zzvo | Mary had a little lamb

door Jon Editor

In this column: Mary had a little lamb, Sarah Josepha Hale, Tisket-tasket, nursery rhymes, Ella Fitzgerald, Freddie Spruell, Buddy Guy, Freddie King, Earl Hooker, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Thomas Edison

Mary had a little lamb

On the Kokomo Blues pages one of the verses reads:
...
Listen now, Mary had a little lamb, I mean, its fleece was white as snow
Mary take that little lamb with her to 'most every place that she go
She went down to the depot agent, said, "Give me a ticket back to Kokomo.
"
Depot agent looked down at Mary's lamb, said, "Mary, I declare your lamb can't go.
"
She 'lowed, "Yes, come on, baby, come on, I declare I'm goin' back to Kokomo
Why don't you come on, baby, listen, tell me, don't you want to go?"
...

Freddie Spruell (December 28, 1893 – June 19, 1956) was an American Delta blues guitarist and singer, variously billed as Papa Freddie or Mr. Freddie. He is generally regarded as the first Delta bluesman to be recorded ("Milk Cow Blues", 1926).

History; Mary had a little lamb

A nursery rhyme (1830), is based on an actual incident involving Mary Elizabeth Sawyer, a woman born in 1806 on a farm in Sterling, Mass. Mary discovered a sickly newborn lamb that had been abandoned by its mother. Against the odds, Mary managed to nurse the lamb back to health.
In 1830, Sarah Josepha Hale, a writer and influential editor, published Poems for Our Children, which included a version of the poem.
In the end, the nursery rhyme took on a life of it’s own after it was set to music. It became wildly popular beginning in the mid-1800s. The poem even became the first audio recording in history when Thomas Edison recited it on his newly invented phonograph in 1877 in order to see if the machine actually worked.

Thomas Edison's Mary had a little lamb

Click photo for audiofragment
Thomas Edison 1878 tinfoil phonograph

Mary had a little lamb,
It's fleece was white as snow
And everywhere that Mary went,
 the lamb was sure to go.
He followed her to school one day, 
that was against the rule.
It made the children laugh and play
 to see a lamb at school.
...
What makes the lamb love Mary so? 
The eager children cry
Oh, Mary loves the lamb, you know, 
the teacher did reply.
And you each gentle animal
In confidence may bind
And make them follow at your call, 
if you are always kind.’
...

Sarah used the incident to get a moral across to the class: who does good, meets well.

Lamb of God

In the Christian religion, the Bible tells us that Mary is the mother of Jesus and that the lamb is a symbol of Jesus.
Lamb of God' is one of the designations for Jesus Christ. When John the Baptist looked at Jesus he was convinced that the Messiah had come. He said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. '
The lamb will heal all believers from their sins and save their souls.

Spruell was a religious man, who later in life no longer performed the blues but became a minister of the Baptist church.

I think that in addition to all the perniciousness in the city of Kokomo, there should also be room for reflection and forgiveness when you open your heart to Jesus.

Buddy Guy

George "Buddy" Guy (born July 30, 1936) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He is an exponent of Chicago blues who has influenced generations of guitarists including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Buddy Guy – Mary had a little lamb

Tisket-Tasket

Guy added a verse:
...
Tisket, tasket, baby
A green and yellow basket
Sent a letter to my baby
And on my way I passed it
...

Tisket-tasket =  is a nursery rhyme and children's song of American origin. It was first published in the United States in the early 20th century and became popular in the 1930s. The song's authorship is uncertain, but it is often attributed to the jazz singer and songwriter Ella Fitzgerald, who recorded it as her first hit in 1938.
Kids dance in a circle while singing the rhyme. A child has to run outside the circle and drop a handkerchief. The child located next to the handkerchief has to pick it up and pursue the child that dropped it. If the child is caught, (s)he is kissed or has to tell the name of his/her love.
The words Tisket-Tasket, have no specific meaning.

Freddie King

Freddie King (September 3, 1934 – December 28, 1976) was an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with Albert King and B.B. King, none of whom were blood related).

Just Pickin'

The instrumental song "Just Pickin'" that King recorded in 1961 probably inspired Buddy Guy's song.

Earl Hooker

Earl Zebedee Hooker (January 15, 1930 – April 21, 1970)was a Chicago blues guitarist known for his slide guitar playing. Considered a "musician's musician", he performed with blues artists such as Sonny Boy Williamson II, Junior Wells, and John Lee Hooker and fronted his own bands.

The theme (bass lick) inspired Earl Hooker for his "Two Bugs and a Roach".

Earl Hooker – Two Bugs and a Roach (1969)

Stevie Ray Vaughan

Stephen Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. Although his mainstream career spanned only seven years, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians in the history of blues music, and one of the greatest guitarists of all time. He was the younger brother of guitarist Jimmie Vaughan.

Stevie Ray Vaughan covered the Buddy Guy song in 1983.

Notice that on the album "Texas Flood" he sings, "it's fleece was white as snow" and on the live version on the album "Live at the El Mocambo", "it's fleece was black as coal".

Stevie Ray Vaughan – Mary Had a Little Lamb (1983)