Tampa Red (January 8, 1904 - March 19, 1981), born Hudson Woodbridge but kn… Read Full Bio ↴Tampa Red (January 8, 1904 - March 19, 1981), born Hudson Woodbridge but known from childhood as Hudson Whittaker, was an influential American musician.

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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Travel On
Tampa Red Lyrics

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Travel On Trk 11 Dsc 2 2:34 song 34
Tampa Red (Hudson Whittaker)
Aurora, Illinois, Oct. 11, 1937 Leland Hotel Top Floor
Tampa Red- vocal, piano & guitar, Willie Bee James - guitar
Album: The Bluebird Recordings - Tampa Red 1936 - 1938
2 Disc set RCA 07863 66722-2 1997 BMG

When you are doing

The best you can
And the one you loving
Don't understand
Don't get discouranged
But keep-a tryin' and travel on

You're bound to worry
Ev'ry now and then
But keep on trying
You are bound to win
Don't get discouranged
But keep-a tryin' and travel on

If you stay worried
Most all the time
Just try laughing instead of cryin'
Don't get discouraged
But keep-a tryin' and travel on

'Yas, yas'

(instrumental) slide guitar

Yo' darkest hour is just before day
That's when your sorrows
Will vanish away
Don't get discouranged
But keep-a tryin' and travel on

When you get worried
And feel so blue
Remember this song, I
Have sung to you
Don't get discouranged
But keep-a tryin' and travel on.

Overall Meaning

The song "Travel On" by Tampa Red is a motivational track that encourages listeners to persist despite difficulties. The lyrics revolve around themes of perseverance and optimism, reminding people that even if their loved ones don't understand them, they shouldn't lose heart, but instead continue to strive towards their goals. The song advises against becoming discouraged, suggesting that a positive mindset combined with focused effort can overcome any obstacle.

Tampa Red employs simple yet evocative language in his lyrics, using examples such as 'trying laughing instead of crying' to emphasize the importance of maintaining a positive attitude. The song also makes use of the well-known adage 'your darkest hour is just before day', indicating that no matter how bleak a situation may appear, there is always hope for a brighter tomorrow.

Overall, "Travel On" serves as an upbeat and motivational track that encourages people to remain resilient and steadfast in the face of adversity. The song provides a message of hope and encourages a belief that anything is possible if one keeps pushing forward.

Line by Line Meaning

When you are doing
When you are doing your best

The best you can
Even if you feel like you are giving it your all

And the one you loving
When the person you love

Don't understand
Doesn't understand your efforts

Don't get discouranged
Don't become disheartened

But keep-a tryin' and travel on
Instead, keep trying and moving forward

You're bound to worry
You may experience worry

Ev'ry now and then
From time to time

But keep on trying
Don't give up

You are bound to win
Success is eventually within reach

If you stay worried
However, if you let worry consume you