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16 Dec 98 - 02:20 AM (#49690) Subject: Ralph Ellison's INVISIBLE MAN From: warhaftig@alumni.stanford.org I am gathering as much of the music referenced in this novel as I can. Two songs are eluding me at the moment. I assume that they are from actual songs rather than invented by Ellison. The first lyric is:
"Godamighty made a monkey The second lyric is:
"Did you ever see Miss Margaret boil water? Ellison also uses "Boogie Woogie Blues," which I believe was by Count Basie and Jimmy Rushing. I'd appreciate any recommendations of good recordings (including the words, not just instrumental) I might find. Thank you. It's best to reach me via e-mail.
Alan Warhaftig |
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17 Dec 98 - 01:05 AM (#49861) Subject: RE: Ralph Ellison's INVISIBLE MAN From: Joe Offer Interesting question, Alan. I checked my resources and couldn't find the songs, but at least my response will move your question to the top of the list. -Joe Offer- |
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25 Sep 04 - 09:48 AM (#1280698) Subject: RE: Ralph Ellison's INVISIBLE MAN From: GUEST,Bob Coltman Quite a lapse of time since you posted, but I just found yours...hope you're still listening. Mysteriously, Josh White did a brief snatch of song using the Godalmighty made a monkey lyrics, on either his first or second Decca LP circa 1950. But being Josh and as eclectic as he was, it's a tossup whether Ellison got the song from him or he read it in Ellison and put a tune to it. Minky little tune, too. Deserves to be a complete song. Hmmm. Bob |
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25 Sep 04 - 10:15 AM (#1280707) Subject: RE: Ralph Ellison's INVISIBLE MAN From: GUEST,Art Thieme just an aside comment: Bob, sure do wish I'd met you down the folkie road somewhere. I do hope you are well!! --- "Web Of Birdsong" as done by Dodi Kallick, and, now, by her daughter, Kathy (a fine bluegrass singer) has always been a favorite of mine. Thanks for that one, and so many others: including the John Kennedy song with Joe Bussard that I posted here in a Songs Of J.F.K. thread. Art Thieme |
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25 Sep 04 - 05:09 PM (#1280974) Subject: RE: Ralph Ellison's INVISIBLE MAN From: GUEST,Hootenanny From memory: Did you ever see Nelly make Water? She pisses a beautiful stream It runs for a mile and a quarter And you can't se her Asshole for steam I'm sure this must be one of your threads somewhere Doesn't Ellison have a character Peatie Wheatstraw, the High Sheriff from hell in the book, and a reference to the song Pick Poor Robin Clean. I've sung this on the odd occasion for years and have it on record by a couple of people but have never been exactly sure what it refers too.I assume it to be about gambling and taking some sucker to the cleaners. Anybody out there can clarify ??? |
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26 Sep 04 - 10:44 AM (#1281422) Subject: RE: Ralph Ellison's INVISIBLE MAN From: Azizi I can't locate my copy of Ellison's "Invisible Man" to check on his mention of Peetie Wheatstraw... But, here some information from Paul Oliver's "The Story of the Blues": "William Bunch, who called himself 'Peetie Wheatstraw, the Devil's Son-in-Law and the High Sherrif of Hell..was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1905 but after a period playing in the Arkansas saw-mill towns moved up to St. Louis. He played both piano and guitar with equal aptitude, although his guitar was seldom recorded. Peetie had a blurred, indistinct voice and a lazie arrogant delivery: Don't tell all your women what Peetie Wheatstraw can do (2) That will cause them to be suspicious and you know they will try him too I am Peetie Wheatstraw the High Sherrif from Hell {2) The way I strut my stuff - well you never can tell." ---- From these sample lyrics it's easy to see how hip-hop carries on the sexual bragging tradition of country Blues. Only now, men don't talk about 'struttin their stuff'. This phrase is still used, but now only for females... Personally, I like the idea of men struttin their stuff. Exercise is good for the heart and the soul... |
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27 Sep 04 - 04:25 AM (#1282052) Subject: RE: Ralph Ellison's INVISIBLE MAN From: GUEST,Hootenanny Thanks Azizi I am familiar with Peetie Wheatraw's life and recordings sorry if I didn't make it clear but my real question was the song "Pick Poor Robin Clean" and the meaning of the phrase. I mentioned the Peter (Peetie) Wheatstraw character from Ellison's book as I believe that he is the character that sings thie song. Anybody have any suggestions ? |
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28 Sep 04 - 01:01 AM (#1282829) Subject: RE: Ralph Ellison's INVISIBLE MAN From: PoppaGator The "pisses/hisses a wonderful/powerful stream/steam" verse is also mentioned in another old thread also resurrected on this date (Sept 27, 04), one entitled "If I Had the Wings of an Angel -- Parodies" |
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15 Oct 04 - 03:23 PM (#1298084) Subject: RE: Ralph Ellison's INVISIBLE MAN From: GUEST I happened across my old post and was surprised and pleased to see responses. A couple of clarifications. When the Invisible Man first arrives in New York, he runs across a man pushing a cart full of blueprints. He communicates in large part through song lyrics. He is not Peetie Wheatstraw, but he does sing the line "I am Peetie Wheatstraw, the devil's son-in-law." About "Pick Poor Robin Clean," this is the song the Invisible Man things of when he leaves Mr. Emerson's office after learning the contents of Dr. Bledsoe's letter of introduction. He sees himself as a bird being plucked of his feathers. I will look into the references that people were kind enough to provide. |
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15 Oct 04 - 03:42 PM (#1298090) Subject: RE: Ralph Ellison's INVISIBLE MAN From: PoppaGator One thing I've always wondered about the psuedonym Peetie Wheatstraw: what does he mean by "wheatstraw"? I realize that the basic/original meaning of the word is simply an unprocessed stalk or stem of the wheat plant, but the term is also used to describe unbleached yellow/tan cigarette rolling papers, which were popular (in the '60's, at least) for use with marijuana. If these wheatstraw papers were also marketed a couple of decades earlier, and commonly used for the same purpose, Peetie's surname may well have identified him as a reefer smoker -- not at all improbable, given his self-described reputation as a badass as well as a musician. |
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01 Oct 09 - 02:04 PM (#2736002) Subject: RE: Ralph Ellison's INVISIBLE MAN From: GUEST Hey i realize this is old news but i'm doing a paper on blues and the invisible man and you guys helped me so... http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/american-ballads-and%20folk-songs/american-ballads-&-folk-songs%20-%200119.htm That has the complete lyrics of that first lyric in the original poster's message. |
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10 Jan 10 - 01:49 PM (#2808421) Subject: RE: Ralph Ellison's INVISIBLE MAN From: GUEST,Guest This is Alan, the original poster, astonished that my question was finally answered, just over 11 years later! Thank you! If you'd like to talk further about music in Invisible Man, write to me at the address in the original post. |
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06 Oct 13 - 07:38 PM (#3564813) Subject: RE: music in Ralph Ellison's 'Invisible Man' From: GUEST,Even more years... Did you ever make a list of all the music referenced? I would love it if you would share it with me!!! |
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07 Oct 13 - 01:20 AM (#3564833) Subject: RE: music in Ralph Ellison's 'Invisible Man' From: Stilly River Sage I wish I'd seen this before. Invisible Man is an astonishing novel, and this sounds like a great topic. It's the kind of thing that can be an interesting scholarly paper (and be interesting to look for in MLA and other not-quite overlapping indexes.) SRS |