Eric Bibb (b. 1951) is an American blues singer and guitarist, based in Lon… Read Full Bio ↴Eric Bibb (b. 1951) is an American blues singer and guitarist, based in London, England, who has made his career largely in Europe.

Bibb was born on 16th August 1951 in New York into a musical family. His father, Leon Bibb, is a trained singer who sang in musical theatre and made a name for himself as part of the 1960s New York folk scene. His uncle was the world-famous jazz pianist and composer John Lewis, of the Modern Jazz Quartet. Family friends included Pete Seeger, Odetta, and actor/singer/activist Paul Robeson, Bibb'sgodfather.

Bibb was given his first steel-string guitar when he was seven years old. Growing up surrounded by talent, he recalls a childhood conversation with Bob Dylan, who, on the subject of guitar playing advised the eleven-year-old Bibb to "Keep it simple, forget all that fancy stuff".

At sixteen years old, Bibb's father invited him to play guitar in the house band for his television talent show Someone New. Bibb's early musical heroes were from his father's band, and included Bill Lee (father of director Spike), who appeared on Bibb's album Me To You, years later.

In 1969, Bibb played guitar for the Negro Ensemble Company at St Mark's place in New York, and went on to study Psychology and Russian at Colombia University, but at the age of nineteen he left for Paris, where a meeting with guitarist Mickey Baker focused his interest in blues guitar. When he later moved to Sweden, Bibb found a creative environment which took him back to Greenwich Village during the heyday of the folk revival. Settling in Stockholm, Bibb immersed himself in pre-war blues and continued to write and perform.

The album Good Stuff was released in 1997, and led to Bibb signing to the British based Code Blue label. Eric's only release on Code Blue was Me to You, featuring appearances from some of Bibb's personal heroes in Pops and Mavis Staples, and Taj Mahal (who also worked with Bibb on the Grammy-nominated children's record, Shakin' a Tailfeather). The album furthered Bibb's international reputation and was followed by tours of the U.K., U.S.A., Canada, France, Sweden, and Germany.

In the late 1990s Bibb joined forces with his then manager, Alan Robinson, to form Manhaton Records, in Britain. The albums Home to Me (1999), Roadworks (2000), and Painting Signs (2001) followed, as did another Opus 3 release, Just Like Love.

Rosewood
Eric Bibb Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

They say the whole thing started with Fanny Taylor′s lie
That spark lit the flame, fear an' hatred fed the fire
Truly, it started centuries ago
Ships with human cargo chained down below

I was in the third grade, I could read an′ write
I remember every thing, the moon was full an' bright
So bright, you could see shadows at midnight

The night they burned Rosewood to the ground

Rosewood, Rosewood
Buried in the ashes of history
Rosewood, Rosewood
Where my family home used to be

Had to put on heavy clothes, fast as we could
There was shootin' everywhere
Had to get out in the woods
First person killed was my uncle
Sam Carter was his name
What happened in Rosewood that night
Nothin′ but a crime an′ a shame

Newspapers told how many
Whites an' blacks were counted dead
But the tears had no color
The tears their families shed
Anyway, the numbers in the papers
Were nowhere near the truth
Coulda been ten, coulda been a hundred
We had no proof

Rosewood, Rosewood
Buried in the ashes of history
Rosewood, Rosewood
Where my family home used to be

The first day of the New Year, 1923
Burned like a brand on a child′s memory
Hidin' in the swamps, prayin′ we'd get away
Never talked about it – ′til today

Rosewood, Rosewood
Buried in the ashes of history
Rosewood, Rosewood
Where my family home used to be

Burned like a brand on a child's memory
Where my family home used to be

Overall Meaning

The song "Rosewood" by Eric Bibb deals with the tragedy of the Rosewood massacre that took place in Florida in January 1923. The song starts with the reference to a lie that sparked the events of the massacre which then spread due to the fear and hatred that fueled the fire. The singer then takes us back to the starting point of slavery when humans were treated like cargo and shipped across the sea. This led to the formation of towns like Rosewood, developed to serve white-owned industries and enhance the economy of the area.

The singer was in the third grade, an innocent child trying to make sense of the world around him, when the massacre occurred. The burning of Rosewood is vividly described in the lyric. Amidst the chaos, the singer's uncle, Sam Carter, was the first person killed. The newspapers' count of the dead was far from accurate, and the tears shed by the families were colorless. The song emphasizes the tragedy, shame, and destruction involved in the incident.

Line by Line Meaning

They say the whole thing started with Fanny Taylor′s lie
According to the popular belief, the entire catastrophe initiated because of Fanny Taylor's deception

That spark lit the flame, fear an' hatred fed the fire
The spark ignited the flame, and fear and hatred fueled the disaster

Truly, it started centuries ago
In reality, the unpleasantness began many years before

Ships with human cargo chained down below
It all started with the arrival of slave ships, which carried humans chained up below

I was in the third grade, I could read an′ write
As a third-grader, I had learned to read and write

I remember every thing, the moon was full an' bright
I remember every detail, including the bright full moon that night

So bright, you could see shadows at midnight
The moon was so radiant that even the shadows were visible at midnight

The night they burned Rosewood to the ground
It was the night when the town of Rosewood was burnt to the ground

Had to put on heavy clothes, fast as we could
We had to wear heavy clothes and get out of the town as quickly as possible

There was shootin' everywhere
There were gunshots ringing all around

First person killed was my uncle
The first person who lost his life that night was my uncle

Sam Carter was his name
My uncle's name was Sam Carter

What happened in Rosewood that night
The events that occurred in Rosewood on that fateful night

Nothin′ but a crime an′ a shame
It was nothing but a heinous crime and a source of disgrace

Newspapers told how many Whites an' blacks were counted dead
The newspaper articles reported the number of white and black people who were killed

But the tears had no color The tears their families shed
The tears shed by the bereaved families had no color

Anyway, the numbers in the papers Were nowhere near the truth
In any case, the numbers presented in the newspapers did not reflect the actual death toll

Coulda been ten, coulda been a hundred We had no proof
It could have been ten or a hundred, and we had no way to ascertain the exact numbers

The first day of the New Year, 1923 Burned like a brand on a child′s memory
The initial day of the year 1923 was a memory that stayed with me like a permanent mark

Hidin' in the swamps, prayin′ we'd get away Never talked about it – ′til today
We were hiding in the swamps, hoping to escape while never discussing the incident - until today

Rosewood, Rosewood Buried in the ashes of history Rosewood, Rosewood Where my family home used to be
Rosewood, a place of deep significance to me, has now become a fragment of the past

Burned like a brand on a child's memory Where my family home used to be
The memories of my family's ancestral home being engulfed in flames remain strongly etched in my mind

Writer(s): Glen Scott, Eric Charles Bibb

Contributed by Xavier T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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