This time, James pictured himself as part of the nameless, mortal multitude, among “many a thousand trying to get home.”, Spottswood later found out that James died that afternoon. He said, “No, but one night I was over at Benny Simmons’ barbershop, and this crazy old man came in drunk and claimed he used to make records with piano and guitar up North’….That had to be him.”. But James’ attempts at reform—being ordained in his father’s church, even singing in a traveling gospel quartet—didn’t last. Hard Time Killing Floor Blues #2. There, the first song he performed was “Devil Got My Woman,” partly inspired by a girlfriend who’d deserted James for his best friend. “She told me there was a fella on the plantation who wanted to screw her, and she didn’t want anything to do with him. “Unlike Hurt, he wasn’t a happy person, and when he drank he would become vicious.”. Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James (June 9, 1902 – October 3, 1969)[1] was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter. Very few original copies of James's Paramount 78 rpm records have survived. Cypress Grove Blues #10. Her jaw quivering, she said that James had disappeared. He saw music as a hobby, whether performing on a street corner or in a barroom. Mable’s stories fascinated Talbot; he especially remembers a confession she made as her husband napped on the porch. Hurt—who’d never considered himself a bluesman to begin with—presented material already familiar to the crowd, which knew his 1928 tunes from a popular Folkways compilation, Anthology of American Folk Music. Hard Time Killing Floor Blues Tab by Skip James with free online tab player. The blues revival was launched. James is, of course, overshadowed by the most famous bluesman of them all: Robert Johnson. Writer Peter Guralnick, transfixed by the dramatic comeback, described the scene in his book Feel Like Going Home: Portraits in Blues and Rock ‘n’ Roll: Skip James appeared, looking gaunt and a little hesitant, his eyes unfocused and wearing a black suit and a wide-brimmed flat-topped preacher’s hat that gave him as unearthly an appearance as his records had led us to suspect he had….As the first notes floated across the field, as the voice soared over us, the piercing falsetto set against the harsh cross-tuning of the guitar, there was a note of almost breathless expectation in the air. The slow, mournful dirge hooked Spottswood. But this time, his only visitors were Mable and Louisa Spottswood. Spottswood, though, favored the older acoustic music made strictly by and for rural Southern blacks. Robert Johnson also recorded in this tuning, his "Hell Hound on My Trail" being based on James's "Devil Got My Woman. Washington—the site of James’ supposed comeback—turned out to be just like any other town: a place for Skippy James to leave behind. James had often been curt with his rough, “country” wife. “At the time, I didn’t have a very good car,” he remembers. James’ music was as raw and as evil as it comes, and his songs exerted a kind of gravitational pull—first on Johnson, and later on Spottswood’s young suburbanites. But in July, the trio got a break. Accordingly, Duck is called the "last of the Bentonia Bluesmen."[17]. HARD TIME KILLING FLOOR BLUES FROM "O' BROTHER WHERE ART THOU? In 1990, a box set of Johnson’s records charted on the Billboard Top 100; that same set won a Grammy and sold more than 350,000 copies. Hard Time Killing Floor Blues by Skip James Chords Different Versions Chords, Tab, Tabs. All three met with critical acclaim, and all three logged disappointing sales. “If I got caught, I’d just have to depend on her to explain that I was deceived.” (She later did.). “And in terms of public acceptance, that was not true, and that was too bad.”. He sounded like someone possessed, a one-man Southern Gothic drama. He hung out with the musicians who congregated there from all over Mississippi, and came to see himself as more than a mere entertainer. Backstage, he criticized Hurt’s technique and offered him guitar lessons. As the girl waited in the car, Hoskins knocked on the front door. James was born near Bentonia, Mississippi. His cancer continued to spread, and in late ’68, doctors removed his testicles and the remains of his penis. Spottswood began to see the many sides of his houseguest. [4] Several other recordings from the Grafton session, such as "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues", "Devil Got My Woman", "Jesus Is a Mighty Good Leader", and "22-20 Blues" (the basis of Robert Johnson's better-known "32-20 Blues"),[5] have been similarly influential. “The pain just got too bad,” explains Louisa. In 1994, 25 years after his death, Skip James achieved a measure of the stardom he considered was his rightful due. Hoskins, a novice guitar player, preferred sweeter, more polished music than that of James and Johnson. James didn’t need much prodding. In fact, he admired his first musical mentor, a whorehouse pianist, as much for his fancy clothes and stable of prostitutes as for his keyboard mastery. [3] On the strength of this audition, James traveled to Grafton, Wisconsin, to record for Paramount. While ensconced in all-white, well-to-do Arlington, James didn’t much ramble around the neighborhood. "[1] James's classically informed fingerpicking style was fast and clean, using the entire register of the guitar, with heavy, hypnotic bass lines. Download original Guitar Pro tab. Terms & Conditions I said, “I’d be happy to take you to Mardi Gras, and after that, I want to go up to Mississippi and see if I can find somebody.’ ”, After the pair made it to New Orleans, Hoskins phoned a friend back east and discovered that police had posted a 26-state alarm for him on charges of kidnapping, grand theft auto, and violating the Mann Act: His companion, he found out, was only 17, and the Dodge belonged to her father. The Yazoo label released a CD of his 1931 classics, Complete Early Recordings; distributor Shanachie reports that it’s already sold several thousand copies. It was covered by Noah Preminger, The … He had gone north to seek fame once before. Now, though, he found himself listening to one of James’ ’60s gospel songs—one of the few spirituals James had recorded. ‘Cause nothing but the devil changed my baby’s mind. Skip could be sunshine, or thunder and lightning depending on his whim of the moment". Play online or download to listen offline free - in HD audio, only on JioSaavn. Spottswood saw the artistry in James’ performance, but was also realistic about the bluesman’s potential commercial appeal: “I’m sure many in the audience found Skip James eminently ignorable.”. Music [9], In 2004, Wim Wenders directed the film The Soul of a Man (the second part of The Blues, a series produced by Martin Scorsese), focusing on the music of Blind Willie Johnson, J.B. Lenoir and James. Hard Time Killing Floor Blues I Ain't Running (Mat Callahan & Yvonne Moore) Labor Of Love Let Me Stay Natural Woman One More Time (Mat Callahan & Yvonne Moore) Rise Up (Mat Callahan & Yvonne Moore) Running Behind My Own Life Shake It Sneakin' Through The Country Stilli Wasser (Polo Hofer und die Schmetterband mit Yvonne Moore & Paula Wittwer)