EPISODE 619 DIXIELAND BAND LINKS US TO THE ST. LOUIS BLUES AND W. C. HANDY, BENARES, AUGUST 5, 2022
Alan skeoch
august 5, 2022
JOHN STEVEN (sp?)…led us deep into American music tradition, wiping our slates
clean…free from the nasty side of populism that we hear too much about today.
Who could forget W.C.Handy’s original St. Louis Blues…or his Memphic Blues?
All the music of Dixieland and the Blues is there in the long time storage part
of our brains. On Augst 5, 2022, we were reminded of these chestnuts at the
Friday concert at Benares, the historic mansion in Mississauga. Music
as the summer sun began to slip below the horizon.
BASIN STREET BLUES
Lyrics
Now won’t you come along with me
To the Mississippi?
We’ll take a trip to the land of dreams
Blowing down the river, down to New Orleans
To the Mississippi?
We’ll take a trip to the land of dreams
Blowing down the river, down to New Orleans
The band is there to meet us
Old friends to greet us
That’s where the line and the dark folks meet
A heaven on earth, they call it Basin Street
Old friends to greet us
That’s where the line and the dark folks meet
A heaven on earth, they call it Basin Street
I said, Basin Street, Basin Street
Where the elite always meet
Down in New Orleans, the land of dreams
You’ll never know how nice it seems
Where the elite always meet
Down in New Orleans, the land of dreams
You’ll never know how nice it seems
Or just how much it really means
Just to be, yes, siree, in New Orleans
The land of dreams where I can lose
My Basin Street blues
Just to be, yes, siree, in New Orleans
The land of dreams where I can lose
My Basin Street blues
Now, you’re glad you came with me
Down the Mississippi
We took a trip in a land of dreams
And floated down the river down to New Orleans
Down the Mississippi
We took a trip in a land of dreams
And floated down the river down to New Orleans
Where to, Basin Street, Basin Street
Where the elite always meet
Down in New Orleans, the land of dreams
You’ll never know how, how much it seems
Where the elite always meet
Down in New Orleans, the land of dreams
You’ll never know how, how much it seems
Or just how much it really means
Just to be, yes, siree, yeah, New Orleans
The land of dreams where I can lose
My Basin Street blues
Just to be, yes, siree, yeah, New Orleans
The land of dreams where I can lose
My Basin Street blues
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Spencer Williams
Basin Street Blues lyrics © Campbell Connelly And Co. Ltd.
John Steven’s deep knowledge of W. C. Handy made me seek
more about Handy when the concert was over…especially when John Steven sang the
lyrics to Basin Street Blues.
Now won’t you come along with me
To the Mississippi?
We’ll take a trip to the land of dreams
Blowing down the river, down to New Orleans
To the Mississippi?
We’ll take a trip to the land of dreams
Blowing down the river, down to New Orleans
The band is there to meet us
Old friends to greet us
Old friends to greet us
WHILE the Basin Street Blues remains part of North American culture there
is another blues favourite that was written by W.C. Handy who is regarded
as the father of the blues. His work in the late 1920’s rescued the music of
the blues, sung with feeling by so many black musicians. W.C.Handy’ s work
continued even after he had an accidental fall that made him permanently blind.
Keep him in mind when you read his lyrics to the St. Louis Blues.
SAINT LOUIS BLUES
Lyrics
I hate’s to see dat ev’nin’ sun go down
Hate’s to see dat ev’nin’ sun go down
Cause ma baby, she done lef’ dis town
If I feel tomorrow lak ah feel today
Feel tomorrow lak ah feel today
I’ll pack up my trunk, and make ma git away
Hate’s to see dat ev’nin’ sun go down
Cause ma baby, she done lef’ dis town
If I feel tomorrow lak ah feel today
Feel tomorrow lak ah feel today
I’ll pack up my trunk, and make ma git away
Saint Louis woman wid her diamon’ rings
Pulls dat man ‘roun’ by her apron strings
‘Twern’t for powder an’ her store-bought hair
De man she love wouldn’t gone nowhere, nowhere
Pulls dat man ‘roun’ by her apron strings
‘Twern’t for powder an’ her store-bought hair
De man she love wouldn’t gone nowhere, nowhere
Got dem Saint Louis Blues I’m as blue as ah can be
Like a man done throwed that rock down into de sea
Got dem Saint Louis Blues I’m as blue as ah can be
Like a man done throwed that rock down into de sea
Got dem Saint Louis Blues I’m as blue as ah can be
These lyrics are quite familiar to most of us. The remaining
lyrics are not familiar to me at all. They tell a story about
specific people in W. C Handy’s life. At least I think they
do. Some readers of these episodes must know. Worthwhile to
read more about him I think.
Went to de gypsy get her fortune tole
To de gypsy, done got her fortune tole
Cause she most wile ’bout her Jelly Roll
Now dat gypsy tole her, “Don’t you wear no black”
She done tole her, “Don’t you wear no black
Go to Saint Louis, you can win him back”
To de gypsy, done got her fortune tole
Cause she most wile ’bout her Jelly Roll
Now dat gypsy tole her, “Don’t you wear no black”
She done tole her, “Don’t you wear no black
Go to Saint Louis, you can win him back”
If she git toCairo, make Saint Louis by herself
Git to Cairo, find her old friend Jeff
Gwine to pin herself, right there, to his side If she flag his train, she sho’ can ride
Git to Cairo, find her old friend Jeff
Gwine to pin herself, right there, to his side If she flag his train, she sho’ can ride
And she sang
Got dem Saint Louis Blues jes as blue as ah can be
Dat man got a heart lak a rock cast into de sea
Or else he wouldn’t have gone so far from me
Doggone it!
I loves day man lak a schoolboy loves his pie
Lak a Kentucky Col’nel loves his mint an’ rye
I’ll love ma baby till the day ah die
Dat man got a heart lak a rock cast into de sea
Or else he wouldn’t have gone so far from me
Doggone it!
I loves day man lak a schoolboy loves his pie
Lak a Kentucky Col’nel loves his mint an’ rye
I’ll love ma baby till the day ah die
Now a black-headed gal makes a freight train jump the track
Said a black-headed gal makes a freight train jump the track
But a long tall gal makes a preacher ball the jack
Said a black-headed gal makes a freight train jump the track
But a long tall gal makes a preacher ball the jack
Lawd, a blonde-headed woman make a good man leave the town
I said a blonde-headed woman make a good man leave the town
But a red-headed woman make a boy slap his pappy down
I said a blonde-headed woman make a good man leave the town
But a red-headed woman make a boy slap his pappy down
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: W.c. Handy / Spevacek
St. Louis Blues lyrics © Bucks Music Group Limited
And then our friend Shaymus Stokes arrived as if the reincarnation of the days when
Benares was a family home not unlike the mansions of the American south
where the unrewarded labour of black Americans gave all of us such a rich blues
tradition.
Shaymus arrived dressed for the occasion. Allowing our imaginations to go
deeper into the memory cells.
I hate’s to see dat ev’nin’ sun go down
Hate’s to see dat ev’nin’ sun go down
Cause ma baby, she done lef’ dis town
If I feel tomorrow lak ah feel today
Feel tomorrow lak ah feel today
I’ll pack up my trunk, and make ma git away
Hate’s to see dat ev’nin’ sun go down
Cause ma baby, she done lef’ dis town
If I feel tomorrow lak ah feel today
Feel tomorrow lak ah feel today
I’ll pack up my trunk, and make ma git away
Saint Louis woman wid her diamon’ rings
Pulls dat man ‘roun’ by her apron strings
‘Twern’t for powder an’ her store-bought hair
De man she love wouldn’t gone nowhere, nowhere
Pulls dat man ‘roun’ by her apron strings
‘Twern’t for powder an’ her store-bought hair
De man she love wouldn’t gone nowhere, nowhere
And then the band played Margie….”I’m always thinking of you Margie”, a song
that brings out that endearing smile of my wife Marjorie…unforgettable.
(Fats Domino)