Between 1927 and 1934 various African-American musicians in the Memphis, Tenn., area grouped around singer, song writer, guitarist, and harmonica player Will Shade (also known as Son Brimmer). The personnel of this jug band varied from day to day, with Shade booking gigs and arranging recording sessions.
Among the recorded members were (at various times) Will Shade (vocals, guitar, harmonica), Charlie Burse (pronounced Bursey) (guitar, mandolin, and vocals), Charlie Nickerson (piano and vocals), Charlie Pierce (violin), Charlie Polk (jug), Tewee Blackman (vocals, guitar), “Hambone” Lewis (jug), Jab Jones (jug, piano, vocals ), Johnny Hodges/Hardge (piano), Ben Ramey (vocals and kazoo), Casey Bill Weldon (guitar and vocals), Memphis Minnie (guitar and vocals), Vol Stevens (vocals, violin, and mandolin), Milton Robie (violin), Otto Gilmore/Gilmer (drums and woodblocks), and Robert Burse (drums). Vocals were also provided by Hattie Hart, Memphis Minnie, Jennie Mae Clayton (Shade’s wife), and Minnie Wallace, with Charlie Burse often contributing beautiful harmony parts to Shade’s lead vocal lines. In the case of Memphis Minnie, the Memphis Blues Band accompanied her on two sides for Victor Records, recorded in 1930 when the band's career was "winding down".
The attributed names of the group led by Shade on various recording labels vary quite a bit, but recent scholarly consensus has led writers to compile all of these works under the over-arching rubric of the Memphis Jug Band. In addition to that name, alternative names found on record labels include the Picaninny Jug Band, Memphis Sanctified Singers, the Carolina Peanut Boys, the Dallas Jug Band, the Memphis Sheiks, the Jolly Jug Band and recordings credited to the individual performers Hattie Hart, Minnie Wallace, Casey Bill Weldon, Charlie Nickerson, Vol Stevens, Charlie Burse, “Poor Jab” Jones, and Will Shade, but actually performed with accompaniment by other Memphis Jug Band members.
Musically their large membership pool allowed the Memphis Jug Band the flexibility to play a mixture of ballads, dance tunes, knock-about novelty numbers, and blues. Some of their songs mention hoodoo magical beliefs, and some members also contributed to gospel recordings, either uncredited or as part of the Memphis Sanctified Singers.
The Memphis Jug Band has been described as having a remarkable sound due in part to the unusual instruments. Although most songs included a rhythm guitar and either a jug, a kazoo or a harmonica as a lead instrument or sometimes a mandolin or violin. The sound of the instruments ofen conveyed a "raspy, buzzing sound" that a Briish music scholar who did not know the band personally stated was close to the musical aesthetic of Africa, and in which, he said, the jug and kazoo represented the voices of animals or ancestral spirits. Shade never told scholars why he liked this sound, and since many of the performers were also part Native American, it is a good question as to which ancestors—if any—the kazoo was supposed to represent.
The Memphis Jug Band played wherever they could find engagements, and busked in local parks. They were popular among white as well as black audiences.
In total, they made more than eighty recordings, first for Victor Records, then—as the Picaninny Jug Band—for the Champion-Gennett label, and finally for OKeh Records. The Victor recordings were made in Memphis and Atlanta, Georgia between 1927 and 1930, the Champion-Gennetts in Richmond, Indiana in August 1932, while the final sessions on Okeh were held in Chicago in November 1934. By that time, their style of music was no longer in demand, and Shade was no longer able to keep the musicians assembled as a group, although many of the individuals carried on working around Memphis until the 1940s.
In 1963 Shade recorded one last time with another Memphian, 79-year-old Gus Cannon, former leader of Cannon’s Jug Stompers, another popular jug band. They recorded the album Walk Right In, on Stax Records, a result of The Rooftop Singers having made Cannon's "Walk Right In" into a number one single. Will Shade on jug and former Memphis Jug Band member Milton Roby on washboard perform a series of thirteen traditional songs, plus Cannon's great hit "Walk Right In," including "Narration," "Kill It," "Salty Dog," "Going Around," "The Mountain," "Ol' Hen", "Gonna Raise A Ruckus Tonight," "Ain't Gonna Rain No More," "Boll-Weevil," "Come On Down To My House," "Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor," "Get Up In The Morning Soon," and "Crawdad Hole." The album is almost an audio documentary tour through different corners of Cannon's life and career that, ideally, might've run to several volumes.
On The Road Again
Memphis Jug Band Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Black woman's evil, do things on the sly. (No!)
You look for your supper to be good and hot. (Uh-huh!)
She'll never put a neck-bone in the pot
She's on the road again, just as sure as you're born
Lord, a natural-born eastman on the road again
She's on the road again
Lord, a natural-born eastman on the road again
I went to my door. My door was locked
I stepped right back. I shook my head
A big black nigger in my folding bed
I shot through the window. I broke the glass
I never seen a little nigger run so fast
He's on the road again
Lord, a natural-born eastman on the road again
He's on the road again
Lord, a natural-born eastman on the road again
Your friend come to your house, while passing, to rest his hat. (Yeah.)
The next thing he want to know where's your husband at
She says, "I don't know. He's on his way to the pen
"Come on, mama, let's get on the road again
He's on the road again
Lord, a natural-born eastman on the road again
He's on the road again
Lord, a natural-born eastman on the road again
Come on, mama, on the road again
The lyrics to Memphis Jug Band's "On The Road Again" tell a story of a man dealing with the betrayal of a black woman he trusted. The first verse begins with his reluctance to explain the reason for his actions towards her, perhaps because her betrayal was so personal that he is embarrassed to speak of it. He goes on to insult black women, calling them "evil" and "sly," perhaps projecting his hurt onto an entire race rather than deal with the pain he experienced from one individual. The man then expresses disappointment that the woman he trusted would not cook him a proper meal, even though he expected it. He implies that she is lazy by claiming that she refuses to put a neck-bone in the pot. The last two lines of this verse indicate that the woman is on the road again, which could mean that she left him, or perhaps that she is a traveler who never stays in one place for too long.
The second verse introduces a new scenario, where the man returns home and sees a big black man in his bed. The implication here is that the woman he trusted has cheated on him, and he is using racial slurs to express his anger towards the man she is with. He shoots through the window after the man runs, indicating his violent response to the situation. The final verse is a conversation where a man comes to visit his friend and asks about her husband's whereabouts. The woman responds with a lie, claiming that he is on his way to prison, and then suggests that they leave town together. The entire song portrays a world where trust is rare, and people can be easily deceived.
Line by Line Meaning
I would not -- black woman, tell you the reason why. (Why?)
I wouldn't tell you why a black woman is evil and deceitful.
Black woman's evil, do things on the sly. (No!)
Contrary to what you might think, black women are untrustworthy and deceptive.
You look for your supper to be good and hot. (Uh-huh!)
You expect your food to be delicious and piping hot.
She'll never put a neck-bone in the pot
However, she'll never put a neck-bone in the cooking pot as a black woman.
She's on the road again, just as sure as you're born
But she's on the move again, that's for sure!
Lord, a natural-born eastman on the road again
She's a natural wanderer who enjoys the journey.
I went to my window. My window was propped
One time I checked my window, and it was open.
I went to my door. My door was locked
But when I tried my door, it was locked.
I stepped right back. I shook my head
I stepped back in disbelief, shaking my head at what I saw.
A big black nigger in my folding bed
There was a large black man sleeping in my bed.
I shot through the window. I broke the glass
So, I shot him through the window, breaking the glass.
I never seen a little nigger run so fast
Never seen a small black person move so quickly.
He's on the road again
That man is back on the road again.
Your friend come to your house, while passing, to rest his hat. (Yeah.)
Your acquaintances may stop by to rest their hat as they pass your house.
The next thing he want to know where's your husband at
Next, they'll inquire about your spouse's whereabouts.
She says, "I don't know. He's on his way to the pen
The response would be, "I don't know. He's probably going to jail."
"Come on, mama, let's get on the road again
"Let's go, mom! It's time to hit the road again."
He's on the road again
He's back on the road, traveling again.
Lord, a natural-born eastman on the road again
He's a natural wanderer who was born to be on the move.
Come on, mama, on the road again
Let's go, mom; we're back on the road again!
Contributed by Jordyn B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Bob H
Seems Nas was too wimpy to rap the opening line, so he went with the less-tongue-in-cheek, more-misogynistic "I wouldn't marry a black woman" instead. These are Will Shade's original's lyrics, as best I can tell:
I whip my black woman, tell yuhd reason why ("why!?")
A black woman's evil, do things on the sly ("No!!")
You look for your supper to be good and hot ("uh-huh...")
She never put a neckbone in the pot
She's on the road again...
("just as shor as yor born")
Lord, a natural born easement
On the road again
She's on the road again...
Lord, a natural born easement
On the road again
I went to my window
My window was propped
I went to my door
My door was locked
I stepped right back
I shook my head
A big black **** in my foldin' bed
I shot through the window
I broke his leg
I never seen a little **** run so fast
He's on the road again...
("oh, as shor as yor born")
Lord, a natural born easement
On the road again
He's on the road again...
("oh, as shor as yor born")
Lord, a natural born easement
On the road again
Your friend come to your house
"Why that's'n arresting hat"
The next thing wanna know "Where's yor husband at?"
She says "I don't know, he's on his way to the pen"
(yeah...)
"C'mon momma, let's get on the road again"
He's on the road again...
("oh, as shor as yor born")
Lord, a natural born easement
On the road again
He's on the road again...
("shor as yor born")
Lord, a natural born easement
On the road again
So it starts with a close-to-the-bone (while there were still some former slaves alive) joke about whipping a woman, and ends with a close-to-the-bone joke about a man getting his exercise on a chain gang. Basically, a tweaking both sexes play on playing the dozens (and more slyly entertaining than slovenly misogynistic rap).
phonofolks
Early form of rhythm and blues. Fantastic music!
madsnoop7
This band rocks !
Four Lights Orchestra
I can’t think of a better American band than this one.
mike saage
sons of the pioneers, and this
RodCornholio
You can hear the roots of Rock 'N Roll in this.
BUPOE
Yeah you hear Rock and hip hop here. Lol this is Linkin park.
Kevin Dube
The Shaniac he’s singing the whole time though
Jim Marks
Especially the roll part, love how these guys drive it and don't let up!
Greg Tennessee
Canned Heat
phonofolks
@Greg Tennessee Interesting you should say this. The lead of Canned Heat collected 78rpm records like this.