Big Road Blues

While the music of artists such as Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton and Son House, to name the most obvious, have been endlessly dissected, analyzed and debated there are many artists of comparable talent who have been left in the dust. Clifford Gibson’s name doesn’t have the romantic glow of the above artists; he wasn’t from Mississippi, didn’t die young or lead a life filled with mystery, yet he left behind a small batch of superb, highly creative recordings that deserve wider attention.

Gibson cut ten sides (four have either never been found or were never issued) in June 1929, four sides in November 1929, eight sides in December 1929 and two sides in 1931. In addition he did some session work and lasted long enough to wax a few scattered post-war sides in the 1950′s and 60′s. Gibson’s early sides can all be found on Document’s Complete Recorded Works 1929-1931 while his later sides can be found on Document’s Rural Blues Vol 2 1951 – 1962. A complete discography can be found here.

Gibson was a guitarist to be reckoned with who’s playing is unflaggingly inventive, employing a sharp, limpid tone and, while bearing a high degree of originality, was clearly influenced by Lonnie Johnson. With his unpredictable, scattershot guitar runs he also bears some comparisons to Blind Lemon Jefferson although Gibson was a more sophisticated player. As Tony Russell noted, his unique sound also “depended on his using a capo as high as the fifth or even seventh fret. That and his preference for open tunings served to separate his style from… Lonnie Johnson.” By contrast his singing is strong, clear and calm a good match for his often wry, albeit gloomy songs, which are also noteworthy for keen observation and unconventional turns of phrase.

His first session features several fine numbers including the somber “Beat You Doing It”, the mournful moan of the appropriately titled “Whiskey Moan Blues” underpinned by short staccato guitar runs with both numbers featuring impressive extended solos. “Tired Of Being Mistreated, Pt. 1 & 2″ is perhaps the session’s finest track sporting an irresistibly propulsive guitar line and Gibson’s bouncy vocals as he deliver a seemingly endless litany of invective against his woman:

Ain’t gonna cut no kindling
Ain’t gonna pack no coal
I wouldn’t spend a nickel not to save your soul
‘Cause I’m tired of being mistreated, by the way you do
Want to tell everybody that I’m down on you

You taken my money, you left me cold in hand
I’m gonna black your eye and you can tell your man
‘Cause I’m tired of being mistreated, by the way you do
Want to tell everybody that I’m down on you

Gibson’s short second session produced two outstanding numbers: “Ice And Snow Blues” and “Don’t Put That Thing On Me.” Catherine Yronwode notes that the latter track is a hoodoo number: “Although ‘that thing’ is never named, the idiomatic phrase ‘don’t put that thing on me’ refers to a specific form of conjure in which a hoodoo uses physical means — generally a powder containing minerals, roots, and herbs — to curse or jinx the victim, often, specifically, the victim’s sex life.” It’s a beautiful, dreamy number as Gibson’s laconic vocal casts a spell over the listener perfectly matching the subject matter. The former number is a prime example of Gibson’s unconventional imagery:

I’m gonna build me a castle, out of the ice and snow
So I can freeze these barefooted woman, way from around my door
Just because you were a cheater, I won’t give up the game
It don’t break my heart to win, when I lose I feel the same

All eight songs from Gibson’s third session were issued including first rate material like “Bad Luck Dice”, “Levee Camp Moan”, “Blues Without A Dime” and “Society Blues.” Gibson’s mournful vocal keenly describes the mind set of the die hard gambler in the first number while “Levee Camp Moan” is a lovely, deliberately paced number and “Blues Without A Dime” is lyrically standard but stands out due to Gibson’s heartfelt delivery. The latter number sports some of Gibson’s typically lively imagery:

When I was society, the woman would not let me be
Now I’m wild and reckless, and nobody cares for me

and

Cigarettes is my pleasure and whiskey I do crave
And some long tall and slender to follow me to my grave

Gibson’s two 1931 sides find him in the company of pianist Roosevelt Sykes. The duo make a fine team on “She Rolls It Slow” which bears a strong Lonnie Johnson stamp while “Railroad Man Blues” is lyrically similar to “Beat You Doing It” from his first 1929 session. At the same date Gibson recorded two other sides in support of R.T. Hanen which may be a pseudonym for J.D. Short. The numbers feature Will Kelly on piano who is surely Roosevelt Sykes. “She’s Got The Jordan River In Her Hips” is a superb, powerfully sung number:

Now Your motor don’t run, like no Cadillac or Ford
Run like a Packard, mama, out on the road
You got Jordan river in your hips
Daddy’s screaming to be baptized

Another fascinating collaboration from 1931 finds Gibson backing country singer Jimmie Rodgers on the unissued “Let Me Be Your Sidetrack” (the issued side features just Rodgers on guitar). Interesting not only for it’s rare black/white collaboration, the two make a pleasing team with Gibson offering an inventive guitar bed to Rodgers’ lazy blues vocal. Other session work includes supporting Ed Bell on a handful of 1929 tracks and backing Jimmy Strange on a pair of 1931 numbers.

Gibson stuck around long enough to wax two sides in 1951 and four more in 1960. The 1951 sides are acetates cut at Baul Studios in St. Louis and find Gibson in good shape but pale in comparison to his early work. Lyrically both “Sneaky Groundhog” and “Let Me Be Your Handy Man” are fairly standard but Gibson’s singing is good while his guitar work shows only faint glimpses of it’s former glory. The 1960 sides, cut for Bobbin, find Gibson in a small band setting: “The Monkey Likes To Boogie” and “It’s Best To Know Who You’re Talking To” are novelty numbers with the latter finding Gibson sounding out of touch as he tries to ape a contemporary sound. “I Don’t Want No Woman” and “No Success Blues” featuring a muted electric guitarist work much better, retaining some of the timeless quality of his early sides. Clifford Gibson died as few short years later in 1963, right at the heart of the folk/blues boom, and while highly regarded among collectors, more widespread claim has eluded him.

Tired Of Being Mistreated, Pt. 1 (MP3)

Don’t Put That Thing On Me (MP3)

Levee Camp Moan (MP3)