Big Road Blues

Show Notes:

Today's program is the first of a three part feature on blues artists recorded in Europe spanning the late 40's through the 70's. Outside of Lonnie Johnson and Alberta Hunter, the blues hadn't reached European shores prior to the 1940's The late 40's saw a few artists such as Leadbelly and Sammy Price hit Europe, with Price being the first to record. Josh White recorded the first guitar blues outside the U.S. The biggest impact, however, was Big Bill Broonzy's arrival in 1951 and subsequent tours through 1957. By 1958 Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee and Muddy Waters had come to England. 1960 saw Jack Dupree, Memphis Slim, Roosevelt Sykes, Little Brother Montgomery and Speckled Red appear in England. Dupree and Slim would both settle in Europe. Europe would become a haven for blues pianists with Curtis Jones, Eddie Boyd and Little Willie Littlefield all settling there. 1962 saw the inaugural American Folk Blues Festival which featured the absolute cream of the blues scene and toured almost annually until 1972. During the 70's blues artists continued to tour Europe and there were package tours such as The American Blues Legends Tour which ran in 1973, 74, 75 and 79 and major concerts like the Montreux Jazz Festival which always had a blues component. Other artists also recorded in Europe like Blind John Davis, Professor Longhair, Lightnin' Slim and Louisiana Red who settled in Germany. Our mufti-part look at European blues is by no means comprehensive or chronological but does, I think, provide an entertaining and wide survey of excellent recordings made across the pond by people who truly appreciated a music that was too often neglected in its own country.

A still from the Big Bill Broonzy film Low Light & Blue Smoke, Brussels, 1956.

We open our series of European blues shows fittingly with monologue and song by Big Bill Broonzy. As Paul Vernon Wrote: "Regarded at the time as the first 'genuine' blues singer to visit Europe, between 1951 and his final 1957 tour, Big Bill returned every year except 1954, played concerts in London, Nottingham, Brighton and Edinburgh; in Paris and elsewhere in France; in Brussels, Antwerp, Copenhagen, Milan and Madrid, appeared on French radio, British and Italian television, was filmed in Brussels had many European-made records issued aimed at his new European audience. Press coverage was significant and he was viewed as “the last great blues singer” by the fans who took him completely at his word. That he cannily tailored his style to what he accurately believed to be European expectations is now thoroughly understood and accepted, but for all his “folksiness” he was, of course, a genuine bluesman and a wonderful guitarist. His career, in danger of imploding in the U.S., changed course in Europe and in doing so changed the course of Blues history. ” Big Bill’s European success lit the long fuse that would lead to the explosion in the early 1960’s."

Broonzy (described in adverts as “last of the country bluesmen”) spent time in Europe, especially France, in the early 1950s, and, as Guido van Rijn reveals, established especially strong connections in the Netherlands where he had a long-term relationship that produced a son. He first toured the United Kingdom in 1951 following a stint organized by the Hot Club de France in Paris. The two concerts that Broonzy played at Kingsway Hall, Holborn, in September of 1951 were aggressively promoted by the blues evangelists; during the months of August and September the jazz press featured articles about the blues in general, and Broonzy in particular. His appearances were emceed by Alan Lomax, who not only introduced the singer but also drew him into discussions about the songs and their social import, making the audience feel “as if they had wandered more or less by accident into one of those fabulous jazz parties of which the books are full.”34 The critical response was unanimously positive.

As Paul Oliver noted: "A profound influence on many of his contemporary singers and musicians, Big Bill was exceptional in every respect. I was honored to draw a number of illustrations for his autobiography, Big Bill Blues, edited by Yannick Bruynogue and published in 1955. He showed little sign of decline during his frequent visits in the 1950s, but he died of throat cancer in 1958. I learned a lot from Big Bill; if our collecting and research had enabled us to take the measure of the blues in its diversity and distribution, it was Broonzy who gave an insight of its depth."

Lonnie Donegan, the Glasgow-born banjo player with Chris Barber’s jazz band began to play guitar and sing versions of American folk and blues songs during the band’s intermission. One of these songs, “Rock Island Line,” originally recorded by Leadbelly, was so popular it was released as a record in 1956, sold three million copies, and became a hit on both sides of the Atlantic. The skiffle craze was launched. The popularity of this music encouraged Chris Barber to bring over blues artists to the United Kingdom. In 1958 Barber brought Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry to England, including an appearance on British television. That year also witnessed Muddy Water’s first controversial British appearance in Leeds, again engineered by Barber. Within an emerging fan-base that valued the acoustic guitar as the premier blues instrument, Muddy’s amplification startled and dismayed many, but it also riveted others. As Waters said, “They thought I was Big Bill Broonzy…” Waters would return in 1962 and as Paul Oliver wrote: “Muddy made a typical error when he sang at the Leeds festival, in playing his electric guitar to an audience that couldn’t take one from a blues singer. He made another one this time—in playing a bright new Spanish box when he ought to have played electric guitar.”  “Back at his London hotel after the concert,” Val Wilmer reported, “he sat shaking his head in disbelief … Just what did they want, these [British] white folks?”

Blues pianists were particularly taken with Europe and warmly welcomed, with many becoming exiles. In February 1948 blues pianist Sam Price sat down in a Paris studio and cut six boogie solos, thus becoming the first blues musician to record outside the U.S. Pianist Blind John Davis toured Europe with Broonzy in 1952. In later years Davis toured and recorded frequently in Europe, where he enjoyed a higher profile than in his homeland. He recorded several albums in Europe including Alive And Well, Stomping On A Saturday Night and Live In Hamburg all recorded in Germany and The Incomparable recorded in the Netherlands. The precedent set by Price and Davis blossomed in 1960, a great year for piano fans, Jack Dupree, Memphis Slim, Roosevelt Sykes, Little Brother Montgomery and Speckled Red all appeared in England. Researcher Francis Wilford-Smith had, since 1960, invited many of them to his Sussex home and with their consent, recorded them in performance in his living room. Though much remains currently unissued, there are excellent full-length albums from this period of Champion Jack Dupree and Little Brother Montgomery.

Memphis Slim first appeared outside the United States in 1960, touring with Willie Dixon, with whom he returned to Europe in 1962 as a featured artist in the first American Folk Festival. In 1962 he moved permanently to Paris and he became the most prominent blues artist in Europe for nearly three decades. He appeared on television in numerous European countries, acted in several French films and wrote the score for another, and performed regularly in Paris, throughout Europe, and on return visits to the United States. His status was recognized by France, which awarded him the title of Commander of Arts and Letters, and by the U.S. Senate, which in1978 named him Ambassador-at-Large of Good Will. By the time of his death in Paris in 1988, he had recorded for nearly forty different blues record labels. Our selection by Slim comes from the album Double-Barreled Boogie recorded in 1970 as Slim and Roosevelt Sykes gathered in a recording studio in Paris and reminisce about the old days, talk about the origin of some of their songs, and joke a bit.

Willie Mabon settled in Paris in 1972. He toured and recorded in Europe as part of promoter Jim Simpson's American Blues Legends tour, recording The Comeback for Simpson's Big Bear Records label, and a 1977 album on Ornament Records. He also performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival. In April 1985, after a long illness, Mabon died in Paris. Our selection, "Why Did it Happen To Me", comes from the album Cold Chilly Woman recorded in Bordeaux, France in 1972.

Sonny Boy Williamson in Britain during the American Folk Blues Festival

The American Folk Blues Festival (AFBF) was an annual event that featured the cream of American blues musicians barnstorming their way across Europe throughout the 60's. The impact of these annual tours had a profound impact on those that were in attendance. Future stars such as Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page any many others were in the audience and were directly influenced by what they saw. The rise of blues based bands like the The Rolling Stones, Yardbirds and Animals can be directly attributed to the AFBF. The festival, founded by Horst Lippmann and Fritz Rau in 1962, featured performances by luminaries like John Lee Hooker, T-Bone Walker, Muddy Waters, Memphis Slim, and Willie Dixon and drew sellout crowds and rave reviews. Many of the artists found they were far more popular in Britain than in the United States, where audiences for the blues were diminishing. Several emigrated, and others seized the new commercial opportunities presented by the British blues boom by recording extensively for the European market and touring the blues club circuit with bands comprised of their young devotees.

In 1963 Sonny Boy Williamson was headed to Europe for the first time, as part of the American Folk Blues Festival. He loved Europe and stayed behind in Britain when the tour headed home. He started working the teenage beat club circuit, touring and recording with the Yardbirds and Eric Burdon's band, whom he always referred to as "de Mammimals." Sonny Boy was truly appreciative of all the attention, and contemplated moving to Europe permanently but went back to the States and made some final recordings for Chess. He returned to England in 1964 and one of his final recordings, with Jimmy Page on guitar, was entitled "I'm Trying to Make London My Home."

In 1964, Howlin' Wolf toured eastern and western Europe with the American Blues Festival. In 1970 he recorded The London Howlin’ Wolf Sessions in England with Eric Clapton, members of the Rolling Stones, and other British rock stars. It was his best-selling album, reaching #79 on the pop charts.

In 1965 Fred McDowell toured Europe with The American Folk Blues Festival, together with Big Mama Thornton, John Lee Hooker, Buddy Guy, Roosevelt Sykes and others. In 1969 came a second tour of Europe. In Britain he recorded his first solo album using electric guitar – Mississippi Fred McDowell in London (Volumes I and II on Sire and Transatlantic).

It was Chris Strachwitz of Arhoolie records who was instrumental in getting Big Mama Thornton booked on the 1965 American Folk Blues Festival. In London she recorded an album with members of the tour; Buddy Guy (guitar), Fred Below (drums), Eddie Boyd (keyboards), Jimmy Lee Robinson (bass), and Walter Horton (harmonica), except for three songs which Fred McDowell provided acoustic slide guitar. The album was subsequently issued on the Arhoolie label.

Dr. Ross first hit Europe in 1965 for the American Folk Blues Festival. While in London he recorded what would be the first LP on Blue Horizon Records. In 1972 he recorded for Ornament Records during a German tour and performed at the 1972 Montreux Jazz Festival with a subsequent album released of the performance. The Harmonica Boss was recorded in London in 1972 and in 1974 he recorded Jivin' The Blues also in London. Europe loved Ross and gave him work and recording opportunities; he was never as popular at home.

Juke Bonner cut three sessions for Goldband Records in Lake Charles in 1960, billed as Juke Boy Bonner — The One Man Trio. Some of these sides found their way to a European release on a Storyville album and attracted attention from European blues enthusiasts. But the breaks didn't come Juke Boy's way until 1967, when sterling work primarily by editors of Blues Unlimited magazine led to recording opportunities for the small Flyright label and for an eventual European tour. Passport difficulties prevented him from joining the 1968 American Folk Blues Festival Tour but was on the tour in 1969 where he cut the album Things Ain't Right for Liberty. Throughout the early and mid-seventies his popularity grew and he continued to tour Europe as well as playing dates in Houston, however he couldn't match his European popularity at home. The frustration and bitterness are reflected in the comments made by a longtime friend to the Houston Chronicle: "He used to say he could go to Europe and earn $1000 dollars but he couldn't make $50 in his hometown." He died in 1978. The week of his death the Houston Chronicle ran the headline: “Weldon ‘Juke Boy’ Bonner, well known in Europe, dies alone in his hometown.”

In the wake of the success of the AFBF, there were other package tours and festivals. There was the American Folk Blues and  Gospel  Caravan formed in 1964 (Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Blind Gary Davis, Cousin Joe, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Muddy Waters, Otis Spann) and  The American Blues Legends tour which was run by promoter Jim Simpson who operated the Big Bear label. Simpson released albums of the tour for the years 1973, 1974, 1975 and 1979.There was also festivals like the Montreux Jazz Festival which launched in 1967 in Switzerland and always had strong blues representation.

Show Notes:

As I was putting the finishing touches on this week's show I received the news that Louisiana Red had passed. He died  in Germany at the age of 79. By his own account he had a hard life as he announced in his haunting "The Story of Louisiana Red" which opens today's show: "Now this here's a sad one. It's about my life." He lost his parents early in life through multiple tragedies; his mother died of pneumonia a week after his birth, and his father was lynched by the Klu Klux Klan when he was five. Red began recording for Chess in 1949 (as Rocky Fuller). His early sides were heavily indebted to Lightnin' Hopkins, Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker. He joined the Army and after his discharge, he played with John Lee Hooker in Detroit for almost two years in the late '50s, and continued through the '60s and '70s with recording sessions for Chess, Checker, Atlas, Glover, Roulette, L&R, and Tomato, among others. Louisiana Red moved to Hanover, Germany in 1981, and maintained a busy recording and performing schedule through the subsequent decades.

Red recorded prolifically through the years. Among his better efforts was the album The Lowdown Backporch Blues (1963) featuring striking topical numbers like the humorous "Red's Dream" and "Ride On Red, Ride On." The single "I'm Too Poor to Die"  had minor chart success in 1964. We also feature two tracks from the out-of-print Midnight Rambler, a compilation of sessions cut for the Blue Labor label in 1975-1976. We play his update of  "I'm Too Poor to Die"  and the chilling "Sweet Blood Call:"

Also on tap today are a trio of 1920's blues queens, a pair of songs apiece by piano men Blind John Davis and Freddie Shayne plus we spin a batch of great long out-of-print blues records. Rosa Henderson is the least known of today's featured blues queens. In 1963 Len Kunstadt tracked down Henderson and wrote a feature on her in Record Research: "She began her career about 1913 in her uncle's carnival show. She played tent and plantation shows all over the South with one long streak of 5 years in Texas. She sang nothing but the blues. During this period she married Slim Henderson, a great comedian and showman, and she became professionally, ROSA HENDERSON. Slim joined up with John Mason and from this association a troupe was born which included Rosa. They played the country from one end to the other. In the mid 20s the Mason Henderson troupe really began to hit big time with headline attraction bill¬ing in many of the larger theatres. Rosa also received star billing in some independent ventures. …From May 1927 through September 1927 Rosa Henderson was a top race blues recurring artist. She was on Victor, Vocalion, Ajax, Perfect, Pathe, Brunswick, Paramount, Emerson, Edison, Columbia, Banner, Domino, Regal, Oriole, English Oriole, Silvertone and others. Besides her own name she was Flora Dale on Domino; Mamie Harris and Josephine Thomas on Pathe and Perfect; Sally Ritz (her sister's name) on Banner; and probably Sarah Johnson and Gladys White on other labels….In 1927 Rosa was hitting her real stride as a single but just a year later Rosa quit in her prime due to the unexpected death of husband, Slim." She made her final recordings in 1931. From 1926 we spin her remarkably outspoken "Chicago Policeman Blues:"

Policemen in Chicago they can't police at all (2x)
They only wear their uniform, or blue just for a song (?)
Most every cop in town, black and white all have a grudge (2x)
If you don't know you better, then to say good morning judge

I've got the blues, Chicago policeman blues (2x)
They wouldn't give a pick (?) of you for Peter or Paul
They send you away for absolutely nothing at all
I've got the blues, Chicago policeman blues (3x)

I'm expressin' my opinion, just the way I feel
Pigs about the only things supposed to squeal
I've got the blues, Chicago policeman blues

We hear some fine piano blues from Blind John Davis and Freddie Shayne. From 1938 we spin Davis' jazzy brand of blues as heard on "Booze Drinking Benny" and "Anna Lou Breakdown" both featuring the electric guitar of George Barnes (one of the first Chicago musicians to record with an electric guitar). In 1973 Davis was interviewed by Melody Maker: "I started recording in 1937—Big Bill Broonzy was a friend of my Dad's and he fixed for me to play on one of his sessions 'Sweet William Blues' I think it was. That was for Vocalion or Columbia. …They all seemed to like my playing so I got  to play on most of the sessions around at the time….I was top piano player for Lester Melrose's Wabash Music Company. …"I could play for anybody  excepting Big Boy Crudup. I think no piano player in the world could play for him 'cos he plays so damn irregular. …In 1949 I made my first recordings under my own name— for MGM, that was. Before I had no desire to sing and the record producers told me I didn't sound Southern enough. They got me recording again in '51 — this time with George Barnes on guitar and Ransom Knowling playing bass. I cut a lot of records over in Europe with Big Bill Broonzy — but we wasn't paid for none of them. I kept copies of all my recordings, but my house burned out in 1955 and I lost everything!"

Freddie Shayne is a shadowy figure who spent his life working in Chicago. He first time on record was backing singer Priscilla Stewart on “Mr. Freddie Blues.” Shayne also made a very rare piano roll of this song. In 1935 Shayne recorded a solo record, “Original Mr. Freddie Blues b/w Lonesome Man Blues.” “Mr. Freddie Blues” became something of a boogie standard covered by many artists including Meade Lux Lewis, Pete Johnson, Jimmy Blythe, Art Tatum and others. In the 40's he made some recordings for the Circle label where he also backed singer Bertha “Chippie” Hill.

From the out-of-print file we spin records by George and Ethel McCoy, Daddy Hotcakes, Bee Houston and Mabel Hillary. George and Ethel McCoy were a brother and sister guitar duo who lived in St. Louis. Their aunt was Memphis Minnie who taught Ethel first hand. They recorded the album Early In the Morning for the Adelphi label in 1969 and later saw some recordings out on the Swingmaster label.

George “Daddy Hotcakes” Montgomery was born in Georgia and came moved to St. Louis in 1918. He began singing the blues as a youngster and worked as an entertainer during the 1920’s. Sometime in the late 30’s he had an opportunity to record through blues artist and talent scout Charlie Jordan but the recording session fell through. He was still occasionally playing parties when Sam Charters recorded him in 1961. The Blues in St. Louis, Vol. 1: Daddy Hotcakes is his only recording.

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Bee Houston played in the backing bands of Little Willie John, Junior Parker, Bobby "Blue" Bland and others in the late '50s and early '60s. After a two-year army stint, Houston moved to the West Coast. He toured and recorded frequently with Big Mama Thornton in the '60s, and also accompanied several visiting blues players during West Coast visits. Houston recorded for Arhoolie in the '60s and '70s, and also made several festival appearances and club dates. Our selection, "Ten Years To Life", was issued as a 1970 single on the Joliet label (Joliet 203).

A member of The Georgia Sea Island Singers, Mable Hillery was less known than leaders, Big John Davis or Bessie Jones. Between 1961 and 1965 she toured the college circuit of campuses, coffee houses, church basements, and festivals, from Berkeley to Philadelphia, from the Ash Grove in Los Angeles to the Café à Go-Go in New York City. She toured Europe in the 60's and cut a session in London in 1968 for Transatlantic which was issued as It's So Hard To Be A Nigger on their budget Xtra label. Other scattered sides appeared on anthologies.

We also spin a track by fellow Georgia Sea Island singer Bessie Jones. Our cut, "Beggin' the Blues", was recorded by Alan Lomax. In the 1960s, with the assistance of Lomax, Bessie Jones, together with John Davis, Peter Davis, Mable Hillery, Emma Ramsey, and Henry Morrison, formed the Georgia Sea Island Singers and traveled to colleges and folk music venues throughout the country.

Show Notes:

As we take a breather between theme shows, we offer a mix show that casts a wide net,  spanning the 1920's through the 1970's. We spotlight several artists today including three songs devoted to the husband and wife team of Coot Grant and Wesley Wilson and twin spins of John Jackson, Louisiana Red and Big Joe Williams.  In addition we spin some fine blues ladies, a selection of excellent pre-war blues and some superb down-home blues from the post-war era.

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Coot Grant was the main stage name of Leola B. Pettigrew, a  blues singer  from Alabama whose legal name became Leola Wilson following her marriage to performing partner Wesley Wilson. The pair met and began performing together in 1905 and were wed in 1913. Coot had been involved in show business  since she was a child, beginning as a dancer in vaudeville. Her husband, who played both piano and organ, was performing as early as 1905. He performed under a variety of stage names including Catjuice Charlie in a duo with Pigmeat Pete, as well as Kid Wilson, Jenkins, Socks, and Sox Wilson. The husband and wife, billed as Grant & Wilson, Kid & Coot, and Hunter & Jenkins, cut over sixty sides between 1925 and 1938, often backed with top jazz artists such as Fletcher Henderson, Mezz Mezzrow, Sidney Bechet, and Louis Armstrong. They also performed in musical comedies, vaudeville, traveling shows, revues, and in film. The couple published many songs, most famous of which is "Gimme a Pigfoot," recorded by singer Bessie Smith's at her final session in 1933. On her own, Grant also recorded country blues including some collaborations with guitarist Blind Blake in 1926. The careers of both she and her husband began to falter in the mid-'30s, with the pair returning to the studios only briefly in 1938, and again a decade later when Mezzrow hired them to perform and write material for his new King Jazz label. Grant kept performing following her husband's retirement in 1948, but eventually dropped out of sight and no details have been discovered about her death. The music of Coot Grant and Wesley Wilson draws on the vaudeville tradition of the henpecked man and domineering woman, with much of the material suggestive in nature. Listening to their music, and that of contemporaries like Butterbeans and Susie, gives a fascinating insight into black music before it was captured on record and the ways this music made its way on to the race records of the 20's and 30's. That being said one has to carefully wade through much monotonous material to find some worthwhile gems.  We open the set with Wesley Wilson using the pseudonym Catjuice Charlie with a partner who may be Bobby Leecan on 1931's "Hard Times." Wilson offers some humorous  but pointed commentary interspersed with duetting with his partner on this number cut in the depths of the depression:

Boy, I ain't never seen times so hard in all my life before
Since 1907, that's been twenty three years ago
I saw a black cat sitting in an alley on top of a milk can, eating a red onion and crying like a natural man

From 1933 we hear Coot in fine form on lyrically imaginative "Whippin' the Wolf" a song she would revive for a 1947 session with Mezz Mezzrow. From that session we spin "Evil Gal Blues" which fins Coot's voice a bit more frayed but still able to deliver a rousing, sassy performance.

We move up to the 1960's to hear three twin spins by John Jackson, Big Joe Williams and Louisiana Red. For much of his life, Jackson played for country house parties in Virginia, or around the house for his own amusement. Then in the '60s he encountered the folk revival, becoming the Washington, D.C. area's best-loved blues artist. He made his debut in 1965 for Arhoolie with Blues and Country Dance Tunes from Virginia followed by the equally strong Country Blues & Ditties. His eclectic repertoire embraced the music of his guitar heroes Willie Walker (who once visited his father's house), Blind Boy Fuller, and Blind Blake. Besides the blues, rags, and dance tunes associated with these masters, Jackson played ballads, country songs, and what he termed "old folk songs," such as "The Midnight Special." Jackson recorded several albums, his last for Alligator in 1999 and passed a few years later of liver cancer on January 20, 2002. From his Arhoolie debut we spin a marvelous slide version of "Poor Boy" and the ragtime flavored "Trucking Little Baby" from the Arhoolie album John Jackson In Europe.

As protégé David “Honeyboy” Edwards described him, Big Joe Williams in his early Delta days was a walking musician who played work camps, jukes, store porches, streets, and alleys from New Orleans to Chicago. He recorded through five decades for Vocalion, Okeh, Paramount, Bluebird, Prestige, Delmark, and many others. Among his many fine dates is the one recently reissued for the first time on CD as Old Sawmill Blues. This is a reissue of a terrific Big Joe date from 1964 originally issued on Storyville and recorded in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was originally issued under the title  Portraits in Blues Vol. 7: Ramblin' And Wanderin' Blues and reissued on album several times under different titles.  Williams is well recorded and plays with a focused intensity on mostly traditional fare like our selections, Jinx Blues and Ramblin' And Wanderin' Blues, the latter a song that could well sum up his peripatetic life.

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Louisiana Red began recording for Chess in 1952 under the moniker Rocky Fuller, then joined the Army. After his discharge, he played with John Lee Hooker in Detroit for almost two years in the late '50s, and continued through the '60s and '70s with recording sessions for Chess, Checker, Atlas, Glover, Roulette, L&R, and Tomato, among others. Lowdown Back Porch Blues was his first full-length album, and one of his finest, cut in 1963. Among the album's many high points are those with a political edge, "Red's Dream" (an updating of Big Bill Broonzy's "Just A Dream") and "Ride On, Red, Ride On." Nearly fifty years down the line the album remains something of a minor classic. Louisiana Red moved to Hanover, Germany in 1981, and maintained a busy recording and performing schedule through the subsequent decades and has recorded a batch of fine records in the 2000's. We also play a track form The Best Of Louisiana Red which collects sides Red cut between 1965 and 1973. From that collection we spin the moving, slide driven, "Where Is My Friend?" musically based on Elmore James' version of  "It Hurts Me Too."

We spin several post-war recordings by artists who made their reputations in the 20's and 30's: Robert Wilkins, Henry Townsend and Bukka White. As Wilkins' daughter recalled: "…in the month of February, 1964, when the young white men came to the house to ask Daddy to play the blues, the answer was uncomplicated. Daddy sat there and listened to their promises of fortune and fame. When they finished, he looked at them, smiled and said, ‘What would it profit a man to gain the entire world and lose his soul?’ Like several of the former bluesmen turned gospel artists, Reverend Robert T. Wilkins refused opportunities to remake his hits from the late 20's and mid 30's. He could not, however, resist the chance to reach a new audience with the Lord's message, so he took the old melodies and melded them with a gospel message (most famously retitling hie pre-war recording "That's No Way To Get Along" as "Prodigal Son" which was recorded under that title in 1968 by the Rolling Stones). He recorded only sparingly in later years; he cut one full length album Memphis Gospel Singer in 1964 plus several sides on various anthologies. Today's track, "Remember Me" comes from sides cut between 1969 and 1971 and released in the 90's on the Adelphi label.

Henry Townsend, who has died aged 96 in 2006, had been the last blues musician who could trace his recording career back to the 1920s, having sat down before a recording microphone in November 1929 to sing his "Henry's Worried Blues" for Paramount. He was born in Shelby, Mississippi, but grew up in St Louis. As a boy he worked for a bootlegger and in his late teens he became interested in playing the guitar and began to infiltrate a circle of musicians that included Lonnie Johnson, Roosevelt Sykes and Peetie Wheatstraw. He recorded steadily, if not prolifically, through the decades cutting fine sides with Walter Davis through the 50's, a superb record for Bluesville in the 60's and in 1980 one of his finest records, Mule for the Nighthawk label. Townsed plays piano and guitar and is joined by his wife Vernell on vocals and Yank Rachell on a couple of numbers who plays mandolin and guitar. On today's show we feature the wonderful "Things Have Changed" with Henry's economical piano and expressive vocals backed by Yank's sparkling mandolin work and occasional vocal interjections.

Forty three years after his recording debut, Bukka White remains an electrifying performer on our selection "Gibson Hill" from his the album Big Daddy, his last album recorded in 1973 for Biograph.  Bukka's reputation stems from the fourteen sides he cut between 1937 and 1940, some of the most powerful country blues of the era, with Bukka playing with tremendous drive, consistency and creativity on songs that went on to be etched in blues history like "Parchman Farm Blues" and "Fixin' To Die Blues." After a lengthy time out of the spotlight, he resumed his career in 1963 as he immortalized on the song "1962 Isn't 1963." For about a decade he performed and recorded with little loss of the power and authority of his early records, cutting strong albums for Takoma and Arhoolie among others. Big Daddy is no exception with Bukka playing a 1930's steel bodied National, performing and singing with passion.

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It's worth mentioning a couple of LP's that are featured today. Guitar Star on the Red Lightnin' label has long been a favorite of mine, collecting valuable late 50's and 60's sides by Fenton Robinson, Mighty Joe Young, Johnny Littlejohn, Wayne Benett, Lefty Bates and others. I've played selections from this one several times and today we spin the blistering "Rock Alley" by guitarist Lefty Bates who recorded very little under his own name. Bates was raised in St. Louis and, while still in high school formed a vocal and string band. This group migrated to Chicago in 1936, recorded on Decca, and worked several clubs regularly up until 1950. During this period, Bates served in the Second World War and formed his own combo when he got out. This led to a stint in the combo Aristo-Kats, who cut a series of sides for RCA Victor. There were very few recordings released under his own name, including a solitary release on Boxer in 1955, another on United several years later, and two sides done on Apex at the close of the '50s. For many years he was a stalwart at Chicago blues clubs such as the legendary Theresa's, and appeared in the second guitar position on many records by blues giants such as Tampa Red, Jimmy Reed, John Lee Hooker and Buddy Guy. Bates can also be heard doing session work for Chicago labels like Vee-Jay, Chance and Club 51.

We also play two tracks from the superb two album set Okeh Chicago Blues, a terrific selection of blues cut for the Okeh label between 1934 and 1947 with marvelous notes by Jim O'Neal. I'm pretty sure just about all these sides have been reissued on CD but at the time of this release numerous tracks were released for the first time including great sides by Merline Johnson, Johnny Shines, Big Bill Broonzy, Memphis Minnie and Big Joe Williams among others. From that record we play "Bad Whiskey Blues" by Merline Johnson and "Tennessee Woman Blues" by Johnny Shines. The liner notes offer the following about Johnson from the recollections of pianist Blind John Davis: "…Big Bill would have to take her home so his wife could watch her so she wouldn't go and get drunk. But when she hit that microphone, though, boy, she was on her way." Despite the efforts of her family in Milwaukee to keep her under control, John says, "She'd get to thinkin' about Chicago, they'd wake up the next morning and Merline'd be in Chicago. She used to call me up and just cuss and laugh." Her only postwar session, which remained unissued by Okeh, included the drinking number "Bad Whiskey Blues," which could well have served as her theme song. "She didn't like good whiskey," Davis laughs. "You could go out there in Jewtown and get moonshine and still hear it foamin' in the glass. It was still fermenting. She was crazy about it. But she was a nice person." Her heyday was in the late 30's and early 40's, waxing 70 sides between 1937 and 1941.

As for Johnny Shines we again turn to the liner notes: "Johnny Shines has long been a magnificent singer-guitarist in the Delta blues tradition, but unlike other premier country blues recording artists, his reputation is based more on recent albums than on early 78's. Shines' first session, for Columbia in 1946, was unissued for 25 years; his second, for Chess, was assigned a release number but probably was never issued at the time; finally, J.O.B. put out two poorly distributed records in the early '50's, and that was it for Johnny Shines until his album debut for Vanguard in 1965. Even before he came to Chicago in 1941, Shines had been writing letters to record companies. 'I am sorry that they weren't interested', he says, 'because at that time I was strictly strong,  and that's all I wanted to do then, was play the blues.'" "Tennessee Woman Blues" is a powerful delta blues number with vocals, particularly the falsetto, eerily reminiscent of his old running partner Robert Johnson. Just listen to our selection by Johnson, "Come On In My Kitchen", if you want proof.

Show Notes:

Today's program is our fifth devoted to topical blues. Previous show have focused on hard times, presidents, war and prison. Today's show is more of a grab bag, spotlighting songs about natural disasters, the depression, historical figures, social issues, civil rights and more. "The blues, contrary to popular conception, are not always concerned with love, razors, dice, and death," Richard Wright wrote in 1941.  Wright, argued that the blues was by its nature a protest music, and many other writers concur. Mostly it was veiled in verses like "You don’t know my mind/ When you see me laughing, I’m laughing just to keep from crying." A smaller percentage of blues deals directly with more overt protest and many more were commentaries about community events. There were numerous songs about natural disasters such as floods, drought, storms and fire; songs about cultural figures like Joe Louis, Franklin Roosevelt, Martin Luther King and John Kennedy; songs about politics, war, urban renewal, prostitution and even racism; and of course countless songs about the depression, hard times and welfare. Taken together these songs form an oral history of black America at a time when black Americans had few outlets for self-expression. Although it’s outside of our scope, it should be noted that many of the same themes can be found in gospel records and sermons of the same period.

The 1927 Mississippi River flood was one of the greatest natural disasters in US history. Numerous blues and gospel songs were written about the event. The first record on he market, and the biggest seller, was Bessie Smith’s “Back Water Blues” issued on Columbia. Columbia also enlisted its most popular country blues artist, Barbecue Bob, to record the flood blues “Mississippi Heavy Water Blues” in June. The record was advertised in the Chicago Defender on August 13th and like Bessie's record was a hit. Other flood songs performed by Columbia artists include Kansas Joe and Memphis Minnie's “When The Levee Breaks” cut at their first session in 1929. Also in 1929, Charley Patton recorded a two-part flood blues, “High Water Everywhere” Part 1 &d 2. Paramount devoted one of its last advertisements to this record, which became a surprise hit at the dawn of the Great Depression. This was the last original blues to be recorded about the 1927 flood:

Well, backwater done rose all around Sumner now,
drove me down the line
Backwater done rose at Sumner,
drove poor Charley down the line
Lord, I'll tell the world the water,
done crept through this town

Five months after the Mississippi flood, on Sept. 29^th, a cyclone struck St. Louis killing dozens of people and causing millions of dollars in damage. Three blues and one sermon were recorded about this event.  "St. Louis Cyclone Blues" was first recorded by Lonnie Johnson and then covered by Elzadie Robinson.  In addition to being a gifted singer and guitarist he was also an imaginative songwriter as “St. Louis Cyclone Blues” amply demonstrates:

I was sitting in my kitchen, lookin’ ‘way out cross the sky (2x)
I thought the world was ending, I started in to cry.

The wind was howlin’, the buildings beginnin’ to fall (2x)
I seen that mean old twister comin’, just like a cannonball

The world was black as midnight, I never heard such a noise before (2x)
Sound like a million lions, when they turn loose their roar

Oh, people was screamin’, and runnin’ every which away (2x)
[spoken ] Lord have mercy on our poor people!

I fell down on my knees, I started in to pray

The shack where we were living, she reeled and rocked but never fell (2x)
[spoken ] Lord, Have mercy!
How the cyclone spared us, nobody but the Lord can tell

In a similar vein was St. Louis Jimmy's "Florida Hurricane." John Lee Hooker recorded the song "Tupelo" several times. While Hooker refers to the disaster as a flood,  the town of Tupelo was actually  struck by a tornado on April 5^th, 1936. This was an outbreak of seventeen tornadoes that struck the Southeastern United States from April 5 to 6th, 1936. Approximately 436 people were killed by these tornadoes. Although the outbreak was centered around Tupelo, Mississippi and Gainesville, Georgia, other destructive tornadoes associated with the outbreak struck Columbia, Tennessee, Anderson, South Carolina and Acworth, Georgia. Severe flash floods from the associated storms also produced millions of dollars in damage across the region.

The sinking of the Titanic in 1912 generated many songs among white and blacks. Soon after the event, songs began to circulate and some were put in print on broadside papers. For many singers, the disaster was a kind of modern "tower of Babel", God punishing man’s arrogance, especially among black singers who saw in the disaster God’s punishment for the segregationist policies of the boat’s company (Black were not allowed on board) or for man's hubris for calling the boat unsinkable. Among the most influential was “God Moves On The Water" by Blind Willie Johnson:

Year of nineteen hundred and twelve, April the fourteenth day
Great Titanic struck an iceberg, people had to run and pray
God moves, moves, God moves, ah, and the people had to run and pray

The guards who had been a-watching, asleep 'cause they were tired
When they heard the great excitement, then a gunshot was fired
God moves, moves, God moves, ah, and the people had to run and pray

The Titanic continued to be a popular theme well into the post-war era. Blues artists who sang about the Titanic include Ma Rainey, Hi Henry Brown, Richard "Rabbit" Brown, Leadbelly, Virginia Liston and in the post-war era Mance Lipscomb, Pink Anderson, Bill Jackson among others.

There have been several songs written about historical figures like presidents, particularly Roosevelt and Kennedy,  black leaders, sports figures and even blues singers. There were several blues written about the passing of well known blues artists including a few dealing with the death of the hugely popular Leroy Carr in 1935.  Among those were the poignant "My Old Pal Blues (Dedicated To The Memory Of Leroy Carr)" sung by Carr's long time partner Scrapper Blackwell:

I woke up this morning, couldn't hardly get out of my bed (2x)
When I got the news, that Leroy Carr was dead

I run to the window, and I throwed up the blinds (2x)
I stood there wondering, and just couldn't keep from crying

The day of his funeral, I hated to see Leroy's face (2x)
Because I know there's no one, could ever take his place

Then off to the funeral, then to the burying ground (2x)
My heart was breaking, as they lowered him down

He's done singing, he's done playing, you'll never hear his voice no more (2x)
He was a real good pal, and I'll miss him everywhere I go.

Bumble Bee Slim and Bill Gaither also recorded tributes to Carr. There were other tributes on the passing of Ma Rainey, Blind Lemon Jefferson and Sonny Boy Williamson II. Other songs have dealt with the passing of Bessie Smith, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Doctor Clayton and Sonny Boy Williamson II. There have been dozens of blues, jazz, ballads and gospel songs written about heavyweight champion Joe Louis. During the era of segregation, Joe Louis was a hero among black Americans. Those who paid tribute to Louis include Memphis Minnie, Joe Pullum, Jack Kelly, Lil Johnson, Bill Gaither, Carl Martin among others. Pullum's "Joe Louis Is the Man" seems to be the first Louis song, dated Aug. 13, 1935:

Joe Louis, is a battlin' man
The people think his fame will always last
He's the Brown Bomber of this land
He's supposed to whup 'most any man
He's got a real left, and a real good right
But when he jabs with either one, that stops the fight
He's not a bad dresser, and his hair is curled
He's the champion now of the world
He's bound to be the next champion of the world

Named after a popular 19th-century minstrel song that stereotyped African Americans, "Jim Crow" came to personify the system of government-sanctioned racial oppression and segregation in the United States. There were several artists who made reference to"Jim Crow" including Leadbelly, Josh White and Rosa Henderson (PDF). In 1924's "Back Woods Blues" Rosa Henderson sings:

Got the blues so bad for the place that I came from
Wanna see my folks but its way to far, to ride in a dusty old Jim Crow Car
Got the back woods blues for a place way down in Bam
Got the blues but I’m gonna stay right where I am
Gonna lay ‘round here right where I’m at
Where there ain’t no grinnin' and snatchin' off my hat

Three years later Cow Cow Davenport cut the explicitly titled "Jim Crow Blues":

I'm tired of being Jim Crowed, gonna leave this Jim Crow town
Doggone my black soul, I'm sweet Chicago bound
Yes, sir, I'm leaving here, from this old Jim Crow town

Fire was another theme that crops up in several blues songs. Leola Manning sings about a fire that burned down the Arcade building in Knoxville, TN in her "Arcade Building Moan" cut just 15 days after the event. One of the most tragic fires happened in Natchez, Mississippi. On April 23, 1940 the Rhythm Night Club fire killed 209 African-American partygoers, while severely injuring many others. It remains the second deadliest fire at a nightclub in the United States. The disaster has been acknowledged in songs by The Lewis Bronzeville Five, Gene Gilmore, "Baby Doo" Caston, Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker and others. Other songs about fires include "Jailhouse Fire Blues" by Buddy Boy Hawkins, "Fire Department Blues" by Sleepy John Estes, "Call The Fire Wagon" by Memphis Minnie and "Stockyard Fire" by Tampa Red and "Fire Detective Blues" by Roosevelt Sykes are a few examples.

Urban renewal is the theme in "Third Street's Going Down", one of Peetie Wheatstraw's finest compositions:

We used to have luck in the valley
But the little girl had to move way out of town
We used to have luck in the valley
But the girl had to move way out of town
Some moved in the alley
Ooo-well-well, because Third Street is going down

Third Street ran through the heart of the East St. Louis district known as the "valley", a tough area full of brothels, gambling houses and saloons. Wheatstraw also lived in the district and not coincidentally was an area where the blues flourished. Some forty years later Gatemouth Moore returned to his old Memphis stomping grounds which was transformed by urban renewal and recorded the moving "Beale Street Ain't Beale Street No More."

When the Wall Street crash occurred at the end of October 1929 there were many stories of lost fortunes, of bankrupt financiers throwing themselves from skyscraper buildings. Those who bore the brunt were the poor, and of those the black population was the worst off. As steel mills ceased to operate and factories were closed down, thousands of workers, many of whom were seasonal employees, were laid off. Few were members of unions, and there was no protection against unemployment. Countless blues and gospel songs were written about the depression. "The Panic Was On" as Hezekiah Jenkins sang in 1931:

What this country is coming to
I sure would like to know
If they don’t do something bye and bye, the rich will live and the poor will die
Doggone, I mean the panic is on

Can’t get no work, can’t draw no pay
Unemployment getting worser every day
Nothing to eat no place to sleep
All night long folks walking the street
Doggone, I mean the panic is on

During the depression casual prostitution was a reality to many poor women. Whether it was a bartering to pay the "rent man", helping their unemployed men or actually walking the streets, prostitution was a prevalent theme in the blues. Statistics show that a quarter of all prostitutes were black when blacks represented a tenth of the population.  “Tricks Ain't Walking No More”was a popular song recorded by Lucille Bogan, Memphis Minnie, Bumble Bee Slim, Curley Weaver, Buddy Moss and others. During the depression even prostitution suffered from the economy as Lucille Bogan lamented in "They Ain't Walkin' No More":

Sometimes I'm up, sometimes I'm down, I can't make my livin' around this town
'Cause tricks ain't walkin', tricks ain't walkin' no more
I said, tricks ain't walkin' no more, tricks ain't walkin' no more
And I got to make my livin', don't care where I go

I need shoes on my feet, clothes on my back,
get tired of walkin' these streets, all dressed in black
But tricks ain't walkin', tricks ain't walkin' no more
I said, tricks ain't walkin' no more, tricks ain't walkin' no more
And I get four or five good tricks standin' in front of my door

Homelessness was another reality as detailed in songs like Josh White's "Homeless And Hungry",  Bessie Smith's "Homeless Blues"and Sleepy John Estes' " Hobo Jungle Blues." Even after the depression the possibility still loomed as Willie "Long Time" Smith sang about eloquently in his 1947 composition "Homeless Blues":

On one cold frosty morning, the ground was covered with snow (2x)
Well, I met a million people had no place to go
Well some have children, some just have their suitcase and clothes (2x)
You know those people was steady walkin',  but they couldn't find no place to go

Franklin D. Roosevelt was inaugurated in March 1933 and took many measures in his first hundred days to combat the depression. In June he established the Public Works Administration (PWA) for which over $3 billion was appropriated. PWA projects were largely engaged in construction projects like sewage plants, flood control and bridge building. Under the PWA was an alphabet soup of agencies with acronyms like PWA, CCC, CWA, CCC and others. Later came the WPA which replaced direct relief and built over a half million miles of roads, a hundred thousand bridges and even more pubic buildings. Many blues songs deal with "working on the project"  such as Peetie Wheatstraw's "Working On The Project" and his sequel "The Wrong Woman (Lost My Job On the Project)", Black Ivory King's "Working For The PWA", Jimmy Gordon's "Don't Take Away My PWA"  and "Casey Bill Weldon's "W.P.A. Blues" are a few examples. While the entry in WW II eased the pressure on many who were drafted or employed in the plants, it was largely the white population who benefited. Many were still "On The Killin’ Floor" as Doctor Clayton described in 1942:

Please give me a match to light this short that I found
I know it looks bad for me, picking tobacco off the ground
I was in my prime not so very long ago
But high priced whiskey and woman done put me on the killin’ floor

Truman became President in 1945. Inflation was a major reason Truman’s popularity dropped from 87% after his election to 32% by the time he was up for re-election. In addition, after the war prices began to rise and opportunities lessen. Prices rose 38% between 1946 and 1948. Many blues tackled the subject including Jack McVea’s "Inflation Blues", Louis Jordan's song of he same name, Smokey Hogg's "High Priced Meat", Ivory Joe Hunter's "Ivory Joe Hunter "High Cost Low Pay Blue" and Roosevelt Sykes' "Roosevelt Sykes "High Price Blues"  among others.

After the twin bombings in August 1945 on Hiroshima and Nagasaki a slew of songs in all genres took up the atomic theme. In blues songs the word "atomic" came to mean anything of great energy, often used as a sexual metaphor as in songs like "Atomic Love" by Little Caesar or in "Atomic Baby" by Amos Milburn. In "Atomic Bomb Blues" Homer Harris gives an almost eyewitness account of the bombing of Hiroshima. In the gospel world it was used as a metaphor for God's power as expressed in songs like the Pilgrim Travelers much covered "Jesus Hits Like The Atom Bomb" and the Swan Silvertone's "Jesus Is God's Atom Bomb."

Overt political commentary was rare in recorded blues and gospel prior to the 1960’s but became increasingly more common afterwords. Several blues and gospel numbers were recorded about Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement in Alabama. In "Birmingham Blues" John Lee Hooker forcefully sings about the Birmingham campaign which was a strategic effort by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to promote civil rights for black Americans.

I ain't goin' down, Birmingham by myself (2x)
If I go, gonna take someone with me
Take an airplane, fly over Birmingham (2x)
Drop me a bomb, keep on flyin' on
Feel so bad, when I read about Birmingham (2x)
Oh do I know one thing, a man is just a man

Based in Birmingham, Alabama, and aimed at ending the city’s segregated civil and discriminatory economic policies, the campaign lasted for more than two months in the spring of 1963. To provoke the police into filling the city’s jails to overflowing, Martin Luther King, Jr. and black citizens of Birmingham employed nonviolent tactics to flout laws they considered unfair. In 1962's "Ride On Red, Ride On" Louisiana Red is a civil rights themed blues that is mainly about leaving the racist south and in its subject not far removed from Rosa Henderson's concerns in her 1924 song quoted above. Red does make a brief mention of the events in Little Rock several years prior:

We rolled into old Little Rock, had made another state
Where it took the whole US army to make one school integrate

In "Alabama Bus" Pts. 1 &2 Brother Will Hairston sings bout the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott led by Dr. King and ignited by Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her seat to a white man. Several blues singers paid tribute to the death of Martin Luther King including Champion Jack Dupree, Big Joe Williams and Otis Spann.

Show Notes:

Today's shown revolves around blues songs relating to presidents and politics. Overt political commentary was rare in recorded blues and gospel prior to the 1960's. Some of the most moving political songs were tributes for Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy, who had great appeal to African Americans. One theme running through today's show is several songs dealing with the death of president Kennedy who was assassinated 45 years ago yesterday. There were also quite a number of gospel songs written on the topic, and although we normally don't play gospel we make an exception today. Roosevelt was considered the "poor man's friend" and the lyrical evidence suggests he was viewed "as a benevolent and powerful patron or ‘bossman'" while Truman was seen as much more fallible and "unresponsive to the economic plight of black people as well as their growing demands for equal rights." Kennedy's reputation, particularly in the early years, was rather ambivalent but his death, as the lyrical evidence makes clear, "virtually eradicated any criticism of his international or political policies and left him an unadulterated hero." These last quotes come from scholar Gudio Van Rijn who has written the books Roosevelt Blues, The Truman & Eisenhower Blues and Kennedy's Blues which analyze lyrics of blues and gospel songs that deal with topical issues. In addition each book has an accompanying CD, which is where many of today's songs come from. Several of the Kennedy songs come from the album Can't Keep From Crying: Topical Blues on the Death of President Kennedy on the Testament label.

I guess you can say I wear my sympathies my sleeve with the opening numbers; Champion Jack Dupree's "God Bless Our New President" and Bobo Jenkins' "Democrat Blues." "God Bless Our New President" was cut only a few days after Truman was sworn in following the death of FDR. The flip side was "F.D.R. Blues." The record was advertised in Billboard as a "new sensational timely blues record." In "Democrat Blues" cut in 1952 Jenkins is clearly not happy about Dwight Eisenhower who was the first Republican in the White House since 1933. If Jenkins was still with us he would clearly be a happy man.

A running thread throughout today's show is some remarkable songs on the death of President Kennedy. In the wake of John Kennedy's assassination, Pete Welding recorded over a dozen acoustic blues tributes to the late president for the compilation Can't Keep from Crying: Topical Blues on the Death of President Kennedy in late 1963 and early 1964. Several other songs come form Kennedy's Blues. Not surprisingly Kennedy’s assassination provoked an outpouring of memorial songs where “the deceased president emerges as a near-saint." As Rijn notes, “the blues and gospel singers’ president was in heaven now. Like Christ he had died for our sins.” Indeed Kennedy’s death is often compared to the crucifixion of Christ a theme hammered home in several gospel songs. Among the moving performances are Otis Spann's impassioned "Sad Day In Texas", his voice choked with emotion, Jim and Fannie Brewer's simply but deeply moving "I Want To Know Why" and Perry Tillis' "Kennedy Moan." There are several strong gospel performances including Ronda Mitchell & Mrs. Lovell magnificent "J.F. Kennedy's Reservation", The Southern Bell Singers' soaring "The Tragedy Of Kennedy" and the Dixie Nightinglaes' haunting "Assassination."

When Franklin Delano Roosevelt became president of the United States, thousands of black Americans, traditionally Republican, deserted the party of Lincoln and became Democrats. Roosevelt was immensely popular among blacks as evidenced in songs like Otis Jackson's two-part "Tell Me Why You Like Roosevelt" and Big Joe Wiilliams' moving "His Spirit Lives On." While were practically no blues lyrics critical of Roosevelt, Truman was criticized explicitly early on. Expectations were high for post-war prosperity and Truman's inability to stem inflation made him ripe for criticism. It wasn't long for the sentiment expressed in Champion Jack Dupree's "God Bless Our New President" cut in April 1945 (Truman became President in January that year) became more pointed in songs like J.B. Lenoir's "Eisenhower Blues" and the "positively revolutionary" variation "Everybody Wants To Know:"

You rich people, listen, you better listen real deep
If we poor peoples get hungry, we gonna take some food to eat

While Rijn has yet to write his book on Nixon (I have no doubt he will) there were a number of songs about Nixon and as you would imagine they were not very flattering. Watergate is a topic taken up by Howlin' Wolf on "Watergate Blues" on his final album The Back Door Wolf while Big Joe is back with his "Watergate Blues." Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown addresses Nixon directly in "Please Mr. Nixon" to "Don't cut off your welfare line." Other songs that directly addressed the president were several songs that came along at the same time including Roy C's "Open Letter To The President" and his more explicit "Impeach The President, King Solomon's "Please Mr President" the Angels Of Joy's gorgeous plea "Mr President."

Today's show also features a trio of fantasy songs inspired by Big Bill Broonzy's "Just A Dream." The idea of a black man as a president was the stuff of fantasy as Big Bill relates:

Dreamed I was in the White House, sittin' in the president's chair.
I dreamed he's shaking my hand, said "Bill, I'm glad you're here"
But that was just a dream. What a dream I had on my mind
And when I woke up, not a chair could I find

Some fifteen years later Johnny Shines recorded his "Livin' In The White House:"

Now I'm livin' in the White House, just trying to help old Ike along (2x)
And tryin' to make an admendment, for things Harry left undone

I want to live in paradise, make servants out of kins and queens (2x)
Now, don't shake me, please, darling, this is one time I wanna finish my dream

Then there's Louisiana's Red surreal, hilarious "Red's Dream" where he goes "to the U.N. and set the whole nation right", threatens Castro with a "Georgia shave" (slit his throat) and is finally summoned to the White House by the President where he plans to install some "soul brothers" in the senate like Ray Charles, Lightnin' Hopkins, Jimmy Reed, Bo Diddley and Big Maybelle! Then of course there's Louis Jordan's "Jordan For President." After announcing that he is ready to move "… from the phonograph record to the ‘Congressional Record'", Jordan promises to help listeners "… get straight on all the candidates" and "… make the proper selection in the coming election." Jordan's hoping you'll vote for the swing ticket: "For an administration that'll move you, groove you, and keep you fit" and "… to walk on the sunny side of the street with the candidate with the beat … vote for Jordan for President!" Jordan's electoral promises: "Every American will get his portion – after I get mine" and "… we'll all serve – time!." I Don’t Want To Be President” by the ever philosophical Percy Mayfield takes a Nixon era slant:

Now just suppose I had a girlfriend and called her, and she lived way across the lake
Why Congress would know the whole conversation because, you see, they’d have it on tape
Then they put me on the television to tell the whole world my private life
Hell I wouldn’t mind if people knowing but what about my wife