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Blues Lyrics and Hoodoo: ROOT MAN BLUES (Tier 3 NOVEMBER 7th, 2024)
This week in "Blues Lyrics and Hoodoo" my Patrons are getting a one-year Patreon exclusive -- and illustrated and annotated transcription from my collection of 20th century blues lyrics about African-American folk magic. Thomas A. Dorsey, well known as "The Father of Gospel Music" had an earlier career as Georgia Tom Dorsey, a blues singer, composer, and pianist. As Thomas A. Dorsey he wrote inspirational songs like "Take My Hand, Precious Lord," but as Georgia Tom he wrote some of the cleverest double entendre blues ever recorded, songs in which surprisingly sexual imagery was thinly veiled or "coded" in innocent-seeming metaphors. This week's song, the original version of "Root Man Blues" from 1931, is presented in the form of a dialogue between Georgia Tom as a hoodoo root doctor and his female client, voiced by the mysteriously pseudonymous singer Kansas City Kitty. Georgia Tom tries to sell Kitty a Georgia Jumpin' Root, but she turns it down and selects a Louisiana Crooked Root to chew instead. I have transcribed the lyrics, set forth an explanation of what they really mean, and prepared extensive (and i mean EXTENSIVE!) side-notes concerning the true identity of Kansas City Kitty. With my husband nagasiva's help, the article is accompanied by photos, a label shot, and an MP3 audio file so you can sing along. This project is being previewed by my patrons, who have a one year exclusive on every week's new web page, in gratitude for their financial support of my work as a documentarian of folklore, folk magic, and fortune telling.
[THE SECRET URL IS SENT TO PATRONS VIA EMAIL]
The Blues Lyrics and Hoodoo site is here:
http://luckymojo.com/blues.html
-- and when you get there, you will see a placard announcing this week's new page ... but you can't click on it unless you are a Patron, because it is for Patrons only ... until November 7, 2025.
After a year for my Patrons to enjoy, this material will be linked from the public-facing pages of the Blues Lyrics and Hoodoo site. In the meantime, my Patrons also have access to exclusive threads at the Lucky Mojo Forum and participate in discussions with me about my ongoing publications.
To support me on Patreon and make my new web pages possible, please go to "It's All Ephemera," where you can read my update posts and sign on as a Patron for just $8.00 per month -- four weekly pages at a mere $2.00 each. Your support keeps me writing, and i thank everyone who has helped me with this source of funding since January 2021 at
http://patreon.com/catherineyronwode
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Thanks to my amazingly supportive Patrons -- you have made this project possible.
Cordially,
cat yronwode
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