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.
State of Tennessee Blues
Memphis Jug Band Lyrics
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I'm worried now, and I won't be worried long
If you don't come to see me, you can count the days I'm gone
Some sweet day, I say, that's a while
Some sweet day, I say, that's a while
You having a good time now, but your troubles will be after while
When I leave this town, don't put black crape on my door
When I leave this town, don't put black crape on my door
I want all you women to strictly understand
I want all you women to strictly understand
You don't want no trouble, please don't you worry my man
I got a voice like a radio that broadcasts everywhere
I got a voice like a radio that broadcasts everywhere
Ah, you can find the wild women wherever I broadcast it in the air
I got a new way of spelling the dear old state of Tennessee
I got a new way of spelling the state of Tennessee
Double-E-double-R-O-double-E-double-N-O-C
The Memphis Jug Band's song "State of Tennessee Blues" is a classic blues tune that discusses the uncertainties and anxieties of life. The lyrics express the singer's feelings of worry and fear, but also his reassurance that his troubles will soon pass. He warns others not to worry him, and advises women not to cause any trouble for his man. The lyrics also reveal the singer's sense of independence and desire to avoid returning to his current town.
The song's chorus is particularly powerful, with the singer proclaiming "I'm worried now, and I won't be worried long." This line suggests both a sense of urgency and a faith in the future. The singer asserts that his troubles will soon pass, even if he doesn't know how or when. His sense of confidence and self-assurance is further evident in his declaration that he won't be coming back to his current town, and the warning to others not to bother him.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm worried now, and I won't be worried long
I am currently experiencing anxiety, however, it will soon pass.
If you don't come to see me, you can count the days I'm gone
If you do not visit me, then you can track the exact amount of days that I have been absent.
Some sweet day, I say, that's a while
One day in the future, I am unsure of when, is when I can foresee a break and a moment of tranquility.
You having a good time now, but your troubles will be after while
You may be having a pleasant time at the moment, but eventually, hardship will come your way.
When I leave this town, don't put black crape on my door
When I depart, do not mourn me as if I am dead, for I have no plans of returning here.
I'm won't be dead, baby, but I ain't coming back here no more
I will not be deceased, my dear, but I will not be returning to this place again.
I want all you women to strictly understand
All you women need to comprehend this clearly.
You don't want no trouble, please don't you worry my man
If you do not want to face any problems, refrain from causing distress to the person I hold dear.
I got a voice like a radio that broadcasts everywhere
My voice is so powerful that it spreads everywhere like a radio signal.
Ah, you can find the wild women wherever I broadcast it in the air
I possess the ability to draw in wild women to wherever I broadcast my voice.
I got a new way of spelling the state of Tennessee
I have devised a unique manner of spelling the state of Tennessee.
Double-E-double-R-O-double-E-double-N-O-C
My new spelling of Tennessee is as follows: Double-E, Double-R, O, Double-E, Double-N, O, C.
Contributed by Gabriella V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
harmonikan
Jennie Clayton, Will Shade's wife
NN1 49D
who is da woman bro?