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The jug, the kazoo and the early blues
An ethnomusicologist and a professor at the University of Memphis and the University of Mississippi, and the author of several books about early country blues, Dr David Evans has followed the path of researchers like Alan Lomax, making numerous field recordings of roots music, blues and related genres. But he also practices what he teaches and writes about : in 1989, he founded the Last Chance Jug Band to revive a style of music very popular in the early twentieth century and first recorded in the 1920s, and the band released a first album in 1997, the one we're reviewing here.
The professor leads the foursome, in charge of singing, guitar and a funny little instrument named kazoo, along with piano player Dick Raichelson, excellent in throw-back styles, particularly ragtime, Richard Graham on one-string washtub bass, washboard, percussion and the traditional jug, used to produce tuba-like bass sounds, and Jobie Kilzer on harmonica and jug also. A rejoicing dive into old times dancing music, adapted to modern sonic and recording standards, and a discovery of an often neglected part of the early roots of country blues, featuring humorous and sometimes coarse lyrics, particularly in the hokum style ("Who Pumped The Wind In My Doughnut ?", "Let Me Squeeze Your Lemon").
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David Evans
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The opening title song "Shake That Thing !" was originally recorded in the early 1920s by banjo player Papa Charlie Jackson known to have been the earliest ever recorded blues musician in 1924. It already announces a musical genre that will appear more than thirty years later : rock'n'roll. "Kansas City Blues" was originally recorded in 1927 by Jim Jackson (not to be mistaken with "Kansas City" written in 1952 by the famous songwriting pair Jerry Leiber-Mike Stoller). The ragtime piano on "Beale Street Dandy" reminds the soundtracks of old silent comic movies of Mack Sennett, Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton.
Most of the songs are old public domain traditionals, and those adapted or penned by Evans ("King And Queen Blues", "Let Me Squeeze Your Lemon") or Raichelson ("Beale Street Dandy") are respectful of the old times jug band music style. Even Evans' voice sounds retro.A song like "Time Is Winding Up" shows that the exact delimitation between blues, folk and country were not clearly marked at that time. But one musical form undoubtedly stands as a main influence in later Delta, Texas or Piedmont blues : ragtime.
Not only is this album very pleasant to listen but it's also a very interesting lesson about some of the origins of blues in the early twentieth century. ■
Jug band music and its instruments (adapted from Wikipedia)
Jug bands (1) feature a jug player and a mix of conventional and homemade instruments ordinary adapted to or modified for making sound, like the washtub bass, washboard, spoons, bones, stovepipe, Jew's harp, kazoo... In the early days of jug band music, homemade guitars and mandolins were sometimes made with the neck of a damaged guitar fastened to a large gourd that was flattened on one side, with a sound-hole cut into the flat side, before drying. Banjos were sometimes made from a discarded guitar neck and a metal pie plate.  |
| A washtub bass |
The jug used as a musical instrument is an empty jug usually made of glass or stoneware, played with buzzed lips to produce a trombone-like tone. The characteristic sound of the jug is low and hoarse, below the higher pitch of the fiddle, harmonica and other instruments in the band. The swooping sounds of the jug fill a musical role halfway between the trombone and sousaphone or tuba in Dixieland bands, playing mid- and lower-range harmonies in rhythm.Early jug bands were typically made up of African-American vaudeville and medicine show musicians. Beginning in the urban South (namely, Louisville, Kentucky, and Memphis, Tennessee), they played a mixture of blues, ragtime, and jazz. The history of jug bands is related to the development of the blues. The informal and energetic music of the jug bands also contributed to the development of rock and roll.
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| Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers |
Jug bands preformed in the streets, at parties, and began entertaining on riverboats on the Ohio River around 1900. Jug bands from the Memphis area were more firmly rooted in country blues, hokum, and earlier African-American music traditions. The oldest Memphis jug bands, Will Shade's Memphis Jug Band and Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers, recorded as early as 1927. Many songs had "blues" in their title but were not traditional 12-bar blues . he 1930s depression and the devastating effect of radio on record sales severely reduced the output of jug band music. (1) The term "jug band" is loosely used in referring to ensembles that also incorporate homemade instruments but do not include a jug player, and should more accurately be called skiffle bands, spasm bands or jook (or juke) bands. ■
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| A stovepipe |
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A kazoo
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