Show 23: Memphis' Pre-War Blues Tradition
Memphis gave the blues one of its earliest city accents, with jug bands, vaudeville traces, guitar players, pianists, and rough street-corner style all mixing together. This show makes Memphis sound like what it was: a crossroads town where country blues was already learning urban habits.
I would like to thank you for joining me, Ol' Mr. Read, for the inaugural fall Copacetic Communion episode. For this 23rd episode, I have elected to make today's theme of focus that of early Memphis blues. The first track comes from W.C. Handy's legendary composition, entitled, fittingly, "The Memphis Blues." The song you're about to hear is widely recognized as the first blues song, recorded and released by Victor in 1914. And because we like our episodes' themes to work together with each other, this song, in 2019, was selected for preservation in the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
Memphis gave the blues one of its earliest city accents, with jug bands, vaudeville traces, guitar players, pianists, and rough street-corner style all mixing together. This show makes Memphis sound like what it was: a crossroads town where country blues was already learning urban habits.
| Order | Track | Artist | Segment | Bridge | Story |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Memphis Blues | W.C. Handy,Victor Military Band | 1 | - | |
| 2 | K.C. Moan | Memphis Jug Band | 1 | - | |
| 3 | On the Road Again | Memphis Jug Band | 1 | - | |
| 4 | He's in the Jailhouse Now | Memphis Jug Band | 1 | - | |
| 5 | Stealin', Stealin' | Memphis Jug Band | 1 | - | |
| 6 | Walk Right In | Cannon's Jug Stompers | 1 | - | |
| 7 | Big Railroad Blues | Cannon's Jug Stompers | 1 | - | |
| 8 | Poor Boy A Long Way From Home | Gus Cannon | 1 | - | |
| 9 | Papa's Got Your Bath Water On | Hattie Hart | 1 | Yes | - |
| 10 | Little Laura Blues | Sleepy John Estes | 2 | Yes | - |
| 11 | Liquor Store Blues | Sleepy John Estes | 2 | - | |
| 12 | Rats In My Kitchen | Sleepy John Estes | 2 | - | |
| 13 | How Long Blues | Jed Davenport | 2 | - | |
| 14 | Beale Street Breakdown | Jed Davenport | 2 | - | |
| 15 | Fixin' To Die Blues | Bukka White | 2 | - | |
| 16 | Bumble Bee | Memphis Minnie | 2 | Yes | - |
| 17 | Hoodoo Lady | Memphis Minnie | 3 | Yes | - |
| 18 | When The Levee Breaks | Memphis Minnie & Kansas Joe | 3 | - | |
| 19 | Ramblin' | Johnny Shines | 3 | - | |
| 20 | Take a Little Walk With Me | Robert Lockwood, Jr. | 3 | - | |
| 21 | Dust My Broom | Robert Lockwood, Jr. | 3 | - | |
| 22 | Judge Harsh Blues | Furry Lewis | 3 | - | |
| 23 | Billy Lyons And Stackolee | Furry Lewis | 3 | - | |
| 24 | Better Leave That Stuff Alone | Will Shade | 3 | - | |
| 25 | Downtown Blues | Frank Stokes | 3 | - | |
| 26 | 'Tain't Nobody's Business If I Do, Pt. 1 | Frank Stokes | 3 | - | |
| 27 | I Got Mine | Frank Stokes | 3 | - | |
| 28 | Rollin' Stone, Pt. 1 | Robert Wilkins | 3 | Yes | - |
| 29 | Nobody Loves Me Everyday I Have the Blues | Memphis Slim | 4 | Yes | - |
| 30 | Guess I´m A Fool | Memphis Slim | 4 | - | |
| 31 | Marack | Memphis Slim | 4 | - | |
| 32 | Trouble trouble | Memphis Slim | 4 | - | |
| 33 | Moanin' The Blues | Allen Shaw | 4 | - | |
| 34 | The Twelves (The Dirty Dozens) | Casey Bill Weldon,Kokomo Arnold | 4 | - | |
| 35 | Old Dog Blue | Jim Jackson | 4 | - | |
| 36 | Jim Jackson's Kansas City Blues - Pt.. 1 | Jim Jackson | 4 | - | |
| 37 | Jim Jackson's Kansas City Blues - Pt.. 2 | Jim Jackson | 4 | Yes | - |
| 38 | All Around Man | Bo Carter | 5 | Yes | - |