Let’s first start off with life update aka reason blog hasn’t been updated. I’m getting married on Friday (and Saturday) and the wedding planning and whatnot has been taking up a lot of my after work time. I also bought a house and moved to Durham, which took up the rest of my time. I’ll be away on honeymoon to San Diego for the week following. I’m going to give a seal a big hug.

The Puzzling case of the Fiery Furances’ new track I’m Going Away: It is being noted in all the P.R. that the title track lyrics are being credited to Trad. The guitar riff is sounds like its from John Lee Hooker , but those lyrics? At first I assumed it would be a take on Frank Stokes’ side, but there’s very few similarities between those two songs and even less between the track and Elizabeth Cotten or Ralph Willis or any blues song I know – so I’m asking, what is it adapted from?

Fiery Furances – I’m Going Away (2009)

John Lee Hooker – I’m Going Away (1951)

Elizabeth Cotten – I’m Going Away (1965)

Ralph Willis – I’m Going Away (1951)

Frank Stokes – I’m Going Away (1927)

I signed on a house last week, hopefully that means I’ll be able to unpack all my blues cds finally after their 6 or so months of captivity in old wine boxes. Durham will be my new home, I can already feel the Bull City pride sweeping through my consciousness.

If you were having problems downloading the last couple files, I believe I’ve fixed the extra “/” being inserted when uploading files.

Today’s track is from Elizabeth Johnson who spins Easy (See See, C.C) Rider into a first person narrative about leaving that man…then comes back for revenge with a “big long shiny barrel.” Despite the familiar premise the lyrics are strong, and Johnson breaks her monotone singing style for a few moments where she lets some guinie anger slip in when singing “I ain’t no dog/please don’t dog me around/it’s your time now…” The title seems ironic, as there’s no Sobbin’ in this side.

Elizabeth Johnson – Sobbin’ Woman Blues (1928)

I’m late to the game about this but, over at the Encyclopedia Britannica blog the did a nice post compiling difference versions of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” for the song’s 70th anniversary. It’s a collection of youtube links rather than downloads which is sad, but I’m a sucker for these sorts of posts. Check it out here.

Nolan Welsh recorded less than a dozen sides for Paramount in the late 20s, all of them superb both in voice and talent on the ivories. Like all the stories on this blog, he didn’t get any record sales and is now these sides languish in relative obscurity. Out of the two songs I’m posting today, I’m obsessed with Larceny Woman Blues, the vocals on this track really remind more of more Delta blues vocal styles than most piano blues singers which I find a lot of fun. Dying Pickpocket Blues isn’t a St. James variant as I had hoped, but it’s still fantastic.

Nolan (Barrelhouse) Welsh – Dying Pickpocket Blues (1929)

Nolan (Barrelhouse) Welsh – Larceny Woman Blues (1929)

I hope that everyone had a lot of fun with the St. James’ posts. I keep going back to the second set of songs personally. I think almost all of those songs are top notch. We are back to our normal, yet sporadic posts of blues joy around these parts.

We are starting off with a wonderful batch of instrumentals by groups of players in Georgia in 1929. The first track is an dual harp instrumental version of “Honey, Where You Been So Long” The harmonica players are Eddie Mapp and James Moore and are back by Guy Lumpkin on guitar. Only Mapp is somewhat known for playing on a few tracks with Curley Weaver. The second track is Mapp back by Slim Barton on Guitar – and Mapp shows what a talented harmonica player he really was – as he leads this take on 4th Avenue Blues.

Eddie Mapp/James Moore – Where You Been So Long? (1929)
Eddie Mapp/Slim Barton – Fourth Avenue Blues (1929)

I updated the release dates for the first blues mix below – I knew someone would call me out for not including it – yet here we are. Does anyone know if Yazoo Records is still releasing albums? Their website doesn’t seem like it has been updated since the last batch of Patton reissues, but I keep seeing new (at least to me) discs pop up every so often.

We have a trio of songs from Luella Miller today. Miller was was a well traveled blues singer – her topical songs seem to focus on St.Louis and Mississippi though she recorded in both New York and Chicago. The first track was her first release and feature guitar great Lonnie Johnson on violin! He would appear on several of her early recordings on guitar, but it’s interesting to hear him on violin – which I’ve only heard a handful of songs feature him on that instrument. The last two tracks are my favorite, and unfortunately her last recorded works – her voice has matured a lot in couple years between recordings and she’s back by her best band, especially on the on wonderful side Wee Wee Daddy Blues.

Luella Miller – Dago Hill Blues (1926)
Luella Miller – Chicago Blues (1928)
Luella Miller – Wee Wee Daddy Blues (1928)

There’s not a whole lot out there about “Hambone” Willie Newbern – the story about him giving guitar tips to Sleepy John Estes and his temper – which may of led to his death in prison in 1947. Listening to his sides over the weekend, and pretty much all day today – I haven’t heard a more interesting and exciting blues musician for the first time in a very long time. Newbern’s got that hard, driving guitar that’s as steady as the railroad – and a great booming voice that must have been amazing to hear in person, and both of which make for a great blues musician and one that needs to be heard by everyone.

Newbern was born in Tennessee, and traveled as musician all across the South playing in medicine shows which shows in his vocal style and subject matter. I prefer his more personal material – his narrative about being arrested and thrown in jail is my personal favorite. These tracks were recorded in 1929 in Atlanta over two sessions for Okeh.

Hambone Willie Newbern – Shelby County Workhouse (1929)
Hambone Willie Newbern – Hambone Willie\’s Dreamy Eyed Woman\’s Blues (1929)

I don’t really make apologies for posting mostly piano based music, but the sheer number of emails asking more guitar based blues tracks this week has given me pause.

Ed Andrew recorded a couple of sides in the early 20s for Okeh – the first of which is usually referred to as “the first country blues” record made. While I haven’t really done the research to state that claim without warning, It does appear that this is one of the earliest, but more importantly it’s one of the most solid examples of the genre that would sweet out of Georgia and and cover most of the non-delta South. Andrews is tired but plaintive on this side as he gives a overview of his life long blues. Andrews has a weird wobble on the end of his stanzas – I’m not sure if it’s from the recording of possible medicine show past – but it lends an element of weariness that the track benefits from I think.

Ed Andrews – Time Ain’t Gonna Make Me Stay (1924)

I don’t really know anything about today’s singer – Genevieve Davis – outside of this track she recorded with Louis Dumaine’s Jazzola Eight is flat out fantastic. The song is a familiar theme of northern disillusionment that followed both great migrations northward best represented in the blues world in Lonnie Johnson’s Southland Is Alright By Me. Davis doesn’t go into the theme as deeply as Johnson – but her lyrics are particularly effective lines like “did you ever dream lucky/wake up gold [referring to her honey] in hand/and you didn’t have a dollar to pay your house rent man.” Davis’ work on the song is done pretty quickly at around the minute and the half mark – leaving the rest of the song up to the Jazzola Eight who really knock it out of park – incredible work and some of the best examples of pre-war New Orleans jazz that I’ve heard. It is also the first by the Eight that I’ve heard. If anyone has their solo or backing work – I’d love to hear it.

Genevieve Davis – Haven’t Got A Dollar To Pay Your House Rent Man (1927)

My recent request for help with my spam problem was a success, so I’m asking for some more tech help – Is anyone using WP- Mint – Popular Posts? I would like to track my downloads per file, something dreamhost doesn’t offer, and all the Mint plugins for download track use a php script that also prevents the songs from being saved – only streamed. If I could this mint popular post plugin working, at least I would know which posts people are reading the most, and hopefully also download the song the most, not ideal but at least I’d get some idea of what ya’ll are downloading. I have the plugin pointed at my Mint database – but I don’t know what to do from there. My Wordpress theme isn’t widget aware is that the problem?

I recently discovered this Sara Martin track – Shipwrecked Blues and it’s unlike any Sara Martin song I’ve heard before. She sings in vaudeville pitch and the song has lots of strange pauses and breaks – and is only minimally backed up by a solo piano. The pace of the song is also really strange – it’s very rocky – side to side much like a ship making it hard to follow, not to mention Martin who is normally very clear mumbles and slurs her way through some of the stanzas and she also reaches for the higher notes (and does some awful rolling of them), something not typical of her style at all. It makes me wonder if this is her at all. Thoughts?

Sara Martin – Shipwrecked Blues (1926)

If anyone can help me out with my spam issue I’d love to know how to prevent it. I’m currently using Peter’s Custom Anti-Spam plugin for Wordpress, but it doesn’t seem to work that well. Also it doesn’t seem to work with Safari.

I often search my archives to see what I’ve posted before – and upon searching Ida Cox, one of my favorite blues singers of all time – I noticed I’ve only posted her one other time. Of course in that post I expressed my outrange of that same fact. I’ve been listening to Ida sing Coffin Blues, quite possibly the saddest blues song I’ve heard this side of Lonnie Johnson’s Death Valley is Only Half Way To My Home. Backed by Jesse Crump on his beautiful and heartbreaking reed organ Ida sings about burying her man – without metaphor or happiness – this is the sadness of the blues at its most pure.

Ida Cox – Coffin Blues (1925)