Peetie Wheatstraw (December 21, 1902 – December 21, 1941) was the name adop… Read Full Bio ↴Peetie Wheatstraw (December 21, 1902 – December 21, 1941) was the name adopted by singer William Bunch, a greatly influential figure among 1930s blues singers. Although the only known picture of Bunch shows him holding a National brand tricone resonator guitar, his primary instrument was the piano.

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.

Coon Can Shorty
Peetie Wheatstraw Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Well now, they call me Coon Can Shorty

The man from Coon Can Land

Yeah now, they call me Coon Can Shorty

The man from Coon Can Land

Well, I'm known to play the man

Hoo-well-well, the game they call Coon Can

My dice won't pass

Cards it only game you see

I said, my dice won't pass

Cards is the only the only game you see

An ev'ry chump in town

Hoo-well-well, seems to fall out on me

My babe give me money

Coon Can Shorty is my name

I said, my babe give me money

Coon Can Shorty is my name

A-before I lose her money

Hoo-well, I will spread dueces until I begin

But someday my dice gon' pass

An my money gon' be on the wood

Hm-hm-um-well, my money gon' be on the wood

Any chump in town

Hoo-hoo-well, they ain't gon' be no good

Some say they will coon the devil

If you chain him down

Some said they will coon the devil

If you chain him down

But now you know how good his sound

Ooo-well-well, if you come in this town.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Peetie Wheatstraw's song Coon Can Shorty reveal the persona of Coon Can Shorty, who is known to be the player of the game Coon Can. The title, Coon Can, is one of the many names for the card game Canasta, which was popular in the 1930s and 1940s. The use of the word 'coon' was a derogatory term for Black people during that time. In the song, Coon Can Shorty boasts of his skills, claiming that his dice won't pass and that he can only play cards.

Coon Can Shorty's confidence in his abilities borders on arrogance as he seems to be the only person who excels at the game. However, he is also aware that other players are always trying to best him, making him susceptible to losing the money his lover provides him. Coon Can Shorty, therefore, plays endlessly, using any means necessary to win, including spreading deuces to get more points.

The song's final verse is peculiar as it talks about chaining the devil down and cooning him. The devil is a common theme in blues lyrics, and its reference suggests the belief that playing the blues requires a pact with the devil. By cooning the devil, Coon Can Shorty may be alluding to seducing the devil with his music, which is so good that it can make the devil dance.

Line by Line Meaning

Well now, they call me Coon Can Shorty
My name is Coon Can Shorty

The man from Coon Can Land
I come from a place called Coon Can Land

Yeah now, they call me Coon Can Shorty
People still call me Coon Can Shorty

Well, I'm known to play the man
I'm known for gambling

Hoo-well-well, the game they call Coon Can
I play a game called Coon Can

My dice won't pass
I'm not having any luck with my dice rolls

Cards it only game you see
I'm only able to make money playing cards

An ev'ry chump in town
Everyone in town tries to beat me at gambling

Hoo-well-well, seems to fall out on me
But they never win and always lose to me

My babe give me money
My girlfriend gives me money

Coon Can Shorty is my name
I'm still Coon Can Shorty