Hi all,
I have been listening quite a lot to Tommy McClennan lately, after having picked up the JSP set, "Big Joe Williams and the Stars of Mississippi Blues", which includes, in addition to all of Big Joe's early recordings, all of Tommy McClennan's, all of Robert Petway's, all of Honeyboy Edwards' and all of Willie Lofton's (whew!) on five discs. Being able for the first time to immerse myself in Tommy's recordings has been a real treat.
According to the liner notes, Tommy was born in Yazoo City in 1908, and was given the opportunity to record after being "discovered" by Lester Melrose in Greenwood, Mississippi in 1938 or 1939. He recorded 42 titles in a pretty compressed period of time, with his first session dating from November 22, 1939 and his last session occurring on February 20, 1942. His recordings provide a fascinating picture of Mississippi blues in the period between the era when Charley Patton, Tommy Johnson, Ishmon Bracey and Son House were big names and before transplanted Mississippians like Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf, and John Lee Hooker were to make a splash.
For reasons that are not clear to me, much of the writing on Tommy McClennan adopts a slighting tone in speaking of his musicianship; perhaps it is because musician friends/acquaintances of his spoke of his playing in that way and the writers who were interviewing them took their assessments at face value. Hearing his entire recorded works puts the lie to the notion of him as some sort of ham-fisted strummer. In fact there is a tremendous amount of nuance in his playing, made all the more impressive by its presence in a fundamentally rough and "country" sounding approach. Of course, his singing was tremendously exciting, too; the sense I always get from his singing is one of absolute authority in his style and authenticity. He loved spoken asides every bit as much as Charley Patton did, though he didn't employ Charley's trick of utilizing different voices for his asides. In any case, here are the songs he recorded and the positions he played them in--if anybody is inspired to seek out his music and play some of it, so much the better.
TITLE DATE RECORDED POSITION
"You Can Mistreat Me Here" 11/22/39 C, standard
"New 'Shake 'Em On Down'" " D, standard
"Bottle It Up And Go" " C, standard
"Whiskey Head Woman" " G, standard
"Brown Skin Girl" " D, standard
"Cotton Patch Blues" " G, standard
"Baby, Don't You Want To Go" 5/10/40 C, standard
"Baby, Please Don't Tell On Me" " E, standard
"I'm Going Don't You Know" " C standard, at D
"New Highway 51" " G standard, at A
"She's Just Good Huggin' Size" " "
"My Little Girl" " D standard, at E
"My Baby's Gone" " G standard, at A
"It's Hard To Be Lonesome" " "
"My Baby's Doggin' Me" " C standard, at D
"She's A Good Looking Mama" " G standard, at A
"Whiskey Head Man" 12/12/40 G, standard
"New Sugar Mama" " C, standard
"Down To Skin And Bones Blues" " D, standard
"Katy Mae Blues" " G, standard
"Love With A Feeling" " C, standard
"Drop Down Mama" " G, standard
"Black Minnie" " "
"Elsie Blues" " D, standard
"Des'e My Blues" 9/15/41 G, standard
"Cross Cut Saw Blues (Take 1)" " "
" (Take 2) " "
"Classy Mae Blues" " "
"You Can't Read My Mind" " "
"Travelin' Highway Man" " "
"Deep Blue Sea Blues" " E, standard
"I'm A Guitar King" " D, standard
"It's A Crying Pity" " D, standard
"Mozelle Blues" 2/20/42 G standard, at B
"Blues Trip Me This Morning" " D standard, at G
"Mr. So And So Blues" " "
"Roll Me, Baby" " G standard, at B
"I Love My Baby" " "
"Shake It Up And Go" " C standard, at E
"Blue As I Can Be" " "
"Bluebird Blues" " G standard, at B
"Bluebird Blues (Take 2)" " "
A couple of notes on the music:
* The keys/positions for Tommy McClennan are really eye-opening in a way. 42 titles recorded by a Mississippi bluesman from the Delta in 1939-1942, a grand total of two of which were played in E, standard tuning, and not a single tune played in Spanish tuning! No tunes in Vestapol, A standard (not so surprising) or slide, either, were recorded by Tommy McClennan. Instead, we see a heavy preponderance of songs in G standard, for which, I believe, Ishmon Bracey paved the way, C standard (huh?) and D standard, perhaps the most mysterious of all. C standard at least has some precursors in Mississippi with the hot raggy playing of Sam Collins, a few select numbers from Charley Patton and Tommy Johnson, the sophisticated playing of Bo Carter and the playing of Mississippi John Hurt (which I'm not convinced anyone in Mississippi outside of his immediate area ever heard). Tommy's approach to playing in D standard doesn't sound like anyone who preceded him that I have ever heard. His sense of timing is unlike anyone who I have heard that preceded him, too.
* Is "Catfish" "Catfish", even if it is not called that, and the catfish verse is never sung? Tommy McClennan's "Deep Blue Sea Blues" is clearly his version of "Catfish Blues", though he never sings the verse that mentions catfish. I believe Tommy's recorded performance is the model that was copied by South Carolinians Pink Anderson and Baby Tate in their recordings of that song from the 1960s. Neither of them called the song "Catfish" either, and their verses and guitar parts closely track Tommy's. As far as that goes, why didn't Tommy McClennan record more in E? His two pieces in that position are sensational, and he remarks at the beginning of "Deep Blue Sea Blues", "Let's make this right now, it's the best one I got."
* Tommy McClennan was joined by an unknown bass player for the sessions on May 10, 1940 and September 15, 1941, and was accompanied by Ransom Knowling on bass for the February 20, 1942 session.
* Tommy was generally tuned a little bit sharp at his sessions with the exception of the December 12, 1940 session. He switched to a National steel guitar for the last two sessions he did. His style of singing (or living) must have been very hard on his voice; you can hear the toll it is taking at his last session, when he was only 34 years old. He lived until 1962.
* Tommy McClennan must have been amazing to see in his prime. According to Honeyboy Edwards, he was tiny, about 4'10" tall and weighing in at 115 pounds. It's hard to believe that raspy voice and powerful guitar picking came out of such a small guy. It is not unrealistic to think we won't see his like again.
All best,
Johnm
I have been listening quite a lot to Tommy McClennan lately, after having picked up the JSP set, "Big Joe Williams and the Stars of Mississippi Blues", which includes, in addition to all of Big Joe's early recordings, all of Tommy McClennan's, all of Robert Petway's, all of Honeyboy Edwards' and all of Willie Lofton's (whew!) on five discs. Being able for the first time to immerse myself in Tommy's recordings has been a real treat.
According to the liner notes, Tommy was born in Yazoo City in 1908, and was given the opportunity to record after being "discovered" by Lester Melrose in Greenwood, Mississippi in 1938 or 1939. He recorded 42 titles in a pretty compressed period of time, with his first session dating from November 22, 1939 and his last session occurring on February 20, 1942. His recordings provide a fascinating picture of Mississippi blues in the period between the era when Charley Patton, Tommy Johnson, Ishmon Bracey and Son House were big names and before transplanted Mississippians like Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf, and John Lee Hooker were to make a splash.
For reasons that are not clear to me, much of the writing on Tommy McClennan adopts a slighting tone in speaking of his musicianship; perhaps it is because musician friends/acquaintances of his spoke of his playing in that way and the writers who were interviewing them took their assessments at face value. Hearing his entire recorded works puts the lie to the notion of him as some sort of ham-fisted strummer. In fact there is a tremendous amount of nuance in his playing, made all the more impressive by its presence in a fundamentally rough and "country" sounding approach. Of course, his singing was tremendously exciting, too; the sense I always get from his singing is one of absolute authority in his style and authenticity. He loved spoken asides every bit as much as Charley Patton did, though he didn't employ Charley's trick of utilizing different voices for his asides. In any case, here are the songs he recorded and the positions he played them in--if anybody is inspired to seek out his music and play some of it, so much the better.
TITLE DATE RECORDED POSITION
"You Can Mistreat Me Here" 11/22/39 C, standard
"New 'Shake 'Em On Down'" " D, standard
"Bottle It Up And Go" " C, standard
"Whiskey Head Woman" " G, standard
"Brown Skin Girl" " D, standard
"Cotton Patch Blues" " G, standard
"Baby, Don't You Want To Go" 5/10/40 C, standard
"Baby, Please Don't Tell On Me" " E, standard
"I'm Going Don't You Know" " C standard, at D
"New Highway 51" " G standard, at A
"She's Just Good Huggin' Size" " "
"My Little Girl" " D standard, at E
"My Baby's Gone" " G standard, at A
"It's Hard To Be Lonesome" " "
"My Baby's Doggin' Me" " C standard, at D
"She's A Good Looking Mama" " G standard, at A
"Whiskey Head Man" 12/12/40 G, standard
"New Sugar Mama" " C, standard
"Down To Skin And Bones Blues" " D, standard
"Katy Mae Blues" " G, standard
"Love With A Feeling" " C, standard
"Drop Down Mama" " G, standard
"Black Minnie" " "
"Elsie Blues" " D, standard
"Des'e My Blues" 9/15/41 G, standard
"Cross Cut Saw Blues (Take 1)" " "
" (Take 2) " "
"Classy Mae Blues" " "
"You Can't Read My Mind" " "
"Travelin' Highway Man" " "
"Deep Blue Sea Blues" " E, standard
"I'm A Guitar King" " D, standard
"It's A Crying Pity" " D, standard
"Mozelle Blues" 2/20/42 G standard, at B
"Blues Trip Me This Morning" " D standard, at G
"Mr. So And So Blues" " "
"Roll Me, Baby" " G standard, at B
"I Love My Baby" " "
"Shake It Up And Go" " C standard, at E
"Blue As I Can Be" " "
"Bluebird Blues" " G standard, at B
"Bluebird Blues (Take 2)" " "
A couple of notes on the music:
* The keys/positions for Tommy McClennan are really eye-opening in a way. 42 titles recorded by a Mississippi bluesman from the Delta in 1939-1942, a grand total of two of which were played in E, standard tuning, and not a single tune played in Spanish tuning! No tunes in Vestapol, A standard (not so surprising) or slide, either, were recorded by Tommy McClennan. Instead, we see a heavy preponderance of songs in G standard, for which, I believe, Ishmon Bracey paved the way, C standard (huh?) and D standard, perhaps the most mysterious of all. C standard at least has some precursors in Mississippi with the hot raggy playing of Sam Collins, a few select numbers from Charley Patton and Tommy Johnson, the sophisticated playing of Bo Carter and the playing of Mississippi John Hurt (which I'm not convinced anyone in Mississippi outside of his immediate area ever heard). Tommy's approach to playing in D standard doesn't sound like anyone who preceded him that I have ever heard. His sense of timing is unlike anyone who I have heard that preceded him, too.
* Is "Catfish" "Catfish", even if it is not called that, and the catfish verse is never sung? Tommy McClennan's "Deep Blue Sea Blues" is clearly his version of "Catfish Blues", though he never sings the verse that mentions catfish. I believe Tommy's recorded performance is the model that was copied by South Carolinians Pink Anderson and Baby Tate in their recordings of that song from the 1960s. Neither of them called the song "Catfish" either, and their verses and guitar parts closely track Tommy's. As far as that goes, why didn't Tommy McClennan record more in E? His two pieces in that position are sensational, and he remarks at the beginning of "Deep Blue Sea Blues", "Let's make this right now, it's the best one I got."
* Tommy McClennan was joined by an unknown bass player for the sessions on May 10, 1940 and September 15, 1941, and was accompanied by Ransom Knowling on bass for the February 20, 1942 session.
* Tommy was generally tuned a little bit sharp at his sessions with the exception of the December 12, 1940 session. He switched to a National steel guitar for the last two sessions he did. His style of singing (or living) must have been very hard on his voice; you can hear the toll it is taking at his last session, when he was only 34 years old. He lived until 1962.
* Tommy McClennan must have been amazing to see in his prime. According to Honeyboy Edwards, he was tiny, about 4'10" tall and weighing in at 115 pounds. It's hard to believe that raspy voice and powerful guitar picking came out of such a small guy. It is not unrealistic to think we won't see his like again.
All best,
Johnm