The Songster Tradition 1927-1935 (Document, 1991)

The Songster Tradition 1927-1935 is arguably the most compelling title in the Document 5000 Series of compact discs that were originally released in the 1990s. In contrast to the eminently listenable albums put out by Yazoo, Document's counterparts often contained a significant amount of filler in order to present a musician's complete works in chronological order. Every now and then, however, certain compilations featured those rare artists whose recordings maintained a consistently high standard from one track to the next. The Songster Tradition is such an anthology since it can be listened to from beginning to end without the need to click the skip button to get to the next song.

As its title suggests, this collection gathers together performances by black musicians known as songsters whose repertories largely consisted of material that predated the blues. These proto-blues recordings often included ballads, coon songs, rags, and other types of music that had been popular from the late 1800s up until 1920 or so. One of the most fascinating aspects of the history of race records is that labels did not always document African-American music as it currently existed but rather as it had previously been. In this day and age when change seem to occur faster than ever and elements of popular culture more than a mere month old are considered passe, such a concept may be very difficult to comprehend. But back during the early 20th Century when there were no cell phones or Internet and distinctly regional forms of black folk culture still flourished in the relative isolation of the rural South, it was not uncommon to find songsters and other proto-blues musicians whose recordings from the 1920s consisted of material that was already 20 to 40 years old. To add to the confusion, there is the age of the blues itself. Most music scholars seem to agree that blues as it is recognized today must have developed around 1900 or so. However, it wasn't until the 1920s and 1930s that it reached its peak in popularity and the concept of a blues singer - that is, a musician whose repertory is made up exclusively of blues songs - came into being, which was probably something that record companies had artificially imposed anyway. During the interim, songsters were the ones who played and popularized this style of music as demonstrated by the number of blues and proto-blues songs that appear on this compilation. Thus, even someone like Charlie Patton, known as "The Founder of the Delta Blues," could be considered a songster when one stops to consider his complete discography. But I digress...

THE DOWN HOME BOYS (L TO R): "LONG CLEVE" REED, PAPA HARVEY
HULL & SUNNY WILSON - FROM AN ADVERTISEMENT FOR BLACK PATTI
RECORDS THAT APPEARED IN A 1927 ISSUE OF THE CHICAGO DEFENDER

The first musicians presented on The Songster Tradition are the Down Home Boys, a trio that included vocalist Papa Harvey Hull as well as guitarists "Long Cleve" Reed and Sunny Wilson. Blues historians Stephen Calt and Chris Smith posit that they were natives of northern Mississippi, a region that is as musically different from the Delta as it is geographically. Their recorded legacy is the epitome of the songster sound, featuring a coon song ("Gang of Brown Skin Women," a retitled version of "I've Got a Gal for Ev'ry Day in the Week"), a bad man ballad ("Original Stack O'Lee Blues") and material that probably dates from circa 1900, including the superb "Don't You Leave Me Here" (an "Alabama Bound" variant), "Mama You Don't Know How," "Hey! Lawdy Mama - The France Blues" (my favorite), and "Two Little Tommies Blues." The last two numbers are particularly noteworthy for the artists' fantastic harmony singing, a characteristic much more prevalent in proto-blues material than in blues. All six of these sides are magnificent, and it's a shame that the Down Home Boys never recorded again after 1927. Big Boy Cleveland is a biographical non-entity, although I've seen other writers classify him as a Memphis or northern Mississippi musician based mostly on his playing style. His first side, "Quill Blues," has to be one of the most delightfully primitive recordings ever made. Although Cleveland was adept on pan pipes like fellow songster Henry "Ragtime Texas" Thomas, he differed in that he plays it unaccompanied (at least in this particular case), imparting this instrumental performance with an almost African flavor. "Goin' to Leave You Blues" sounds like it could have been recorded by a completely different musician what with the singer's eerie vocals and a slide guitar style that at times recalls Furry Lewis. For unknown reasons, Cleveland muffs the last verse and the song ends somewhat abruptly, which actually adds to the performance in my estimation. William and Versey Smith are two more mystery musicians who recorded a few sides, and then dropped off the face of the earth. William is the lead singer and presumably the guitarist, while his wife (?), Versey, provides vocal accompaniment and probably plays the tambourine. They display an appealing call-and-response singing style not unlike Blind Willie Johnson and his female partners, especially on the spirituals "I Believe I'll Go Back Home" and "Sinner You'll Need King Jesus," the latter of which the aforementioned gospel guitarist recorded as "You're Gonna Need Somebody on Your Bond." "When that Great Ship Went Down," of course, is a ballad about the sinking of the Titanic, and, judging by its title and lyrics, "Everybody Help the Boys Come Home" must be a song dating from World War I.

THE ONLY KNOWN PHOTO OF LUKE JORDAN, CIRCA LATE 1940s

For whatever reason, prewar blues from Virginia was not extensively recorded during the 1920s, and proto-blues even less so. Therefore, we should consider ourselves fortunate that Victor Records saw fit to record a significant number of sides by guitarist Luke Jordan during two sessions in 1927 and 1929. Although his voice bears a superficial resemblance to that of Skip James, his guitar style, which Chris Smith describes as having "an intriguing Latin influence," was utterly his own. Regarded as his signature song, "Church Bells Blues" was apparently something Jordan had learned from other musicians around 1914. Its lyrics express wry condemnation of organized religion (some lines also appear in Rube Lacy's "Ham Hound Crave") mixed in with several sets of floating verses. "Pick Poor Robin Clean" is a song of even older vintage with its animal characters recalling other anthropomorphic figures in African-American folklore such as Br'er Rabbit. It is another piece that was also done by musicians from Mississippi, in this case Geeshie Wiley and Elvie Thomas. The test pressings of these two songs provide a fascinating opportunity to hear how such material evolved both musically and lyrically during the short span of just one recording session. "Cocaine Blues" graphically describes the dangers of this particular narcotic ("The doctor said it will kill you, but he didn't say when") as well as the risks of buying merchandise from the furniture man with easy credit, suggesting a possible amalgam of at least two other songs. (The Holy Modal Rounders did a cover version in their own inimitable style on their Indian War Whoop LP that is definitely worth hearing.) "Traveling Coon" celebrates a wandering black man with supernatural powers who uses such abilities for getting off the Titanic just before it sinks, escaping a hostile courtroom, and generally outfoxing white people. Musically, "My Gal's Done Quit Me" seems to be cut from the same cloth as "Church Bells Blues," while "Won't You be Kind?" comes off as a kind of manifesto for the lifestyle of a rounder (Jordan?) dependent on the charity of his multiple girlfriends. Eli Framer is another near-cipher about whom we know very little other than his possible origins in Alabama. Although both "Framer's Blues" and "God Didn't Make Me No Monkey Man" are arguably more blues than songster material, their respective characteristics suggest that they are blues of the earliest variety. Regardless of the label attached to them, these are both very engaging performances. Although recorded comparatively late in the game (1935), Louie Lasky's bold flatpicking style (an early influence on Big Bill Broonzy) hearkens back to earlier forms of African-American music. While "How You Want Your Rollin' Done" (a better-sounding version is available here) and the similar "Teasin' Brown" both fall within the blues idiom, the references in "Caroline" to Priscilla Dean and Gloria Swanson, two movie actresses popular in the 1910s, suggest that Lasky was old enough to have been part of the songster generation.

As for the banjo-playing Uncle Remus figure on the booklet cover, I have no idea who it is as he is never identified, nor is banjo featured on any of the tracks included on this release. Anyway, try not to let such minor details interfere with your listening pleasure.

1. Gang of Brown Skin Women - The Down Home Boys
2. Hey! Lawdy Mama - The France Blues - The Down Home Boys
3. Two Little Tommies Blues - The Down Home Boys
4. Don't You Leave Me Here - The Down Home Boys
5. Mama You Don't Know How - The Down Home Boys
6. Original Stack O'Lee Blues - The Down Home Boys
7. Quill Blues - Big Boy Cleveland
8. Goin' to Leave You Blues - Big Boy Cleveland
9. I Believe I'll Go Back Home - William and Versey Smith
10. When that Great Ship Went Down - William and Versey Smith
11. Everybody Help the Boys Come Home - William and Versey Smith
12. Sinner You'll Need King Jesus - William and Versey Smith
13. Church Bells Blues (test pressing) - Luke Jordan
14. Church Bells Blues - Luke Jordan
15. Pick Poor Robin Clean (test pressing) - Luke Jordan
16. Pick Poor Robin Clean - Luke Jordan
17. Cocaine Blues - Luke Jordan
18. Traveling Coon - Luke Jordan
19. My Gal's Done Quit Me - Luke Jordan
20. Won't You Be Kind? - Luke Jordan
21. Framer's Blues - Eli Framer
22. God Didn't Make Me No Monkey Man - Eli Framer
23. How You Want Your Rollin' Done - Louie Lasky
24. Teasin' Brown Blues - Louie Lasky
25. Caroline - Louie Lasky