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.
Little House
Peetie Wheatstraw Lyrics
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Peetie Wheatstraw
(Bunch)
Peetie Wheatstraw - vocal, Kokomo Arnold - gtr, unk sbs
Recorded: Oct 26, 1936 Decca 7257
Album: Peetie Wheatstraw Essentials Album
Allego Classic Blues cbl 200037
With the do's all painted green
The little house over yonder
With the do's all painted green
That's my little woman's house near the corner
Woo-well-well, where you don't see no screen
My cat is got the measles
Dog is got the whooping cough
My cat is got the measles
An my dog got the whooping cough
You might as well to be's the woman
Ooo-well-well, because I'm gonna be you boss
You can always tell
When your woman is gonna throw you down
You can always tell
When your woman gon' throw you down
She's always got business
Woo-well-well, on the other side of town
Now, I ain't gon' marry
An I ain't gon' settle down
I ain't gon' marry
An I ain't gon' settle down
I'm going to stay right here
Woo-well-well, an run these peppers down
I am going to Chicago
To get my ham bone boiled
I am going to Chicago
An get my ham bone boiled
Because these St. Louis women
Woo-well, going to let my ham bone spoil.
~
The lyrics of Peetie Wheatstraw's song Little House are about a man's determination to assert his independence and autonomy, both in his personal life and in his relationships with women. The song opens with a description of a little house near the corner, which belongs to the singer's woman. He notes that the doors are painted green, and that there are no screens to be seen. This attention to detail may suggest a sense of longing or nostalgia on the part of the singer, who may be reminiscing about a past relationship.
As the song continues, the singer talks about his cat having the measles and his dog having the whooping cough. These lines might be interpreted as a metaphor for the disarray and chaos in his life. Despite these setbacks, however, the singer is determined to be the boss and take charge of his own fate. He states that he is not going to settle down or get married, but that he will stay right where he is and chase these peppers down.
The final lines of the song suggest that the singer is leaving town, perhaps to start a new life. He is going to Chicago to get his ham bone boiled, because he knows that the women in St. Louis will let it spoil. This line may be interpreted as a metaphor for the singer's desire for change and renewal.
Overall, Little House is a song about a man's quest for independence and autonomy, despite the setbacks and difficulties he may face along the way.
Line by Line Meaning
The little house over yonder
With the do's all painted green
The little house over yonder
With the do's all painted green
That's my little woman's house near the corner
Woo-well-well, where you don't see no screen
Peetie is talking about the little green house near the corner, which belongs to his girlfriend. She lives there with him and you can easily recognize the house due to its green painted doors, but there are no screens on the windows.
My cat is got the measles
Dog is got the whooping cough
My cat is got the measles
An my dog got the whooping cough
You might as well to be's the woman
Ooo-well-well, because I'm gonna be you boss
Peetie says that his cat has the measles and his dog has the whooping cough, but he is not bothered because he is going to be the boss of his woman. He implies that his woman should be worried about his domination over her.
You can always tell
When your woman is gonna throw you down
You can always tell
When your woman gon' throw you down
She's always got business
Woo-well-well, on the other side of town
Peetie believes that you can sense it when your woman starts becoming distant. You can tell when she is going to 'throw you down.' He says that women always have business on the other side of town or are always up to something.
Now, I ain't gon' marry
An I ain't gon' settle down
I ain't gon' marry
An I ain't gon' settle down
I'm going to stay right here
Woo-well-well, an run these peppers down
Peetie has no interest in getting married or settling down. He prefers to stay where he is and focus on his business of cultivating peppers.
I am going to Chicago
To get my ham bone boiled
I am going to Chicago
An get my ham bone boiled
Because these St. Louis women
Woo-well, going to let my ham bone spoil.
Peetie plans to go to Chicago to get his ham bone boiled. He is doing this because he feels that St. Louis women are not reliable and he doesn't want them to ruin his food.
Contributed by Parker B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.