I’ve had Blind Lemon Jefferson’s Easy Rider Blues running through my head lately in a kind of continuous loop - what a weird subtext for work, or eating dinner… or trying to sleep! This is my way of exorcising this particular earworm. It is a great song with repetitive instrumental hook that sits on the guitar in the most comfortable way. I tried to stay true to the spirit of Lemon’s original recording but still put something of my own in there. Aww… who am I fooling? It’s just a one-off done on a minidisc recorder in the middle of the night… anyway, it’s fun to try and keep the accompaniment varied underneath the vocal melody.
Incidentally, if you’re an eMusic subscriber, take note that Arhoolie has started making their catalogue available. Mance Lipscomb, Big Joe Williams, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Wade Mainer, Snuffy Jenkins… Life is good!
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The boll weevil - pest, force of nature, wry commentator… it certainly is a storied character in blues song, that’s for sure. It’s probably not a very original thought, but if I was still in school (or still had the patience to be in school), it ‘d probably be interesting to write a thesis on the depiction of the boll weevil in American folk song.
Or… I’d just end up listening to the music… I’ve been kind of guitar-centric lately, and I suppose that’s not quite fair, but too bad. The first song I’d like to draw attention to is by Sam Butler, aka Bo Weavil Jackson. It’s certainly odd to listen to someone who seems to have such perfect control, yet is also so completely spontaneous sounding. He sings with a very pronounced ‘head’ voice, similar in some ways to Clarence Ashley’s singing. He was probably really loud in person when he was singing. Really loud…. This song, like many blues, isn’t really about anything, but wanders here and there, including verses about browns, the Devil, spiders, and the boll weevil. It’s nothing if not entertaining, and has some dynamite picking and singing.
sam-butler-devil-and-my-brown-blues.mp3
Blind Willie McTell’s Boll Weevil is sonically the opposite of Sam Butler’s - placid sounding, almost poignant, but his depiction of the B.W. is very much the same: a sexually charged prankster (”Where’d you get your great long bill?” - indeed!). I’ve always loved this song for the subtlety he brings to some not-particularly-subtle lyrics, and the gentleness of his delivery.