*You Can't Go Home Again, Can You?- August Wilson's "Jitney"

Click On Title To Link To August Wilson Homepage

Play Review

Jitney (1977), August Wilson, Theater Communications Group, New York, 2007

Okay, blame it on the recently departed Studs Terkel and his damn interview books. I had just been reading his "The Spectator", a compilation of some of his interviews of various authors, actors and other celebrities from his long-running Chicago radio program when I came across an interview that he had with the playwright under review here, August Wilson. Of course, that interview dealt with things near and dear to their hearts on the cultural front and mine as well. Our mutual love of the blues, our concerns about the history and fate of black people and the other oppressed of capitalist society and our need to express ourselves politically in the best way we can. For Studs it was the incessant interviews, for me it is incessant political activity and for the late August Wilson it was his incessant devotion to his century cycle of ten plays that covered a range of black experiences over the 20th century.

Strangely, although I was familiar with the name of the playwright August Wilson and was aware that he had produced a number of plays that were performed at a college-sponsored repertory theater here in Boston I had not seen or read his plays prior to reading the Terkel interview. Naturally when I read there that one of the plays being discussed was entitled "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" about the legendary female blues singer from the 1920's I ran out to get a copy of the play. That play has been reviewed elsewhere in this space but as is my habit when I read an author who "speaks" to me I grab everything I can by him or her to see where they are going with the work. This is doubly true in the case of Brother Wilson as his work is purposefully structured as an integrated cycle, and as an intensive dramatic look at the black historical experience of the 20th century that has driven a lot of my own above-mentioned political activism.

By the time that this review appears I will have already reviewed five of the ten plays in August Wilson’s Century cycle. On the first five I believe that I ran out of fulsome praise for his work and particularly for his tightly woven story and dialogue. Rather than keep following that path for the next five plays I would prefer to concentrate on some of the dialogue that makes Brother Wilson’s work so compelling. For those who want to peek at my general observations you can look at my review of “Gem Of The Ocean” (the first play chronologically in the cycle).

In all previously reviewed plays I noticed some piece of dialogue that seemed to me to sum up the essence of the play. Sometimes that is done by the lead character as was the case with Troy Maxton in “Fences” when he (correctly) stated that there should been “no too early” in regard to the possibilities of black achievement and prospects in America. Other times it is by a secondary character in the form of some handed down black folk wisdom as means to survive in racially-hardened America. In “Jitney” this task falls to Doub in Act Two when he cuts through all of the rhetoric and accusations a that some blacks were (and still are) making about white abandonment of the struggle for racial equality in America. His retort: ain’t no whites give a damn about you, you don’t exist for them.

These lines are doubly poignant in play where the central occupation is that of “homegrown” private cab drivers that sprang up in the black ghettos because the licensed cabbies wouldn’t go into black neighborhoods. Powerful stuff. As I have noted previously that says more in a couple of sentences about a central aspect of black experience in America at the end of the 20th century than many manifestos, treatises or sociological/psychological studies. That Wilson can weave that hard understanding into a play of less than one hundred pages and drive the plot line of a story that deals with the contradiction between black aspirations and the reality of the hard fact that many blacks were left behind heading into in the Reaganite 1980’s when all the “boats were to be lifted to by the rising tide”. Given the hard fate for most blacks in housing, education and jobs today Brother Wilson is on to something. As I have also noted previously- that, my friends, is still something to consider in the so-called “post-racial” Obamiad. We shall see.

*The Domino Theory In The Democratic Struggle For Gay Marriage Rights- New Hampshire Falls

Click On Title To Link To Boston Globe Article On The Recent Legislative Action In New Hampshire That Has Sanctioned Gay Marriage Rights.

Mini-commentary

I have already made the germane points about this issue elsewhere on this site overt the past couple of months as things have gone quickly. Kudos for New Hampshire as the fifth New England state to ratify, one way or another, gay marriage rights. This once rather stolid, conservative state has dramatically shifted from the days when the late, unlamented Willaim Loeb, publisher of the conservative "Manchester Union Leader" held sway over that body politic. Nevertheless I would feel a whole lot better about the fate of this struggle if places like Alabama or....California got on board. Forward.

*He's Got Them "Bourgeois Blues"- The Music Of Lead Belly

Click On Title To Link To YouTube's Clip Of Lead Belly Doing "Bourgeois Blues".

CD REVIEW

The Bourgeois Blues, Lead Belly, St. Clair Records, 2005

This major part of this review has been used previously to look at other Lead Belly (and Woody Guthrie) materials in order to give the pair their proper due as the “first wave” folk revivalists that those of us from the “Generation of ‘68” gravitated to when Bobby Dee, Bobby Darin and others pop teenage singers from the early 1960’s stopped “speaking” to us. With the exception of the point about the Smithsonian booklet the points raised there can serve here for Lead Belly alone.

“If any of the older generation, the “Generation of ‘68” needs an introduction to Woody Guthrie or Lead Belly then I ask what planet have you been on. Woody’s “This Land Is Your Land” is practically a national anthem (and in some quarters is just that). And Lead Belly’s “Goodnight, Irene” is in that same category. So to have the two highlighted on one program, as they had been in life on a number of occasions is a treat. This tribute has the further virtue of highlighting original performances by them unlike a DVD documentary and accompanying CD “A Shared Vision” reviewed earlier in this space that was composed of tribute performances by some of those who, like John Mellencamp, have been influenced by their work, individually or collectively.

As always with a Smithsonian/Folkways production the CD includes a booklet of copious liner notes that detail, for the folk historian or the novice alike, the history of each song and its genesis. I am always surprised by the insightful detail provided and as much as I know about this milieu always find something new in them. Moreover, the information here provided inevitably details the rather mundane genesis of some very famous songs. Here, for example, “Bring Me Little Water, Sylvie” is just what it says back in Lead Belly’s old family farm hand days.”

I do not believe that I need to detail the work of Lead Belly but will finish with a note of what you should make sure to hear. “Goodnight, Irene” and “John Hardy”, of course. “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” has aged well. All of this is rounded out by a Lead Belly classic “The Bourgeois Blues” about the fate of blacks trying to live in Washington, D.C. in the old days (1930’s) that seems to resonant today to my ear, at least politically.


Just in case you don't want to take my word for it here are the lyrics.

Lead Belly - The Bourgeois Blues Lyrics

Lord, in a bourgeois town
It's a bourgeois town
I got the bourgeois blues
Gonna spread the news all around

Home of the brave, land of the free
I don't wanna be mistreated by no bourgeoisie
Lord, in a bourgeois town
Uhm, the bourgeois town
I got the bourgeois blues
Gonna spread the news all around

Well, me and my wife we were standing upstairs
We heard the white man say "I don't want no n----rs up there"
Lord, in a bourgeois town
Uhm, bourgeois town
I got the bourgeois blues
Gonna spread the news all around

Well, them white folks in Washington they know how
To call a colored man a n----r just to see him bow
Lord, it's a bourgeois town
Uhm, the bourgeois town
I got the bourgeois blues
Gonna spread the news all around

I tell all the colored folks to listen to me
Don't try to find you no home in Washington, DC
`Cause it's a bourgeois town
Uhm, the bourgeois town
I got the bourgeois blues
Gonna spread the news all around

Alabama Bound lyrics

I'm Alabama bound
I'm Alabama bound
And if the train don't stop and turn around
I'm Alabama bound
Oh, don't you leave me here
Oh, don't you leave me here
But if you must go anyhow
Just leave a dime for beer
Oh don't you be like me
Oh don't you be like me
Drink your good sweet cherry wine
And let that whiskey be
Well your hair don't curve
And your eyes ain't blue
Well if you don't want me, Polly Ann
Well I don't want you


Rock Island Line lyrics

Cat's in the cupboard and she can't find me
Oh the Rock Island Line is a mighty fine line
Oh the Rock Island Line is the road to ride
If you want to ride, you gotta ride it like you're flyin'
Get your ticket at the station on the Rock Island Line
Maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong
Lawd you gonna miss me when I'm gone
Oh the Rock Island Line is a mighty fine line
Oh the Rock Island Line is the road to ride
If you want to ride, you gotta ride it like you're flyin'
Get your ticket at the station on the Rock Island Line
Jesus died to save our sins
Glory to God I'm gonna see Him again
Oh the Rock Island Line is a mighty fine line
Oh the Rock Island Line is the road to ride
If you want to ride, you gotta ride it like you're flyin'
Get your ticket at the station on the Rock Island Line
Moses stood on the Red Sea shore
Smothin' the water with a two-by-four
Oh the Rock Island Line is a mighty fine line
Oh the Rock Island Line is the road to ride
If you want to ride, you gotta ride it like you're flyin'
Get your ticket at the station on the Rock Island Line


Take This Hammer lyrics

Take this hammer, carry it to the captain
Take this hammer, carry it to the captain
Take this hammer, carry it to the captain
Tell him I'm gone
Tell him I'm gone
If he asks you was I runnin'
If he asks you was I runnin'
If he asks you was I runnin'
Tell him I was flyin'
Tell him I was flyin'
If he asks you was I laughin'
If he asks you was I laughin'
If he asks you was I laughin'
Tell him I was cryin'
Tell him I was cryin'
They wanna feed me cornbread and molasses
They wanna feed me cornbread and molasses
They wanna feed me cornbread and molasses
But I got my pride
Well, I got my pride


(Good Night) Irene lyrics


Last Saturday night, I got married,
Me and my wife settled down
Now me and my wife are parted,
I'm gonna take another stroll downtown
Sometimes I live in the country,
Sometimes I live in town
Sometimes I take a great notion,
To jump into the river and drown
I love Irene, God knows I do,
I'll love her till the seas run dry
But if Irene should turn me down,
I'd take the morphine and die
Stop rambling, stop your gambling,
Stop staying out late at night
Go home to your wife and your family,

*Joe Turner Get Away From My Door- August Wilson's "Joe Turner's Come And Gone"

Click On Title To Link To August Wilson Homepage.

Play Review

Joe Turner’s Come And Gone, August Wilson, New American Library, New York, 1988

The first couple of paragraphs of this review have been used as introduction to other August Wilson Century Cycle plays as well.

Okay, blame it on the recently departed Studs Terkel and his damn interview books. I had just been reading his "The Spectator", a compilation of some of his interviews of various authors, actors and other celebrities from his long-running Chicago radio program when I came across an interview that he had with the playwright under review here, August Wilson. Of course, that interview dealt with things near and dear to their hearts on the cultural front and mine as well. Our mutual love of the blues, our concerns about the history and fate of black people and the other oppressed of capitalist society and our need to express ourselves politically in the best way we can. For Studs it was the incessant interviews, for me it is incessant political activity and for the late August Wilson it was his incessant devotion to his century cycle of ten plays that covered a range of black experiences over the 20th century.


The old blues song "Joe Turner's Come and Gone" is a familiar one to me. I have heard it in many versions, some where Joe is a good guy and others, as here with August Wilson's concept of Joe, bad. Bad, indeed, for black people who tried in the second decade of the 20th century to try to make a decent life for themselves and their families. The specific case highlighted in the play is the fate of one Herald Loomis (and his daughter). Herald, having come up against Joe Turner's justice (read white Jim Crow justice) and paid the price with the lost of his wife, as well as part of his sanity, is searching to find his roots.

In the opening play of this series "Gem of the Ocean" we find the characters there trying to figure out what to do with their new found freedom. Here were are involved in a search to find meaning for the black family, the black man and anyone else who is confounded by the race question, circa 1910. One of the most dramatic lines in the whole play is when one of the boarders at Seth's Holly's house, Molly, who is about to go off with fellow boarder Jeremy for parts unknown in order to have fun or just to get a fresh start. She says- "I will go anywhere with you-except the South". That, my friends, says as much about this play as anything else. Of course, as always with Wilson one gets a deep dialogue, a very real feel for the confined space that the whites, North or South have left for blacks and with the exception of the link with the white travelling salesman Selig are not part of the flow of national capitalist society. Yes, "Joe Turner's Come and Gone", circa 1911 style, is gone but are we so sure that he is gone for good? As always, kudos, Brother Wilson.

*Honor Doctor Tiller- Defend Abortion Providers And Abortion Clinics!

Click On Title To Link To March 21 2009 Commentary On The Late Heroic Abortion Provider Kansas Doctor George Tiller.

Commentary

markin said...

This following message in quotes (along with some other comments) was left on a March 21, 2009 commentary on the legal defense of Doctor Tiller on this blog after I posted the information there about the murder of Doctor George Tiller on May 31, 2009.

“Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "*Defend Dr. George Tiller!- Free Abortion on Deman...":

Barack Obama should seek punishment against the murderer of Tiller.”

Markin responds: More appropriately, for leftist militants and other progressives, is not the question of whether Barack Obama should seek punishment against the murderer of Doctor Tiller but that we should be actively propagandizing and agitating for the defense of abortion providers and abortion clinics by working class organizations and other interested progressive organizations. Starting right now! No more Doctor Tillers! Defend Abortion Providers! Defend Abortion Clinics!

*The Struggle Continues- August Wilson's "Gem Of The Ocean"

Click On Title To Link To August Wilson Homepage.

Play/Book Review

Gem Of The Ocean, August Wilson, Theater Communication Group, New York, 2007

The first couple of paragraphs of this review have been used as introduction to other August Wilson Century Cycle plays as well.

Okay, blame it on the recently departed Studs Terkel and his damn interview books. I had just been reading his "The Spectator", a compilation of some of his interviews of various authors, actors and other celebrities from his long-running Chicago radio program when I came across an interview that he had with the playwright under review here, August Wilson. Of course, that interview dealt with things near and dear to their hearts on the cultural front and mine as well. Our mutual love of the blues, our concerns about the history and fate of black people and the other oppressed of capitalist society and our need to express ourselves politically in the best way we can. For Studs it was the incessant interviews, for me it is incessant political activity and for the late August Wilson it was his incessant devotion to his century cycle of ten plays that covered a range of black experiences over the 20th century.

Although "Gem Of The Ocean" was not August Wilson's first play written in what has become the century cycle it is first in time at the turn of the 20th century. To set the context it was time when black chattel slavery had been abolished legally but after the time, at least in the South (and de facto in the North), that Jim Crow ruled race relations in America. The great promise of the Civil War and the post-war Reconstruction period gave way to the doctrine, if one can call it that, of "separate but equal". The struggle to come to terms with that hard reality , and the realization that an additional struggle or two were going to be necessary in order to regain that promise, sets the tone for the play and for the cycle.

As for the actual dynamics of this play itself it takes place in 1904, in as is most usually the case in Wilson's work budding industrial Pittsburgh, a place that theoretically could provide hope for the black masses heading north from the dead-end of the agrarian South. That hard dirty wage slavery could provide some positive relief shows the precarious position of blacks at that time. Moreover, this is a mixed blessing as blacks could be just as easily used as `scabs', and then discarded, as an core component of the labor force.

The story hinges around the actions that occur at one of the mills when blacks go on strike themselves for better wages and working conditions. Enter, one Citizen freshly arrived from the South but also frustrated by his prospects. He commits crime and another takes the fall for it. Then, all hell breaks loose until the time of redemption.

The agent of redemption will be none other than Aunt Ester, a figure who hovers around other Wilson plays, Black Mary as her lady-in waiting and Solly Two Kings, a hardened veteran of the black struggle for equality and himself a slave before he became an agent on the Underground Railroad a job he never gave up even after the abolition of slavery. It is that premise-one that the fight for black equality is neither a given nor an easy task that, without giving the plot away, creates the dramatic tension here. Along the way we cross swords with the Booker T. Washington figure of Caesar as the black agent of the unseen (in the play) white power elite to provide the contrary notion that black self-help and black folk wisdom is passé and that one must accept that this is a dog-eat-dog world. As always Wilson provides powerful dialogue to move the action and, once again, I hear that little bluesy, gospelly music in the background that always pushes the rhythm of these works. Kudos, once again, Brother Wilson. The struggle continues.

*Honor The Memory Of Kansas Abortion Provider Doctor George Tiller- Free Abortion On Demand! Defend Abortion Providers And Clinics!

Click On Title To Link To Associated Press Article On The Murder Of Kansas Abortion Provider, Dr. George Tiller. Despite many personal trials and tribulations he provided this service to Kansas women in need in the face of many legal, political and social threats. All honor to his memory. And the best way to do so is to fight, and fight hard, for the right to free abortion on demand. Forward!

******

Below is a repost of an article from the Partisan Defense Committee concerning the most recent legal harassment of the late Doctor Tiller. Honor his memory.

Guest Commentary

March Is Women's History Month

This entry is passed on from the Partisan Defense Committee. At a time when everyone is "keeping it on the low" about President Barack Obama's retro position on abortion noted in the article Doctor Tiller, a real hero of the women's rights movement (when it counts) needs serious defense.

Free Abortion on Demand!

Defend Dr. George Tiller!

After decades of intimidation and terror, courageous abortion provider Dr. George Tiller goes on trial March 16, threatened with 19 years in prison. One of the few remaining physicians providing “late-term” abortions in the U.S., Dr. Tiller and the staff of his Wichita Women’s Health Care Services have repeatedly been targeted by anti-abortion fanatics. Tiller’s clinic was bombed in 1986, and in 1993 he survived being shot several times in an assassination attempt. Tiller faces 19 misdemeanor counts of violating the state’s law requiring two doctors, without financial or legal ties to each other, to sign off on abortions done late in pregnancy (in Kansas, the arbitrary calculus of “late-term” is set at 22 weeks). Prosecutors claim that Tiller had a financial relationship with the doctor who provided a second opinion. These bogus charges are being used to railroad a courageous doctor who puts medical science and concern for his patients above his own well-being. The labor movement and all defenders of women’s rights must stand in defense of Dr. Tiller and demand: Stop the witchhunt against George Tiller! Drop the charges!

The attack on Dr. Tiller is part of a drive, by legal and extralegal means, to intimidate abortion providers and ultimately do away with women’s right to abortion. According to papers filed by Tiller’s lawyers, the district attorney obtained under false pretenses a court order directing a Wichita hotel to turn over registration records containing patients’ names. Under the pretext of investigating “child rape,” these records were then matched with medical records that Tiller was required to submit to the state, in order to discover the names of Tiller’s patients. D.A. Phill Kline, who launched the legal crusade against Tiller, was so frenzied in his campaign against abortion clinics that the state Supreme Court in December chastised him for showing “little, if any, respect” for “the rule of law” (Topeka Capital-Journal, 6 December 2008).

Nevertheless, on February 25 the judge in the criminal case against Tiller denied a defense motion to throw out prosecution evidence and refused to dismiss the case. Noting that the charges against Tiller had been filed by Kline’s successor as attorney general, a “pro-choice” Democrat, the judge ludicrously concluded that Kline’s actions “could not have tainted the investigation and prosecution of this case” (AP, 25 February).

The law being used to go after Tiller is just one of a slew of measures which have made abortion virtually inaccessible to a large number of women in this country. This is especially true for the young, working-class and poor, who already have limited access to decent health care, childcare, affordable housing or even enough food to feed their families. Today, 36 states prohibit abortions after a specified point in pregnancy. Fully 34 states require one or both parents of young women under 18 to be notified and/or consent to an abortion. And 87 percent of U.S. counties—97 percent in nonmetropolitan areas—do not have an abortion provider.

Abortion is a politically explosive issue because it raises the question of the equality of women. This simple medical procedure provides women with some control over whether or not to have children. For this reason it is viewed as a threat to the institution of the family, which is a crucial prop for the system of capitalist exploitation. In order for safe and legal abortion to become a reality for working-class, minority and immigrant women, we call for free abortion on demand as part of free quality health care for all.

The increasing curtailment of the right to abortion reflects the policies of both the Democratic and Republican parties. As we wrote in “Drop the Charges Against Dr. George Tiller!” (WV No. 924, 7 November 2008):

“The reactionary demagogy of the Republicans is longstanding and obvious enough. But the fact is that there has been little ‘choice’ for poor women since Democrat Jimmy Carter (who now has become an international ‘human rights’ icon) signed into law in 1977 the Hyde Amendment eliminating Medicaid coverage for abortions. During Democrat Clinton’s eight years in office, welfare for mothers was axed, safe access to abortion was effectively gutted across much of the country, as the number of abortion providers plummeted 14 percent between 1992 and 1996, and a huge number of restrictive laws were passed.”

President Barack Obama provoked a hysterical uproar among anti-abortion bigots when he nominated as Health and Human Services Secretary Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius, a “pro-choice” Democrat who sponsored an April 2007 event at the governor’s residence with Tiller and his clinic’s staff. Yet during the election campaign, Obama told the Christian magazine Relevant that he opposed mental health exceptions for “late-term” abortion bans because “I don’t think that ‘mental distress’ qualifies as the health of the mother” (AP, 4 July 2008). In office, Obama stripped from his economic stimulus package a proposal to allow states to expand Medicaid coverage of contraception and other family planning services. Obama’s proposed 2010 budget has been hailed by liberals for setting aside $634 billion for health care, but the reality is that about half that sum would come from spending cuts in programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.

The attacks on abortion rights are part of a campaign of social reaction aimed at regimenting the entire population—not just women, but black people, immigrants, gays and the working class as a whole. While the anti-abortion bigots call themselves “pro-life,” they enthusiastically support the racist death penalty. The U.S. has one of the highest rates of infant mortality in the industrialized world.

The fight for abortion rights, decent living conditions and free quality health care mandates that we build a revolutionary workers party. The working class has the social power necessary to mobilize in defense of not only women, but all the oppressed. But to exercise that power it is necessary to wage a political struggle against the labor bureaucracy that keeps working people tied to the Democratic Party. The elimination of the right to abortion would redound against all working people. As we have often underlined, democratic rights either go forward together or fall back separately. The working class is uniquely situated to bring capitalist rule to an end. For women’s liberation through socialist revolution!

*Roosevelt Sykes Is In The House- The "Honey Dripper" Plays His Boogie-Woogie Piano

Click On Title To Link To YouTube's Clip Of Roosevelt Sykes doing "Gulfport Boogie"

DVD REVIEW

Roosevelt Sykes and Big Bill Broonzy, Roosevelt Sykes and Big Bill Broonzy, Yazoo Productions, 200

The last time that the name Roosevelt Sykes was mentioned in this space was to highlight his boogie-woogie piano performances in a country blues compilation entitled “Rural Blues’, Volume 3. There I mentioned the following- “However, the ‘king of the hill’ on this one is Roosevelt Sykes’s piano work and vocals on “Hush Oh Hush” and “I’m Tired”. Roosevelt Sykes is one of those guys you keep hearing about if you listen to enough blues. Now I know why. Needless to say you will be seeing a separate individual review of his work in this space later.” And here it is.

In this documentary film you get to see Roosevelt in person with old soft hat on his head (I think that’s what they call that kind of hat. Being a child of the hatless Kennedy era I am not up on the sartorial distinctions on this question.), cigar in his mouth, keeping time with his foot and stretching his fingers all across the keyboard just like the way that you would think that the old time boogie-woogie guys would do it if you had to describe what they were up to in words. The smoked-filled 1950’s jazz club atmosphere of the film gives just the right feel to Sykes’ work. Outstanding here is his version of “The Nighttime Is The Right Time”.

I should note that the reason I got this film was to get a look at Roosevelt. As an added treat there is footage of Big Bill Broonzy doing a separate nightclub act in the same kind of atmosphere as that of the Sykes segment. And maybe just a little bit more provocative with a white hipster ‘dame’ in the picture. Dangerous stuff. Moreover, there are added segments of Big Bill wailing his acoustic guitar in practice that, I believe, came from one of Stefan Grossman’s “Legends of The Country Blues” volumes. Nice.

“Night Time Is The Right Time”

You know the night time, darling
(night and day)
Is the right time
(night and day)
To be
(night and day)
With the one you love, now
(night and day)
Say now oh baby
(night and day)
When I come home baby, now
(night and day)
I wanna be with the one I love, now
(night and day)
You know what I'm thinking of
(night and day)
I know the night time
(night and day, oh)
Whoa, is the right time
(night and day, oh)
To be with the one you love, now
(night and day)
I said to be with the one you love
(night and day)
You know my mother, now
(night and day)
Had to die, now
(night and day)
Umm, and my father
(night and day)
Well he broke down and cry
(night and day)
Whoah! whoa baby
(night and day)
When I come home baby now
(night and day)
I want you to hold my hand
(night and day)
Yeah, tight as you can
(night and day)
I know the night time
(night and day, oh)
Whoah is the right time
(night and day, oh)
To be with the one you love
(night and day)
You know what I'm thinking of
(night and day)
Whoah! sing your song, Margie
Baby
(night and day)
Baby
(night and day)
Baby
(night and day)
Oh, Baby
(night and day)
Do I love you?
(night and day)
No one above you
(night and day)
Hold me tight
(night and day)
And make everything all right
(night and day)
Because the night time
(night and day)
Oh, is the right time
(night and day)
To be with the one you love now
(night and day)
Oh yeah
(night and day)
Tease me
(night and day)
Squeeze me
(night and day)
Leave me
(night and day)
Ah, don't leave me
(night and day)
Lawdy baby
(night and day)
Take my hand, now
(night and day)
I don't need
(night and day)
No other man
(night and day)
Because the night time
(night and day)
Ow, is the right time
(night and day)
To be with the one you love
(night and day)
Oh yeah
(night and day)
I said baby
(night and day)
Baby
(night and day)
Baby
(night and day)
Baby
(night and day)
Whoah! baby now
(night and day)
Oh come on baby
(night and day)
You know I want you by my side
(night and day)
I want you to keep
(night and day)
Oh keep me satisfied
(night and day)
I know the night time
(night and day)
Everyday is the right time
(night and day)
Yeah to be with the one you love now
(night and day)
Well you know it's all right

Roosevelt Sykes
Ice Cream Freezer lyrics

My baby owns a ice cream freezer
She let's me put my milk in her can
Mercy!
My baby owns a ice cream freezer
She let's me put my milk in her can
Her freezer ain't to be churned
By no other man

Some people crave vanilla or strawberry
But-a black walnut is all I love
Mercy!
Some people crave vanilla or strawberry
But-a black walnut is all I love
When I put my spoon in her freezer
Man, it fits just like a rubber glove
Mercy!

Now, she turns her freezer
So slow an easy
She said, 'Daddy can you hold back
And stick around? ' (I'll try, ha-ha)
As she turn her freezer
So slow an easy
She say, 'Now, daddy can you jus hold back
And stick around? '
I'll say, I b'lieve you spoke jus a little too late
Pretty mama
I gotta let that flavor come runnin' down

'Mercy, mercy, man, yeah'
Ho, yeah!

'Let it roll on a while in the night'

'Ho, til the break of day'

'Ho, til the break of day'
'My, my, my, my'

'Ho while'

She said, 'Now, you done used my freezer
You said, 'Daddy, you look like
You gettin' ready to leave' (quite natural)
My, my
She said, 'Now, you done uses my freezer
'Look like you gettin' ready to leave'
She said, 'But you're still welcome to my can
When you have more cream to freeze'

More cream to freeze.

Roosevelt Sykes
She's Got It lyrics

Worked the gulf port from Memphis, Tennessee
Help me find Mrs. Mercy Dee
I just found a girl, she's got
Just found a girl and she's got
She's got the kind of lovin' I've been lookin' for

Well, she looks so fine
All dressed up in plaid
She start in to makin' love
She goes ravin' mad

I just found a girl an she's got
Just found a girl, she's got
Just found a girl got
The lovin' I've been lookin' for
My, my, my

Whoa (alittle right here)

Let it ride a while (roll another one right here)

Oh yeah
My, my (another one left)

She's no virgin but she's outta sight
She say I can suit her appetite
I just found a girl, she's got a
I just found a girl, and she's got
She's got the kind of lovin' I've been lookin' for
My, my (add a little)

'Let it rock now' (another, another all the way)

'Oh yeah' (another there)

Hurry up, baby
I'm gon' be in here quiet as a mouse
Come on baby, in this house
Cause I just found a girl and
She's got a, I just found that girl
And she's got, she's got
The kind of lovin' I've been lookin' for
My, my, my, my

'Ride now' (right here)
'Roll' (roll it)
'Let it ride a while'
My, my (right here)
'Gonna shake a little while now' (right here a little)
'Ho, yeah' (alright boys, right there)
'Oh, yeah'
My, my (outta here)

Well, I just found a girl and she's got
Just found a girl and she's got
Just found a girl and she's got
Just found a girl and she's got it
Just found a girl and she's got it
Just found a girl
She's got the love I've been lookin' for
Oh, my.

* Hard Times In Babylon, Again- "Poor Man's Heaven"- Song Of The Great Depression Of The 1930's (The Other One)

Click On Title To Link To YouTube's Clip of Yip Harburg's "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" done by Bing Crosby.

CD REVIEW

Poor Man's Heaven: Songs Of The Great Depression, various artists,When The Sun Goes Down series, BMG, 2003

Banks are failing. Stock markets are in a nose dive. Unemployment is way up. Housing values are headed toward the floor. More and more people are seeking welfare and food stamps. Consumers are “tightening their belts” waiting for the other show to fall. And that is only the grim news on an average day. Other days ratchet up the doom and gloom from there. Oh, you thought I was talking about today’s headlines. No I am referring to the Great Depression of the 1930’s which in song is the subject matter of this CD review. Does sound familiar though, doesn’t it? The only thing I haven’t heard about lately is “Bushvilles” or "Obamavilles” to replace the “Hooverville” shanty towns of the 1930’s. But they could be on the way.

Even in the worst of times, at least to this reviewer’s understanding of the human endeavor, people have turned to song to relieve what ails them. Sometimes, as some selection here, it could be with a funny twist on the idiocy of the markets like old time comedian Eddie Cantor’s “Tips On The Stock Market” or Frank Crumit’s “Tale Of The Ticker”. Sometimes it could be the pathos expressed in “Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?’ or “Remember My Forgotten Man”

Other times it can be ironic as on “Hallelujah, I’m A Bum” or the title track “Poor Man’s Heaven”. Or it can express social or personal reality like “Raising The Rent”, “Ten Cents A Dance” or “The Farm Relief Song”. And sometimes, it can express just pure desperation or frustration as in Alfred Reed’s “How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live?’, Daddy Stovepipe’s “35 Depression” or Joe Stone’s “It’s Hard Time”. Yes, we need our songs to get us through but here is the kicker. It’s not enough. We cannot sing these bad time blues away. For that we need to take social action. By and for ourselves. But that is a question for another day. Today we speak of our hard times musical heritage. Listen up.

*****

A Tale of A Ticker

By Frank Crumit and Frank O'Brien

A Tale of A Ticker , a 1929 novelty song foreshadowing the 1929 stock-market crash, has music by Frank Crumit and lyrics by Frank O'Brien.

This little pig went to market,
Where they buy and sell the stocks,
This little pig came home again,
With his system full of shocks.

I don’t understand their language,
Don’t know what it’s all about,
For a bull buys up and a bear sells down and a broker sells you out;

And here is the song they sing the whole day long;
Oh! the market’s not so good today,
Your stocks look kind of sick,
In fact they all dropped down a point time the tickers tick;

We’ll have to have more margin now,
There isn’t any doubt,
So you better dash with a load of cash,
Or we’ll have to sell you out.

The stock exchange is a funny place,
It’s the strangest place in town,
The seats cost half a million cash,
But the brokers won’t sit down.

There’s the broker the bull and bear,
It’s queer but it’s not a joke,
For you get the bull till your bank-roll’s bare
and the broker says you’re broke,

And here is the song I hear the whole day long;
Oh! The market’s not so good today,
Your stocks look kind of sick,
In fact they all dropped down a point time the tickers tick;

We’ll have to have more margin now,
There isn’t any doubt,
So you better dash with a load of cash,
Or we’ll have to sell you out.

The market simply goes to prove,
That we still have loco weeds,
For the bull buys what he doesn’t want,
And the bear sells what he needs,

I bought an elevator stock,
And thought that I did well,
And the little bears all ran down-stairs
and rang the basement bell,

And here is the song I hear the whole day long;
Oh! The market’s not so good today,
Your stocks look kind of sick,
In fact they all dropped down a point time the tickers tick;

We’ll have to have more margin now,
There isn’t any doubt,
So you better dash with a load of cash,
Or we’ll have to sell you out.

HOW CAN A POOR MAN STAND SUCH TIMES AND LIVE ?

Blind Alfred Reed - 1929

There once was a time when everything was cheap,
But now prices nearly puts a man to sleep.
When we pay our grocery bill,
We just feel like making our will --
I remember when dry goods were cheap as dirt,
We could take two bits and buy a dandy shirt.
Now we pay three bucks or more,
Maybe get a shirt that another man wore --
Tell me how can a poor man stand such times and live?
Well, I used to trade with a man by the name of Gray,
Flour was fifty cents for a twenty-four pound bag.
Now it's a dollar and a half beside,
Just like a-skinning off a flea for the hide --
Tell me how can a poor man stand such times and live?

Oh, the schools we have today ain't worth a cent,
But they see to it that every child is sent.
If we don't send everyday,
We have a heavy fine to pay --
Tell me how can a poor man stand such times and live?

Prohibition's good if 'tis conducted right,
There's no sense in shooting a man 'til he shows flight.
Officers kill without a cause,
They complain about funny laws --
Tell me how can a poor man stand such times and live?

Most all preachers preach for gold and not for souls,
That's what keeps a poor man always in a hole.
We can hardly get our breath,
Taxed and schooled and preached to death --
Tell me how can a poor man stand such times and live?

Oh, it's time for every man to be awake,
We pay fifty cents a pound when we ask for steak.
When we get our package home,
A little wad of paper with gristle and a bone --
Tell me how can a poor man stand such times and live?

Well, the doctor comes around with a face all bright,
And he says in a little while you'll be all right.
All he gives is a humbug pill,
A dose of dope and a great big bill --
Tell me how can a poor man stand such times and live?

"Brother, Can You Spare a Dime," lyrics by Yip Harburg, music by Jay Gorney (1931)

They used to tell me I was building a dream, and so I followed the mob,

When there was earth to plow, or guns to bear, I was always there right on the job.

They used to tell me I was building a dream, with peace and glory ahead,

Why should I be standing in line, just waiting for bread?

Once I built a railroad, I made it run, made it race against time.

Once I built a railroad; now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime?

Once I built a tower, up to the sun, brick, and rivet, and lime;

Once I built a tower, now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime?

Once in khaki suits, gee we looked swell,

Full of that Yankee Doodly Dum,

Half a million boots went slogging through Hell,

And I was the kid with the drum!

Say, don't you remember, they called me Al; it was Al all the time.

Why don't you remember, I'm your pal? Buddy, can you spare a dime?

Once in khaki suits, gee we looked swell,

Full of that Yankee Doodly Dum,

Half a million boots went slogging through Hell,

And I was the kid with the drum!

Say, don't you remember, they called me Al; it was Al all the time.

Say, don't you remember, I'm your pal? Buddy, can you spare a dime?


Ten Cents a Dance

From Simple Simon

Lyrics by Lorenz Hart, music by Richard Rodgers

VERSE

I work at the Palace Ballroom,
but, gee that Palace is cheap;
when I get back to my chilly hall room
I'm much to tired to sleep.
I'm one of those lady teachers,
a beautiful hostess, you know,
the kind the Palace features
for only a dime a throw.

REFRAIN

Ten cents a dance
that's what they pay me,
gosh, how they weigh me down!
Ten cents a dance
pansies and rough guys
tough guys who tear my gown!
Seven to midnight I hear drums.
Loudly the saxophone blows.
Trumpets are tearing my eardrums.
Customers crush my toes.
Sometime I think
I've found my hero,
but it's a queer romance.
All that you need is a ticket
Come on, big boy, ten cents a dance.

PATTER

Fighters and sailors and bowlegged tailors
can pay for their ticket and rent me!
Butchers and barbers and rats from the harbors
are sweethearts my good luck has send me.
Though I've a chorus of elderly beaux ,
stockings are porous with hole at the toes.
I'm here till closing time.
Dance and be merry, it's only a dime.

TAG

Sometime I think
I've found my hero,
but it's a queer romance.
All that you need is a ticket
Come on, big boy, ten cents a dance.

* Poor Man’s Heaven- Once Again No Relief In Sight

Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of Vernon Dalhart performing his "The Farm Song" from "Poor Man’s Heaven", various artists, When The Sun Goes Down, RCA Victor, 1995.

***The Voices Of The Old South- Alan Lomax's Southern Journey, Volume 1

Click Below To Link To YouTube's Instrumental Version of "Poor Wayfaring Stranger". Sorry that I could not locate film clips of the artists mentioned below but such items are either non-existent or not readily available. There are, after all, limits even to today's technological possibilities of recovering the past.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry4_7oVS_NI

CD REVIEW

The Hills And Islands Of The South -The Short Course

Southern Journey, Volume 1, Voices From The American South, various artists, Rounder Records, 1997

I have spent a fair amount of time recently reviewing, individually and on various artist compilations, performers from the 1960's urban folk revival. You know Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Dave Van Ronk, Eric Von Schmidt and the like. I have also reviewed the earlier performers who influenced them on the more traditional folk side like Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger. There was another component of that search for roots that entailed heading south to the Mississippi Delta, the Georgia Sea Islands, and the hills and hollows of Southern Appalachia to get `religion' on the rural roots musical scene.

I mentioned in a review of the performers who influenced the 1960's urban folk scene that those efforts did not fall from the sky but had been transmitted by earlier performers. That, my friends, applies as well to the search for roots music. I also mentioned that we all, later when we understood things better, appreciated that John and Allan Lomax (here in this many-volumed series carrying on his father's work in the late 1950's) did yeomen's service to roots music by their travels into the hinterlands in the 1930's and 1940's (and had Pete Seeger tag along for a year and thus serve as a little transmission belt to the latter generation) to find blues, mountain music and other types of American traditional music. Most of us got our country blues infusion second-hand through our addiction to local coffeehouses and the performers who provided us with entertainment. The performers we listened to, in turn, learned their material from the masters who populate this CD.

This CD contains a nice assortment of Georgia Sea Island tunes, wage work songs, prisoner work songs and some of the most interesting simple religious music I have heard in a while. I would note in regard to that last point the version of "Beulah Land" done by John Davis and Bessie Jones (who also stands out on other selections here); Sidney Carter's "Pharaoh" and, by far my favorite, The Thornton Old Regular Baptist Church Congregation's "Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah". A few centuries ago during the Protestant Reformation, or a little later, during the English Revolution in England I would have heartily joined in on this one.

127. Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah
Text: William Williams, 1717-1791; trans. from the Welsh by Peter Williams and the author
Music: John Hughes, 1873-1932
Tune: CWM RHONDDA, Meter: 87.87.87
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Guide me, O thou great Jehovah,
pilgrim through this barren land.
I am weak, but thou art mighty;
hold me with thy powerful hand.
Bread of heaven, bread of heaven,
feed me till I want no more;
feed me till I want no more.

2. Open now the crystal fountain,
whence the healing stream doth flow;
let the fire and cloudy pillar
lead me all my journey through.
Strong deliverer, strong deliverer,
be thou still my strength and shield;
be thou still my strength and shield.

3. When I tread the verge of Jordan,
bid my anxious fears subside;
death of death and hell's destruction,
land me safe on Canaan's side.
Songs of praises, songs of praises,
I will ever give to thee;
I will ever give to thee.

***The Voices Of The Old South- Alan Lomax's Southern Journey, Volume 3

Click On Title To Link To YouTube's film clip of Mississippi Fred McDowell doing his version of "John Henry". Slide, Brother, Slide. Wow.

CD Review

Delta Blues-The Short Course

Southern Journey, Volume 3, Highway 61, Fred McDowell and various artists, Rounder Records, 1997

I have spent a fair amount of time recently reviewing, individually and on various artist compilations, performers from the 1960’s urban folk revival. You know, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Dave Van Ronk, Eric Von Schmidt and the like. I have also reviewed the earlier performers who influenced them on the more traditional folk side like Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger. There was another component of that search for roots that entailed heading south to the Mississippi Delta (or the hills of North Carolina) and getting ‘religion’ on the black country blues scene.

I mentioned in a review of the performers who influenced the 1960’s urban folk scene that it did not fall from the sky but had been transmitted by earlier performers. That, my friends, applies as well to the search for the blues. I also mentioned that we all, later when we understood things better, appreciated that John and Allan Lomax did yeomen’s service to roots music by their travels into the hinterlands in the 1930’s and 1940’s (and had Pete Seeger tag along for a year and thus serve as a little transmission belt to the latter generation) to find blues, mountain and other types of American traditional music. However, most of us got our country blues infusion second-hand through our addiction to local coffeehouses and the performers who provided us entertainment. They, in turn, learned their material from the masters who populate this CD.

This CD compilation is filled with the legends of the genre like the renowned Mississippi Fred McDowell (a major influence on, and mentor to, Bonnie Raitt). Moreover it contains fife and drum music from North Mississippi, which can be traced back to the African roots, and work songs that do not get nearly enough attention (including by this reviewer) as the work of the Delta artists like McDowell, Son House, John Hurt and Bukka White. Nicely done.

John Henry

A Folk Version of the Ballad

An Early Version
Construction Crew Version
Folk Version
Prison and Chain Gang Version
Other Versions

Johnson cites another song obtained from Onah L. Spencer of Cincinnati, Ohio. Spencer compiled the song by combining lyrics from a variety of versions he overheard during 25 years of life in an African-American community in Cincinnati. Spencer said the song was used to introduce new workers into the culture of the laboring community "for if there was a slacker in a gang of workers it would stimulate him with its heroic masculine appeal."


JOHN HENRY

Some say he's from Georgia,
Some say he's from Alabam,

But it's wrote on the rock at the Big Ben Tunnel,

That he's an East Virginia Man,

That he's an East Virginia man.

John Henry was a steel drivin' man,
He died with a hammah in his han',

Oh, come along boys and line the track

For John Henry ain't never comin' back,

For John Henry ain't never comin' back.

John Henry he could hammah,
He could whistle, he could sing,

He went to the mountain early in the mornin'

To hear his hammah ring,

To hear his hammah ring.

John Henry went to the section boss,
Says the section boss what kin you do?

Says I can line a track, I kin histe a jack,

I kin pick and shovel too,

I kin pick and shovel too.

John Henry told the cap'n,
When you go to town,

Buy me a nine pound hammah

An' I'll drive this steel drill down,

An' I'll drive this steel drill down.

Cap'n said to John Henry,
You've got a willin' mind.

But you just well lay yoh hammah down,

You'll nevah beat this drill of mine,

You'll nevah beat this drill of mine.



John Henry went to the tunnel
And they put him in lead to drive,

The rock was so tall and John Henry so small

That he laid down his hammah and he cried,

That he laid down his hammah and he cried.

The steam drill was on the right han' side,
John Henry was on the left,

Says before I let this steam drill beat me down,

I'll hammah myself to death,

I'll hammah myself to death.

Oh the cap'n said to John Henry,
I bleeve this mountain's sinkin' in.

John Henry said to the cap'n, Oh my!

Tain't nothin' but my hammah suckin' wind,

Tain't nothin' but my hammah suckin' wind.

John Henry had a cute liddle wife,
And her name was Julie Ann,

And she walk down the track and nevah look back,

Goin' to see her brave steel drivin' man,

Goin' to see her brave steel drivin' man.

John Henry had a pretty liddle wife,
She come all dressed in blue.

And the last words she said to him,

John Henry I been true to you,

John Henry I been true to you.

John Henry was on the mountain,
The mountain was so high,

He called to his pretty liddle wife,

Said Ah kin almos' touch the sky,

Said Ah kin almos' touch the sky.

Who gonna shoe yoh pretty liddle feet,
Who gonna glove yoh han',

Who gonna kiss yoh rosy cheeks,

An' who gonna be yoh man,

An' who gonna be yoh man?



Papa gonna shoe my pretty liddle feet,
Mama gonna glove my han',

Sistah gonna kiss my rosy cheeks,

An' I ain't gonna have no man,

An' I ain't gonna have no man.

Then John Henry told huh,
Don't you weep an' moan,

I got ten thousand dollars in the First National Bank,

I saved it to buy you a home,

I saved it to buy you a home.

John Henry took his liddle boy,
Sit him on his knee,

Said that Big Ben Tunnel

Gonna be the death of me,

Gonna be the death of me.

John Henry took that liddle boy,
Helt him in the pahm of his han',

And the last words he said to that chile was,

I want you to be a steel drivin' man,

I want you to be a steel drivin' man.

John Henry ast that liddle boy,
Now what are you gonna be?

Says if I live and nothin' happen,

A steel drivin' man I'll be,

A steel drivin' man I'll be.

Then John Henry he did hammah,
He did make his hammah soun',

Says now one more lick fore quittin' time,

An' I'll beat this steam drill down,

An' I'll beat this steam drill down.

The hammah that John Henry swung,
It weighed over nine poun',

He broke a rib in his left han' side,

And his intrels fell on the groun',

And his intrels fell on the groun'.



All the women in the West
That heard of John Henry's death,

Stood in the rain, flagged the east bound train,

Goin' where John Henry dropped dead,

Goin' where John Henry dropped dead.

John Henry's liddle mother
Was all dressed in red,

She jumped in bed, covered up her head,

Said I didn't know my boy was dead,

Said I didn't know my boy was dead.

They took John Henry to the White House,
And buried him in the san',

And every locomotive come roarin' by,

Says there lays that steel drivin' man,

Says there lays that steel drivin' man.

***The Voices Of The Old South- Alan Lomax's Southern Journey, Volume 2

Click On Title Page To Link To YouTube's Instrumental Version Of "Sally Anne". Sorry that I could not locate film clips of the artists mentioned below but such items are either non-existent or not readily available. There are, after all, limits even to today's technological possibilities of recovering the past.


CD Review

Going Out To The Hollows and Hills Of Appalachia

Southern Journey: Ballads And Breakdowns, Volume 2, various artists and Alan Lomax, Rounder Records, 1997

I have spent a fair amount of time recently reviewing, individually and on various artist compilations, performers from the 1960’s urban folk revival. You know Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Dave Van Ronk, Eric Von Schmidt and the like. I have also reviewed the earlier performers who influenced them on the more traditional folk side like Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger. There was, however, another component of that search for roots that entailed heading south to the Mississippi Delta, the Georgia Sea Islands, and the hills and hollows of Southern Appalachia to get ‘religion’ on the rural roots musical scene.

I mentioned in a review of the performers who influenced the 1960’s urban folk scene that it did not fall from the sky but had been transmitted by earlier performers. That, my friends, applies as well to the search for roots music. I also mentioned that we all, later when we understood things better, appreciated that John and Allan Lomax (here in this series carrying on his father’s work in the late 1950’s) did yeomen’s service to roots music by their travels into the hinterlands in the 1930’s and 1940’s (and had Pete Seeger tag along for a year and thus serve as a little transmission belt to the latter generation) to find blues, mountain and other types of American traditional music. However, most of us got our country blues infusion second-hand through our addiction to local coffeehouses and the performers who provided us entertainment. They, in turn, learned their material from the masters who populate this CD.

So what sticks out here in this CD that concentrates on the southern mountain regions of Virginia and environs? I would first note the hard Protestant spirit, if not Calvinism, of much of the music, as this compilation is about rural whites, their trials, and tribulations and struggles to eke out an existence on hard-scrabble land. I would also note the fair amount of a cappella work here. And that instrumentation is simple and clean, especially on the ubiquitous fiddle and the occasional banjo. That said, a nice version of “John Henry” works (a song that I have probably heard in twenty or so forms). As does a great rousing rendition of “Sally Anne” (also known under other names) and yet another variation on “The Banks Of The Ohio” (what doesn’t change in the versions is the murderous assault and the unrequited love of the story line). ‘The Little Schoolboy” by Hobart Smith, one of the stars of this CD is an interesting take on lost and death, a not infrequent theme is these ballads. If you want to hear fiddling done old style and get a feel for an important, if somewhat neglected part of the American experience then listen here.



BANKS OF THE OHIO (trad.)

Song lyrics on these pages only for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis

Bill and Charlie Monroe originally recorded this song on June 21, 1936, and show it as public domain on the Bluebird recording; although interestingly enough when Bill recorded it with the Blue Grass Boys on March 14, 1972 [BILL MONROE & JAMES MONROE, "FATHER & SON," MCA-310], he indicated that his version was adapted and arranged by B. Welch and J. Farrar [Blue Gum Music, Inc.].
The version done by Doc and Bill is obviously reminiscent of the Monroe Brothers' recording.
RALPH RINZLER, liner notes for Bill Monroe & Doc Watson, "LIVE DUET RECORDINGS 1963-1980" (SMITHSONIAN FOLKWAYS SF 40064, 1993)



I asked my love to take a walk,
Just a little way's with me.
An' as we walked,
Then we would talk
All about our wedding day.
CHORUS:
"Darlin', say that you'll be mine;
In our home we'll happy be,
Down beside where the waters flow,
On the banks of the Ohio."

I took her by her pretty white hand,
I led her down the banks of sand,
I plunged her in
Where she would drown,
An' watched her as she floated down.

CHORUS:
"Darlin', say that you'll be mine;
In our home we'll happy be,
Down beside where the waters flow,
On the banks of the Ohio."

Returnin' home between twelve and one,
Thinkin', Lord, what a deed I've done;
I'd killed the girl
I love, you see,
Because she would not marry me.

The very next day, at half past four,
The sheriff walked right to my door;
He says, "Young man,
Don't try to run.
You'll pay for this awful crime you've don."

CHORUS:
"Darlin', say that you'll be mine;
In our home we'll happy be,
Down beside where the waters flow,
On the banks of the Ohio."

*Jump Blues Jumping- The Blues Masters Series

Click On Title To Link To YouTube Clip Of Big Joe Williams Doing "Shake, Rattle and Roll". The Birth Of Rock At Your Fingertips. Nice.

CD REVIEW

Blues Masters: More Jump Blues,Volume 14, various artists, Rhino Records, 1993

I have tried in this space over the past period to get a hook into the roots of certain kinds of American popular music centered on the key role of the blues in creating the modern rock sound. Once the blues moved north from the Mississippi Delta and other southern ports of call and got electrified in the post-World War II period reflecting a more urban, urbane style the possibilities became almost endless. The confluence of jazz, scat, rhythm and blues and swing developed the first notable type of urban blues that deserved a name-jump blues. To pay homage to that early trend that, arguably, ultimately went on to form the core beat to the rock & roll revolution the producers here have put out a second CD (Volume 5 was the first) in this "Blues Masters Series" dedicated to the makers and shakers of that music.

I have, seemingly endlessly, touted the virtues of Big Joe Turner and especially his seminal "Shake, Rattle and Roll" elsewhere so I need spend little time on "Boogie Woogie Country Girl" that is a just lesser tune in that same genre. I do need to note an early Little Richard classic, "Little Richard's Boogie", which goes a long way to showcasing his wild talent and incidentally providing another strand in that complex of beats that created rock & roll. Laverne Baker, of later "Jim Daddy" fame, not given nearly enough credit as a key voice in the golden age of rock does a lively "Voodoo Voodoo". Finally, take a listen to an earlier pre-Bill Haley version of "Later Alligator". Jump blues, rock and rock? Ya, they fit together.

Jim Dandy

LaVern Baker & the Gliders

Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Go, Jim Dandy! Go, Jim Dandy!

I was sitting on a mountain top.
30,000 feet to drop.
Tied me on a runaway horse
Uh huh, that's right, of course.
Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Go, Jim Dandy! Go, Jim Dandy!

One day, I met a girl named Sue.
She was feeling kind of blue.
I'm Dandy, the kind of guy
Who can't stand to see a little girl cry.
Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Go, Jim Dandy! Go, Jim Dandy!

Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Go, Jim Dandy! Go, Jim Dandy!

I was riding on a submarine
Got a message from my mermaid queen.
She was hanging on a fishing line.
Mr. Dandy didn't waste no time!
Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Go, Jim Dandy! Go, Jim Dandy!

Once upon a time, I went to Maine.
Got a ticket on a DC plane.
Mr. Dandy didn't need no chute!
I was high and ready to boot!
Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Go, Jim Dandy! Go, Jim Dandy!

Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Go, Jim Dandy! Go, Jim Dandy!

Annotated & Submitted by Leon Sanchez
chezzy2@yahoo.com

Tweedlee Dee

LaVern Baker and The Gliders
(Scott)

Tweedlee tweedlee tweedlee dee
I'm as happy as can be
Jimminy cricket jimminy jack
You make my heart go clickety-clack
Tweedlee tweedlee tweedlee dee

Tweedlee tweedlee tweedlee dot
How you gonna keep that honey you got
Hunkies hunkies fishes bite
I'm gonna see my honey tonight
Tweedlee tweedlee tweedlee dot

Tweedlee dee tweedlee dee
Give it up give it up
Give your love to me
Tweedlee dot tweedlee dot
Gimme gimme gimme gimme
Gimme all the love you got
Hump-be-ump-bump-bump

Tweedlee tweedlee tweedle doe
I'm a lucky so-and-so
Hubba hubba honey dew
I'm gonna keep my eyes on you
Tweedlee tweedlee tweedlee doe

Tweedlee doe tweedlee doe
Give that kiss to me before you go
Tweedlee dum tweedlee dum
Lookie lookie lookie lookie
Look at that sugar plum
Hump-be-ump-bump-bump

Tweedlee tweedlee tweedlee dum
You're as sweet as bubble gum
Mercy mercy pudding pie
You've got something that money can't buy
Tweedlee tweedlee tweedlee dum
Owww, tweedlee tweedlee dum
Owww, tweedlee tweedlee dum
FADE:
Owww, tweedlee tweedlee dum
Owww, tweedlee tweedlee dum
Owww

Transcribed by Little John.
These lyrics were transcribed from the specific recording referenced
above, and are for personal use and research interest only.

I Cried A Tear

LaVern Baker

I cried a tear because of you
I cried a tear because we're through
I cried a tear what else could I do
But cry and sigh for love of you

I felt a tear fall in my heart
You fooled me so I wasn't smart
I can't believe that we must part
Come back to stay let's make a new start

Music interlude

I cried a tear because of you
I cried a tear because we're through
Please make my dream of you come true
Don't make me cry a tear for you

*Hard Times In Babylon- The California Supreme Court Gay Marriage Decision

Click Title To Link To California Supreme Court Gay Marriage Decision Article

Commentary

The result of the California Supreme Court's decision on the validity of Proposition 8 banning gay marriage in California is in. Not good, for sure. Moreover, as I pointed out in a recent commentary, until states like California get it right then while the tide is turning for the better on this important democratic question it will continue to be a rather "New Englandish" kind of right (No, I haven't forgotten Iowa). I have reposted that commentary because it really makes the key points that I want to make on this issue.

************************

*Another Small Victory For Gay Marriage Rights-Vermont Legalizes Gay Marriage With Veto Override

Here are a few paragraphs from the Associated Press report of April 7, 2009 on the Vermont legislative actions that legalized gay marriage in that state.

******

MONTPELIER, Vt. — Vermont on Tuesday became the fourth state to legalize gay marriage — and the first to do so with a legislature's vote.

The House recorded a dramatic 100-49 vote, the minimum needed, to override Gov. Jim Douglas' veto. Its vote followed a much easier override vote in the Senate, which rebuffed the Republican governor with a vote of 23-5.

Vermont was the first state to legalize civil unions for same-sex couples and joins Connecticut, Massachusetts and Iowa in giving gays the right to marry. Their approval of gay marriage came from the courts.

Tuesday morning's legislative action came less than a day after Douglas issued a veto message saying the bill would not improve the lot of gay and lesbian couples because it still would not provide them rights under federal and other states' laws....

*****

Commentary

Full Marriage (And Divorce) Rights For Gays And Lesbians In Every State!

As I noted just last week in this space (see “A Small Victory For Gay Marriage Rights- The Iowa Case”, dated April 4, 2009) I have, more often than I would like, noted that on some key democratic questions, here the question of equal access to the marriage bureau for gays and lesbians, we get help from some unlikely sources. As always though, we will take our small but important victories anyway we can get them. In that case it was the Iowa Supreme Court doing yeomen’s work on this issue. Here, in the Vermont case, it is the state legislature that has provided the impetus.

That is indeed unusual as most legislative action has been going in the opposite direction. This has allegedly reflected the social opinions and political desires of the so-called ”silent majority” of heterosexual marrieds who are assumed to feel threatened by opening the marriage bureaus to gays and lesbians, including those here in Massachusetts. Here, unsuccessful attempts were made to override the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s landmark decision by calling a constitutional convention as the prologue to initiative action like California’s successful efforts to put the issue before the voters. The Vermont decision may not have the same political impact as the Iowa decision as it may seem to be seen as reflecting some exotic New England quirk but the legislative action should nevertheless not be underrated for its value as precedent. In short, a good talking point for further actions as the struggle heads to other states.

As I also mentioned in that Iowa commentary in discussing this issue the core location of the struggle for the democratic right for gays and lesbians to have access to the marriage bureaus now appears to be in the states. The highest courts of three states (Massachusetts and Connecticut, along with this recent Iowa case) and a now overturned fourth, California, have held that such restrictive marriage regulations are unconstitutional in their unequal application and do not serve any rational governmental purpose. Although this represents a small minority (and here is where the initiative defeat in California in November 2008 really slowed down the momentum) there is something of a “snowball” effect to these kinds of judicial decisions as other state supreme courts now have some precedents to hang their hands on. But as I said then that is for later. For now though, another small victory goes into the books. As always our slogan remains- Full democratic rights for gays and lesbians, for the full rights of marriage (and divorce) to all. Everywhere.

*"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.