One commentator noted that Burnside, along with Big Jack Johnson, Paul "Wine" Jones, Roosevelt "Booba" Barnes and James "Super Chikan" Johnson, were "present-day exponents of an edgier, electrified version of the raw, uncut Delta blues sound."
Early life and career
Burnside was born in Harmontown, Mississippi, in Lafayette County. He spent most of his life in North Mississippi, working as a sharecropper and a commercial fisherman, as well as playing guitar at weekend house parties. He was first inspired to pick up the guitar in his early twenties, after hearing the 1948 John Lee Hooker single, "Boogie Chillen" (which inspired numerous other rural bluesmen, among them Buddy Guy, to start playing). He learned music largely from Mississippi Fred McDowell, who lived nearby in an adjoining county. He also cited his cousin-in-law, Muddy Waters, as an influence.
During the 1950s, Burnside grew tired of sharecropping and moved to Chicago in the hope of finding better economic opportunities. But things did not turn out as he had hoped. Within the span of one year his father, brother, and uncle were all murdered in the city, a tragedy that Burnside would later draw upon in his work, particularly in his interpretation of Skip James's "Hard Time Killing Floor" and the talking blues "R.L.'s Story", the opening and closing tracks on Burnside's 2000 album, Wish I Was In Heaven Sitting Down.
Around 1959, he left Chicago and went back to Mississippi to work the farms and raise a family. Burnside was convicted for murder and sentenced to six months' incarceration (in Parchman Prison) for the crime. Burnside's boss at the time reputedly pulled strings to keep the murder sentence short, due to having need of Burnside's skills as a tractor driver. Burnside later said "I didn't mean to kill nobody ... I just meant to shoot the sonofabitch in the head. Him dying was between him and the Lord."
His earliest recordings were made in the late 1960s by George Mitchell and released on Arhoolie Records. Another album of acoustic material was recorded that year and little else was released before Hill Country Blues, in the early 1980s. An album's worth of singles followed, released on ethnomusicology professor Dr. David Evans' Highwater Records record label in Memphis, Tennessee.
Later life and career
In the 1990s, he began recording for the Oxford, Mississippi, label Fat Possum Records. Founded by Living Blues magazine editor Peter Redvers-Lee and Matthew Johnson, the label was dedicated to recording ageing North Mississippi bluesmen such as Burnside and Junior Kimbrough. Burnside remained with Fat Possum from that time until his death, and he usually performed with his friend and understudy, the slide guitarist Kenny Brown, with whom he began playing in 1971 and claimed as his "adopted son."
Burnside attracted the attention of Jon Spencer, the leader of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, touring and recording with this group and gaining a new audience in the process.
After the death of Kimbrough and the burning of Kimbrough's juke joint in Chulahoma, Mississippi, Burnside quit recording studio material for Fat Possum, though he did continue to tour. After a heart attack in 2001, Burnside's doctor advised him to stop drinking; Burnside did, but he reported that change left him unable to play.
Members of his large extended family continue to play blues in the Holly Springs area: grandson Cedric Burnside tours with Kenny Brown and most recently with Steve 'Lightnin' Malcolm as part of the 'Juke Joint Duo', while his son Duwayne Burnside has played guitar with the North Mississippi Allstars (Polaris; Hill Country Revue with R. L. Burnside). Duwayne's solo career began when "Duwayne Burnside and the Mississippi Mafia" recorded "Live At the Mint" in October 1997. Members included Cedric Burnside, Eddie Batos, Joe Hill from Alien Ant Farm, and David Kimbrough, Jr. (Junior Kimbrough's son) with Duwayne's father sitting in on a few tracks. Duwayne and the Mississippi Mafia released "Under Pressure" in March 2005, which was recorded at Delta Studios in Clarksdale, Mississippi featuring Jimbo Mathus, rhythm guitar (Squirrel Nut Zippers), Roy Cunningham on drums (Stax Sessions), and Burnside's son Garry Burnside on bass guitar. In 2004, the Burnside sons opened Burnside Blues Cafe, located 30 miles southeast of Memphis at the intersection of U.S. Highway 78 and Mississippi Highway 7 in Holly Springs, Mississippi.
In January 2006, Garry and Cedric released The Record under the moniker "Burnside Exploration".
Death
Burnside had been in declining health since heart surgery in 1999. He died at St. Francis Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee on September 1, 2005 at the age of 78.[4] Services were held at Rust College in Holly Springs [which is also where services were held for his friend, Junior Kimbrough, who died in 1998], with burial in the Free Springs Cemetery in Harmontown. Around the time of his passing, he resided in Byhalia, Mississippi and his immediate survivors included:
His wife: Alice Mae Taylor Burnside (married 1951); died November 16, 2008
Daughters: Mildred Jean Burnside, Linda Jackson, Brenda Kay Brooks, and Pamela Denise Burnside;
Sons: Melvin Burnside, R.L. Burnside Jr., Calvin Burnside, Joseph Burnside, Daniel Burnside, Duwayne Burnside, Dexter Burnside, Garry Burnside, and Rodger Harmon
Sisters: Lucille Burnside, Verelan Burnside, and Mat Burnside
Brother: Jesse Monia
35 Grandchildren
32 Great-Grandchildren
Style
Burnside had a powerful, expressive voice and played both electric and acoustic guitars (both with a slide and without). His drone-based style was a characteristic of North Mississippi hill country blues rather than Mississippi Delta blues. Like other country blues musicians, he did not always adhere to 12- or 16-bar blues patterns, often adding extra beats according to his preference. He called this "Burnside style" and often commented that his backing musicians needed to be familiar with his style in order to be able to play along with him.
His earliest recordings, like those of John Lee Hooker, sound very similar in their vocal and instrumental style. Many of his songs do not have chord changes, but use the same chord or repeating bass line throughout, giving his music a hypnotic feel. His vocal style is characterized by a tendency to "break" into falsetto briefly (usually at the ends of long notes).
Like the bluesman T-Model Ford, Burnside utilized the stripped-down element of his music, playing up the rawness, emphasizing his image as a lifelong hard-drinking man, and singing songs of swagger and rebellion. Burnside collaborated in the late 1990s with The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion on the album A Ass Pocket of Whiskey. Consequently, he gained the attention of many within this underground music scene, cited as an influence by Hillstomp[9] and covered on record by The Immortal Lee County Killers. Burnside's "Skinny Woman" was also interpolated into the song "Busted" by fellow Fat Possum musicians The Black Keys, a band associated with the punk blues scene in their early years.
He also knew many toasts (African American narrative folk poems such as "Signifying monkey" and "Tojo Told Hitler") and frequently recited them between songs at his live concerts and on his recordings.
Selected albums
First Recordings (recorded in the late 1960s by George Mitchell; re-released by Fat Possum Records in 2003)
Too Bad Jim (produced in 1992 by Robert Palmer)
Well, Well, Well (songs and interviews from 1986-1993, released in 2001 on MC Records)
A Ass Pocket of Whiskey (1996, featuring the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion)
Mr. Wizard (1997)
Acoustic Stories (1997)
My Black Name A-Ringin' (1999)
Burnside on Burnside (a critically acclaimed 2001 live album recorded in the Crystal Ballroom on Portland, Oregon's Burnside Street)
Come On In, Wish I Was in Heaven Sitting Down, and A Bothered Mind (three albums of remixed material, often featuring guest artists, released in 1998, 2000 and 2004, respectively)
Films
Deep Blues: A Musical Pilgrimage to the Crossroads (1991). Directed by Robert Mugge
American Patchwork: Songs and Stories of America, part 3: "The Land Where the Blues Began" (1990). Written, directed, and produced by Alan Lomax; developed by the Association for Cultural Equity at Columbia University and Hunter College. North Carolina Public TV; A Dibb Direction production for Channel Four. This is a lightly re-edited version of "The Land Where the Blues Began" (1978) made by Alan Lomax, John Bishop, and Worth Long in Association with Mississippi Authority for Educational Television
You See Me Laughin': The Last of the Hill Country Bluesmen (2003; released by Fat Possum Records in 2005). Produced and directed by Mandy Stein. Oxford, Mississippi: Plain Jane Productions, Inc; Fat Possum Records.
In popular culture
The 2007 Samuel L. Jackson / Christina Ricci film, Black Snake Moan is infused with countless Burnside nods, including: the Reverend R. L. character and when Jackson plays the blues toward the end of the film, he thanks "Ced" and "Kenny" - Cedric Burnside (Burnside's grandson) and Kenny Brown (Burnside's "adopted son"), who were primary sidemen through the 1990s and early 2000s. Cedric and Kenny are also part of Jackson's band in the juke joint scene.
"It's Bad You Know," and "Shuck Dub" were featured in the HBO series The Sopranos.
"Got Messed Up" was featured in the FX series Rescue Me during an opening montage on Season 5 Episode 18, "Carrot".
A Burnside poster can be seen on a wall in brothers Drake and Josh's room in the Nickelodeon sitcom, Drake & Josh.
It's Be Troubled
R.L. Burnside Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
yeh 好像很久没有听到你的消息了
我只希望你能过得很好就好了
谢谢你曾经那么爱我后来也恨我了
不管你怎么说我怎么骂我
我都扛了
都是我不好 都是我太花
都是我太瞎
那空荡荡的房子
只有一张床
谢谢你在我最落魄的时候在我身旁
我想让全世界的人都知道我爱你
你也让全世界的人
都知道我对不起你
不是我不够成熟
而是我就是爱玩
不是我还没长大
而是我就是这样
不是你想要怎样我就应该变成怎样
不是你每天盼望圣灵就会全身充满
不是你每天祷告每个礼拜去教堂
把整本圣经读完人生就会功德圆满
Let it be 一切都会过去
放下所有仇恨 勇敢活下去
回到最初一无所有的自己
Let it be 没什么过不去
不过就是人生必出的考题
最大的敌人永远都是自己
让他去 就让他去
就让他去 随风远去
再见吧心魔
再见吧所有想要吞噬我的恶魔
我已经受够
不允许你再干扰我的生活
永远不回头
浪子要往前走
那一片蔚蓝充满白绒云朵的天空
是不是要告诉我至少我们还有梦
是不是非得 经历过玩命关头
人才会真正懂得学会珍惜和拥有
灵魂才会真正回到最初的初衷
谁在看 喔谁在叹
喔谁又成了谁的大笑话
谁能够将心比心 放过自己一马
一马当先的冲锋的没在怕
Let it be 一切都会过去
放下所有仇恨 勇敢活下去
回到最初一无所有的自己
Let it be 没什么过不去
不过就是人生必出的考题
最大的敌人永远都是自己
让他去 就让他去
就让他去 随风远去
让他去 就让他去
就让他去 随风远去
The lyrics of R.L. Burnside's song "It's Be Troubled" convey a sense of reflection and acceptance in the face of personal struggles and mistakes. The opening lines express a longing for communication with someone who was once loved but is now possibly hated. Despite the negative emotions, the singer wishes for the person's well-being. The lyrics acknowledge the singer's own faults and mistakes, taking responsibility for their behavior and admitting to being reckless and careless. However, they also assert that they have never denied the intensity of their past love for this person.
The lyrics further describe a desolate living situation, with only an empty house and a bed. The singer expresses gratitude for the person's presence during their lowest point in life. They desire for the whole world to know that they love the person, while also acknowledging that the world should know that they are sorry for the pain they have caused. The lyrics address the misconception that the singer is immature or unwilling to grow up, asserting that their behavior is simply a reflection of who they are. They resist the idea that they should change to meet someone else's expectations.
The chorus of the song, "Let it be," carries a message of letting go of grudges, embracing resilience, and returning to one's true self. It encourages facing life's challenges and recognizing that the biggest enemy is often oneself. The lyrics suggest releasing negative influences, bidding farewell to internal struggles, and refusing to allow disruptions in their life. The singer declares their determination to move forward, leaving behind the past and not looking back. They find solace in the beauty of a vivid sky filled with white clouds, wondering if it is a reminder that they still have dreams. The lyrics imply that it is through experiencing life-threatening situations that one truly learns to appreciate and cherish what they have.
The lyrics shift to questioning who is watching and who is sighing, implying that someone has become the subject of others' ridicule. The singer calls for empathy towards oneself and forgiving one's flaws. They assert that those who charge ahead fearlessly are not afraid of charging into battle. The final repetition of "Let it be" serves as a reaffirmation of the earlier message: everything will pass, grievances should be let go, and the true enemy is oneself. The lyrics end with the plea to let go and let adverse influences drift away in the wind.
Line by Line Meaning
oh oh...Let It Be yeh
It has been a long time since I heard from you, I just hope you are doing well. Thank you for once loving me so much and then hating me. No matter what you say or how you insult me, I've taken it all. It's all my fault, I was too promiscuous and foolish, but I never denied that I was once crazy for you. In that empty house with only a bed, thank you for standing by me during my lowest moments. I want the whole world to know that I love you, and you let the whole world know that I'm sorry.
不管你怎么说我怎么骂我 我都扛了
No matter how you criticize or curse me, I have endured it all.
都是我不好 都是我太花 都是我太瞎
It's all my fault, I was not good, I was too promiscuous, and I was foolish.
可是我从来没有否认曾经为你疯狂
But I have never denied that I was once crazy for you.
那空荡荡的房子 只有一张床
In that empty house, there was only a bed.
谢谢你在我最落魄的时候在我身旁
Thank you for being by my side during my lowest moments.
我想让全世界的人都知道我爱你
I want the whole world to know that I love you.
你也让全世界的人 都知道我对不起你
And you let the whole world know that I'm sorry.
不是我不够成熟 而是我就是爱玩
It's not that I'm not mature enough, it's just that I love to play.
不是我还没长大 而是我就是这样
It's not that I haven't grown up yet, it's just that I am like this.
不是你想要怎样我就应该变成怎样
It's not that I should become what you want me to be.
不是你每天盼望圣灵就会全身充满
It's not that by praying for the Holy Spirit every day, your whole body will be filled.
不是你每天祷告每个礼拜去教堂
It's not that by praying every day and going to church every week.
把整本圣经读完人生就会功德圆满
It's not that by reading the entire Bible, life will be full of merit and perfection.
Let it be 一切都会过去 放下所有仇恨 勇敢活下去
Let it be, everything will pass. Let go of all the hatred and bravely live on.
回到最初一无所有的自己
Return to the initial state of having nothing.
Let it be 没什么过不去 不过就是人生必出的考题
Let it be, there is nothing that can't be overcome. It's just a test that life always presents.
最大的敌人永远都是自己
The biggest enemy is always oneself.
让他去 就让他去 就让他去 随风远去
Let him go, just let him go, let him go with the wind.
再见吧心魔 再见吧所有想要吞噬我的恶魔
Goodbye, inner demons. Goodbye, all the demons that want to devour me.
我已经受够 不允许你再干扰我的生活
I have had enough, I won't allow you to disturb my life any longer.
永远不回头 浪子要往前走
Never look back, the prodigal son must move forward.
那一片蔚蓝充满白绒云朵的天空
That sky, so blue and filled with fluffy white clouds.
是不是要告诉我至少我们还有梦
Is it trying to tell me that at least we still have dreams?
是不是非得 经历过玩命关头
Is it necessary to go through life-threatening situations?
人才会真正懂得学会珍惜和拥有
Only then will one truly understand how to cherish and possess.
灵魂才会真正回到最初的初衷
Only then will the soul truly return to its original intentions.
谁在看 喔谁在叹 喔谁又成了谁的大笑话
Who is watching? Oh, who is sighing? Oh, who has become someone's big joke?
谁能够将心比心 放过自己一马 一马当先的冲锋的没在怕
Who can empathize and forgive themselves? The one who rushes forward fearlessly.
让他去 就让他去 就让他去 随风远去 让他去 就让他去 就让他去 随风远去
Let him go, just let him go, let him go with the wind. Let him go, just let him go, let him go with the wind.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@timothymeehan181
Saw him at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco in 1999-2000. My girlfriend & I pushed our way all the way upfront(we were in our mid 30’s) in a sea of 3000-4000 college kids. One of the greatest nights of my life as far as live music goes. He blew the freaking doors off the place on a cold, rainy SF Monday night in January….legendary. 🎶🙏😎
@ssmithwick
A friend of mine was holding on to me like I was a ship's mast,.. he had never experienced anything that raw and powerful!
@MushroomsMythologyandMedicine
One of my finest moments was taking a pull of whiskey from RL backstage at the Mint. Good times.
@dars5229
That's badass, you know.
@SB-yl1ng
Great times. 👍
@ForgotteMemories101
Eternally jealous
@jackisgallant
Cool, do you have any children, or are active in prayer/following God?
@MushroomsMythologyandMedicine
@@jackisgallant What? WTF are talking about? No- I am a seeker, and as such it would irresponsible for me to bring children into the world if I was only going to spilt. Following God? All gods are Elites- ie rich people lording over the poor. The real god of the world is the mushroom amanita muscaria. That what Moses found at the burning bush and DID NOT give to his people. That was the Fire Prometheus gave the people. Jesus was riddle for the mushroom. SO maybe I do follow a certain GOD.
@androsg100
I might have first heard of his music from The Sopranos but digging into it feels like I have found a treasure. Truly a blues legend :)))
May he rest in peace and never be forgotten
@jackc6716
May he always have an ass pocket of whiskey