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Blind Lemon Jefferson – The Big Bang Of Blues

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This is my 100th post, the actual transition from a 2-digit to 3-digit size collection of my musings onto the Inter-Tubes and towards a 4-digit size collection that will complete this part of my manifest destiny.

In a previous post (February 23, 2014), Albert King’s Searching For A Woman  (1961) was traced to Carl Perkins’ Matchbox  (1956) to Leadbelly’s Packin’ Trunk  (1935) to Blind Lemon Jefferson’s Match Box Blues  (1927).

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Another famous blues song, That’s All Right (sometimes known as “That’s Alright, Mama” or “That’s All Right, Mama”) can also be traced back from its best known version to earlier versions of that song.

In 1954, Elvis Presley recorded Arthur Crudup’s “That’s All Right.”

Elvis Presley – That’s All Right (1954)

Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup – That’s All Right (1946).

Elvis in That’s All Right sings Crudup’s lyric nearly exactly.  From 0.10 – 0.30:

Well that’s all right, mama, that’s all right for you, that’s all right mama, just any way you do that’s all right, that’s all right, that’s all right now mama any way you do…”

Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup –  That’s All Right Mama (1946.)  From 0.16 – 0.37:

“Well now that’s all right mama, that’s all right for you, that’s all right now mama any way you do but that’s all right, that’s all right, that’s all right now mama any way you do..”

Big Bill Broonzy – It’s A Lowdown Dirty Shame (1942).  Big Bill Broonzy sings of his love for a no-good married woman.  From 1.30 – 1.53:

“My baby, baby that’s alright with you, ooh baby that’s alright with you, baby that’s alright baby I mean that what you do…”

Blind Lemon Jefferson – That Black Snake Moan (1926).  From 1.33 – 1.55:

“Mama, that’s all right, mama that’s all right for you, Mama, that’s all right, mama that’s all right for you, Say baby that’s all right, most any old way you do…”

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A variant of the phrase, “that’s all right, mama, that’s all right for you, that’s all right mama, any way you do,” can be traced to Blind Lemon Jefferson.

Was sole authorship of the lyric “that’s all right, mama, that’s all right for you, that’s all right mama, any way you do,” important?

Is the determination of authorship of the lyric important now?

Is this lyric, or a particular version/variant of it, under copyright or in the public domain?

Can anyone use a particular portion/variant of it if the original is in the public domain?

Would use of the short, “that’s all right, mama,” be permissible under any circumstances?

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Blind Lemon Jefferson might be the Big Bang of Blues.

Carl Perkins’ Matchbox (1956) can be traced to Blind Lemon Jefferson’s Match Box Blues  (1927).

Elvis Presley’s That’s All Right (1954) can be traced to Blind Lemon Jefferson – That Black Snake Moan (1926).

There are other songs that can be traced to Blind Lemon Jefferson who in turn learned many songs from his contemporaries and those who came before him.  Authorship, sole authorship and copyright were not relevant to many practitioners of many styles of music.

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Names Of Songs Used As Names Of Bands – Can’t Think Of A Name For Your Band, Copy One

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Even though many do not believe this and suffer the fear and trepidation over the subject of copyright and copyright protection, it is LEGAL and COMMON to copy a name and use it as another name.  In fact, copyright does NOT protect names, titles, or short phrases or expressions.

It is common to copy MOVIE titles and use them as titles of television episodes.  I addressed this in a discussion of names of movies used as names of Dexter episodes.

It is common to copy SONG titles and use them as titles of television episodes.  I addressed this in a discussion of names of songs used as names of Dexter episodes.

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These could be considered examples of referencing – a title has been referenced by its use as another title.  These could be considered examples of copying – a title has been copied and used as another title.

Listed below are some of the categories and specific names that are NOT copyright protected:

Names of businesses – Comcast, Xfinity, Dupont, Monsanto, Apple, Samsung, Honda, L.L. Bean, etc.

Names of organizations – AFL-CIO, Major League Baseball, Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Boston Red Sox, etc.

Names of performing groups –  Stevie Wonder, The Beatles, Broken Bells, Bob Marley, Arctic Monkeys, Daft Punk, Neil Young, etc.

Names of title of works – Alien, Animal House, Citizen Kane, Things Fall Apart, Pride and Prejudice, Life of Pi, Take Five, Ring Of Fire, A Hard Day’s Night, etc.

Advertising slogans – Hey Mikey…He Likes It; Don’t Leave Home Without It; Got Milk; A Diamond Is Forever; Plop Plop Fizz Fizz, etc.

List of ingredients – butter, eggs, flour, milk, salt, baking powder, mild cheddar cheese, frozen chopped spinach, chopped onion and salt

Recipe –

4 Tbsp  butter

3 eggs

1 c flour

1 c milk

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 pound mild cheddar,  grated

2 packages frozen chopped spinach  (thawed and drained)

1 Tbsp chopped onion  (optional)

seasoned salt  (optional)

The documentation – Circular 34 – from the U. S. Copyright Office describing this lack of copyright protection is found here and the first link of this sentence.

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These are examples of referencing – a title has been referenced by its use as another title.  These could be considered examples of copying – a title has been copied and used as another title.

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The titles of the following thirteen (13) songs did NOT sacrifice their lives for (but did spawn) second lives as names of bands.  Re-using a name is respectable, common, copyright-legal and in keeping with the traditions of many societies.

THE SONGS and THE BANDS

1.  Beatles “Hello Goodbye” (1967) was used for band name, Hello Goodbye.

2.  Black Sabbath “After Forever” (1971) was used for band name, After Forever.

3.  Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band “Death Cab For Cutie” (1967) was used for band name, Death Cab For Cutie.

4.  Dave Brubeck “Take Five” (1959) was used for band name, Take 6.

5.  Bob Dylan “Ballad Of Frankie Lee And Judas Priest” (1967) was used for band name, Judas Priest.

6.  Inside Out “Rage Against The Machine” (1991) was used for band name, Rage Against The Machine.

7.  Tommie Johnson “Canned Heat Blues” (1928) was used for band name, Canned Heat.

8.  New Edition “Boys To Men” (1988) was used for band name, Boyz II Men.

9.  Queen “Radio Ga Ga” (1984) was used for artist name, Lady Gaga.

10.  Steely Dan “Deacon Blues” (1977) was used for artist name, Deacon Blue.

11.  Talking Heads “Radio Head” (1986) was used for band name, Radiohead.

12.  Talking Heads “The Big Country” (1978) was used for band name, Big Country.

13.  Muddy Waters “Rolling Stone” (1950) was used for band name, The Rolling Stones.

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The moral of the story – the tongue-in-cheek humorous moral of the story?  If you’re stuck coming up with a name for your band, song, film, poem, novel, photograph or sculpture, you will probably not get into copyright trouble by naming your work of authorship after someone else’s work of authorship.

If you can’t think, copy someone who can.

If the name was good then, it might be good now.

If you can’t create, copy.

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Tracing The Origins Of Blues Songs: Culture Or Copying?

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Music of Blind Lemon Jefferson, Leadbelly, Carl Perkins, Albert King and The Beatles 

Many songs’ origins can be traced to earlier sources and often specific authorship, or authorship as a mighty fortress that had to exert its mighty power, was a foreign concept.  Ideas and the expressions of ideas are often regarded as benevolent entities and means by which a society builds its culture.  Members of a society share what is performed, heard, seen, filmed, photographed, painted, sculpted, danced, acted, woven, cooked, eaten and more.

It can be illuminating to examine how certain songs have come into existence.  How important was authorship?  Were several responsible for the creation of a song?  Did parts of the song come together at different times and places?

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Albert King “Searching For A Woman” (1961) referenced Carl Perkins “Matchbox” (1956)

Albert King’s Searching For A Woman  (1961) –  At 0.28 – 0.48 of this recording, one hears:

“sometimes I wonder would a matchbox hold my clothes, yeah sometimes I wonder would a matchbox hold my clothes, I don’t have so many but I’ve got so far to go.”  

Albert King is not the author of that lyric as it had been heard prior to “Searching For A Woman.”  King simply interpolated it/referenced it from a prior source.  Or was it from more than one prior source?

Carl Perkins’ Matchbox  (1956) – At 0.05 – 0.20 of this recording, one hears:

“well I’m sitting here wondering would a matchbox hold my clothes, yeah I’m sitting here wondering would a matchbox hold my clothes, I ain’t got no matches but I got a long way to go.”

Carl Perkins’ Matchbox  (1956) was a big hit in the 1950’s.

The Beatles released their version of Matchbox in 1964, reviving Perkins’ popular song.  The Beatles loved Carl Perkins and recorded three (3) of his songs.  (Notice that Ringo’s vocal is double-tracked in Matchbox and typical for Beatles’ cover recordings, they stay as true to the original as possible.)

Continuing with MATCHBOX…

Carl Perkins “Matchbox” (1956) referenced Leadbelly “Packin’ Trunk” (1935)

Carl Perkins’ Matchbox  (1956) – At 0.05 – 0.20 of this recording, one hears:

“well I’m sitting here wondering would a matchbox hold my clothes, yeah I’m sitting here wondering would a matchbox hold my clothes, I ain’t got no matches but I got a long way to go.”

Leadbelly’s Packin’ Trunk  (1935) – at 0.45-1.05 of this recording one hears:

“I’m sitting down here wondering would a matchbox hold my clothes, I’m sitting down here wondering would a matchbox hold my clothes, I’m sitting down here wondering would a matchbox hold my clothes”

Leadbelly “Packin’ Trunk” (1935) referenced Blind Lemon Jefferson “Match Box Blues” (1927)

Leadbelly’s Packin’ Trunk  (1935) – at 0.45 – 1.05 of this recording one hears:

“I’m sitting down here wondering would a matchbox hold my clothes, I’m sitting down here wondering would a matchbox hold my clothes, I’m sitting down here wondering would a matchbox hold my clothes”

Blind Lemon Jefferson’s Match Box Blues  (1927) – at 0.38 – 1.04 of this recording, one hears:

“sitting here wondering would a matchbox hold my clothes, I’m sitting here wondering would a matchbox hold my clothes, I ain’t got so many matches but I’ve got so far to go” 

Is Blind Lemon Jefferson the source of this lyric about a person owning so little that all of his clothes could fit into a matchbox?

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Do lyrics and/or music of any of these songs REFERENCE any other song(s)?

Do lyrics and/or music of any of these songs COPY any other song(s)?

Do lyrics and/or music of any of these songs STEAL FROM any other song(s)?

Do lyrics and/or music of any of these songs INFRINGE any other song(s)?

Are musical traditions, for example in any of the songs above, at odds with copyright law?

Assuming that any of these instances above involves the TAKING of someone’s intellectual property, isn’t it only taking a “little bit” and how important can a little bit be?

Should musical tradition(s) trump copyright law?

Should copyright law trump musical tradition(s)?

If Blind Lemon Jefferson’s Match Box Blues  (1927) is under copyright, would one or more of those who followed him have infringed his copyright?

If Blind Lemon Jefferson’s Match Box Blues  (1927) is NOT under copyright and in the public domain, would copyright vest in Leadbelly’s Packin’ Trunk  (1935)?

And how does one answer any/all of the questions above if the country of origin of the manufacture and distribution of specific recordings are OUTSIDE of the United States of America?

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Big Butter & Egg Man, Banana in Your Fruit Basket, Grinding Mill and other carnal songs

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I should’ve been shocked but, post-Tea Party, was only mildly surprised to read that in 2013 a Utah school district canceled an upcoming high school performance of “All Shook Up,” a musical that features the music of Elvis Presley.  Elvis The Pelvis was controversial in the mid-1950’s and it seems that some parents in Utah want to keep that shock and controversy alive.  Elvis has the power to still cause hate and fear for anything biological that he might represent or arouse.  These concerned conservatives have succeeded at stopping this immoral, raunchy musical/spectacle  –  surely Utah is cleaner for their actions.  To me this is reminiscent of Tipper Gore’s Parent Music Resource Center back in the 1980’s, but this new Utah group seems more reactionary and antiquated.

There are so many other better targets, I feel, that these conservatives have overlooked, and I’d like to offer a few more songs for their excruciated listening and study pleasure.  These activists should strive to rip out the roots that caused the Elvis problem to grow and yield the frightening crop and moral decay of contemporary society.  (I think Aristotle also blamed bad music for the moral decay of his time.)  Who could listen to Elvis and then want to lead a chaste life and lifestyle?  If these parents work together perhaps they can get millions more to stop singing about sex.

Here are some songs I recommend they pursue.  Somehow these songs are still available for listening and purchasing pleasure (deviance) in 2013.  I hope Puritans and Talibanistas everywhere will labor to learn more music and discover the world of metaphors.  Perhaps they’ll be able to have these and more carnal songs squashed.

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“I want a butter and egg man. Won’t some great big butter and egg man want me?”

Why does this woman sing so emphatically about wanting a man who possesses BIG BUTTER and EGGS?  Is she headed down a dangerous dairy path?  With all that is known in 2013 about a diet high in cholesterol, this song might already be maiming young minds but could the butter and eggs be representative of something more than food?  Is this a tongue-in-cheek metaphor?

Louis Armstrong  –  Big Butter and Egg Man

Memphis Minnie talks to Kansas Joe McCoy about the broken down mill….

“Can’t get no grindin’ tell me what’s the matter with the mill?”

And this was decades before Cialis.  If only this couple could have had our 2013 chemicals, that could have been one happy and functioning mill.

Memphis Minnie  –  What’s The Matter With The Mill

Why would someone write and sing a song about a pencil and its lead, and lack of lead?  Without lead, one can’t write.  Or is all of this pencil and lead talk metaphorical?

“I met a hot mama, I want to love her so bad

I left all the lead in my pencil I had

Now the lead’s all gone, oh the lead’s all gone

Oh the lead’s all gone, this pencil won’t write no more”

Sadly, the man also realizes that, “You sure can tell when a man’s pencil is wrong, his mama’s always shiftin’ from home…”

Bo Carter  –  My Pencil Won’t Write No More

The Beatles recorded the John Lennon song, “Girl,” on their 1965 album, Rubber Soul.  Just what is John so forcefully inhaling five (5) tokes/times in the song, at 0.24 – 0.25, 0.54 – 0.56, 1.23 – 1.25, 1.53 – 1.55, and 2.23 – 2.25?  Marijuana?  And what are the Beatles singing at 1.01 – 1.20 ?  I think the lyric is “tit” stated 64 times (foreshadowing Paul’s song, “When I’m 64?”).  I don’t think the Beatles are engaged in metaphors in “Girl.”  This is young and direct.

“tit  tit  tit  tit      tit  tit  tit  tit      tit  tit  tit  tit      tit  tit  tit  tit

tit  tit  tit  tit      tit  tit  tit  tit      tit  tit  tit  tit      tit  tit  tit  tit     

tit  tit  tit  tit      tit  tit  tit  tit      tit  tit  tit  tit      tit  tit  tit  tit     

tit  tit  tit  tit      tit  tit  tit  tit      tit  tit  tit  tit      tit  tit  tit  tit”

That would make this seemingly innocent song, “Girl,” the ULTIMATE song about sex and drugs.  Or if not sex and drugs, a woman’s breast and the increasingly legal soft drug, pot-i-juana.

The Beatles  –  Girl

Finally, Bo Carter sings another song about his brand new skillet, burning his bread, and arranging to add his fruit, in particular, a banana, to her fruit basket.  Surely this song is only about cooking, dairy products and fruit arrangements.

“Now i got the dasher, my baby got the churn

We gonna churn, churn, churn until the butter come

Then I’m tellin’ you baby, I sure ain’t gonna deny,

Let me put my banana in your fruit basket, then I’ll be satisfied”

Bo Carter  –  Banana In Your Fruitbasket

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Wishing everyone a buttery, fruitful 2013    : )

 

 

 

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Mrs. General David Petraeus, Your Husband Is Cheatin’ On Us; The World Wide (spider) Web

 

What have I heard about the blues?  Things like this:

Blues is real

Blues is life

Blues is real life

Blues is the story of life

Blues tells the story of our lives

Blues reflects our times

Blues tells the truth

The blues chases away the blues

The blues is a woman

And when it comes to lovin’, cheatin’, hurtin’ and schemin’, the blues has that covered too.

In the past few days I’ve come to realize that blues is intrinsic to, and helps tell the story of, THE BIG DEAL at the Central Intelligence Agency.  The CIA is in the center of all news right now (Monday, November 12, 2012).  General David Petraeus, the Director of the CIA, resigned last week because of an affair.  We are now finding out more.

Petraeus has been married to Wife (Woman A) for 37 years.  Petraeus had an affair with Woman B.  Woman B then finds out that Woman C might be interested in Petraeus.  If Woman B is comfortable with her role as Sometimes-He’s-Mine, than Woman B does not want Woman C in the picture.  What can happen next?  Woman B tells Woman A that there is a Woman C.  (The songs and lyrics will be spelled out below).  Woman B can go to Woman A and tell her that Your Husband Is Cheating On Us.  (Denise LaSalle already has expressed this so well and will be repeated below).

Now, all of General Petraeus’ shenanigans struck me immediately as a few good ol’ blues songs, and I thought I would summarize the story here by means of the blues.  The more I think about this, the more songs I could throw into the carnal mix but I’ll stop with my first six (with links to five).

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I summarize the David Petraeus Blues this way –

I see four (4) characters and five (5) songs that describe the situation.  (I added a sixth song below as well.)

PETRAEUS  –  (“Back Door Man”)  (The Back Door Man will also sing “Mean Red Spider”)

WOMAN A  –  Petraeus’ wife  (“Insane Asylum”)

WOMAN B  –  The Mean Red Spider  (“Your Husband Is Cheatin’ On Us”)

WOMAN C  –  (“Don’t Start Me To Talkin'”)

PETRAEUS  bragging as a surreptitious dog:

Howlin’ Wolf   Back Door Man   “When everybody’s trying to sleep, I’m somewhere making my midnight creep, yes in the morning, when the rooster crow, something tell me I got to go”

WOMAN A to Petraeus:

Willie Dixon & Koko Taylor   Insane Asylum   “When your love has ceased to be, there’s no other place for me, if you don’t hold me in your arms, I’d rather be here from now on”

Woman B, about Woman C, to Woman A:

Denise LaSalle   Your Husband Is Cheatin’ on Us    “Honey your husband is cheating on us, I  know you thought you had a good man, thought you had a man that you could trust.”  “The lies he used to tell you I know them all too well, but now he’s lying to me girl, and that’s why I’m going to tell, hey lady, honey your husband is cheating on us, I know you thought you had a good man, thought you had a man that you could trust”  “Here’s another thing, he’s got too many women, now somebody’s got to go but before I bow out gracefully I’ll tell everything I know!…”

Petraeus on Woman B:

Muddy Waters   Mean Red Spider   “I got a mean red spider and she been webbin’ all over town”  (Amazing how Muddy Waters predicted the World Wide Spider Web back in the late 1940’s!)

Woman C to Petraeus:

Sonny Boy Williamson   Don’t Start Me To Talkin’   “Don’t start me to talkin’, I’ll tell everything I know, I’m gonna break up this signifying cause somebody’s got to go!”

Cash McCall’s  Something Funny Is Going On   would also be a song Woman C could sing to Petraeus (I didn’t include it because I could not find the song on YouTube):   “I smell a rat, babe.  There’s something funny going on, Oh I smell a rat baby, there’s something funny going on, the last time you acted like this I looked around and you were gone, You’re hiding something from me baby, I can tell by the way you act, you’re hiding something from me baby, I can tell by the way you act, now I’m not blind so come on let’s deal with the facts.”

A N D    S O    B E    T H E    B L U E S !