Traditional Music in Coastal Louisiana: The 1934 Lomax Recordings

Unidentified Location

286 Unidentified Location Ellis Evans and Jimmy Lewis The Lomaxes list the location for this recording session as Lloyd (or Loyd), Louisiana. Although there is no o∞cial Lloyd or Loyd settlement in Louisiana, the name here may refer to the Loyd Hall Plantation, a large plantation near Cheneyville. Many rural areas in Louisiana continue to bear local names taken from forgotten plantation designations . When I Leave You Baby y When I leave you baby, Please don’t cry for me. Mmm. Hey pretty mama, Can’t understand you no more. So cold and starry, Till the birds can’t hardly sing. So cold and starry, Till a bird can’t hardly sing. This straightforward harmonica blues tune, accompanied by rubboard, exemplifies the interconnectedness of zydeco and blues traditions. While zydeco is more often associated with the accordion and the harmonica with the blues, most early field recordings suggest that the performers who created these styles probably made no such distinction and played the instruments that were available to them. The last verse of this song is analogous to a lyric found in a number of blues songs (Blind Lemon Je≠erson’s “Long Lonesome Blues,” for instance). Je≠erson’s line has often been transcribed as “So cold in China,” and a number of writers have drawn conclusions based on the assumption that this transcription is correct. Lomax transcribes a unidentified location 287 similar line as “so cold and shiny” (2000, 374). In Wilson Jones’s World War I blues ballad , discussed earlier in this volume, he sings “so cold in France,” which fits the context of the song. Evans seems to be singing starry here, rather than China or shiny—conjuring the image of bright stars on a cold night. Bess Lomax Hawes Alan Lomax’s sister, Bess Lomax (later Bess Lomax Hawes), would go on to become an accomplished folklorist in her own right. This amusing recording was most likely made in Austin, Texas. Alan and John went back and forth from Texas to Louisiana a number of times during the summer of 1934 to repair their recording machine and touch base with various family members and benefactors (Porterfield 1996, 320–39). I Hate Myself for Being So Mean to You y Oh, I hate myself for being so mean to you. I just hate myself for being so mean to you. Like an eeny meeny minee mo, I broke your heart and let you go. I hate myself for being so mean to you. I could bite my tongue for saying the things I say. I could slap my face for saying the things I say. Gonna’ send myself a telegram, And tell myself what a fool I am, I hate myself for saying the things I say. Oh baby, do come back. If you come back, I’ll never make you cry. Stay away another day, I’ll kiss myself good-bye. Gonna’ hide myself way down in the deep deep blue. I hate myself for being so mean to you.1 Bess Lomax’s take on this popular song of the day reminds us that the Lomax siblings had musical interests that extended beyond their hereditary involvement with folk music. This song, written by Tin Pan Alley songwriters Benny Davis and Milton Ager (founder of the extremely successful publishing house Ager, Yellen & Bornstein), bears a copyright of 1934. Ager, Yellen & Bornstein published and released sheet music of the song, as performed by singer and radio star (and later Warner Brothers movie star) Gale Page. Page worked primarily as a vocalist and radio actress before reaching minor fame in the late 1930s and early 1940s. 1. After singing this song, Bess Lomax asks, “Virginia, don’t you think my voice is superlative, especially in the way the cigarettes cause it to crack at the most thrilling moment?” 288 traditional music in coastal louisiana Alan Lomax When I Was a Cowboy y When I was a cowboy, out on the western plain. When I was a cowboy, out on the western plain. I made a half a million, well a-pullin’ the bridle rein. Come a cow-cow yicky, Come a cow-cow yicky-yicky yay. Oh, the hardest battle was ever on Bunker Hill. Oh, the hardest battle was ever on Bunker Hill. When me and a bunch of cowboys ran into Bu≠alo Bill. Come a cow-cow yicky, Come a cow...