The Mississippi Sheiks were a popular and influential American guitar and f… Read Full Bio ↴The Mississippi Sheiks were a popular and influential American guitar and fiddle group of the 1930s. They were notable mostly for playing country blues, but were adept at many styles of popular music of the time.

The Mississippi Sheiks consisted mainly of the Chatmon family, who came from Bolton, Mississippi and were well known throughout the Mississippi Delta. The father of the family had been a "musicianer" (someone with good technical ability on his or her instrument adept at sight-reading written music) during slavery times, and his children carried on the musical spirit. Their most famous (although by no means permanent) member was Armenter Chatmon - better known as Bo Carter - who managed a successful solo career as well as playing with the Sheiks, which may have contributed to their success.
When the band first recorded in 1930, the line-up consisted of Carter with Lonnie and Sam Chatmon, and Walter Vinson. Charlie McCoy (not to be confused with Charlie McCoy, a later American musician) played later, when Bo Carter and Sam Chatmon ceased playing full time. It was Lonnie Chatmon and Vinson who formed the real center of the group.

Bo Carter's solo work is notable for being sexually suggestive in songs and this is carried on to an extent with the group. They primarily earned their income like Robert Johnson and Skip James. They toured throughout the Southern United States, but also reached as far north as Chicago and New York.
Their first and biggest success was "Sitting on Top of the World" (1930), later to be recorded by Bob Wills (numerous times), Howlin' Wolf, Nat King Cole, Bill Monroe, Harry Belafonte, Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan, Cream, Grateful Dead, Jeff Healey, John Lee Hooker, Bill Frisell and Jack White, and re-done by Robert Johnson, as "Come On in My Kitchen". The song was also the theme to the film A Face in the Crowd (1957) produced by Elia Kazan and starring Andy Griffith. Throughout their five active years, the Mississippi Sheiks recorded over seventy songs for the Okeh, Paramount and Bluebird labels.
Their last recording session as the Mississippi Sheiks was in 1936. Bo made a few more sessions on his own, but by 1938 he too was dropped. When the band dissolved, the Chatmon brothers gave up music and returned to farming.
The Sheiks and related groups under other names, such as Mississippi Mud Steppers and Blacksnakes, recorded about a hundred sides in the first half of the 1930s, among them original compositions (probably by Vinson) like "The World is Going Wrong" and "I've Got Blood in My Eyes For You" (1931) - both recorded by Bob Dylan - or the topical "Sales Tax" (1934).

Sam Chatmon made more recordings in the 1960s and Walter Vinson contributed three selections (using the Mississippi Sheiks band name) to Riverside's 1961 series, Chicago: The Living Legends.

In 2004, they were inducted in the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame. Their 1930 blues single "Sitting on Top of the World" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008.

In 1978 Rory Gallagher recorded a tribute song "The Mississippi Sheiks" for his Photo Finish album.
In 2009, Black Hen Music released Things About Comin' My Way, a tribute album to the Mississippi Sheiks. The album's seventeen artists include Bruce Cockburn, Bill Frisell, The Carolina Chocolate Drops, Geoff Muldaur, Kelly Joe Phelps and John Hammond.

In 2013 Jack White's Third Man Records teamed up with Document Records to reissue The Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order of Charley Patton, Blind Willie McTell and The Mississippi Sheiks.

Jail Bird Love Song
Mississippi Sheiks Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

When I was a rounder
I stopped in New Orleans
'Cause I've had long days away from home
I didn't know nobody that I seen

I's walkin' along the street one day
I didn't mean no harm
The police is up and they seen me

And they began to make their laws

Ain't it hard, ain't it hard
Just lookin' through the bars?
The police looked an seen me
And they began to make their laws

They seen I was a stranger
They soon got on my trail
Soon they had me surrounded
And taked me to the city jail

Now, ain't it hard, ain't it hard
Just lookin' through the bars?
Soon they had me surrounded
And taked me to the city jail

When I got in jail, I
Didn't know what to do
There was no one I knew
I could carry my troubles to

Now, ain't it hard, ain't it hard
Just lookin' through the bars?
There was no one I knew
I could carry my troubles to

I invited you write my dear old mother
It made her lonesome and blue
Tell you needn't no worry
Mother's comin' after you

Now ain't it grand, ain't it grand?
I don't see how she can stand

She said, 'Son, you needn't t' worry
Mother's comin' after you'.

Overall Meaning

The Mississippi Sheiks' “Jail Bird Love Song” tells the story of a man who finds himself in jail after stopping in New Orleans following a long time away from home. As a stranger in the city, the man was simply walking down the street when the police noticed him and arrested him without warning. The song highlights the singer's struggle as he is thrown into a situation that he had no control over and left alone behind bars with nobody to turn to. He laments the difficulty of being incarcerated and not having any familiar faces to share his troubles with.

Despite the tough situation, hope shines through towards the end of the song. The singer invites his dear old mother to come and visit him, bringing comfort in his time of need. He is overwhelmed with gratitude and amazed by his mother’s unwavering love and support, even in such desperate circumstances. It's a song that speaks to the power of love and the importance of having someone by your side, especially during tough times.

Line by Line Meaning

When I was a rounder
When I was a wanderer

I stopped in New Orleans
I paused in New Orleans

'Cause I've had long days away from home
Because I've been away from home for too long

I didn't know nobody that I seen
I didn't know anyone I saw

I's walkin' along the street one day
I was walking down the street one day

I didn't mean no harm
I didn't mean any harm

The police is up and they seen me
The police saw me

And they began to make their laws
And they started enforcing their laws

Ain't it hard, ain't it hard
Isn't it difficult, isn't it difficult

Just lookin' through the bars?
To just look through the bars?

They seen I was a stranger
They saw that I was a stranger