The last drop
"Beer Drinkin' Woman" - Black Ace: This is a modern (1960) recording and it was by chance that I heard Buck Turner - The Black Ace - referred to the beer drinkin' woman as a Jake drinkin' woman as well. There are many variants on this theme, including whiskey drinkin' and gin drinkin' women.
"Jake Leg Blues" - Byrd Moore: Moore's performance is a blue yodel, clearly modeled after Jimmie Rodgers. This is the most overly sorrowful and sympathetic performance regarding the victim's plight.
"Alcohol and Jake Blues" - Tommy Johnson: Johnson was the artistic leader of a group of blues singers from central Mississippi, near Jackson - not the Delta. All of the black artists recording Jake songs were from this area and were influenced by him. This March 1930 recording had never been found and may not have been issued. Johnny Parth, an Austrian collector, somehow found it in 1991. This is the first American reissue of the recording at the beginning and at the heart of the Jake Leg story.
"Got The Jake Leg Too" - The Ray Brothers: The Rays were invited to record a second time in Memphis in 1930. This time they brought this song composed by a Winona song writer named Clayton Riley and melodically related to Frankie and Albert. S.V. Ray has precise diction and enunciation, reflecting his life as as a school teacher. He held the copyright for the song, and recalls recieving a few dollars in royalty fees. A younger Ray brother, who didn't perform on these recordings but played tenor banjo frequently with the family group, was a Jake Leg victim.
"Jake Liquor Blues" - Ishmam Bracey: Despite a noisy disc and some inaudible lyrics, this is a moving, powerful performance. Bracey is backed by a clarinet and piano in the setting of urban blues, but his vocal inflection and guitar make this a down-home performance. Bracey and Tommy Johnson traveled together to Grafton to record Jake songs. They indicate that the Jake Leg was widely known in the black community, although the official data from the southern health departments listed few blacks.
John Morgan was born in Cincinnatti, Ohio, where his musical education was influenced by the WCKY Jamboree and by his parents. His mother, a slide guitar player and singer, and his father, an enthusiastic bass gospel singer, both moved to Cincinattit, where they met from Eastern Kentucky. He graduate from the University of Cincinatti College of Medicine in 1965 and did post-graduate study in Internal Medicine and Pharmacology and Toxicology. Most of the research into the Jake Walk epidemic was carried out at Rochester, where he taught in the Pharmacology Department and organized a course on the history of Country and Western music, which was enthusiastically approved by the Musicolgy Department of the Eastern School of Music. Dr. Morgan is now a Professor of Pharmacology at the School of Biomedical Education at the City College of New YOrk, and resides happily in Manhattan with his wife, who keeps him singing.
That's all, hope you enjoyed it!
"Jake Leg Blues" - Byrd Moore: Moore's performance is a blue yodel, clearly modeled after Jimmie Rodgers. This is the most overly sorrowful and sympathetic performance regarding the victim's plight.
"Alcohol and Jake Blues" - Tommy Johnson: Johnson was the artistic leader of a group of blues singers from central Mississippi, near Jackson - not the Delta. All of the black artists recording Jake songs were from this area and were influenced by him. This March 1930 recording had never been found and may not have been issued. Johnny Parth, an Austrian collector, somehow found it in 1991. This is the first American reissue of the recording at the beginning and at the heart of the Jake Leg story.
"Got The Jake Leg Too" - The Ray Brothers: The Rays were invited to record a second time in Memphis in 1930. This time they brought this song composed by a Winona song writer named Clayton Riley and melodically related to Frankie and Albert. S.V. Ray has precise diction and enunciation, reflecting his life as as a school teacher. He held the copyright for the song, and recalls recieving a few dollars in royalty fees. A younger Ray brother, who didn't perform on these recordings but played tenor banjo frequently with the family group, was a Jake Leg victim.
"Jake Liquor Blues" - Ishmam Bracey: Despite a noisy disc and some inaudible lyrics, this is a moving, powerful performance. Bracey is backed by a clarinet and piano in the setting of urban blues, but his vocal inflection and guitar make this a down-home performance. Bracey and Tommy Johnson traveled together to Grafton to record Jake songs. They indicate that the Jake Leg was widely known in the black community, although the official data from the southern health departments listed few blacks.
John Morgan was born in Cincinnatti, Ohio, where his musical education was influenced by the WCKY Jamboree and by his parents. His mother, a slide guitar player and singer, and his father, an enthusiastic bass gospel singer, both moved to Cincinattit, where they met from Eastern Kentucky. He graduate from the University of Cincinatti College of Medicine in 1965 and did post-graduate study in Internal Medicine and Pharmacology and Toxicology. Most of the research into the Jake Walk epidemic was carried out at Rochester, where he taught in the Pharmacology Department and organized a course on the history of Country and Western music, which was enthusiastically approved by the Musicolgy Department of the Eastern School of Music. Dr. Morgan is now a Professor of Pharmacology at the School of Biomedical Education at the City College of New YOrk, and resides happily in Manhattan with his wife, who keeps him singing.
That's all, hope you enjoyed it!
posted by KS at 9/07/2006 09:33:00 PM
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