Music and Politics

One of my favorite News blogs (at least the is what I consider them) fivethirtyeight.com. I mention that because they are a Stats based site that writes about politics, sports, science & health, economics and pop culture.  They lend the power of statistics to stuff that we often think about.

A July 14 article, titled Hip Hop is Turning on Trump examined hip hop lyrics and how Trump and Clinton are referenced in rap music.

I thought this article was interesting because I was surprised by the response of many of the comments.  I left a comment;

I'm not a fan of most rap (surprise I'm sure to some people who think that Black people are a monilith) but I would also like to know if other music geners make political references, I know that early blues and folk music were often political, and I would guess that a lot of country and western music also have political messages. It would be cool to see you all do some stats on other music genres. Good article, keep up the good work.

Which brings me to a few blues / folk songs that have politics as their theme.

Woody Guthrie -- I Ain't Got No Home/Old Man Trump by the Missin' Cousins - This song is very interesting, From the YouTube notes, "Woody Guthrie wrote these lyrics in 1951, and 65 years later, the Missin' Cousins, a County-Western music group from Oakland California, present a recording of these new lyrics to I Ain't Got No Home in this World Anymore."

Mr. Hitler - Leadbelly - (notes from YouTube) "Huddie William Ledbetter(Lead Belly or Leadbelly, January 1888 December 6, 1949) was an American folk and blues musician. This song was recorded in 1942.

Big Bill Broonzy - I Wonder When I Will be Called a Man - Includes the lyrics.

John Lee Hooker - Welfare Blues 

Jimmy Dawkins - Walfare Blues  

BB King - Why I Sing the Blues

Some lite reading on the subject;

wikipedia Music and politics Nice overview.

5 best blues songs with political slants Songs by Woodie Guthrie

leadbelly - house of the rising sun

The History Of The Blues: The Roots, The Music, The People

Product Details

Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Da Capo Press (September 2, 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0306812967
ISBN-13: 978-0306812965

Book Description (from Amazon.com)

Francis Davis's The History of the Blues is a groundbreaking rethinking of the blues that fearlessly examines how race relations have altered perceptions of the music. Tracing its origins from the Mississippi Delta to its amplification in Chicago right after World War II, Davis argues for an examination of the blues in its own right, not just as a precursor to jazz and rock 'n' roll. The lives of major figures such as Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton, and Leadbelly, in addition to contemporary artists such as Stevie Ray Vaughan and Robert Cray, are examined and skillfully woven into a riveting, provocative narrative.

House of the Rising Sun

There are a lot of recorded versions of this tune. Lots of people associate it with the "hit" version by The Animals, but this tune, also called Rising Sun Blues, was around in one form or another for a long time before the Animals found it.

Here's Leadbelly


And Odetta

It's the Birthday of Leadbelly

Important Recordings 1934-1949

please click image

Today is the birthday of singer, songwriter Huddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter, born in Mooringsport, Louisiana, 1888.

He is best known for his versions of "Goodnight Irene" and "Rock Island Line." He was an inmate at Angola Prison in Louisiana when a white man named Alan Lomax arrived, asking to record any songs the prisoners knew. Lomax was traveling across the south making field recordings for the Library of Congress. Lomax helped him obtain a pardon and took him to New York where he was a big hit.

Over the years I have written several post on Leadbelly, click here for Leadbelly @SqueezeMyLemon.

file under;
mp3, blues, music

Leadbelly Newsreel

File this one under blues history.



Notes from YouTube;

This is an excerpt from a 1935 March of Time newsreel (produced by Time magazine) which re-enacts Leadbelly's release from Angola Prison, Louisiana. John Lomax plays himself, and Leadbelly performs 'Goodnight Irene'.

Thanks to my twitter friend The Ash Grove

Folk, Gospel & Blues - Will the Circle Be Unbroken

I don't think I can recommend this mp3 album more enthusiastically. I love it, and think that fans of the blues, folk music, and gospel music will too. Just check out the various artist who are included here.

The cool part about mp3 albums is that you only have to buy the tracks that you like, but in this case each track is a keeper.

Folk, Gospel & Blues: Will The Circle Be Unbroken

click image for mp3s @Amazon.com

CD1
1. Ezekiel Saw De Wheel - Fisk Jubilee Singers
2. Crazy Blues - Mamie Smith & Her Jazz Hounds
3. Careless Love Blues - Bessie Smith
4. Frankie - Mississippi John Hurt
5. Lord I Can't Just Keep From Crying - Blind Willie Johnson
6. What Are They Doing In Heaven Today - Washington Phillips
7. Sitting On Top Of The World - The Mississippi Sheiks
8. Blues Before Sunrise - Leroy Carr & Scrapper Blackwell
9. If You See My Saviour - Thomas A. Dorsey
10. Broke Down Engine - Blind Willie McTell
11. Mister Tom Hughe's Town - Leadbelly
12. Cross Road Blues - Robert Johnson
13. Key To The Highway - Big Bill Broonzy
14. Nine Foot Shovel - Joshua White
15. Cowboy's Lament - Burl Ives
16. Me And My Chauffeur Blues - Memphis Minnie
17. Swing Down Chariot - The Golden Gate Quartet
18. Dere's A Man Goin' Round / I Know De Lord - Paul Robeson
19. Baby Please Don't Go - Big Joe Williams
20. Hard Day Blues - Muddy Waters
21. I'll Never Forget - Ira Tucker & The Dixie Hummingbirds
22. I'll Fly Away - The Trumpeteers
23. I Will Move On Up A Little Higher - Mahalia Jackson
24. Greenfields - The Brotehrs Four

CD2
1. Blowin' In The Wind - Bob Dylan
2. The Patriot Game - The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem
3. Green, Green - The New Christy Minstrels feat. Barry McGuire
4. We Shall Overcome - Pete Seeger
5. The Sound Of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel
6. Death Letter - Son House
7. Little Boxes - Malvina Reynolds
8. Will The Circle Be Unbroken - The Staple Singers
9. Suzanne - Leonard Cohen
10. Going Up To The Country, Paint My Mailbox Blue - Taj Mahal
11. These Days - Tom Rush
12. Mean Mistreater - Johnny Winter
13. I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man - Willie Dixon
14. Blue River - Eric Andersen
15. Longer - Dan Fogelberg
16. Romeo's Tune - Steve Forget
17. Pride And Joy - Stevie Ray Vaughan And Double Trouble
18. Steady On - Shawn Colvin
19. Galileo - Indigo Girls
20. Stand Still - Shirley Ceasar feat. John P. Kee
21. Every Morning - Keb'Mo'

Jump down turn around, pick a bale of cotton...

Here's Leadbelly,


Hokie Joint


İstanbul Blues Kumpanyası
This one is a very different take on picking a bale a day...

I Feel Like Going To Church - Eric Bibb - In My Father's House

I really enjoy Grammy Award nominated singer songwriter Eric Bibb's music. He captures the spirituality of the blues well.

He has many gospel blues songs that showcase the sounds of bouzouki, mandolin, accordion and gospel music. He seems to be inspired by bluesmen like Leadbelly who seamlessly married gospel music with blues.

Eric Bibb @Amazon.com

Blues Song In The Spot Light: Ain't No More Cane

I remember the first time I heard the prison work song Ain't No More Cane it was one of those moments when blues music caused me great sadness.

I don't normally associate blues music with sadness, but this song takes me there. It might have been Leadbelly's delevery, but I thought about all those men who died working on prison work gangs.

Over the years there have been a few more upbeat treatments of the song, and some have really made it rock. Check these out;

Ain't no more cane on the Brazos(1)

Oh, oh, oh, oh...

Its all been ground down to molasses

Oh, oh- oh, oh- oh...


You shoulda been on the river in 1910
They were driving the women just like they drove the men.

Go down Old Hannah,(2) don'cha rise no more
Don't you rise up til Judgment Day's for sure

Ain't no more cane on the Brazos
Its all been ground down to molasses

Captain(3), don't you do me like you done poor old Shine
Well ya drove that bully(4) til he went stone blind

Wake up on a lifetime(5), hold up your own head
Well you may get a pardon and then you might drop dead

Ain't no more cane on the Brazos
Its all been ground down to molasses.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] The Brazos is a river in Texas which features in many prison songs because it runs past virtually all of the old prisons in Texas.
[2] Old Hannah is the name given to sun.
[3] Captain is one of the ranks in the hierarchy of prison guards, the man in charge of half the workers in a field. Also used outside the prisons to mean the White boss. In some of the old slave songs the singers call Jesus their captain. I also think that this language carried over from the Civil War.
[4] Bully: an inmate working in the line. The word can also be used as a verb, in which case it means working hard.
[5] A Lifetime prison sentence.


Other Notable Versions

Ollabelle - YouTube Version two

Ain't No More Cane mp3 by Ollabelle




The Band - YouTube - The Basement Tapes (1975)

Ain't No More Cane mp3 by Bob Dylan & The Band




Lyle Lovett - YouTube Kansas City 2007

Ain't No More Cane mp3 by Lyle Lovett




Ain't No More Cane mp3 by Son Volt (Non Album Track)





Ain't No More Cane mp3 by Band Of Heathens






Ain't No More Cane mp3 by The Tex-I-An Boys

Very traditional version





Ain't No More Cane mp3 by Paul Austin Kelly






Ain't No More Cane mp3 by by Ernest Williams & James (Iron Head) Baker

Song by actual prison gang




Ain't No More Cane mp3 by Dennis Monroe

Triditional folk version





Ain't No More Cane mp3 by Alan Lomax

Traditional folk version





Ain't No More Cane mp3 by Harvey Reid

Traditional folk treatment






The Band - YouTube - Woodstock 69

Lonnie Donegan - YouTube (1958) Very sad version.

Eric Bibb - YouTube Wales in 2006

The Black Crowes - YouTube in Portland, ME

TheFolksinger - YouTube For Odetta

Texas blues

Growing up in Louisiana, in the shadow of the great state of Texas gives you a different perspective on things. Especially music. Especially blues music. I feel like I really understand what those great Texas blues musicians were singing about, you know what I mean?

People like Lightin' Hopkins, Big Mama Thornton, T-Bone Walker and Leadbelly. Living there for a few years, and going to college there only served to make me appreciate the state, the people and the great Texas Blues music even more.

According to Wikipedia;

Texas Blues began to appear in the early 1900s among African Americans who worked in oilfields, ranches and lumber camps. In the 1920s, Blind Lemon Jefferson innovated the style by using jazz-like improvisation and single string accompaniment on a guitar; Jefferson's influence defined the field and inspired later performers, like Lightnin' Hopkins and T-Bone Walker. During the Great Depression in the 1930s, many bluesmen moved to cities like Galveston, Houston and Dallas. It was from these cities that a new wave of popular performers appeared, including slide guitarist and gospel singer Blind Willie Johnson and legendary vocalist Big Mama Thornton. Duke Records and Peacock Records were the most important labels of the scene.

In the 1960s, however, the record industry moved north, reducing Texas's importance in the blues scene. The area's importance returned in the 1970s when a Texas blues rock sound developed, led by Johnny Winter, Edgar Winter, ZZ Top and the The Fabulous Thunderbirds. This set the stage for the revival of the 1980s, which produced Stevie Ray Vaughan and moved the blues capital of the state to Austin.

Notable Texas Blues performers

• Albert Collins


• The Fabulous Thunderbirds


• Lightnin' Hopkins


• Blind Lemon Jefferson


• Billy Gibbons


• Freddie King


• Leadbelly


• Delbert McClinton


• Guitar Shorty


• Big Mama Thornton


• Jimmie Vaughan


• Stevie Ray Vaughan


• T-Bone Walker


• Johnny Winter


• Canned Heat


• Mance Lipscomb


• ZZ Top

It's the Birthday of Leadbelly

Important Recordings 1934-1949

please click image

Today is the birthday of singer, songwriter Huddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter, born in Mooringsport, Louisiana, 1888.

He is best known for his versions of "Goodnight Irene" and "Rock Island Line." He was an inmate at Angola Prison in Louisiana when a white man named Alan Lomax arrived, asking to record any songs the prisoners knew. Lomax was traveling across the south making field recordings for the Library of Congress. Lomax helped him obtain a pardon and took him to New York where he was a big hit.

Over the years I have written several post on Leadbelly, click here for Leadbelly @SqueezeMyLemon.

file under;
mp3, blues, music

Folk, Gospel & Blues - Will the Circle Be Unbroken

I don't think I can recommend this mp3 album more enthusiastically. I love it, and think that fans of the blues, folk music, and gospel music will too. Just check out the various artist who are included here.

The cool part about mp3 albums is that you only have to buy the tracks that you like, but in this case each track is a keeper.

Folk, Gospel & Blues: Will The Circle Be Unbroken

click image for mp3s @Amazon.com

CD1
1. Ezekiel Saw De Wheel - Fisk Jubilee Singers
2. Crazy Blues - Mamie Smith & Her Jazz Hounds
3. Careless Love Blues - Bessie Smith
4. Frankie - Mississippi John Hurt
5. Lord I Can't Just Keep From Crying - Blind Willie Johnson
6. What Are They Doing In Heaven Today - Washington Phillips
7. Sitting On Top Of The World - The Mississippi Sheiks
8. Blues Before Sunrise - Leroy Carr & Scrapper Blackwell
9. If You See My Saviour - Thomas A. Dorsey
10. Broke Down Engine - Blind Willie McTell
11. Mister Tom Hughe's Town - Leadbelly
12. Cross Road Blues - Robert Johnson
13. Key To The Highway - Big Bill Broonzy
14. Nine Foot Shovel - Joshua White
15. Cowboy's Lament - Burl Ives
16. Me And My Chauffeur Blues - Memphis Minnie
17. Swing Down Chariot - The Golden Gate Quartet
18. Dere's A Man Goin' Round / I Know De Lord - Paul Robeson
19. Baby Please Don't Go - Big Joe Williams
20. Hard Day Blues - Muddy Waters
21. I'll Never Forget - Ira Tucker & The Dixie Hummingbirds
22. I'll Fly Away - The Trumpeteers
23. I Will Move On Up A Little Higher - Mahalia Jackson
24. Greenfields - The Brotehrs Four

CD2
1. Blowin' In The Wind - Bob Dylan
2. The Patriot Game - The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem
3. Green, Green - The New Christy Minstrels feat. Barry McGuire
4. We Shall Overcome - Pete Seeger
5. The Sound Of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel
6. Death Letter - Son House
7. Little Boxes - Malvina Reynolds
8. Will The Circle Be Unbroken - The Staple Singers
9. Suzanne - Leonard Cohen
10. Going Up To The Country, Paint My Mailbox Blue - Taj Mahal
11. These Days - Tom Rush
12. Mean Mistreater - Johnny Winter
13. I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man - Willie Dixon
14. Blue River - Eric Andersen
15. Longer - Dan Fogelberg
16. Romeo's Tune - Steve Forget
17. Pride And Joy - Stevie Ray Vaughan And Double Trouble
18. Steady On - Shawn Colvin
19. Galileo - Indigo Girls
20. Stand Still - Shirley Ceasar feat. John P. Kee
21. Every Morning - Keb'Mo'

New Release The Definitive Leadbelly Box Set

The Definitive Leadbelly

click image for track listing

Sometimes I want to scream, "OH NO, not another box set!" But then I have to remind myself that most people don't collect this stuff like I do. The Definitive Leadbelly is three-CDs with 75-tracks and the whole thing won't put too big of a dent in your back pocket. It has some of Leadbelly's best stuff, like blues, spirituals, work songs, and folk ballads. Of course songs like "Midnight Special," "Goodnight Irene," "John Henry," and "Death Letter Blues" are included. If you are a fan of Huddie Ledbetter than this is the collection for you.

Leadbelly mp3s @HypeMachine
Leadbelly mp3s @Elbos.ws

Wikipedia's Picture of Leadbelly

I like this photo of Leadbelly with an Accordeon. I found it on Wikipedia, which I reference a lot. I know that there are those who don't like Wikipedia, but I think it is a great source. And they have many entries that can be of interest to blues fans. Their article on The Blues is very comprehensive, and I think is a must read.

Please donate something to Wikipedia

Blues Books: A New Series

I love to read. It feels weird even writing that, it probably goes without saying. At least I hope it shows that I try to do research on this music that we all love so much.

I've thought for some time now that I wanted to present my favorite books on the blues. I probably have too many books myself (can you have too many books?), but hey this is a chance for me to change it up a bit and offer more info on the blues.

So here goes! The first book that I want to present is Nothing But the Blues : The Music and the Musicians

Nothing But the Blues : The Music and the Musicians

Click to see Book @Amazon.com

I think that editor Lawrence Cohn, a Grammy Award-winning blues producer, does a good job presenting the history of blues music. This book includes eleven essays that cover the roots of the blues, Texas and Southern blues, Gospel blues (my favorite) along with the urban blues, white country blues, the sixties blues revival, woman of the blues and modern blues are all covered here.

I like this book because it has many illustrations and also that it iscomprehensive. The 325 illustrations include Leadbelly's NYPD rap sheet. It also has recording contracts and rare historic photos of blues performers making music.

If you are a true fan who enjoys reading the perspective of different authors than you won't be disappointed with this book. Authors contributing to this book include David Evans, Mark A. Humphrey, Bruce Basti, Jim O'Neal, Richard K. Spottswood and Mary Katherine Aldin among others.

There are some limited editions of this book that contain a CD. If I have a criticism of this book it is that, like most books, it doesn't do a good job covering the up to date history of blues music. But then again, that is why we have blogs right.


Blues Books @SqueezeMyLemon

Blues Music Books @Amazon.com

Leadbelly at Angola, Louisiana

Prison Compound No. 1, Angola, Louisiana, Leadbelly in Foreground

Buy at AllPosters.com


When we were boys, the old folks used to tell us, "If you keep being bad, you going to end up in Angola."

That would make us behave for a good thirty minutes or so.