Delta Blues 1: Charley Patton

Mississippi Boweavil Blues by Charley Patton

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Through this blog I would like to share my enthusiasm for pre war Black American music - specifically blues and jazz, while at the same time hopefully acting as some kind of guide through the plethora of recordings of and information about the remarkable musicians that lived and worked in the USA between 1920 and 1940.
Hopefully, I will be able to illustrate my posts with musical examples from the period - but more about this later.
Although well over 70% of the population of the American south was of African origin during this period, they were excluded from most forms of traditional cultural expression. There were very few black writers, poets, artists, sculptors, academics, etc. What was written about the lives of African - Americans tended to be written by whites. However, luckily for us, we do have a remarkable archive of this period made by African - Americans - of course I'm talking about the musical heritage they left us.
This is not to say that pre-war blues is only of historical interest - the music itself still sounds as fresh, vibrant and compelling as it ever did - but it offers much more. It is important to remember that these musicians were as far removed from today's recording artists as it is possible to get. The likes of Charley Patton, Son House and Robert Johnson had been playing blues for many years before actually getting round to recording any of their music. They made their living by working on the plantations and lumber camps, by busking, by hustling, by playing at parties, and this in between routine spells in the local penitentaries. The point is that virtually all the pre-war bluesmen lived and worked in the heart of their communities - they were no different to anyone else, and the stories they tell in their songs are the authentic voices of that community.
So as a flavour of what I'm talking about, I have added a song by Charley Patton - a song about a creature that had a huge impact on the lives of people living in the Mississippi Delta, and a song that shows the style that became known as Delta Blues, by a musician who became known as the Father of the Blues, and of whom I will talk about in more detail next time.

Mississippi Boweavil Blues

Sees a little boll weevil keeps movin' in the, Lordie!
You can plant your cotton and you won't get a half a bale, Lordie
Bo weevil, bo weevil, where's your native home? Lordie
"A-Louisiana raised in Texas,
Least is where I was bred and born", Lordie

Well, I saw the bo weevil, Lord, a-circle, Lord, in the air, Lordie
The next time I seed him, Lord, he had his family there, Lordie
Bo weevil left Texas, Lord, he bid me "fare ye well", Lordie

(spoken: Where you goin' now?)
I'm goin' down the Mississippi, gonna give Louisiana hell, Lordie
(spoken: How is that, boy?)
Suck all the blossoms and he leave your hedges square, Lordie

The next time I seed you, you know you had your family there, Lordie
Bo weevil meet his wife, "We can sit down on the hill", Lordie
Bo weevil told his wife, "Let's trade this forty3 in", Lordie
Bo weevil told his wife, says, "I believe I may go North", Lordie

(spoken: Hold on, I'm gonna tell all about that)
"Let's leave Louisiana, we can go to Arkansas", Lordie
Well, I saw the bo weevil, Lord a-circle, Lord, in the air, Lordie
Next time I seed him, Lord, he had his family there, Lordie

Bo weevil told the farmer that "I 'tain't got ticket fare", Lordie
Sucks all the blossom and leave your hedges square, Lordie
Bo weevil, bo weevil, where your native home? Lordie
"Most anywhere they raise cotton and corn", Lordie
Bo weevil, bo weevil, "Outta treat me fair", Lordie
The next time I did you had your family there, Lordie