The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #159716   Message #3788038
Posted By: GUEST,Joseph Scott
01-May-16 - 02:00 AM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Old Lonesome Blues (Bowman Sisters)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Lonesome Blues (Bowman Sisters)
Huge similarity, including order of stanzas, between the Bowman Sisters recording and this April 1923 recording by the banjoist Mitchell brothers from Tennessee (which also seems to have influenced "Banjo Blues" performed without banjo by Peg Leg Howell):

http://picosong.com/KQtJ

A 1949 article claimed, "From 1923 until 1929, John and his brother Bill Mitchell were recognized as the foremost banjo artists in America." An exaggeration I would think, but apparently they were more influential in the world of blues performances than they usually get credit for.

John Tilman Mitchell 1899-1981
William McGavock Mitchell 1901-1965