That one line in Blind Willie’s song about the Titanic has always caused some debate…
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Very contentious, GT - I often wonder if it is a cryptic clue, which is perhaps why it didn't make it onto the Voyager's golden record, whereas the one about the crucifixion did. In other words, might confuse possible aliens wherever Voyager goes.Originally posted by Globaltruth View Post
It's Curley Weaver's death day today - died age 56 on 20th September, 1962 in Almon, Georgia, by which time he was almost blind.
Here he is on lead vocals and guitar, with Blind Willie McTell accompanying, on the brilliant 'You Was Born to Die'.
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The aging calendar on the kitchen wall informs me that Overton Amos Lemons, aka Smiley Lewis, died this day in 1966 in the Big Easy. In some ways, a forerunner of Fats Domino, he was left behind when the Fat Man achieved international success. Here he is with Dave Bartholomew's 'Gumbo Blues' from the early 50s.
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Back installed in the kitchen again, it being the 15th October, the old calendar informs me that it's Victoria Regina Spivey's birthday, born 1906 in Houston, Texas. She came from a musical family - her Mum sang gospel music and her Dad played with her brothers in a string band. After the accidental death of her father, her Mother reluctantly allowed her to earn money playing piano in some of the less salubrious joints of the city to raise a bit money. Spivey gained a reputation as a singer, composer and pianist of some note, travelling widely. In 1950 she gave up performing but was re-discovered in the late 50s, began to perform again and set up Spivey records - Bob Dylan played on a recording with Big Joe Williams on the label, and there's a photo from the sessions on the back of Bob's LP 'New Morning'.
Here's Victoria in '63 on the American Blues Festival in Europe on 'Black Snake Blues' accompanied by Lonnie Johnson and Sonny Boy Williamson.
Last edited by johncorrigan; 15-10-21, 10:38.Comment
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I mentioned Big Joe Williams yesterday in relation to the Spivey label, and as chance would have it today was Big Joe's birthday born Joseph Lee Williams on 16th October 1903 in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi. Here's that track he played with Dylan, 'Sittin on Top of the World', which Bob described as a special day for him.
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Lemon Henry Jefferson was born on 26th October in 1894 in Wortham, Texas. Blind from birth he travelled throughout Texas with and influenced the likes of Leadbelly, Lightning Hopkins, T-Bone Walker who would act as his eyes and in return learn from Blind Lemon. He had a reputation for living hard and fast, but is one of the finest guitarists in the Blues. Here he is on 'See that My Grave is Kept Clean'.
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Always like to celebrate any anniversary concerning Robert Lee McCollum aka Robert Nighthawk, and the calendar tells me he died of a stroke and heart failure on November 5th 1967 in Helena, Arkansas. Here he is in 1964 playing 'Cheatin' and Lyin' Blues'.
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The old Blues Calendar of 2021 is in the home straight now, sad to say. Today marks the death on 1st December, 1934 at the age of 38 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, of the great Piedmont and ragtime guitarist Arthur 'Blind' Blake. Reports say he died of a pulmonary hemorrhage on the way to hospital, probably caused by TB and he was buried in Glen Oaks Cemetery, in Glendale, Wisconsin. His finger picking ragtime style guitar playing was a new development. Here he is on 'Blind Blake's Breakdown'.
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The old Blues Calendar says that Joe Lee 'Big Joe' Williams died this day in 1982 in Macon, Mississippi. Here's Big Joe, in the sixties with Willie Dixon in charge, playing his nine-string guitar on 'She Left Me a Mule'. The film is a bit buzzy at the start but settles down nicely.
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Not long to go for the old calendar to which I give thanks for taking me down some nice musical roads this year. I feel confident that there's another one in the post ready to stand up and be counted. But it's not finished yet. Ma Rainey was a great contributor to America's rich blues tradition. Rainey was born Gertrude Pridgett in Columbus, Georgia, to minstrel troupers, and she was an influence on many from Bessie Smith to Langston Hughes, and considered the first great female vocalist. She died 22nd December 1939 in Columbus, Georgia.
I had a listen to an old edition of John Heneghan's old time music show recently, featuring the mighty Memphis Minnie, so thought I'd post her tribute, 'Ma Rainey'.
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Before the shoogling pin, which supports the end days of the 2021 Calendar on the kitchen wall, gives way completely, I notice that on 30th December 1952 in Tunica, Mississippi, Willie Lee Brown died. He was a friend of Robert Johnson's and is mentioned so on Johnson's 'Crossroads Blues'. He played second guitar with Johnson, Charley Patton and Son House, a lot of it centred round the Dockery Plantation. Willie Brown is a character that record collectors very much have on their radar. He recorded six sides for Paramount in 1930 although only 'Future Blues' backed by 'M&O Blues' remains, although he did make a field recording for Alan Lomax in '41.
'Future Blues' seems appropriate for the dying days of the year: 'Can't Tell My Future, and I can't tell my past' - that rather strange feeling that happens around this time of year of being unstuck in time.
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Fascinating JC. thanks.Originally posted by johncorrigan View Post
Here's a bit more...yeah, doubles up on some of yours but WLB is worth a bit more investigating [my underlining because hidden treasure is often alluring]
and another track..Willie Brown (August 6, 1900 December 30, 1952) was an American delta blues guitarist and singer. Born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, Brown played with such notables as Charley Patton, and Robert Johnson. He was not known to be a self-promoting frontman, preferring to "second" other musicians. Little is known for certain of the man whom Robert Johnson called "my friend-boy, Willie Brown" (in his prophetic "Cross Road Blues") and whom Johnson indicated should be notified in event of his death. Brown is heard with Patton on the Paramount sessions of 1930, playing "M & O Blues," and "Future Blues." Apart from playing with Son House and Charlie Patton it has also been said that he played with artists such as Luke Thomson and Thomas "Clubfoot" Coles. At least four other songs he recorded for Paramount have never been found. "Rowdy Blues", a 1929 song credited to Kid Bailey, is disputed to have Brown on backup, or Brown himself using the name of Kid Bailey. Both "M & O Blues" and "Future Blues" appear on the album Son House & The Great Delta Blues Singers (1994), recorded between 1928 and 1930, on the Document Records label. They also appear on JSP's Charlie Patton box set. David Evans has reconstructed the early biography of a Willie Brown living in Drew, Mississippi, until 1929. He was married by 1911 to a proficient guitarist named Josie Mills. He is recalled as singing and playing guitar with Charley Patton and others in the neighbourhood of Drew. Informants with conflicting memories led Gayle Dean Wardlow and Steve Calt to conclude that this was a different Willie Brown. Evans rejects this, believing that the singing and guitar style of the 1931 recordings is clearly in the tradition of other performers from Drew such as Charley Patton, Tommy Johnson, Kid Bailey, Howling Wolf and artists recorded non-commercially. Alan Lomax added further confusion in 1993, suggesting that the William Brown he recorded in Arkansas in 1942 was the same man as the Paramount artist.[5] The recording was for a joint project between Fisk University and the Library of Congress documenting the music of Coahoma County, Mississippi in 1941 and 1942. Writing over fifty years later, Lomax forgot that he had actually recorded Willie the previous summer with Son House, Fiddlin' Joe Martin and Leroy Williams. Brown played second guitar on three performances by the whole band, and recorded one solo, "Make Me a Pallet on the Floor". The later biography is clear. Willie Brown, the Paramount artist, lived in Robinsonville, Mississippi from 1929 and moved to Lake Cormorant, Mississippi by 1935. He performed occasionally with Charley Patton, and continually with Son House until his death. After this, House ceased performing until his "rediscovery" in 1964. Brown died in Tunica, Mississippi in 1952 at the age of 52.
by the way other versions Ive heard often don't use verse 4 or make up a different one..another rabbbit hole to disappear down...I leave here I'm going to catch that M&O
Now when I leave here I'm going to catch that M&O
I'm going way down south where I ain't never been before
Once I had a notion, Lord, and I believe I will
Once I had a notion, Lord, and I believe I will
I'm going to build me a mansion out on Decatur Hill
Now it's all of you men ought to be ashamed of yourself
It is all of you men ought to be ashamed of yourself
Going around swearing before God you got a poor woman by yourself
I started to kill my woman till she laid down across the bed
I started to kill my woman till she laid down across the bed
And she looked so ambitious till I took back everything I said
And I asked her how about it, Lord, and she said "All right"
And I asked her how about it, Lord, and she said "All right"
But she never showed up at the shack last nightComment
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Thanks a lot for that rabbit hole, GT. A most enjoyable spot of burrowing. Look forward to a bit more of it in 2022.Originally posted by Globaltruth View Post
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The new Blues calendar is safely installed on the kitchen wall heralding a bluesy new year and showing a fine photo of Leadbelly to illustrate January. It also informs me that it's a happy birthday to the great Frank Stokes, born 1st January, 1888 in Whitehaven, Tennessee. Stokes made his name in the 20s on the Beale Street scene playing with Dan Sane in the Beale Street Sheiks. By the way, I note that at that time a sheik was a cool guy, a man who commanded respect, a term popularised by the Valentino film of the same name. Sheik was also a popular brand of condoms at the time, influencing the name of this, and other bands of the time.
Here's the Sheiks on 'It's a Good Thing'.
So Great!
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Trojan the reggae label is also a brand of condoms - do you think we're onto something here JC?Originally posted by johncorrigan View PostSheik was also a popular brand of condoms at the time, influencing the name of this, and other bands of the time.
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