Re: Geechie Wiley (Greatest female blues singer) (2 messages!)

Posted by steveb on March 2, 2006, 8:55 pm, in reply to "Re: Geechie Wiley (Greatest female blues singer) (2 messages!)"
206.80.248.80

Danny - There are two recordings of which I aware that contain all six of Geeshie's performances. The first is "Mississippi Blues - Volume 1 (1928-1937)", which is on Document 5157 (DOCD-5157). The nice thing about this set is that all six numbers are on the CD consecutively. Also noteworthy on this CD are Louise Johnson and Mattie Delaney. HOWEVER, the recording you should search out is "American Primitive Vol. II -- Pre-War Revenants (1897-1939)", which is RVN 214. It is a 2-CD set with 25 tunes on each CD, and Geeshie has three on each CD. These are not at all consecutive, but that is a very small price to pay for what, to my mind, is arguably the most valuable blues-related recording - period. It is a treasure-trove of stunning music, and if the music itself were not enough, then the accompanying booklet is worth the price of the set all by itself. In particular, the notes on the recordings, written by Dean Blackwood and Edward Komera, are examples of how all liner notes should be written -- at least when the music is deserving of insigthful (and quirky)commentary. Here is their comment about "Last Kind Word Blues": "Not simply great music, but art of the highest order. Next time they ask, this goes straight in the space capsule of things representing the very best that humankind is capable of. To rejig a Byron Coley-ism, "Last Kind Words" is of such unique character through and through that it inhabits its own universe, vibrating in the air like a mahogany hen's egg held in the grip of unseen forces. From its weird harmonic structure, surging minor chord voicings, its willful corruption of folklyric phrases, to its heartbreaking World War I storyline, to its aching vocal. With an ultimate line rivaling any other for temderness (of all things): 'What you do to me baby, it never gets out of me. I mean to see you, if I have to cross the deep blue sea.' Simply, a materpiece." Non-Geeshie note: The final four tracks on the second CD are a sermon by Mose Mason about the Mississippi flood of 1927, followed by William Harris' "Kansas City Blues", then "As Free A Little Bird As Can Be" by one John Hammond from 1927, and finally Mattie Mae Thomas' "No Mo' Freedom". Every time I listen to these four I get goosebumps and feel stunned. This is programming at its very best. --Previous Message-- : Howdy folks! I'm a fellow obsessee of Ms. : Wiley ever since hearing Last Kind Word and : Skinny Legs on the Crumb soundtrack. A : previous post mentioned that there are six : songs out there that Wiley recorded. Where : can the other four be found? I guess it : credits an artist when you only record half : a dozen songs in your life and seventy years : later you're still gaining new fans. : : Best, : Danny McCoy : Los Angeles, CA : onionbunz@juno.com : : --Previous Message-- : : hello jon W., : : Since i've heard that song (last kind words) : in the Crumb film it's been haunting my : head. I wish I could hear the other songs : too! I have the album Rough guide to Delta : Blues where there is some liner notes on her : in the sleeve. If you would like, contact me : and I will send them to you. For the lyrics, : i am french canadian so I dont think I can : improve them in any way. Sorry! : : Julien C. : : --Previous Message-- : OK, I've decided to help out anyone who : needs : info on this artist. I've only been able to : locate two sources for info on Geechie, : alternatively spelled 'Geeshie'. The two : sources (well, three if you count the : document disc) are Yazoo's cd 'Mississippi : Masters' in which there is some info on some : songs and some biography, and 'Chasin' That : Devil Music' by Gayle Dean Wardlow, in which : Ishmon Bracey is quoted as having met her. I : will first give the info from the book, then : the cd liner notes, and then I will present : my own song analyses, including lyrics and : chords. I will minimize material that would : be redundant: : : Book: : Bracey: 'She lived 'round there on John Hart : Street for a while. Charlie McCoy got her : for his old lady. She could play on the : guitar as good as on that record [Eagles On : A Half, Pm 13074]. She said she was from : Natchez; close by Natchez was her home. She : didn't stay here long, couple of months and : she done left.' : Bracey said he was not confusing Wiley with : Rosie Mae Moore. He said McCoy lived with : both of them at different times. He said : Wiley played guitar and accompanied herself : when she sang. [Her 'Last Kind Words Blues' : was prominently used by Terry Zwigoff in his : documentary film on Robert Crumb.] : The four tunes (actually six) that Wiley : recorded solo and with Elvie Thomas for : Paramount in 1930 and 1931 establish her as : one of the greatest female blues artists. : According to Ishman Bracey, she hailed from : the vicinity of Natchez. In the 1920s she : spent three months in Jackson as a resident : of John Hart Street; while there, she played : in a medicine show. 'She could play a : guitar, but she had a guitar player with : her,' Bracey said. 'She'd play a guitar, and : a ukulele too.' While in Jackson, she took : up with Charlie McCoy. : A woman matching the description of Elvie : Thomas was remembered as living near : Palmer's Crossing, a small community outside : of Hattiesburg. No other information is : available. : : CD liner notes: : Other than a report of Robert Wilkins (and : Bracey's recollections) seeing her in : eastern Mississippi around 1930, her name : elicited no further response among her : contemporaries. : She represents when black secular music was : coalescing into blues. Her repertoire : includes raggy pieces like Over To My House : and Pick Poor Robin Clean. Last Kind Words : probably predates WWI, but is handled with a : blues sensibility. Her guitar technique is : unusual: her use of an A minor chord is : rare. : Wiley apparently came up to record with : Elvie Thomas. Motherless Child Blues is in : E. It shows traces of a northern Mississippi : influence, but the B7th section is without : parallel in rural blues. A very similar : arrangement is used on Skinny Leg Blues. : Wiley's masterpiece, Last Kind Words Blues : is played in the key of E. The lyrics date : it to WWI, but it's bar structure is : probably older. The opening A minor chord : that leads directly into the same A riff : employed by Texas artists is unique, and the : thumb rolls in the B7th part echo Patton : Green River Blues. : : OK, now for my analyses of her music. First, : unless it's already been mentioned, I will : give the chords to each song, then the : lyrics, then a bit about what the lyrics : might mean. Lyrics in parentheses could be : mistaken. I've tried to do as good a job as : I can. Enjoy. : : : Last Kind Words Blues : by Geechie Wiley : : (Guitar Intro) : : The last kind word I heard my daddy say : Lord the last kind word I heard my daddy say : : If I die, if I die in the German War : I want you to send my body, send it to my : mother-in-law : : If I get killed, if I get killed, please : don’t bury my (soul) (sword) : I (p’fer) just leave me out, let the : buzzards eat me whole : : When you see me comin’, look ‘cross the : (rich man’s) (Richland) field : If I don’t bring you flour, I’ll bring you : (?) : : (Guitar Solo) : : I went to the depot, I looked up at the sign : Cry some train don’t come, there’ll be : some walkin’ done : : My momma told me, just before she died : Lord, (since the dawn, I thought you’d be : so wise) (I brought you a piece of ?) : : The Mississippi River, you know it’s deep : and wide : I can stand right here, see my (babe) (face) : from the other side : : What you do to me baby, it never gets out of : me : I mean I’ll see you, after I cross the deep : blue sea : : Obviously, this song is about a guy that : went off to war in WWI. It's interesting : that he'd want his body sent to his : mother-in-law and eaten by buzzards. If : anybody knows more than I do about WWI, : maybe you could help fill in the blanks, or : give corrections? : : : : Skinny Leg Blues : by Geechie Wiley : : (Guitar Intro) : : And I’m a little bitty Mamma, baby and I : ain’t built for speed : Cryin’ I’m a little bitty Mamma, baby and : I ain’t built for speed : Ah, and I ain’t built for speed : I’ve got everything that a little bitty : Mamma need : : I’ve got little bitty legs, (he puts his : old bull (nobble) ‘twine) : I’ve got little bitty legs, (he puts his : old bull (nobble) ‘twine) : Ah, (he puts his old bull (nobble) ‘twine) : I’ve got somethin’ that (a’needs jelly, : works like a bull won’t cry) : : And when you see me comin’, pull down your : window blind : And when you see me comin’, pull down your : window blind : You see me comin’, pull down your window : blinds : So your next door neighbor, sure can hear : you whine : : I’m gonna cut your throat baby, gon’ look : down in your face : I’m gonna cut your throat babe, gon’ look : down in your face : Ah, I’ll look down in your face : I’m gonna let some lonesome graveyard, be : your restin’ place : : : This song is pretty brutal. Geechie seems to : be saying that I'm a cute little girl with : whom you can copulate, and then I'm going to : kill you. I say that because I think the : second verse is very sexual in nature; : however, it's possible that I'm missing some : metaphors there that could be more : threatening than I could hear. Help me out : on this one, would ya? : : : : : : : : :

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