26 “Mississippi Boweavil Blues” by Charley Patton (The Masked Marvel)

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July 6, 2009 by gadaya

Charley Patton’s World

Charley (or Charlie) Patton is considered by many the most important bluesman of all times, the father of the “Delta Blues”, which is a genre that most people see as the “real, deep Blues”. Raised near the famous Dockery Plantation, a big cotton and sawmill plantation and the “mythical” birthplace of the Blues, Patton learned his skills with Henry Sloan, an older Bluesman born in 1870. His powerful guitar playing and vocals influenced all the other musicians around him, including Willie Brown, Tommy Johnson, Son House and the younger Robert Johnson would learn to play the Blues from them. Patton was very popular in all the South and he was a real showman on stage, making tricks like playing the guitar behind his head or his back, interspreading different vocal comments during his songs. His erratic life, his inclinations toward booze and women and his short life also contributed to make him a “Blues” icon.

Like for Robert Johnson, the label “Delta Blues” is quite limiting the range of their music. The repertoire of Patton (and Johnson) included a broader range of popular music, religious songs and pieces that came from the white tradition and they could includes them along with their “Blues” to please different audiences. The fact is that we see them today as genuine folk musicians rather than “entertainers” is due in part to the romantized and almost mystical way they were described by white Blues lovers and writers.  He recorded more than 60 sides during his rather short career, some with other musicians, some with a female vocalist, but a large part of his recordings he plays alone with his guitar. His unique spontaneous style and incredible timing combined with percussive effects on the guitar, vocal eccenticities made some of this sides, the most passionate pieces of music ever recorded.

-Go to this wikipedia page for a more complete biography and a list of his recordings

-Go here to see Robert Crumb’s cartoon biography

-Music writer and musician Elijah Wald, who wrote a very interesting book about Robert Johnson (“Escaping the Delta”), wrote also a superb essay about Patton, where he tries to picture the musician in “context”, escaping the romanced and mythical proses so common about Blues icons.

-Really appropriate to this post i found this article by Robert K.D Peterson: “Charley Patton and his Mississippi Boweavil Blues”

-There are two books dedicated entirely to the life and music of Charley patton:one by guitar player John Fahey and the other by Stephen Calt and Gayle Wardlow.There are both out-of-print but you can maybe find them by doing a research on the net.

-You can have the Fahey book by buying the box-set he issued on his Revenant label along with 7 cds and a booklet. It’s pricey but a must-have for the real fan.

-Those with a low budget can nevertheless have Patton’s complete recordings with this JSP box-set or with excellent compilations issued by Yazoo records

-From my part, i offer you the 14 sides Patton recorded for his first session in Richmond in 1929:

1. Pony Blues
2. A Spoonful Blues
3. Down The Dirt Road Blues
4. Prayer Of Death, Pt. 1
5. Prayer Of Death, Pt. 1
6. Screamin’ & Hollerin’ The Blues
7. Banty Rooster Blues
8. Tom Rushen Blues
9. It Won’t Be Long
10. Shake It & Break It (But Don’t Let It Fall Mama)
11. Pea Vine Blues
12. Mississippi Boweavil Blues
13. Lord I’m Discouraged
14. I’m Goin’ Home

DOWNLOAD HERE

-When Paramount released “Mississippi Boweavil Blues” in 1929, instead of the artist’s name, they wrote “The Masked Marvel” and organized a contest for the customers to guess the real identity of the artist. The winner would win a free record of his choice… In 1952, on the Anthology, Harry Smith choosed to keep the “Masked Marvel” name on the record…

The Boll Weevil Variations

The Boll weevil, a little insect that feeds on cotton buds and flowers, originated in Mexico and migrated to the U.S in the late 19th century.First in the Texas area and then all across the South, it destroyed the cottonfields and plantations and caused the migration of thousands of farmers and field workers toward the northern big cities. It became the subject of many songs in the 20th century but the most famous of this “Boll weevil” songs present a rather humourous dialogue between a farmer and the little bug and the chorus most of the time, repeats the phrase “Looking for a home”. Folklorists think the song originated with black people and one of the older version is the one Charley Patton sang in his 1929 recording “Mississippi Bollweavil Blues”. It was sometimes sung in a manner of a “field holler” by blacks but Leadbelly’s version, which has the “looking for a home” chorus became the most famous, the one many folksingers sang during the Folk revival.

-For more informations about the boll weevil and the damages he made in the South go to this wikipedia page and on this page, wou’ll find many interesting articles.

-Go to Roger Mc Guinn’s Folk Den page to listen to his version and read the lyrics

-Like i said above, the boll weevil was widely sung during the 20th century and you can find versions in many genres of american popular music: Blues, Jazz, Country, Folk, Rock n’roll, etc… I’ve selected 60 performances that i liked, staying mostly in the folk/blues tradition, with numerous wonderful field recordings made by Alan Lomax and other across the South. I’ve included some versions from the pop/rock world (Fats Domino, Eddie Cochran) but didn’t include the Brook Benton version, which was a huge hit in the 1960’s (you can listen to it on Youtube).

(The title is always “Boll Weevil” “Boll Weavil” or “Boll Weevil Blues” unless where indicated)

“FIELD RECORDINGS, SONGSTERS, BLUESMEN…”

Part 1

1. Richard Amerson from Boll Weevil Here, Boll Weevil Everywhere – Field Recordings
   
2. Ma Raineyfrom Countin’ the Blues
   
3. Oscar Woods from Texas Blues: Early Blues Masters From The Lone Star State
   
4. Otis Webster from Country Negro Jam Session
   
5. Blind Jesse Harris from Field Recordings Vol. 4: Mississippi & Alabama (1934-1942)
   
6. Guitar Welch from 20 To Life: Prison Blues
   
7. Eubie Blakefrom Memories of You
   
8. Irvin ‘Gar Mouth’ Lowryfrom Boll Weevil Here, Boll Weevil Everywhere – Field Recordings
   
9. Baby Face Leroy Foster from Chicago Is Just That Way
   
10. Buster “Buzz” Ezell from Field Recordings Vol. 2: North & South Carolina, Georgia, Texas
    
11. Rev. J.M. Milton(Silk Worms And Boll Weevils) from Preachers And Congregations Vol. 5 (1926-1931)
    
12. Vera Hall from Boll Weevil Here, Boll Weevil Everywhere – Field Recordings
    
13. John Henry Barbee fromBlues Live
    
14. Jack Newman from Jack Newman (1938)
    
15. Asa Ware from Field Recordings Vol. 15  1941 – 1942 “Rock Me Shake Me”

DOWNLOAD HERE

Part 2

1. Bessie Smith from The Quintessence
   
2. Alf (Chicken Dad) Valentinefrom Boll Weevil Here, Boll Weevil Everywhere – Field Recordings
   
3. Gus Cannon from Walk Right In
   
4. Charles Griffin (Boll Weevil rag) from  Boll Weevil Here, Boll Weevil Everywhere – Field Recordings
   
5. Jaybird Coleman from The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of: Super Rarities
   
6. Lead Belly from Lead Belly Sings for Children
   
7. Finious (Flat Foot) Rockmore from Field Recordings Vol. 6: Texas (1933-1958)
   
8. Pink Anderson from Classic African American Ballads
   
9. Josh White from The Josh White Stories
   
10. Blind Willie McTell from The Devil Can’t Hide From Me
    
11. Willie George Albertine Kingfrom Field Recordings Vol. 5: Louisiana, Texas, Bahamas (1933-194
    
12. Muddy Waters from This Is Muddy Waters Vol.2
    
13. Mance Lipscomb (Ballad of the Boll Weevil) from Trouble In Mind
    
14. Willie Williams (Boll Weevil been here) fromField Recordings Vol. 12: Virginia & South Carolina (1936-19
    
15. Sid Hemphill and Lucius Smith from Field Recordings Vol. 15  1941 – 1942 “Rock Me Shake Me”

DOWNLOAD HERE

“OLD-TIME, COUNTRY, FOLK, ROCK N’ROLL…”

Part 3

1. Ramblin’Jack Elliott from Ramblin’ Jack
   
2. Erik Darling from Erik Darling Elektra lp
   
3. James Leva (Boll Weevil/Raleigh and Spencer) from Memory Theatre
   
4. Charlie Louvin (Dixie Boll Weevil) from Charlie Louvin Sings Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs
   
5. Lindsey And Conder from Rural Tennessee String Bands
   
6. Jim Plummer and The Firebirds fromMovin’ On
   
7. Tommy Jarrell fromDown to the Cider Mill
   
8. Jeanette Hicks fromThe Louisiana Hayride Archives
   
9. Jo-Ann Kelly from Do It And More
   
10. Old Crow Medicine Show from Eutaw
    
11. Sam Hinton from I’ll Sing You a Story
    
12. Dan Zanes & Kyra Middleton from Give US Your Poor
    
13. Nate Leath from Rockville Pike
    
14. Bill Bonyunfrom Who Built America: American History Through Its Folksongs
    
15. Fred Gerlach from Twelve-String Guitar: Folk Songs and Blues Sung and Played by Fred Gerlach

DOWNLOAD HERE

Part 4

1. Guy Carawan from Songs with Guy Carawan
   
2. Tommy Faile from Oh Brother Can You Spare a Dime
   
3. Carl Sandburg from The Great Carl Sandburg:  Songs of America
   
4. Tex Ritter from Tex Ritter
   
5. John-Alex Mason from Town and Country
   
6. Sid Selvidgefrom Live At Otherlands
   
7. Woody Guthrie from Complete Master Records
   
8. Fiddlin’ John Carson (Dixie Boll Weevil)from People Take Warning! Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs 1913-19
   
9. Eddie Cochran from’50’s Greatest Rock ‘N’ Roll, Vol. 2
   
10. Pete Seeger from American Favorite Ballads, Vol. 3
    
11. Shirley Collins and Davey Graham from Folk Roots, New Routes
12. Hermes Nyefrom Texas Folk Song
    
13. Fats Domino from The Greatest R&B Hits Of 1956
    
14. Hallie Ormand fromOzark Folksongs
    
15. Spider John Koernerfrom Raised By Humans

DOWNLOAD HERE

(Photos are : Cottonfields workers, Sid Hemphill and Lucius Smith, Tommy jarrell, Spider John Koerner)

Down The Dirt Road Blues

Prayer Of Death, Pt. 1

Prayer Of Death, Pt. 1

Screamin’ & Hollerin’ The Blues

Banty Rooster Blues

Tom Rushen Blues

It Won’t Be Long

Shake It & Break It (But Don’t Let It Fall Mama)

Pea Vine Blues

Mississippi Boweavil Blues

Lord I’m Discouraged

I’m Goin’ HomePony Blues

A Spoonful Blues

Down The Dirt Road Blues

Prayer Of Death, Pt. 1

Prayer Of Death, Pt. 1

Screamin’ & Hollerin’ The Blues

Banty Rooster Blues

Tom Rushen Blues

It Won’t Be Long

Shake It & Break It (But Don’t Let It Fall Mama)

Pea Vine Blues

Mississippi Boweavil Blues

Lord I’m Discouraged

I’m Goin’ Home