Carry me back where I came frum.
I laid in jail, back to the wall:
Brown skin gal cause of it all.[16]
[16] See Perrow, “Songs and Rhymes from the South,” Journal of American Folk-Lore, vol. 28, p. 190.
When the first published blues appeared, the problem for the student of Negro song began to become complicated. It is no longer possible to speak with certainty of the folk blues, so entangled are the relations between them and the formal compositions. This inter-relation is itself of such interest and importance that it demands the careful attention of students of folk song. Only a few points can be touched upon in the present work, but an attempt will be made at least to indicate some of the ramifications of the subject.
There is no doubt that the first songs appearing in print under the name of blues were based directly upon actual songs already current among Negroes.[17] Soon after Handy began to issue his blues, white people as well as Negroes were singing them heartily. But a song was never sung long in its original version alone. The half-dozen stanzas of the original often grew to a hundred or more, for many singers took pride in creating new stanzas or adapting parts of other songs to the new one. Sometimes publishers would issue second and third editions, incorporating in them the best of the stanzas which had sprung up since the preceding edition. Thus, even before the phonograph became the popular instrument that it is today, the interplay between folk creations and formal compositions had become extremely complex.
[17] See James Weldon Johnson, The Book of American Negro Poetry, pp. x-xiv; and Dorothy Scarborough, On the Trail of Negro Folk-Songs, pp. 269-70.
In the last ten years the phonograph record has surpassed sheet music as a conveyor of blues to the public. Sheet music, however, is still important. In fact, practically every “hit” is issued in both the published and phonographed form. But the phonograph record obviously has certain advantages, and it is largely responsible for the present popularity of the blues. Most of the large phonograph companies now maintain special departments devoted to the recording of “race blues.” They employ Negro artists, many of whom have already earned national reputations, and they advertise extensively, especially in the Negro press.
In spite of the extremes to which exploitation of the blues has gone in recent years, there is often an authentic folk element to be found in the present-day formal productions. Some of the phonograph artists are encouraged by their employers to sing blues of their own making. When the artist has had an intimate acquaintance with the life of his race and has grown up among the blues, so to speak, he is often able to produce a song which preserves faithfully the spirit of the folk blues. The folk productions of yesterday are likely to be found, albeit sometimes in versions scarcely recognizable, on the phonograph records of today. That this is the case is indicated by the following comparison of a few of the lines and titles of songs collected twenty years ago with lines and titles of recent popular blues songs.
| Lines and Titles of Songs Collected Twenty Years Ago[18] | Lines and Titles of Recent Popular Blues |
|---|---|
| Laid in jail, back to the wall. | Thirty days in jail with my back turned to the wall. |
| Jailer, won’t you put ’nother man in my stall? | Look here, mister jailer, put another gal in my stall. |
| Baby, won’t you please come home? | Baby, won’t you please come home? |
| Wonder where my baby stay las’ night? | Where did you stay last night? |
| I got my all-night trick, baby, and you can’t git in. | I’m busy and you can’t come in. |
| I’ll see her when her trouble’s like mine. | I’m gonna see you when your troubles are just like mine. |
| Satisfied. | I’m satisfied. |
| You may go, but this will bring you back. | I got what it takes to bring you back. |
| Joe Turner | Joe Turner blues. |
| Love, Kelly’s love. | Love, careless love. |
| I’m on my las’ go-’round. | Last go-’round blues. |