Copyrighted. Rights are owned by the African American Museum & Library at Oakland. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the Copyright Holder. In addition, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Description
Part 1 : description: Silence [00:00]; J.B. Long, Blind Boy Fuller, and the dog song [00:05]; Women and blues lyrics, slave society [01:49]; Salvation in religion, resentment in his blues lyrics [05:15]; Giving up on religion [12:19]; J.B. Long, Blind Boy Fuller, and Old Red [15:43]; Song, "Me and my dog blues," blues lyrics [18:00]; Stopped using dirty lyrics in his songs [19:25]; "Love, truth, and confidence had a talk one day" [21:11]; Origin of songs, "My fault," "Don't dog your woman" [24:15]; Origin of song, "Me and my dog" [30:07]; Hitchhiking, preaching, and singing spirituals in West Virginia [33:36]; J.B. Long recognizing the importance of Brownie's ability to read and write [37:26]; Recording on acetate records, J.B. Long's approach to making records [41:09]; J.B. Long not copyrighting his songs [44:25]; Columbia and Okeh Records [45:35]; Recording with Elmer Lee Thomas [46:12] Part 2 description: Silence [00:00]; Elmer Lee Thomas [00:03]; Finished performing on stage [03:20]; Hearing himself sing on records, voice training [08:49]; Childhood dream of growing up to be a lawyer [12:35]; Earning money making music, song "Death of Blind Boy Fuller" [13:40]; Elmer Lee Thomas [15:05]; Difficulty with fingers playing instruments [16:40]; Song, "Baseball boogie" used in Jackie Robinson documentary [22:06]; Brownie calls daughter on telephone [23:49]; [Elmer Lee Thomas enters][28:48]; Touring Australia with Sonny Terry [30:05]; Fly Fish Records, Arhoolie Records [32:30]; Recording on 78 vinyl records, recording in New York City, music business [34:20]; Prestige and Atlantic Records, blues scene in New York City [40:30]; Offer to perform with the Ray-O-Vacs at Apollo Theater [41:50]; Song, "Baseball boogie" [43:17]; Performing music on street and in clubs [45:57]; Blues as the only American music [47:50] Part 3 description: Silence [00:00]; "Baseball boogie," blues is truth [00:04]; Deal with Muddy Waters on song, "Blues had a baby and called it rock and roll" [03:00]; Arhoolie Records, price to perform [12:40]; John Lee Hooker [17:30]; Brook Benton [20:18]; Junior Parker [23:35]; Takes telephone call [25:07]; Silence, discussing photocopies in background [30:00]; Sticks McGhee song, "Globetrotter" [31:12] Part 4 description: Silence [00:00]; Guitar playing, Elmer Lee Thomas band, club owners [00:04]; Did not allow dancing during his performances [01:13]; Sonny Terry didn't like playing music with a microphone [02:40]; Performing with Sonny Terry [03:20]; First song played with Sonny Terry "Stranger blues" [04:07]; Elmer Lee Thomas playing guitar [daughter enters with groceries][04:52]; Fear of performing live [09:22]; Appearance on television show Family Ties, Bill Cosby opening for Sonny and Brownie at The Purple Onion [10:27]; Richard Pryor opening for him and Sonny [12:20]; Touring with Harry Belafonte, Bonny Raitt [13:52]; Josh White and Harry Belafonte [22:50]; Song, "Pick a bail of cotton" [24:36]; Favorite song, "Born and livin' with the blues" [26:56]; Songs, "Betty and Dupree," "Careless love," and "St. Louis blues" [29:05]; Blues is truth [31:30] Part 5 description: Silence [00:00], Recording of song, "The blues had a baby" [00:10], Inspiration for song, "When the wind blows" [01:15], Recordin for Herman Lubenski and Decca Records [06:55], Recording with Hal "Cornbread" Singer [10:25], B.B. King and blues musicians touring Europe [12:12], Josh White [13:50], Josh White and Leadbelly at the Apollo, performing in prison cell at the Apollo [15:13], Lomax's presentation of Leadbelly to white and black audiences [16:40], Importance of J.B. Long and record managers in his music career [22:35] Part 6 description: Silence [00:00]; Playing guitar [00:02]; Son House [01:18]; Discussing his guitars [03:15]; Changes in recording technologies [08:45]; Muddy Waters last album, song "The blues had a baby and they named it rock and roll" [12:00]; Rap music [15:00]; Origin of song, "Auto mechanic blues" [15:50]; Robert Johnson's song, "Terraplane blues" [19:28]; Father though jazz was a dirty word [21:25]; Letter to record label asking Brownie to clean up his lyrics [22:00]; Singing song, "Wholesale and retail," censored on the radio [23:00]; Discusses song, "Dr. Brownie's famous cure" [25:44]; Tampa Red and Georgia Tom, rap music [27:12]; Janis Joplin letter asking for permission to cover song, "Go down slow" [31:11]; New Zealand Nescafe commercial [37:35]; Radio stations, chili [39:12]
African American Museum and Library at Oakland California Revealed is supported by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian.
If you're wondering about permissions and what you can do with this item, a good starting point is the "rights information" on this page. See our terms of use for more tips.
Share your story
Has Calisphere helped you advance your research, complete a project, or find something meaningful? We'd love to hear about it; please send us a message.
