Ramblin' on My Mind: New Perspectives on the Blues

6. Preachin' the Blues: A Textual Linguistic Analysis of Son House's "Dry Spell Blues"

6 Preachin’ the Blues A TEXTUAL LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF SON HOUSE’S “DRY SPELL BLUES” LUIGI MONGE SON HOUSE, “PREACHIN’ THE BLUES,” PARAMOUNT 13013 (1930) Part One Oh, I’m gon’ get me religion, I’m gon’ join the Baptist Church, Oh, I’m gon’ get me religion, I’m gon’ join the Baptist Church, I’m gon’ be a Baptist preacher and I sure won’t have to work. Oh, I’m gon’ preach these blues now, and I want everybody to shout, Mmmmm, I want everybody to shout, I’m gon’ do like a prisoner, I’m gonna roll my time on out. Oh, in my room, I bowed down to pray, Oh, I was in my room, I bowed down to pray, Said the blues come ‘long and they drove my spirit away. Oh, and I had religion, Lord, this very day, Oh, I had religion, Lord, this very day, But the womens and whiskey, well, they would not let me pray. Oh, I wish I had me a heaven of my own [Spoken:] Great God Almighty. Aaaa, heaven of my own, Then I’d give all my women a long, long happy home. Yeah, I love my baby just like I love myself, Oooh, just like I love myself, Well, if she don’t have me, she won’t have nobody else. ANALYSIS OF SON HOUSE’S “DRY SPELL BLUES” . 223 Part Two Hey, I’m gon’ fold my arms, I’m gonna kneel down in prayer, Oh, I fold my arms, gonna kneel down in prayer, When I get up, I’m gon’ see if my preachin’ suit a man’s ear. Now, I met The Blues this mornin’, walkin’ just like a man, Oooooooh, walkin’ just like a man, I said,“Good mornin’, Blues; now gimme your right hand.” Now, ain’t nothin’ now, baby, Lord, that’s gon’ worry my mind, Oooh, Lord, that’s gon’ worry my mind, Oh, I’m satisfied, I got the longest line. Oh, I’m got to stay on the job, I ain’t got no time to lose, Hey, I ain’t got no time to lose, I swear to God I’ve got to preach these gospel blues [Spoken:] Great God Almighty. Oh, I’m gon’ preach these blues and choose my seat and sit down, Oh, I’m gon’ preach these blues now, and choose my seat and sit down, When the spirit comes, sisters, I want you to jump straight up and down. As an introduction to Son House’s musical activity, I summarize here what we have come to know about him. Despite some questionable evidence of a much earlier date of birth,1 it is generally agreed that Eddie James “Son” House Jr., was born on March 21, 1902, on a farm near Riverton between Lyon and Clarksdale in the Mississippi Delta. His father was a musician in a family-run brass band. At the age of eight, Son followed his mother to Tallulah, Louisiana, after his parents’ separation. Working in the field was the only daily occupation he could take up from childhood on, but he disliked farming and found refuge in religion. At fifteen he preached his first sermon. Under the influence of strict Puritanism, he started to preach regularly in the Baptist church, but soon the pleasures of the senses turned out to be as strong as his devoutness.In 1924 he married an older woman,Carrie Martin, but their marriage did not last. His musical career started very late, when he returned to Lyon. Inspired by local musicians James McCoy and Willie Wilson, he learned the rudiments of guitar, enabling him to play at parties and picnics. During one of these he killed a man in self-defense and was sentenced to fifteen years’imprisonment, but he spent only a little more than one year, presumably in the notorious Parchman Farm, from which he was released under the compulsion of not coming back to Clarksdale. So 224 . LUIGI MONGE House went to Jeffreys plantation in nearby Lula, Mississippi, where he met Blues recording artist Charley Patton, who suggested that the Paramount Record Company record him.In a now famous 1930 session House made nine recordings, among them“Preachin’ the Blues”and“Dry Spell Blues.”On that occasion he met Willie Brown. House followed him to Robinsonville, Mississippi , where in the 1930s, the two...