Pickin' the Blues

[John Bravin]

Some more finger pickin' research. There's no knowing when it was
written, but Pickin' the Blues was recorded by:

Chet Atkins in 1954
Elmore James in New York City in late 1962 or early 1963 with Elmore
James: vocal/guitar; Walking Willie: piano
Cowboy Copas in 1966

BUT intriguingly

Memphis Minnie (Minnie McCoy) Louisiana blues singer and guitarist
recorded Pickin' the Blues in 1931.  Songs of hers include "Pickin' the
Blues", and "Bumble Bee" (evolved by others such as Waters, Muddy into
"Honey Bee"). It's not exactly the same song, but is close enough to
influence the others.  Go to
http://www.ladysixstring.com/artists/blues/MemphisMinnie/ and follow the
links to listen to Playing the Blues 2. Don't miss out, she sounds
amazing.

Minnie was born in 1897 and started recording in 1920
James started playing at the age of 10 in 1928, and recording in 1951.
Copas started playing in 1940 and recording in 1946
Atkins was born in 1924 and started recording in 1952

My guess is Pickin' the Blues pre-dates Memphis Minnie, and was just a
traditional blues song which evolved.

John Bravin

----- Original Message -----
From: "Martin Wheatley" <martinw@...>
To: <peel@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: 08 November 2001 18:52

> None of the information on 'Pickin' The Blues' is inconsistent
> Most of Elmore James' recordings regardless of who happened to get the
> copyright were electric versions of preexisting material
> Cowboy Copas was a well known name in the late 40s and 50s and got a
lot of
> radio on things like the Oprey.  Given that 'Pickin' The Blues' is
exactly
> the sort
> of tune that people would have used to learn guitar (you play it very
> slowly and then gradually get faster!) it probably became commonly
known
> and Elmore James could easily have picked it up -
> The timing is right - written and recorded by Copas and then recorded
by
> Elmore James is quite likely