Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of "Sleepy" John Estes performing "Drop Down Mama".
CD Review
Washington Square Memoirs: The Great Urban Folk Revival Boom, 1950-1970, various artists, 3CD set, Rhino Records, 2001
Except for the reference to the origins of the talent brought to the city the same comments apply for this CD.Rather than repeat information that is readily available in the booklet and on the discs I’ll finish up here with some recommendations of songs that I believe that you should be sure to listen to:
Disc Three: Phil Ochs on “I Ain’t Marching Anymore”, Richard &Mimi Farina on “Pack Up Your Sorrows”, John Hammond on “Drop Down Mama”, Jim Kweskin & The Jug Band on “Rag Mama”, John Denver on “Bells Of Rhymney”, Gordon Lightfoot on "Early Morning Rain”, Eric Andersen on “Thirsty Boots”, Tim Hardin on “Reason To Believe”, Richie Havens on “Just Like A Woman”, Judy Collins on “Suzanne”, Tim Buckley on “Once I Was”, Tom Rush on “The Circle Game”, Taj Mahal on “Candy Man”, Loudon Wainwright III on “School Days”and Arlo Guthrie on “The Motorcycle Song”
John Hammond on “Drop Down Mama”. Be aware we are not talking here about the John Hammond who “discovered” Billie Holiday and a million other great singers but his “folkie” son, John. Also be aware that even with such bloodlines it is not a sure thing that the talent for discovering great singers can be transmitted to the next generation. The real reason that I have included this track for your inspection is that it was written (or a version of it, at least) by Sleepy John Estes, one of those old time country blues artists who were themselves ‘discovered’ by the 1960s folk revivalists. Moreover, I have been somewhat remiss in not having mentioned old Sleepy previously. Needless to say the future holds one in store. As for young Hammond that is about it.
Drop Down Mama
Lyrics: Traditional
Music: Traditional
Drop down mama
Let your daddy see
You got something goin' down
That keeps on worryin' me
Chorus
But my mama don't allow me
To fool around
She's sayin' "Son you're too young now
Some woman might put you down"
Go away from my window
Stop scratchin' round my screen
You're so evil woman
And I know what you mean
[chorus]
I got three women livin'
On the same damn road
One does my cookin', one does my washin'
One pays my room and board
[chorus]
Drop down mama
Let your daddy see
You got something goin' down
That keeps worryin' me
[chorus]
Son you're too young now
Some woman might put you down
Showing posts with label john and alan lomax. Show all posts
Showing posts with label john and alan lomax. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
*Folk Music-The Graduate Course- The Other Folk Historian-Harry Smith
Click on the headline to link to a "YouTube" film clip of Rabbit Brown performing the classic "James Alley Blues".
The Other "Roots" Historian
The Harry Smith Connection: A Live Tribute To “The Anthology Of American Folk Music", various artists, Smithsonian Folkways, 1998
John and Alan Lomax are just famous for their herculean efforts over many years to gather “roots” music from sources all over the American continent, the bayous, the hollows, the mountains and the plains. Not as well known but as worthy of praise is the work of the “roots” historian Harry Smith, the subject of this tribute CD. During the 1940’s and 1950’s Smith was working the highways and byways of the South and elsewhere recording whatever music was at hand with whatever recording device he could put to together. No less a later folk historian that the singer Dan Van Ronk remarked that he learned much of his early folk repertoire from the Harry Smith collection. Others, including Bob Dylan, also "cribbed” from the Smith collection. That tells the tale.
This tribute CD is a treasure trove of songs some familiar and some long forgotten by this reviewer. The most interesting point that always catches my attention on these anthologies is how much crossover there is despite the differences in geography, ethnicity or race. For example, listen to the two versions of “The Coo Coo Bird” here. Or consider “The Butcher Boy” that I have heard under the names “The Railroad Boy” or “In London Town” but which however tell the same old tale of abandoned love and its tragic consequences. And how many versions of “John Henry” have been recorded? The one done here by John Jackson, by the way, is excellent. As is his rendition of “Frankie and Johnnie”.
“John The Revelator” done by Ethel Caffie-Austin is the best version I have heard this side of Son House. The lead vocal by Geoff Muldaur of the Jim Kweskin Jug Band makes “Minglewood Blues” pop. Van Ronk’s “Spike Driver Blues" is vintage Dave as is Jeff Tweedy and company on Rabbit Brown’s “James Alley Blues”. The Fugs’ on “Nothing" is just the kind of tune that old Harry was looking for. To top thing off listen to Pete Stampfel on his Harry Smith tribute song “His Tapes Roll On”. That is the kind of tune that latter day cyberspace “roots” historians will pick on to continue the traditions. Listen on.
James Alley Blues
Times right now ain't nothin' like they used to be
Well times right now ain't nothin' like they used to be
You know I'll tell you all the truth, won't you take my word from me
Well I seen better days, but I ain't puttin' up with these
Well I've seen better days, but I ain't puttin' up with these
I had a lot better time with those women down in New Orleans
Well I was born in the country so she thinks I'm easy to lose
Well I was born in the country so she thinks I'm easy to lose
She wants to hitch me to a wagon and drive me like a mule
I bought her a gold ring and I pay the rent
I bought her a gold ring and I pay the rent
She tried to get me to wash her clothes but I got good common sense
Well if you don't want me then why don't you just tell me so?
Well if you don't want me then why don't you just tell me so?
It ain't like I'm a man that ain't got nowhere else to go
I give you sugar for sugar, but all you want is salt for salt
I give you sugar for sugar, but all you want is salt for salt
Well if you can't get along with me, then it's your own fault
Well, you want me to love you, but then you just treat me mean
Yea, you want me to love you, but then you just treat me mean
You're my daily thought and you're my nightly dream
Well, sometimes I think that you're just too sweet to die
Ah, sometimes I think that you're just too sweet to die
And other times I think that you ought to be buried alive
found on: The Harry Smith Connection: A Live Tribute
words: Rabbit Brown (traditional)
The Other "Roots" Historian
The Harry Smith Connection: A Live Tribute To “The Anthology Of American Folk Music", various artists, Smithsonian Folkways, 1998
John and Alan Lomax are just famous for their herculean efforts over many years to gather “roots” music from sources all over the American continent, the bayous, the hollows, the mountains and the plains. Not as well known but as worthy of praise is the work of the “roots” historian Harry Smith, the subject of this tribute CD. During the 1940’s and 1950’s Smith was working the highways and byways of the South and elsewhere recording whatever music was at hand with whatever recording device he could put to together. No less a later folk historian that the singer Dan Van Ronk remarked that he learned much of his early folk repertoire from the Harry Smith collection. Others, including Bob Dylan, also "cribbed” from the Smith collection. That tells the tale.
This tribute CD is a treasure trove of songs some familiar and some long forgotten by this reviewer. The most interesting point that always catches my attention on these anthologies is how much crossover there is despite the differences in geography, ethnicity or race. For example, listen to the two versions of “The Coo Coo Bird” here. Or consider “The Butcher Boy” that I have heard under the names “The Railroad Boy” or “In London Town” but which however tell the same old tale of abandoned love and its tragic consequences. And how many versions of “John Henry” have been recorded? The one done here by John Jackson, by the way, is excellent. As is his rendition of “Frankie and Johnnie”.
“John The Revelator” done by Ethel Caffie-Austin is the best version I have heard this side of Son House. The lead vocal by Geoff Muldaur of the Jim Kweskin Jug Band makes “Minglewood Blues” pop. Van Ronk’s “Spike Driver Blues" is vintage Dave as is Jeff Tweedy and company on Rabbit Brown’s “James Alley Blues”. The Fugs’ on “Nothing" is just the kind of tune that old Harry was looking for. To top thing off listen to Pete Stampfel on his Harry Smith tribute song “His Tapes Roll On”. That is the kind of tune that latter day cyberspace “roots” historians will pick on to continue the traditions. Listen on.
James Alley Blues
Times right now ain't nothin' like they used to be
Well times right now ain't nothin' like they used to be
You know I'll tell you all the truth, won't you take my word from me
Well I seen better days, but I ain't puttin' up with these
Well I've seen better days, but I ain't puttin' up with these
I had a lot better time with those women down in New Orleans
Well I was born in the country so she thinks I'm easy to lose
Well I was born in the country so she thinks I'm easy to lose
She wants to hitch me to a wagon and drive me like a mule
I bought her a gold ring and I pay the rent
I bought her a gold ring and I pay the rent
She tried to get me to wash her clothes but I got good common sense
Well if you don't want me then why don't you just tell me so?
Well if you don't want me then why don't you just tell me so?
It ain't like I'm a man that ain't got nowhere else to go
I give you sugar for sugar, but all you want is salt for salt
I give you sugar for sugar, but all you want is salt for salt
Well if you can't get along with me, then it's your own fault
Well, you want me to love you, but then you just treat me mean
Yea, you want me to love you, but then you just treat me mean
You're my daily thought and you're my nightly dream
Well, sometimes I think that you're just too sweet to die
Ah, sometimes I think that you're just too sweet to die
And other times I think that you ought to be buried alive
found on: The Harry Smith Connection: A Live Tribute
words: Rabbit Brown (traditional)
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