The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #42591 Message #2188730
Posted By: Azizi
07-Nov-07 - 11:36 PM
Thread Name: anyone want to help me? (blues info)
Subject: RE: anyone want to help me? (blues info)
Here's examples of songs from three of the 3o categories {thus far?} of Mike Rugel's Uncensored History of the Blues http://www.purplebeech.com/blues/
Show 30 - Prison Blues "After taking a look at justice and the law, I thought I'd continue with a focus on prisons and songs that describe life in the penitentiary. Furry Lewis sang about the inevitability of ending up in the penitentiary once he ended up in the court of Judge Harsh. Furry Lewis singing about heading to prison despite never having harmed a man. His woman offers money to the judge, but its not enough to keep the penitentiary from becoming his home"...
Songs: Judge Harsh Blues - Furry Lewis Prison Blues - Alex Tangle Eye Blues - Tangle Eye Prison Cell Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson Prison Wall Blues - Gus Cannon Ball and Chain Blues - Peg Leg Howell Parchman Farm Blues - Bukka White
Show 25 - Yellow, Brown, or Black "Prejudice against people with darker skin is widely documented in many cultures and stereotypes about yellow, brown, and black are still common. When the songs in this show were recorded, skin-lightening cream products ads were always seen alongside the blues record advertisements in black newspapers like the Chicago Defender. The assumption was that light skinned was automatically more attractive. Blues singers often subverted this assumption but at times reinforced it..." Songs: Brown Skin Gal - Butterbeans and Susie Good Woman Blues - Leroy Carr It's Heated - Frankie 'Half-Pint' Jaxon Yellow Girl Blues - Texas Alexander Some Scream High Yellow - Bo Weavil Jackson Brownie Blues - Harry Gay and Stephen Tarter Young Woman's Blues - Bessie Smith
Show 29 - Dealing with the Law
"One of the most difficult thing about living in a discriminatory society is having the law work against you rather than to protect you. This situation for African-Americans in the Jim Crow era is well documented. Even lawyers of the time referred to an unwritten "negro law" that treated black men without regard to their rights. This was implemented at every level of justice from the police to the courthouse to the prisons and jails. Reminiscent of slavery times, black men and woman would need the protection of white man to avoid ending in trouble with local police. This protection would often be unavailable for someone living a blues lifestyle. A huge number of blues songs were recorded about dealing with the law"...
Songs: The Law is Gonna Step on You - Bo Carter High Sheriff Blues - Charley Patton Police Sergeant Blues - Robert Wilkins Shelby County Workhouse Blues - Hambone Willie Newbern Lawyer Clark Blues - Sleepy John Estes What a Low Down Place the Jailhouse Is - Blind Blake Prison Bound Blues - Leroy Carr