“Abilene,” 49
ACA studio, 59, 64–65, 123
“Airplane Blues,” 143
Aladdin Records, 40–41, 43–45, 48–50, 293n38
Alexander, Alger “Texas,” viii–ix, 15, 21, 27, 30, 41, 55, 84, 87, 117, 146; background of, 22; discovery of, 23; Lightnin’ Hopkins, traveling with, 24–26; as mentor, 25; presence of, 24; in prison, 29; singing style of, 23
alternative movement, 174
American Federation of Musicians (AFM), 49
American Folk Blues Festival, 135, 140–41, 144
Amy, Curtis, 293n38
Anderson, Wendell, 180
Angel, Jack, 64
Antone, Clifford, 221–22
Arhoolie Records, xi, 78, 102, 181, 191, 201, 229–30
Aristocrat Records, 47
Asch, Moses, 70, 73, 75, 91–93
Asher, M. Richard, 126
Ash Grove (folk club), 98–100, 168, 197
Austin City Limits (television program), 211
Autobiography in Blues (recording), 88
“Automobile Blues,” 110
“Baby, Please Don’t Go,” 50, 100, 143–44
“Bad Boogie,” 65. See also “My Little Kewpie Doll”
Badeaux, Ed, 79, 91
“Bad Luck and Trouble,” 75
Baez, Joan, 104, 110, 156
Bailey, Donald, 210
Balatony, Krista, 157–59
Balfour, Alan, 142
Barbee, John Henry, 141
Bartlett, John David, 185–86, 232
baseball, 21
Bates, Alan, 300n52
Bates, Frank, 3
“Begging You to Stay,” 58
Bell, Carey, 222
Bell, Rex “Wrecks,” xiii, 219
Belushi, John, 218
Benno, Marc, 213, 215
Benson, David, xiii, 115, 200–2, 204,
206–10, 212, 215–17, 219–20, 222,
224–29, 232, 236; and
“Emmett Till complex,” 211
Berendt, Joachim, 141
Berkeley Folk Festival, 97–98
Berlin, Irving, 104
Berry, Chuck, 67
“Better Watch Yourself,” 310n89. See also “Stop Drinking”
“Big Mama Jump,” 47
Bihari brothers, 48; and Joe Bihari, 66
Bishop, Elvin, 67
Bizor, Billy, 27, 123, 125, 158, 163–64, 178, 180, 184–85
“Black Cat,” 58
“Black Cat Bone,” 114
“Black Gal What Makes Your Head So Hard,” 35
“Black Hannah,” 136
Black Orpheus (film), 159
black vaudeville, 22–23
Blanchard, Carolyn, 34
Blank, Les, x, 174–78, 180, 235
Bleyer, Archie, 110
blues, 82, 94, 236; blues singers, romanticizing of, 84; and jazz, 69–70, 95; in New York, 133;
popularity of, 57, 60
The Blues According to Lightnin’
Hopkins (film), xi, 42, 178–80, 233
The Blues in East Texas (recording), 92
Blues in My Bottle (recording), 117
“Blues in My Mind,” 26
“Blues for Queen Elizabeth,” 87–88
blues revival, 95, 128–29; as
romantic movement, 96
Bluesville Records, 107, 300n44
“Boar Hog Blues,” 25–26, 29–30
Boicel, Doudou, 205–6, 221
Bond, Jimmy, 149
Bonner, Weldon “Juke Boy,” 216, 232
Booker, James, 208
bootlegging, 25
Box, Anna Mae, xiii, 16, 28, 38–39, 224–25, 227–29
Box, Bertha, 224–25
Bradley, Andy, 51
Bramhall, Doyle, 43, 213–15
Braverman, Jack, 64
Brians, Robin Hood, 149–50
Bromberg, Bruce, 189
Broonzy, Big Bill, 30, 41, 56, 70, 79, 84
Broven, John, 112
Brown, Andrew, 96, 98, 119, 126, 293n38
Brown, Buster, 131
Brown, Danny, 213
Brown, “Texas” Johnny, 40, 50, 53, 59, 62, 232
Bruynoghe, Yannick, 117
Bucks, Jabo, 12
“Buddy Brown’s Blues,” 118
“Bud Russell Blues,” 181. See also
“Penitentiary Blues”
Bullock, Dr. Henry Allen, 86
Burks, Pinetop, 32
“Burnin’ in L.A.,” 196
Burton, Aaron, 222–23
Butler, Wild Child, 186–88
Byers, Bill, 81
Bynum, Kyla, 79, 82, 85
Cadena, Ozzie, 107, 109
Cahn, Jesse, 139
Cahn, Rolf, 120
“California Mudslide (and Earthquake),” 189
“California Showers,” 122, 196
Camp Logan, 32
Candid Records, 110
“Can’t Do Like You Used To,” 43
Cantor, Louis, 66
Carroll, Fred, 185
Carson, Fiddlin’ John, 7
“Cemetery Blues,” 63
Centerville (Texas), 1, 13, 179–80
Chambers, Joe, 100
Charles, Antoinette, xi, xiii, 90–91, 93, 109, 113, 118–19, 124, 128, 144, 153–54, 160, 163, 165–66, 169–70, 172, 175, 183, 188, 194, 197, 200, 202, 207, 216, 220, 222, 224–29, 231
Charles, Leonard, 202
Charters, Ann, 70
Charters, Samuel, 42, 69, 78, 83–84, 92–93, 95, 126–28, 146, 157, 203–4, 235, 298n64; and Lightnin’ Hopkins, 70–76, 81–82; undermining of, by Mack
McCormick, 90–91
Chatman, Bo, 23
Chatman, Sam, 23
Chenier, Cleveland, 90, 119, 137, 169, 179
Chenier, Clifton, 90, 119, 169, 218, 221, 302–3n11
“Chicken Minnie,” 305n12
Chitlin’ Circuit, 23, 57
Choates, Harry, 46, 57
civil rights movement, 133
Clancy Brothers, 298n53; with Tommy Makem, 104
Clay, Francis, 191
Clearwater, Eddie, 222
“Coffee Blues,” 59, 61, 116
Cohen, David, 195
Cohn, Lawrence, 130
Collins, Albert, 228, 232
“Come Go with Me,” 75
“Come On, Baby, Come Home with Me,” 144
Connors, B. J., 97
“Contrary Mary,” 71
“Conversation Blues,” 109
Conversation with the Blues (Oliver), 103
Cooks, Donald, 62, 64, 123
“Coon Is Hard to Catch,” 119
Cooper, Rob, 32
Copeland, Johnny, 232
Corry, John, 232
country blues, 41, 46, 56, 84, 87
Country Blues (recording), 87, 89
The Country Blues (Charters), 73, 84, 95, 157
country suppers, 6–7
Crawford, Don, 149
Crowe, H. M., 64, 293n38
Crudup, Arthur “Big Boy,” 41, 47
Cullum, Lola Ann, 40–42, 44–45, 93, 108, 119, 146, 301n81, 301n82
Cullum, Dr. Samuel J., 40
Cushing, Steve, 222–23
Daily, H. W. “Pappy,” 119
Dallas (Texas): Deep Ellum neighborhood in, 22
Dane, Barbara, 99–100, 125, 131, 138–40, 145, 191
Darin, Bobby, 168–69
Davis, Carl, 23
Davis, Duke, 184–85
Davis, Reverend Gary, 147, 149
Davis, Oscar, xii
Davis, Uel L., 10
Dawkins, Ray, xiv, 1, 2, 9, 17–18, 44
“DC-7,” 118
“Death Bells,” 225
Decca Records, 62, 64
“Deceitful Blues,” 26
De Menil, Christophe, 218–20
De Menil, Dominique, 204–5
DeSanto, Sugar Pie, 141
“Devil Is Watching You,” 119
Diddley, Bo, 67
&nb
sp; “The Dirty Dozens,” 89–90
Distler, Marian, 92
Ditzell, Steve, 221
Dixon, Willie, 141, 143, 147–48, 222
D’Lugoff, Art, 104, 114, 133
Dobell, Doug, 87
Donnell, Delmar, 113
“Don’t Need No Job,” 64
“Don’t Think ‘Cause You’re Pretty,” 64–65. See also “Ida Mae”
“Don’t Wanna Be Baptized,” 193
Dougherty, Gordon, 134
Down Home Blues (recording), 137, 145
Down South Summit Meetin’ (recording), 101
dozens, 89–90
“Drinkin’ Wine Spodee-O-Dee,” 117
Duke/Peacock Records, 52
Dunbar, Rob, 13
Dupree, C. A., 34
Dylan, Bob, 147–48, 156
Earle, Steve, 232
Eggers, Kevin, 190
El Dorado Ballroom, 33–34, 39
Electric Mud (recording), 192
Elliott, Rambling Jack, 120, 194
Elizabeth II, 87–88
Englelow, G. R., 3
Estes, Sleepy John, 47, 141
“Ethel Mae,” 56
“European Blues,” 37
Evans, Belton, 107, 109
Evans, Fallon, 166
“Fan It,” 75
Filene, Benjamin, 84
“Fishing Clothes,” 149
floating lyrics, ix, 12
folk revival, vii, 70, 95, 129; acoustic sound, championing of, 93–94
Folkways Records, 70, 81, 90–93, 203, 298n64
Foster, Pops, 133
Foster, Preston, 113
Four Chords and Seven Years Ago (recording), 310n89
“Fox Chase,” 184
Frankenstein, Alfred, 98
Freedom Records, 294n47
Freedom Riders, 133
Free Form Patterns (recording), 184, 185, 187
“Freight Train Blues,” 80. See also “Hobo Blues”
Fuller, Jesse, 131
Fulson, Lowell, 29, 131
Funderburgh, Anson, 212–14, 232
Gabriel, Lee, 5–6, 8
Ganz, Isabelle, 85
Gardner, Ida Mae, 17–18
Gardner, Peter, 129
Garrett, Joe, 190
Gaskin, Leonard, 107, 109
Gaslight Club, 148
Gerson, Skip, 174, 175, 177, 180
Gibbons, Billy, ix, 227, 232
Gillespie, Dizzy, 174, 175
Gillette, Pip, xiii
Ginther, Noble, 184, 185
“Give Me Central 209,” 59–61. See also “Hello Central, Give Me Heaven”
“Give Me Time to Think,” 184
Glenn, John, 123
“Glory Be,” 113
“Go Down Ol’ Hannah,” 89
Goin’ Away (recording), 120, 127, 132
“Goin’ Back to Florida,” 76
“Going Home Blues (Going Back and Talk to Mama),” 2
Goldberg, Joe, 109
Gold Star Records, 46, 48–51, 55, 57–58
Goldstein, Kenneth S., 117
“Good Morning, Little School Girl,” 36, 124, 310n89
“Goodnight Irene,” 70
“Got to Move Your Baby,” 108
The Great Electric Show and Dance (recording), 192, 304n56
Green, Debbie, 120
Greenhill, Manny, 111
Greenhill, Mitch, 111–12, 145
Greenspun, Roger, 180
Grossman, Albert, 147
Grubbs, Jimmie Lee, 79
Guggenheim, Diane (aka Diane Hamilton), 89, 298n53
Gulf Records, 46
“Had a Gal Named Sal,” 64
Hall, Michael, 211
Hammond, John, 70, 216
Hancock, Hunter, 66–67
Handy, W. C., 40
Hansen, Barry, 195
“Happy Blues for John Glenn,” 123
“Happy New Year,” 63
Harlem, 133
Harlem Holiday (radio program), 66
Harlem Matinee (radio program), 66
Harold, Dr. Cecil, xi, xiii, 53, 183–84, 188, 200–1, 203–4, 209, 224–25, 227, 233
Harris, John “Fat Jack,” 22
Harris, Peppermint (Harrison D. Nelson), 45, 58
Harris, Sammy, 33
Harrison, Olin, 122
Harvesters, 104
Hawes, Bess Lomax, 98–99
Hayes, Lee, 104
Helfer, Edwin, 222
“Hello Central, Give Me Heaven,” 61, 116, 299n21. See also “Give Me Central 209”
Henry, Eddie, 45, 294n47, 295n61
The Henry Miller Odyssey (documentary), 171
Hentoff, Nat, 70–71, 105, 110, 116
Herald Records, 64–65, 115
Herman, Michael “Hawkeye,” ix
Herridge, Robert, 110
Hess, Bennie, 46
Hess, Norbert, 208
Heywood, Eddie, 23
“Highway Blues,” 63
Hill, Rocky, 226, 227
A History of Leon County (Gates and Fox), 3, 12
“Hobo Blues,” 80. See also “Freight Train Blues”
Hoefer, George, 104
Hofheinz, Roy, 35
Hofstein, Francis, xii, 141, 142
Hogg, Andrew “Smokey,” 56
Holford, Bill, 59, 64–65, 87, 122, 149, 187, 304n56
Holley, Albert, 8
Holt, John, 151, 152
Homage à Lightnin’ Hopkins (television program), 208
“Hoochie Coochie Man,” 66
hoodoo, 113
Hooker, John Lee, 47, 56–57, 59, 61, 84, 151, 167, 204, 205, 218–19, 235
hootenannies, 78–79, 85, 296n23
Hootenanny at the Alley, 78–80
Hootin’ the Blues (recording), 130
Hopkins, Abe, 3; murder of, 4
Hopkins, Abe Jr., 3
Hopkins, Alice, 3
Hopkins, Charles Lewis, 228
Hopkins, Emma, 227
Hopkins, Frances, xiii, 3, 4, 17, 37, 42, 125, 288n11
Hopkins, Joel, xiii, 3, 8–10, 125, 135–36, 164
Hopkins, John Henry, 3, 5, 8, 135–36
Hopkins, Lucien, 36
Hopkins, Oland, xii–xiii
Hopkins, Sam “Lightnin,’” 29, 47, 59, 61–63, 69, 88, 90, 107–11, 113, 119–20, 131, 138, 144, 150, 170, 181–82, 185–86, 189–92, 195, 197, 202–3, 213–14, 231, 297n37, 298n64, 299n21; airplane disasters, mental record-keeping of, 118; air travel, dread of, 140–41; on Aladdin, 43–45, 48–50; Alexander, Texas, influence on, 30; Alexander, Texas, traveling with, 24–26; appeal of, 52–53, 114; and black audiences, 121–22, 147, 196; on the blues, 11–12; and blues revival, 96–97, 128; boyhood of, 1, 3–8; broke, complaints of, 153; brothers, recording with, 135–36; in California, 98–100, 196; in Canada, 205, 206, 221; car accident, 194; as caricature, 215; at Carnegie Hall, 105, 218–20; cash payments, preference for, 91; in chain gang, 13–15, 27; character of, 19; and Samuel Charters, 71–76, 81–82; clothing of, 164; contracts, disregard of, 48, 112, 135, 188, 201; “country bumpkin,” dressed as, 99; death of, 225–26; discography of, 95–96, 151–52, 237–38, 240; discovery of, 41–42; documentary on, 175–80; drinking of, 82–83, 153–54, 184; education of, as minimal, 44; electric guitar, denigration of, 93–94; as enigma, x; European tour, 208; floating verses, use of, ix, 12; flying, hatred of, 118; as folk artist, 83, 106; as folk hero, 42; and Folkways, 90–93; at fraternity party, 134; funeral of, 226–28; gambling, fondness for, 5, 13, 28–29, 153; at Gaslight Club, 148; on Gold Star, 46, 48–50, 55; Grammy nomination, 198; as guitar collector, 220–21; guitar playing of, 8–9; health of, 126, 216, 220; Herald sessions, 67; Herald sessions, as watershed, 64; as high maintenance, 98; in Houston, 35–36, 38–39, 54, 199–200, 216; as icon, 173; illness of, 223–25; improvisation of, viii, x, 103, 105; in Japan, 208–10; Blind Lemon Jefferson, meeting with, 9–11; legacy of, 146, 232–36; as legend, 204; local following of, 52–53, 67; marriage of, 16; and Ma
ck McCormick, 76–81, 83, 87, 89, 124–28; memory of, 12; in Mexico, 222; on Modern, 58; mood swings of, 207; mother, importance of to, 125–26; as musically versatile, 139; as nationally known, 56; nickname of, xiv, 43; performances, descriptions of, 142–43, 205, 215, 302–3n11; persona of, 15; personality of, 217–19, 227; personal life of, 124–25; and J. J. Phillips, 155, 157–69, 171–72; physical appearance of, 16; rediscovery, myth of, 82–83, 115; romanticizing of, 84; royalties of, 229–30; self-mythologizing of, 233; signature sound of, ix; and social protest, 86; songs, selling rights of, 60, 152, 238; and talking blues, 133; temper of, 15; and Texas blues tradition, vii, ix; touring, dislike of, 57, 68; touring of, 132–34, 149, 188, 192, 193, 215; victim, self-portrayal as, 15, 37; at Village Gate, 107, 114, 130, 132–33; virtuosity of, viii, 18; white audiences, performing for, 80, 100–1, 112, 117, 122, 137, 145, 183, 218, 234; whites, distrust of, 68, 129, 211–12; wife, as term, loose attitude toward, 18, 38; will of, 228–29
“Hopkins Sky Hop,” 64–65
House Committee for Un-American Activities, 104
House, Son, 147, 190
Houston (Texas): African Americans in, 31–33, 86, 293n39; black music scene in, 52; Creole population in, 51; Dowling Street in, 33, 36, 39, 199, 304n61; Fifth Ward in, 32–33, 86; Fourth Ward in, 32, 86; marching bands in, 33; racism in, as rampant, 32, 84–86; Third Ward in, 33–35, 52–54, 86, 199
Houston, Cisco, 111, 114
Houston Folklore Group, 69, 79, 81, 92, 97
Howlin’ Wolf, 141, 219
“Howling Wolf Blues,” 49
Hughes, Joe, 232
Hurt, Mississippi John, 145, 147
“I Can’t Stay Here in Your Town,” 239. See also “Rocky Mountain Blues”
“Ida Mae,” 17, 64–65. See also “Don’t Think ‘Cause You’re Pretty”
“I Feel So Bad,” 43
“I’m Going to Build Me a Heaven of My Own,” 151
“I’m Wild about You Baby,” 63
International Artists Records, 184, 306n23
It’s a Sin to Be Rich (recording), 307n60
“I’ve Been ‘Buked (and Scorned),” 11
“I’ve Got My Mojo Working,” 113
“I Worked Down on the Chain Gang,” 14
Jackson, J. J., 209
Jackson, John, xiii
Jackson, Lil’ Son, 56, 58, 295n61
Jackson, Rayfield, 67
“Jackstropper Blues,” 58
Jack Yates High School, 33
“Jail House Blues,” 14, 55, 239
“Jake Head Boogie,” 58
James, Clifton, 141
James, Elmore, 131
James, Skip, 147, 307n34
Jax Records, 62
Jazzman (Ramsey and Smith), 70
Alan Govenar Page 42