Recensie Blues-Out Sally O’Briens Zwolle

24 januari 2019

Onlangs aangetroffen op YouTube video footage van een concert in tKeerpunt (2009)

11 december 2018

Concert van Jon Meyerjon Band in Café Theater G&A Boelens in Eelde op zondag 9 december

15 november 2018

Op 9 december biedt G&A Boelens een podium aan een try-out van de Jon Meyerjon Band. Dit concert is een “Blues-Out” met eigen composities, een mix van verschillende muziekstijlen met altijd een verbinding naar blues.
De band bestaat uit: Jon Meyerjon (zang en gitaar), Lars Müller (sologitaar), Jos Bruining (bas) en René van Astenrode (drums).
Jon is bekend geworden als zanger-gitarist van de Asser Greyhound Blues Band. Hij heeft veel ervaring opgedaan op nationale en internationale festivals/bluesclubs, waarbij veel, vaak Amerikaanse, bluesmuzikanten werden begeleid. Jon heeft als singer-songwriter drie albums uitgebracht met eigen werk.
Lars speelt in de bluesy trio's Blue Brew en Buddy X en in BluesWorld Collective. Hij heeft gestudeerd aan het Conservatorium in Enschede en is docent elektrische en akoestische gitaar. Hij wordt geroemd om zijn virtuoos en groovy speelwijze.
Jos heeft zich ontwikkeld tot een veelzijdig bassist en gebruikt deze ervaring ook als docent. Hij heeft in diverse orkesten en ensembles gespeeld, variërend van classic jazz tot blues en van klassiek tot experimenteel.
René speelt drums, percussie en vibrafoon in meerdere formaties, o.a. in zijn kwartet “Good Vibes” en is tevens docent slagwerk. Hij studeerde aan conservatoria in Groningen, Den Haag en Amsterdam.
De muzikanten spelen de muziek met passie, waarbij ieder vanuit zijn eigen achtergrond zijn creativiteit inbrengt.
Locatie: Café Theater G&A Boelens, Eelde
Aanvang 16.00 uur
Toegang gratis

VLIEBLUES presenteert A Doggoners Blues Out in het Loodscafé met Jon Meyerjon en Lars Müller

Door Jon Editor

16 mei 2018

Playlist video’s Doggoners Blues Out

Door Jon Editor

30 maart 2018

Love relationships gone bad

Door Jon Editor

26 februari 2018

Dig (one's) potatoes. Washboard Sam and later Memphis Minnie sang "Diggin my potatoes". I means, that they tried to swoop on somebody's lover: to get in a relationship with someone who is involved with someone else.

Baby, they diggin' my potatoes
Lord, they trampin' on my vine
vine = vine field, tramping = behaving like a tramp, fooling around
Now I've got a special plan now baby
Lord, that a-restin' on my mind

Minnie sings
Now, I don't want no cabbage sprouts = young men
Bring me a solid head = full growns
Suppose they call the wagon = wagon car that will take you into jail, it's thread
I catched him in my bed

Sam:
You know they diggin' my potatoes
Lord, they trampin' on my vine
Now my vines is all green
'Tattoos they all red = ready to hook up with a woman

A Doggoners Blues Out op 11 maart in Bluescafé tKeerpunt Spijkerboor

Door Jon Editor

20 december 2017

Doggoners Blues Out in Kerk Kropswolde 26 nov

Door Jon Editor

23 november 2017

78 RPMs and Cylinder Recordings

Door Jon Editor

13 augustus 2017

3de Solo CD Jon Meyerjon | The Doggoners Blues Out

Door Jon Editor

15 juli 2017

Nieuwe CD Greyhound Blues Band

Door Jon Editor

19 februari 2017

DOGGONE LIVE ON RADIO BLUESWORLD
Registratie in Theater Landstede voor het radioprogramma Bluesworld van RTV ZOo Zwolle, het laatste optreden in het kader van onze 25-jarige jubileumtour.

Ruim 60 minuten Live Doggone Blues.
Zang en gitaar, Jon Meyerjon.
Bas, Martin van der Velde.
Drums, George Snijder.
Tijdens de jubileumtour werd de band aangevuld met Michiel Mens op hammondorgel.
Meer info op de website Greyhound Blues Band.

De CD kost € 5,00 (we rekenen € 3,00 voor de verzendkosten).
Bestellen via ons contactformulier..
U kunt ook € 8,00 overmaken op NL 03 INGB 0701 7906 01, tnv M.van der Velde, Rolde.
Onder vermelding van CD en uw adres.

Animals Part3 (37-39)

Door Jon Editor

18 december 2016

Fattening frogs for snake, Sonny Boy Williamson

"It took me a long time, to find out my mistakes
Took me a long time, to find out my mistakes
(It sho' did man)
But I bet you my bottom dollar, I'm not fattenin' no more frogs for snakes"

The title ‘Fattening Frogs for Snakes’ refers to an old American proverb about putting loads of energy into something and not reaping the benefits. you spend ages fattening up a frog with lots of delicacies and then a big snake slips into his cage and eats him.
In Sonny Boy's song the frog is a woman and the snake an other man.

Virginia Liston sang in 1925 "I'm sick of fattening frogs for snakes":

"I dressed him all up, though he was no good,
he played with all the girl's in the neighborhood.
So now I'm tired of fattening frogs for snakes."

Bumble Bee Slim's "Fattenin' frogs for snakes" (1935):

"You got your breakfast in the morning, your dinner on time.
I let you spend my dollar, just like you spend my dime.
I'm gettin' tired, baby, fattening frogs for snakes.
All these many years, baby, I'm just now seen my mistake."

The kingsnake is so named because even though it is non-venomous, it can eat poisonous snakes such as rattlesnakes, copperheads, and coral snakes with no ill effect. The kingsnake shows up in blues songs like “Crawling Kingsnake Blues” by John Lee Hooker as a metaphor for virility and domination. Blues musicians like Hooker often bragged about their sexual ability.

"You know I’m a crawling kingsnake, baby, and I rules my den
Well, I’m a crawling kingsnake, baby, and I rules my den
Don’t want you ’round my mate
Gonna use her for myself"

Sources: pancocojams.blogspot.nl, americanbluesscene.com, YouTube, Wikipedia, Hudson Motors Compagny, Archive Minneapolis, The Cruel Plains, M.H.Price a.o., truewestmagazine.com, The Austin Chronicle, Cambridge Free English Dictionary, Oxford Dictionary, TheSaurus.com, dragonjazz.com/grablue/blues_travel, Encyclopedia of African American Popular Culture, Blues by Paul Breman, Blues by David Harrison, Quora.com, urbandictionary.com, Blogs.loc.gov, The Ballad Hunter by Alan Lomax, Black Pearls: Blues Queens of the 1920th by Daphne Duval Harrison, jopiepopie.blogspot.nl, redhotjazz.com, The Blues Lyrics Formula by Michael Taft, American Ballads and Folk Songs by Alan Lomax and John Avery Lomax, The Past Is Not Dead: Essays from the Southern Quarterly by Douglas B. Chambers, EarlyBlues.com, railroad-line.com, Jason Lee Davis' RailFan Pages , centertruthjustice.org, genius.com, Africa-American Proverbs In Context by Sw Anand Prahlad, Görgen Antonsson, Songfacts.com,

Animals Part2 (34-36)

Door Jon Editor

9 december 2016

In Bessie Tucker's Katy Blues you read the following stanza:

"Well, I ain't no pullet, I'm a real young hen;
If you come by here once, you'll come back again."

A pullet is a female chicken younger than one year of age. On her first birthday, she becomes a hen. The equivalent term for males is a cockerel. He becomes a cock (also known as a rooster) on his first birthday.

Young women, girls and gay men are sometimes presented in lyrics like "chickens". "Chick" likely originates from the Spanish word "chica" meaning, of all things, girl.

"Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens" is a 1946 song (Alex Kramer, Joan Whitney). It was recorded by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five.
B.B.King recorded it for his Louis Jordan album.

"Tomorrow is a busy day
We got things to do, we got eggs to lay
We got ground to dig and worms to scratch
It takes a lot of sittin', gettin' chicks to hatch
Oh, there ain't nobody here but us chickens
There ain't nobody here at all
So quiet yourself and stop that fuss
There ain't nobody here but us
Kindly point the gun the other way
And hobble, hobble, hobble, hobble, off and hit the hay."

"Hey, hey bossman, what do you say?
It's easy, pickins, there ain't nobody here but us chickens"

Animals in Blues Part1 (31-33)

Door Jon Editor

6 december 2016

The images of animals are commonly used with a symbolic meaning and characterize a person in a negative manner.

For instance in "Ups and Down Blues" by Roosevelt Sykes. Roosevelt uses the proverb "buying a pig in a sack".
Outcomes in life can be uncertain and regardless the intentions the outcome can be very disappointing.

"But women are so tricky, they'll try to tell you white is black
To get a woman nowadays, is just like buying a pig in a sack"

To compare a woman with a pig is not nice and very insulting.

A woman can strike back as Sara Martin did in "Mean Tight Mama".

"Now my hair is nappy and I don't wear clothes of silk
But the cow that's black and ugly, has often got the sweetest milk".

Sara uses the term "cow", because it has been applied to women negatively; meaning ugly and slothful.
The image "cow and milk" is also symbolic for sexual relations between partners. "Milk" refers to the sexual juices or the sexual energies of women.

Ida Cox sang:
"When I was Down South I wouldn't take no one's advice
But I won't let that same bee sting me twice".

Animal images appeared also in lyrics which are refered to as "dirty" blues; dealing about the relationships between partners. Previously, you could not sing explicitly about sex and animals were used to conceal the meaning (see the episode that talks about "signifying").
Moreover it was fun to write songs that way.

Ida didn't want be stung no more; in the sense of "being taking advantage off". Compare "don't be bitten by a dog twice". The image of a bee is much better; a bee takes you by surprise and is less threathening.
We know also "Honeybee", "Queen Bee" and "King Bee". Bee's with different meanings.

"Sail on, sail on my little honey bee, sail." Muddy Waters.
"You're lying up there like a queen bee on a throne." Junior Parker.
"Well, I'm a king bee, buzzing around your hive." Slim Harpo.

Salty Dog Blues, Mississippi John Hurt, 1963

"Salty dog, Hey, hey, hey, you salty dog
Oh baby, let me be your salty dog
I don't wanna be your man at all
Baby, I want to be your salty dog

Said, the big fish, little fish swimmin' in the water
Come back here, man, gimme my quarter

Says, God made a woman, he made 'em mighty funny
The lips 'round her mouth, just as sweet as any honey
Hey, hey, hey, you salty dog

Said, the scardest I ever was in my life
Uncle Bud like to caught me kissin' his wife
Hey, hey, you salty dog"

A “salty dog” is an old slang term to refer to a man who spends most of his time at sea (where the salt water permeates his skin, clothes, and hair) and who prioritizes dalliances (girl friends) when he does come to shore.
By singing “let me be your salty dog” and “I don’t want to be your man at all,” the song is asking for a casual sexual relationship in which he’s allowed to spend long periods away and be welcomed with open arms (and legs) when he comes back around.

Note: T-Bone Walker sang "Papa ain't salty no more", meaning of "salty" is here is "pissed" / "upset".

To be continued.

Trains Part2 (28-30)

Door Jon Editor

26 november 2016

In this column: Colorado Central, Narrow Gauge Railways, The Chief, Santa Fe's Fleet Of Famous Trains, Freight Train Blues, Yellow Dog Blues, Smokestack Lightning, Trixie Smith, Louis Armstrong, W.C.Handy, Howling Wolf |
This column is about sayings and words in blues lyrics. For a Dutchman it is sometimes hard to understand, what a singer is singing. In earlier days, we copied lyrics from vinyl records. If we didn't understand, we used "an English sounding word". Now with internet one can find out what was said and what the meaning is.

In the episode about C.C.Rider you can read that C.C. the acronym could be for Colorado Central.

The Colorado Central Railroad operated in Colorado and southeastern Wyoming in the late 19th century. Originally founded in the Colorado Territory in the wake of the Colorado Gold Rush to ship gold from the mountains.
Iit eventually expanded from its initial Golden–Denver line to form a crucial link connecting Colorado with the transcontinental railroad and the national rail network.
Although its historic 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge mountain lines were dismantled by the mid 20th century, a portion of its connecting lines paralleling the Front Range survive as active lines of BNSF Railway.

Many narrow gauge railways were primarily industrial railways rather than general carriers. Some common uses for these industrial narrow gauge railways were mining, logging and the conveying of agricultural products.
Note: the Shorty George Train drove on a narrow gauge track.

The Chief was one of the named passenger trains of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Its route ran from Chicago, Illinois to Los Angeles, California.
The heavyweight began its first run on November 14, 1926, scheduled 63 hours each way between Chicago and Los Angeles.
In 1954 the Chief reduced its schedule to equal its cousins, the Super Chief and El Capitan.
The Chief's last run was on May 15, 1968.

Santa Fe's Fleet Of Famous Trains
El Capitan: (Chicago - Los Angeles)
Grand Canyon: (Chicago - Los Angeles)
San Francisco Chief: (Chicago - Amarillo - San Francisco)
Texas Chief: (Chicago - Houston - Galveston)
San Diegan: (Los Angeles - San Diego)
Super Chief: (Chicago - Los Angeles)
Tulsan: (Kansas City - Tulsa)
Chicagoan/Kansas Cityan: (Dallas - Kansas City - Chicago)
Golden Gate: (Los Angeles - San Francisco)

Santa Fe 3770, 1937

"I Wonder Where My Easy Rider's Gone?"
The lyrics tell the story of a Susie Johnson who bets on a horse race using a tip from Jockey Lee, who subsequently runs off with her money.
W.C.Handy wrote an answer to this song "Yellow Dog Blues".

E'er since Miss Susan Johnson lost her Jockey, Lee
There has been much excitement, more to be
You can hear her moaning night and morn
Wonder where my easy rider's gone?

........

Down where the Southern cross' the Dog
Every kitchen there is a cabaret
Down there the Boll Weevil works while the darkies play
This Yellow Dog blues the live long day

........

Easy rider's gotta stay away
So he had to vamp it but the hike ain't far
He's gone where the southern cross' the Yellow Dog

The "Yellow Dog" was the local name for the Yazoo Delta Railroad; the "Southern" is the much larger Southern Railway.

YD alias Yellow Dog. Historian Paul Oliver claims that in Rome, Mississippi, "they declared that it was named after a mongrel hound that noisily greeted every train as it passed through".

The Yazoo-Delta Railroad was a branch line that opened between Moorhead and Ruleville, Mississippi. It was extended to Tutwiler, Mississippi, and Lake Dawson.

The Southern Railway was a US class 1 railroad that was based in the Southern United States.

Index

YouTube playlist Doggoners Blues Out in blues café tKeerpunt. 12 video's.

DUST MY BROOM

MOPPER'S BLUES / HELP ME

DIGGIN' MY POTATOES

Great 78 project (click screenshot)

Great 78 archive (click screenshot)

Henry Thomas 78 recording Bull Doze Blues

Canned Heat covered Bull Doze Blues

Speciale jubileum-CD in een gelimiteerde oplage

FATTENING FROGS FOR SNAKES

Sonny Boy with The Animals

MONKEY

BB performing Tampa's "Sell My Monkey"

CRAWLING KING SNAKE / CATFISH

John Lee Hooker with Ry Cooder in 1992

CHICKENS

CHICKEN HEAD MAN

ROOSTER

SYMBOLIC MEANING | PIG IN A SACK, COW

THE BEE

LOW DOWN DOG

COLORADO CENTRAL

The chief train

FREIGHT TRAIN BLUES

Smokestack Lightning

The M-K-T Railroad

YELLOW DOG BLUES

Louis Armstrong with Yellow Dog Blues (1954)