I just can’t seem to get this last volume of the Mississippi Sheiks out of my system. The writer of the liner notes, Chris Smith, and G,D&R think that Walter Vincson is probably not present at the 1935 session, giving most of the vocal and guitar credits to Bo Carter. On this song, Lonnie Chatmon is identified as the singer. It sounds to me like Walter Vinson is in fact at this session - the singer on “Dead Wagon Blues” is, to my ears, indistinguishable from Vinson. The song is still an oddity for the Sheiks, primarily because it has them working in some unfamiliar (at least in comparison with their recorded output) harmonic territory: both the guitar and fiddle accompaniment are played in the key of E.

As a group, the Mississippi Sheiks tend strongly toward the keys of B flat, G, E flat, C, D and F. As far as I can tell, this is their only song played in the key of E - this is strange in itself, only because E is so strongly favored by most blues guitarists, regardless of their stylistic bent or region. The key of E isn’t nearly so common on the fiddle, and the main theme that Lonnie Chatmon uses through the recording is played on the G, D and A strings, essentially avoiding the E (1st) string. The melody was used previously by the Sheiks as “Your Good Man Caught The Train And Gone” where it was set to a strummed accompaniment and in the key of G. The combination of the fingerpicked accompaniment and the thoughtful fiddle breaks contribute to the somber mood of the song.

mississippi-sheiks-dead-wagon-blues.mp3

Dead Wagon Blues - Mississippi Sheiks

spoken: [Yikes], what is that?

spoken: That’s the ambulance

I hear the dead wagon rolling
It’s something going on wrong, sweet baby
I hear the dead wagon rolling
It’s something going on wrong
It must be carrying my baby
Eeee, from my happy home

Once that wagon rolls
It’s something going on wrong, sweet baby
When the wagon rolls
It’s something going on wrong
That will be my sweet mama
Eeee, left my happy home

spoken: Oh, play it man

The wagon is busy
As busy as it can be, good Lordy
The wagon is busy
As busy as it can be
Now the reason I know it
Eeee, took my woman from me

When they took my baby
I couldn’t do nothing but cry, good Lordy
They took my baby
I couldn’t do nothing but cry
That will be alright
Eeee, I’ll see you by and by

It’s been a grueling week - just totally unrelenting in ways I don’t want to elaborate on, but the bright spot was finally getting my hands on a copy of Volume 4 of the Mississippi Sheiks on Document. It was silly to put it off for so long, especially since the most amazing nugget was sitting on there waiting to be found - a version of “Pallet On Your Floor” called “If You Don’t Want Me Please Don’t Dog Me ‘Round.” Lonnie fiddles while Sam backs him up on guitar and sings. In general, I think Lonnie’s fiddling on these sides with Sam lacks some of the fire he displayed in earlier recordings, but this track hits all the right notes. His first break is almost minimalistic in its execution and the second is much busier - lots of bowing. One of the things I love about Lonnie’s fiddling is that while the music he plays can be pretty slick, his execution always retained some roughness - he never shies aways from digging in with the bow to make a rhythmic point.

Man… did those guys love the key of B-flat or what!

chatman-brothers-if-you-dont-want-me-please-dont-dog-me-round.mp3

If You Don’t Want Me Please Don’t Dog Me ‘Round - Chatman Brothers

If you don’t want me, please don’t dog me ’round
If you don’t want me, please don’t dog me ’round
Please, don’t dog me ’round
I’d rather leave your town
If you don’t want me, please don’t dog me ’round

I’d rather be in the river, floating like a log
Rather be in the river, floating like a log
Be in the river
Just floating like a log
Than to be ’round here, you treat me like a dog

He’s a country man but he just done moved to town
He’s a country man but he just done moved to town
He’s a country man
And he just done moved to town
Done sold his nuts, now he is walking ’round

And, let down your window and turn your lamp down low
Let down your window and turn your lamp down low
Let down your window
And turn your lamp down low
Gonna make you love me, baby just before I go

I ain’t no milkman and no milkman’s son
I ain’t no milkman and no milkman’s son
I ain’t no milkman
And I ain’t no milkman’s son
But I’ll churn your butter ’til your milkman come

Now, ’cause you’re in town, you need not think you’re wise
Just ’cause you’re in town, you need not think you’re wise
’cause you’re in town
you need not think you’re wise
’cause I got something, job right ‘tween your eyes

This song will age well over time for us. Personally, I am at the beginning of this stage. The song has the ability to contain weary strength with beautiful light heartedness in its character. That’s what I like about it. As far as whether it is blues or old-time, frankly I don’t give a damn. The song is something to aspire to, though.

It’s a version of “Hesitation Blues” and it was recorded by Sam Collins, Charlie Poole and others. Burnett and Rutherford called it “Curly Headed Woman.”

curly-headed-woman.mp3

This is something I said to Kim today, after we ran through a tune that we’d been working on over the last week or so. Something about it just wasn’t coming together for us - I can’t put my finger on exactly how we got there, but we managed to get to the point where it seemed like it was the only tune we knew, and we couldn’t even play that right! On Friday, we got a chance to see our friends Kellie Allen, Randy Johnson and Pete Peterson, aka Waking Up Tillie at Mom & Pop’s Coffeehouse in Levittown, PA. The concert was great, and we got a chance to play a little music afterwards, which was also great, especially since we hadn’t seen Randy since June of 2005. Kim and I are lucky to have such talented friends. What a feeling to play music with folks who bring as much to the table as they do.

After seeing them on Friday, hearing them do their thing and then playing a bit together afterwards, Kim and I came back to the song that was dogging us and it just fell out of us. The only thing I could figure is that sometimes, your biggest obstacle in playing something is yourself. One of the nice things about playing with other people is that it’s easier to take yourself out of the song - to get yourself to let the song happen around you, and you just become part of that, rather than spending a whole lot of energy trying to get the song to happen.

Funny how that can be so simple.