High Water Everywhere - Part 1 - Charlie Patton 1929
"High Water Everywhere" is a Delta blues song recorded in 1929 by the blues singer Charley Patton. The song is about the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and how it affected residents of the Mississippi Delta,* particularly the mistreatment of African Americans.
The song's subject is the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the largest flood in American history, which affected much of the Mississippi River valley, devastating large parts of Louisiana and the Mississippi Delta, the home of Patton and many other early bluesmen. The flood exposed inequalities in the treatment of African Americans, and its outcome was a contributing factor to the exodus of many blacks to northern cities. Patton's lyrics include:
“I would go to the hill country but they got me barred".
Patton was likely referring to the levee in Greenville, Mississippi,... (continua)
The back water done rolled Lord, and tumbled, drove me down the line. (continua)
inviata da Pluck 23/1/2025 - 08:20
HIGH WATER EVERYWHERE - PART II
HIGH WATER EVERYWHERE - PART II - CHARLIE PATTON -1930 (continua)
Una strada sterrata , polverosa o fangosa, Patton ha deciso di percorrere pur di lasciare alle spalle il suo passato.
E’ il tema della fuga dalla realta’ , del viaggio talvolta compulsivo, tanto comune a molti Blues dell’epoca.
Si noti che il 1° verso della 1.a strofa cosi’ come altri termini del testo potrebbero essere stati trascritti diversamente dall’originale sia per la limitata qualita’ di registrazione di quegli anni che per la particolare voce rauca e la pronuncia dialettale dell'autore .
1 – I’m goin’ away , to a world unknown
2 – I’m goin’ away , to where I don’t know.
Una versione alternativa cita : I’m goin’ away , to Illinois.
Ma il testo complessivamente è un chiaro riferimento alle difficolta’ che la popolazione di colore di allora doveva affrontare quotidianamente per sopravvivere in un ambiente non solo ostile... (continua)
Recorded on June 14th, 1929 in Richmond Indiana, this song describes a situation where the sheriff is harassing Charley for having liquor which was illegal at the time
Laid down last night, hopin' I would have my peace, eee (continua)
inviata da Pluck 14/1/2025 - 13:12
The tune of “High Sheriff Blues” is basically the same as Charley Patton’s earlier recording of “Tom Rushen Blues,” about an encounter Patton had with Tom Rushing, the sheriff in Merigold, Mississippi, a few years earlier.
Charley Patton’s “High Sheriff Blues,” recorded for Paramount Records in 1934, is about Charley Patton’s incarceration in the old Belzoni* Jail, in Belzoni, Mississippi , circa 1934.
....
Charley Patton had been a witness to a murder and was held in the old Belzoni jail as a material witness.
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The lyrics about how “Mr. Will” put Charley Patton “in a cellar, just as dark as it could be…” and how “Mr. Purvis told Mr. Will to, let poor Charley down” doesn’t suggest Patton had any feelings of good will toward “Mr. Will.” “Mr. Purvis,” on the other hand, comes across as Charley Patton’s protector or benefactor.
"High Water Everywhere" is a Delta blues song recorded in 1929 by the blues singer Charley Patton. The song is about the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and how it affected residents of the Mississippi Delta,* particularly the mistreatment of African Americans.
The song's subject is the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the largest flood in American history, which affected much of the Mississippi River valley, devastating large parts of Louisiana and the Mississippi Delta, the home of Patton and many other early bluesmen. The flood exposed inequalities in the treatment of African Americans, and its outcome was a contributing factor to the exodus of many blacks to northern cities. Patton's lyrics include:
“I would go to the hill country but they got me barred".
Patton was likely referring to the levee in Greenville, Mississippi,... (continua)