by Preserve Maxwell Street. Send us <mar@interaccess.com> any info you have about Papa Charlie Jackson.
Papa Charlie Jackson played on Maxwell Street in the 1920s and 1930s. He recorded Maxwell Street Blues in 1926.
First read this short essay on Papa Charlie Jackson by The Blue Flame Café.
Then read below excerpts from Al Handa's, THE COLORED ARISTOCRACY "An Informal Essay on the Blues Banjo". <The full essay is on http://www.island.net/~blues/2_94.html>. Al Handa operates the Delta Snake Daily Blues.
Also below, read excerpts from Chris Smith's CD liner notes for Papa Charlie Jackson, Vol. 1 - 1924-1926.
Background - The Blues Banjo <by Al Handa>
The banjo is considered the only truly native American instrument by most experts. The idea of using a drum as a soundbox over which strings are plucked or picked is actually a universal one. For example, the Japanese counterpart would be the shamisen. However, in terms of what became the banjar in America, the origin can be traced back from the then Moslem-controlled northern regions of Africa. It was called the "Bania."
A Bania was a three-stringed instrument constructed out of hollow- ed out gourds. The skin used to cover the hollow part were made from any available animal. Pig or possum skins became the most common later on in the American South.
As with any device made by man (and not patented), there were variants. Some altered the gourd and made it larger, and some increased the number of strings.
In the 1700's, the Moslem controlled northern regions of Africa also meant another thing. The slave trade. Some of those unfortunates shipped to the Southern states included bania players and makers. That is pretty much how the early versions of the instrument made it to America.
The reason for the popularity of the instrument is obvious (that is, unless you hate banjo). It has a bright, attractive tone that lends itself well to up tempo numbers. It is also a very loud instrument, and in an age without PA systems and amplifiers, a very suitable one for gatherings and dances. …
The 1920's was the last hurrah of the banjo soloist in the popular Black music culture. The 4-string, or tenor banjo continued to be used in jazz bands as part of the rhythm section, but the guitar and piano be- replaced the 5 string banjo as the common accompaniment to the solo performer.
There wasn't a sudden decline, though. The banjo player entered the decade as a strong commercial force. Many of the hot players were found playing what was called the "Hokum" style, which typically sung the praises of hot wieners wrapped in tight buns. To the further chagrin of modern Afrocentric scholars, this street poetry was often accompanied by a lot of mugging and eye rolling that later entered the canon of offensive images for sophisticated Blacks and assorted liberals. Perhaps not as offensive as a modern Heavy-metal star with spandex pants and no panty-lines, but these things aren't merely a matter of degree.
On record, and stripped of it's images, the Hokum was actually a very entertaining (in a saucy sort of way) and humorous form. Except when the kazoos come in, then it can border on massively irritating.
Papa Charlie Jackson and the Banjo <by Al Handa>
The first commercially successful self-accompanied artist in the "race field" was Papa Charlie Jackson, who played a banjo strung like a guitar. His style had a jazz flavor, featuring lightning fast chording that would make Kenny Burrell look twice.
Charlie incorporated a variety of melodic devices. One song would start with single note runs (flatpick style) and fingerpicking patterns and then fly into chords played so fast that it seemed like the rhythm was actually the melody line. He was probably one of the most technically proficient artists of his time in any genre.
His biggest hit was "Shake That Thing," which was covered by numerous artists since. My favorite is probably Lightning Hopkin's version. Bela Fleck fans who hears this song might find that eclectic jazz-flavor- ed banjo isn't such a new thing after all.
Jackson, and others like him are often called "songsters" or "entertainers." Which is a polite way of saying that he isn't considered a "real" blues artist. I doubt if he'd have disagreed. In those days, a "blues" was just style of song in a varied set of performances. His vision reached considerably further than the Delta.
That range included ragtime, show pieces, blues (in the jazz sense), and hokum-derived material. One song, "Feather Bed," has a vocal line that clearly became "Rock Island Line" in it's modern form.
The recording boom of the 20's began to fade towards the 30's, and by the 40's, a definite shakedown occurred. One of the hardest hit was hokum and pretty much anything to do with the banjo. The Black culture was moving on, and the banjo fell out of favor.
Excerpts from Chris Smith's CD liner notes for Papa Charlie Jackson, Vol. 1 - 1924-1926
I was walkin' down Morgan, stopped on Maxwell Street,
I asked the desk sergeant, what police brought my gal in offa the street.
--
I stood and talked to the desk sergeant, till he went fast asleep,
'Cause I knew my mama got arrested on Maxwell Street.
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Lord, I'm talkin' about the wagon, talkin' 'bout the push cart too,
'Cause Maxwell Street's so crowded, on a Sunday you can hardly pass through.
--
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.
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There's Maxwell Street Market, South Water Street Market too,
If you ain't got no money, the womens got nothing for you to do.
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I got the Maxwell Street blues, mama, and it just won't hay,
'Cause the Maxwell Street women, gonna carry me to my grave.
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I live six twenty-four (Maxwell), mama, and I'm talkin' to you,
But I swear I don't want the dooly, dooly, dooly outa you.
You can hear Papa Charlie Jackson on Papa Charlie Jackson Vol. 1, 2, & 3 - Document Recordings, Vienna Austria.
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