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.
Crazy With The Blues
Peetie Wheatstraw Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Just crazy with the blues
I waked up this mornin'
Just crazy with the blues
I can't even tell
Hoo, well, well the different in my shoes
I am just a crazy fool
Just a crazy fool
I can't do a thing
I am just jumpin' around here
Hoo, hoo, well, well, now
Just like a monkey on a end of a string
I went downtown this mornin'
With my hat on upside down
Went downtown this mornin'
My hat on upside down
Ah, people looked at me
Like they thought
That I was a country clown
I heard somebody call me
It was a policeman on his beat
I heard somebody call me
It was a policeman on his beat
Well, well, now he just wanted to tell me
Ohh, well, well
That I was drivin' on the wrong
Side of the street
Folks, I'll keep on tellin' you
That I'm just so crazy with the blues
Play it just a little bit boys, that's good
Folks, I just keep on tellin' you
I'm just a crazy with the blues
I'm goin' to the railroad down to the river
Woo, well, but I don't know
Which one that I will choose
The lyrics of Peetie Wheatstraw's song "Crazy With The Blues" describe the mental turmoil of a protagonist who wakes up feeling overwhelmed and disoriented. The lyrics indicate the singer's confusion and lack of agency as he can't even differentiate between his shoes. He feels like a crazy fool who can't do anything and is just jumping around like a monkey on a string. He goes to downtown with his hat on upside down, and people look at him as if he is a country clown. The singer hears someone calling his name, but it turns out to be a policeman who tells him that he was driving on the wrong side of the street. The song ends with the singer feeling lost and uncertain about his next move.
Line by Line Meaning
I waked up this mornin'
I woke up this morning
Just crazy with the blues
Feeling overwhelmed and sad
I can't even tell
Can't even describe
Hoo, well, well the different in my shoes
Feeling disoriented and confused
I am just a crazy fool
Feeling like a foolish person
I can't do a thing
Feeling incapacitated and helpless
I am just jumpin' around here
Feeling restless and nervous
Hoo, hoo, well, well, now
Expressing frustration and confusion
Just like a monkey on a end of a string
Feeling trapped and bound
I went downtown this mornin'
Went to the city center this morning
With my hat on upside down
Wearing my hat in an unusual way
Ah, people looked at me
People stared at me
Like they thought
As if they assumed
That I was a country clown
That I was a simpleton from the countryside
I heard somebody call me
Someone called out to me
It was a policeman on his beat
It was a police officer patrolling the area
Well, well, now he just wanted to tell me
He just wanted to inform me
That I was drivin' on the wrong
That I was driving on the incorrect
Side of the street
Side of the road
Folks, I'll keep on tellin' you
I'll keep informing you
That I'm just so crazy with the blues
That I'm feeling very sad and overwhelmed
Play it just a little bit boys, that's good
Musically, things are going well
I'm goin' to the railroad down to the river
Heading to the railroad that leads to the river
Woo, well, but I don't know
Expressing uncertainty and hesitation
Which one that I will choose
Which path I will take
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: LOUIS JORDAN, WILLIAM BUNCH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Jean-Michel Dehalu
I waked up this mornin'
Just crazy with the blues
I waked up this mornin'
Just crazy with the blues
I can't even tell
Hoo, well, well the different in my shoes
I am just a crazy fool
I can't do a thing
Just a crazy fool
I can't do a thing
I am just jumpin' around here
Hoo, hoo, well, well, now
Just like a monkey on a end of a string
I went downtown this mornin'
With my hat on upside down
Went downtown this mornin'
My hat on upside down
Ah, people looked at me
Like they thought
That I was a country clown
I heard somebody call me
It was a policeman on his beat
I heard somebody call me
It was a policeman on his beat
Well, well, now he just wanted to tell me
Ohh, well, well
That I was drivin' on the wrong
Side of the street
Folks, I'll keep on tellin' you
That I'm just so crazy with the blues
Play it just a little bit boys, that's good
Folks, I just keep on tellin' you
I'm just a crazy with the blues
I'm goin' to the railroad down to the river
Woo, well, but I don't know
Which one that I will choose
SARAJEVO 1999
Legend Of blues
Area Man
Listening to a song called Cuttin ‘Em Slow. I think Peetie Wheatstraw is great.
Magnetron33
The guitar is probably Charley Jordan, co writer of the song
Esther Gavillet
Peetie Wheatstraw - December 21, 1902 - December 21, 1941 - Shared Dec 21, 2018
sfdog1369
Jus Crazy Wit Them Blues
homesick clifford
sfdog1369
Written I guess 1937 but time don't change one damn thing right from Adam n Eve best believe that " by the sweat of your brow" and told Eve " In pain bring forth birth" We probly all crazy fools
MrNeonkind
madness