Papa Charlie Jackson 1925-1928 (Biograph, 1972)

The advent and passing of several blues revivals has still unfortunately not given the recognition that this important prewar African American musician deserves. Papa Charlie Jackson's origins are obscure, although he is believed originally to have come from New Orleans before relocating to Chicago sometime in the early 1900s. Once in the Windy City, he became a very successful street performer, especially on the Near West Side, where he routinely played at the famed Maxwell Street market. His popularity eventually led to him being signed by the Paramount label, where he waxed more than 60 sides between 1924 and 1929. In addition to his extremely deep repertory of material, Jackson owes his significance to the fact that he was the first major self-accompanied male blues singer to release records, an important distinction since the genre's recorded vocalists had been limited to women up to that point. Technically speaking, however, there were predecessors. Guitarist Sylvester Weaver, of course, had recorded a pair of blues instrumentals in 1923, while the lone 78 by early Atlanta blues singer and guitarist Ed Andrews had apparently preceded Jackson's debut release by a few months.


Black music scholars have long debated Jackson's classification as a blues artist. Although blues made up a large portion of his musical stockpile, he might more accurately be described as a songster since his recorded legacy also includes, as Don Kent explains in this LP's liner notes, "white songs, vaudeville numbers, 'coon' songs, and original numbers as well as the raggy and traditional songs that cluster on the boundaries of what constitutes a blues. It may well represent the best example of the range of a black country performer at the turn of the century." Indeed, his daytime profession as street musician required Jackson to be conversant in a number of musical styles since he was subject to a wide variety of requests from his diverse urban audience. Some blues historians have theorized that Papa Charlie's repertory was for the most part passe by the time he became a recording artist, a reflection of the music industry's delayed reaction in recording music that was currently popular in black culture. (This is something that I discuss in greater detail in my review of The Songster Tradition 1927-1935.) Perhaps Jackson's most distinctive characteristic is his capable utilization of the six-string banjo, which, due to the membrane stretched over its frame, possesses a sound similar to the more common four-string and five-string models but has the neck of a guitar and is tuned and played in the same manner of the latter instrument.

The songs on this collection are often lighthearted and humorous in comparison to the more lowdown and emotionally intense blues records that became increasingly popular as the decade wore on. Sexual double entendre is frequent in these performances as are figures of speech whose meanings have been lost in the mists of time. Thus, the titles of "Coal Man Blues" (which features a second, more traditional banjoist handling lead instrument duties and providing vocal encouragement), "Butter and Egg Man Blues," and "Cat's Got the Measles" should not necessarily be taken literally. Sides like "Mama Don't You Think I Know" and "Ash Tray Blues" are more bluesy than blues in my estimation, while "Maxwell Street Blues" and "Sheik of Des Plaines Street" make references to the Near West Side neighborhoods in which Jackson lived and performed. (As an aside, I would often walk around this area during my lunch breaks when I previously worked at the University of Illinois at Chicago many years ago and tried to imagine where Papa Charlie might have played during his heyday.) As its title suggests, "Skoodle Um Skoo" - named after a dance - is a delightful bit of nonsense that was influential enough to have been covered by Big Bill Broonzy, and the cocaine-inspired "All I Want Is a Spoonful" marks the first time this song was recorded before variants by the likes of Charlie Patton and Charley Jordan were also committed to wax. To my ears, "Take Me Back Blues" seems to be what early blues circa 1900 must have sounded like, with "Hot Papa Blues" and "Jungle Man Blues" serving as musical excuses for Jackson's boasting. With the exception of its opening line, "I Got What It Takes" has no other similarities to Bessie Smith's like-named song but is an excellent performance in its own right. In regard to "No Need of Knockin' on the Blind," I'll quote the aforementioned Don Kent, who describes it as a "hokum song which probably tore 'em up in (the) boondocks." I couldn't have said it better myself.


1. Coal Man Blues
2. Mama Don't You Think I Know
3. Maxwell Street Blues
4. Skoodle Um Skoo
5. All I Want Is a Spoonful
6. Take Me Back Blues
7. Butter and Egg Man Blues
8. Cat's Got the Measles
9. Sheik of Des Plaines Street
10. Hot Papa Blues
11. Jungle Man Blues
12. I Got What It Takes
13. Ash Tray Blues
14. No Need of Knockin' on the Blind