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.
.
The jitter jump
Tampa Red Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It put you in the mood to swing
To kiss and dance and everything
The jitter jive is jumpin'
The old and grey, the young and gay
Are takin' chances every night and day
Gettin' the kicks the jazzy way
Everywhere in town
You see them tuckin' around
Weighin' the smell of sound
And gettin' high and breakin' down
The jitter jump it won't behave
Make you real and make you rock and sway
With your kicks with the hip hip way
The jitter jive is jumpin'
I say, the jitter jump is a mellow thing
Put you in the mood to swing
To kiss and dance and everything
The jitter jive is jumpin'
The old and grey, the young and gay
Are takin' chances every night and day
To get the kicks the jazzy way
The jitter jive is jumpin'
Everywhere in town
You see them tuckin' around
Weighin' the smell of sound
Gettin' high and breakin' down
The jitter jump it won't behave
It make you real and make you rock and sway
And get your kicks the hip hip way
The jitter jive is jumpin'
The jitter jive is jumpin'
"The Jitter Jump" by Tampa Red is a lively tune about the jitterbug dance craze that became popular in the 1930s and 1940s. He describes the dance as a "mellow thing," that puts you in the mood to swing, kiss, and dance. The lyrics suggest that the jitterbug was a popular dance enjoyed by people of all ages and backgrounds.
The song seems to celebrate the thrill and excitement of the dance, with lines like "everywhere in town, you see them tuckin' around, weighin' the smell of sound, and gettin' high and breakin' down." "Tuckin' around" refers to the quick, jerky movements of the dance, while "weighin' the smell of sound" describes the way dancers get lost in the music and rhythm.
Line by Line Meaning
The jitter jump is a mellow thing
The dance called jitter jump is smooth and relaxed.
It put you in the mood to swing
The dance has an infectious rhythm and makes people want to swing their bodies to the music.
To kiss and dance and everything
Jitter jump inspires people to let loose, dance, and perhaps even indulge in some romance.
The jitter jive is jumpin'
The song celebrates and acknowledges the popularity of jitter jump and its lively nature.
The old and grey, the young and gay
Regardless of age, sexual orientation or anything else, everyone is excited to participate in the dance.
Are takin' chances every night and day
People are willing to take risks and try new things like the dance and its moves.
Gettin' the kicks the jazzy way
Jitter jumping provides a fresh and jazzy way for people to enjoy themselves and have fun.
Everywhere in town
Jitter jump has become a phenomenon that is happening all over town.
You see them tuckin' around
People are moving around, bouncing and bouncing back and forth in the dance.
Weighin' the smell of sound
People are trying to grasp or understand the feeling that comes with the dance.
And gettin' high and breakin' down
People are feeling exhilarated and breaking down their barriers to let loose and dance.
The jitter jump it won't behave
The dance doesn't follow any strict rules, and people can be free to move and express themselves.
Make you real and make you rock and sway
The dance promises to make you feel alive and get you caught up in the rhythm of the music.
With your kicks with the hip hip way
People are enjoying themselves with unique dance moves that come with the music.
I say, the jitter jump is a mellow thing
The singer reiterates that the dance style is calm and collective.
Put you in the mood to swing
Again emphasizing how the jitter jump puts individuals in the dancing mood.
To kiss and dance and everything
The dance offers freedom of expression, including letting loose and even getting romantic.
The jitter jive is jumpin'
The chorus and song overall reiterate the popularity of jitter jump because of its jazzy and exciting mood.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: HUDSON WHITTAKER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
DaveB
on Dead Cat On The Line
Your children all yelllow and got curly hair