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Author Topic: Brand and product names in country blues  (Read 44455 times)

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Offline dj

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Re: Brand and product names in country blues
« Reply #45 on: August 22, 2007, 05:17:01 PM »
I think the Nehi in "Nehi Mama Blues" was a woman who wore her dresses "knee high", as was the scandalous fashion after World War I.  I have no idea how this relates to the soft drink.  Pun, maybe?

Teddy Darby mentions Cadillac in "Don't Like The Way You Do", which Johnm transcribed in the Lyrics forum.
 

Offline Bunker Hill

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Re: Brand and product names in country blues
« Reply #46 on: August 22, 2007, 11:39:25 PM »
I think the Nehi in "Nehi Mama Blues" was a woman who wore her dresses "knee high", as was the scandalous fashion after World War I.  I have no idea how this relates to the soft drink.  Pun, maybe?
In the early 70s Mike Rowe sent Blues Unlimited an advert for the product from a 1930s Chicago Defender. The label depicted a young woman wearing a "knee high".

Offline banjochris

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Re: Brand and product names in country blues
« Reply #47 on: August 23, 2007, 12:18:32 AM »
A quick listen to McTell and he seems to sing "rusty black-handled razor" in both versions.

Ach so. Thanks for checking.
Chris

Offline banjochris

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Re: Brand and product names in country blues
« Reply #48 on: August 23, 2007, 12:20:10 AM »
Also, I just remembered. How could we forget the Nugrape Twins, whose very existence was a commercial?

Offline Rivers

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Re: Brand and product names in country blues
« Reply #49 on: August 23, 2007, 05:03:20 AM »
I slotted in the 'brand bands', found another Cedar Creek Sheik Ford ref, Teddy Darby.

[edit: moved table to latest post]
« Last Edit: August 24, 2007, 03:53:56 AM by Rivers »

Offline Rivers

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Re: Brand and product names in country blues
« Reply #50 on: August 23, 2007, 05:22:44 AM »
I'm surprised there aren't more Sleepy John Estes tunes containing commercial junk, him being such a documenter of everyday life.

Offline uncle bud

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Re: Brand and product names in country blues
« Reply #51 on: August 23, 2007, 06:52:59 AM »
I think the Nehi in "Nehi Mama Blues" was a woman who wore her dresses "knee high", as was the scandalous fashion after World War I.  I have no idea how this relates to the soft drink.  Pun, maybe?

Hi dj - Yes, a pun, used in fact by the company themselves, as can be seen in this billboard advertisement attached (the artwork for which I have as a fridge magnet discovered in some tourist trap). Perhaps the same ad to which Bunker refers.


Offline Bunker Hill

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Re: Brand and product names in country blues
« Reply #52 on: August 23, 2007, 09:51:22 AM »
I think the Nehi in "Nehi Mama Blues" was a woman who wore her dresses "knee high", as was the scandalous fashion after World War I.  I have no idea how this relates to the soft drink.  Pun, maybe?
Hi dj - Yes, a pun, used in fact by the company themselves, as can be seen in this billboard advertisement attached (the artwork for which I have as a fridge magnet discovered in some tourist trap). Perhaps the same ad to which Bunker refers.
Yep, that's the advert. My memory placed the skirt/legs on the label...wishful thinking, maybe!  ::)

Offline Johnm

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Re: Brand and product names in country blues
« Reply #53 on: August 23, 2007, 11:07:50 AM »
Hi all,
In "Machine Gun Blues", from 1941, Willie Blackwell refers to a "Johnson machine gun".  He may have it wrong, and mean a Thompson machine gun; I've never heard of a Johnson machine gun, but that doesn't prove anything, necessarily.  Likewise, in "Chalk My Toy", from the same session, he refers to "Bulldog special shoes", which I believe may still be manufactured.
All best,
Johnm

Offline Bunker Hill

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Re: Brand and product names in country blues
« Reply #54 on: August 23, 2007, 11:22:22 AM »
In "Machine Gun Blues", from 1941, Willie Blackwell refers to a "Johnson machine gun".  He may have it wrong, and mean a Thompson machine gun; I've never heard of a Johnson machine gun, but that doesn't prove anything, necessarily. 
I'm fairly sure there was such a comapny and weapon during the 30s John. 20 years ago it was brought up in a review of the compilation which first included that particular song. The reference Blackwell makes to "snapping my typewriter in your face" I think alluded to the fact that the company also manufactured typewriters. I'm sure somebody more clued up than I in such matters can put us straight.

Offline Johnm

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Re: Brand and product names in country blues
« Reply #55 on: August 23, 2007, 11:28:00 AM »
Hi all,
This may be a different topic or a sub-heading of this one, but it occurred to me that in some Blues lyrics, the commercial establishments of friends/employers of the singer are touted.  Examples include:
   *  The Conoco station operated by Mr. Ed Dumaine (sp?) where Smoky Babe worked in "Hottest Brand Goin'"
   *  C.H. Hayes, the undertaker mentioned by Willie Blackwell in "Machine Gun Blues"
   *  Vassar Williams' auto repair shop in Durhamville, Tennessee, mentioned by Sleepy John Estes in "Brownsville Blues"
   *  The Union Stockyards, owned by "Mr. Owens", where auctions are conducted by "Mr. Kelly"  , mentioned in Robert Wilkins in "New Stockyard Blues"
I particularly like these mentions when you feel like the singer was trying to drum up business to help out a friend.
All best,
Johnm

Offline Johnm

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Re: Brand and product names in country blues
« Reply #56 on: August 23, 2007, 11:30:45 AM »
Thanks for the tip on the Johnson machine gun, Bunker Hill.  I should have kept my mouth shut, because what I don't know about guns is . . . everything!
All best,
Johnm

Offline Bunker Hill

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Re: Brand and product names in country blues
« Reply #57 on: August 23, 2007, 11:40:06 AM »
Thanks for the tip on the Johnson machine gun, Bunker Hill.  I should have kept my mouth shut, because what I don't know about guns is . . . everything!
John, each to his own. Why do you think I keep my mouth firmly shut on all topic musicological?  As a Shakespearian character once uttered, "It's all Greek to me".  ;D

Offline Stuart

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Re: Brand and product names in country blues
« Reply #58 on: August 23, 2007, 12:05:07 PM »
Expanding a bit--a specific person practicing a profession, such as Sleepy John Estes' "Lawyer Clark Blues."

Offline banjochris

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Re: Brand and product names in country blues
« Reply #59 on: August 23, 2007, 01:55:00 PM »
Sleepy John mentions "D-Con" insecticide in his first postwar recording of "Rats in My Kitchen."
Chris

 


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