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User Name Thread Name Subject Posted
Joe Offer Origins: Deep Elem Blues / Deep Ellum / Deep Elm (37) RE: Origins: Deep Elem Blues / Deep Ellum / Deep Elm 18 Oct 14


I was surprised that the Traditional Ballad Index didn't have more. Here's what they have:

    Deep Elem Blues

    DESCRIPTION: The listener is advised to be prepared when going to (Deep Elem): "If you go down to Deep Elem just to have a little fun, You'd better have your fifteen dollars when the policeman comes." The singer details his experiences with the women there
    AUTHOR: unknown
    EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (recording, Cofer Brothers)
    KEYWORDS: whore money police theft trick sex warning crime humorous clergy
    FOUND IN: US
    REFERENCES (3 citations):
    BrownIII 501, "Went Down Town"; 502, "Standin' on de Street Doin' No Harm" (2 fragments, consisting of little more than a declaration of innocence and a statement "along came the police and grabbed me by the arm," also found in some versions of this song)
    Cohen-AFS2, pp. 529-530, "Deep Elem Blues" (1 text)
    DT, DEEPELM BLCKBTTM

    RECORDINGS:
    The Cofer Brothers, "The Georgia Black Bottom (Black Bottom Blues)" (Okeh 45111, 1927)
    Richard O. Hamilton, "Deep Elm Blues" [excerpt] (on USWarnerColl01)
    Lone Star Cowboys, "Deep Elm Blues" (Victor 23846, 1933)
    Prairie Ramblers, "Deep Elem Blues" (Perfect 5-11-51, 1935)
    The Shelton Brothers, "Deep Elem Blues" (Decca 5099, 1935; Decca 46008, 1946)

    SAME TUNE:
    Shelton Brothers, "Deep Elem Blues - No. 2" (Decca 5198, 1936)
    Shelton Brothers, "Deep Elem Blues - No. 3" (Decca 5422, 1937)
    NOTES: "Deep Elem," according to Michael Cooney, refers to Elm Street, the red light district in Dallas, Texas (for the reputation of this area, see also, e.g., "Take a Whiff On Me"). It's not clear whether the Cofer Brothers' "Black Bottom Blues" or the Shelton Brothers' "Deep Elem Blues" is the older form; the latter seems to have inspired more recordings. - RBW
    Last updated in version 2.7
    File: DTdeepel

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    The Ballad Index Copyright 2014 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.


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