THIS ONE's FOR CHAZ

It's been a little while since we've featured some music here on STORMBRINGER . . .



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GOOD MORNIN' BLUES

Huddie Lead Belly Ledbetter was born in 1888 or 1889 on a plantation near Mooringsport, Louisiana, but the family moved to Leigh, Texas, when he was five. By 1903, Lead Belly was already a singer and guitarist of some note. He performed for nearby Shreveport, Louisiana audiences. Lead Belly began to develop his own style of music after exposure to a variety of musical influences of the saloons, brothels, and dance halls in the notorious St. Paul's Bottoms red-light district.


Prison years


Lead Belly's volatile temper sometimes led him into trouble with the law. In 1915 he was convicted "of carrying a pistol" and sentenced to do time on the Harrison County chain gang, from which he escaped. In January 1918 he was imprisoned a second time, this time after killing one of his relatives, Will Stafford, in a fight over a woman. In 1918 he was incarcerated in Sugar Land, Texas, where he probably learned the song "Midnight Special". In 1925 he was pardoned and released after writing a song appealing to Governor Pat Morris Neff for his freedom, appealing to his strong religious beliefs.

In 1930, Lead Belly was back in prison for attempted homicide after he knifed a white man in a fight. It was there, three years later, that he was "discovered" by musicologists John Lomax and son Alan Lomax during a visit to the Angola Prison Farm. They recorded hundreds of his songs on portable aluminum disc recording equipment for the Library of Congress.

Lead Belly was released again on August 1, 1934, after the Lomaxes took a petition to Louisiana Governor Oscar K. Allen at Lead Belly's urgent request. The petition was on the other side of a recording of his signature song, "Goodnight Irene."


Moniker

There are several, somewhat conflicting stories about Lead Belly's famous nickname. Some say his fellow inmates dubbed him "Lead Belly" as a play on his last name and reference to his physical toughness; others say he earned the name after being shot in the stomach with shotgun buckshot. Another theory has it that the name refers to his ability to drink homemade liquor (moonshine).

Whatever its origin, he adopted the nickname as a pseudonym while performing, and it stuck. Regarding his toughness, it is also recounted that during his second prison term, another inmate stabbed him in the neck (leaving him with a fearsome scar that he subsequently covered with a bandanna), and he took the knife away and in turn almost killed his attacker with it.




Fame, but not Fortune

By the time Lead Belly was released from prison, the United States was deep in the Great Depression and jobs were very scarce. In September 1934, Lead Belly met with John A. Lomax and for three months he assisted the 67-year-old John Lomax in his folk song collecting in the South.

In December, Lead Belly participated in a "smoker" (group sing) at an MLA meeting in Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, where he was written up in the press as a convict who had sung his way out of prison. On New Year's Day, 1935, the pair arrived in New York City, where John Lomax was scheduled to meet with his publisher, Macmillan, about a new collection of folk songs. The newspapers were eager to write about the "singing convict" and Time magazine made one of its first filmed March of Time newsreels about him. Lead Belly attained fame (though not fortune).

Life magazine ran a three-page article titled, "Lead Belly - Bad Nigger Makes Good Minstrel," in the April 19, 1937 issue. It included a full-page, color (rare in those days) picture of him sitting on grain sacks playing his guitar and singing. Lead Belly continued to struggle financially. Like many performers, what income he made during his lifetime would come from touring, not from record sales.




In 1939, Lead Belly was back in jail for assault, after stabbing a man in a fight in Manhattan. Alan Lomax, then 24, took him under his wing and helped raise money for his legal expenses, dropping out of graduate school to do so.

After his release (in 1940-41), Lead Belly appeared as a regular on Alan Lomax and Nicholas Ray's groundbreaking CBS radio show Back Where I Come From, broadcast nationwide. He also appeared in night clubs with Josh White, becoming a fixture in New York City's surging folk music scene and befriending the likes of Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, Woody Guthrie, and a young Pete Seeger, all fellow performers on Back Where I Come From.

During the first half of the decade he recorded for RCA, the Library of Congress, and for Moe Asch (future founder of Folkways Records), and in 1944 headed to California, where he recorded strong sessions for Capitol Records. In 1949 Lead Belly had a regular radio broadcast on station WNYC in New York on Sunday nights on Henrietta Yurchenko's show. Later in the year he began his first European tour with a trip to France. Lead Belly was the first American country blues musician to see success in Europe.

BLUES 101

- by Anonymous Blues Dog




If you are new to Blues music, or like it but never really understood the whys and wherefores, here are some very fundamental rules:


1. Most Blues begin with: "Woke up this mornin’ . . ."

2. "I got a good woman" is a bad way to begin the Blues, unless you stick something nasty in the next line like, "I got a good woman, with the meanest face in town."

3. The Blues is simple. After you get the first line right, repeat it. Then find
something that rhymes - sort of: "Got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Yes, I got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Got teeth like Margaret Thatcher and she weigh 500 pound."




4. The Blues is not about choice. You stuck in a ditch, you stuck in a ditch . . . ain't no way out.

5. Blues cars: Chevys, Fords, Cadillacs and broken-down trucks. Blues don't travel in Volvos, BMWs, or Sport Utility Vehicles. Most Blues transportation is a Greyhound bus or a southbound train. Jet aircraft and state-sponsored motor pools ain't even in the running. Walkin' plays a major part in the Blues lifestyle. So does fixin' to die.

6. Teenagers can't sing the Blues; they ain't fixin' to die yet. Adults sing the Blues. In Blues, "adulthood" means being old enough to get the electric chair if you shoot a man in Memphis.



7. Blues can take place in New York City but not in Hawaii or anywhere in Canada. Hard times in Minneapolis or Seattle is probably just clinical depression. Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City are still the best places to have the Blues. You cannot have the Blues in any place that don't get no rain.

8. A man with male pattern baldness ain't the Blues. A woman with male pattern baldness is. Breaking your leg 'cause you were skiing is not the Blues. Breaking your leg 'cause a alligator be chomping on it is.

9. You can't have no Blues in an office or a shopping mall. The lighting is wrong. Go outside to the parking lot or sit by the dumpster.



10. Good places for the Blues:
a. highway
b. jailhouse
c. empty bed
d. bottom of a whiskey glass

11. Bad places for the Blues:
a. Nordstrom's
b. gallery openings
c. Ivy League institutions
d. golf courses

12. No one will believe it's the Blues if you wear a suit, 'less you happen to be an old person, and you slept in it.



13. Do you have the right to sing the Blues?

Yes, if:
a. you're older than dirt
b. you're blind
c. you shot a man in Memphis
d. you can't be satisfied

No, if:
a. you have all your teeth
b. you were once blind but now can see
c. the man in Memphis lived
d. you have a 401K or trust fund

14. Blues is not a matter of color. It's a matter of bad luck. Tiger Woods cannot sing the Blues. Sonny Liston could have. Ugly white people also got a leg up on the Blues.

15. If you ask for water and your darlin' gives you gasoline, it's the Blues. Other acceptable Blues beverages are:
a. cheap wine
b. whiskey or bourbon
c. muddy water
d. black coffee



The following are NOT Blues beverages:
a. Perrier
b. Chardonnay
c. Snapple
d. Slim Fast

16. If death occurs in a cheap motel or a shotgun shack, it's a Blues death. Stabbed in the back by a jealous lover is another Blues way to die. So are the electric chair, substance abuse and dying lonely on a broken-down cot. You can't have a Blues death if you die during a tennis match or while getting liposuction.

17. Some Blues names for women:
a. Sadie
b. Big Mama
c. Bessie
d. Fat River Dumpling



18. Some Blues names for men:
a. Joe
b. Willie
c. Little Willie
d. Big Willie

19. Persons with names like Michelle, Amber, Jennifer, Debbie, and Heather can't sing the Blues no matter how many men they shoot in Memphis.

20. Blues Name Starter Kit:
a. name of physical infirmity (Blind, Mute, Lame, etc.)
b. first name (see above) plus name of fruit (Lemon, Lime, Kiwi, etc.)
c. last name of President (Jefferson, Johnson, Fillmore, Clinton, etc.) < B R>
For example: Blind Lime Jefferson, Pegleg Lemon Johnson or Lame Kiwi
Clinton, etc. (Well, maybe not "Kiwi.")



21. I don't care how tragic your life is: "You gotta pay yer dues if yer gonna sing the Blues."




- Bluesman Chas (Charter Member of Team STORMBRINGER) contributed this ingenius piece; artwork by the immortal R. Crumb.


An important part of the Mission Statement of Blog STORMBRINGER is to celebrate the Blues; America's unique contribution to Western Civilization. Now before anybody busts my balls for copyright infringement or any such mess, let it be known: I do not make any $ off this Blog, not one red cent; I don't even get publicity toward my professional activities, on account I publish this Blog under a pseudonym.


- Sean Linnane


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BLUETICK COONHOUND

My good friend Jim J from Daytona Beach writes:

Sean,

You have the MOST AMAZING STORIES ! ! !

I had a Bluetick named Max.

Max was the official mascot (by default) of the school, Fairview Junior High. I believe he got that distinction because he used to go to school every day to beg for food. The school was one block from my house.


(The email chain continued throughout the day . . .)

Hahahaha! Check this out! I did a search on the Internet for my old dog and look what I got:

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Facebook
To: Jim J_____
Subject: Katie P_____ sent you a message on Facebook

Katie sent you a message.

Re: Fairview mascot image

"Hi! In the '76 yearbook I found a photo of a real dog and in my handwriting it says "Max" right on it. I didn't even remember there being a Max until I saw the photo. Would you like me to scan a photo and email it to you? Or, I can post it on the Fairview page."





Jim continues:

You can tell Max was kind if a hippie. After all it was California in the 70's!
He looks a little burned out because he maybe smoked a little too much stuff.

Max was a purebred Bluetick Coonhound. I never really knew what I had at the time though. Maybe we all smoked a little too much!

I could edit out the "Max" . . . but I think it adds character. Let's leave it like that. It gives it more meaning.

I attended Fairview in 68-71, Max stayed behind for many years! I went on to Del Valle. He pretty much ran the neighborhood, did whatever he wanted to do. Those were the days eh?

Max was a purebred Bluetick Coonhound:

The Bluetick Coonhound is the state dog of Tennessee where it is said to have originated. Selective breeding in Louisiana of Foxhounds, Curs, French Hounds and English Coonhounds produced the Bluetick Coonhound. In 2008 the Bluetick Coonhound was recognized by the AKC in the Miscellaneous Class.

Coonhounds have a tendency to follow their noses, and if they catch wind of a scent, they may wander off for hours following it.

The name comes from the black tick marks on the while background that appears to give a blue tint.

Famous Bluetick Coonhounds:

A Bluetick Coonhound named "Smokey" is the official athletic mascot of the University of Tennessee.

A Bluetick Coonhound named Tet was the companion of Stringfellow Hawke, the main character of popular 1980s television show Airwolf.

Neil Young has stated that his song "Old King" is a tribute to a deceased Bluetick Coonhound he once owned.

An unnamed Bluetick Coonhound is featured in Blake Shelton's hit single, "Ol' Red". The song relates an escape plan of a man convicted of a crime of passion when he murdered his wife and her lover. He devises a plan to have a female Bluetick lure the prison's male Bloodhound Ol' Red away from Shelton instead of tracking him as he heads in the opposite direction. The closing lines of the song are:

"Now there's red-haired Blueticks all in the South, / Love got me in there and love got me out."

Bluetick Coonhounds are featured in the book Where the Red Fern Grows. However, the two main dogs are Redbone Coonhounds.

Emmylou Harris sings about her friend Lillian's "Bluetick hound dog, Gideon" in her song Red Dirt Girl.

Charlie Daniels mentions that he's "kinda like my old Bluetick hound / I like to lay around in the shade" in his song "Long Haired Country Boy."

David Allan Coe mentions a Bluetick hound in his song "Cum Stains on the Pillow."

A Bluetick was featured in a Miracle Whip television commercial. After making a sandwich, the dog discovers the owner is out of Miracle Whip. (Jeff Gorman Films - Man's Best Friend Makes a Sandwich; Animal Makers animation)

Ken Kesey, in his novel, "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest", used a Bluetick Coonhound as a symbol for his main character Chief Bromden.

In Savage Sam, the sequel to Old Yeller, the title character is a Bluetick Coonhound. He is meant to be the son of Old Yeller, despite Old Yeller having been a Carolina Dog.

Here on Blog STORMBRINGER we like to celebrate the things of the Great American Southland: God, Guns, Guts, Elvis, the Blues, Barbecue, Moonshine Sippin' Whiskey, NASCAR, and now BlueTick and RedBone CoonHounds . . . . . . . S.L.

HEROES OF THE BLUES

Anybody who survived the late '60s, early 70's is familiar with the work of famed underground comix artist R. Crumb. Crumb is the creator of Mr. Natural, of course, keep On Truckin', and a whole slew of insane underground comics with titles like Zap Comix, Snatch Comics, Bijou Funnies, Fritz the Cat, etcetera.

An icon himself, in the early 80's Crumb created the Heroes of the Blues drawings of 36 prewar country blues artists, dedicated to the pioneers of this uniquely American style of music. Mr. Crumb's work is presented here only to promote awareness of country blues.


WILLIAM MOORE
A barber by trade, William Moore was born in Georgia around 1894 and spent most of his life in Tappahannac, Va. His 8 extant sides, recorded at a single Paramount session in 1928, stamp him as one of the few instrumentally-oriented performers of the era. Moore's music may echo the happy-go-lucky "ragtime" dances popular before the heyday of blues. He died in 1955.


PEG LEG HOWELL
A native of Eatonton, Ga., Joshua Barnes (Peg Leg) Howell taught himself guitar around 1909 at age 21. He later worked in Atlanta as a street singer. One of the first recorded country bluesmen, Howell produced 28 sides, many with string band accompaniment, between 1926-1929. Like many street singers he had a diverse repertoire that included both blues and "rag" songs. He died in 1966.


CLIFFORD GIBSON
Born in Louisville in 1901, Gibson cut his musical teeth in St. Louis. He recorded 24 sides for two different labels between 1929-1931. One of the first city performers whose playing had no pronounced rural influences, Gibson took the single-string, vibrato-laden approach of Lonnie Johnson, but placed more emphasis on improvisation. He died in 1963.


BLIND BLAKE
Jacksonville's Arthur Blake ranks among the most accomplished "rag" and blues guitarists of all time. In the 1920s he based his career in Chicago. Between 1926-1932 he recorded nearly 80 sides for Paramount, afterwards to fade into obscurity. Unlike most blind performers he played dance-oriented music. His polished technique and effortless-sounding improvisations attracted many imitators, but admitted no equals.

A long-time rock & blues afficionado, I'd always heard about the African origins of blues, soul, and rock music. When I arrived in West Africa and heard that music for myself I really appreciated the connection - I could hear strains of Led Zeppelin echoing around, where it came from - S.L.