SwingDJs

This is a rather vague topic that I've been thinking about for a while and the blues night comments in the Herrang thread made me think about it even more.

I always associated "I'd rather drink Muddy water, sleep in a hollow log" with Lou Rawls (since this song used to be played a lot in Seattle ).

I've been listening to a lot of early Jack Teagarden and this is one of his favorite blues licks - "I'd rather drink muddy water, sleep in a hollow log; then to be up here in New York treated like a dirty dog".

So obviously Lou Rawls didn't write the lyrics (and I'd imagine Teagarden didn't either). But they both knew them - blues lyrics that have endured for a long time.

I'd be curious to hear other examples like this or perhaps some good book references for the history of the blues.

Thanks!

"I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water" was written by Eddie Miller [oops!]sometime in the late 20s from what I understand. There's three versions of him doing it on this album.

The earliest recording of it that I have is by The Cats & The Fiddle from sometime in 1939-1940, I don't know if there's such a thing as a "blues standard" but if there is I'd say that definitely qualifies.

Swifty wrote:"I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water" was written by Eddie Reed sometime in the late 20s from what I understand. There's three versions of him doing it on this album.

The earliest recording of it that I have is by The Cats & The Fiddle from sometime in 1939-1940, I don't know if there's such a thing as a "blues standard" but if there is I'd say that definitely qualifies.

Cool. I've never traced the song before, although i noticed that those lyrics sometimes turn up in other songs. I noticed the composer's genre is listed as piano and saint louis blues. Which is interesting since it reveals the largeness of the question of a blues standard since i think the answer partially depends on how you define blues. Do you mean urban or rural blues? And starting when? Do you include boogie woogie and barrelhouse?

I'd think that anything by WC Handy would be a standard. And so would songs associated with Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey. And you'd have to look at the blues traditions in various cities. And that's even before you look at more rural traditions; do you include jug bands and skiffle music?

Swifty wrote:"I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water" was written by Eddie Reed sometime in the late 20s from what I understand. There's three versions of him doing it on this album.

The earliest recording of it that I have is by The Cats & The Fiddle from sometime in 1939-1940, I don't know if there's such a thing as a "blues standard" but if there is I'd say that definitely qualifies.

thanks swifty - I think you mean Eddie Miller? I did a double take on the name, glad you included the link

CafeSavoy wrote:I'd think that anything by WC Handy would be a standard. And so would songs associated with Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey. And you'd have to look at the blues traditions in various cities. And that's even before you look at more rural traditions; do you include jug bands and skiffle music?

Found this article while googling "Jack Teagarden I'd rather drink muddy water". This appears to be part of the curriculum for a blues class at a Chinese University (I love the web.) I found it to be an interesting read:
http://www.eng.fju.edu.tw/iacd_99S/blue ... ssay2.html

Here is the home page - the syllabus and about the course are also interesting: http://www.eng.fju.edu.tw/iacd_99S/blues/bluessl.htm

and yes, this is what makes my question so vague -- it is a large topic to discuss.

Interestingly (or maybe not...), my first exposure to this lyric is in the uptempo country blues tune "T for Texas" by Jimmie Rodgers, which, in addition to some might fine yodels, includes the following lyrics:

Rather drink muddy water
Sleep in a hollow log
Rather drink muddy water
And sleep in a hollow log
Than to be in Atlanta
Treated like a dirty dog.

(complete lyrics here: http://www.bluegrassnet.com/tgbs/T/T_for_texas.html)

A trio that I used to play stand up bass for back in the late 1980s did this song and others by Jimmie Rodgers, whose music I still love.

Edited to add: Jimmie Rodgers died in 1933. But, I'm not sure in what year he wrote "T for Texas" (which is also called "Blue Yodel #6").

djstarr wrote:thanks swifty - I think you mean Eddie Miller? I did a double take on the name, glad you included the link

Hahahahaha! Oops.

WC Handy was the first real blues to composer to have huge hits. Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith and scores of other mostly female singers in the 20's recorded his tunes. I love "Yellow Dog Blues" and there is actually a recording out there of Handy's Band playing "St. Louis Blues" where the composer himself plays a pretty hot cornet chorus. That song is significant because it was the first big blues hit, and it also incorporates a tango chorus in the middle which appealed to the latin craze of the time.

Many blues lyrics are hard to trace to a specific composer, but many have been recorded over and over again.....

djstarr wrote: I'd be curious to hear other examples like this or perhaps some good book references for the history of the blues.

Thanks!

I'd recommend Albert Murray's Stompin' the Blues as a good starting place. He addresses quite a few of the definitional issues involved in categorizing blues and focuses quite a bit on urban blues. Plus it has some really great pictures. He even discusses the latin section in "St Louis Blues" that Albert System mentioned.

I second that recommendation. Great book, even though it reads much more like a textbook than I typically prefer.