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.
Tennessee Peaches Blues
Peetie Wheatstraw Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Peetie Wheatstraw (William Bunch)
(Fields, Bunch)
Vocal by Peetie Wheatstraw and 'Neckbones'
Chicago, Aug 13, 1930 Vocalion #1552-A
Album: Peetie Wheatstraw Essentials Album
Allego Classic Blues cbl 200037
I was born in Mississippi
Raised in Tennessee
I was born in Mississippi
An I's raised in Tennessee
But there wimens in Missour-a
Picks on over me
My babes have something
I don't know what it is
My babes have something
I don't know what it is
Ev'rytime she moves
Baby, now I can't be still
Said the peaches I'm loving
Don't grow on no trees
Lord, that peaches I'm loving
Don't grow on no trees
Lord, it's somewhere baby
Just above yo' knees
Well now, you said it's peaches you love
They don't grow on no trees
There another peaches you love
They'll grow on no tree
(Where they grow at?)
I b'lieve now you say
Peaches, now grow just above the knees
Well now, b'lieve I'll go
Back down in Tennessee
Right now I b'lieve I'll go
Back down in Tennessee
Well baby, that where the peaches grow, honey
Now just above the knee
Hoo-umm-umm
Hoo-well-well, so sweet
Hoo-hoo-umm
Babe, they're so smooth
Well-well-well, now
Hoo-hoo-ooo-ooo
In your grove
Peaches, growin' on no tree
Like the big wild peaches
Don't grow on no tree
Well, I b'lieve to my soul, now
'At's down in Tennessee.
(piano and guitar to end)
~
The lyrics of Peetie Wheatstraw's "Tennessee Peaches Blues" speak of the singer's roots in Mississippi and upbringing in Tennessee, but also of his love for a woman whose allure is so great that he cannot be still in her presence. The song's most notable metaphor involves peaches, which the singer claims to love but insists do not grow on trees. He then suggests that the peaches he loves grow just above his lover's knees, in reference to her sexuality. The song's last verse sees the singer deciding to return to Tennessee, where he believes his preferred peaches can be found.
Line by Line Meaning
I was born in Mississippi
I hail from the state of Mississippi
Raised in Tennessee
But I was brought up in Tennessee
I was born in Mississippi
I hail from the state of Mississippi
An I's raised in Tennessee
But I was brought up in Tennessee
But there wimens in Missour-a
But there are women of Missouri
Picks on over me
Who are very fond of me
My babes have something
My woman has an allure
I don't know what it is
I can't quite put my finger on it
My babes have something
My woman has an allure
I don't know what it is
I can't quite put my finger on it
Ev'rytime she moves
Every time she makes a gesture
Baby, now I can't be still
It charges me with an energy and makes me restless
Said the peaches I'm loving
The woman's intimate area I am fascinated with
Don't grow on no trees
Is not analogous to peaches on branches
Lord, that peaches I'm loving
The woman's intimate area I am fascinated with
Don't grow on no trees
Is not analogous to peaches on branches
Lord, it's somewhere baby
It is located in that region of the body
Just above yo' knees
Slightly higher than one's knees
Well now, you said it's peaches you love
As you said, it's that area of the body you love
They don't grow on no trees
It doesn't grow on a plant's trunk
There another peaches you love
There's another lady part that you adore
They'll grow on no tree
It doesn't grow on a plant's trunk
(Where they grow at?)
(Where can one find it?)
Peaches, now grow just above the knees
The area in question is slightly higher than the knees
Well now, b'lieve I'll go
I'm thinking about going
Back down in Tennessee
Back to my upbringing in the state of Tennessee
Right now I b'lieve I'll go
I think I'll go now
Back down in Tennessee
Back to my upbringing in the state of Tennessee
Well baby, that where the peaches grow, honey
That's where that beautiful part of the woman lies, my dear
Now just above the knee
Slightly higher than the knee
Hoo-umm-umm
Humming sound to draw attention
Hoo-well-well, so sweet
Oh, it's so sweet and lovely
Hoo-hoo-umm
Humming sound to draw attention
Babe, they're so smooth
They're smooth to the touch
Well-well-well, now
Well, well, now
Hoo-hoo-ooo-ooo
Humming sound to draw attention
In your grove
Referring to the woman's intimate area
Peaches, growin' on no tree
The woman's intimate area does not grow on a tree
Like the big wild peaches
Unlike the fruit of large and unconventional varieties we find in the wild
Don't grow on no tree
It cannot be found on the trunk of a plant
Well, I b'lieve to my soul, now
I truly believe
'At's down in Tennessee.
That's where it's located in Tennessee
Contributed by Abigail H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Corsa15DT
I am learning the Blues history. So few views and likes on this video and no comments. Sad.