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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Deceitful Friend Blues
Tampa Red Lyrics
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I just don't know what to do
When this world is so crooked
I just don't know what to do
And if you try to hold up yo' hands
Everybody will be down on you
And they don't mean me no good
I got some friends who are deceitful
And they don't mean me no good
Well, they would set a fire to me
And burn me up if they could
Well, I don't bother, nobody
Wonder why they pick at poor me?
I don't bother, nobody
Wonder why they pick at poor me?
Look like they'd rather see my body
Drifting in the deep blue sea
They have ate at my table
Even slept in my bed
They have ate at my table, woo
They have even slept in my bed
And they were jealous and deceitful
Wishin' that I was dead
So I ain't-a callin' no names
So I have no blame to bear
So I ain't-a callin' no names
So I have no blame to bear
But I know 'em when I see 'em
You can bet your life on that
In Tampa Red’s song “Deceitful Friend Blues”, the lyrics explore the emotions that come with being betrayed by someone you thought was a close friend. The artist expresses frustration with the world’s lack of morality and fairness. The first stanza emphasizes the confusion and helplessness one may feel in a world filled with crookedness. The second stanza sheds light on the betrayal of the artist's deceitful friends, who would go to great lengths to cause harm to him. The following stanza depicts the artist's bewilderment at why they seek to pick on him. He further describes his feeling of abandonment and the loneliness that comes with feeling like everyone is against him. He makes reference to how these “deceitful friends” have been recipients of his generosity, even sleeping in his bed and eating at his table, but still harbour ill feelings towards him. The artist implores listeners to understand that although he may not call them out by name, he recognizes them when he sees them and isn't responsible for their deceitful character.
The rawness of the lyrics encapsulates the pain and betrayal that comes with such an experience. The songwriters use of metaphors, such as the deep blue sea, to express his sense of abandonment, adds depth to the song. Overall, the song serves as an anthem to those who have been betrayed and its raw emotion would resonate with listeners.
Line by Line Meaning
When this world is so crooked
This world is very corrupt, and I'm uncertain how to navigate it.
I just don't know what to do
I'm at a loss for what actions to take in response to such a corrupt world.
And if you try to hold up yo' hands
If you try to resist the corruption around you and stand up for what's right,
Everybody will be down on you
You'll be met with resistance and criticism from those who are benefiting from the corrupt system.
I got some friends who are deceitful
I have some people in my life who are not truthful with me.
And they don't mean me no good
They have malicious intentions toward me.
Well, they would set a fire to me
They would harm me if they could.
And burn me up if they could
They would cause me harm and destruction if they were able to do so.
Well, I don't bother, nobody
I mind my own business and don't intentionally cause problems for anyone.
Wonder why they pick at poor me?
I don't understand why these deceitful people are targeting me.
Look like they'd rather see my body
It seems like they would prefer for me to be dead.
Drifting in the deep blue sea
Perhaps they would even go so far as to cause my death and dispose of my body in the ocean.
They have ate at my table
These deceitful friends have shared meals with me at my own table in my home.
Even slept in my bed
They have even been guests in my home and slept in my bed.
And they were jealous and deceitful
Despite their friendly appearances, these people have been envious of me and deceptive in their dealings with me.
Wishin' that I was dead
They seem to harbor ill will toward me and may even wish for my death.
So I ain't-a callin' no names
I'm not going to publicly identify these deceitful friends by name.
So I have no blame to bear
By not retaliating or escalating the situation, I am blameless in any conflicts that may arise.
But I know 'em when I see 'em
Although I'm not publicly calling out my deceitful friends, I can recognize them when I encounter them.
You can bet your life on that
I am extremely confident in my ability to identify these deceitful people.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: HUDSON WHITTAKER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
DaveB
on Dead Cat On The Line
Your children all yelllow and got curly hair