THESE young men could not have imagined that- more than a lifetime-later- we would be summoning them out of a quantum reality to re-live their folkloric experience. It was a Sunday afternoon, and a single banjo centered them, after a simple meal, in a ballad that would travel forward into time. Their dry bones are singing now, in an emotional encounter with a present sense which paints a common soul with the living. Their voices speak out of a tradition of slavery, which we can hardly imagine.
This is historic. This is so important to remember. This was life in America. If we only had a full length reality show of these guys. What a life they lived. This is REAL America. We're missing so much of history, it's a shame.
It's even more historic than you think. According to King Biscuit Blues, "Filmed in Augusta, Georgia in 1929, that's Robert Johnson playing banjo and singing to the right of Mr. Johnson is Mississippi Fred McDowell. To Johnson's left in the foreground Robert Petway. To Johnson's left in the rear is Tommy McClennan. The identifications of Johnson, McDowell, Petway, and McClennan were made by the publisher of kingbiscuitblues.com a blues music news service The laughter scene at the end probably refers to Johnson guzzling a bottle of whiskey nearby." No known legitimate footage of Robert Johnson had ever surfaced until THIS video came out! He was the king of the blues to many, and Rock & Roll would probably never have existsed if it weren't for him. Eric Clapton, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bill Hodgson, and many many others have covered Johnson's songs several time, particularly "Crossroads".
LOL So gald to hear this osng...For sum reason when I would cry,My great grandmother INDIANA PURIFOY would sing this song to me. I got tears in my eyes when i found it!! SO HAPPY, Thanks!
What a magnifiicent piece of footage, especially love the "oops" moment at about 30 seconds. Although they are not my ancestors I would be proud if they were.
It’s honestly fascinating. There really isn’t anything else of these guys. Their stories are as lost to us. At least we have this. And may it live forever
groovy doobies4 The banjo player was confirmed by King Biscuit Blues to be none other than the one and only Robert Johnson. Look him up if you haven’t already. He wrote songs like Crossroads, Terraplane Blues, They’re Red Hot, Hellhound On My Trail, etc. He inspired the likes of Eric Clapton amongst many others. His story has a lot of mystery and lore to it that you might be surprised to find out about.
Thanks for posting this! What a treasure! My grandmother used to rock me and sing the gospel "Mary don't you weep" song to me as a young child. Lately I've come across some real Bluesy versions. I'd never heard one with the "If I tell you once, I'll tell you twice..." refrains. 🤣🤣🤣 I guess they had to make it their own.
Think it was a mess up? I took it as he slipped in the line about a "sweetheart and a wife" and then thought they wouldn't appreciate it, maybe was going to stop, but they kept rolling.
never heard most of these verses before, and the one at :48 i especially liked: "god made man, and he made him out of clay; put him on earth, but not to stay" ...too bad that little bit of lyric seems to have been lost
As another commenter wrote this is priceless-both the film clip and the rendition itself. I've never read or heard this version of Oh Mary Don't You Weep. For instance this verse is repeated two times in the song (not consecutively) I done told you once/ I done told you twice/you can't get to heaven/with a sweetheart & a wife". I transcribed the words to this version and posted them on my website. Google Cocojams American Banjo & Fiddle Songs.
they are really enjoying singing together you can see it they look relaxed, we can't put ourselves in their place we have to many distractions they were living in the moment and living it well so enjoy the song!
Such a nice clear clip from the distant past! A light hearted field hand version of a classic spiritual. Couldn't you just see Rodney Dangerfield grabbing that "sweetheart" verse? "That's no sweetheart, that's my wife" Also, what's with all the biblical time travel? In one line we go straight from Mary in the new testament to Pharoah's army getting "drowneded" a few thousand years earlier. Gotta love the folk process!
Probably inspired by the Magnificat, where Mary praises God for his faithfulness to his people across generations. If God saved his people from Pharoh's army, Mary's got nothing to worry about. A little too deep of a read, perhaps, but I suspect that's to the effect of what the original songwriter(s) probably were thinking of.
Unique - Pharaoh's army got drownded [sic] It's a reference to the biblical story of Moses parting the Red Sea so the Israelites could escape their Egyptian pursuers
@@aileen9553 I'd be glad with that too aileen, still a good an different time, God bless. Sadly I'm passing soon, so I'm just reminiscing on everything I know.
Like so many others, I love this. I'd love to play this as authentically as possible. Can anyone work out the chords? I think the banjo is in Chicago tuning (same as the top 4 strings as a guitar) which I can't "read" from his fingers. I've got most of the chords by ear, but I've got just two chords missing. Can anyone supply them? This is what I've got: [C]Oh, Mary don't you [G7]weep, don't you mourn. Oh, Mary don't you [C]weep, don't you mourn. [F]Pharo's army got [C]drown-[A7]ded, [?]Oh, [?]Mary, don't [C]weep.
Your question marks are a D7 and a G7, working backwards in fifths to the root chord. Something very common in songs from back then and earlier but not in todays music.
Here’s these guys along with two more clips of them back in the day. Apparently it was shot by a traveling film company looking to record many rural negro spirituals back in 1929. mirc.sc.edu/islandora/object/usc%3A19669 Another commenter gave the link I just thought I’d make it more available. Enjoy :)
Banjos have always had the drone string. That was part of the definition of the instrument. In the 1850's the 5th (bass) string was added by a minstrel performer named Joel Sweeney. The drone string was dropped to create the plectrum banjo (like the one is this clip) in the 20th century. Plectrum banjos were used in early jazz bands.
@shizzigirl thank you for that comment. Its the truth. I come from Native American/ Irish folks (both families) and my mothers dad was a sharecropper. He was an electrician but just didnt stick to that for some reason. I havent asked him why and never will. Hes 80 years old now and its the past but I can tell you sharecropping is hell. I do know that much about it. My mother told me things...ill never forget those things. So..it went beyond a racial thing. Even if it was by choice or not.
I believe it is there, but that we do not commonly live it. Maybe by failure of imagination, or by the denial of spirit. The connections which are innate with us, don't you think? We are spirit beings, and fail to know it.
The full, unedited footage, albeit with an obnoxious watermark in the bottom left corner, can be found here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-2sfiLNjOmhE.html. There’s a part near the end where the one identified guy and Tommy McClennan are laughing about a man drinking like a camel drinking water. They are probably laughing at Robert Johnson, who was known for being a drinker.
@MrPaulwithap they may not be LITERAL slaves but I guarantee you they were sharecroppers which is another form of slavery. Indebted to the landowner with no other options? Sounds like the serfs of mideval Europe.
Here's the full, uncut, unedited version of this footage, albeit with a watermark in the bottom left corner: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-2sfiLNjOmhE.html
