SONG SYLLABUS / WEEKS 9 & 10

Photo: Marion Post Walcott (FSA), just outside Clarksdale, Mississippi, late 1930s. Library of Congress.

Week 9: Thursday, March 15
Blues I: DELTA ROAD, CITY LIGHTS

Week 10: Thursday, March 22
Blues II: Chicago

"SWEET HOME CHICAGO"
Robert Johnson
Compare Kokomo Arnold, “Old Original Kokomo Blues,” in AAS

"CORINNA, CORINNA" (Alan Lomax 577/588)
S&P Muddy Waters
MH Ollie Gilbert #0961

“CARELESS LOVE” (Alan Lomax 574/585, J&A Lomax 39/64)
Lonnie Johnson
We chose the Lonnie Johnson version, but compare Skip James’ version

MH Max Hunter #0686 ***
MH Bill Greer #1424
MH Kris Ann Parker #1521

This is a sea of music—let’s concentrate on the Mississippi Delta Blues first, then work our way up the Mississippi (or more accurately, the Illinois Central, departing from New Orleans, with a stop in Memphis. The fare—in 1940, from Memphis—$11.10). Here we go!

DELTA BLUES (MISSISSIPPI)
Charley Patton (the source)
Son House
Robert Johnson
Skip James
Muddy Waters (his early recordings!)
Mississippi Fred McDowell (Northern Mississippi blues style)

CHICAGO:
Muddy Waters
Johnny Shines
Howlin’ Wolf
Little Walter
Elmore James
plus
Big Joe Turner (Kansas City)
Bobby Blue Bland (Memphis)




And of course, all the rest (just scratching the surface):

KING BISQUIT TIME (Helena, Arkansas Radio)
Sonny Boy Williamson II (Rice Miller)
Robert Lockwood Jr.

TEXAS:
Blind Lemon Jefferson
Mance Lipscomb
Lightin’ Hopkins
T-Bone Walker

ALSO:
Leroy Carr (How Long, How Long Blues—one of the first songs everyone learned))
Blind Blake
Blind Willie McTell
Lonnie Johnson (we have him on “Careless Love”)
Kokomo Arnold
Bukka White
Big Joe Williams
Roosevelt Sykes

BLUES WOMEN:
Bessie Smith
Ma Rainey
Ida Cox
Memphis Minnie
Louise Johnson
Victoria Spivey
Big Mamma Thornton
Sister Rosetta Tharpe (gospel singer--in a category of her own!)

SONGSTER TRADITION:
Henry Thomas (takes us back into the 19th century)
Mississippi John Hurt
Rev. Gary Davis
Furry Lewis (Memphis, sonster tradition)
and of course,
Elizabeth Cotton

JUG BANDS:
Mississippi Sheiks
Memphis Jug Band

Examples from most of these artists are available on the African American Song Archive. This list just scratches the surface, of course. The archive does NOT feature better-known (and more commercially popular) artists such as Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson or Howlin’ Wolf. You’ll have to use iTunes or other resources to find them. (A friend just recommended the following site--I haven'tdone more than take a peek, but it looks good: www.prewarblues.org)

This is a sea of music—let’s concentrate on the Mississippi Delta Blues first, then work our way up the Mississippi (or more accurately, the Illinois Central, departing from New Orleans, with a stop in Memphis. The fare—in 1940, from Memphis—$11.10.


Dorothea Lange photo, FSA, Mississippi, 1930s. Library of Congress.

SOME KEY YouTube SELECTIONS:
Son House: Dead Letter Blues
Mississippi Fred McDowell
Furry Lewis: When I Lay My Burden Down
Skip James: I'm So Glad, and Crow Jane
Roosevelt Sykes: Sweet Home Chicago
AND
Sister Rosetta Tharpe: I Hear Music in the Air
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeaBNAXfHfQ