Blind Lemon Jefferson

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Blind Lemon Jefferson
Blind Lemon Jefferson
Background information
Birth name	Lemon Henry Jefferson
Born	October 26, 1894
Origin	Coutchman, Texas, U.S.
Died	December 12? 1929
Genre(s)	Blues
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter, Guitarist
Years active	1926-1929

"Blind" Lemon Jefferson (October 26, 1894 – 12 December? 1929) was an influential blues singer and guitarist from Texas. He was one of the most popular blues singers of the 1920s.

Despite his commercial success, Jefferson stands alone in a category of his own. His musical style was extremely intense and individualistic, bearing little resemblance to the typical Texas blues style of the 1930s. Jefferson's singing and self-accompaniment seemed only loosely connected, and he appeared to improvise his accompaniment. His irregular vocal style and his freely structured field holler rhythms made the tension between his guitar and his voice wildly unpredictable. He was not influential on younger blues singers as they did not seek to imitate him as they did other commercially successful artists.^[1] However, he may have been an important influence on the next generation of blues singers and guitarists, including Lead Belly and Lightnin' Hopkins.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 The beginning of the recording career 1.3 Paramount 1.4 Stories 1.5 Death and grave 2 Music and influence 3 Tributes 4 Notes 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Jefferson is believed to have been born in the now-defunct town of Coutchman, Texas, near Wortham, the son of Alex and Clarricy (or Clarrisa or Clarisa) Jefferson. It was long believed by most that he was born in 1897 (although some accounts varied the date by up to 10 years), but later research has refuted that date. The 1900 U.S. Census indicates a September 1893 birth, with the family farming southeast of Streetman, Texas.^[2] In 1910, the census gave his birth date as 1894, indicating the family was now farming northwest of Wortham, near where Jefferson was born.^[3] In 1917, he gave his birth date as October 26, 1894, when he registered for the draft, further stating that he currently lived in Dallas, Texas and had been blind from birth.^[4] (The cause of his blindness is unknown.) By 1920, according to census records, he had returned to the Freestone County-Navarro County area where he had grown up, and was living with his half-brother Kit Banks on a farm between Wortham and Streetman.^[5]

Where, how, and from whom he learned to play guitar and learned his songs is unknown. Around 1912, he began performing at picnics and parties. He also became a street musician, playing in East Texas towns. According to his cousin, Alec Jefferson, quoted in the notes for Blind Lemon Jefferson, Classic Sides:

They was rough. Men was hustling women and selling bootleg and Lemon was singing for them all night... he'd start singing about eight and go on until four in the morning... mostly it would be just him sitting there and playing and singing all night.

By 1917, Jefferson had moved more or less permanently to Dallas, where he is reputed to have met and played with Lead Belly and was one of the early and prominent figures in the notable blues movement developing in Dallas' Deep Ellum area. It is unknown whether Jefferson ever married. It has been suggested that he did marry, and had a son in 1922, but firm evidence is unavailable.

[edit] The beginning of the recording career

Unlike many artists who were "discovered" and recorded in their normal venues, in December 1925 or January 1926, he was taken to Chicago, Illinois, to record his first tracks. Uncharacteristically, Jefferson's first two recordings from this session were gospel songs ("I Want to be like Jesus in my Heart" and "All I Want is that Pure Religion"), released under the name Deacon L. J. Bates. This led to a second recording session in March 1926. His first releases under his own name, "Booster Blues" and "Dry Southern Blues," were hits; this led to the release of the other two songs from that session, "Got the Blues" and "Long Lonesome Blues," which became a runaway success, with sales in six figures. He recorded about 100 tracks between 1926 and 1929; 43 records were issued, all but one for Paramount Records. Unfortunately, Paramount Records' studio techniques and quality were infamously bad, and the resulting recordings sound no better than if they had been recorded in a hotel room. In fact, in May 1926, Paramount had Jefferson re-record his hits "Got the Blues" and "Long Lonesome Blues" in the superior facilities at Marsh Laboratories, and subsequent releases used that version. Both versions appear on compilation albums and may be compared.

[edit] Paramount

It was largely due to the popularity of artists such as Blind Lemon Jefferson and contemporaries such as Blind Blake and Ma Rainey that Paramount became the leading recording company for the blues in the 1920s.^{[citation needed]} Jefferson's earnings reputedly enabled him to buy a car and employ chauffeurs (although there is debate over the reliability of this as well); he was given a Ford car "worth over $700" by Mayo Williams, Paramount's connection with the black community. This was a frequently seen compensation for recording rights in that market. Jefferson is known to have done an unusual amount of traveling for the time in the American South, which is reflected in the difficulty of pigeonholing his music into one regional category. He sticks to no musical conventions, varying his riffs and rhythm and singing complex and expressive lyrics in a manner exceptional at the time for a "simple country blues singer." According to North Carolina musician Walter Davis, Jefferson played on the streets in Johnson City, Tennessee during the early 1920s at which time Davis and fellow entertainer Clarence Greene learned the art of blues guitar.^[6]

Jefferson was reputedly unhappy with his royalties (although Williams said that Jefferson had a bank account containing as much as $1500). In 1927, when Williams moved to OKeh Records, he took Jefferson with him, and OKeh quickly recorded and released Jefferson's "Matchbox Blues" backed with "Black Snake Moan," which was to be his only OKeh recording, probably because of contractual obligations with Paramount. Jefferson's two songs released on Okeh have considerably better sound quality than on his Paramount records at the time. When he had returned to Paramount a few months later, "Matchbox Blues" had already become such a hit that Paramount re-recorded and released two new versions, under producer Arthur Laibly.

In 1927, Jefferson recorded another of his now classic songs, the haunting "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" (once again using the pseudonym Deacon L. J. Bates) along with two other uncharacteristically spiritual songs, "He Arose from the Dead" and "Where Shall I Be." Of the three, "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" became such a big hit that it was re-recorded and re-released in 1928.

[edit] Stories

As his fame grew, so did the tales regarding his life, often personally involving the teller. T-Bone Walker states that as a boy, he was employed by Jefferson to lead him around the streets of Dallas; he would have been of the appropriate age at the time. A Paramount employee told biographer Orrin Keepnews that Jefferson was a womanizing sloppy drunk; on the other hand, Jefferson's neighbor in Chicago, Romeo Nelson, reports him as being "warm and cordial," and singer Rube Lacy states that Jefferson always refused to play on a Sunday, "even if you give me two hundred." He is claimed to have earned money wrestling before his musical success, which is further claimed as proof that he was not blind at the time (something of a non sequitur). Victoria Spivey elliptically credits Jefferson as someone who "could sure feel his way around."

[edit] Death and grave

Jefferson died in Chicago in December 1929. The cause of death is unknown, and though rumors swirled that a jealous lover poisoned his coffee, a more likely scenario is that he died due to a heart attack after being disoriented during a snowstorm (another scenario is that he froze to death). The book "Tolbert's Texas" claims that he was killed while being robbed of a large royalty cash payment by a guide taking him to Union Station to catch a train home to Texas. Paramount Records paid for the return of his body to Texas by train, accompanied by pianist Will Ezell. Jefferson was buried at Wortham Negro Cemetery (now Wortham Black Cemetery). Far from his grave being kept clean, it was unmarked until 1967, when a Texas Historical Marker was erected in the general area of his plot, the precise location being unknown. By 1996, the cemetery and marker were in poor condition, but a new granite headstone was erected in 1997. In 2007 the cemetery's name was changed to Blind Lemon Memorial Cemetery and keeping his wishes his gravesite is being kept clean by a cemetery committee in Wortham Texas.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Music and influence

Jefferson had an intricate and fast style of guitar playing and a particularly high-pitched voice. He was a founder of the Texas blues sound and an important influence on the next generation of blues singers and guitarists, including Lead Belly and Lightnin' Hopkins. The white North Carolina performer Arthel "Doc" Watson credited listening to Jefferson's recordings as his first exposure to the blues, which would powerfully influence his own style.

He was the author of many tunes covered by later musicians, including the classic "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean." Another of his tunes, "Matchbox Blues," was recorded more than 30 years later by the Beatles, albeit in a rockabilly version credited to Carl Perkins, who himself did not credit Jefferson on his 1955 recording. Given this influence, it is unfortunate that many of the details of his life remain shrouded in mystery, perhaps forever; even the only known picture of him, shown here, is heavily retouched, with a fake tie painted in by hand. However, at the time, "race music" and its white cousin, "hillbilly music," were not considered to be worthy of consideration as art, rather as a low-cost product to be sold and soon forgotten.

[edit] Tributes

• Blind Lemon Jefferson is the featured musician on a State of Texas license plate.
• The White Stripes did a cover of Jefferson's "Boll Weevil Blues", calling it "De Ballot of De Boll Weevil"
• B. B. King has always maintained that Jefferson was a huge influence on his singing and guitar playing.
• Bob Dylan covered "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" on his debut album.
• Jefferson was a friend of fellow blues artist Lead Belly.
• Van Morrison refers to "Blind Lemon" in the song "Cleaning Windows" on the 1982 album Beautiful Vision. Morrison cites the artist as one of a number of blues influences.
• French singer-songwriter Francis Cabrel refers to Jefferson in the song "Cent Ans de Plus" on the 1999 album Hors-Saison. Cabrel cites the artist as one of a number of blues influences, including Charley Patton, Son House, Robert Johnson, Howlin' Wolf, Blind Blake, Willie Dixon, and Ma Rainey.
• Geoff Muldaur's album The Secret Handshake contains the song (written by Muldaur) "Got To Find Blind Lemon," with lyrics including the phrase "I got to find Blind Lemon, see that his grave is kept clean."
• A song titled "Blind Lemon Jefferson" can be found on Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' album The Firstborn Is Dead.
• The song title "Black Snake Moan" is the title of a 2007 film, starring Samuel L. Jackson and Christina Ricci, wherein Jackson plays and sings the song.
• The blues band The Moanin' Black Snakes, regulars at Las Vegas' Sand Dollar Blues Room, was named after Jefferson's "Black Snake Moan."
• San Francisco industrial metal band Black Snake Moan, established in 1997, derived its name from Jefferson's song "That Black Snake Moan #1."
• In Masked & Anonymous, a film made in 2003, the main character (played by Bob Dylan) receives a guitar, that once "belonged to Blind Lemon."
• The blues musician King Solomon Hill recorded a song entitled "My Buddy Blind Papa Lemon" as a tribute to Jefferson two years after his death in 1932.
• "Blind Lemon Chiffon" is a filk band in the UK.
• The American band Blind Melon get their name from Jefferson.
• Counting Crows lead singer Adam Duritz accidentally claimed credit for the song "Mean Jumper Blues" in the liner notes of the re-release of August And Everything After (Deluxe Edition). The cover is featured as part of a selection of early demo tracks recorded by the Counting Crows. Duritz apologized immediately after this error was brought to his attention in his personal blog.^[7]
• Patrick Sky did a track parodying Jefferson as "Blind Funk Earwax" playing "Child Molesting Blues" on his album Songs That Made America Famous (1973), playing and singing in Jefferson's distinctive style after a comedic interview. That same year Cheech and Chong did a skit parodying Jefferson as 'Blind Melon Chitlin' ' on their 1973 album Los Cochinos.
• A bar called Blind Lemon appears in the Philip K. Dick novel The Game-Players of Titan.
• There is a Sanford and Son episode titled "The Blind Mellow Jelly Collection".

[edit] Notes

The Cheech And Chong sketch "Blind Melon Chitlin" appeared on their 1971 debut set "Cheech And Chong" (Ode SP 77010)"Side Uno" Track 1.

[edit] References

1. ^ (1977) The Blues Makers. New York, N.Y.: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-80438-7. 
2. ^ 1900 US Census; Census Place: Justice Precinct 5, Freestone, Texas; Roll: T623 1636; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 37.
3. ^ US Census 1910; Census Place: Justice Precinct 6, Navarro, Texas; Roll: T624_1580; Page: 17B; Enumeration District: 98; Image: 982.
4. ^ World War I Draft Registration records; Dallas County, Texas; Roll: 1952850; Draft Board: 2
5. ^ US Census 1920;Census Place: Kirvin, Freestone, Texas; Roll: T625_1805; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 24; Image: 231.
6. ^ "Walter Davis: Fist and Skull Banjo," by Wayne Erbsen, Bluegrass Unlimited: March 1981, 22-26
7. ^ Countingcrows.com

[edit] External links

• "Jefferson, Blind Lemon" in the Handbook of Texas Online
• Blues Foundation Hall of Fame induction
• Exclusive article on Blind Lemon Jefferson
• AllMusic.com