Song of the Day: He Wanted a Tidy Spot to Lay Down

August 4th, 2009 categories: Song of the Day

Song of the Day

"See that My Grave is Kept Clean" by Blind Lemon Jefferson

At about the same that Mamie Smith was experiencing the stunning success she had with record sales of Crazy Blues, and Eck Robertson and Fiddlin’ John Carson were being recognized for the first recordings of country music, Blind Lemon Jefferson was stirring up a blues storm down in Texas. 

One of eight children born to sharecroppers, Jefferson began playing the guitar in his early teens. He got good at it quickly, developing a distinctive vocal and guitar style. Soon enough he began performing on the streets in East Texaa s towns. By 1910, he made it to Dallas, where he quickly became one of the earliest and most prominent figures on the blues scene there. At one point he met and played with Leadbelly, and became the musical mentor for T-Bone Walker.

By 1920, Blind Lemon was making a living as bluesman, and setting the stage for him to be later referred to by many as "Father of the Texas Blues."

Blind Lemon Jefferson (b. Jul 11, 1892, Coutchman, TX, d. Dec, 1929, Chicago, IL) Normally, bluesmen back then were "discovered" where they lived and played, then either recorded on crude and cumbersome field equipment, or they went to Grafton, WI to record at the Paramount studios there in the Wisconsin Chair Factory.

This was not so for Blind Lemon Jefferson. In December of 1925 he was taken directly to Chicago to record there. It is believed his first two songs were recorded in January of 1926, but they weren’t the blues; they were gospel songs, which were released under a psuedonym. It wasn’t until March that he recorded two blues sides, "Booster Blues" and "Dry Southern Blues," which became instant hits.

Listen to song of the day here"See that My Grave is Kept Clean" Blind Lemon’s two best known songs are probably "Matchbox Blues" and "That Black Snake Moan." We chose to feature this one though, because it suggests that like Son House and Skip James, Blind Lemon Jefferson also had an inner battle with the church (a struggle that seems to personify the early bluesman as a preacher, and one we like). Blind Lemon did record gospel tunes under the name "Deacon L. J. Bates," and "See that My Grave is Kept Clean" was one of those. It became such a big hit that it was re-recorded and re-released in 1928 under his own name.

Record Sales made the Blues World Go Round
It was largely due to Blind Lemon Jefferson’s success, and that of  Blind Blake and Ma Rainey, that Paramount became the leading recording company for the blues in the 1920s. This was before Charlie Patton‘s first recording session, and some 4-5 years before we first heard Son House on record. (In fact, Blind Lemon Jefferson has passed away before Son House ever recorded.)

Another Insight: 1926
Lets put into context just how early this was when Blind Lemon Jefferson first recorded. 1926 was the year that George Burns married Gracie Allen. Houdini was doing underwater coffin tricks. Walter Johnson was still playing baseball (he retired at the end of the year). Hirohito became the Emperor of Japan. Teaching evolution was forbidden in Atlanta, GA schools. Three men danced the Charleston for 22 hours straight. Francisco Franco became General of Spain.

Bonus:
Of the numerous covers of "See that My Grave is Kept Clean", here are two versions that we particularly like.
"See that My Grave is Kept Clean", Bob Dylan here
"See that My Grave is Kept Clean", B. B. King here

Previous Song of the Day here.

References: (click on ‘em, and click on the book to get one!)
Big Book of the Blues by Bob Santelli Chasin' the Devil's Music by Gayle Dean Wardlow Nancy Meyer
 Deep blues by Robert Palmer Rising Tide by Ed Komara  Peter Aschoff, PhD
Bob Santelli Gayle D. Wardlow Nancy Meyer Robert Palmer John
Barry		 Ed Komara  Peter Aschoff
About this and that:
I know and have worked with most of the folks here, with the exception of Robert Palmer and John Barry. At present Robert Santelli is the Executive Director of the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles. It is Gayle Dean Wardlow who is particularly associated with research into the lives of Charlie Patton and Robert Johnson. Our friend Nancy Meyer managed Muddy Waters and Buddy Guy, among others, and has distinguished herself in artists royalty recovery for some 30 years. Deep Blues and Rising Tide are must reads to understand the world from which it all sprung. Ed Komara, also a good friend, was curator of the Blues Archive at the University of Mississippi for years, and now Music Librarian at SUNY Potsdam. Peter Aschoff, PhD was my dear friend, mentor, and blues historian, musicologist and cultural anthropologist for whom this work is dedicated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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