{"id":21864,"date":"2022-08-06T22:44:29","date_gmt":"2022-08-07T02:44:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=21864"},"modified":"2022-08-30T18:49:55","modified_gmt":"2022-08-30T22:49:55","slug":"episode-619-dixieland-band-reminds-us-of-the-music-of-w-c-handy-benares-july-4-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=21864","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 619 DIXIELAND BAND REMINDS US OF THE MUSIC OF W. C. HANDY, BENARES, JULY 4, 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"
EPISODE 619   DIXIELAND BAND LINKS US TO THE ST. LOUIS BLUES AND W. C. HANDY, BENARES, AUGUST 5, 2022<\/p>\n

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Alan skeoch<\/div>\n
august 5, 2022<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n
JOHN STEVEN (sp?)\u2026led us deep into American music tradition, wiping our slates<\/div>\n
clean\u2026free from the nasty side of populism that we hear too much about today.<\/div>\n

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Who could forget W.C.Handy\u2019s original St. Louis Blues\u2026or his Memphic Blues?<\/div>\n
All the music of Dixieland and the Blues is there in  the long time storage part<\/div>\n
of our brains.  On Augst 5, 2022, we were reminded of these chestnuts at the<\/div>\n
Friday concert at Benares, the historic mansion in Mississauga.   Music<\/div>\n
as the summer sun began to slip below the horizon.<\/div>\n

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BASIN STREET BLUES<\/div>\n

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Lyrics<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Now won’t you come along with me<\/span>
To the Mississippi?<\/span>
We’ll take a trip to the land of dreams<\/span>
Blowing down the river, down to New Orleans<\/span><\/div>\n
The band is there to meet us<\/span>
Old friends to greet us<\/span>
That’s where the line and the dark folks meet<\/span>
A heaven on earth, they call it Basin Street<\/span><\/div>\n
I said, Basin Street, Basin Street<\/span>
Where the elite always meet<\/span>
Down in New Orleans, the land of dreams<\/span>
You’ll never know how nice it seems<\/span><\/div>\n
Or just how much it really means<\/span>
Just to be, yes, siree, in New Orleans<\/span>
The land of dreams where I can lose<\/span>
My Basin Street blues<\/span><\/div>\n
Now, you’re glad you came with me<\/span>
Down the Mississippi<\/span>
We took a trip in a land of dreams<\/span>
And floated down the river down to New Orleans<\/span><\/div>\n
Where to, Basin Street, Basin Street<\/span>
Where the elite always meet<\/span>
Down in New Orleans, the land of dreams<\/span>
You’ll never know how, how much it seems<\/span><\/div>\n
Or just how much it really means<\/span>
Just to be, yes, siree, yeah, New Orleans<\/span>
The land of dreams where I can lose<\/span>
My Basin Street blues<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Source: Musixmatch<\/a><\/div>\n
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Songwriters: Spencer Williams<\/div>\n
Basin Street Blues lyrics \u00a9 Campbell Connelly And Co. Ltd.<\/div>\n

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John Steven\u2019s deep knowledge of  W. C. Handy made me seek <\/div>\n
more about Handy when the concert was over\u2026especially when John Steven sang the<\/div>\n
lyrics to Basin Street Blues.<\/div>\n
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Now won’t you come along with me<\/span>
To the Mississippi?<\/span>
We’ll take a trip to the land of dreams<\/span>
Blowing down the river, down to New Orleans<\/span><\/div>\n
The band is there to meet us<\/span>
Old friends to greet us<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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WHILE the Basin Street Blues remains part of North American culture there<\/div>\n
is another blues favourite that was written by W.C. Handy who is regarded<\/div>\n
as the father of the blues.  His work in the late 1920\u2019s rescued the music of<\/div>\n
the blues, sung  with feeling by so many black musicians.  W.C.Handy\u2019 s work<\/div>\n
continued even after he had an accidental fall that made him permanently blind.<\/div>\n
Keep him in mind when you read his lyrics to the St. Louis Blues.<\/div>\n

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SAINT LOUIS BLUES<\/div>\n
Lyrics<\/span><\/div>\n
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I hate’s to see dat ev’nin’ sun go down<\/span>
Hate’s to see dat ev’nin’ sun go down<\/span>
Cause ma baby, she done lef’ dis town<\/span>
If I feel tomorrow lak ah feel today<\/span>
Feel tomorrow lak ah feel today<\/span>
I’ll pack up my trunk, and make ma git away<\/span><\/div>\n
Saint Louis woman wid her diamon’ rings<\/span>
Pulls dat man ‘roun’ by her apron strings<\/span>
‘Twern’t for powder an’ her store-bought hair<\/span>
De man she love wouldn’t gone nowhere, nowhere<\/span><\/div>\n
Got dem Saint Louis Blues I’m as blue as ah can be<\/span>
Like a man done throwed that rock down into de sea<\/span>
Got dem Saint Louis Blues I’m as blue as ah can be<\/span><\/div>\n

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These lyrics are quite familiar to most of us. The remaining<\/span><\/div>\n
lyrics are not familiar to me at all.  They tell a story about <\/span><\/div>\n
specific people in W. C  Handy\u2019s life.  At least I think they<\/span><\/div>\n
do.  Some readers of these episodes must know.  Worthwhile to <\/span><\/div>\n
read more about him I think.<\/span><\/div>\n

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Went to de gypsy get her fortune tole<\/span>
To de gypsy, done got her fortune tole<\/span>
Cause she most wile ’bout her Jelly Roll<\/span>
Now dat gypsy tole her, “Don’t you wear no black”<\/span>
She done tole her, “Don’t you wear no black<\/span>
Go to Saint Louis, you can win him back”<\/span><\/div>\n
If she git toCairo, make Saint Louis by herself<\/span>
Git to Cairo, find her old friend Jeff<\/span>
Gwine to pin herself, right there, to his side If she flag his train, she sho’ can ride<\/span><\/div>\n
And she sang<\/span><\/div>\n
Got dem Saint Louis Blues jes as blue as ah can be<\/span>
Dat man got a heart lak a rock cast into de sea<\/span>
Or else he wouldn’t have gone so far from me<\/span>
Doggone it!<\/span>
I loves day man lak a schoolboy loves his pie<\/span>
Lak a Kentucky Col’nel loves his mint an’ rye<\/span>
I’ll love ma baby till the day ah die<\/span><\/div>\n
Now a black-headed gal makes a freight train jump the track<\/span>
Said a black-headed gal makes a freight train jump the track<\/span>
But a long tall gal makes a preacher ball the jack<\/span><\/div>\n
Lawd, a blonde-headed woman make a good man leave the town<\/span>
I said a blonde-headed woman make a good man leave the town<\/span>
But a red-headed woman make a boy slap his pappy down<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Source: Musixmatch<\/a><\/div>\n
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Songwriters: W.c. Handy \/ Spevacek<\/div>\n
St. Louis Blues lyrics \u00a9 Bucks Music Group Limited<\/div>\n

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And then our friend Shaymus Stokes arrived as if the reincarnation of the days when<\/div>\n
Benares was a family home not unlike the mansions of the American south<\/div>\n
where the unrewarded labour of black Americans gave all of us such a rich blues <\/div>\n
tradition.<\/div>\n

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Shaymus arrived dressed for the occasion.   Allowing our imaginations to go<\/div>\n
deeper into the memory cells.<\/div>\n

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I hate’s to see dat ev’nin’ sun go down<\/span>
Hate’s to see dat ev’nin’ sun go down<\/span>
Cause ma baby, she done lef’ dis town<\/span>
If I feel tomorrow lak ah feel today<\/span>
Feel tomorrow lak ah feel today<\/span>
I’ll pack up my trunk, and make ma git away<\/span><\/div>\n
Saint Louis woman wid her diamon’ rings<\/span>
Pulls dat man ‘roun’ by her apron strings<\/span>
‘Twern’t for powder an’ her store-bought hair<\/span>
De man she love wouldn’t gone nowhere, nowhere<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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And then the band played Margie\u2026.\u201dI\u2019m always thinking of you Margie\u201d, a song<\/div>\n
that brings out that endearing smile of my wife Marjorie\u2026unforgettable.<\/div>\n

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Margie<\/span>
You’ve been my inspiration<\/span>
Days are never blue<\/span>
After all is said and done<\/span>
There is really only one<\/span>
Oh, Margie, Margie, it’s you<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
(Fats Domino)<\/span><\/div>\n

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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?)\u2026led us deep into American music tradition, wiping our slates clean\u2026free from the nasty side of populism that we hear too much about today. Who could forget W.C.Handy\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21864\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}