Topic: Name That...CB Artist

[GhostRider]

Hi all:

One reads reference throughout the CB literature about artists who, in certain circumstances or always, either refused to give out their real names or worked under pseudonyms.

OTOH, other artists would name themselves, even in their recordings. I'd be interested in knowing during which recordings:

1) the artist named themselves
2) someone else names the performing artist (an aside for example).
3) the artist names another artist who is not on the recording.

Examples of 1):

Little Hat Jones - Kentucky Blues "please don't let them kill Mr. Little Hat dead"
Frank Stokes - Frank Stokes' Dream (can't remember the exact quote, will see tonight).
Robert Johnson - Kindhearted Woman Blues -"..make Mr. Johnson drink...".
                     - Crossroads Blues - "save poor Bob if you please".

Examples of 2):

Little Hat Jones - Corpus Blues - "Aw, play that thing, Little Hat, that's the talk of the town". spoken aside by unknown woman.

Example of 3):

Robert Johnson - Crossroads Blues - my friend boy, Willie Brown".

Can any of you think of any others?

Play that funky music, white boy,
Alex

[Bunker Hill]

The one that immediately comes to mind is Barbecue Bob citing Lilllian Glinn in Brownskin Blues. From memory:

"jus' like Miss Lillian, I mean Miss Glinn you see; she says ' A brown-skin man is just all right with me' " 

LATE EDIT: Thought I'd throw in a 1970 Paul Oliver photo of Miss Lillian who doesn't rate an entry in the Routledge Blues Encyclopedia and not one index reference. She was ok for Barbecue Bob but obviously not the Routledge compilers. Right, off my soap box I step...

[Rivers]

In category 1, Lightnin' Hopkins is always talking about himself in the 3rd person in spoken asides of course.
Big Bill Broonzy, Big Bill's Blues

Category 2, Numerous examples of Sonny naming Brownie and vice versa.

New category, 4. Whole songs about another artist:
Lead Belly, "Blind Lemon"
Brownie McGhee,  The Death of Blind Boy Fuller #1 & #2

[onewent]

Willie McTell names himself in one of the Broke Down Engine versions, and calls himself Georgia Bill in Scary Day Blues  ..

[banjochris]

McTell manages to get Curley Weaver, Weaver's girlfriend and his own wife into "Mama, Let Me Play With Your Yo-Yo":

"Play that thing Papa Weaver, play it like Miss Cora like it, she like it that-a-way. Do that thing for Miss Kate."

In "Ticket Agent" he names himself, too.

Sleepy John Estes refers to "Poor John" on a number of occasions. Blind Blake in one tune, and I can't remember which one, refers to his manager, Mayo Williams, with something like "Done got good to Mister Williams"
Chris

[waxwing]

Fuller named himself pretty regularly, I think. In the final verse of Untrue Blues he sings, "Now the way you treat Blind Boy Fuller, Give me bunch a lies.

McTell has a bunch, even getting his name in the title of Mr McTell's Got the Blues. I think he also refers to himself by one of his other psuedonyms that he was recording under at the time. Didn't miss a beat.

All for now,
John C

[Bunker Hill]

New category, 4. Whole songs about another artist:
Lead Belly, "Blind Lemon"
Brownie McGhee,  The Death of Blind Boy Fuller #1 & #2

And similarly Brownie McGhee, A Letter To Lightnin' Hopkins (1951)- "I'm goin' to Houston, Texas Lightnin' Hopkins is a man I wanna see"

[blueshome]

Big/Poor Joe Williams repeatedly mentions himself.

[MTJ3]

3) Bertha Lee in Patton's "Poor Me."

[GhostRider]

Hi:
The reference in "Frank Stokes Dream" is

"So you hear them Frank Stokes blues every where on earth you go"

Alex

[GhostRider]

Edit by Rivers:
List has been set up in the content management database and will be kept up to date there.

Click on 'Bed Slats & All' in the left menu, or click here

[MTJ3]

Thanks for the topic and the organization of the responses.

Low hanging fruit for Case 4:

Scrapper Blackwell, "My Old Pal Blues (Dedicated to the Memory of Leroy Carr)"
Bumble Bee Slim, "Death Of Leroy Carr"
Little Bill Gaither, "Life Of Leroy Carr"

But wait, there's more:

Booker T. Washington (not the one of whom you would ordinarily think, but the one accompanied by Walter Davis), "Death Of Bessie Smith"
Rev. Emmett Dickinson, "Death Of Blind Lemon"

[banjochris]

...and didn't Memphis Minnie do a song about Ma Rainey?

[onewent]

..and Leadbelly's 'Silver City Bound' is about Lemon .. which sort of brings up a whole other topic:  wonder how many songs were written to commemorate Lemon?

[MTJ3]

Case 1:

Black Ace, "Black Ace Blues," in which he states, "I am the Black Ace..."

Case 2:

Scrapper Blackwell, "Trouble Blues (Part 2)"  Leroy Carr interjects during Scrapper's first instrumental break, "Say, Mr. Scrapper, that's too tight.  Why, you ought to quit it."

Interestingly, in the whole catalogue of their recordings, if memory serves, this is the only place (other than in the banter that precedes "The Depression Blues") where one of the duo addresses the other by name.  Leroy refers to his sidemen as "Jack" or "Mr. Man."  Was there some taboo?  I won't even begin to speculate. 

Case 1A (the song is named for the artist but the artist doesn't use the name in the lyrics):

Scrapper Blackwell, "Mr. Scrapper's Blues."

Little Hat Jones, "Little Hat Blues."