His nickname came from the fact that he was a cook in a barbecue restaurant. One of the two extant photographs of Bob show him playing his guitar while wearing a full length white apron and cook's hat.
He and his brother, Charlie Hicks, together with Curley Weaver, were taught how to play the guitar by Curley's mother, Savannah "Dip" Weaver. Bob began playing the 6-string guitar but picked up the 12-string guitar after moving to Atlanta, Georgia in 1923–1924. He became one of the prominent performers of the newly developing early Atlanta blues style.
In Atlanta, Hicks worked a variety of jobs, playing music on the side. While working at Tidwells' Barbecue in a north Atlanta suburb, Hicks came to the attention of Columbia Records talent scout Dan Hornsby. Hornsby recorded him and decided to use Hicks's job as a gimmick, having him pose in chef's whites and hat for publicity photos and dubbing him "Barbecue Bob".
During his short career he recorded 68 78-rpm sides. He recorded his first side, "Barbecue Blues", in March 1927. The record quickly sold 15,000 copies and made him the best selling artist for Columbia up to that date. Despite this initial success, it was not until his second recording session, in New York during June 1927, that he firmly established himself on the race market. At this session he recorded "Mississippi Heavy Water Blues", a song inspired by the major floods taking place in Mississippi at that time. This song, as well as his other blues releases, gained considerable popularity, and his records sold much better than those of other local blues musicians.
The two part duet with crosstalk, "It Won't Be Long Now" was recorded with his brother Charlie (a/k/a Charlie Lincoln, or Laughing Charlie) in Atlanta on November 5, 1927. In April 1928 Bob recorded two sides with the female vocalist Nellie Florence, whom he had known since childhood, and also produced "Mississippi Low Levee Blues", a sequel to "Mississippi Heavy Water Blues". In April 1930, he recorded "We Sure Got Hard Times Now", which contains bleak references to the early effects of The Depression. Although Barbecue Bob remained predominantly a blues musician, he also recorded a few traditional and spiritual songs including "When the Saints Go Marching In", "Poor Boy, Long Ways from Home" and "Jesus' Blood Can Make Me Whole".
Barbecue Bob also recorded as a member of The Georgia Cotton Pickers in December 1930, a group that included guitarist Curley Weaver and harmonica player Buddy Moss. As a group they recorded a handful of sides including their own adaptation of Blind Blake's "Diddie Wa Diddie" (recorded as "Diddle-Da-Diddle") and the Mississippi Sheiks' "Sitting on Top of the World" (recorded as "I'm On My Way Down Home"). These were the last recordings that Bob recorded.
He died in Lithonia, Georgia, of a combination of tuberculosis and pneumonia brought on by influenza, at the age of 29, on October 21, 1931. His recording of "Mississippi Heavy Water Blues" (about the 1927 flood) was apparently played at his graveside before burial.
Bob developed a "flailing" or "frailing" style of playing guitar more often associated with the traditional clawhammer banjo (as did his brother, and, initially, Curley Weaver). He used a bottleneck regularly on his 12-string guitar, playing in an elemental style that relied on an open Spanish tuning reminiscent of Charley Patton. He had a strong voice that he embellished with growling and falsetto, and a percussive singing style.
Bob had some influence on Atlanta blues musicians such as the young Buddy Moss (who played harmonica with him on The Georgia Cotton Pickers recordings), but his way of playing was quickly overshadowed by the finger-picked Piedmont blues style that rose in popularity by the late 1920s/early 30s as can be heard in the development of the recordings of Curley Weaver.
Bob's elder brother, Charley, also played blues and was recorded by Columbia under the name "Laughing" Charley Lincoln. However, he never received the same acclaim as his brother.
Robert Hicks was an extrovert young man of 24 when Columbia's Dan Hornsby arranged his first recording session in March 1927, and had only moved into Atlanta from the countryside a few years before. When he recorded He had learned guitar, along with their friend Curley Weaver, from Curley's mother; all three played in a similar style, favouring the big, booming sound of the 12-string guitar, and relishing the contrast of pulsing bass riffs with the whine of a bottleneck on the treble strings. Barbecue Blues was a good seller, but it was at his second session, in New York in June 1927, that Bob firmly established himself with black record buyers, and thus with Columbia; Mississippi Heavy Water Blues, inspired by the catastrophic floods that had occurred that very month, was a considerable seller, and as a result Robert became Atlanta's most-recorded blues singer of the 20s. It was probably his success that persuaded Columbia to record both his brother Charlie and, in 1928, Curley Weaver.
From the first, Barbecue Bob's music was instantly recognisable, both for the characteristic guitar style and for his warm, nasal singing voice. He could sound fiercely involved with his material, as on Barbecue Blues, ironically detached, as he did when performing Mama You Don't Suit Me!, or crushed by rejection, alike on Crooked Woman Blues and the traditionally based How Long Pretty Mama. The two-part It Won't Be Long Now, in crosstalk and duet with Charlie, is probably an example of the kind of material Robert performed on the medicine show with which he is known to have visited the small town of Waycross, in southwest Georgia, about which he made up a blues.
Barbecue Bob's lyrics are remarkable for their blending of traditional formulae with a wry originality that is all his own. He was well acquainted with traditional songs; the content of Barbecue Blues and Motherless Chile Blues is almost proverbial, and the session where he cut versions of two well-known gospel songs also produced Easy Rider Don't You Deny My Name and a stunning account of Poor Boy A Long Ways From Home. Barbecue Bob rapidly impressed himself on his fans' minds as sharp, clever and original.
Atlanta Moan
Barbecue Bob Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Lord nobody knows Atlanta like I do.
But the reason I know it,
I traveled it through and through.
Have you got a good woman,
heres a lesson I give to you.
Lord you got a woman,
Dont take her to Atlanta,
the mens 'll take her away from you.
Lord im taking my woman,
tied me to the board.
Lord im taking my woman,
tied me to the board.
Thats the reason why you hear me cry and moan.
Ive taken one woman,
Believe me I am through.
Lord ive taken one woman,
Believe me I am through.
Just for what you do Im coming home for you.
Oh dont you hear that steep old whistle blow,
Oh dont you hear that steep old whistle blow.
And it blows just like it never blowed before.
Thats alright baby,
how you run around.
Lord thats alright baby,
how you run around.
But you outta say sorry,
when bob gets back to town.
If you take my woman,
I wont get mad with you.
oh if you take my woman,
I wont get mad with you.
If you take her from me sombody should take her from you.
The lyrics of Barbecue Bob's Atlanta Moan seem to speak about the singer's familiarity with the city of Atlanta, as well as the troubles he has faced with his woman in the city. The singer claims to be the most knowledgeable person about Atlanta because he has traveled it through and through. He proceeds to give advice on how to keep a good woman, warning against taking her to Atlanta as men will take her away from you. This advice is followed by a personal account of how his woman was taken away from him, and how he is taking her away, tied to a board, crying and moaning.
The song Atlanta Moan has a somber, bluesy tone, and the lyrics suggest a man who has faced hardships and heartbreaks. The repetition of certain lines, in particular, "Lord nobody knows Atlanta like I do," and "Oh don't you hear that steep old whistle blow" emphasizes the singer's sense of nostalgia for a time gone by. The lyrics are simple but effective in conveying a sense of loss and longing for something that can never be regained.
Line by Line Meaning
Lord nobody knows Atlanta like I do,
I am very familiar with Atlanta, more so than anyone else.
But the reason I know it,
This is because I have traveled through Atlanta extensively.
Have you got a good woman,
Do you have a good woman in your life?
heres a lesson I give to you.
Let me give you a valuable lesson.
Lord you got a woman,
If you have a woman,
Lesson i give to you.
Here is the lesson I would like to impart.
Dont take her to Atlanta,
You should avoid taking her to Atlanta,
the mens 'll take her away from you.
As there are plenty of men in Atlanta who will try to take her away from you.
Lord im taking my woman,
I am taking my woman with me,
tied me to the board.
As she is tied to the board.
Thats the reason why you hear me cry and moan.
This is why I am in great emotional distress.
Ive taken one woman,
I have taken one woman in my life,
Believe me I am through.
But I have learned my lesson.
Just for what you do Im coming home for you.
I am returning home to be with you, despite what you have done.
Oh dont you hear that steep old whistle blow,
Do you hear that loud train whistle blowing?
And it blows just like it never blowed before.
It sounds particularly loud and intense like never before.
Thats alright baby,
It's okay, baby.
how you run around.
Even though you have been running around behind my back.
Lord thats alright baby,
It is okay, baby.
how you run around.
Even though you have been running around behind my back.
But you outta say sorry,
But you should apologize,
when bob gets back to town.
Once I have returned to town.
If you take my woman,
If you take my woman away from me,
I wont get mad with you.
I will not be angry with you.
oh if you take my woman,
If you happen to take my woman,
I wont get mad with you.
I will not be angry with you.
If you take her from me sombody should take her from you.
However, if someone takes her away from you, I would not blame them.
Contributed by Arianna S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
aaron4wilkins
Had this on vinyl Yazoo records compilation in 1970
Vincent
Oh god this channel is a gold mine...
johnny.w
Guessing that Tampa Red took his cues from Bob for Tampa's version.
larry mcneely
I love barbeque bob
johnny.w
Yah, me too
larry mcneely
where is everybody??? this stuff is Real
Big Mon's Dang Ol' Fuzz Jamboree
Right here! From Georgia myself, so Bob, McTell, and Curley Weaver are my dudes.