She got out of the cab, paid off the cab driver and added a good tip for good luck and entered the club. No stranger she to the wilds of the Cotton Club, but previously she had been somebody’s “exclusive” (that “exclusive” was a story unto itself and the last damn time she would be somebody’s hands-off mistress while he was sitting at home most nights with wifey and she with just her wetted fingers for comfort, and so was a little hesitant as she headed to the bar, sat down at a corner stool, opened up her purse and pulled out a cigarette just like in the movies. No bites. No guy coming up out of nowhere to light the damn thing and make some small talk.

She stood up for a moment to arrange her drink to give the boys a good look. Still no bite. A guy, a good-looking guy, looked in her direction, looked like a taker but then along came his honey from the Ladies’ Room and that dream flickered out. Then from behind her came a soft male voice, not feminine, but soft, like the guy was a little unsure of himself too. She turned in his direction and saw a fairly good-looking guy, maybe a professor over at Columbia or something like that from his airy look. He had asked if he could buy her a drink, she automatically said no, her womanly first response no, and then on some kind of cosmic whim, said hell, this guy is maybe it tonight. As she said,“yes scotch and water please” she thought how it was funny that guys always thought it was only them that were sex hunger and wouldn’t this professor be surprised at that if he knew his chances of getting laid tonight were looking better than when he, single man, came into the notorious Cotton Club.

As it turned out this guy wasn’t a professor but another one of those dime- a- dozen writers from down in the Village who are always trying to find themselves, and glad to tell you about the voyage. Although this guy turned out to have a big knowledge of blues stuff, stuff that she was interested in, stuff that if things worked out she might be able to get out from under that steno pool she was now imprisoned in and get a job in some club, maybe not the Cotton Club, but a club, as a torch singer. So they spent a lot of the talking about blues and jazz stuff, having some more loose scotches, and having a dance or two if the song was right. She noticed that when she danced with him he held her firmly but not tightly, the right way, and she also noticed that when they danced she was getting a little steamy, a little steamy in that old love puddle way. About two o’clock she asked him if he wanted to go home with her and before he said yes, fairly drunk at that point, but also filled with hopeful desire that this guy would be alright, she asked him point blank as they entered a waiting cab if he “would put a little sugar in her bowl.” And knowing the exact meaning of that reference when they hit her place he did…

Yes, You Better Boot That Thing- Early Women Blues Singers From The 1920s

Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of Victoria Spivey performing "TB Blues". Wow.

CD REVIEW

Better Boot That Thing: Great Women Blues Singers Of The 1920’s, BMG Music, 1992

One of the interesting facts about the development of the blues is that in the early days the recorded music and the bulk of the live performances were done by women, at least they were the most popular exponents of the genre. That time, the early 1920's to the 1930's, was the classic age of women blues performers. Of course, when one thinks about that period the name that comes up is the legendary Bessie Smith. Beyond that, maybe some know Ethel Waters. And beyond that-a blank.

I have tried elsewhere in this space to redress that grievance by reviewing the works of the likes of Memphis Minnie, Ida Cox and Ivy Anderson, among others. I also have scheduled a separate appreciation of one of the four women featured on this CD, Alberta Hunter. This CD format thus falls rather nicely in line with my overall intention to continue to highlight some of these lesser known women artists. Moreover, as fate would have it, this compilation included the work of Victoria Spivey, a singer that I have mentioned elsewhere and have wanted to discuss further. Finally, the conception of the producers here is enhanced by breaking up the CD into two parts-the urban blues part represented by Hunter and Spivey and the country blues part represented by Bessie Tucker and Ida May Mack. While both this trends have always shared some common roots and musicality they also represent two distinct trends in blues music as reflected in the increasing urbanization of the American black population in the 20th century.

Let’s use the urban/country divide as a frame of reference. The smoother style of Hunter and Spivey obviously reflected the need to entertain a more sophisticated audience that was looking for music that was different from that country stuff down home. And that laid back style was seemingly passé in the hectic urban world. Tucker and Mack reflect that old time country hard work on the farm, hard scrabble for daily existence found, as well, in the songs of their country blues male counterparts. What unites the two strands is the personal nature of the subject matter- you know, mistreating’ men, cheatin’ guys, two-timing fellas, money taking cads, squeakin’ man-stealing women friends, the dusty road out of town, and just below the surface violence and mayhem, threaten or completed. And that is just an average day’s misery.

So what is good here? I won’t spend much time on Alberta because I have looked at her work elsewhere but please give a listen to “My Daddy’s Got A Brand New Way To Love,” the title tells everything you need to know about this song and is classic Alberta. Of course for Bessie Tucker you need, and I mean need, to hear the title track “Better Boot That Thing” and then you will agree that you, man or woman, best stay home and take care of business. As for Ida May I flipped when I heard her saga of a fallen woman as she moans out on “Elm Street Blues” and her lament on “Wrong Doin’ Daddy”. However, what you really want to do is skip to the final track and listen to “Good-bye Rider” which for the nth time concerns the subject of that previously mentioned advice about “not advertising your man.” to your friends.

Victoria is just too much on “Telephoning The Blues,” again on that two timing man, wronged woman theme. “Blood Hound Blues” demonstrates that she was not afraid to tackle some thorny issues, including a reverse twist here about a woman driven to kill her hard-hearted physically abusive man, was jailed, escaped and is on the lam as she sings this song. The song that knocked me out on this more socially-oriented theme is her “Dirty Tee Bee Blues” about the tragic suffering of a gal who went the wrong way looking for love and adventure and now must pay the price. Powerful stuff.

A special note on Victoria Spivey. I have mentioned, in a review of some film documentaries (four altogether) entitled “American Folk Blues Festival, 1962-1966” that were retrieved a few years ago by German Cinema and featured many of the great blues artist still alive at that time on tour in Europe, that Victoria Spivey had a special place in the blues scene not only as a performer and writer (of songs and goings-on in the music business) but that she was a record producer as well (Spivey Records).

Back in the days when music was on vinyl (you remember them, right?) I used to rummage through a second hand- record store in Cambridge (talk about ancient history). One of my treasured finds there was a Spivey Records platter featuring Victoria, the legendary Otis Spann (of Muddy Waters’ band), Luther “Guitar” Johnson, and a host of other blues luminaries. She, like her black male counterpart impresario Willie Dixon (who she occasionally performed with), was a pioneer in this business end of the blues business, a business that left more than its fair share of horror stories about the financial shenanigans done to “rob” blues performers of their just desserts. That, however, is a tale for another day.

Yes, Got Them Born In The Alley, Raised Up In The Slums Blues- Barrelhouse Mamas- A CD Review

Click on the headline to link to a YouTube film clip of Lucille Bogan performing her barrelhouse blues classic They Ain’t Walking No More.

CD Review

Barrelhouse Mamas: Born in the Alley, Raised Up In The Slums: Classic Piano Rags, Blues and Stomps from the 1920s and 30s, Yazoo Records, 1999

Recently I made a point in another CD review that dealt with some favorite blues torch singers that although it was mainly male blues singers (Son House, Skip James, Mississippi John Hurt and the like) who were “discovered “during the 1960s folk revival minute back in the day, back in the 1920s and 30s day, the most well-known blues singers were female. One only needs to think of names like Bessie Smith, Ida Cox, Ma Rainey and Memphis Minnie, none of who are on this CD under review, Barrelhouse Mamas: Born In The Alley, Raised Up In The Slums: Classic Piano Rags, Blues, and Stomps from the 1920s and 30s, to get the point. Of course the above-mentioned names were the stars, the ones who achieved blues immortality and who drew down some serious dough performing for black audiences (mainly) in concert halls, movie theaters and any hall that was ready to roll, north and south, although mainly south in the then heartland of the American black population.

Naturally like any genre not everybody made it to the top, not even close in some cases. Not for lack of talent, but maybe being in the wrong place at the wrong time or maybe just because they liked working the off-beat milieu. With few exceptions the ‘barrelhouse mamas” here came up the hard way, made a small mark and faded back in obscurity once the blues (and jazz) craze died down with the advent of the Great Depression in the 1930s when spare nickels were not to be used for anything but survival.

The top tier performers here include a few songs by Lucille Bogan, a couple by Margaret Thornton including her Jockey Blues, and a couple by Saint Louis Bessie (not the famous Bessie Smith), including He Treats Me Like A Dog. Mainly these are songs that would resonate with their juke joint-style audiences, songs of no good, mean, always leaving, always two-timing, mistreatin’ men, no enough dough, not enough liquor, no way out of the slums and no way out of dire poverty (except maybe turning “tricks” on those mean streets). This is real slice of life down at the base of American society stuff not that far removed from today’s story line. As always with a Yazoo CD compilation there is an extremely informative booklet detailing the known information about these hard-pressed women.

An Encore, The "Jelly Roll Baker" Is In The House- The Blues Of Lonnie Johnson

Click On Title To Link To YouTube's Film Clip Of Lonnie Johnson Doing "Blackbird Blues."

CD REVIEWS

Ballads and Blues, Lonnie Johnson and Elmer Snowden, Vanguard Records, 1960

Okay, okay those of you who have been keeping tabs know that I have spend much of the last year, when not doing political commentary or book or movie reviews, reviewing many of the old time blues artists that were the passion of my youth (and still are). So this writer, who thought he had heard virtually all the key blues men and women of the old days, got his comeuppance recently when the name of Lonnie Johnson and his version of the classic double-entendre "Jelly Roll Baker" came up. To name drop just a little, the occasion was a local reunion of Geoff Muldaur and Jim Kweskin of the old Jim Kweskin Jug Band from the 1960’s (that also included Geoff’s ex-wife and great performer in her own right, Maria Muldaur). They did a stirring rendition of the song and attributed it to the performer under review here. After scratching my head I ran out to get some more of Brother Lonnie’s work and I am here to tell you- get this CD because if you have any interest at all in the blues you will not be disappointed.

Why this particular album to start out with? Well, it features Lonnie Johnson and long time friend Elmer Snowden together for the first time although early on (back in the 1920’s) they had worked together on some blues and jazz albums. That is, perhaps, why this work is interesting as an example of that closeness between the jazz and blues idioms before those musical forms parted ways sometime in the late 1940’s. As others have mentioned Johnson, the father of single-note six-string soloing, is in a strangely haunting voice on this selection of blues, ballads, and jazz, crooning the double-entendre "Jelly Roll Baker" and the heartache-laden "Back Water Blues". I cannot add much to that description except you cannot go wrong by giving Haunted House, the first cut, a listen. That sets the mood. Finally, let me say WOW!


"Why Should I Grieve After You're Gone (1927)"

After you're gone, I'm left all alone.
Just feeling blue, all depending on you.
Not even the telephone, it don't ring anymore.
Not even the sun that shines, don't shine in my door anymore.
Since youâ've been gone away, many a million miles away.
I will give you a million smiles a day, to keep your blues away.

As the sun go down, and the wrong news, no play.
As the time goes lower and lower and lower, there's only you.
While I'm feeling blue, just feeling blue.
I would be happy today, but it all depends on you.

As the sun go down, and sinks behind the trees.
And just before it falls, I will answer to your calls.
When you're a million, million miles away, I will give you a million smiles a day.
That's because I love you, and wants to keep your blues away.

"Big Leg Woman"

Yes, I've got me a big legged woman, that solid rocks my soul
Yes, I've got me a big legged woman, that solid rocks my soul
And every time she turns the lights down low, Jack that's when I give up all my gold
She's so fine, she's so mellow, the rest I can't explain
Yes, she's so fine, she's so mellow, rest I can't explain
Way my baby stacked up, it's enough to drive the average cat insane
Yes, she's got great big legs, so pleasin' on the eye
Yes, she's got those great big legs, so pleasin' on the eye
And the preacher walked by, turned around and looked, Jack and hollered "My, my, my!"
She's got those big brown eyes, yes and she's somethin' really fine
Yes, she's got those big brown eyes, Jack she's somethin' really fine
And the best part about it, Jack she's mine, all mine!

"Cat You Been Messin' Around"

Now look here woman, you done lost your mind,
this is not my child, you bring me a better line
'Cause there's something wrong, woman don't start that lies there's something wrong
I never had such mix-ups in my family, since I was born
First it's loop-footin', and its head is long
And it's been half nuts ever since you brought it back home
So there's something wrong, I mean there's something wrong
Oh, take it back where you got it, woman 'cause depression is on
Now his eyes is blue, and his hair's brown
You know darn well you've been messin' around
So take that lie off of me, I mean take that lie off of me
Woman you had a twelve-month vacation, so don't put that lie on me
Now his head is nappy, and his feets is long, his eyes is crossed, and his sight is gone
You know there's something wrong, yes, woman there's something wrong
I never had nothing like that in my family, woman since I was born
Now I said it wasn't my child and you argued me down,
now my eyes ain't blue and my hair ain't brown
Woman you've been messin' around, yes,woman you've been messin' around
So woman get out of my face, or I take my fist and knock you down

"Low Down St. Louis Blues"

I love my St. Louis women, but their ways I really can't stand
I love my St. Louis women, but their ways I really can't stand
They always bettin' some woman, how she can take her man
My woman dips snuff
, and she drinks a good old homemade corn
My woman dips her snuff, and she drinks a good old homemade corn
She get as drunk as she can be, then she fight for the whole night long
And I got another gal, live down on Deep Morgan Street
And I got another gal, she lives down on Deep Morgan Street
If she don't kill a man every day, all I can do is to keep 'r off of me
She drinks her homemade corn whiskey, blackjack and a razor's her friend
She drinks her homemade corn whiskey, a blackjack and a razor's her friend
And she loves to kill a man, just like the devil loves sin
Boys I got another gal, she lives down on Walnut Street
Boys I got another gal, she lives down on Walnut Street
My other gal is so bad, the cops is scared to walk the beat
She can make a blackjack talk and a razor fairly moan
She can make a blackjack talk and a razor fairly moan
From the way that gal kill up men, the graveyard ain't got much more room

"Dont Drive Me From Your Door"

Just look how it's rainin', my feet's on the ground
Just look how it's rainin', and my poor feet's on the ground
For the woman I've made happy, well she's after every man in town

Friends please open your door, and don't drive me away
Please open your door, and don't drive me away
The rent man has put me outdoors, and I've got no place to stay

Let me stay here tonight, it's ice all on the ground
Let me stay here tonight, it's ice all over the ground
Cause I'm motherless and I'm fatherless, and please don't turn me down

When I had plenty money, I had friends all over town
When I had plenty of money, I had friends all over town
But just as soon as I got outdoors, none of my friends could be found

After mother and father's gone, a dollar's your right-hand friend
After mother and father's gone, dollar's your right-hand friend
Then after your last dollar's gone, you're like a road that has no end

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, lord where will I go
I'm beggin' you my friend, don't drive me from your door
I cannot sleep on the ground, there's nothing but ice and snow

Jelly Roll Baker

She said, 'Mr. Jellyroll Baker
Let me be your slave
When Gabriel blows his trumpet

Then I'll rise from my grave

For some-a your jellyro-oll
Yes, I love a good jellyroll'
It is good for the sick
Yes, and it's good for the old'

I was sentenced for murder
In the 1st degree
*The judge's wife called up and says
'Let that man go free'

He's a jellyroll baker
He's got the best jellyroll in town
He's the only man can bake jellyroll
With his damper down

Once in a hospital
Shot all full-a holes
The nurse left the man dyin'
An says he's got to get her jellyroll

His good old jell-e-e-y
She says, 'I love my good jellyroll'
She says, 'I ruther let him lose his life
Than to miss my good jellyroll'

Lady asked me who learnt me
How to bake good jellyroll?
I says, 'It's nobody, Miss
'It's just a gift from my soul'
To bake good jellyro-oll
Mmm-mmm, that good ol' jellyroll

She says, 'I love your jellyroll
It do's me good deep down in my soul
She says, 'Can I put in a order
For two weeks ahead?
I'd ruther have your jelly-roll
Than my home-cooked bread'

I love your jell-e-e-y
I love your good jellyroll
It's just like Maxwell House Coffee
It's good, deep down in my soul.

The "Jelly Roll Baker" Is In The House- The Blues Of Lonnie Johnson

Click On Title To Link To YouTube's Film Clip Of Lonnie Johnson Doing "Got The Blues For Murder Only".

CD REVIEW

Steppin’ The Blues, Lonnie Johnson, Columbia Records, 1990.

Parts of the following have been used in a review of Lonnie Johnson Blues and Ballads CD (hereafter B&B).

Okay, Okay those of you who have been keeping tabs know that I have spend much of the last year, when not doing political commentary or book or movie reviews, reviewing many of the old time blues artists that were the passion of my youth (and still are). So this writer, who thought he had heard virtually all the key blues men and women of the old days, got his comeuppance a while back when the name of Lonnie Johnson and his version of the classic double-entendre song “Jelly Roll Baker” came up. To name drop just a little, the occasion was a local reunion of Geoff Muldaur and Jim Kweskin of the old Jim Kweskin Jug Band from the 1960’s (that also included Geoff’s ex-wife and great performer in her own right, Maria Muldaur). They did a stirring rendition of the song and attributed it to the performer under review here. After scratching my head I ran out to get some more of Brother Lonnie’s work and as noted above I have fulsomely praised his B&B CD in this space.

Although this CD has merit musically and certainly has historical worth as a comparison of young Lonnie Johnson in the 1920’s to the later B&B Lonnie this is one time when aging seems to have created a better body of work. A comparison of “I’m Nuts About That Gal” (really an early version of his classic “Jelly Roll Baker”) and the “Jelly Roll Baker” of the B&B make my point succinctly. That said, the noted Johnson guitar work is highlighted on “Guitar Blues”, the novelty sassy song in two parts “Toothache Blues” and “Deep Blue Sea Blues”. That is why you want this album.

*Songs To While Away The Class Struggle By-Rory Gallagher's "The Banker's Blues"

Click on the title to link a YouTube film clip of Rory Gallagher performing The Banker's Blues.

In this series, presented under the headline Songs To While Away The Class Struggle By, I will post some songs that I think will help us get through the “dog days” of the struggle for our communist future. I do not vouch for the political thrust of the songs; for the most part they are done by pacifists, social democrats, hell, even just plain old ordinary democrats. And, occasionally, a communist, although hard communist musicians have historically been scarce on the ground. Thus, here we have a regular "popular front" on the music scene. While this would not be acceptable for our political prospects, it will suffice for our purposes here. Markin.
*********

Markin comment on The Banker's Blues:

Hey, I am only the messenger on this one. I take no personal, political or social responsibility for the lyrics. Well, except maybe a little on the personal front with my own lovin' companion. Okay? Also I was looking for Big Bill Broonzy's version of the song but couldn't find it.

Rory Gallagher
Banker's Blues lyrics

If you got money in the bank,
Don't let your woman draw it out,
Cause she'll take all your money...and,
Then she'll kick you out.

I once had money and a fast Cadillac car,
But I made one big mistake, let my baby know where they are,
And she took all my possessions...and,
Then she threw me out.

Now young men, heed my advice,
I'll tell you once, I may not tell you twice,
Keep an eye on your old lady anytime that she goes steppin' out.

There's only one woman that I hate more,
You know who that is, why that's my mother-in-law,
My baby's pretty fast but her mother's even faster on the draw.

My baby, my little baby I believe she's gonna jump'n shout,
And I walk down to the bank,
And I draw all of my money out.

Well you got money in the bank,
Don't let your woman draw it out,
Cause she'll take all your money...and,
Then she'll throw you out.

*Jazz Days On My Mind- The Music Of Mildred Bailey

Click On Title To Link To YouTube's Film Clip Of Mildred Bailey Performing "Rocking Chair".

CD Review

Thanks For The Memories: Mildred Bailey, Giants Of Jazz, 1996

Musically, I am a blues man. I am informed, malformed, deformed, reformed by the blues. Then I am a rock man. And a folk man, in all its variants. So where doe that lead me into an exposition of jazz that I have recently started to write more about in this space. Well, let’s just call it an extension of the blues (not hard to do by the way). And the clearest example of that is Lady Day, Billie Holiday. Yes, I know that she was a jazz singer extraordinaire. But, the way she swept my blues away when I was down in the dumps sure makes me think she was the queen of the blues (Bessie Smith being, of course, outlandishly the “Empress”).

All of this is by a very round about way of bringing the jazz singer under review, Mildred Bailey into the picture. Billie Holiday set the standard in the 1940’s (and to a lesser extent in the 1950’s when the dope started to get the best of her) for the phrasing of a jazz song, for the hush that signaled a new direction to the song, for the … well, underlying sense of the song. For that something unsayable but certainly knowable when a song is done right. Mildred Bailey and others (who will be highlighted here later) had that in spots and that is why she and this “greatest hits’ compilation of her work are being reviewed here.

So what sticks out here in that regard? How about her rendition of Duke Ellington’s “I Didn’t Know About You”. Or King Oliver’s “’Taint What You Do”. Or, for that matter, Crosby’s “ A Ghost Of A Chance”. And, of course, “Gulf Coast Blues”. Finally, though, let us see why she is a cut below Billie and Bessie- “St Louis Blues”. That is the cut line. But she still is good. Listen up.

*In Search Of The Roots, One More Time- The Music Of Louis Jordan and His Tymphany Five

Click on title to link to Wikipedia's entry for Louis Jordan.

DVD REVIEW

Louis Jordan And His Tymphany Five: Films And Soundies, Louis Jordan, Honey Carter and others, 2003

Okay, okay I admit that I have gone on and on in this recent quest to ‘find’ the roots of rock ‘n’ roll, the music of my youth. Early Sun Record recording artists like Elvis and Carl Perkins, of course, figure in the mix. Big Joe Turner and his seminal “Shake, Rattle and Roll”, naturally. The work of Little Milton, Ike Turner and others who came firing out of the R&B world in the early 1950’s, again a “no-brainer”. Hell, even some work like the later Bob Wills and His Texas Playboy are contenders. Today, though I am going back even a little further. Let’s try right after World War II and one Louis Jordan and His Tymphany Five.

If, as I believe, the critical mass for the evolution of rock ‘n’ roll comes primarily out of R&B and the blues tradition then Mr. Jordan and his “scat” message delivered in his own style has got to be, even if only archaeologically, part of the mix. This DVD under review only adds fuel to the fire as it provides us with music from three black audience-oriented films that featured the work of Jordan and His Tymphany Five (as well as some very fetching black women dancers, especially the frequently featured Honey Carter). Add some additional material from other sources labeled “soundies” here and you have a fairly complete repertoire of 35 pieces to work from.

Clearly some of the material from the films is strictly novelty stuff like the cowboy get ups, the military uniforms and other props in the various clips. Moreover, the strong sexual undertone provided by the appearance of those very fetching dancers (and assorted other female hangers-on) plays to something sexual and racial that would (and should not) not go down well with today’s audiences. The exploitation of black entertainers back in the day (or now, for that matter) as well as some very conscious stereotyping (like the rolling eyes, dreamy smiles, the Step-n-Fetchit-like routines, etc.) mars the effect of the music on some of these clips. However, pay attention to Mr. Jordan’s sax, the work of his band and the “jump” of his music. That is HIS legacy to the world of music. If you are interested in “roots” music, an archival slice of black musical history, well or poorly done, on film or why Louis Jordan is considered a major musical influence in some quarters look here.


Louis Jordan
Beans And Corn Bread lyrics

Beans and Cornbread,
Beans and Cornbread had a fight.
Beans knocked Cornbread out of sight.
Cornbread said, "Now that's alright, meet me on the corner tomorrow
Night."
"I'll be ready, I'll be ready tomorrow night,"
That's what Beans said to Cornbread . "I'll be

Louis Jordan
Roamin' Blues lyrics

Left Chicago in the summer, New York in the fall,
Detroit in the winter didn't prove a thing at all
I got those roamin' blues
Yes I got those roamin' blues
Can't find no place to settle
Woo I got those roamin' blues
Joined a club in old Saint Louis, that G.I. free loot club
Stood in line so long man, wore my legs down to a nub
I hit the road again
Yes I hit the road again
Can't find no place to settle
So I hit the road again
I thought I'd made it Jack in good old Albuquerq'
I was on the wrong track, you know they tried to make me work
- ain't that a killer?
I hit the road right quick
Yes that judge was much too slick
Can't find no place to settle
Woo I hit the road right quick
Then Las Vegas was the next stop, that fast town left me weak
The dice man made twelve passes and I was up the well-known creek
Those gamblers put me down
Yes I had to walk right out of town
Mm-mm, that ain't no place to settle
Mmm, I had to walk right out of town
Ah but I hit the greatest town of all, Frantic Frisco
Got me a gal with plenty gold and she just won't let me go
I think I've found a place
Yes I got my boots all laced
Found me a home, don't have to roam, it's good news,
I've lost those roamin' blues


Louis Jordan
But I'll Be Back lyrics


I'm goin' ,
But I'll be back!
Look for me,
You'll see that I'll be back!
Gonna bring my mom and pop,
And I'm gonna bring a cop,
Gonna make you give me back my love
Before I blow my top!
I'll get ya
Before I stop
Baby, you can't take my love and let me drop!
I've decided you must know
That I can't let you go;
It's time for me to blow,
But I'll be back!
I'll get ya
Before I stop;
Babe, you can't take my love and let me drop!
I've decided you must know
That I can't let you go;
It's time for me to blow,
But I'll be back!

Louis Jordan
Away From You lyrics

It made me cry
To say good-bye,
I'm sad and blue;
Now that you've gone
I can't go on
Away from you.
I smile to hide
The tears inside,
It's hard to do;
My happiness,
My life's success
Depends on you.
The hours seem long,
The world goes wrong,
When we're apart;
My skies are gray,
What can I say
To soothe my heart?
It is the end;
I can't pretend
That I'm not blue;
Oh, can't you see
Life's misery
Away from you!
The hours are long,
The world goes wrong,
When we're apart;
My skies are gray,
What can I say
To soothe my heart?
It is the end;
I can't pretend
That I'm not blue;
Oh, can't you see
Life's misery
Away from you!
Away from you!

Louis Jordan
But I'll Be Back lyrics

I'm goin' ,
But I'll be back!
Look for me,
You'll see that I'll be back!
Gonna bring my mom and pop,
And I'm gonna bring a cop,
Gonna make you give me back my love
Before I blow my top!
I'll get ya
Before I stop
Baby, you can't take my love and let me drop!
I've decided you must know
That I can't let you go;
It's time for me to blow,
But I'll be back!
I'll get ya
Before I stop;
Babe, you can't take my love and let me drop!
I've decided you must know
That I can't let you go;
It's time for me to blow,
But I'll be back!

*A Mixed Bag Musical Potpourri-Jazz, Blues, Gospel, Rock And Rockabilly-Barrelhouse Mamas

Click On Title To Link To YouTube's Film Clip Of "Tricks Aint Walking No More". Sorry, I Could Not Find A Barrelhouse Mama Version.

Barrelhouse Mamas, Indeed

Barrelhouse Mamas, various artists, Yazoo Records, 1999

I recently noted in reviewing a CD containing the work of legendary early acoustic blues guitarists that sometimes a review, especially a review of old time blues artists, is a very easy chore. That is certainly the case here with this CD highlighting most of the known names from the early hey days of the women blues singers, circa the 1920’s and 1930’s. I have spilled some ink here previously discussing the impact of the early women blues artists when they were the main game in town. I have also noted their use of double entendre to breech that forbidden explicit sexual lyrics barrier. I should mention here a good point from the always informative Yazoo liner notes that some of this may have been, and I say may have been because this area is pretty murky, references to prostitution. Certainly there is plenty of room for speculation on that front. Check out Lucille Bogan’s “Tricks Aint Walking No More” though.

A role call of honor here tells the tale. The above-mentioned Lucille Bogan on “Alley Boogie”, and who, by the way, is worthy of a separate review of her own. Mary Johnson on “Dawn Of Day Blues” and “Morning Sun Blues”. Lil Johnson on “Evil Man Blues”. Two- timing men, thwarted love, longing for love, busted, drunk and down and out. It is all there and it is not all pretty. And these women belted it out. I think I have made my point. Right?


"Memphis Minnie Tricks Ain't Walking No More lyrics"

Times has done got hard, work done got scarce
Stealing and robbing is taking place
Because tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
Tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
And I'm going to grab somebody if I don't make me some dough

I'm going to do just like a blind man, stand and beg for change
Tell these tricking policemen change my second name
Because tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
Tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
And I've got to make no money, I don't care where I go

I'm going to learn these walking tricks what it's all about
I'm going to get them in my house and ain't going to let them out
Because tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
Tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
And I can't make no money, I don't care where I go

I got up this morning with the rising sun
Been walking all day and I haven't caught a one
Because tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
Tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
And I can't make a dime, I don't care where I go

I got up this morning, feeling tough
I got to calling my tricks and it's rough, rough, rough
Because tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
Tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
And I have to change my luck if I have to move next door

*Finding The Roots Of The Roots-The Country Blues Experience

Click ON Title To Link To YouTube's Film Clip Of Mississippi John Hurt doing "Spike Driver's Blues".

CD REVIEW

Before The Blues: Volume 3, Yazoo, 1996

I have been harping away lately on the various trends in the blues that started to appear in America as an indigenous music form in the early 20th century. However, as a good historical materialist it is worth noting (and incidentally adding another reason to the use of this methodology) that, as the producers of this CD make clear that the roots of the roots go back some way, perhaps, even to the old country traditions (British Isles) of a few centuries ago. I take special note that in the 19th century there was basically one common ‘folk’ music and that it only split into its black and white racial components later (and then, certainly not fully).

This argument is presented in greater depth in the always informative liner notes booklet that accompanies Yazoo productions and make virtually any purchase of their CDs worthwhile. I also note that the distinctive blues sound comes into its own once its sheds the old country fiddle and banjo and is replaced by guitar and piano as instrumentation. From personal experience my ear has always been more prone to pick up that mesmerizing guitar or piano-driven blues beat than the earlier reel, jig and breakdown sound. Thanks, blues forebears for that shift.

Several of the performers included in this CD compilation (one of three which I will ultimately review) I have mentioned previously in this space. Memphis Minnie is fresh and saucy on “Frisco Town”, John Hurt rings out smoothly, as always, on his version of the John Henry saga, “Spike Driver’s Blues”. Furry Lewis is just fine on his part one of “Kassie Jones (you really need to get a CD that has the two parts together, by the way). Blind Boy Fuller gives “Thousand Woman Blues” a workout as does Blind Blake on “Champaign Charlie Is My Name”. Barbecue Bob surprises with his “Black Skunk Blues”. However, the “king of the hill” on this one is an incredible version of “Levee Camp Moan Blues” (a Son House specialty) by Texas Alexander. Wow.

The liner notes mention that record companies in the 1920’s (when most of this stuff was recorded), catering to the new found commercial popularity of the blues sound, labeled anything and everything that was not nailed down otherwise as the blues. Clearly some of this material is not the blues in any recognizable musical sense and some hits the sources right on the head (think Furry Lewis on that “Kassie Jones” track) but that is what makes looking for the roots of the roots interesting.

"FRISCO TOWN"-Memphis Minnie

That old 'Frisco train makes a mile a minute
That old 'Frisco train makes a mile a minute
Well, in that old coach, I'm gonna sit right in it
I'm on my way, to 'Frisco town

You can toot your whistle, you can ring your bell
You can toot your whistle, you can ring your bell
But I know you been wanting it by the way you smell
I'm on my way to 'Frisco town

There's a boa constrictor and a lemon stick
There's a boa constrictor and a lemon stick
I don't mind being with you but my mama's sick
I'm on my way to 'Frisco town

I would tell you what's the matter, but I done got scared
I would tell you what's the matter, but I done got scared
You got to wait now, until we go to bed
I'm on my way to 'Frisco town

If you was sick, I wouldn't worry you
If you was sick, I wouldn't worry you
I wouldn't want you to do something that you couldn't do
I'm on my way to 'Frisco town

Well, if you want it, you can get it, and I ain't mad
Well, if you want it, you can get it, and I ain't mad
If you tell me this is something that you ain't never had
I'm on my way to 'Frisco town

Look-a here, you get mad everytime I call your name
Look-a here, you get mad everytime I call your name
I ain't never told you that you couldn't get that thing
I'm on my way to 'Frisco town

I woke up this morning about half past five
I woke up this morning about half past five
My baby turned over, cried just like a child
I'm on my way to 'Frisco town

I got something to tell you, I don't want to make you mad
I got something to tell you, I don't want to make you mad
I got something for you, make you feel glad
I'm on my way to 'Frisco town

Look-a here, look-a here, what you want me to do
Look-a here, look-a here, what you want me to do
Give you my jelly when die for you
I'm on my way to 'Frisco town

I got something to tell you, gonna break your heart
I got something to tell you, gonna break your heart
We been together so far, we gotta get apart
I'm on my way to 'Frisco town

Memphis Minnie - BUMBLE BEE


Bumble bee, bumble bee, please come back to me
Bumble bee, bumble bee, please come back to me
He got the best old stinger any bumble bee that I ever seen

He stung me this morning, I been looking for him all day long
He stung me this morning, I been looking for him all day long
Lord, it got me to the place, hate to see my bumble bee leave home

Bumble bee, bumble bee, don't be gone so long
Bumble bee, bumble bee, don't be gone so long
You's my bumble bee and you're needed here at home

I can't stand to hear him buzz, buzz, buzz
Come in, bumble bee, want you to stop your fuss
You're my bumble bee and you know your stuff
Oh, sting me, bumble bee, until I get enough

Bumble bee, bumble bee, don't be gone so long
Bumble bee, bumble bee, don't be gone so long
You's my bumble bee and you're needed here at home

I don't mind you going, ain't going to stay so long
Don't mind you going, don't be gone so long
You's my bumble bee and you're needed here at home

I can't stand to hear him buzz, buzz, buzz
Come in, bumble bee, I want you to stop your fuss
You's my bumble bee and you know your stuff
Oh, sting me bumble bee, until I get enough

"Mean Old Bedbug Blues"- Furry Lewis

Mean old bedbug sho' is evil, he don't mean me no good
Mean old bedbug sho' is evil, he don't mean me no good
He thinks I'm a woodpecker and he takes me for a chunk o' wood

When I lay down at night I wonder how can a poor man sleep
When I lay down at night I wonder how can a poor man sleep
With one hole in your head while the other one in your feet

Bedbug's big as a jackass, he will bite you, stand and grin
Bedbug's big as a jackass, will bite you and stand and grin
Drink a bowl of bedbug poison, come back and bite you again

Saw one morn' in a corner, Lord I tried so hard to see
Saw one morn' in a corner, Lord I tried so hard to see
It was a mother bedbug Lord, prayin' for some oat to eat

I had to sit up all night long, my feet can't touch the floor
I had to sit up all night long, my feet can't touch the floor
Cause the mean old bedbug told me I can't live there no more

*"I’d Rather Be The Devil That Be A Woman To That Man"- The Blues Of Rory Block

CD REVIEW

Gone Woman Blues: The Country Blues Collection, Rory Block, Rounder Records, 1997

I owe Rory Block one. Here is why. During the recently completed misbegotten American presidential campaign season I took more heat that one could shake a stick at for using the title of one of country blues master Skip James’ songs, “I’d Rather Be A Devil That To Be That Woman’s Man”, for some political blogs that I wrote in regard to the Hillary Clinton Democratic Party candidacy. For months I took it on the chin from my feminist friends as exhibiting some form of latent hostility to women, especially women candidates for president. (By the way, that was a totally false accusation. I would have been more than willing to vote for Victoria Woodhull on the Woman’s Equality ticket in 1872.) There one day I remembered through the mist of time singer/songwriter Rory Block’s change up rendition of the James’ classic which forms the headline to this entry. Thanks, Rory.

But more than that, thanks for this great album of country blues classics some famous, some a little obscure and known only to serious aficionados but all well worth placing in the album with the quirky little Rory Block treatment that makes many of the songs her own. Oh, did I also mention her virtuoso strong guitar playing. Well, that too. I have gone on and on elsewhere in this space about the old time women blues singers, mostly black, like Bessie Smith, Victoria Spivey and Ida Cox. I have also spilled some ink on more modern, mainly white, women blues singers like Bonnie Raitt, Maria Muldaur and a local talent here in Boston, Les Sampou, and their admirable (and necessary) efforts to carry on this proud tradition. Rory belongs right up there with these women.

But, enough homage. You get the drift. So what is good here? Of course the above-mentioned tune (named “Devil Got My Man” here). Thanks, again Rory. A couple of nice covers of the legendary Robert Johnson’s “Terraplane Blues’ and “Hellhound On My Trail”. I have mentioned in reviewing Johnson's work that his vocals are reedy and thin. Here Rory gives full-bodied treatment to the songs. Of course one must pay respects, as well, to her own CD title track "Gone Woman Blues”.

A couple of other Skip James tunes also deserve mention, “Be Ready When He Comes” (remember Skip turned to preaching after his very short first blues career) and “Cypress Grove”. Ms. Block also does a very sexy version of Hattie Hart’s double entendre “I Let My Daddy Do That”. Here is the kicker though. Bessie Smith made “Do Your Duty” rattle the house back in the day. I like Rory’s cover better. That, my friends, is high praise indeed as I was practically spoon-fed on Bessie back in my youth.

Skip James
Devil Got My Woman lyrics

You know, I'd rather be the ol' devil
Well, I'd rather be the devil
Then to be that woman' man
You know, rather be the devil
Than to be that woman' man

You know, I'm so sorry
You know, so sorry
That I ever fell in love wit' you-ooo-hoo-oo
Because you know you don't treat me
Baby, like you used ta do-hoo

You know, I laid down last night
You know, I laid down last night
And I thought to take me some rest
But my mind got to rambling
Like a wild geese from the west

You know the woman that I love
The woman that I love
I stol't her from my best friend
But you know he done got lucky
An he done got her back, again

You know, I used to cut your kindleing
You know, I used to cut your kindleing
Baby, then I made you some fire
Then I would tote all your water
Way, way, way, from the bogy brier

You know, my baby she don't drink whiskey
My baby, she don't drink no whiskey
An I know she ain't crazy about wine
Now, it was nothin' but the ol' devil
He done changed my baby's mind

You know, I could be right
You know, I could be right
Then again, I could be wrong
But it was nothin' but the ol' devil
He done got my baby
Now he done gone.

Skip James
Cherry Ball Blues lyrics

I love my little cherry ball
Better than I love myself
I love my cherry ball
Better than I love myself
Then if she don't love me
She can't love nobody else

Cherry ball, she quit me
Quit me in a nice, good way
Cherry ball, she quit me
Quit me in a nice, good way
You know, what it take to get her back
I carries it ev'ryday

Now, I left cherry ball standin'
Standin' in the back do' cryin'
Now, I left cherry ball
Standin' in the back do' cryin'
Of course, I feel her condition
But her trouble ain't none a-mine

She's just like a spider
She's hangin' on the wall
She's like a spider
She's hangin' on the wall
You know, she done quit me
She quit me without a cause

Now, when she left me
She left tears in my eye
Now, when she left me
She left tears in my eye
You know, that I love her
But her disposition I do dispise

Now, you can take the Southern
I'm 'on take the Sante Fe
Now, you take the Southern
I'm 'on take the Sante Fe
I'm gon' ride an gon' ramble
'Till cherry ball come back to me

She got to come on back home to me-ee-ee.

I Let My Daddy Do That lyrics
I've got a long black hair
I'll say very tall
I'm just about set to have my ashes hauled

I Let My Daddy Do That,
I Let My Daddy Do That

I Let My Daddy Do That,
Cause it satisfies my worried mind

I got a range in my kitchen
got a straightened door
when it get to hot,
I want my oven to cool
I Let My Daddy Do That
I Let My Daddy Do That

I Let My Daddy Do That
Cause it satisfies my worried mind

You can drink my liquor
wear my clothes
when it comes to time
to pay my dow
I Let My Daddy Do That
I Let My Daddy Do That

I Let My Daddy Do That
Cause it satisfies my worried mind

You can milk my cow
use the cream
when it comes to lovin that's just a dream
I Let My Daddy Do That
I Let My Daddy Do That

I Let My Daddy Do That
Cause it satisfies my worried mind

"Oh Janet you're on bar-b-que..."


You can crank my car
shift my gears
But when any easy ridin's gonna go on here
I Let My Daddy Do That
I Let My Daddy Do That

I Let My Daddy Do That
Cause it satisfies my worried mind


Have Mercy, Rory

Angel Of Mercy, Rory Block, Rounder Records, 1994

I recently, in reviewing Rory Block’s fine “Gone Woman’s Blues CD, noted that I owed her one. Here is why. During the recently completed misbegotten presidential campaign season I took more heat that one could shake a stick at for using the title of one of country blues master Skip James’ “I’d Rather Be A Devil That To Be That Woman’s Man” for some political blogs that I wrote in regard to the Hillary Clinton’s Democratic Party candidacy. For months I took it on the chin from my feminist friends as exhibiting some form of latent hostility to women, especially woman candidates for president. (By the way, that was a totally false accusation. I would have been more than willing to vote for Victoria Woodhull on the Woman’s Equality ticket in 1872.) There one day I remembered through the mist of time singer/songwriter Rory Block’s rendition of the James’ classic and which forms the headline to this entry. Thanks, Rory.

But thanks and kudos can only go so far. The present CD, “Angel Of Mercy”, leaves me cold. Rory, I believe, has always had two speeds. The natural blues one and the contemporary folk stylist one. That latter style is on display here and not to her benefit. Probably, and here I may get back into “hot water” politically, the main problem is that the lyrics of these songs do not “speak” to me. It could be age, it could be gender, it could be the wayward subjects but they just do not resonant with me. Not to worry though there are other Rory CDs that do “speak” to me and will get more a more positive review like the one given to “Gone Woman Blues”.

Pure Rory

CD Review

“I’ve Got A Rock In My Sock”, Rory Block, Rounder Records, 1989

Apparently I am to have a love/hate “relationship’ in reviewing the CDs of Ms. Rory Block. I have thus far expressed my gratitude for her fine work in her “Gone Woman’s Blues” album (as well as ‘saving’ me, see that review in this space for the details). I, however, had to pan her 1994 effort, “Angel Of Mercy”, as it did not “speak” to me. In that review I made the following point:

“… Rory, I believe, has always had two speeds. The natural blues one and the contemporary folk stylist one. That latter style is on display here and not to her benefit. Probably, and here I may get back into “hot water” politically, the main problem is that the lyrics of these songs do not “speak” to me. It could be age, it could be gender, it could be the wayward subjects but they just do not resonant with me. Not to worry though there are other Rory CDs that do “speak” to me and will get more a more positive review like the one given to “Gone Woman Blues”.”

Well, with this CD we are back on the positive side that I mentioned in that review. Partially it is due to the point above about letting her natural bluesy side show, as exemplified here by her own title track song” I’ve Got A Rock In My Sock”, Charley Patton’s “Moon’s Goin’ Down” and the Willie Brown classic “M&O Blues”. That tips it to the positive side, no matter what else is here. However, even her folk stylist persona is ratcheted up a notch on this one. “Love and Whiskey” is evocative and rings true as coming from someone having taken a few blows from life’s sometimes mysterious doings. And “Send The Man Back Home” is well; just good advise under the terms of the song's scenario. Kudos.

Ain't She A Woman

CD Review

Ain’t I A Woman, Rory Block, Rounder Records, 1992

Apparently I am to have a love/hate “relationship’ in reviewing the CDs of Ms. Rory Block. I have thus far expressed my gratitude for her fine work in her “Gone Woman’s Blues” album (as well as ‘saving’ me, see that review in this space for the details). The same for “I’ve Got A Rock In My Sock”. I, however, had to pan her 1994 effort, “Angel Of Mercy”, as it did not “speak” to me. In that review I made the following point:

“… Rory, I believe, has always had two speeds. The natural blues one and the contemporary folk stylist one. That latter style is on display here and not to her benefit. Probably, and here I may get back into “hot water” politically, the main problem is that the lyrics of these songs do not “speak” to me. It could be age, it could be gender, it could be the wayward subjects but they just do not resonant with me. Not to worry though there are other Rory CDs that do “speak” to me and will get more a more positive review like the one given to “Gone Woman Blues”.”

Well, with this CD we are back on the positive side that I mentioned in that review. Partially it is due to the point above about letting her natural bluesy side show, as exemplified here by her own title track song” Ain’t I A Woman”, the legendary blues man Robert Johnson’s “Come On In My Kitchen” and the little known (but should be) Lottie Kimbrough’s “Rolling Log”. That tips it to the positive side, no matter what else is here. However, even her folk stylist persona is ratcheted up a notch on this one. “Faithless World” like “Love and Whiskey” from the CD “I’ve Got A Rock In My Sock” is evocative and rings true as coming from someone having taken a few blows from life’s sometimes mysterious doings. A couple of Tommy Johnson songs round this one out. Kudos, again.

Once Again, Rory Have Mercy

CD REVIEW

Tornado, Rory Block, Rounder Records, 1996

Damn, apparently I really am to have a love/hate “relationship’ in reviewing the CDs of Ms. Rory Block. I have thus far expressed my gratitude for her fine work in her “Gone Woman’s Blues” album (as well as ‘saving’ me, see that review in this space for the details). The same for “I’ve Got A Rock In My Sock” and “Ain’t I A Woman”. I, however, had to pan her 1994 effort, “Angel Of Mercy”, as it did not “speak” to me. In that review I made the following point:

“… Rory, I believe, has always had two speeds. The natural blues one and the contemporary folk stylist one. That latter style is on display here and not to her benefit. Probably, and here I may get back into “hot water” politically, the main problem is that the lyrics of these songs do not “speak” to me. It could be age, it could be gender, it could be the wayward subjects but they just do not resonant with me. Not to worry though there are other Rory CDs that do “speak” to me and will get more a more positive review like the one given to “Gone Woman Blues”.”

Here we are “Angel Of Mercy’ turf again despite some good material and various all-star back up performers. That Block folk stylist nexus is on display here, as well as a bit of overall overproduction on most of the songs. Again, maybe it is that the lyrics just do not “speak” to me but something is off here. I will make one great exception for her inclusion of “Gone Woman Blues” from a previous CD mentioned above. I will make an even greater exception for an incredible cover of Andy Barnes “The Last Leviathan” (that’s right, about the fate of the whales, and us). Wow. That said, two out of eleven do not a great CD make.