Blues Ch 2

Chapter 2 “Everyday Seems Like Murder Here”

Telling It Like It Was

The nature of the blues stems from experiences in Mississippi Delta

Becoming a male adult in a social environment that denied manhood

Mississippi Delta

Fertile farmland on either side of the Mississippi River

Memphis, TN south (200 miles) to Vicksburg, MS

1840s land was cleared for farming

2 cash crops: cotton and lumber

Railroads connect to the outside

The region was: Backwards Almost feudal Agrarian Dominated by a few wealthy white plantation

owners/merchants Blacks outnumbered whites 4 to 1

African – Americans were still:

Lowest social stratum Denied basic civil/legal rights Limited access to public education/health

care Living conditions were crude/unsanitary

Homes lacked plumbing/electricity Diets lack nourishing food

White supremacy was maintained by repressive social practices:

Curfews Cross burnings Beatings Lynchings

Blues players were living/playing in the midst of this and thus were affected by this.

Working conditions were also difficult/dangerous

After Civil War (1865) the South was forced to free slaves

Yet it did not abandon plantation economy

Sharecropping

92% of the black population lived in rural south (1862)

By 1900 per capita income of the South was 51% of the national average.

Result: they owed more than they earned

Similar to sharecropping on plantations They performed back- breaking labor from

sunup to sundown Lived in unsanitary facilities Were perpetually in debt to the contractor No School

Levee contract labor system

After the Civil War the Federal Govt. hired white contractors who leased convicts

After the turn of the century this convict system gave way to Levee Camps

Discipline enforced by “strawbosses” and “shack bullies”

Workers were charged exorbitant fees for food, water, clothing, shelter, and recreation.

Many Delta blues musicians worked in or performed in levee camps

This helped shape their musical repertoire

Delta Blues Origins

The blues evolved from agrarian poverty and racial segregation

A folk music indigenous to the cotton belt Mostly African-American population Developed in isolation from dominant white

culture

First Delta blues similar to worksongs/field hollers

Earliest written description of the blues by Charles Peabody, 1901

By 1903 a slide was being used Subject matter focused on description of

hardships/injustices – no overt protest

Music soon gravitated toward recreation

Saturday night social gatherings – dated to slave era

Dances held in homes, outdoors, juke joints (later)

Originally, fiddle was main instrument

Repertoire included many Anglo-American fiddle tunes – suggesting that black and white musicians shared ideas.

Main break with old traditions was the use of the guitar and harmonica (harp)

Self-taught Delta guitarists were most traditional/original

Descended from 1 string instruments – diddley bow/berimbau

Berimbau

Diddley bows

check it

Famous account given by W.C. Handy

Slide technique allowed for approximation of arhoolies

Delta Blues Pioneers

Heart and soul of early Delta tradition Most famous blues artist in the region Youngest of 1st generation Delta bluesmen

Learned music from the Chatmon family

3 generations of string band music Example: “Sittin’ On Top of the World” Chatmons

Charley Patton came under the influence of Henry Sloan

Sloan never recorded Considered one of the “founding fathers” of

Delta blues

Patton and his cohorts spanned the gap between the songster tradition and newly emerging blues.

Disciples included Willie Brown, Son House, and Tommy Johnson

Songster – performed folksongs, popular songs, minstrel songs, and blues

Charley the Man

Huck Finn features Flashy dresser Rambler, rowdy, fun-loving prankster Loved to drink and socialize

Charley the Performer

Flamboyant/charismatic Also danced, told tales, bantered Played guitar behind his head, between his

legs, lying on his back

Patton’s playing emphasized rhythm over melody

Similar to West African drumming Stacking rhythms in layers Used voice as an instrument – rhythmic

effects Example: “Spoonful” "Will you kill my man?"

Patton was schooled in entire spectrum of black folk music

Re-worked 3 basic “tune families” Lyrically he fused vignettes of Delta life with

black oral tradition

Examples: “High Water Everywhere” and “Pony Blues”

Saddle up my black mare

Delta Blues Networks

Evidence suggest numerous networks, extended families, schools

Patton & Co. were most popular

3 Most Influential Bluesmen Who Played With Charley Patton

Willie Brown Tommy Johnson Son House

Willie Brown (ca. 1911 – ca. 1940s)

Spent most of his life in the Delta Expanded rhythmic possibilities of guitar Composed few songs Prominently mentioned in lyrics by Patton

and Robert Johnson

Prevailing Social Conditions Made it Difficult for Women to Perform Blues

Very dangerous lifestyle Women more likely joined church choir or

minstrel troupe The few exceptions were:

1. Josie Bush

2. Louise Johnson

3. Lucille Davis

4. Mattie Delaney

Tommy Johnson (1896 – 1956)

Spent most of his life in the Delta – Crystal Springs, MS

Sold his soul to the devil Flamboyant guitar style – behind head/between legs

Sold his soul to the devil

Crossroads is traditional domain of Legba

Yoruban trickster god identified with Satan

Jackson, MS

Hub of blues activity Only record talent scout in Deep South –

a H. C. Spiers

Example: “Canned Heat Blues”

Sterno

Son House (1902 – 1973)

Perfected slide guitar technique Spent time on Parchman Farm Associated with Patton and Brown early 1930s “Rediscovered” by folkies in early 1960s

Example: “Death Letter Blues”

Check the coolin' boardPreach it, Brother Son

Robert Johnson (1911 – 1938)

Key transitional figure between rural beginnings and modern urban blues

Born in Hazelhurst, MS – south of the Delta Married by age 19 – wife and child died in

childbirth

Restless spirit indicative of changing social consciousness among rural black population

“Travel on, poor Bob, just can’t turn you ‘round”

Johnson’s Musical tastes Ventured Beyond the Delta

Kokomo Arnold Scrapper Blackwell Lonnie Johnson

2 Recording Sessions

1st – San Antonio, TX 1936 2nd – Dallas, TX – 1937 Total of 29 blues tunes

Johnson’s Guitar Style was Far – Reaching

Tightening of rhythmic line was basis for urban blues to follow

Made guitar sound like a band Shuffle rhythms

Many of Johnson’s Tunes Borrowed From Others

“Walking Blues” from Son House’s “My Black Mama”

“Sweet Home Chicago” from Kokomo Arnold’s “Old Original Kokomo Blues”

“32 – 20 Blues” from Skip James’ “20 -20 Blues”

“If I Had Possession Over Judgment Day” and “Travelling Riverside Blues” from traditional “rolling and tumbling” theme

Johnson’s Most Original Tune

“Hellhound On My Trail” “I got to keep on moving, got to keep on moving, Blues falling down like hail, blues falling down like

hail, Ummm blues falling down like hail, blues falling

down like hail, And the day keeps on reminding me there’s a

hellhound on my trail, Hellhound on my trail, hellhound on my trail.”

Themes in Johnson’s Music

Social themes/images that dominate Johnson’s music are representative of the early Delta

Mixture of personal observation and folklore updated black oral tradition

Mobility = personal freedom – “Rambling On My Mind”

Fatalism regarding forces against him – social/supernatural – “Crossroad Blues”

Dealings with the Devil

Implicit in Johnson’s philosophy Encouraged the legend of selling his soul to

the Devil “Me and the Devil Blues”

“Early this morning when you knocked on my door,

Early this morning when you knocked on my door, I said, “Hello Satan, I believe it’s time to go.”

Johnson’s Fatalism Implies a Capitulation to Overwhelming Social Constraints

He has nothing to lose Element of defiance toward white culture Manifest in an African icon, disguised as

Satan