He’s got the touch, the timing, and most important - the laugh. Jonestown is one of my absolute favorite songs and maybe I’ll be able to wear it the same way Gus does some day - like an old jacket that gives in just the right spots. I haven’t played any banjo in months, and just picked this tonight to take a break from other stuff I’ve been working on with Kim.

jonestown-blues.mp3

The lyrics to Gus’s original recording, as Banjo Joe:

Jonestown - Banjo Joe (Gus Cannon)

Said I left Lula, going to Jonestown
Man, I left Lula, going to Jonestown
Those Jonestown browns, boy, make you turn your damper down

I cried Jonestown, boy, too small a burg for me
I cried Jonestown, man, too small a burg for me
Said I left Jonestown, boy, going back to Tennessee

Said, I got to Memphis, I laid my banjo down
Well I got to Memphis, I laid my banjo down
I got full of my good whiskey, my good gal made me clown

Said, I left Memphis, going back to Jonestown
Well man, I left Memphis, going back to Jonestown
Said them good old browns, boy, sure has made me [clown]

spoken: Play it a long time, boy
spoken: Hush now, banjo

This is coming kinda late, but over Thanksgiving, Kim and I got a chance to meet W.B. Reid and Bonnie Zahnow. They were in the midst of a coast to coast tour, having just finished up in New York City at Banjo Jim’s, visiting with family, and then on their way to points south and west. They are both totally sweet people and excellent musicians. They do have a new CD out - “Poca River Blues,” which includes the tune of the same name (by Jarvis & Justice) as well as other songs and tunes that represent a wide cross-section of old-time styles. Everything is impeccably played, as you might expect, and they have great taste in tunes.

Of course, we didn’t take any pictures (duh!), but we did play a bunch of tunes together… it’s a totally special thing to be able to call out “We Both Are Feeling Good Right Now” and not have to explain anything about it… not the key, not the changes, not the fact that it has a little intro verse that never repeats… just play! Woohoo!

Jazz? Maybe not precisely, but it’s good enough for me. To the extent that you may be a regular visitor to this site, you may have noticed that I’m a nut for the Mississippi Sheiks. They were a sophisticated group of musicians and certainly leaned, in a general sense, toward the pop sounds of the day. Their song “The Jazz Fiddler” was recently featured on the Old Hat Compilation “Folks, He Sure Do Pull Some Bow.” Interestingly, I’ve been asked in a couple of comments and emails about this song, so I thought I’d make a post about it.

“The Jazz Fiddler” was recorded on the 17th of February, 1930 in Shreveport, Louisiana and was listed on the record as being played by Walter Jacobs and Lonnie Carter. To my ear Walter Vincson (Jacobs) is clearly singing to his own guitar accompaniment and Lonnie Chatmon’s (Carter) fiddling. The song was recorded during the same session that produced “Sitting On Top Of The World” and “Stop And Listen.” One interesting thing to note about this session is that the recordings are pitched flat for the entire session, anywhere from one to three half-steps low. Some of this may have been mechanical in nature, but it appears to me that they must also have been tuned somewhat low, maybe to accommodate Walter’s voice, or simply because everything sounded better to them when tuned lower. There is absolutely no reason to suppose that musicians who played vernacular music on stringed instruments must have been tuned to some absolute standard. Anyone who says so clearly has an ulterior motive and cannot possiby be trusted!

At any rate, the song is played out of B-flat, both on the guitar and the fiddle. While this may sound outlandish to current day country blues fans who were weaned on Mississippi John Hurt (not that there’s anything wrong with that), as a group the Sheiks leaned toward flat keys and B-flat was clearly one of their favorite keys. The chords for the song are:

(more…)

I was up strangely early this morning, got breakfast for the kids, spent some time wandering around on youtube and found a couple clips by North Carolina musician Lightnin’ Wells. A lot of the country blues on youtube treads some familiar ground so it was great to find a clip of him covering a Louie Lasky tune… anybody that plays Louie Lasky is ok in my book.

Lightnin’ Wells - How Do You Want Your Rollin’ Done?