{"id":3020,"date":"2018-02-26T22:14:40","date_gmt":"2018-02-27T04:14:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/?p=3020"},"modified":"2018-02-26T22:14:40","modified_gmt":"2018-02-27T04:14:40","slug":"bukka-white-and-the-record-companies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/2018\/02\/26\/bukka-white-and-the-record-companies\/","title":{"rendered":"Bukka White and the Record Companies"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 1939, John and Ruby Lomax spent several months traveling the south and made literally hundreds of recordings for the Library of Congress\u2019s Music Division.\u00a0After spending a while aimlessly pouring through vast quantities of these recordings, I decided to read the Library of Congress site\u2019s general overview of the entire expedition. Under the section chronicling the couple\u2019s time recording in Mississippi, I came across the line \u201ccountry blues artist Booker T. Washington (“Bukka”) White, known at this time as Washington “Barrel House” White\u201d.1<\/sup><\/a> The bit \u201ccountry blues\u201d stuck out to me because record companies in the 1920\u2019s and 30\u2019s were largely labeling white artists as \u201ccountry\u201d and black artists as \u201cblues\u201d. But the other thing that attracted me was the way in which White was referenced- as though I should know who he was. I didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Naturally, I set out to find out a little bit more about Mr. White and discovered that his story illustrates the role that recording played on the labeling of Southern \u201cfolk\u201d music.<\/p>\n

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One of the first records<\/a> White recorded with Victor in 1930. This is one of spirituals and released under the name Washington White.<\/p><\/div>\n

Prior to meeting and recording for the Lomax\u2019s, White had already recorded twice before. In 1930, several record companies were trying to tap into the \u201clucrative\u201d market for \u201crace records\u201d and were trying to record whoever they could to create records.2<\/sup><\/a> White ended up recording several sides for them, both blues and gospel songs, because the person who was supposed to record the gospel songs didn\u2019t show up to the recording session.<\/p>\n

In 1937, White was permitted to go to Chicago to record two sides before filling out his prison sentence in the Mississippi State Penitentiary.<\/span>3<\/span><\/a>\u00a0One side of this record was\u00a0<\/span>Shake \u2018Em On Down<\/a>, which became a rather popular song.<\/span><\/p>\n

John and Ruby Lomax visited the penitentiary on their trip (this was the only place that they recorded in Mississippi) and it was there, in the hallway separating the white and black sections of the prison, that White recorded two songs for them.1<\/sup><\/a> The interaction was described in the Lomax\u2019s field notes as follows: \u201cPo’ Boy\u00a0and\u00a0Sick ’em dogs on\u00a0were sung and played by Washington (Barrel House White, with guitar. Barrel Houses were his hangout in the \u201cfree world\u201d. Barrel House has made some commercial records.\u201d4<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n