SOTM February 2017
CC Rider/ Easy Rider/ See See Rider
The SOTM for February has numerous titles. It was first recorded as ?See See Rider? by Ma Rainey in New York on 16 October 1924. She was accompanied by her Georgia Jazz Band featuring Louis Armstrong on cornet, Charlie Green on trombone, and Buster Bailey on clarinet. The intro lasts almost a minute, so be patient!
The origin of the song title formed the basis of conjecture in this WC thread started in 2006. How time flies! I wonder if any of the original participants ever got the answer?
http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=2806.0In 1934, Big Bill Broonzy recorded an up tempo version, entitled ?C.C. Rider?, with piano and violin accompaniment. According to Goodrich and Dixon the pianist on this Chicago session is unknown, and they conjecture that Big Bill was the violinist on the track. Certainly the vocals and the violin are kept separate. I wasn?t aware that Big Bill played the violin, and I don?t think their are other recorded instances of his violin playing. Anyone else know otherwise?
Three months after the Big Bill version was recorded, in January 1935, Leadbelly recorded the first of his versions of ?See See Rider? in New York City. This is the first version of this song I heard in about 1964, and it remains a favourite. Leadbelly seems to have played the melody out of full blown chords under his slide, and his accompaniment features a driving bass.
Leadbelly was adept at song recycling. In June 1940, again in New York City, he recorded this version of ?Easy Rider?.
Staying in New York, our next version, and one which proved to be a popular hit of the day, is by none other than Muriel Nicholls. Muriel Who? Clearly, that?s what her agent thought, and changed her name to Wee Bea Booze. Here she is with possibly Sam Price on piano, her own (inaudible to me) tenor guitar, and unknown and unsung heroes on double bass and drums. This track is from 1942.
In 1949, Josh White was featured in a Randolph Scott western entitled ?The Walking Hills?. He?d been acting a fair amount on Broadway and managed to grab a decent amount of screen time in the movie, the full version of which is available on You Tube. Here?s the extract with his version of CC Rider.
As we progress into the 1950s, we find Big Bill again, now recording replete with surname (as opposed to on all his pre-war waxings). Studs Terkel interviewed and recorded Big Bill in November 1956, when this version of See See Rider was performed. Incidentally, the discographies also list this title as ?C.C. Rider?.
In 1957, C.C. Rider was once again a popular hit, sung by Chuck Willis.
Moving to New Orleans in the late 1950s, we encounter another of my all time favourite versions of the song, recorded by Harry Oster in either February of March 1958, here?s Snooks Eaglin with his version of See See Rider. The vocals are rich, with a slight touch of echo and the occasional falsetto. The cheap Harmony archtop guitar provides the ideal accompaniment.
Then, one year later, it?s off to Texas to catch a fine performance of See See Rider by Lightnin? Hopkins. The open vocal salvo is worth the entrance fee!
As we move into the nineteen-sixties, we encounter the Mississippi John Hurt in live performance at the height of the ?folk blues revival?. Here is his take on C.C. Rider.
Another live performance from the mid to late sixties was captured on Pete Seeger?s Rainbow Quest TV programme. It?s Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee with their version of ?Easy Rider?. Sonny's lyrics reveal indebtedness to Leadbelly, with the tag line 'Hey, hey, hey, hey'.
And yet another live performance, from Lonnie Johnson recorded in Europe during one of the Folk Blues festivals that toured during the sixties.
Another live performance now, this time from 1972, by Mance Lipscomb. The performance starts at 6:36.
https://youtu.be/L4HpwvJjalM?t=6m36sA piano version up next, recorded by Blind John Davis.
Moving into the 1980s, here?s another track from the American Folk Blues Festival recordings. It?s Lonnie Pitchford.
By now I find myself needing an antidote to the jazzier versions of the song, so I?m thankful to Pan, who originally posted this version by LC Ulmer in the ?Interesting Country Blues related video clips? thread a while back.
Finally, it?s worth noting that CC Rider/Easy Rider/See See Rider has, over the years, been a major ?cross-over? hit for many white artists who?ve covered it, including Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley and The Grateful Dead, to name just a few.
