Gavin B.

Song of the Day


Sam Chatmon with his guitar and his dog Charley in front of his home in Hollendale Mississippi.

Brownskin Women- Sam Chatmon I first met Sam Chatmon when I reviewed blues concert of his with another blues legend Sleepy John Estes at Webster Groves University in St. Louis in the early Seventies. Sam was the longest living of the first generation of the original blues singers from the Mississippi delta region and a bit of a living legend among blues fans.

Sam was the brother of blues master Lonnie Chatmon and half-brother of the notorious ragtime singer Bo Carter. Bo Carter was the founder of the Mississippi Sheiks the very first blues band and both Lonnie and Sam Chatmon were members of the Mississippi Sheiks in it's glory days in the 1920s. The Sheiks not only played the blues but also mastered most of the jazz and ragtime standards of the day. Both the Chatmon and Carter families were all high colored (light skinned) French creole blacks, many of whom passed for white under Jim Crow laws, but Sam told me he never thought of himself as anything other than a black man from Mississippi.

From the birth of the Mississippi blues in the second decade of the 20th Century, the Sheiks set the standard of musicianship. Their records often sold over 10,000 copies which was the equivalent of double platinum in the black music industry in the 20s and 30s. In those days a blues song was a smash hit if it sold 4 to 5 thousand units.

Before the rise of Ellington and Basie in the mid Thirties, the blues and jazz music of black musicians wasn't played on the radio. In the Twenties, the jukebox in a black owned juke joint was the only place to hear the latest blues and jazz hits in the rural South. The Mississippi Sheiks were instantly recognizable music stars in this world of juke joints and road houses in the rural south in the 1920s.

The Sheiks were certainly better known in their own time, than the "father of the delta blues," Robert Johnson. Chatmon was 14 years older than Robert Johnson and as a young teenager Johnson idolized music of the Sheiks and Lonnie Chatmon in particular. Robert Johnson lived long enough to record an albums worth of music that was released in 1937 and a few months later Johnson was murdered shortly before he was to appear at the 1938 Spirituals to Swing Concert in Madison Square Garden in New York which would have undoubtedly launched his career.

In the early 1930s Sam Chatmon left the Mississippi Sheiks and went solo Throughout the '30s, Sam traveled throughout the south, playing with a variety of minstrel and medicine shows. Sam told me that Robert Johnson frequently played on the same bill as his opening act. Another much younger aspiring blues player named Muddy Waters also opened shows for Sam Chatmon in the late 1930s. He stopped traveling in the early 1940s, making himself a home in Hollandale, Mississippi, where he worked on the local cotton plantations.

Sam jump started his musical career during the blues revival of the late Sixties and enjoyed another 15 years in the musical spotlight, right up until his death in 1983. Sam was truly grateful for another shot at the stage when he was well past retirement age. Sam used to say,"There aren't many second acts in life, but I'm one of them." He was right and Sam went on and outlived all of his first generation blues contemporaries like Furry Lewis, Skip James, Mississippi John Hurt, and Bukka White who also got a second chance at stardom during the blues revival of the 60s.

The song embedded, Brownskin Women is a variation on Big Road Blues a song originally recorded by another one Sam Chatmon's musical peers, Tommy Johnson. Notice how Sam works the walking bass line on his guitar... He reaches under the low E string with his thumb and then snaps off the low E string to get an amazing effect. Sam is one of a less than a dozen or so blues guitarists who mastered this difficult technique. Sam always told me he invented the this string snapping technique. He also told me he was only guitarist on the face of the earth who knew how to snap the strings in precisely the right manner. You hear a lot of this sort of self promoting bravado and musical brinksmanship if you hang around long enough with old blues men, but as far as I could tell Sam wasn't just making an idle boast with that particular story of his.

Gavin B.

Song of the Day


Musician and music historian Ry Cooder


Vigilante Man- Ry Cooder Thanks to the dilligent efforts of the BBC Four music archivists, we have this perfectly preserved vintage early 70s video of the brilliant Ry Cooder playing a fire-breathing version of Woody Guthrie's anti-lynch mob classic Vigilante Man. Ry's use of a slide guitar brings a dark and menancing ambient to Guthrie's classic Dustbowl ballad. Vigilantism claimed the lives of thousands of innocents during the Great Depression.

Most victims of vigilantism were nothing more than honest economic refugees who hitch-hiked and rode the rails in search of gainful employment. Vigilantism is still a uniquely American problem even in this day and age. The victims in the 1930s were refugees from the Dust Bowl regions of Texas and Okalahoma. Today's victims are undocumented migrant farmworkers from Mexico who paid starvation wages to harvest the bounty of food crops in this nation. Slavery was never really ended. Now the grower will simply pay his farmworking slaves $5 an hour. In the 1850s, a slave might have been working for nothing, but at least the plantation owner paid the cost of the slave's room, board and medical care. That kind of good old fashioned slavery may have been a far better deal than the current farmworker wage of 5 bucks an hour with no benefits. It's hard for me to believe the vigilante man's specious claim that a $5 an hour undocumented Mexican farmworker is a threat to my employment security and my economic survival.

John Stienbeck wrote the following passage about the malignant vigilante subculture during the Great Depression of the 30s.



Vigilante Man
Words and Music by Woody Guthrie

Have you seen that vigilante man?
Have you seen that vigilante man?
Have you seen that vigilante man?
I been hearin' his name all over the land.
Well, what is a vigilante man?
Tell me, what is a vigilante man?
Has he got a gun and a club in his hand?
Is that is a vigilante man?

Rainy night down in the engine house,
Sleepin' just as still as a mouse,
Man come along an' he chased us out in the rain.
Was that a vigilante man?

Stormy days we passed the time away,
Sleepin' in some good warm place.
Man come along an' we give him a little race.
Was that a vigilante man?

Preacher Casey was just a workin' man,
And he said, "Unite all you working men."
Killed him in the river some strange man.
Was that a vigilante man?

Oh, why does a vigilante man,
Why does a vigilante man
Carry that sawed-off shot-gun in his hand?
Would he shoot his brother and sister down?

I rambled 'round from town to town,
I rambled 'round from town to town,
And they herded us around like a wild herd of cattle.
Was that the vigilante men?

Have you seen that vigilante man?
Have you seen that vigilante man?
I've heard his name all over this land.

Gavin B.

UPDATE:

I wanted to post Woody Guthrie's version of Vigilante Man along with Ry Cooders version for today's Song of the Day, but I couldn't find any reasonably decent recordings of the Woody version of the song on YouTube. So, I uploaded my own improved version of the 1940 Library of Congress recording by Guthrie but YouTube didn't process it until well after I posted the Cooder version.

I really didn't think YouTube would post a decent version of the song because Sony Music International recently purchased the digital rights to a large portion of Woody's Library of Congress catalog. So listen to Woody's version while you can because I have a feeling that somebody Sony will come along and pull Woody's version of Vigilante Man off YouTube in the next day or so.

Gavin B.

Song of the Day



Reefer Man- Cab Calloway This is a beautifully restored music 1935 music film of a hyperactive Cab Calloway singing Reefer Man. It's amazing how many songs about marijuana come out of that era. Cab Calloway was the first swing band leader to emerge from Harlem's legendary Cotton Club who premiered such great jazz musicians as Ellington, Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Ben Webster and Doc Cheatham.

Gavin B.

Song of the Day


Saint Etienne fuses the 60s sounds of London with electronic dance music.

Sylvie- Saint Etienne Saint Etienne almost singlehandedly made indie dance music a viable genre in the London club scene. Another group, Massive Attack, introduced their own darker brand of reggae and dub influenced dance music to the west of London in Bristol at the same time Saint Etienne hit the London club scene.

Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs formed Saint Etienne in 1987 as a highly conceptual pop group that fused the 60s sounds of swinging mod London with the revved up 130 beats-per-minute riddims of electronic house music played in American discothèques catering to Black and Latino patrons in the mid-80s. In 1991, the luminously beautiful Sarah Cracknell was added as Saint Etienne's vocalist and front person. Sarah had a breathy and seductive voice, not unlike that of Diana Ross, and her chic sense of style made her a fashion icon in London.



Saint Etienne's first album Fox Base Alpha (1992), along with Massive Attack's debut effort, Blue Lines (1991) became two of the most influential albums of the 90s. Both bands sold a respectable number of albums but most of the British music press was focused on coverage of more traditional Britpop groups like Blur, Oasis, The Verve, and Stone Roses when Saint Etienne first appeared in the early 90s. In the USA Saint Etienne got lost in the shuffle as all eyes turned toward Seattle the new music Mecca of the United States.

Saint Etienne's impact took an entire genration to settle. The next generation of British post-Millenium artists like Imogen Heap, Natasha Kahn (Bat for Lashes), Lily Allen, and Alison Goldfrapp have all been influenced and expanded upon Saint Etienne's dance electronica. In America, Regina Spektor, Alison Sudul (A Fine Frenzy), and Joan Wasser (Joan As A Police Woman) have led the way. And Australia's Sia (full name Sia Furler) has introduced a soulful jazz influenced brand of dance electronica.

Saint Etienne maintains a sizeable following of fans in the UK but the band has never gained a large audience in the hip-hop driven American dance/electronica music scene.

Sylvie come from Saint Etienne's 1998 album, Good Humor. The older sister/younger sister rivalry gets a new story line in Sylvie. I love how the video reenacts out the story of the song. It looks like the video was filmed in and around Havana Cuba, but I can't say for sure. Saint Etienne is still a performing band and you can find out more about them at London Conversations: The Official Saint Etienne Website

Gavin B.

Song of the Day



The talented musician and performance artist Imogen Heap

Hide and Seek- Imogen Heap Imogen is the vivacious, funny and gorgeous performance artist, singer and multi-instrumentalists who has greatly expanded her following via her confessional video blog on YouTube, over the past couple of years. Imogen is also a member of Frou Frou a band that hasn't been very active over the past five or so years.

Imogen began her v-blog in 2007, when she moved back into her family house and built a recording studio to begin work on her third solo album Elipse which was finally released just a couple of weeks ago to much critical acclaim. Imogen has made her blog a showcase for her whimsical musings, her skewed sense of humor and her considerable musical talents. The v-blog is also the story of her own struggles with the creative process and the difficulties of making an album without any assistance from a record label or the mainstream institutions of popular music.

Imogen reminds me a quite bit of Laurie Anderson the New York City performance artist who pioneered avant garde electronica in the 80s. Laurie is also the wife of V.U. founder and rock and roll animal Lou Reed.

Below is a live performance of Hide and Seek by Imogen on a live Internet music show.



Hide and Seek
Lyrics and Music by Imogen Heap

Where are we? What the hell is going on?
The dust has only just begun to fall,
Crop circles in the carpet, sinking, feeling.
Spin me round again and rub my eyes.
This can't be happening.
When busy streets a mess with people
would stop to hold their heads heavy.

Hide and seek.
Trains and sewing machines.
All those years they were here first.

Oily marks appear on walls
Where pleasure moments hung before.
The takeover, the sweeping insensitivity of this
still life.

Hide and seek.
Trains and sewing machines. (Oh, you won't catch me around here)
Blood and tears,
They were here first.

Mmm, what you say?
Mm, that you only meant well? Well, of course you did.
Mmm, what you say?
Mm, that it's all for the best? Ah of course it is.
Mmm, what you say?
Mm, that it's just what we need? And you decided this.
Mmm what you say?
What did she say?

Ransom notes keep falling out your mouth.
Mid-sweet talk, newspaper word cut-outs.
Speak no feeling, no I don't believe you.
You don't care a bit. You don't care a bit.

Ransom notes keep falling out your mouth.
Mid-sweet talk, newspaper word cut-outs.
Speak no feeling, no I don't believe you.
You don't care a bit. You don't care a bit.

You don't care a bit.
You don't care a bit.
You don't care a bit.
You don't care a bit.
You don't care a bit.

__________________________________________________ _________



The World Famous Imogen Heap Video Blog Imogen began her v-blog in 2007, when she moved back into her family house and built a recording studio to begin work on her third solo album Elipse which was finally released just a couple of weeks ago to much critical acclaim. Imogen has made her blog a showcase for her whimsical musings, her skewed sense of humor and her considerable musical talents. The v-blog is also the story of her own struggles with the creative process and the difficulties of making an album without any assistance from a record label or the mainstream institutions of popular music.

Embedded below is my favorite episode (#24) of Ms. Heap's v-blog in which she demonstrates how to play a Burmese percussion instrument called the hang. Imogen's larger than life personae has the velocity of a tsunami. For all her her mile a minute verbage, she's a fascinating raconteur with a natural talent for story telling.

Bulldog

I've come across Imogen Heap's name somewhere before. Couldn't remember where it was if you paid me to though, probably one of my many browse-athons for good new sounds on the world wide web. Clearly I didn't bother getting hold of any of her stuff at the time. That Hide and Seek does sound pretty interesting though. Very intriguing artist and personality overall. As soon as I can be bothered to go on another new music spree, I might just have to see what I can find of her's.

Gavin B.

Song of the Day


Steve & Emmylou

Goodbye- Steve Earle with Emmylou Harris Steve Earle has been such a hellraiser and has composed so many tough minded anti-establishment songs over the years, I was caught off guard when he wrote Goodbye a stunning love song that will break your heart. I will say no more...the simple poetic elegance of the song speaks for itself.



Goodbye
Lyrics and Music by Steve Earle

I remember holdin on to you
All them long and lonely nights I put you through
Somewhere in there I'm sure I made you cry
But I can't remember if we said goodbye


But I recall all of them nights down in Mexico
One place I may never go in my life again
Was I just off somewhere just too high
But I can't remember if we said goodbye

I only miss you here every now and then
Like the soft breeze blowin; up from the Caribbean
Most Novembers I break down and cry
But I can't remember if we said goodbye

But I recall all of them nights down in Mexico
One place I may never go in my life again
Was I just off somewhere just too high
But I can't remember if we said goodbye

Bulldog

Not so familiar with Emmylou Harris' later stuff, ie post-70s material. Wrecking Ball is arguably her best album though, and last year's All I Intended To Be is a very good late offering. Again, like with Imogen Heap, my brush with Earle and Harris was a very brief one. Can't even remember which song I heard - it was very probably the very one you've highlighted there. Great little performing duo though.

Gavin B.

Goodbye may seem familar to you is because Emmy does a version of the song on Wrecking Ball, the album you mentioned in your post. Below is a video of that recording. Wrecking Ball was produced by Daniel Lanois. Lanois has produced some of the most critically acclaimed albums of Brian Eno, U2, the Neville Bros and Bob Dylan. Lanois had a lot to do with the sparse minimalist sound of Wrecking Ball.

Emmy has done several covers of Steve Earle's songs and they are frequent musical collborators. In the early 90s Steve's career went into a tailspin due to his heavy drug use and he lost his record contract with MCA. After that Earle moved into rough African American neighborhood in West Nashville and became a persona grata in the eyes of the Nashville music establishment. Steve had several run ins with the law culminating in his year long sentence to jail on a heroin charge in 1994, and by all stories I've heard, Emmylou was his only ally.

I learned a lot about was happening with Steve's scrapes with the law because I wrote for the roots rock magazine No Depression in the mid 90s. He got a year long sentence in jail but Steve finally ended up in rehab and he was a big success story.

Steve Earle is a personal hero of mine and I think when all is said done he will be remembered as the Johnny Cash of his generation. More than any other artist, Steve is responsible for reigniting the interest is roots rock and country music that led to the post-Millenium success of roots musicians like Wilco, Ryan Adams, Lucinda Williams, Gillian Welch and Neko Case.