"Fishin' Blues"

The song I chose for my project this week is “Fishin’ Blues” because the playful line, “I bet your life your lovin’ wife will catch more fish than you” caught my attention. At first I thought this gave more power to women in the song to even suggest that his wife would out fish him. However, I researched this song more and the anthology from Harry Smith suggests that fishing is more of a sexual metaphor… so maybe the fish that “bite if you got good bait” means a measure of the ability to attract people with their “bait” (whatever form that should take). Therefore the singer, who is a male, might be fishing around for other lovers but his wife is already ahead of him. Either way, my project shows three fish in the gestural form with colors of salmon, which are all of the options for the woman (in a reflection at the top of the page) to potentially catch - given that she has good bait.

Both Henry Thomas and Taj Mahal’s versions of “Fishin’ Blues” have great strengths in their sound. I do appreciate the reed pipes in Henry Thomas’ version alot - they bring so much character to the song. While I enjoy Taj Mahal’s version, one thought I had was, which of these singers do I REALLY believe had gone fishing close to the time they recorded… my best bet is on Henry Thomas… Henry Thomas was a songster who played ragtime music, which originated in St. Louis African American communities and gets its name from the ragged sound of the music. He was born in 1874 and most of his recordings were during the 1920s.

The Mississippi Sheiks’ original version of “Sitting On Top of the World” speaks so much about the setting of the song because of the time it was recorded, about 1930. To compare this with a later version I find several differences in how I listen to and visualize the place for the song. The 1930s Mississippi Sheiks version was recorded during America’s Great Depression, so it is interesting that the song sings of sitting on top of the world during a time where Americans did not feel that way at all. But in this place of the great Depression, the song brings some words of uplift to say what is gone or lost does not mean you cannot move on. In the video of Sam Chatmon playing, I know that the song is from him (and the other members of the Mississippi Sheiks) because he sings it like he belongs to the place where it was intended for because he lived during through that time.

Great Depression, Mississippi 1930s

Listening to Bob Dylan’s remastered version, which was released in 2013, it is a completely different song. Now I hear it as a song with more emphasis on the relationship of the singer with the girl who is gone and how he doesn’t worry, so it makes it more specific and gives less emphasis to a place. Dylan also sings the final stanza as “why should I beg you, you said goodbye” while the Mississippi Sheiks sing, “why should you beg me, and say goodbye...” very different tones. Dylan makes it more about the self, Mississippi Sheiks give that attention to the other person.

“Cocaine Habit Blues” really gives that jug band sound with the base/drum sounding instrument in the background that I found is actually a jug. Reverend Gary Davis is successful in giving the same jug band feeling with his guitar playing. The songs speak for themselves in the meaning - addiction and pleasure from the drugs - but in a way it masks those darker sides even though admitting the detriment… But “Stealin’ Stealin’” also admits to some downfall of personal character but actually seems to WANT to change, while Cocaine Habit Blues” is just pointing out a habit and probably won’t change it.

The jug is the center of this picture of Mississippi Jug Band

For “Candy Man,” I paid particularly close attention to the distinct guitar styles of each artist: Rev. Gary Davis and Mississippi John Hurt (1928 version). MHJ uses more melodies to guide his song. Rev. Reverend Gary Davis was blind and played ragtime blues and was part of the Piedmont Blues scene - he also was born in the Piedmont region of South Carolina. Rev. Gary Davis also uses a melody but it just sounds so different from MHJ, I can’t quite put my finger on it. This shows their unique ways of playing the song. I was looking at this song on mudcat and then found the debate on what is a “salty dog.” Of course some took to the sexual meaning, some that it is a sailor, but the one I believe might be true is that it is a person who is tough and good at their work.

Jesse Fuller’s one-man band “San Francisco Bay Blues” is impressive! I found a video of him playing and singing it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBME_J0pf3o He sings about losing his girl and toys with the idea of catching a “freight train” because he’s “feeling blue...” maybe that is why Elizabeth Cotten sings “Freight Train.”

The Elizabeth Cotten reading was interesting since it was her who was speaking. Much of her story reminds me of Mississippi John Hurt’s as they both have very humble beginnings, worked hard through life, and became more popular later in their lifetimes after some period of taking a break from playing. But the most important similarity that I found in the two is that they have acquired such unique guitar styles by playing it a way that suites them, or as Elizabeth Cotten says, “you get it to sound like you want it to sound.” This is a vital element in folk music because trying to play songs perfectly, or sing a line the same way every time does not fit the culture right. In Gerrard’s introduction she says, ”Cotten rarely played “her tunes the same way twice” (Gerrard, 42), which I found to be a trend in most folk music that gives the songs the ability to become unique in their tones and moods.

1910s, a street car in Chapel Hill, NC, where Cotten was born

Now that I listen closer to “Freight Train,” I try to visualize Cotten’s “upside down” guitar playing and that does offer a special style for her music. The reading also gives some insight into Cotten’s world and where that song comes from because she does mention where her father worked in mine that was near a railroad track. Maybe he is the character in the song who wishes to ride the train and escape the arduous labor? “Please don’t tell what train I’m on so they won’t know where I’m gone”

A songster travels and sings and plays, with a variety of songs they have mastered.

Vaudeville was a post Civil War entertainment cultural phenomenon with multiple performances from different arts, such as music, dance, comedy, etc.

Minstrel shows were also a form of entertainment around the time of the Civil War where performers would be white but wear black masks and later black people were the performers.

Medicine shows had entertainers who would sell miracle elixirs that could "cure" any aliment. There were also magic shows, freak shows, story telling and all kinds of fun.

I had to add a photo of a small medicine show