Wednesday, September 24, 2003
I met Curtis on the Commons Sunday. I was putting up flyers for the open mic and he was sitting under one of the small pavilions playing his dobro. I sat down and listened to him play while I ate my lunch. One of the songs he played was "Baby Please Don't Go", of which I know the popular versions by Them and the Amboy Dukes, but this was an old fingerpicked blues version. When the song ended I asked Curtis whose version he was playing and he replied, in his slow southern drawl:
"I learned the song from a gentleman by the name of Bukka White, but the original I believe was by a fella named Big Joe Williams."
Bukka White?
"You knew Bukka White?"
"I lived with him for several months back in the seventies, back when Gus Cannon was still around. And Furry Lewis."
"How did you come to know those guys?"
"I knew where they lived and I just went over and introduced myself. No one really bothered them around that time in Memphis. You could just go up and knock on their door."
I didn't get a chance to find out more before I had to leave, but I was fascinated. Maybe he'll elaborate next time I see him. I'm looking forward to hearing his stories.
"I learned the song from a gentleman by the name of Bukka White, but the original I believe was by a fella named Big Joe Williams."
Bukka White?
"You knew Bukka White?"
"I lived with him for several months back in the seventies, back when Gus Cannon was still around. And Furry Lewis."
"How did you come to know those guys?"
"I knew where they lived and I just went over and introduced myself. No one really bothered them around that time in Memphis. You could just go up and knock on their door."
I didn't get a chance to find out more before I had to leave, but I was fascinated. Maybe he'll elaborate next time I see him. I'm looking forward to hearing his stories.
