Hi all,
Bayless Rose, one of the Country Blues' "mystery men", had but one day in the studio, in Richmond, Indiana on June 7, 1930. Little or nothing is known of him in the biographical sense, and his race is not known for certain, though it seems most listeners feel he was a white musician. Two of the four songs he recorded were instrumentals, with "Jamestown Exhibition" a raggy tune played out of C in standard tuning, and "Frisco Blues" a slide number in Vestapol that sounds as though Rose had been listening to Furry Lewis songs like "Falling Down Blues" and "Judge Harsh Blues".
Bayless Rose backed his "Original Blues" out of E position in standard tuning, and his playing has a lot of nifty and unusual touches. One peculiarity of his playing is that he goes almost the entire length of the song without striking his open sixth string, very unusual for someone playing out of E. He just hits it once in his second solo. He starts the song as a 12-bar blues, but switches to a 16-bar form for his second solo, maintaining the 16-bar form for his final two verses and switching back to a 12-bar form for his concluding solo. This sort of switching of forms in the middle of a rendition was not nearly as uncommon as you might think it to be, especially in the early years of the recorded blues. If you keep an ear out for it, you'll hear people like Frank Stokes, Bo Weavil Jackson and Edward Thompson doing it, as well as other players. Bayless Rose was not a flashy singer, but his voice had an appealing reedy sort of tone. Here is "Original Blues":
SOLO
Said, I didn't come here, baby, to take nobody's brown
Said, I didn't come here, honey, take nobody's brown
I'm just a poor man, babe, I just walked in your town
From ashes from ashes, mama, from dust to dust
From ashes from ashes, woman, from dust to dust
Just show me a woman any poor man can trust
Says, I laid and talked with my brown all night long
Says, I laid and talked to my woman all night long
Tryin' to teach that woman, teach her right from wrong
Mississippi River, woman, is deep and wide
Mississippi River (guitar fills in) deep and wide
Couldn't see my brownie from this other side
SOLO
Said, go on, woman, look what you've done done
Said, run here, woman, look what you've done done
Said, run here, woman, look what you've done done
You made me love you, now your man done come
She's your and she's mine, she's someone else's, too
She's your and she's mine, she's someone else's, too
She's your and she's mine, she's someone else's, too
Just any woman, Good Lord, she will do
SOLO
All best,
Johnm
Bayless Rose, one of the Country Blues' "mystery men", had but one day in the studio, in Richmond, Indiana on June 7, 1930. Little or nothing is known of him in the biographical sense, and his race is not known for certain, though it seems most listeners feel he was a white musician. Two of the four songs he recorded were instrumentals, with "Jamestown Exhibition" a raggy tune played out of C in standard tuning, and "Frisco Blues" a slide number in Vestapol that sounds as though Rose had been listening to Furry Lewis songs like "Falling Down Blues" and "Judge Harsh Blues".
Bayless Rose backed his "Original Blues" out of E position in standard tuning, and his playing has a lot of nifty and unusual touches. One peculiarity of his playing is that he goes almost the entire length of the song without striking his open sixth string, very unusual for someone playing out of E. He just hits it once in his second solo. He starts the song as a 12-bar blues, but switches to a 16-bar form for his second solo, maintaining the 16-bar form for his final two verses and switching back to a 12-bar form for his concluding solo. This sort of switching of forms in the middle of a rendition was not nearly as uncommon as you might think it to be, especially in the early years of the recorded blues. If you keep an ear out for it, you'll hear people like Frank Stokes, Bo Weavil Jackson and Edward Thompson doing it, as well as other players. Bayless Rose was not a flashy singer, but his voice had an appealing reedy sort of tone. Here is "Original Blues":
SOLO
Said, I didn't come here, baby, to take nobody's brown
Said, I didn't come here, honey, take nobody's brown
I'm just a poor man, babe, I just walked in your town
From ashes from ashes, mama, from dust to dust
From ashes from ashes, woman, from dust to dust
Just show me a woman any poor man can trust
Says, I laid and talked with my brown all night long
Says, I laid and talked to my woman all night long
Tryin' to teach that woman, teach her right from wrong
Mississippi River, woman, is deep and wide
Mississippi River (guitar fills in) deep and wide
Couldn't see my brownie from this other side
SOLO
Said, go on, woman, look what you've done done
Said, run here, woman, look what you've done done
Said, run here, woman, look what you've done done
You made me love you, now your man done come
She's your and she's mine, she's someone else's, too
She's your and she's mine, she's someone else's, too
She's your and she's mine, she's someone else's, too
Just any woman, Good Lord, she will do
SOLO
All best,
Johnm