Mississippi Fred Mcdowell • The Essential Fred Mcdowell

 

Biography
by Cub Koda

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. Though he scorned the amplified rock sound with a passion matched by few country bluesmen, he certainly had no qualms about passing any of his musical secrets along to his young, white acolytes, prompting several of them -- including a young Bonnie Raitt -- to develop slide guitar techniques of their own. Although generally lumped in with other blues "rediscoveries" from the '60s, the most amazing thing about him was that this rich repository of Delta blues had never recorded in the '20s or early '30s, didn't get "discovered" until 1959, and didn't become a full-time professional musician until the mid-'60s.

He was born in 1904 in Rossville, Tennessee, and was playing the guitar by the age of 14 with a slide hollowed out of a steer bone. His parents died when Fred was a youngster and the wandering life of a traveling musician soon took hold. The 1920s saw him playing for tips on the street in Memphis, the hoboing life eventually setting him down in Como, Mississippi, where he lived for the rest of his life. There McDowell split his time between farming and keeping up with his music by playing weekends for various fish fries, picnics, and house parties in the immediate area. This pattern stayed largely unchanged for the next 30 years until he was discovered in 1959 by folklorist Alan Lomax. Lomax was the first to record this semi-professional bluesman, the results of which were released as part of an American folk music series on the Atlantic label. McDowell, for his part, was happy to have some sounds on records, but continued on with his farming and playing for tips outside of Stuckey's candy store in Como for spare change. It wasn't until Chris Strachwitz -- folk-blues enthusiast and owner of the fledgling Arhoolie label -- came searching for McDowell to record him that the bluesman's fortunes began to change dramatically.

Two albums, Fred McDowell, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, were released on Arhoolie in the mid-'60s, and the shock waves were felt throughout the folk-blues community. Here was a bluesman with a repertoire of uncommon depth, putting it over with great emotional force, and to top it all off, he had seemingly slipped through the cracks of late-'20s and early-'30s field recordings. No scratchy, highly prized 78s on Paramount or Vocalion to use as a yardstick to measure his current worth, no romantic stories about him disappearing into the Delta for decades at a time to become a professional gambler or a preacher. No, Mississippi Fred McDowell had been in his adopted home state, farming and playing all along, and the world coming to his doorstep seemed to ruffle him no more than the little boy down the street delivering the local newspaper.

The success of the Arhoolie recordings suddenly found McDowell very much in demand on the folk and festival circuit, where his quiet, good-natured performances left many a fan utterly spellbound. Working everything from the Newport Folk Festival to coffeehouse dates to becoming a member of the American Folk Blues Festival in Europe, McDowell suddenly had more listings in his résumé in a couple of years than he had in the previous three decades combined. He was also well documented on film, with appearances in The Blues Maker (1968), his own documentary Fred McDowell (1969), and Roots of American Music: Country and Urban Music (1970) among them. By the end of the decade, he was signed to do a one-off album for Capitol Records (the aforementioned I Do Not Play No Rock 'N' Roll) and his tunes were being mainstreamed into the blues-rock firmament by artists like Bonnie Raitt (who recorded several of his tunes, including notable versions of "Write Me a Few Lines" and "Kokomo") and the Rolling Stones, who included a very authentic version of his classic "You Got to Move" on their Sticky Fingers album. Unfortunately, this career largess didn't last much longer, as McDowell was diagnosed with cancer while performing dates into 1971. His playing days suddenly behind him, he lingered for a few months into July 1972, finally succumbing to the disease at age 68. And right to the end, the man remained true to his word; he did not play no rock & roll, just the straight, natural blues.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mississippi-fred-mcdowell-mn0000898331/biography

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Biografía

por Cub Koda
Cuando Mississippi Fred McDowell proclamó en uno de sus últimos álbumes: "Yo no toco rock & roll", no era tanto la fanfarronada de un músico envejecido y arrastrado por el gran ritmo como una mera declaración de hecho. Como estilista y proveedor del blues original del Delta, era magnífico, con partes iguales de Charley Patton y Son House que salían a relucir a través de su voz áspera y su estilo de tocar la guitarra con cuello de botella. McDowell sabía que era el auténtico, y mientras otros diluían y actualizaban su sonido para seguir el ritmo de los tiempos y el público, Mississippi Fred se distinguía del resto de la manada simplemente por no cambiar un ápice su estilo. Aunque despreciaba el sonido del rock amplificado con una pasión que pocos bluesmen del país pueden igualar, no tenía ningún reparo en transmitir sus secretos musicales a sus jóvenes acólitos blancos, lo que llevó a varios de ellos, incluida una joven Bonnie Raitt, a desarrollar sus propias técnicas de guitarra slide. Aunque generalmente se le agrupa con otros "redescubrimientos" del blues de los años 60, lo más sorprendente de él es que este rico depositario del blues del Delta nunca había grabado en los años 20 o principios de los 30, no fue "descubierto" hasta 1959 y no se convirtió en músico profesional a tiempo completo hasta mediados de los años 60.

Nació en 1904 en Rossville, Tennessee, y a los 14 años ya tocaba la guitarra con un tobogán ahuecado en un hueso de buey. Sus padres murieron cuando Fred era un jovencito y pronto se impuso la vida errante de un músico ambulante. En la década de 1920, tocó en las calles de Memphis a cambio de propinas, y la vida de vagabundo le llevó a Como, Mississippi, donde vivió el resto de su vida. Allí, McDowell dividía su tiempo entre la agricultura y el mantenimiento de su música tocando los fines de semana en varias frituras de pescado, picnics y fiestas en casas de la zona. Este patrón se mantuvo prácticamente sin cambios durante los siguientes 30 años, hasta que fue descubierto en 1959 por el folclorista Alan Lomax. Lomax fue el primero en grabar a este bluesman semiprofesional, cuyos resultados se publicaron como parte de una serie de música folclórica americana en el sello Atlantic. McDowell, por su parte, se alegró de tener algunos sonidos en los discos, pero continuó con su actividad agrícola y tocando por propinas fuera de la tienda de caramelos Stuckey's en Como para obtener calderilla. No fue hasta que Chris Strachwitz -entusiasta del folk-blues y propietario del incipiente sello Arhoolie- vino a buscar a McDowell para grabarle que la suerte del bluesman empezó a cambiar radicalmente.

A mediados de los 60 se publicaron dos álbumes, Fred McDowell, Vol. 1 y Vol. 2, en Arhoolie, y las ondas de choque se hicieron sentir en toda la comunidad del folk-blues. Se trataba de un bluesman con un repertorio de una profundidad poco común, que lo interpretaba con una gran fuerza emocional y, para colmo, se había colado en las grietas de las grabaciones de campo de finales de los años 20 y principios de los 30. No hay 78s rayados y muy preciados en Paramount o Vocalion que sirvan de vara para medir su valor actual, ni historias románticas sobre su desaparición en el Delta durante décadas para convertirse en jugador profesional o predicador. No, Mississippi Fred McDowell había estado en su estado natal adoptivo, cultivando y jugando todo el tiempo, y el mundo que llegaba a su puerta no parecía alterarlo más que el niño de la calle que entregaba el periódico local.

El éxito de las grabaciones de Arhoolie hizo que McDowell fuera muy solicitado en el circuito de festivales de folk, donde sus actuaciones, tranquilas y amables, dejaban a muchos fans totalmente fascinados. Trabajando en todo tipo de eventos, desde el Festival de Folk de Newport, pasando por las fechas de los cafés, hasta convertirse en miembro del American Folk Blues Festival en Europa, McDowell tenía de repente más listados en su currículum en un par de años que en las tres décadas anteriores juntas. También estaba bien documentado en el cine, con apariciones en The Blues Maker (1968), su propio documental Fred McDowell (1969) y Roots of American Music: Country and Urban Music (1970), entre otros. A finales de la década, firmó un único álbum para Capitol Records (el ya mencionado I Do Not Play No Rock 'N' Roll) y sus temas se incorporaron al firmamento del blues-rock de la mano de artistas como Bonnie Raitt (que grabó varios de sus temas, incluidas notables versiones de "Write Me a Few Lines" y "Kokomo") y los Rolling Stones, que incluyeron una versión muy auténtica de su clásico "You Got to Move" en su álbum Sticky Fingers. Desgraciadamente, esta carrera no duró mucho más, ya que a McDowell se le diagnosticó un cáncer mientras actuaba en 1971. Sus días como músico quedaron repentinamente atrás, y permaneció unos meses hasta julio de 1972, sucumbiendo finalmente a la enfermedad a los 68 años. Y hasta el final, el hombre se mantuvo fiel a su palabra: no tocaba ningún rock & roll, sólo el blues directo y natural.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mississippi-fred-mcdowell-mn0000898331/biography

 

Track listing:

01 – Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
02 – When I Lay My Burden Down
03 – Louise
04 – Big Fat Mama
05 – John Henry
06 – See What My Lord Has Done
07 – My Babe
08 – I Woke Up This Morning
09 – (Glory, Glory, Hallelujah) When I Lay My Burden Down
10 – Jesus On The Mainline
11 – You Gotta Move
12 – Worried Blues
13 – Baby, Take My Rest
14 – Mojo Hand
15 – Shake ‘Em On Down
16 – Evil Hearted Woman

Release Date: 2022
Genre: Blues

 

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