The Blues: Mississippi Fred McDowell
Ranked #6,804 in Music, #186,535 overall
Fred McDowell: An International Treasure.
When Mississippi Fred McDowell passed away on July 3, 1972, the world lost a Blues treasure of immense value. Fred was born in Rossville, Tennessee, and orphaned at a young age, and lived most of his life in relative obscurity.
Although I've been a Blues junkie all my life, I hadn't run across McDowell until I discovered one of his LPs on sale in a record shop in a small town on Vancouver Island.
The album was "I don't play no rock and roll," and the song, "Baby Please Don't Go."
The first track mesmerized me as McDowell related the story of how his uncle had given him a beef rib bone to use as a slide...I'd never heard anything as haunting before or since, and I was forever hooked on Fred and his guitar. Tell me if you agree - you'll find the cut below...
Although I've been a Blues junkie all my life, I hadn't run across McDowell until I discovered one of his LPs on sale in a record shop in a small town on Vancouver Island.
The album was "I don't play no rock and roll," and the song, "Baby Please Don't Go."
The first track mesmerized me as McDowell related the story of how his uncle had given him a beef rib bone to use as a slide...I'd never heard anything as haunting before or since, and I was forever hooked on Fred and his guitar. Tell me if you agree - you'll find the cut below...
Reba McEntire
For me, singing sad songs often has a way of healing a situation. It gets the hurt out in the open into the light, out of the darkness.
The Early Years
Before Mississippi Fred McDowell was able to enjoy his "fifteen minutes of fame," he had the sort of obstacles to overcome one would expect of any young Black man growing up in the Mississippi hill country. He learned to play slide guitar at the ripe old age of fourteen, no doubt influenced by Delta bluesmen like Charley Patton and Son House.McDowell's parents passed away during his youth, and he began to play for tips on the streets of Memphis, but it wasn't long before he tired of the busking life and took up farming in Como, Mississippi, where he was able to play his distinctive guitar at fish fries and house parties on weekends.
He was to remain in Como for thirty years or so, unknown to the world at large until he was discovered by archivist Alan Lomax, who convinced McDowell to record for an Atlantic Record series on American Folk Music. His Atlantic recordings didn't do much for his career, however, and he could still be found playing and singing in front of the Stuckey's candy store in Como for tips when the spirit moved him.
By the early 60s, however, Mississippi Fred McDowell had been "discovered" by producers who found themselves stunned by the man's sound. The rest, as they say, was history.
"My name is Fred McDowell. They call me Mississippi Fred McDowell. But my home's in Rossville, Tenn. But it don't make any difference. It sound good to me, and I seem like I'm at home there when I'm in Mississippi. . . and I do not play no rock and roll, y'all. I just play straight `A' natchel blue."
I Do Not Play No Rock 'N' Roll
Mississippi Fred McDowell
I Do Not Play No Rock 'N' Roll: The Complete Sessions
If you buy no other McDowell album, do yourself a favor and grab this one now!
Mississippi Fred McDowell, well known as a Delta acoustic slide guitarist, plays an electric guitar in these sets, with the addition of a bass and drums rhythm section. When the album was made, during the blues 'rediscovery' period, the producers thought that a rock rhythm section would be more in keeping with the listening tastes of the time.
It was also decided that McDowell would play an electric guitar. Happily, the rhythm section is mixed a bit below McDowell, is unintrusive. McDowell took to the electric ax like he had been playing one all his life. This is one reason McDowell spoke about amplified instruments, and said that he "did not play no rock and roll," hence the title.
The music itself is immediate and vital. McDowell's voice, as always, is it's own instrument. Although the themes and songs themselves had been around for awhile, McDowell makes them his own.
See what the Lord have done...
Keep Your Lamps Trimmed And Burning (Lyrics)
Fred & Anna Mae McDowll: Delta Spiritual
Fred: Well, keep a-your lamp
Annie Mae: (Trimmed an burnin')
Keep a-your lamp
(Oh, trimmed and burnin')
Keep a-your lamp
(Oh, trimmed and burnin')
See what the Lord have done
Don't
Well, don't (you worry)
Don't (you worry)
Don't (you worry)
See what the Lord have done
(Oh, keep a-yo' lamp)
(Oh, keep a-yo' lamp)
(Oh, keep a-yo' lamp)
(See what the Lord have done)
Well, don't (you worry)
Don't (you worry)
Don't (you worry)
See what the Lord have done
Well, don't get worried
Chillen, don't (you get worried)
Chillen, don't (you get worried)
See what the Lord have done
Well, keep your lamp
(All trimmed an burnin')
Keep-a your lamp
(All trimmed an burnin')
Keep-a your lamp
(All trimmed an burnin')
See what the Lord have done
Chillen, don't get worried
Chillen, don't you get worried
Chillen, don't get worried
See what the Lord have done
Amazing Grace
Fred and Annie Mae McDowell
Fred McDowell (with the Hunter Chapel Singers of Como, Mississippi - this is my favorite version of Amazing Grace... it's raw and it's real.
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I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see...
Jesus Is On The Mainline
Fred McDowell: Delta Spiritual
While i freely acknowledge that some folks, weaned on Arthur Godfrey and Ed Sullivan, just can't stand this recording, I'm standing before you to say this is my all-time favorite version of Amazing Grace. I'm not going to try and convince you - you either get it or you don't.
All I can really tell you is this: It's real.
All I can really tell you is this: It's real.
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Fred & Anna Mae McDowell
Amazing Grace
Get Right Chuch
Mississippi Fred McDowell
This is McDowell's last recording, made on 5 November 1971 at the long defunct Gaslight in Greenwich Village. McDowell's bottleneck style is now legendary, but at the time he was barely-known as a musician.
McDowell died of cancer in 1972, aged 68, and was buried at Hammond Hill Baptist Church, between Como and Senatobia, Mississippi.
McDowell died of cancer in 1972, aged 68, and was buried at Hammond Hill Baptist Church, between Como and Senatobia, Mississippi.
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You Gotta Move
Mississippi Fred McDowell
This is a song written by Fred McDowell and Rev. Gary Davis. Being a well-known song of McDowell's, covered by The Rolling Stones in their 1971 album Sticky Fingers.
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When I Lay My Burden Down
Mississippi Fred McDowell
Halleluja
When I lay my burden down
Oh glory, glo'
Hellelu'
When I lay my burden down...
Fred McDowell playing a rare electric version of "When I Lay My Burden Down."
When I lay my burden down
Oh glory, glo'
Hellelu'
When I lay my burden down...
Fred McDowell playing a rare electric version of "When I Lay My Burden Down."
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Are you a McDowell fan?
Tell us what you like the most
This isn't a complete list, but it's enough to show the man's amazing influence on the Blues
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What's the Matter Now?
Mississippi Fred McDowell
Well, what's the matter now?
(She left)
Yeah-yeah-yeah
Ooh, what's she doin'
Lord, I wonder
Baby, what's the matter now?
It was soon one mornin'
Baby, ev'rything was quiet
It was soon one mornin'
When ev'rything was quiet
(She left)
Yeah-yeah-yeah
Ooh, what's she doin'
Lord, I wonder
Baby, what's the matter now?
It was soon one mornin'
Baby, ev'rything was quiet
It was soon one mornin'
When ev'rything was quiet
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Blues Memorabilia
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Baby Please Don't Go
Awesome Slide!
My all-time favorite bottleneck guitar performance... after McDowell was born, the Good Lord broke the mold. In this version, McDowell relates the story of how his uncle fashioned a beef bone that Fred could use as a slide, and then segues into a haunting rendition of Baby Please Don't Go,
This is the first McDowell cut I heard, way back in 1982, and it's still my favorite McDowell performance, in a world where I love 'em all. Critics often say that Mississippi Fred Mcdowell was one of the greatest blues musicians that ever picked up the guitar, and if you don't yet understand why, listen to this song.
This is the first McDowell cut I heard, way back in 1982, and it's still my favorite McDowell performance, in a world where I love 'em all. Critics often say that Mississippi Fred Mcdowell was one of the greatest blues musicians that ever picked up the guitar, and if you don't yet understand why, listen to this song.
Are you a Delta Blues fan?
Here's a list, in no particular order, of some well known Delta Blues artists... some, but not all of whom moved into Chicago Blues during their careers...
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John Henry
Mississippi Fred McDowell
"The legend of John Henry has been compared to other American "Big Men" folklore heroes, such as Paul Bunyan and Pecos Bill. John Henry's heroism is associated with several elements: his strength and grit as a working class common man, his status as a hero to African American laborers, and his allegorical depiction of the "the tragedy of man versus machine" and other aspects of modernization.
"There are many versions of John Henry's story. In almost all versions of the story, John Henry is a black man of exceptional physical gifts, a former slave, possibly born in Tennessee. Henry becomes the greatest 'steel-driver' in the mid-nineteenth-century push to expand railroads from the east coast of the United States, across and through the mountains, to the frontier West. When the owner of the railroad buys a steam-powered hammer to do the work of his mostly black steel-driving crew, to save his job and the jobs of his men, John Henry challenges the owner to a contest: Henry will race the steam-powered hammer. John Henry beats the machine, but exhausted, collapses and dies." (Courtesy Wikipedia)
"There are many versions of John Henry's story. In almost all versions of the story, John Henry is a black man of exceptional physical gifts, a former slave, possibly born in Tennessee. Henry becomes the greatest 'steel-driver' in the mid-nineteenth-century push to expand railroads from the east coast of the United States, across and through the mountains, to the frontier West. When the owner of the railroad buys a steam-powered hammer to do the work of his mostly black steel-driving crew, to save his job and the jobs of his men, John Henry challenges the owner to a contest: Henry will race the steam-powered hammer. John Henry beats the machine, but exhausted, collapses and dies." (Courtesy Wikipedia)
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Link List
- Fred McDowell's Wikipedia Biography
- While commonly lumped together with Delta Blues singers, McDowell actually may be considered the first of the bluesmen from the 'North Mississippi' region - parallel to, but somewhat east of the Delta region - to achieve widespread recognition for his work...
- The Delta Blues - Wikipedia
- The Delta blues is one of the earliest styles of blues music. It originated in the Mississippi Delta...
- Mississippi Fred McDowell Biography
- Although he was born in Tennessee, folks called Fred McDowell "Mississippi Fred" because he was a master practitioner of the Mississippi Delta blues. McDowell "was one of the greatest rural blues performers to be discovered by folklorists in the 1950s," wrote one correspondent in Cadence. Frets Magazine called him "one of the greatest traditional bottleneck guitarists who ever lived." In liner notes to the first volume of Mississippi Delta Blues Jam in Memphis, Pete Welding described McDowell as "a singer and guitarist of such commanding, gripping power and originality that he must be numbered among the leading exponents of the pure country blues, now or anytime."
- AllMusic Bio: Mississippi Fred McDowell
- When Mississippi Fred McDowell proclaimed on one of his last albums, "I do not play no rock & roll," it was less a boast by an aging musician swept aside by the big beat than a mere statement of fact. As a stylist and purveyor of the original Delta blues, he was superb, equal parts Charley Patton and Son House coming to the fore through his roughed-up vocals and slashing bottleneck style of guitar playing. McDowell knew he was the real deal, and while others were diluting and updating their sound to keep pace with the changing times and audiences, Mississippi Fred stood out from the rest of the pack simply by not changing his style one iota.
Love the Blues?
If you've enjoyed this lens, and love Delta or "roots" Blues as much as I do, I invite you to share your thoughts. (If you'd never heard of Fred McDowell, and stumbled upon this page while searching for a lost tricycle, welcome!)
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Nightcat
May 15, 2012 @ 11:25 pm | delete
- Never heard of him before to be honest. He is amazing though, thank you so much for sharing. The blues just are not played around here, with the exception of stores that use piped in music. Then you hear the blues and ask who the artist is, and they shrug.
But yes, I love the Delta blues! You can certainly hear the roots of rock and roll in it, plus the base for modern electric blues.
What bugs me is that if you hear the blues or first generation Chicago blues on TV in the US they are being used to sell stuff geared towards, erm, older men coming up short in the love department.
Sorry to ramble, but you asked, LOL
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Google News
Mississippi Fred McDowell
- This Week in Healdsburg June 4-10
- Katznelson will be spinning tunes by John Lee Hooker, Fred McDowell, Slim Gaillard, Amos Melborne, Roscoe Gordon, Ruth Brown, Howlin' Wolf, Etta James, and many more. Tickets: $10. Info: healdsburgjazzfestival.org, 24/7 ticket hotline 800-838-3006 or ...
- Nine O'clock Blues: Mississippi Fred McDowell
- By Marc Applegate Fred McDowell was born in Rossville, Tennessee, in 1904. Which brings up the question: ?Why was he known as Mississippi Fred McDowell?? McDowell's parent's died when he was young. He took up the guitar at age 14 and supported himself ...
Mississippi Fred McDowell on iTunes
An awesome Delta collection at your fingertips!
| Track | Artist | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning (Remastered) | Fred McDowell | Fred McDowell: The Alan Lomax Recordings | |
| Going Down to the River (Remastered) | Fred McDowell | Fred McDowell: The Alan Lomax Recordings | |
| Worried Mind Blues (Remastered) | Fred McDowell | Fred McDowell: The Alan Lomax Recordings | |
| Fred McDowell's Blues (Remastered) | Fred McDowell | Fred McDowell: The Alan Lomax Recordings | |
| When the Train Comes Along (Remastered) | Fred McDowell, Rosalie Hill & Sidney Hemphill Carter | Fred McDowell: The Alan Lomax Recordings | |
| Shake 'Em On Down (Remastered) | Fred McDowell | Fred McDowell: The Alan Lomax Recordings | |
| Good Morning Little Schoolgirl (Remastered) | Fred McDowell | Fred McDowell: The Alan Lomax Recordings | |
| Wished I Was In Heaven Sitting Down (Remastered) | Fred McDowell | Fred McDowell: The Alan Lomax Recordings | |
| Woke Up This Morning With My Mind On Jesus (Remastered) | Fred McDowell | Fred McDowell: The Alan Lomax Recordings | |
| Wished I Was in Heaven Sitting Down | Fred McDowell | The Alan Lomax Collection: Southern Journey, Vol. 1 - Voices from the American South | |
| When You Get Home Please Write Me A Few of Your Lines (Remastered) | Fred McDowell | Fred McDowell: The Alan Lomax Recordings | |
| Goin Down to the River | Fred McDowell | Mississippi Blues | |
| Shake 'Em On Down | Fred McDowell | The Land Where the Blues Began | |
| Write Me a Few of Your Lines | Fred McDowell | Best of: | |
| Over the Hill | Fred McDowell | Mississippi Blues | |
| Louise | Fred McDowell | Mississippi Blues | |
| I Wished I Were In Heaven Sitting Down | Fred McDowell | Mississippi Blues | |
| The Train I Ride | Fred McDowell | Mississippi Blues | |
| Some Day Baby | Fred McDowell | Mississippi Blues | |
| Fred's Worried Life Blues | Fred McDowell | Best of: | |
| Drop Down Mama (Remastered) | Fred McDowell | Fred McDowell: The Alan Lomax Recordings | |
| Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning (Instrumental reprise) [Remastered] | Fred McDowell | Fred McDowell: The Alan Lomax Recordings | |
| You Gotta Move | Fred McDowell | Best of: | |
| My Baby | Fred McDowell | Best of: | |
| Milk Cow Blues | Fred McDowell | Mississippi Blues |
Which tune turned you on?
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Farewell
Mississippi Fred McDowell was taken from us by cancer in 1972, after a decade which saw him blazing across the sky like a meteor.Before we lost him, however, he gave slide guitar lessons to singer Bonnie Raitt, who later recorded many of McDowell's songs in tribute to the master. The Rolling Stones covered McDowell's "You Gotta Move" on their 1971 LP "Sticky Fingers,"; other notable artists like Bob Dylan, Watermelon Slim and others have also covered McDowell's songs.
Thanks to them, Mississippi Fred McDowell will live on forever through his music. There can be no greater tribute.
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The Blues: Great Lenses
Amazon Spotlight Personal Review
I Do Not Play No Rock 'N' Roll: The Complete Sessions
Amazon Price: $9.99 (as of 06/03/2012)
This is the album that got me hooked - I suspect it will have the same effect on you.
The Blues: More Great Lenses
