Tampa Red is best known as an accomplished and influential blues guitarist who had a unique single-string bottleneck style. His songwriting and his silky, polished slide technique influenced other leading Chicago blues guitarists, such as Big Bill Broonzy and Robert Nighthawk, as well as Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Mose Allison and many others. In a career spanning over 30 years he also recorded pop, R&B and hokum records.
He was born Hudson Woodbridge in Smithville, Georgia. His parents died when he was a child, and he moved to Tampa, Florida, where he was raised by his aunt and grandmother and adopted their surname, Whittaker. He emulated his older brother, Eddie, who played guitar, and he was especially inspired by an old street musician called Piccolo Pete, who first taught him to play blues licks on a guitar.
In the 1920s, having already perfected his slide technique, he moved to Chicago, Illinois, and began his career as a musician, adopting the name "Tampa Red" from his childhood home and red hair. His big break was being hired to accompany Ma Rainey and he began recording in 1928 with "It's Tight Like That", in a bawdy and humorous style that became known as "hokum". Early recordings were mostly collaborations with Thomas A. Dorsey, known at the time as Georgia Tom. Tampa Red and Georgia Tom recorded almost 90 sides, sometimes as "The Hokum Boys" or, with Frankie Jaxon, as "Tampa Red's Hokum Jug Band".
In 1928, Tampa Red became the first black musician to play a National steel-bodied resonator guitar, the loudest and showiest guitar available before amplification, acquiring one in the first year they were available. This allowed him to develop his trademark bottleneck style, playing single string runs, not block chords, which was a precursor to later blues and rock guitar soloing. The National guitar he used was a gold-plated tricone, which was found in Illinois in the 1990s and later sold to the "Experience Music Project" in Seattle. Tampa Red was known as "The Man With The Gold Guitar", and, into the 1930s, he was billed as "The Guitar Wizard".
His partnership with Dorsey ended in 1932, but he remained much in demand as a session musician, working with John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson, Memphis Minnie, and many others. In 1934 he signed for Victor Records. He formed the Chicago Five, a group of session musicians who created what became known as the Bluebird sound, a precursor of the small group style of later jump blues and rock and roll bands. He was a close friend and associate of Big Bill Broonzy and Big Maceo Merriweather. He enjoyed commercial success and reasonable prosperity, and his home became a centre for the blues community, informally providing rehearsal space, bookings, and lodgings for the flow of musicians who arrived in Chicago from the Mississippi Delta as the commercial potential of blues music grew and agricultural employment in the south diminished.
By the 1940s he was playing electric guitar. In 1942 "Let Me Play With Your Poodle" was a # 4 hit on Billboard Magazine's new "Harlem Hit Parade", forerunner of the R&B chart, and his 1949 recording "When Things Go Wrong with You (It Hurts Me Too)", another R&B hit, was covered by Elmore James. He was "rediscovered" in the late 1950s, like many other surviving early recorded blues artists such as Son House and Skip James, as part of the blues revival. His final, undistinguished, recordings were in 1960.
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Anna Lou Blues
Tampa Red Lyrics
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Annie Lou, i want you for my own, Annie Lou
You got to be mine no matter what you say or do
Annie Lou, you're just the type for me, Annie Lou
Annie Lou, you're just the type for me, Annie Lou
You're gonna be mine, baby, just wait and see
And i won't stop trying 'til i get you under my command
Annie Lou, the wedding bells keep ringin', Annie Lou
Annie Lou, my heart keep a singin', Annie Lou
Just a little bit of lovin', mama let your heart be true
Annie Lou what kind of gal is you, Annie Lou?
Annie Lou what is that you got, Annie Lou?
Well, i think by now that no one else would do but you
In Tampa Red's "Anna Lou Blues," the singer is expressing his desire to be with Anna Lou. He repeats the phrase "Annie Lou, I want you for my own" throughout the song, emphasizing his longing for her. He refuses to accept any objections or pushback from her, as he asserts that she "got to be mine no matter what you say or do." The singer even plans to visit Louisiana to obtain a "mojo hand," a type of talisman or charm used in African-American hoodoo, to help him win Anna Lou's affections.
The song features repetition and a steady blues rhythm, with Tampa Red's guitar accompanying his vocals. The lyrics contain colloquialisms and slang common to blues songs of the early 20th century. Tampa Red's performance captures the raw emotion and passion of the genre, as he sings of his relentless pursuit of Anna Lou.
The song may be interpreted as a commentary on the persistence of romantic pursuit in the face of obstacles, or as a celebration of the desire and passion that can drive one to pursue love at any cost.
Line by Line Meaning
Annie Lou, i want you for my own, Annie Lou
I desire to have you solely for myself, Annie Lou.
Annie Lou, you're just the type for me, Annie Lou
Annie Lou, you possess all the characteristics that I desire in a partner.
You're gonna be mine, baby, just wait and see
You will inevitably become mine, Annie Lou. Just wait and see.
'Cause i'm going to Lousiana just to get me a mojo hand
I am traveling to Louisiana to get a mojo hand, said to have magical powers, to aid in my quest to have Annie Lou.
And i won't stop trying 'til i get you under my command
I will continue to pursue and attempt to control you until you are under my control, Annie Lou.
Annie Lou, the wedding bells keep ringin', Annie Lou
There is a constant reminder of the future between us, Annie Lou.
Annie Lou, my heart keep a singin', Annie Lou
My heart continuously sings of my love for you, Annie Lou.
Just a little bit of lovin', mama let your heart be true
All I desire from you is a small amount of love, Mama. Allow your heart to lead you in the right direction.
Annie Lou what kind of gal is you, Annie Lou?
Annie Lou, what type of woman are you?
Annie Lou what is that you got, Annie Lou?
Annie Lou, what is it that you possess?
Well, i think by now that no one else would do but you
I have determined that no one else will suffice except for you, Annie Lou.
Writer(s): Hudson Whittaker
Contributed by Declan A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
DaveB
on Dead Cat On The Line
Your children all yelllow and got curly hair