"Cross Road Blues" Delta Blues

“Cross Road Blues” tells of being unable to be noticed or picked up and constantly waiting for someone to stop, which never happens. I would turn this into my own interpretation by saying “Cross Road Blues” is a song about paralysis as a result of indecision. Not knowing which way to go, hesitating, and causing self induced paralysis by not being able to move since the decision cannot be made. I picked this song to focus on for my project. I avoided painting an obvious crossroads and wanted to show the indecision with the figures. I see them as a time sequence of one individual and these are the different stages of trying to decide which way to go. It intensifies as the eye moves right. The background color also gives an idea of factors that may influence the decision making process, such as going towards darker or warmer colors.

In “Cross Road Blues,” Robert Johnson sings “You can run, you can run, tell my friend-boy Willie Brown, Lord, that I'm standin' at the crossroad” and I wondered who Willie Brown is. He was also a Delta Blues singer, who actually played alot of music with Charlie Patton. Why Johnson referenced Willie Brown may be because Johnson was influenced by Willie Brown musically, which could make him a figure who teaches music. There is the legend that the devil teaches fiddlers to play at the crossroads, so perhaps this is the reference? I find that myth to be interesting and not so much negative or scary but more of an interesting “trademark” of the blues/ folk tradition to have these types of superstitions that can be used to make an image more unique.

After reading back over the reading my understanding has changed in a way that I think I have learned more about the history of black people through their music, rather than a history book. History class in middle school and high school give some depth to the history of the African Americans becoming enslaved and continuing from there… but after listening each week to the different layers that Jones also mentions in the reading, like songs from Africa to work songs to gospels to blues, then I heard how the suppression of the black people is developed over time into new forms of song. The songs give a much more accurate and raw perspective and account of their history.

William Ferris puts it nicely that the blues consist of “a kinship of love for music and good times shared together” (22) in Blue from the Delta. Then it is also true that the blues are expressions of the singer’s lives, which could contain loneliness, and weariness. Much of these were culminated from difficulties African Americans had to endure. Ferris discusses how place is a defining factor of for the form a blues song takes (28). This is because of the unique characteristics of each town or city the singers lived and the encounters they had. A place being isolated has an effect on the song, or its proximity to, for example, the delta or another body of water. It was interesting that female blues singers were more prevalent in the urban realm while the men were known for the “rural” areas during the early recording stages. Ferris also brought up how the “blues singer became a spokesperson for the black community,” which he later explains that it is so deep in those roots that it is assumed to naturally sing blues from a black person’s standpoint (26).

I selected a handful of songs to go into detail on this week (there are so many!):

At first I thought Robert Johnson’s “Sweet Home Chicago” was about Chicago. After listening closer it made me do a double take with my ears and I had to read the lyrics and try to understand the chorus… because he sings “Back to the land of California, to my sweet home Chicago,” and both places are far apart in the United States. Initially I guessed that this could be him trying to decide if he wanted to either go back to California, or Chicago, then he chooses his “sweet home” Chicago. But later in the second to last stanza, he sings “I’m goin’ to California, From there to Des Moines Iowa,” so maybe he grouped California and Chicago together. I did some research on this and found that (according to the Chicago Tribune) that Johnson never went to Chicago, which answers one question I had, which was what does Chicago have to do with the delta? It seems to be a mystery...

“Corrina, Corrina” as first recorded by Bo Carter, reminds me a little bit of “Into the Pines” from the line asking where she was last night. “I met Corrina across the sea…” this line also makes me think of the Odyssey and Corrina would take the form of Calypso because it seems like the singer is enthralled with her and loves her too much for his own good.

On mudcat there was some discussion that “Careless Love” was WC handy’s “folk” version of “Loveless Love,” told by him in an interview with Lomax…Bessie Smith also sings a version of this, I found that she is one of the successful female blues singers. Apart from the song’s history, I wonder what the meaning of a careless love is… in one way it is an oxymoron, in another way it could be taken as a care-free love that is relaxing and comfortable. But the song sounds like it is calling love itself a careless being that neglects to take care of the person in love. I see where this would be found in the delta blues world (or any world) where love can tear people away from their families and cause people to chase after it, not knowing where it will lead them.

I listened to Charlie Patton’s “‘34 Blues” but it was hard to enjoy because his style of singing was hard for me to understand. But this also gave me understanding as to why his audience was smaller, especially compared to MHJ and Woody Guthrie. It is because Patton is more like Leadbelly in the way that they had some difficulties finding large audiences who could relate (or understand) their songs. After some research I also found that Patton appealed more to “folk” and was not as commercialized because his tone was unique. As for the song, “‘34 Blues” addresses some scenes of the Great Depression era where he sings “I was as broke as I could be...”

Then “I’m So Glad” by Skip James gives so many different paths as well because he is glad, doesn’t know what to do, but also tired of several negative emotions that are caused by someone else. Maybe is glad because the “moaning” and “weeping” is over and now he is no longer giving his energy to negative things but now he has so much more time to be glad that he does not know what to do with himself… which can be a good thing! Then I watched the YouTube video where he sings “Devil Got My Woman,” the other four men hanging around enjoying the music really captures a quality blues scene…

"Do Re Mi" Woody Guthrie

In the first video where Woodie Guthrie is singing live, the videographer frames him sitting playing his guitar with an old pedal machine in front of him and a record player in the foreground. I decided to explore this tool. It is a stationary pedal powered machine that can be applied to lathes, tool sharpeners, and a variety of other tools. This is probably so prominent in the footage because of its importance in working, which is a major theme in Guthrie’s songs. It is also a symbol for the message Guthrie presents to people in his songs in general where working becomes a his idea of movement for social change. 

My project is an inked drawing of one of these pedal powered machines. I also think it is important that it is not powered by an engine, but by human power, which makes the work produced even more humanly. The song is “Do Re Mi” because the song sums up America in the sense that it is thought of as a gloryland full of riches, and places like California are idealized as places where people can become prosperous. But work and how much people can make always stands in the way. “Do Re Mi” is a song Guthrie described as being a song where people are “lonesome for a job, they’re lonesome for some spending money…” (Brooks, 245). This tool symbolizes that choice to work but also the fact that no matter hardworking someone is, it may not be enough if they “ain’t got the do re mi.”

This weekend the mountain bike race was hosted by Chico State in Oroville. After the race, my parents and I went to a hand tool museum, Bolt's Tool Museum in town. They had some boxes with tools your could buy as a donation to the museum, and I found a few treasures, including this hand powered drill. It can still work, and me and my dad are going to put a replacement wooden handle on the crank arm side. Eventually, I want to use this to make something! I thought it would go well in the blog since it relates so well to the working theme.

The “This Machine Kills Fascists” video that plays “Do Re Mi” in the background uses images that address what Guthrie is singing about… how there is a price to pay to achieve what is desired. In this case it is the “paradise” of California, but it costs money. “This Machine Kills Fascists...” on his guitar relates to the video since it depicts film from wartime dealing with fascism. I see it also as addressing the cost of war on America, which suggests that if what is desired is a solution (after war) then that is going to have a price to pay, just like riding a train requires money (seen in the image of two men walking with the “next time try the train - relax!” billboard). The phrase on Guthrie’s guitar, “This Machine Kills Fascists” tells of the guitar’s purpose to not only create music but also was a way to make a few bucks; Guthrie believed fascism to take money from those in need and it would end up with one elite class.

This makes perfect sense for Woody Guthrie to have this way of thinking from a quote he says in the introduction to Bound For Glory; “I am out to sing the songs that make you take pride in yourself and in your work.” This tells so much of his character in that he shows care for others while applying it to himself. He seemed to have valued the effort work takes and what should be earned from work. This was also brought up several times in the first chapter of his autobiography “Soldiers in the Dust.” One of the first arguments (of many to come) was about whether Guthrie knows what it means to work and later several people on the freight argued about this among each other. Work took on a meaning of value where the men could feel higher than another based on this.

An even more dramatic image than Guthrie's account of the packed freight train

Woody Guthrie has a diverse collection of songs that reveal his encounters with the world but also give much more to the people who listen. I found it interesting, and a nice change, that Spud Terkel pointed out how his songs have “universal appeal” (Terkel, x), which differs from the other folk artists we have learned about because Guthrie is not appealing only to “folk” during his time but an international audience, as Terkel mentions Guthrie’s India trip.

Red River Valley. The version we have from the first download has a sadder tone and when I close my eyes and listen, I feel the sadness of the girl leaving the valley. In this version I feel a different sense where the memories that the singer values of the girl in the valley are more present and not watered down by the solemn truth of her leaving. In other words the first version is a funeral but this version is a celebration of life. Both lose the person but remembers in different tones.

A family walking to California to escape the Dust Bowl

Woody Guthrie’s version of “This Land is Your Land” is my favorite out of the three. It is great when he sings it because it parallels his awareness of people and the environment around him. In the chapter “Soldiers in the Dust” in his autobiography, he describes laying on the train and looking up at the sky and then rain clouds above him. Then he even writes in detail about the train bouncing and how it strained his neck and the different things he tried to do to get comfy… this kind of awareness is what brings me to like Guthrie’s character so much. He was sensitive to his surrounds, which is what made him able to produce songs so many people could relate to. For “This Land is Your Land” he combines his observations of the beauty of the land with the importance to allow all to enjoy it through sharing. Dylan’s version feels more impersonal for me. When I first sang this song in elementary school I felt connected and that I thought I knew exactly what I was singing about, which was how lush America was. Now that I reconsider, this may have also been Guthrie addressing the Dust Bowl and how people migrating to places like California needed the land to be shared with them too.

My elementary school image of "This Land is Your Land"
 (and still is my image)

This is how Woody Guthrie became the spokesperson for the common man, by understanding the curve balls life throws… his childhood was full of them with the devastating losses of his family members. He was in the brutal situations other men went through, like the freight train rides that so many Americans took. He knew what it meant to work to live. And he was well traveled across the land. All of these elements that Guthrie brings together in each of his songs creates the ability for him to relate to nearly all “common men” and women… it’s because he has been in their shoes.  

"Bring Me Little Water Sylvie" Leadbelly

Crinkle pot

“Bring Me Little Water, Sylvie” is the song I chose for this week. It is a great song to tell of Leadbelly’s history and roots. On MudCat someone shared that the song comes from Leadbelly’s own chants while doing work in the field, and when he would get thirsty, he would yell to his uncle’s wife, Sylvie, to bring him some water. Not only does the song address his own experiences, it shows how so many of Leadbelly’s songs were written; in the Szwed chapter “The Saga of Leadbelly,” he explained that Leadbelly would create his own songs from other songs he heard and make a new tune, or go off a melody and make his own lyrics.

My project also has a similar unique birth (like his songs) this week. It is also very personal… this is my second semester taking ceramics at the Berkeley Art studio and I’ve thrown, sculpted and handbuilt over twenty pieces this year. This form was intended for this song to become a perfect cylinder and then a bucket. But, ironically if I think about the song, I used too much water when I brought up the walls! The song calls for more water but I used too much and it created this interesting wave-like form. It was a good thing that it happened. This is one of the most fun pieces I’ve created and it was by accident with a disappointing beginning but exciting end. I’m glad I didn’t decide to just dry out the clay and re-wedge it and start over! The twists and folds now share a rough journey as did Leadbelly and relates to the song because I am not sure if water was ever brought to the singer… of course how could it if it was carried in this?

In the segment from the Gordon Parks’ 1976 film, “Leadbelly,” he depicts Leadbelly as a singer who is a justified murderer, who, other than killing someone to protect his lover, is a good man doing his time and still holds much talent. He shows this by bringing in Lomax to collect his songs, which gives a chance to hear and see Leadbelly’s side of the story as to why he is in jail. He is portrayed as someone who does not deserve to be incarcerated. Some of the battles this story may face in the public eye is that Leadbelly had “powers denied to men of color” (Szwed, 52) seen in his multiple early releases. But also in the Szwed book on John Lomax he told of how he wasn’t freed because of his songs but under one of Louisiana’s laws. This film makes the crimes of murder that Leadbelly committed be tossed under the rug by giving him enthusiastic and passionate characteristics, along with his musical talent, which seem to erase the reasons he is in jail.

The Leadbelly Newsreel film shows Leadbelly asking Lomax to send his song to the governor to plead for his release, which would be the next piece of the story after the Gordon Parks segment ends. Leadbelly goes to Lomax after his release to work for him later on in Kentucky where he sings “Goodnight Irene” to his love and his songs go into the Library of Congress Music Division. Since newsreels were shown in theatres at before movies, the audiences were those who were wealthy enough to go to the movies. The film is from 1935, so still during the Great Depression. I also feel that this film was gauged more to white audiences because the script writers depicted Lomax as the hero in Leadbelly’s story, unlike Gordon Parks’ version giving more pull to Leadbelly and Lomax is another piece that falls into his great story. Szwed tells us that Leadbelly did not get paid by the Lomaxes for starring in the film and I also learned that it was John Lomax’s idea to have Leadbelly wear the jail stripes (he usually wore overalls) to use as a visual identifier and I see it as a form of branding for Leadbelly’s image (63).

“Goodnight Irene” ... The notion to jump into the river and drown comes from the reasons to move from country to town and vice versa. The country can be lonesome, isolated, or not have enough to do, driving people out to the town or city where there are more people and activities. But the city is loud, has too many people, and never stops. Leadbelly doesn’t say this but he gives enough in his lyrics to tell us all of this. Not being able to have the one you love is a more obvious reason he presents too. I think these dramatic or violent ways to die come from his history - he murdered two people so this probably produced his rougher choice of lyrics.

Leadbelly was not the typical folk singer I would envision. His multiple phases of worker, musician, and some recurring, like prisoner make him unique with his history. John Szwed tells of Leadbelly’s past where he did farm work, sang at parties, and went to jail several times. He mentions that after John Lomax helped him get out of jail, his “enthusiasm cooled” after learning that Leadbelly was jailed for murder (Szwed, 41). This is the same reaction I am having because he is a great singer with a distinct voice and some of my favorite songs that we have done, but this man that I am listening to and sing along with has killed someone… or does this add to his story and make him more unique in the folk song realm? In some ways he is a murderer and criminal, but then there are the accounts of the governor letting him off early because he enjoyed Leadbelly’s songs, so even the governor was able to see past his crimes.

I would not be surprised if it is common for people to see Leadbelly as a strong and passionate musician and easily let go of his brutal past. That is how I feel too - the way I can compare is that he is like a character in a movie who the cops are trying to catch but the audience really wants him or her to get away, because they are more than the crime they are committing. I appreciate what the Lomaxes’ were doing by using Leadbelly to introduce black tradition to the white Americans, who Szwed described as rather naive as they could not relate or believe Leadbelly’s songs (if they could understand him). This was important in teaching America about the history they were a part of even though they hadn’t known yet.

Mississippi John Hurt left his home in the fashion of going from a small town to the big city for his musical career (very basic description) and he had done years of hard farm work in the music-less gap years before he “came back” and was popular in the music world. Leadbelly had a similar disconnection from home as MJH but Szwed described it more as a longing to be with his friends from home, them being people of color. He had been on the road working for the Lomaxes for so long and performing for white audiences that he began to get restless. This is reflected in Leadbelly’s songs because as I discussed before, the white people could not relate or image the life described in some of Leadbelly’s songs, which carry the same toil and burden as his life’s history.

Building railroads

The lyrics for "Take This Hammer" are interesting because each verse unfolds different feelings of the singer. At first I thought it was a song about revenge when he sings "take this hammer, carry it to the captain" I thought it was intended to harm the captain because of later verses saying that he wasn't just running, but flying, which could imply escaping. Then, "if he asks you, was I laughing" is where I began to think of revenge or him mocking the captain out of spite of escaping. However, this idea changed in the next verse "tell him I was crying" because this brings a new light that takes away cruel intentions by making it more emotional and personal  that the man wants to be free. This is also heard in him having no desire for "cornbread and molasses" but just have his pride. This took me back to the first verse "take this hammer to the captain" and gave it a new meaning to show that he is giving up the hammer, or work, and leaving for the good of himself. Also, flying instead of running no longer meant the speed that he is escaping, but flying became a term for freedom.

“Rock Island Line” was a wood chopping song that belonged to a prison gang (Szwed, 58) The first verse of tells us that the world continues to sin, which is very true. What I got from the “ABC double XYZ, cat’s in the cupboard but he don’t see me” is that the singer is trying to hide from another and that person does not see the singer... or maybe it is just a something Leadbelly wanted to sing. The song is fun and high energy. It was the first song we learned for this class and got me hooked. I especially liked the way we learned it (the basics) without song books but just by repetition and tripping over ourselves when singing the fast part “if you wanna ride it got to ride it like you find it get your ticket at the station on the Rock Island Line.”