Wheatstraw was born William Bunch in Ripley, Tennessee but grew up in Cotton Plant, Arkansas, where his family relocated soon after his birth. Little is known of his early life, other than that he took up playing both the piano and guitar at a young age.
Bunch left Cotton Plant in 1927 and began living the life of an itinerant musician traveling throughout the Deep South. Like many African Americans of this time period, the great migration eventually drew his attention to the cities of the North. Places such as Chicago, Indianapolis and Detroit were favoured destinations, due to the wealth of employment in the factories located in these cities. St. Louis was another city that drew its share of uprooted individuals who sought a better life than that offered by the toil of sharecropping. It was in St. Louis that Bunch landed in 1929.
Having honed his musical talents while travelling, and influenced by the popularity of the Blues duet of pianist Leroy Carr and guitar player Scrapper Blackwell, Bunch found easy work in the clubs of both St. Louis and East St. Louis on the other side of the Mississippi River.
It was around this time Bunch decided to change his name to Peetie Wheatstraw. He also called himself "The Devil's Son-in-Law" and this title is under his name starting with his earliest recordings.
Wheatstraw's self-promotion swiftly paid off as he became a popular performer in East St. Louis, to the extent that he was asked to Chicago in 1930 to partake in recording sessions. He first entered the Vocalion Studios on August 13, 1930, and recorded a handful of numbers which included "Four O'Clock In The Morning" and "Tennessee Peaches Blues". Over the following decade, he would make several such treks, recording over 160 sides for the Vocalion, Decca and Bluebird labels.
Wheatstraw was known for his laid-back approach and adept singing and songwriting, though his instrumental talents were average at best. His songwriting appealed to working class minorities, due to their nature of the content—he often wrote about social issues such as unemployment and public assistance. There were also pieces about the immoral ways of loose women, and true to his own self-publicity, death and the supernatural. Almost all of his songs included his trademark "Ooh, well well", usually accentuated in the third verse, and this has been carried on by many subsequent Bluesmen, most noteworthy today being R.L. Burnside.
On his records Wheatstraw is occasionally heard playing guitar, but he usually took to the piano and required a guitarist to play with him—among his collaborators were Kokomo Arnold, Lonnie Johnson, Charlie Jordan, Charlie McCoy and Teddy Bunn, in addition to pianist Champion Jack Dupree. On some of his last dates, Peetie Wheatstraw recorded within a jazz inspired framework, collaborating with Lil Armstrong and trumpeter Jonah Jones.
Wheatstraw's influence was enormous during the 1930s. Perhaps the most obvious example of Wheatstraw's impact can be seen in the writings of Robert Johnson, often considered the most important Blues figure of the era. Many of Johnson's own recordings were actually re-workings of other popular artists of the time, and he drew heavily from Wheatstraw's repertoire.
Beer Tavern
Peetie Wheatstraw Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Baby, now will I be your slave?
I say, how many mo' years
Mama, now will I be your slave?
Woo-well, now I'm tired of you low down dirty ways
When I come home at night
Baby, ev'rything is wrong
When I come home at night
Mama, ev'rything is wrong
Now you sit keep company all day
Woo-well-well, your man he will be gone
I often tell you
To be careful what you do
Woo-hoo-well, brown
To be careful what you do
Well-now if it is right or wrong
Woo-well, somebody may tell on you
(piano - Peetie)
I tried to be a real man
But now it seems to be all in vain
Woo-hoo-ooo, girl
Seems to be all in vain
But now you know if tell on you, baby
Woo-well, now you going just the same
Can you tell me, babe
If you know just what right means?
Woo-well, brown
If you know just what right means?
Well, you are about the dumbest woman
Woo-well, then any woman I ever seen.
The lyrics to Peetie Wheatstraw's "Beer Tavern" speak to a troubled and tumultuous relationship between the singer and his partner. The singer is wondering how much longer he will be willing to be subjected to his partner's mistreatment and low-down dirty ways. He tells her that every time he comes home, everything is wrong, and he suspects that she spends her days with other men. He warns her to be careful about her actions and suggests that if someone were to find out, there would be severe consequences.
The singer laments that he has tried to be a real man but feels like his efforts are in vain. He believes that his partner is not capable of understanding what is right and wrong and that she is the dumbest woman he has ever seen. The song suggests that the relationship is unhealthy and that the singer may be considering leaving.
The lyrics employ colloquialism, slang, and African American vernacular English common during the time period in which they were written. The song is also notable for its inclusion of the piano, which is a primary instrument in the blues genre. It is said that Wheatstraw was one of the few blues pianists who could play a boogie-woogie sound on the piano.
Line by Line Meaning
How many mo' years
Asking how much longer he will be her servant and give in to her demands
Baby, now will I be your slave?
Questioning if he will be subjected to being her slave forever
I say, how many mo' years
Reiterating the question of how many years he'll remain in this situation
Mama, now will I be your slave?
Asking if he'll always be her servant
Well, now something been tellin' you
Acknowledging that he suspects she's been unfaithful and deceitful
Woo-well, now I'm tired of you low down dirty ways
Expressing that he's had enough of her immoral behavior
When I come home at night
Describing the situation when he returns home in the evenings
Baby, everything is wrong
Suggesting that she's doing something inappropriate or dishonest when he's not there
When I come home at night
Repeating the earlier line to emphasize his frustration
Mama, everything is wrong
Addressing her with a term of endearment but still indicating everything is not okay
Now you sit keep company all day
Accusing her of spending time with other men throughout the day while he's away
Woo-well-well, your man he will be gone
Warning her that she may lose him if she continues her behavior
I often tell you
Indicating he's tried to communicate with her about her actions
To be careful what you do
Advising her to not do anything inappropriate or immoral
Woo-hoo-well, brown
Adding emphasis to his previous statement
To be careful what you do
Repeating the earlier line
Well-now if it is right or wrong
Suggesting that she should inherently know right from wrong
Woo-well, somebody may tell on you
Warning her that her actions may not go unnoticed by others
(piano - Peetie)
Instrumental break in the song
I tried to be a real man
Explaining his efforts to be a good partner
But now it seems to be all in vain
Feeling like his attempts at being a good partner are futile
Woo-hoo-ooo, girl
Addressing her as 'girl' with emphasis
Seems to be all in vain
Repeating the earlier statement
But now you know if tell on you, baby
Indicating that if she continues her immoral behavior, he will tell on her
Woo-well, now you going just the same
Implying that she'll suffer the consequences of her actions regardless
Can you tell me, babe
Asking her a direct question
If you know just what right means?
Challenging her to define the meaning of right and wrong
Woo-well, brown
Adding emphasis to his previous statement
If you know just what right means?
Repeating the earlier line and question
Well, you are about the dumbest woman
Insulting her intelligence by suggesting she doesn't know the difference between right and wrong
Woo-well, then any woman I ever seen
Emphasizing that she's the least intelligent woman he's ever encountered
Contributed by Addison N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.