Louie Roy, you will find the answer to your questions on Tim Gracyk's homepage. Scroll down to the 'Old Records' section and you will find 2 essays that cover what you want to know: 'Phonograph Cylinders - A Beginner's Guide' and 'Edison Diamond Discs - Those Thick Records'. Gracyk's site is full of great info:Masato, thanks for the information. I too saw that UK site with 'walking cane' title to a text that doesn't mention it - odd. I had a trawl around the net for Bland's text on which Stoneman's version was based (Ivan M. Tribe - 'The Stonemans' Uni of Illinois Press) but was unable to find it. There are several of Bland's lyrics available on the net, but not that one.
--Stewie.