Topic: SOTM December 2019, Catfish Blues

[doctorpep]

Johnm, do you know when the Williams disc on Fat Possum will be released? I just checked Amazon.com and also Fat Possum's website and couldn't find anything.

[Johnm]

Hi doctor pep,
I assume you are talking about Teddy Williams.  I don't know anything about when or whether a full CD of him will be released, but his version of "Catfish" is included in the "George Mitchell Recordings" set.
All best,
Johnm

[uncle bud]

Hi all,
I just found another version of "Catfish" that has no catfish in it.  That is to say, musically, it is "Catfish", but it doesn't include the catfish verse, much like Tommy McClennan's "Deep Blue Sea Blues".  It is from "R. L. Burnside's First Recordings", and it is called "Come On In" there.  It's a really nice version but feels a little truncated.  Lyrically, and in terms of the guitar licks, it also bears a pretty close relationship to the versions of the song by Pink Anderson ("Baby I'm going Away") and Baby Tate ("Baby I'm Going").
All best,
Johnm

There's a version of "Catfish" sans catfish as well by Smoky Babe, accompanied on harp by Lazy Lester, on the Smoky Babe - Herman E. Johnson Louisiana Country Blues disc from Arhoolie. It's called "Too Many Women". As with pretty much everything Smoky Babe did, it just drips with groove.

[oddenda]

Well, Folks, here I go -

          Pink Anderson said that he learned a lot of his blues from Baby Tate! I know that it seems odd that an older guy would learn stuff from a younger one, but Pink would have wanted to update his "songster" repertoire, and how better than from a younger musician. Tate told Bastin and I that he got the song from Muddy's recording, one of a couple in his repertoire from that source. He recorded it for me as well. The "song tree" idea is an interesting one worthy of serious consideration!

yrs,
     Peter B.

[uncle bud]

Another version of Catfish not called Catfish is Just Can't Say by Willie Nix with Snooky Pryor, harmonica; Sunnyland Slim, Piano and Eddie Taylor on guitar. Recorded; 10/14/1953, Chicago. Great! The song is included on the Weenieology Post-War Disc 2 compilation. It includes the catfish verse, and Willie talks a great line of shit throughout.

"Talk a little trash that means you have to spend some cash."

[Bunker Hill]

Another version of Catfish not called Catfish is Just Can't Say by Willie Nix with Snooky Pryor, harmonica; Sunnyland Slim, Piano and Eddie Taylor on guitar. Recorded; 10/14/1953, Chicago. Great! The song is included on the Weenieology Post-War Disc 2 compilation. It includes the catfish verse, and Willie talks a great line of shit throughout.

"Talk a little trash that means you have to spend some cash."

Thanks for the heads-up, forgotten all about that great version. This in turn got me giving a spin to Muddy's solo Chess rework (as Rollin' Stone) with its hypnotic, over amplified guitar accompaniment. See Oddenda's comments above.

[LD50]

Another version of Catfish not called Catfish is Just Can't Say by Willie Nix with Snooky Pryor, harmonica; Sunnyland Slim, Piano and Eddie Taylor on guitar. Recorded; 10/14/1953, Chicago. Great! The song is included on the Weenieology Post-War Disc 2 compilation. It includes the catfish verse, and Willie talks a great line of shit throughout.

"Talk a little trash that means you have to spend some cash."

Another really good one I just discovered a few months is 'Hospitality Blues' by Grace Brim, 1952. The word 'catfish' seems not to be in it, but it's the same song straight down the line. Not as amazing as her 'Strange Man', but still pretty damn good.

(I got it off Best of Blues vol.2 - Blues Standard: Catfish blues / Rolling Stone.)

[Doc Brainerd]

Another version of Catfish not called Catfish is Just Can't Say by Willie Nix with Snooky Pryor, harmonica; Sunnyland Slim, Piano and Eddie Taylor on guitar. Recorded; 10/14/1953, Chicago. Great! The song is included on the Weenieology Post-War Disc 2 compilation. It includes the catfish verse, and Willie talks a great line of shit throughout.

"Talk a little trash that means you have to spend some cash."

In addition to backing Willie Nix on Willie's VOCNCC, Eddie Taylor recorded his own VOCNCC he called "Stroll Out West." It's included the P-Vine Records E.T. compilation Big Town Playboy (PCD-5259). The liner notes are mostly in Japanese, but the phrase "Original VJ Recordings 1955-1964" is printed inside the insert next to the song titles. A search on the web led me to this link (http://koti.mbnet.fi/wdd/eddietaylor.htm), which after searching for the word 'stroll' on the page leads me to surmise Eddie's "Stroll Out West" was an unissued session from forVeeJay from November 5, 1957 (Eddie Taylor:vcl/gtr, Jimmy Lee Robinson:bs, Earl Phillips:dms).

In my opinion - as far as post-war electric VOCNCCs go - Eddie's version is pretty darn good.
Youtube:

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Here is another really fine version of "Catfish Blues", taken from Jack Owens and Bud Spires Testament CD, "It Must Have Been The Devil".  It's another indication that Jack Owens was not a one-trick pony, playing only in cross-note tuning.



All best,
Johnm

[btasoundsradio]

There is a killer version of Catfish Blues on the new "It's The Best Stuff Yet" Frog set entitled "My Husband Just Now Left" by an inmate named Ed Bush. The notes say he learned it from the Tommy McClennan record, but the guitar is completely unique. The picking is fast and banjoesque with bottleneck, I'm assuming on a resonator guitar. Probably my favorite track on the set. Just when you thought you've heard all the killer versions...
Dr. Ross "Cat Squirrell"

Willie Doss "Catfish Blues"

Skip James:

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Here is another version from Lattie Murrell.  I was interested to note that his name as shown on the Flywright single was "Lottie Merle".



All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Since no one wanted to post a Song of the Month for December, I thought to take a pre-existing thread which was a Song of the Month precursor and turn it into a Song of the Month.  I went back in the thread and added the versions to which the various posters alluded, though I didn't get them all.  There are still a lot of versions left to find and post, I'm sure.  Enjoy, and Merry Christmas!
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Just to keep this thing going, here are two versions mentioned earlier in the thread but not previously posted.  First, from John Lee Hooker, in 1949:



The from Lightnin' Hopkins:



All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Here is a version of "Catfish", "Catfish Blues, #2", by Tommy Johnson's brother, Mager Johnson. I love his pace, and the way he makes his notes. This would be a great version to figure out by ear.



All best,
Johnm

[btasoundsradio]

I was thinking about this today as I was putting together a mix of all my favorite versions of this song, but has anyone else thought about a possible musicological connection between Catfish Blues and the old time "I Wish I Was a Mole In The Ground", which to me reads like a blues song.