J. B. Lenoir /ləˈnɔːr/ (Monticello, Mississippi, March 5, 1929 – Urbana, I… Read Full Bio ↴J. B. Lenoir /ləˈnɔːr/ (Monticello, Mississippi, March 5, 1929 – Urbana, Illinois, April 29, 1967) was an African American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter, active in the 1950s and 1960s Chicago blues scene.
Lenoir's guitar-playing father introduced him to the music of Blind Lemon Jefferson, whose music became a major influence. During the early 1940s, Lenoir worked with blues artists Sonny Boy Williamson II and Elmore James in New Orleans. Lenoir would eventually find musical influence in Arthur Crudup and Lightnin' Hopkins.
In 1949, he moved to Chicago and Big Bill Broonzy helped introduce him to the local blues community. He began to perform at local nightclubs with musicians such as Memphis Minnie, Big Maceo Merriweather, and Muddy Waters, and became an important part of the city's blues scene. He began recording in 1951 the J.O.B. and Chess Records labels. His recording of "Korea Blues" was licensed to and released by Chess, as having been performed by 'J. B. and his Bayou Boys'. His band included pianist Sunnyland Slim, guitarist Leroy Foster, and drummer Alfred Wallace.
During the 1950s Lenoir recorded on various record labels in the Chicago area including J.O.B., Chess, Parrot, and Checker. His more successful songs included "Let's Roll", "The Mojo" featuring saxophonist J. T. Brown, and the controversial "Eisenhower Blues" which his record company, Parrot, forced him to re-record as "Tax Paying Blues."
Lenoir was known in the 1950s for his showmanship - in particular his zebra-patterned costumes - and his high-pitched vocals. He became an influential electric guitarist and songwriter, and his penchant for social commentary distinguished him from many other bluesmen of the time. His most commercially successful and enduring release was "Mamma Talk To Your Daughter", recorded for Parrot in 1954 which reached #11 on the Billboard R&B chart and was later recorded by many other blues and rock musicians. In the later 1950s (recording on the Checker label), he wrote several more blues standards including; "Don't Dog Your Woman", and "Don't Touch My Head!!!" (1956).
In 1963, Lenoir recorded for USA Records as 'J. B. Lenoir and his African Hunch Rhythm', developing an interest in African percussion. However, he struggled to work as a professional musician and for a time took menial jobs, including working in the kitchen at the University of Illinois in Champaign. Lenoir was rediscovered by Willie Dixon, who recorded him with drummer Fred Below on the albums Alabama Blues and Down In Mississippi (inspired by the Civil Rights and Free Speech movements). Lenoir toured Europe, and performed in 1965 with the American Folk Blues Festival in the United Kingdom.
Lenoir's work had direct political content relating to racism and the Vietnam War.

"Alabama Blues"

“I never will go back to Alabama, that is not the place for me,
I never will go back to Alabama, that is not the place for me,
You know they killed my sister and my brother,
And the whole world let them peoples go down there free.”

He died on April 29, 1967 in Urbana, Illinois, aged 38, from a heart attack related to injuries he suffered in a car accident three weeks earlier.

His death was lamented by John Mayall in the songs, "I'm Gonna Fight for You, J.B." and "Death of J. B. Lenoir".
The 2003 documentary film The Soul of a Man, directed by Wim Wenders as the second instalment of Martin Scorsese's series The Blues, explored Lenoir's career, together with those of Skip James and Blind Willie Johnson.
In 2011, Lenoir was inducted to the Blues Hall of Fame.

Although his name is sometimes mispronounced like the French "lan WAH", Lenoir himself pronounced his name a "la NOR". The initials "J.B." had no specific meaning; his given name was simply "J.B."

Down in Mississippi
J.B. Lenoir Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Far back's I can remember
Either had to plow or hoe
One of those long ol' nine feet sacks
Standin' at the old turn row

Down in Mississippi. Down in Mississippi
Down in Mississippi where I was born
Down in Mississippi where I come from

Nothing I got 'gainst Mississippi
It also was the home of my wife
But I count myself a lucky man
Just to get away with my life

Down in Mississippi. Down in Mississippi
Down in Mississippi where I was born
Down in Mississippi where I come from

They had a huntin' season on a rabbit
If you shoot him you went to jail
The season was always open on me
Nobody needed no bail

Down in Mississippi. Down in Mississippi

Down in Mississippi where I was born
Down in Mississippi where I come from

Overall Meaning

J.B. Lenoir's song Down in Mississippi is a powerful commentary on the harsh realities of life in the southern United States. The song speaks to the struggles of growing up in a region known for its poverty and oppression. Lenoir's lyrics offer a deeply personal perspective on what it was like to live in Mississippi during this time, filled with vivid images and emotions.

Lenoir's opening lines, "Far back's I can remember / Either had to plow or hoe / One of those long ol' nine feet sacks / Standin' at the old turn row," paint a vivid picture of the harshness of life as a sharecropper. Sharecropping was a system of agriculture that was particularly common in the American South, in which a landowner would provide a sharecropper with land in exchange for a portion of the harvest. Sharecroppers were typically poor, and as the opening lines of the song suggest, much of their work involved manual labor such as plowing and hoeing.

The song goes on to describe other aspects of life in Mississippi, including the harsh treatment of African Americans. Lenoir sings, "They had a huntin' season on a rabbit / If you shoot him you went to jail / The season was always open on me / Nobody needed no bail." These lines suggest that while hunting rabbits was illegal, the law was not applied equally to all citizens. Instead, African Americans were treated as fair game, with no protection from the law. Overall, the song offers a powerful critique of the social and economic injustices that were pervasive in the South during this time.

Line by Line Meaning

Far back's I can remember
As far back as I can remember

Either had to plow or hoe
I either had to plow or hoe the fields

One of those long ol' nine feet sacks
I had to carry one of those long nine feet sacks

Standin' at the old turn row
Standing at the old turn row to unload my burden

Down in Mississippi. Down in Mississippi
I was down in Mississippi, it was where I lived

Down in Mississippi where I was born
Down in Mississippi, the place where I was born

Down in Mississippi where I come from
Down in Mississippi, the place I come from

Nothing I got 'gainst Mississippi
I have nothing against Mississippi

It also was the home of my wife
My wife is also from Mississippi

But I count myself a lucky man
I consider myself lucky

Just to get away with my life
To leave Mississippi alive was an achievement