
Thanks to my Patrons, who contribute $8.00 per month for an exclusive one-year sneak-peek behind the scenes, i am able to regularly write new web pages on the history of African-American folk magic. This week in "Blues Lyrics and Hoodoo" we release an 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.
Go to:
https://luckymojo.com/bluesrootmanblues ... orsey.html
The Blues Lyrics and Hoodoo site is here:
http://luckymojo.com/blues.html
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.
http://patreon.com/catherineyronwode
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