Mississippi guitarist and singer J.D. Suggs

8/12/2019 Mississippi guitarist and singer J.D. Suggs

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NEGRO FOLKSONGS IN MICHIG NFROM THE REPERTOIRE OF J D SUGGS

Annotated Transcripts

Collected by Ric har d M. DorsonMusic Transcriptions by George List

Headnotes by Neil Rosenberg

INTRODUCTIONIn Calvin township, a Negro commu nity in sou thw este rn Michigan,

I met J am es Douglas Suggs and rec ord ed 170 of his t al es in 1952 and1953. Thes e have been published in my Negro Fo lkta les Michigan(Cambridge, M as s., 1956) and Nearo Tale s fr o m Pine Bluff. Arkansas- - Yand Cal vin , Michigan Bloomington, Ind. 1958). Sugg s was then sixty-ive, a M ississippi-born wanderer who had l ived in thirty-nine state s.He was not only a fer til e and gifted raconte ur but a ls o a sin ger of

secular and rel igious t radi t ional songs ( se e the comments in AmericanFo lkl ore, Chicago, 1959, pp. 190-91). The tape recordings of thesetwenty-two songs, fr om which the following texts and tunes a r e drawn,a r e on deposit in the Archives of Traditional Music at Indiana Univer-sity.

As folksinger Suggs dem ons trates some of the sam e qualit iesthat rendered him a remarkable narr a tor . The re i s the wide rangeof repertoire , which in his pros e narr ativ es co vered animal, ghost,Old Ma rst er and jocular sto rie s, and in his songs extended fr om theworldly to the religious. Likewise he displays a variety of moodsand styles, conveying a mournful, solemn ai r in the gospel hymnsand a lively, rollicking sp irit in the mi ns tr el num bers . His rgcol-lection of detail again is evident, a s he re me mb ers individual sin ge rslike red-headed A Barney in New O rleans f ro m whom he had learn edchurch songs over a quar ter of a cen tury before, and events l ike hismo the r s anctifying a t which m ou rn er s sang the whole night long.Suggs c laim s to have known Rosie of Beale S tre et who compo sed theMemphis Blues and Casey Jone s firem an. In choir s, at wakes,in tent shows, in honkey-tonks, in the Army Suggs picked up thesongs that perme ated Southern Negro life. No ha rd and fas t divisions

3


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J D Suggs talking to the collector


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separate d his nar rativ es f ro m his ballads and lyri cs; he chantedkhy-mes within his sto rie s to make cante-fables, and he would some-times in prose re te ll the plot of his song t e a s , as he did for ThePre ach er and the Grizzly Bear . Essentially,he was the per for me r,whether talking or singing, and his intonational effec ts, imita ting thepre ach er s exhortation and the sinner s wail, bridged the gap betweenspee ch and song.

The songs of Suggs raise the question of how often a noteworthyc a rr ie r of one fo rm of tra dition may be talented in other for m s whichget overlooked. One of Cecil Sharp s best ballad sing ers, JaneGentry, fi r st revealed the cache of English Gi rc he n in the southernAppalachians to sociologist Isab el Gordon C ar te r in 1923; Sha rp hadnever inquired fr o m Mrs. Gentry, while he was recording sixty-fourof her ballads, if she knew any stories. In his splendid collection,Fplktales and Legends fro m the New Je r se y Pines , He rber t Halpertconstructed a doctoral diss erta tion fro m tale s of the Jac kson whitesfr om whom he had previously obtained bushels of son gs. After gradu-ate study at Indiana U n iv e r s it ~ e conceived the idea of revisitingthem to inquire after prose traditions. In such a volume asUberlieferung Personlichkeit asse mb led by Gottfried Henssenand presenting the complete repe rto ire of m ar ch en , s agen, songsand dance tunes of the far mh and Egb ert G er rit s, we se e the rew ard sof the multiple ap proach. In my own case I only asked Suggs aftersom e months if he st il l knew the songs he had sung in his fa the r schoir in Missis sippi or while traveling around the country with aminister [minstrel] show. When his mind st ir re d to recollection,I bought him gu itar and he began singing and pl ying with his customar y verve.

Nearly two-thirds of Suggs song re pe rto ire fall s under the broaddivision of social o r secu lar pieces. These again a r e divisible:half a dozen humorous recita tions deriv e fro m min st re l shows (e. g.Wasn t That a Traveling Man and The Pr ea ch er and the Gr izzlyBea r ), two a r e Ame rican ballads of Negro origin ( The Boll Weeviland Casey Jones ) one a blues ( Mem phis Blues ) and one a Negropri son song ( Yonder Com es Rosie ). World War One, during whichSuggs se rv ed in Fra nce , left in his me mo ry When Uncle am CallsYour Man and Once I Had a Sweetheart , her e for the fir st t imenoted from Negro singer.

Eight songs a r e desc ribe d by Suggs a s Chr istian -or church songsThese a r e mo re difficult to identify and thr ee of the eight re ma in with-out comparisons. Of the group, I reco rde d a sti ll unpublished va ria nt


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text of 'You Better Mind n Calvin, f r om Mrs. E. L. Smith who, lik eSuggs had come up to Michigan fr om Mississippi. C ar l Sandburgincluded a ver sio n of 'T he re 's a Man Going 'Round Taking Names' inT Am er ic an Songbag in 1927, w hile 'If I othe r Don't Go, I t Won'tHinder Me' ha s made i ts way into the Folksong R evival.

This brea dth of re pe rt oi re , extending fr o m ballad s of nationwidecirculation to hither to unreported spir i tuals , gives a special inte restto the songs of Suggs.

Richard M. Dorson

1. 'Wasn't That a Trav elin' M an?'As Suggs s tat es , this song comes fro m Negro mi ns tre l tradition.

It has been widely collected a s 'The Trav eling Coon'. See: HowardW Odurn and Guy B. Johnson, Negro Workaday Songs (Ch apel Hill,1926), pp. 59-61; Newman I. White, Ame ri ca n Neg ro Folk- Songs(Cam bridg e, 1928), pp. 349-50; and The F ra n k C. Brown Collectionof Nor th Ca rol ina , Vol. III, Fo lk Songs, H enry M. Belden and Ar thu r

al m er Hudson, ed s. (Du rham , 1952), p. 428. In Deep Down in theJung le (Hatboro, Pa.), 1964, Roger D. A brah ams di sc us se s the re la -tion of this song t o the Negro toast 'The Titanic' and it s hero , 'Shine*(pp. lll-17). Suggs' fifth st an za has Motif X939.1*, 'Lie : pe rs on ofremarkable speed.

IU ATM Arch ives Tape L ib ra ry (ATL ) No. 3169. 3Dorson: Mr. Suggs, will you sing the song that you w er e singing the

othe r night s o well. The song tha t goes, 'Wasn't Tha t aTraveling Man? Reme mber that one ?

Suggs: I remember that one well. That was a pretty fas t man, too.Dorson: Sure was.Suggs: And so it went something like this in the way the song began.

known-for m il es a - r h z - Well he would-n*t give up An* he


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would-n t give up Not un - ti - hat po- l ice shot him-own -

1. This Coon caught the T itanicHe went a-sailing ov er the ocean blue

He spied the ice- berg com-in , 0 v e r

deck this nig ger flew-The womens n m en begin to holle rayin , Wasn t he actin a foo l?

But when the Ti- tan- ic went down Y ~ e shoot-in craps

in Li-ver- po Nmvwas n t tha t atravelin man?

He was known for miles around,And he wouldn t give up, and he wouldn t give up,Not until that police shot him down.

2 Well, they se nt thi s coon a te r a pail of wat er.He had to go two miles and a quarter.He stum bled and fell, an brok e his pail.He went thr ee mil es and a qu arter ,Got another pitcher,


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CHORUS

An' ca ug h t th ew a- te r ' fo re i t h i t th e g roun '. Now,. . . wasn't th at a trave lin' man,He was known for miles around,And he wouldn't give up, and he wouldn't give up,Not until that police shot him down.

3 Well, the detectives and al l got right at himAnd he sailed way up in the ai r.When the police looked up and see n him,

An' they shot him throu gh the head- An' he

com e, tum-b lin' down- .Everybody sai d he w a s dead.They ut im n t is coffinAnd sent fo r h is mother .When she came an' they opened the lid, Repeat

Chmus

Th is Ne gro had d i s - appe ar e . Now .

Dor son:Suggs:Dor son:Suggs:Dorson:Sugg s:Dorson:Suggs:

Well, that was certain ly mighty fine, Mr. Suggs.That was a he was a re al t ravelin ' man. (unintelligible)Where did you where did you le ar n that song?Well, I lea rnt that one in the southern part of M issis sipp inear Flor ida .Oh.Pensacola.I see. You don't know who made that up?No. I didn't . Well, i t came fr om New Orle ans. It 's amin i s t e r [mins t re l ] show, where they teach them old min is ter s-colored mi nis ter s. Well, you goes the re, well, and theytr ai ns you up. And then you go out on the road.


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Dorson: Oh, I se e.Suggs: In the tcn ts, you know. And that s w here they wr ite the se

songs and everybody pr act ice s them up on the piano whateverthe ins tru me nt they going to use,. So ther e s where thatcame fro m fro m New Orleans.

. The Boll WeevilG. Malcolm Laws lis ts The Boll Weevil a s I1 7 in the Ballads

of the Negro section of Native Am eri can Balladry (re vi se d edition,Philade lphia, 1964), pp. 93-4 and 255. See Newrnan I. White, Am er i-can Negro Folk-Songs (Ca mb ridg e, 1928), pp. 351-53, f or additional

ar ia nt s of this well-known song.IU ATM ATL No. 3169. 4

Dorson: Then th er e was another song that you were singing m e theoth er night, about the boll weevil.

Suggs: Oh, .Dorson: How does tha t one go?Suggs: Th at s one that s a pretty good song. You know a boll

weevil wo rks on cotton. You know. And sometime i t get s obad the boll weevils do the people can t r ai s e no cottonat a l l . It grows up a big stalk , but he puncture s th e bollbef ore it opens get up big enough to open. Well, i t rot sand falls off. And so, that song goes something like this.

1. F i r s t t ime seen a boll weevil-

He s on hi s walk in cane . Say in , I m

goin a way th is su m m er Hut I l l be

back a gain next sprin g. The boll wee vi l


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2. You can tak e a boll wee vi l And

throw him in the a i r . When you se e him next

fall He l l have his fam ly h z e . The

b o l l w e e - v i l got a home -.3 The farmer went to the merchant

o get som e me at an meal.

He told him, Go way, far - m e r you got

boll wee

*These lines were changed to make the meaning clea r. The inform -ant s actual words were:

The merchant went to the fa rm ero get some mea t an meal.


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4. You can tak e a boll weevil,Put hi m tween two blocks of ice.Let him s tay twenty-four ho urs,He ll com e out and say, I wa s livin a spor ty life.

Dorson: Well, tha t s mighty nice.

3. The Pre ach er and the Grizzly BearNewrnan I. White give s a text of this song in Am eri can Ne gro

Folk-Songs (Ca mb ridge , l928), p. 210, noting i ts appe aranc e on anar ly phonograph re co rd (ca. 1900-1910). One variant i s printed in

The F ra nk C. Brown Collection of North Car oli na Fo lkl ore , Vol. 111.Folk Songs, He nry M. Belden and Arthur P a lm er Hudson, eds. (Dur-ham , 1952), p. 511, and the edi tor s ,r ef er to four othe r varia nts , inclu-ding a cante-fable fo rm fr om Virginia. The L ib ra ry of Cong ressChecklist o Recorded Songs in the English Language in the A rchiveof A m eri can Folk Song t o July, 1940 (Washington, D. C., 1942), Vol. 11. 320, li st s one perf orm ance under this title. recording of The

Pr ea ch er and the Be ar by hillbilly mu sicia n Mac Wiseman (Dot 16008,ca 1960) re pr es en ts the la te st in what i s undoubtedly long traditio nof commercial recordings of the song.

U ATM ATL No. 3169.10Dorson: You we re just telling m e about th is song, about the preac herand the g rizzly bea r.Suggs: Oh, yeah. Well, the pr ea che r, you know, he he wouldn t

want to s ay tha t he was goin to huntin on Sunday, you know.Well, he d say, well, it was agai nst his re ligion. But anyway,he d taken his gun along. And in the song he sa ys it wentsomething like this :1. This preacher went out one Sunday morning,

I suppose twas against his religion,But anyway, he d tak en his gun along.He killed himself some two-three quails

And a couple of molly hares .


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2. But on his way, return ing home,He me t a gr eat big gr iz zly bear .This prea che r he got a l i t t le excited,Up the simmon tr e e he clamb,The be ar then decided he d wait ti ll he com e down,The preacher he got a little excitedAnd he craw led out on the lim b,Then he c ast his eyes unto the L ord in the skiesThese the words he sa id to him:Oooh, Lor d, you he ard brother Jonah, whiles in the

belly of the whale,You he ard bro ther Daniel while he s in the lion s den,Now Lord, Lord, i you don t hel p m eDon t help that gri zz ly bear..

3 Well, he got a little m or e excited and he c raw ledout on a limb,

And the lim b it brok e,You might have seen the prea che r gett in his raz or ,Jus t before h e hit the ground.He begin to cut right and left,But the b ea r hugged him a li ttle too tight,Then he ca st his eyes unto the L ord in the skies,These a r e the words he said to him:Oooh, Lo rd , you he ar d bro the r Daniel, whiles in thc

lion s denAnd you hea rd bro the r Jona h whiles i n the belly of

the whale,You he ar d the t hr ee H ebrew children while they was

in the f i ery furnace.Now Lor d, L or d, if you don t hel p m e ,Put a muzzle on that g r izzly bear .The be ar done open his m outh up and he s ay s, Now you

ain t put a m uzz le on you ain t. No, h e didn t. [ Laugh]Well at f ir st when he s up in the t re e , you know, he thoughtabout it, told the Lord , Now i you don t help m e, don t hel pthe grizzl y be ar . And the le ss like he talked, you know, hecould if he didn t tal k L or d didn t help eit he r one of the m,he had a chance t o win.

Well, he got a lit tle excited, he just walked a lit tle fur th erout until the lim b broke. And the preac her had a ra zo r in his


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pocket. He got his ra zo r and commenced cutting, for e hehit the ground. And when he hit it, he m is se d the bea r, andthe bear grabbed him and commenced squeezin him up. Thenhe kind he looked up to the Lo rd , he said:

Lord , Lor d, you hea rd broth er Jonah, whilst in thebelly of the whale.

You hear d the th ree Hebrew children whilst in thefie ry furnace.

And you he ar d bro the r Daniel, whilst in the bellyof the whale [ sic]

Now Lo rd , Lo rd , if you don t help mePut on a muzzle on that griz zly bear .

Well, he d a -been helping him just the s am e. (Laughs)Dorson: Th at s right. You le ar ne d tha t one down at New Or lea ns , too.Suggs: Th at s right.Dorson: But you didn t le ar n it fro m any printed word.Suggs: No. That was a fr o m a min istr y. You know, whe re I was

telling you about. That was a place that they trai ns them up,the colored min isters . They don t come this f a r up. But theycome up fa r a s Memphis, and f a r a s St. Louis. Nothin butre al colored mi nis ter s too. Well they le ar n em al l kinds ofsleig ht of hand, you know, and vanquilling, and magicking.Well, where I he ard that sung at.

Dorson: Oh, I see .

4 Won t We Have a High Old Time ?Although this song (in the f or m Suggs pe rfo rm s it) does not se em

to have been collected previously, i t sh ar es theme (in the chorus) andone stanza (3) with the well-known m in s tr el song, Ra ise a RuckusTonight . See Howard W. Odum an d Guy B. Johnson (Nqgro WorkadaySongs [ Ch apel Hi ll, 19261 , pp. 173-75), Newman I. White (AmericanNegro Folk-Songs Ca mb ridg e, 19281, p. 180), and John and Alan Lom axAm eri ca n Ba llad s and Fo lk Songs New York, 19341 , pp. 253-54) for

va ria nt s of Ra ise a Ruckus Tonight . The L ib ra r y of Con gres s Check-li s t of Reco rded Songs in the En glish Language in the Archive o Americanolk Song to July 1940 (Washington, D.C. , 1942), Vol. 11, p. 330, li s t s

ariants fr om Texa s, L ouisiana, Geo rgia, and Virginia. Among thephonograph rec ord ing s of Ra ise a Ruckus a re : Je s se Fu l l e r , Je sseFu lle r, Good Tim e Ja zz GTJ-12031; and The Moble Str ug gle rs, Am eri-can Skiffle Band s, Folkw ays F A 2610.


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IU ATM ATL No. 3170.3Dorson: Mr. Suggs Will you plea se sing u s a song tha t you sang the

la st t ime I was visiting you. It' s ca ll ed 'Won't We Have aHigh Old Time.

Suggs: Oh, yeah . That was a good one. Back in that sla ve tim e,you know, in the days before slavery t ime , the old M ars tersays, 'Now, when I die, ' say s, 'I 'm gonna set you fr ee ' Soa ll of the se rv an ts , they was getting glad, you know, that the

that when old M as ter , old M ist res s died, says , 'You know,we'll be set fr ee . ' So, one night they was a ll out and they wasbeginning to have ' em a p art y. Begin to sing1. Won't we have a high* old ti m e

Won' t those darkies shineWe'll come out tonight.With our pisto ls in ou r sleeves,We'll have a high old tim e.

2 Won't we have a high old ti m eWon't those darkies shineWe'll come out tonightWith our pisto ls in our sleeves,We'll have a high old tim e.

3 Well she lived s o long ti ll her head got bald,We'll have a high old tim e,Well, she got out of notion of dyin' a t a l lWe'll have a high old ti m e.

4. Now, won't we have a high old tim e,I know thos e dar kie s won't shine.We'll come out tonightWith our pistols in our sleeves,We won't have no high old tim e.They changed the subje ct and sa id they wouldn't have no

high old t im e then af ter she got to l ive so old that h er headgot bald. They changed the sub jec t. Say s, 'Now we won'thave no high old tim es . Got no notion of dying a t al l.

Dorson: (Laughter)*Throughout the song Suggs in se rt s an r between 'high' and old'.


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155. 'You Shall Be Fr e e (Oh Mour ner)'

A favorite catch-all fo r the 'floating' stan zas found frequently inNegro tradition, 'You Shall Be F re e ' has been collec ted by DorothySca rborough (On the T rai l of Negro Folk-Songs Cam bridg e, 19251,pp. 163- 64). Newman I. White (A mer ican Negro Folk-Songs [ Cambridge,19281 , pp. 134- 40), John A. and Alan Lomax (A me ric an Ball ads and

olk Songs [New York, 19341, pp. 254-58), and Fra nk C. Brown (Thera nk C Brown Collection of North Ca ro lina Fo lk lo re , Vol. 111, Folkongs, Henry M. Belden and Art hur Pa lm er Hudson, eds. [ Durham,

19521. pp. 547-48). The Li br ar y of Con gres s Checklist of,RecordedSongs in the E nglis h Language in the Archive o Am eric an Polk Songto July, 1940 (Washington, D. C. , 1942), Vol. 11, p. 452, li s ts ve rs io ns-f this title fr om Nassau in the Bahamas, Florida, Mississip pi,Louisiana, and Indiana.

Suggs' f ir st stan za is a good example of the 'floating* stan zas;White, for instanc e, collected it not only with 'You Shall Be Fr ee 'but al so a s an independent song (pp. 370-72). Howard W. Odurn andGuy B. Johnson (Neg ro Workaday Songs [C ha pe l Hill, 19261, p. 174)include th is stan za in a vers ion of 'R aise a Ruckus Tonight' (s ee theheadnote to Won't e Have a High Old Time').

IU ATM ATL No. 3170.4Dorson: Now, th er e was another one along the sa m e line, You Sha ll

Be Fr ee ', when they we re cele brati ng the idea of becomingfree a f ter s lavery t imes .

Suggs: That' s it That' s the fact 'Now, won't we have high oldtime, won't the darkies shine*.

Dorson: Oh I see.Suggs: Th at w as i t .Dorson: That's the sam e one.Suggs: That's the sa m e one. I know the one you were speaking about.'Some F olks Say a P re ac he r Wouldn't Steal.

'Some Folks Say s a Preac he r Wouldn't Steal' (Suggs' va ria nt of'You Shall Be Fr ee ')

Suggs: You know, that 's good one , too.Dorson: Uh-hum. How does tha t go ?Suggs: 1. Some folks sa ys a pr ea ch er won't steal ,

I caught thre e in my c orn fiel' ,One had a bushel, the other'n had a peck,The other'n had the co rn fiel ' straddlin' his neck.


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Gettin homily [ hominy?] , you shal l be fr e eGonna get som e me al, you shall be f r ee ,When the good L or d se t you fr ee .

2. Th is coon went out one mo rni ng ,He had his eye on the tri g g er , eye .on the hog.Gun went boom, the hog fe ll bipThe white ma n running with all his might.The coon was a-run nin* just to keep out of sigh t,Coon looked back, sa ys , 'White man, you ain t ru n none yet.

3. I m gonna have pork chops, you s ha ll be fre e,Have backbone, you shall be fr ee .We re gonna have chittlin , shall be f re e ,When the good Lo rd se ts you fre e.

4. If you wanta go to Heaven, te ll you what you bet te r do.G re as e your feet with hog-eye l ar d,You can s l ip r ight o ver i n the pr om ised land.Goin to heaven, now. Shall be fr e e,Havin* a good tim e, you shall be f re eWhen the good Lo rd se ts you fre e.

Dor s on: That* the one had in mind.Suggs: Th at s right Tha t*s the one you had in your mind.Dorson: Tha t s a dandy.Suggs: That s gr eat .

6. ' Midnight Special (Yonder Comes Rosie)Usually known a s The Midnight Special*, thi s Te xas pr iso n song

has had a n interesting his tory in pr int and on re co rd s ince the 1920 s .Mack ~ c d o r m i c k ives a de tailed hist or y of the song in A Who s Whoof ' The Midnight Sp ecial* (Ca rav an, XIX [ Jan. 19601 , 11- 21) but doesnot furnish specif ic ci tations for his refe ren ces. The mo st importantof these ar e as fol lows: John Lomax, J r . , John A. Loma x, Jr ings,Folkways FG 3508; Sod arisa Mi ller, Midnight Special , Para mo unt12306; Sam Col lins, Midnight Spec ial Blue s , Gennett 6307; Ca r lSandburg, Am er ic an Songbag (New Yor k, 1927), pp. 26-7, 217;John A. and Alan Lomax, Am erica n Ballads and Folk Songs (New York,1934), pp. 71-5; John A. and Alan Lomax, Negro Folk Songs a s Sungby Le ad Belly (New York, 1936), pp. 221-23; B. A. Botkin, Treasury


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of Am eric an Folkloreh(New York, l944), pp. 908-09; L ib ra ry of Con--gress, Checklist ecorded Songs in the English Language in.the--Archive of Am erican Fo lk Song to Ju ly, 1940 (Washington, D. C. 1942),Vol. 11, p. 256; and Huddie ( Leadbelly ) Le dbe tte r, Midnight Special* ,RCA Victor 27266 (r ei ss ue d on Leadbelly: The Midnight Spe cial , RCAVicto r LPV-505). D. K. Wilgus, in A Catalogue of Am eric an Folk-Songs on Comm ercial Record s* (Unpublished Mast er s Th esi s, OhioState U. Columbus, 1947), add s the following items : Delm ore Broth ers ,Midnight Special , King 514 A; J . Rosamond Johnson, Rolling Alongin Song (New York, 1937), 176-77; Sa ti s M. Coleman and Adolph-Bregma n, Songs of Amer ic an Fol ks (New York, 1942), pp. 112-13;Robert Gordon, New York Ti m es Magazine (Ju ne 19, 1927), 20. Addi-tional ref ere nc es are: Wilma Le e and Stoney Cooper, Big MidnightSpe cial*, Hickory 45-1098; a nd Watts and Wilson, Walk Right in Bel -mont , Pa ra mou nt 3019.

In general, the se item s can be placed in two categorie s. The f i r s tenco mp asses the Li br ar y of Co ngres s and Leadbelly reco rding s andmo st of the published ite ms , which d erive f ro m the Lomax, collection.Leadbelly s perfo rman ces ser ved a s the model for a flood of olksongrevival* and popular* rec ord ing s which began in the 1940. The secondcategory includes the com m erc ial ace * record ings of Miller (1925) andCol lins (1927). Possibly deriving f ro m these or direc tly f rom o ra ltradition ar e at leas t thr ee hillbilly* recordings: Watts and Wilson(ca. 1929, a localized North Carol ina versio n), Delmore Bro the rs (ca.1945) and Wilma L ee and Stoney Cooper ( ca . 1959). McCormick notesthat the song is sti l l in southern Negro priso n tradition. The MidnightSpecial* has thus spre ad fr o m Negro prison tradition to general Negrotradition (a s with Suggs), and found it s way into four com m erc ial musictraditions ( rac e* , hillbilly , folk*, and popular*) striki ng exampleof popular song in ev er y meaning of that te rm .

I U ATM ATL No. 3170.5Dorson: Now, you we re just singing a litt le ea rl ie r, thi s one cal led

Here Comes Rosie*.Suggs: Oh, wel l, once a fellow, you know they caught him in a c rap

gam e, you know. And had him in jail. So that night they wasorning fore day as looking out. He was talk ing. He

looked up the ro ad a-pie ce and he spied Rosie. He commencedsingin and talkin to them.

1 Well, yonder com Ro-os ie-ie-How i n the w orld you know?I know h e r by the stockings


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And the d re ss she wore.Umbrella on her shoulder,Piece of paper in her hand,Walking up to the jai lerSaying, I wan ts my man.Now, le t the midnight spe cia lShine the light on me.Let the midnight s peci alShine the e ve r light on me.

2. God knows love Ro sie,Te ll the world do.Comin* long som e day, sheGonna love me too.Let the midnight sp ecialShine he light on me,Let the midnight sp ecialShine the e ve r light on me.

Dorson: Very , ve ry nice.

7 Once Had a SweetheartSix va ria nts of th is song have been collected; Suggs* is the f i r s t

perfo rm ance by a Negro. See Arthur Pa lm er Hudson, Ballads andSongs f ro m Mississ ippi*, Journal of American ~ o l k l o r e ,XXXIX (1926),____l_rp. 150; Mellinger E. Henry, Folk-Songs f ro m the Southern HighlandsNew York, 1938), pp. 270-71; and Vance Randolph, zark Folksongs,

Vol. IV (Co lum bia , Mo. 1950), pp. 310-13 (fou r va rian ts ). A commer-ci al recording entitled Soldier s Sweetheart* was made by influentialhillb illy a rt i s t Jim mie Rod gers around 1930 (Bluebird B- 33- 0513).Randolph and John Greenway ( Jirnm ie Rodgers Folksong Cata lyst ,Journal of American Folklore XX 19571 231-34) question th e a t t r i -

ution of autho rship to R o d g e r~ ; uggs descr iption of the song spopularity in 1917 seem s to strengthen the ir case.

IU ATM ATL No. 3170.6Dorson: And then liked al so that pretty song you we re singing that

com es o ut of World War One Oncet I Had a Sweetheart*.Suggs: Yes.


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Dorson: Tha t s a nice one.Suggs: Well, tha t was a now a ma n he was courtin a gi rl , you know,

and so he was a nice fellow and she rea lly loved him. Andso when she come she compose thi s song. She said,1. Oncet I had a sweetheart,

Someone I craved to see,And he often come to see me,

When the evening sun was low.His hair was dark and curly

His eyes were lovin blue,And when he come to say good-by

My heart did overflow.2. He taken his finger-ring

And he placed it on my hand,Saying, Rem ember me little darling,

When I m in no-man s land.The fir st let ter I got from him,

He said he was doing well,Next one was writ by his captain

Saying, The one you love so well is dead.I gotta you gotta

Dorson: Well, le t s s ta rt over on that one then, Mr. Suggs, since youfe lt a lit tle ho ars e and now you ve had a cough drop. So shallwe just take i t fro m the beginning ?

Suggs: Yes, yes, Mr. Dorson. I believe th at would be the best. I llt r y it over again, you know the hoars ene ss ou know I gott o coughin and I couldn t sing so good.

Dorson: Okay, Oncet I Had a Sweetheart . That s i t ?Suggs: Oncet I - hat s right. Oncet I Had a Sweeth eart .

3. Oncet I had a sweetheart,He often come to se e me

When the evening sun was low.His eyes were hai r was dark and curly

His eyes were lovin blue,And when he come to sa y good-by,

My heart did overflow.4. He d taken his f inger-ring

And he placed it on my hand,


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Sayin Remem ber me , little darling,When I m in no-man s land.

They ve taken him awayTo the Germany war

nd when he come to say good-by,My heart did overflow.

5. F ir s t le t ter I got f rom himHe s aid he was doing fine,

Next one I got was writ by his captainSaying, The one you love so well i s dead.

Dorson: Oh, that was rea lly swell.Suggs: Yes, s i r . That s a nice one. That was a World War One

song they used to sing the la te st song that. It was apopular song in 17. Everybody s singing tha t song.

. When Uncle Sam Calls Your ManIU ATM ATL No. 3170.7

Dorson: Th er e was another one fro m World War One you we re tellingm about: When Uncle a m Calls Your Man .

Suggs: Oh, yes s i r . That s one. It went like this:When Uncle Sam ca ll out your m anDon t c ry and cr y because he can t, simply can t refuse.Don t hold him back, it will make h im sad,Ple ase don t, oh don t hold him back.

It was really a short one.

9. Memphis Blues (V ar ian t I)In Negro Workaday Songs (Chapel Hill, 1926), Howard W dum

and Guy B. Johnson prin t two stanza s of this song unde r the title ICan t Keep From Crying (pp. 40-l) , and note that it i s a ve rsion of aphonograph song, Death Le tte r Blues . The fi rs t recording was madein July, 1924, by the popular blues si nger, Ida Cox, and re le as ed byParamount records (12220 [ 1854-31 , a company cater ing to the Negrorac e record market . Another blues si i ge r, Clara Smith, recordedit again in October, 1924, for Columbia (14049-D [ 140108-11). The sang


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was evidently quite popular and has been recorded c o m e cially andcollected by folklo ris ts a number of tim es. See the Li br ar y of Co ngressChecklist of Reco rded Songs in the Eng lish Language in the Archiveof American Folk Song to Ju ly, 1940 (Washington, D. C. 1942), Vol. I. 74, for two performances by Huddie ( Leadbelly ) Ledbetter.

Not l l the ve rs es of Suggs two vari ants belong to the DeathLe tte r Blues . The T for Texas stanza i s most often associated withhillbilly sin ge r Jimrnie Rodgers Blue Yodel Number One , and i sprinted by John Greenway in Jimrnie Rodgers Folksong Catalyst ,Jo urn al of America n Fo lk lore , LXX (1957), pp. 231-34.

U RM ATL No. 3170.8Dorson: Well, Mr. Suggs, you say you re going to do -the Memphis

Blues now.Suggs: Memphis Blues , th at s cor re ct . Memphis Blues .Dorson: Yes.Suggs:

1. Got a let te r fro m the Hot Springs,How you reckon it read?Got a le tte r from the Hot Springs,How you reckon it read?Come a t once, your sure-enough baby s dead.

2. I caught that Fr is co ,She was fai rly flyin ,I caught the, Fr is co ,She was fa ir ly flyin ,On my way to see thatLovin g i rl of mine.

3. Ten thousand peopleOn the burying groundTen thousand peopleOn the burying ground,And I never felt sorryTi ll they la id he r down.

4. And you oughta been the re too,Every praye r I prayed,And you oughta been there too,Every prayer I prayed,Ju st take me to the devilLet m y brown skin stay.


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5. That prea che r m ade those peopleF il l .up my baby.' s grav e,Preacher made those peopleF ill up my baby's grave,And never liked the pr ea ch erTo this ve ry day,Because he made those peopleF il l my baby' s grave.

6. Well, the big Kate Adam got]Ways just like a n old man,Well, that big Kate Adam gotWays just like a n old man,She'll ste al your babyEvery time she lands.

7. T stands for Texas,T for Tennessee,T stands for Texas,T for Tennessee,T stands for a womanTakin over me.

8. And wish to the Lo rdhad my poor hear t in my hand

And I wish to the L ord.had my poor he ar t in my hand.I can show you women

Just like you tr e at your man.Dorson: Where'd you le ar n that, Mr. SuggsSuggs: Huh?Dorson: Where did you le ar n that son g? Tha t bluesSuggs:- I learn ed that in Memphis. When I was a b rakeman out ofMemphisDorson: Oh You learne d the Memphis blues righ t in Memphis.Suggs: In Memphis. Tha t's right. I broke out of there twenty years.

With I. of C.Dorson: Do you rem em ber who sang it to you f i r s t ? Or where you

f i r s t heard i t ?Suggs: Where it was I f i r s tDorson: Where did you fi rs t he ar i t ?Suggs: In Memphis.Dorson: Yeah. Who sang i t, you know?Suggs: Oh A gi rl named Rosie.


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Dorson:Suggs:

Dorson:sugg s:Dor son:Suggs:Dorson:Sugg s:Dor son:Suggs:Dorson:Sugg s:

OhThat's who. Rosie. She h a d a piano that was the old f i rs tMemphis blues came out. Was on Beale Street, you knowth er e everybody' s talking about Beale Str eet .Oh, yeah: Beale St reet .Well, that was the business par t of town fo r the color ed people.Oh, I see.And they had a big metr opo litan down the re. And that's whe real l the colored would h ng out on Beale.Do you know who com posed o r mad e up the M emphis B lues ?Why, she made i t up.She didShe did. That's righ t.And you knew the g ir l yourself.I knew the gi rl myself.

10. 'Case y Jones 'List ed a s G in the 'Ballads of Tragedies and Disasters ' category

of G. Malcolm ~ a v v s 'Native Am erican Balladry (revised edition, Phil a-delphia, 1964), pp. 212-13, th is ba llad was composed by a Negro. Likemany Negro folksongs, it has entered white tradition. See F re d J. Lee,Case y Jon es, Epic of the Am eri can Railr oad (Kin gspo rt, Tenn. 1939),for the sto ry of the t ra in w reck which is described in the ballad. Suggs'details a r e accurate; although the wreck oc cur red in 1900, his mentionof 1903 se em s to r ef er t o the date he began work with Jone s' firem an.

IU ATM ATL No. 3170.9

Dorson: Well, you al so h o w the song about Casey Jones.Suggs: Su re , I know the song about Casey .Dorson: Do you want to sing that ?Suggs: Sure, I ' l l s i ng th a t onef i rs t .Dorson: Good.Suggs: (c le ar s throat)

1. C asey , Casey , we ll I cain't se e howYou gonna make it in your t im es of now.He looked a t his watch, he mumbled and he said,'I 'm gonna mak e it o r we'll al l be dead.

Cas ey Jon es, mounted to the cabin.Casey Jones, with his or d er s in his hand,Casey Jon es, mounted to the cabinTaking his farewell t ri p unto the p romised land.


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Dorson:Suggs:Dor son:Suggs:DorsonSugg s:Dor son:Sugg s:

Dorson:Suggs:Dorson:Sugg s:Dorson:Suggs:

2. Casey Casey, cain t see howYou gonna make i t in the ti m es of now.All I want s litt le wate r and coalWe ll be by the re when we see the d riv er s roll.

Casey Jon es, mounted to the cabin,Casey Jone s, or de rs in his hand,Casey Jon es, mounted to the cabin,Took his fare we ll tr ip unto the p romise d land.

3. Casey told his firema n, Look and see ,See the tr ai n a-com in round the curve,Casey said, Fir em an , better make your jump.Or you re due yonder in the promised land.

Casey Jon es, mounted to the cabin,Casey Jones , or de rs in his hand,Casey Jon es, mounted to the cabin,Taking his farew ell tri p unto the prom ised land.

You say you actually knew Casey Jones .I knew him pe r sonally.Where did you know him fr om ?That was when I was working out of I was in Memphis.Memphis. Yes, s ir .Oh, see And his firem an becam e your engineerEngineer, that s cor rec t.When was that?That was in nineteen hundred and th ree . That s just beforethe World s F a i r that was in Chicago. In St. Louis. You knowthat the fi rs t World s F a ir was in St. Louis in nineteen hundredand three.Do you reme mbe r when Casey Jones had his accide nt?His accident? I ve braken through th er e many a days. It wasa t Vaughns: VAUGHNS. Vaughns, Mis sis sippi.And the song was w ritten just right af terRight after he wasAnd that s when you lear ned i t ?That s when I le arn ed it. Right aft er then. That s co rre ct.

ll I Don t Know Ju st How Long I ll ,Be HereIU ATM ATL No. 3170.10

Dorson: You were going to do a Chr is tia n song now.


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Suggs:Dorson:suggs:Dorson:Suggs:Dor son:Suggs:

Dor son:Suggs:

A Ch ristian song.You learned from your si ste r.Fro m my sister .She was sanctified?She was sanctified.And they don t us e any inst rum en ts?They used some instrum ents , but she always liked to s lap-bang, you know, when she sang. And I just like to sing theway she used to sing.Hm-hrn. Go ahead.

1. I don tknowjustho wlong-I l l - be here-

Death i s c all i n ~ ev v dav

H won t le t no bod y stay . I don t know just

how long I ll be here -. *2. Deacon, I don t know just how long I ll be here .

Deacon, I don t know just how long I ll be her e.Death i s calling ev ry day, he won t le t nobody stay.I don t know just how long I ll be here .

3. Church , don t know, and I can t sa y just how long I ll be here.

*Sugg s slap s hi s knee s in accompaniment throughout th is song.


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Church, I don t know, and I can t say just how long I ll be here.Death i s calling ev ry day, he won t le t nobody stay.I don t know just how long I ll be her e.

4. I don t know how long I ll be here .I don t know just how long I ll be here .Death i s calling ev ry day, he have taken my mother away, andI don t know just how long I ll be her e.

Well, that s the song she always liked to sing. Andthe night that they buried her, they sang that song. I goesto her burial. I was in St. Louis then and they buried h erin Lit tle Rock. And I goes down th er e to it. Oh, they hada tim e that night. They sta rt ed about six o clock and theywent on al l night. I stayed up til l twelve o clock and s o oneof the mem bers they ca rr ie d me to the home ir st tim eI d been out there. And so I goes to bed, and when I goesback six o clock ight o clock ight o clock the nextmorning, th er e was just a s many crowd, they s singinall night long.

Dorson: Do they eat and drink at the fun er al?Suggs No eat nd drink thereDorson: Ju st sing without any ref re sh m en ts?Suggs: Tha t s right. Don t have nothin to ea t at allDorson: Is there a preach er o r minister to lead them ? Or were they

just singing on th ei r own?Suggs: Ju st a l l of them just sang along, a s they al l sing in the choir.

I just wish that you could go to sanctified . You would get a bigkick out of it.Dorson: Well, I ce rta inly hope to som e tim e.

Suggs: Yes, s i r .

12. Th ere s a Man Going Round Taking NamesOne text of this song appe ars in C ar l Sandburg s heAmerican

Songbag (New York, 1927), p 477. Versions fr om the Bahamas andWashington, D. C. a r e lis ted in the L ib ra ry of Congress Checklist o~ e c o r d e d s o n g sn the English Language in the Archive mericanFo lk Song to July, 1940 (Washington, D.C. 1942), Vol. 11 p.


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IU ATM ATL Np. 3170.llDorson: How about that one you just we re sihging now? About taking

nam es? 'There 's a an Going 'Round Taking-Names'. That 'sa church song, isn't it?Suggs: A church song. That's right, Mr. Dorson.

Th ere 's a man goin' round takin' narnqs,Th ere 's a man goin' round takin' nam es.He's goin' Monday. Tue sday, Wednesday, Thursday,Friday, Saturday, ti ll Sunday come again,Takin' names.

1 If I was you I'd t el l my J es us to take my name,If 1's you I'd t e ll Je su s to take my name.Tel l him Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thu rsday ,Friday, Saturday, ti ll Sunday come again,Takin' names.

2 Well my mother told Je su s e very morning to take he r name,My mother told Jes us eve ry morning to take her name,She told him Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,Frid ay, Saturday, ti ll Sunday come again,Takin' names.

3. Well Marthy told Je su s earl y one morning to take he r name,And she told Jes us ea rly one morning to take her name.She told him Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thu rsday ,Friday, Saturday, ti ll Sunday come again.T o write my nameAnd there 's a man goin round takin' nam es,Th ere 's a man goin' round takin' nam es.Takin' Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,~ r i d a ~ ,aturday, ti ll Sunday come again,Takin name s

Dorson: Ah, thanks a lot.

13. 'You Better Mind''You Better Mind' has been printed by John W Work in American

Negro Songs (New York, 1940 , p. 212, and Dorothy G. Bolton in Oldongs Hymnal (New York, 1929), 51. Dorson collected a varian t fr om

Mrs. E. L. Smith, al so of Calvin, Michigan and al so Mississipp i born,


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on June 3, 1952. Her perform ance i s on deposit in the Indiana Uni-ve rs it y Archives of Trad itional Music (Original Tape 5 246, side 2,item 3). Suggs and Mrs. Smith both sing the second line of the ch orusYou gotta give encounter in Judgment ; the printed va riants read:You gotta give an account in Judgment .

IU ATM ATL No. 3170.12Dorson: Let s see, t he re was another church song, You Be tter Mind .

You Bet ter Mind .Suggs:

1 You better mind how you talk,You be tter know what you re talk in about,You gotta give encounter [an account] in Judgment,You better mind.

You be tte r mind, you be tte r mindYou gotta give encounter in JudgmentYou better mind.

2. You be tter mind just how you sing,You be tter know what you re singin about,You gotta give encounter in JudgmentYou better mind.

Church, you bett er mind, church, you be tte r mindWell you gotta give encounter in Judgm ent,You better mind.

3. El de r, you bett er m ind how you prea ch,You be tter know what you re preachin about,F o r you ve gotta give encounter in J.udgmentYou d be tte r m ind.

Eld er you bett er mind, El de r you be tte r mind,For you gotta give encounter in JudgmentYou d be tter mind.

4. Sinner you bette r mind how you talk,You be tte r know what you re ta lkin about,F o r you ve gotta give encounter in Judgment,You better mind.

Dorson: Thanks.


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14. I Can See the Lightning FlashingU ATM ATL No. 3171.1

Dorson: Le t s see . How about now, I Can See the Lightning Fla shi ng .Sugg s 1. I can se e the lightnin flashing way around the mountain,I can see the lightnin flashing, flashing, way around

the mountain.Lo rd I wonder, Lo rd I wonder, whe re the shep herd s gone.

2 I can he ar the thunder rollin , rollin , way aroundthe mountain,

Lo rd I wonder, Lo rd I wonder, whe re the she phe rd s gone.3. My mothe r kneeled in pr ay er , she pra yed it way aroundthe mountain,

My mother kneeled in pra yer , she prayed i t way aroundthe mountain.

Lord I wonder,. Lo rd I wonder, where the shepherd s gone.

15. I Can See the Clouds ArisingU ATM ATL No. 3171.2

Dorson: And thi s one, I Can See the Cloud Arising , i s a differe nt one?Suggs: Tb at s a diffe rent one.

ea st l t looked just l ike i t going be w ar m to dav.2 I can s ee the cloud risin , risin ,

In the south.I seen the cloud arisin , risin ,In the southIt looked just like it s gonna be w ar m today.

3. I can se e a cloud arisin .In the west


28/39

30I seen the cloud arisin *.In the west,It looked just like i t gonna be some rainy day.

4. I can see a cloud rising.In the northI seen the cloud arisi n* , risin'.In the northIt looked just like it gonna be cold today.

5. Well, it a ll of the m clouds i s gonna,Come together.Well, it* l l of them clouds is gonna,Come together.Looked just l ike it* gonna be a tornado.16 'You've Got to Reap Jus t What You Sow*

A sim ila r song, having the five-line stanza form , i s printed byDorothy G. Bolton in Old Songs Hymnal (New York, 1929), 49.

IU A TM A TL No. 3171.3Dorson: You got another one that 's a church song, 'You've Got to Keep

Just What You Saw.Suggs: Which one's that?Dorson: 'You've Got to Keep Jus t What You Saw.Suggs: 'You've Got to Reap.Dorson: Oh, 'Reap'. Excuse me .Suggs: 'Reap.Dorson: 'You've Got to Reap Jus t What You SowSuggs: That's right.Dorson: Yeh.Suggs: 1. You got to r eap just what you sow,

You got to reap just what you sow,You can sow it up on the mount,You can sow it down in the valleyBut you got to r ea p just what you sow.

2. Eld er , you got to re ap just what you SOW,Eld er , you got to rea p just what you sow,You can sow it up on the mountain,Or you can sow it down in the valley,But you got to re ap just what you sow.

3. Gambler, you got to re ap just what you sow,Gambler , you got to rea p just what you sow,


29/39

You can sow it up on the mountains,O r you can sow i t in the valley,But you got t o r eap just what you sow.

4. M ur de re rs , you got to re ap just what you sow,M ur de re rs , you got to re ap just what you sow,You can sow i t up on the mou ntain,O r you can sow i t down in the valley,But you got t o r ea p just what you sow.

Dorson: Where did you le ar n mo st of th es e songs, Mr. Sugg s?Suggs: Well, I didn t l ea rn them. I jus t know Oh, I could you

could a s k m e I don t know how I don t know how you canyou d get ti re d of reco rdin g a ll tha t I know. I been knowinknowin songs ev er since I was about te n y ea rs old. Good

songs. And I m about sixty. I ll be sixty- si x a t the end ofMarc h. You know I m bound t o know a whole lo ts of them .

Dorson: You pick the m up in churc h?Suggs: In church and cho irs. Trave lin around. Ch oir s and differen t

pl ac es you know. Goin out to he ar speakin in banquets, anda ll l ike that you know.

Dor son: And then you taught Sabbath School.Suggs: In Sabbath School my fath er he was a pr ea ch er , you knowand he d alw ays I told you about hi m he d put a ll kinds of

co nce rts, dialogues on to build ch urc hes , you know. And soI le ar ne d a whole lot of th at fr o m him. All of it m o st of it.

Dorson: And your brother was a prea ch er, too.Suggs: And he was a pre ach er. He s younger than I am. He s a

preacher , too.Dorson: With the songs fro m the guitar now, that go along with the

guita r , you don t le ar n that inSuggs: No, I didn t le ar n the m in church.Dorson: Where did you pick th em up ?Suggs: I picked the m up aroun d Memphis and New Or lea ns.Dorson: Ju st fr om the boys.Suggs: Ju st fr om the boys. That s r ight.

17. My Tongue Is TiedIU ATM ATL No. 3171.4

Dorson: Well, we ve got thi rtee n songs s o fa r. Maybe we sho uld haveone more.Suggs: One m o re , yes.


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Dorson: ll right. Well, My Tongue I s Tied . Is that the na me?Suggs: My Tongue Is Tied. Th at s a good chu rch song.

1 Well my tongue i s tied, and I can t explain ,The angels in the heaven gonna writ e my name,Don t you want to go to heaven , [ind istin ct ph rase ]See that believin lamb .

2. Well my mo ther went to heaven Lor d, she died,She died Lord y, she died,Well my mother went to heaven, when she diedSee that believin lamb.

3 Well my tongue i s tied, I can t explainThe angels in the heaven gonna write, my nameDon t you want to go to heaven, when you die , when you die,Don t you want t~ go to heaven, when you die ?See that believin lamb .

4. Well, my Elder went to heaven Lord , when he died,When he d ied, when he d ied,Well, my El de r went to heaven Lo rd, when he died,See tha t believin lamb.

5. Well my tonue i s tied , I can t explain,The angels in the heaven gonna write my n ame,Don t you want to go to heaven, in the night,See tha t believin lamb.

Suggs: That ends the thirteenth .Dorson: Why don t you think th irt ee n i s unlucky, Mr. Suggs ? You said

you wouldn tSuggs: Because Ch rist was the thirtee nth of the twelve disc iples.Ch rist was the thirteenth. It seem ed like he was the lucky man

tha t sav ed a l l of us . So, I wish I could be the thirteenth manHe was the thirteenth . T he re was twelve disciples, and hethe odd one made the thirteenth.

Dorson: I see . Well, maybe you don t think it s unlucky but I d fe elbe tter that we got fourtee n songs on the tape.

Suggs: Well (Laughte r)(En d of Tape)

*Suggs claps in place of the When at the beginning of the phr as eand claps throughout.


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18. If My Mother Don t Go, It Won t Hinder Me

A ve rs io n of th is song, popular today in the folksong rev iva l a sI m On My Way (s ee Tradi tion T L P 1010, Odetta Sings Ballads andBlues), was r ec ord ed in 1930 by the C ar te r Fam ily, a popular hill

illy g roup ( On My Way To Canaan s Land , Rluebir d B-8167).IU ATM ATL No. 3171.8

Dorson: I think aft er telling those sto rie s about pre ac her s, that it sonly pr op er that we should have a couple of ch ur ch songs now.

Suggs: Couple of church songsDorson: We re in the mood for it .Suggs: Okay, P ro fe ss or , that s pre tty good.Dor son: How about th is one ca lle d If My Mother Don t Go, It Won t

Hinder Me .Suggs: Th at s right.

1 If m y mother don t go it won t hinder m e,If m y mo the r don t go it won t hinder m e,I m on my way, I m on my way, Lord.

2. f m y deacon don t go I m going to join the ar m y,If m y deacon don t go I m going to join the a rm y ,Yeh, if m y deacon don t go I m going to join the ar m y,I m on my way, I m on m y way, Lord.

3 If m y el de r don t go it won t hinder me ,If m y el de r don t go it won t hinder me ,Yeh, if m y el de r don t go i t won t hind er m e,I m on my way, I m on my way, Lord.

4. If m y moth er don t go I m going to join the a rm y,If m y mother don t go I m going to join the ar m y ,Yeh, if my mo ther don t go I m going to join the a rm y ,I m on my way, I m on my way, Lo rd .

5. If my eld er don t go it won t hinder me ,f m y elde r don t go it won t hinder m e,

Yeh, if my el de r don t go it won t hinder m e,I m on my way I m on my way, Lord.

Dorson: Where did you le ar n that, Mr. Suggs Do you re m em be r?Suggs: Well, I le ar nt tha t in Mi sso uri , Saxon, Mi sso uri .Dorson: F ro m whom?Suggs: I use d t o sing in a choir. See , that don t go a s good, I had


32/39

to tr y to sing my par t and the other fellow s too. If we hadenough, you know, we d ma ke o ur own good m us ic . We don thave to have no piano and nothin . One sopra no, bari tone , a nalto, and you ma kes your own mu sic.

Dorson: What chu rch was th at ? What denomination?Suggs: A Baptist church. F i r s t Baptist Church.

19. What A re They Doing up in Heaven Toda y?The Lib ra ry of C ongress Checklist o Record ed Songs in the Eng-

Lanrmane in the Arc hive of A m eri ca n Fol k Song to Julv, 1940 (Washin g-ton, D. C., 1942) li st s two re co rd ing s und er this title (Vol. 11, p. 429).

IU ATM ATL No. 3171.9Dorson: Is that where you he ar d this othe r one, What Are They Doing

in H eaven Today ?Suggs: Well, I he ar d a fellow sing that he was A Barney. That was

at New Orleans.Dorson: Oh.Suggs: Now I can t sing it lik e he could. But he could sing that so he

could ne ve r g et to the e nd of it . People d just go wild, andthey just commenced sc re am in and hollerin and they d haveto se t him down. I would that I could sing like he could. Andhe had such exp ress ion when he sang, he look like he slookin righ t in heaven, you know. And he got re d ha ir , andis face, profe ssor , was a s white a s yours , but h i s h irwas re

a s it could be and his e yes w as just like the chicken in the egg.He could real ly sing that.

Dorson: Well, let s he ar how you can sing it anyway.Suggs: Well, I can t do so good but I can t sing like he can. But it

went something like this:What a r e they doin up in heaven todayWhere s in and sorro w a r e al l done away?Yes, peace abides l ike a riv er , they say,What a r e they doin up th er e now?

1. I use d to have so me loving frie ndsWho lived and s uffe red i n this wo rld below,They a r e dead now, and gone up to heaven,And I wants to knowWhat a r e they doin up th er e now?What ar e they doin up in heaven todayWhere s in and sorro w ar e a l l dune away?


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Yes, peace abides, like a rive r they say,What a r e they up the re now?

Now he could re al ly sing that.Dorson: Well, I think you can sing it, too.Suggs: Well, I can t sing like he could, pr of es so r.Dorson: But you cer tainl y rem em be re d that well.Suggs: Tha t s right.Dorson: How often did you h e a r him sing i t ? How many ti m es ?Suggs: Oh, about twice.Dorson: That s al l?Suggs: He just went a roun d through the coun try singing.Dorson: How long ago was th a t?Suggs: Oh, that d be about twenty-five o r th ir ty y e ar s ago.Dorson: And you rem em ber ed i t ever sin ce?Suggs: rem em ber ed i t to you. have a good rem embe rance . can

think of things way back better than I can yesterday. The old-e r I get, the further I can think back, but I can t think of thin gsdone la s t yea r quick a s can th ir ty or forty ye ars ago.

20. Red River SideU ATM ATL No. 3171.13

Dorson: Th er e was a song, Mr. Suggs, that you us e to sing al l the tim ein that min stre l show, called Red Riv er Side .

Suggs: Red Ri ve r Side. Well, pr of es so r, it went like thi s, you know.You ll be pointin and the peop le would the y ll always lo ok atyou on the st ag e you didn t have no pa rt ic ul ar purpose. Sometim e there d be somebody th er e, just l ike that fellow what youwas talkin like. And i t st a rt e d off somethin like,

Marcato J=14

u

Side Looked like he swal-lowed a mu le and left his


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36

ta il stick-ing out, Red Riv-er Side 2. Let m e

te ll you the tru th an* nat-ur-a1 fact, Red Riv-er

Side Th ain t no need of that fel-low th er e be-ing so black,

Red Riv -er Side Well, it s Red n t s Red .

an* it s Red Riv-er Side

Th ere was a whole lot to it. If had somebody el se with meI could sing a l l of that for you, F es s.

Dorson: Well, I m s o rr y I can t h elp you out, but thanks a lot.

21. Memphis Blu es (V ar ia nt 11)IU ATM ATL No. 3171.14

Dorson: Mr. Suggs, we have re co rd ed T he Memphis Blues once al-ready , but maybe you would just do the word s by the ms elv esm w and then pick the tune a fter on the guitar .

*Suggs slap s his k nees with gr eat gusto.


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Suggs: Ok.Dorson: Ok.Suggs: That s a pretty good blues, the Memp his Blues .

1. got a le tte r fr o m the Hot Springs,How you reckon it re ad ?

got a let te r fr om the Hot Springs,How you reckon it read?

Twas, Come at once,Your sure-enough brown i s dead.

Parlando rubato J

2 . I caught that Fr is- co she was fa i r - lv

she was f a i r -l y f l y - i n - . I was on my way to

See that da r lin g ir l of mine.3 Ten thou sand people

Was on that buryin groun .Ten tho usand people

Was on the buryin groun .And I never fe lt so r ry

Til l they ea sed h er down.4. An* that prea cher made those people

Fi l l up my baby s grave.That preacher made those people

Fi l l up my baby s grave.An never l iked a prea che r

Until thi s ve ry dayBecause he made those people

F il l up my baby s grave.


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5. Well, the big Kate AdamGot ways just like a man.

That big Kate AdamGot ways just like a man.

She ll st ea l your womanEv ry tim e she land.

6 Babe, I m going on the Chocktaw,An I can t c a r r y you;

I m going on the Chocktaw,An I can t c a r r y you;

F o r ther e s nothing on the ChocktawThat my baby can do.

7. I can do your cooking, pret ty daddy,Wash an iro n yo clothes;

I can do your cooking,Wash an iron yo clothes;

I can do your cooking,Wash an iron yo clothes.

8. Well, the Kate s in the landing,The Luc ille s in the bin;

Well, the Kate s in the landing,The Luc ille s in the bin;She was loaded down withNothing but Memphis men.

9 Gonna te ll you womenHow you treated me,

If you ever been mistreatedYou know about how I feel,

If you ever been mistreatedYou know bout how I feel.

10. And I wished I had myPoo r h ea rt in my hand,I wished had my

Poor heart in my hand,could show you women

Ju st how you have tr ea ted this poor old man.That s the Memphis B lues . (Plays guitar)


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22. My Old Dog Is bout Gone Blind*

Suggs perform ance of this song i s s im ilar to other collected Negrovariants. Newman I. White s Am eri can Negro Folk-Songs (Cam bridg e,1928) gives four tex ts (pp. 233-34, p. 283, and p. 373); a single v e r s ei s printed i n The Framk C. Brown Collection of North Ca rolin a Folklore,Vol. 111, Folk Songs, He nry M. Belden and Arth ur Pa lm e r Hudson, eds .(D urha m, 1952, p. 21 1). The Lib ra ry of Con gress Checklist o RecordedSongs in th e English Language in, the Archive of Am erica n Folk Song toJuly*, 1940 (Washington D. C. 1942), Vol. 11, p. 3 28, l i s t s four pe r-form anc es of this song under it s us ua l title, Rabbit in a Log . Theya r e f ro m M ississ ippi and Alabama.

The song has ente red white tradition. In the 1930s it was in therep erto ire of sever al hillbil ly groups; The P ra i r i e Ram blers, nativesof Kentucky, reco rded i t under the tit le Gonna Have a Fea st H ere To-night in 1935 (Conqu eror 8516), and the M onroe Br ot he rs ( Bill andCharlie) , als o fr o m Kentucky, reco rded Have a Fe as t Here Tonightin 1938 (Blue bird B-7508). The song has been rec or de d by contempo-r a r y bluegrass bands: Bob Baker and the Pike County Boys, MountamMusic Bl ue gra ss Style (Folkwa ys FA 2318) and The L ouis iana Honey-drip pers , Louisiana Blue G ra ss (P res tig e International 13035) a r e twoexamp les of perform ance s i n this style.

IU ATM AT L No. 317 2.5Dorson: How about a little rhyme to finish the tape , Mr. SuggsSuggs: Oh, ju st a littl e old song I ll sing right quick.

1 My old dog i s bout gone blind,These old rabbits ha rd to f ind,

Now I have to go leave th is rabb itIn the log, in the log.

2. Well I se en him , se en him , see n him ,And I ll fel t hi m with my hand,

Now I have to go lea ve thi s rabb itIn the log.

3. Have lit tle chickens on m y back,A hound is on my trac k

And I m gonna make i t to m y s hackIf I can, if I can.

Dorson: Thank you v er y much, M r. Suggs.


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NOTES ON THE TRANSCRIPTIONS OF SONGS Y J D. SUGGSThrough the use of vario us signs not custo mar ily found in the m us-

ic al s co re s of composed mu sic (and by the e xe rcis e of considerablediligence) orally tran smit ted melodies may be notated in almo st infinitedetail . F o r the purp oses of this artic le, however, i t seemed best topre sen t transcrip tions that would req uir e only the usu al s kills of themusic reade r. Although the transcript ions repre sen t the recordedmelo dies with reasonable acc ura cy, many poss ible refinem ents ofpitch and rhythm have therefore not been indicated.

The following markings which may not be fam ilia r to the re ad erhave been utilized:

P a r l a d o rubato or parlando fre e rhythmic style showingvery l i t t le me tri cal organizat ion

e m p o giusto

\he slant linestyle exhibiting a reasonably

clea r m etr ic al organizationo r vocal glide, portamento, o r

glissando moving in the dir ec-tion indicated. The glide usu-all y occupies the full value ofthe no te it follows.The actua l initial pitch of thesong, sounding an octave low er.The arrow , when prese nt, indi-cates that the pitch is a s mucha s a q uarte r tone flat .

American Negro folksinging i s particularly f re e and, at t imes, al-most improvisatory in nature. Speech is mingled with song and theperformance pa sse s free ly from one medium to the other by almostimperceptible degrees. The tran scr ipti on s of Wasn t Th at a TravelinMa n? and Th e Boll Weevil have been made ph ras e by ph ra se . Speechis rep res ent ed by the printed text without the accompaniment of m us icalnotation. In the phra ses t ra nsc ribed a s speech, syl lables which partakeof the quality of song a r e underl ined In the text phr ase s accompaniedby mus ical notation the syl lab les having mo re of the quality of speechthan of song a r e indicated by rhythm ic notation omitting note heads.

Me trical changes have been m ade -when they seemed ne ces sar y tocl ea rl y define the rhythm ic outline of the ph ras e Sil ences of unevenlength occurring between ph ras es which would requ ire m etri cal changesif.a ccu rate ly notated have been ignored The c lapping of hands by thesi ng er has been notated-above the staff in Red River Side . I Don t


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Know J u s t How Long 1 11 Be Here i s a ls o accomp ani ed by hand clapping.However, the clapping i s desultory and often too soft to be cle arl yheard. It i s ther efore not notated.

I Se ve ral of the songs, for example, Memphis Blues , a r e c a st ina mode which utilizes a degree a major second below the tonic ratherthan a mi no r second. In addition, the pitch of the th ir d above the toni cfrequently f luctuate s. In many cas es the actual pi tch of this degree i sa neu tra l th ird , approxim ately half way between the ma jo r and min orth i rd . No attempt has been made to indicate the se fluctuations with anydegree of exactnes s. Eit her a ma jor third, a minor third, o r the rais edsecond degree ha s been notated a s seemed most useful . Thus, in thetonality of C, this pitch may be indicated a s E natural , E f la t , o r Dsharp.

In th re e songs, I Don t Know J u st How Long I ll Be Her e , I CanSee the Clouds Aris ing , and Memph is Blue s , the melody of only onestanza has been notated. This stanza is only general ly representat iveof the rem ain ing melod ic st an za s of the song There i s much var ia t ionfro m stanza to stan za and, a s in the second st an za of I Don t KnowJu s t How Long I ll Be Here and the fourth s tanza of Memp his Blues ,th ere i s repetition and development of the melodic ma ter ial . The f i r s tstan za of Memphis Blues has neither a cl ea r melodic organization nora definite tonality. The si ng er was obviously not yet in the groove .The second stanza was th ere fo re notated.

George ListIndiana University

Mississippi guitarist and singer J.D. Suggs

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Transcript of Mississippi guitarist and singer J.D. Suggs