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lomax v. leadbelly in new york: letters to home, 1934
- Callaloo
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 27, Number 2, Spring 2004
- p. 406
- 10.1353/cal.2004.0072
- Article
- Additional Information
- Purchase/rental options available:
Callaloo 27.2 (2004) 406
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lomax v. leadbelly in new york:
letters to home, 1934*
Tyehimba Jess
i am disturbed and distressed at | this man messin' with my music, | ||
his beginning to show off | preachin' how a songster gotta be pure | ||
in his songs and talk | —like he got a deed to folkways, | ||
when his money value is | the way blues sweats out a man | ||
to be | like prayer | ||
natural and sincere | set free from smotherin' | ||
as he was while in prison: | in a solitary cell. | ||
of course, | fact is, | ||
as this tendency grows, | this jailbird that lost it all twice already- | ||
he will lose his charm | he ain't 'bout to lose nerve, too, | ||
and become only an | |||
ordinary, | old timey, | ||
low ordinary | busted out, | ||
harlem | countrified | ||
nigger |
*Italicized text from John Lomax's letter to his wife, January, 1935