Here is a description of the songs (in bold) and artists on this set of recording.

Transcription

1 Liner notes -- remember those? They used to be included in many of the LPs that housed this music. I used to pore over those for hours, reading them over and over again as I listened to the music. One of the benefits of producing this project on the web is that I m not limited by how much I can write, so I do hope you can set aside the time to read it all! Here is a description of the songs (in bold) and artists on this set of recording. While Charley Patton was an early influence of mine, I have to admit his music was a bit too hard to listen to at first. For one thing, I simply couldn t understand a word that he was singing, as his pronunciation was marred by his rough tone and deep, Mississippi accent. Still, there was this magic about the music that was incredibly captivating. He had a drive that was indescribable, and when I learned how to play some of his songs, that force found a way into my own fingers. In "Green River Blues," that power was amplified in his attack, with various stringbends and hammer-ons. On the other hand, his melodic phrasing in "34 Blues" reflected the dexterity of his playing. Listening to the lyrics of both of those songs is like peering into a time capsule of what it might have been like to have lived on the Dockery Plantation during the '20s and '30s. In "34 Blues" Patton talks about losing his "roller" (money) and being broke. Or how they run him off

2 from the Dockery Plantation, having possibly lost his job to his friend Willie Brown. Women and children riding freight trains spoke of the depression. Carmen, who may have been a supervisor, rode his car behind a farmer s plow, probably to make sure the job was being done correctly. The most ironic verse is the last, where Patton wants to live another year. He actually died in 1934! Another major influence was Mississippi John Hurt, particularly because of the way he kept an alternating bass going while playing the melody on top. One of his most traditional songs was "Spike Driver Blues," which tells a bit of the story about the folk legend, John Henry. "Avalon Blues," for me, is the most meaningful, as it was the lyrics to that song that led to this obscure blues musician s rediscovery in the early '60s. After listening to this song, scholar Tom Hoskins drove down to Avalon, Mississippi, where he found Hurt alive and well. Hurt then went on to enjoy a wonderful "second" career, playing to a young, mostly white audience at festivals and nightclubs throughout the Northeast. My first exposure to Blind Lemon Jefferson was from the LP, The Story Of The Blues, compiled by the English researcher, Paul Oliver. I was knocked out by Lemon s "Black Snake Moan." Here was a guy with a soaring voice, accompanying himself with incredible guitar technique, playing one fast run after another in between his vocal lines. This was one of the first songs I ever learned how to play, and it wasn t easy!!! Back then there

3 weren t any computer programs that could slow down the recordings, and the few books at the time didn t have that song included! I suppose that song, as well as "Matchbox Blues," taught me that it was possible for a single player to go back and forth between both lead guitar and rhythm seamlessly in the same song. What a revelation that was for me! "Bad Luck Blues" was an example of playing a repetitive and complex music figure while singing at the same time. No easy feat. Tommy Johnson was another early influence of mine. Both "Canned Heat Blues" and "Big Road Blues" are played in drop-d tuning, where the guitarist lowers the pitch of the low E string down to a D. Before learning these songs, I never knew that guitar players did that! The song "Canned Heat Blues" is about the weird habit Johnson had of drinking the alcohol that was derived from straining the liquid from Sterno. (You first!) I took some liberties with the lyrics, adding a couple of verses to the original, emphasizing this. "Big Road Blues" has some "snappy" bass runs in it, and the lyrics speak of the traveling that many blues musicians would do over the course of their careers. Blind Blake (Arthur Blake) was probably, next to Gary Davis, one of the most technically gifted guitarists of his generation. He played not only blues, but also jazz=influenced rags, as illustrated by the song, "Hey Hey Your Daddy." His syncopated style was described by Gary Davis as having a "sportin right hand," which, for

4 Davis, who rarely complimented anyone, was quite a compliment. In "Guitar Chimes," Blake played a slow but beautiful instrumental, infused with jazzy arpeggios, diminished chords and bass lines, quite rare for other fingerpicking guitarists of his time. More than likely he was influenced by the jazz musicians that he frequently played with. The Reverend Gary Davis was himself no slouch on the guitar. In my opinion, he was probably one of the finest old-time fingerpickers of his era! Davis not only played blues -- which his wife would scold him, saying that it was the devil's music -- but was a literal storehouse of various old-time styles, ranging from gospel, ragtime, and even marches!!! His "Soldier s March" is a prime example of that, illustrating his humorous imitation of a bugle at the beginning and end of the piece. In "Sally, Where You Get Your Liquor From," he combines child-like verses along with verses that speak of the frustrations of a woman drinking too much, all with some wonderful ragtime guitar playing. During Davis s rediscovery, he wound up influencing a generation of guitarists, such as Jorma Kaukonen, Stefan Grossman, Roy Book Binder, and David Bromberg, to name just a few. Fulton Allen, otherwise known as Blind Boy Fuller, hailed from the Piedmont region of the United States, as did his contemporary, Gary Davis. Like Davis, Fuller played syncopated, melodic, and swinging notes on top of a bouncing bass line, making him sound like at least two

5 guitar players. Like everyone else in this collection, he was a major influence in my playing. The first song I ever heard of his was "I m A Good Stem Winder," which taught me the nuances of the Piedmont style. Later on I learned "Jivin Woman Blues," another favorite of mine to play. I broke out my 12-string guitar for Blind Willie McTell s "Georgia Rag" and Leadbelly s "Sliver City Bound," the latter of which tells the story of how he and Blind Lemon Jefferson used to ride together on a train from Waco to Silver City, playing for the fellow passengers. What a treat that must have been!!! Both McTell and Leadbelly were known as 12-string guitar masters and were huge influences in my own playing of that instrument. In Georgia Rag, McTell paints a wonderful picture of folks literally dancing in the streets of Atlanta, and actually gives instructions as to how to do that particular dance! The first time I heard Son House I was absolutely stunned. How could so much power and energy be coming from one man and a guitar? His rhythmic slide guitar and vocal delivery were what I soon learned to be among the main characteristics of the Delta Blues style that influenced so many guitarists that were to follow, not the least of which was the much younger Robert Johnson. House was part of the "gang" of musicians that hung around the center of the Mississippi Delta, those being Charley Patton and Willie Brown. His "My Black Mama" was certainly a testament to his influencing

6 Robert Johnson, while the lyrics to "Dry Spell Blues" depicts the horrifying conditions of a drought in a farming community, already ravaged by the Great Depression. Bukka White was another influence on my playing, as his driving rhythms and flying slide style continues to rear its head during my own performances. The other trait of White that I loved so much was the way he described his music. He called his songs "Sky Songs," because he felt that they just sort of fell from the sky. It s certainly obvious in his music, as much of it is completely improvised on the spot!! No wonder I like his music so much!!!! "Jitterbug Swing" is a good example, as I never play that song the same way twice! I chose "Kassie Jones" simply because I loved the story of Casey Jones, who Furry Lewis was obviously singing about. The record company of course misspelled the title. One beautiful aspect of this music is the way the songs tell a story, and "Kassie Jones" certainly does that. While this song technically isn t considered a "blues" song in the strict sense, it is played in a very similar style. As did many other musicians of the time, Lewis recorded during the '30s, and before his rediscovery in the '60s, was a street cleaner in Memphis, Tennessee. The fascinating thing was that even after his rediscovery, he continued to work for the city of Memphis, as it was steady, municipal employment. Smart blues man. I first heard about Mississippi Fred McDowell the same

7 way many of my generation had, by listening to the way the Rolling Stones first covered one of his songs "You Got To Move." I remember scouting the blues sections of various record stores until I finally came across an album of his songs. I was immediately hooked, and added that song to my repertoire, much to the delight of my fellow classmates in high school, delightfully adding the story of how the Stones "borrowed" that song from the Mississippian blues man, Fred McDowell. Later on when I visited the Northeast hill region of Mississippi where McDowell came from, I met R.L. Burnside, who was a friend and musical partner of McDowell. Burnside told me a few stories of how he and Fred used to play parties, one of which nearly took their lives! It turned out that a jealous boyfriend took out a pistol and in the middle of the party started shooting it in every direction. As Fred and R.L. ran into the fields under a moonlit night, R.L. said that Fred yelled out to him, "C mon man, we gots to shake em on down and git outta here." R.L. said that Fred wrote "Shake Em On Down" soon after that. Finally, I had to include some songs from Robert Johnson, as he was one of the very first of the country blues musicians I had heard about. I chose Terraplane Blues not only because it highlights the amazing energy of his rhythmic playing and slide guitar work, but also because of the appeal of the lyrics. The term hokem at the time was used to describe thinly veiled, double

8 entendre lyrics ripe with sexuality and many artists like Bo Carter used them to create a number of hit records. As popular as Johnson is today, one must understand that back in his time he was relatively unknown, and his Terraplane Blues, - with lyrics comparing an popular automobile with a method of exciting a woman - became his one and only hit. The other song I chose by Johnson was his I Believe I ll Dust My Broom, as it s pounding, shuffle like rhythm was to be the foundation and inspiration of so many blues musicians that came after him. This style of combining an eighth note shuffle in the bass while playing triplets above was derived from the Boogie Woogie piano players of the time, and for Johnson to playing this was certainly a sign of Johnson s prowess and distinguished him from the older generation of blues musicians. No wonder they thought he sold his soul to the devil!!