Crossroads Club 27: Bukka White

Wiki Bio

Booker T. Washington White (November 12, 1909 – February 26, 1977) was a delta blues guitarist and singer. "Bukka" is not a nickname, but a misspelling of White's Christian name by his second (1937) record company (Vocalion).

Born near Houston, Mississippi, he gave his cousin B.B. King, a Stella guitar, King's first guitar. Bukka himself is remembered as a player of National Steel guitars. He also played, but was less adept at, the piano.

White started his career playing the fiddle at square dances. He claims to have met Charlie Patton early on, although some doubt has been cast upon this; regardless, Patton was a large influence on White. He typically played slide guitar, in an open tuning. He was one of the few, along with Skip James, to use a crossnote tuning in E minor, which he may have learned, as James did, from Henry Stuckey.

Bukka White - Mama Don't Allow From: bobzukowsky

He first recorded for the Victor label in 1930. His recordings for Victor, like those of many other bluesmen, fluctuated between country blues and gospel numbers. His gospel songs were done in the style of Blind Willie Johnson, with a female singer accentuating the last phrase of each line.

Nine years later, while serving time, he recorded for folklorist John Lomax. The few songs he recorded around this time became his most well-known: "Shake 'Em On Down," and "Po' Boy."Bob Dylan covered his song "Fixin' to Die Blues", which aided a "rediscovery" of White in 1963 by guitarist John Fahey and ED Denson, which propelled him onto the folk revival scene of the 1960s. White had recorded the song simply because his other songs had not particularly impressed the Victor record producer. It was a studio composition of which White had thought little until it re-emerged thirty years later. White was at one time managed by experienced Blues manager, Arne Brogger. Fahey and Denson found White easily enough: they wrote a letter to "Bukka White (Old Blues Singer), c/o General Delivery, Aberdeen, Mississippi." Fahey had assumed, given White's song, "Aberdeen, Mississippi", that White still lived there, or nearby. The postcard was forwarded to Memphis, Tennessee, where White worked in tank factory. Fahey and Denson soon travelled to meet Bukka White. He and Fahey remained friends throughout White's life and he recorded a new album for Fahey's Takoma Records. Denson became his manager.

Bukka White - Please Don't Put Your Daddy Outdoors From: SFBA4me

White was, later in life, also friends with fellow musician Furry Lewis. The two recorded, mostly in Lewis' Memphis, Tennessee apartment, an album together, Furry Lewis, Bukka White & Friends: Party! At Home.

One of his most famous songs, "Parchman Farm Blues", about the Mississippi's infamous Parchman Farm state prison, was to be released on Harry Smith's fourth, never realized, volume of the Anthology of American Folk Music. His 1937 version of the oft-recorded song, "Shake 'em on Down," is considered definitive, and became a hit while White was serving time in Parchman.

Bukka White was heavily sampled by electronic artist Recoil for the track, "Electro Blues For Bukka White", on the 1992 album, Bloodline; the song was reworked and re-released on the 2000 EP "Jezebel".

AllMusic Bio

Bukka White (true name: Booker T. Washington White) was born in Houston, Mississippi (not Houston, Texas) in 1906 (not any date between 1902-1905 or 1907-1909, as is variously reported). He got his initial start in music learning fiddle tunes from his father. Guitar instruction soon followed, but White's grandmother objected to anyone playing "that Devil music" in the household; nonetheless, his father eventually bought him a guitar. When Bukka White was 14 he spent some time with an uncle in Clarksdale, Mississippi and passed himself off as a 21-year-old, using his guitar playing as a way to attract women. Somewhere along the line, White came in contact with Delta blues legend Charley Patton, who no doubt was able to give Bukka White instruction on how to improve his skills in both areas of endeavor. In addition to music, White pursued careers in sport, playing in Negro Leagues baseball and, for a time, taking up boxing.

Bukka White - Piano Boogie From: lubitel11

In 1930 Bukka White met furniture salesman Ralph Limbo, who was also a talent scout for Victor. White traveled to Memphis where he made his first recordings, singing a mixture of blues and gospel material under the name of Washington White. Victor only saw fit to release four of the 14 songs Bukka White recorded that day. As the Depression set in, opportunity to record didn't knock again for Bukka White until 1937, when Big Bill Broonzy asked him to come to Chicago and record for Lester Melrose. By this time, Bukka White had gotten into some trouble — he later claimed he and a friend had been "ambushed" by a man along a highway, and White shot the man in the thigh in self defense. While awaiting trial, White jumped bail and headed for Chicago, making two sides before being apprehended and sent back to Mississippi to do a three-year stretch at Parchman Farm. While he was serving time, White's record "Shake 'Em on Down" became a hit.

Bukka White proved a model prisoner, popular with inmates and prison guards alike and earning the nickname "Barrelhouse." It was as "Washington Barrelhouse White" that White recorded two numbers for John and Alan Lomax at Parchman Farm in 1939. After earning his release in 1940, he returned to Chicago with 12 newly minted songs to record for Lester Melrose. These became the backbone of his lifelong repertoire, and the Melrose session today is regarded as the pinnacle of Bukka White's achievements on record. Among the songs he recorded on that occasion were "Parchman Farm Blues" (not to be confused with "Parchman Farm" written by Mose Allison and covered by John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and Blue Cheer, among others), "Good Gin Blues," "Bukka's Jitterbug Swing," "Aberdeen, Mississippi Blues," and "Fixin' to Die Blues," all timeless classics of the Delta blues. Then, Bukka disappeared — not into the depths of some Mississippi Delta mystery, but into factory work in Memphis during World War II.

Bob Dylan recorded "Fixin' to Die Blues" on his 1961 debut Columbia album, and at the time no one in the music business knew who Bukka White was — most figured a fellow who'd written a song like "Fixin' to Die" had to be dead already. Two California-based blues enthusiasts, John Fahey and Ed Denson, were more skeptical about this assumption, and in 1963 addressed a letter to "Bukka White (Old Blues Singer), c/o General Delivery, Aberdeen, Mississippi." By chance, one of White's relatives was working in the Post Office in Aberdeen, and forwarded the letter to White in Memphis.

Things moved quickly from the time Bukka White met up with Fahey and Denson; by the end of 1963 Bukka White was already recording on contract with Chris Strachwitz and Arhoolie. White wrote a new song celebrating his good fortune entitled "1963 Isn't 1962 Blues" and swiftly recorded three albums of material for Strachwitz which the latter entitled Sky Songs, referring to White's habit of "reaching up and pulling songs out of the sky." Nonetheless, even White knew he couldn't get away with making up all his material regularly in performance, so he also studied his 78s and relearned all the songs he'd written for Lester Melrose. Although Bukka White was practically the same age as other survivors of the Delta and Memphis blues scenes of the 1920s and '30s, he didn't look like someone who belonged in a nursing home. White was a sharp dresser, in the prime of health, was a compelling entertainer and raconteur, and clearly enjoyed being the center of attention. He thrived on the folk festival and coffeehouse circuit of the 1960s.
By the '70s, however, Bukka White couldn't help getting a little bored with his celebrity status as an acoustic bluesman. White's tastes had grown with the times, and he would have loved to have played an electric guitar and fronted a band, as his old acquaintance Chester Burnett (aka Howlin' Wolf) and Bukka's own cousin, B. B. King, had been already doing successfully for years. But he only needed to look at what happened to his friend Bob Dylan's career for a lesson on what happens to folk blues artists who try and "go electric." So, Bukka White stayed on the festival circuit to the end of his days, beating the hell out of his National steel guitar, and sometimes his monologues would go on a little long, and sometimes his playing was a little more willfully eccentric than at others. Patrons would wait patiently to hear Bukka play "Parchman Farm Blues," although some of them were under the mistaken impression that they had paid their money to hear an artist who had originated a number that Eric Clapton made famous.

Blues purists will tell you that nothing Bukka White recorded after 1940 is ultimately worth listening to. This isn't accurate, nor fair. White was an incredibly compelling performer who gave up of more of himself in his work than many artists in any musical discipline. The Sky Songs albums for Arhoolie are an eminently rewarding document of Bukka's charm and candor, particularly in the long monologue "Mixed Water." "Big Daddy," recorded in 1974 for Arnold S. Caplin's Biograph label, likewise is a classic of its kind and should not be neglected.

by Uncle Dave Lewis

Bukka White

by Arne Brogger

Booker T. Washington White was born in Aberdeen, Mississippi, in 1902. I first met Bukka in Memphis in 1972 when Steve LaVere and I arrived at his house on Leath Street. We were greeted by his wife (aka Big Mama, per Bukka). Asking if Bukka was around, we were told that "Big Daddy is at his office."

The Office...

Bukka's "office" was located about two blocks away. It consisted of a folding lawn chair, an orange crate perched next to it and both leaning up against the brick wall of a drug store on the shady side of the sidewalk. When we got there, Bukka was already talking to visitors and sipping a pint of bourbon "as protection against snake bite. There's a lot of snakes here'bout."I was introduced as an agent from "up north" who was interested in arranging some dates for Bukka to play. Bukka's reaction was wary and standoffish. He had obviously heard the rap before. I told him what we had in mind. We wanted to take a group of the best country blues artists living in Memphis and put them on the road. The money would be straight up and negotiated on a date-by-date basis. Bukka said he would have to hear about the money first -- before discussions went any further.

Like most musicians, Bukka had experienced his share of trouble on the money end of things in the past. This was compounded by the fact of race, and I was told obliquely but clearly that he didn't trust me, and wouldn't, until I'd delivered as promised. That was fine with me.
Over the next few months, as the dates came together, we reached an agreement and Bukka became a member of the Memphis Blues Caravan. He became a featured performer for the next ten years.

On The Bus At 5:00 a.m....

My relationship with Bukka was slow to develop, but eventually it became a friendship that I am proud of to this day. Early on he displayed himself as a man of his word. And he expected the same in return. He never had to be told twice when we were leaving, when he had to go on stage, how much time he could do. If we had a 5:00 a.m. call to leave for the next gig, Bukka was the first man on the bus.Some time into our second or third tour, he and I were talking about his life and times, who he used to work with, how he started, etc. I asked him about Parchman Farm, the Mississippi prison which was home, at one time or another, to a great many of the blues greats. He had done some time there, in addition to stints in the Memphis county jail. All were for manslaughter. "I hated to do it, but I had no choice...." Self-defense. Bukka White was not a man to trifle with.

Aberdeen Blues...

On stage, Bukka's playing was impeccable. He was introduced as the "Master of the National Steel Guitar" and he made it ring like a bell. His signature tune, "Aberdeen Blues," contained a riff which he executed with a very flashy move. Both right and left hands crossed in front of the guitar and alternated hitting the strings on the neck and the box. Audiences went nuts.One night after a show, a few of us gathered in Bukka's room. We had picked up a relief bus driver, a man named Eddie Humphries from East St. Louis, Missouri, who had joined us the day before. He had no idea what he was getting involved with. He sat quietly in the corner of the room and watched as the guitar was passed from hand to hand. The realization of what he was hearing was fascinating to watch. With each tune he moved closer to the edge of his chair. When Bukka played "Aberdeen" and hit that riff, Eddie exploded. "BUKKA! BUKKA! BUKKA!" It was 1:30 in the morning and you could hear him out to the street. After that night, Eddie sat in the front row of every performance.

Bukka White - World Boogie From: bluesindex

The Big Red Stella...

Bukka was a first cousin to B.B. King. In 1974 or so, I organized a concert at Western Illinois University in Macomb, Illinois. The show consisted of Bukka White, Muddy Waters and B.B. King. Muddy had played Detroit the night before and drove straight through to make the date. He stopped in Chicago at about 4:00 a.m. to pick up harp player Carey Bell, just to add a little weight. I have never seen musicians so psyched to play as these guys were when they showed up.Bukka opened the show, Muddy played next and B.B. closed. The show started at 8:00 and B.B. finally came down from the stage at 1:00 a.m. There were 3,500 people there, and no one left. At the close of the show, B.B. called Bukka up on the stage to acknowledge him. Bukka grabbed the mike and began to talk. He reminded B.B. of the first guitar B.B. ever had -- a red Stella given to him by Bukka. Bukka said B.B. was about 9 years old at the time. "You remember, B, you was so little next to that big red Stella..." There was absolute silence. B.B. was looking at the tops of his shoes. His eyes were filling. He looked for all the world like a 9-year-old boy standing on that stage. "Yeah... I sure do remember," he finally said, and then he threw his arms around Bukka. The audience erupted.

Bukka's artistry entertained and delighted audiences wherever we played. I sit and listen to tapes of those days and marvel at what he did. Like Furry, and most other master performers of the idiom, he varied each song to reflect what he was feeling or thinking at any particular moment. Always fresh. Always original. Always Bukka White.

Sliding Delta Bio

The letter was addressed to: " Booker T.Washington White, (Old Blues Singer), C/O General Delivery Aberdeen , Miss." and forwarded to him by a relative. That was how John Fahey and Ed Denson of the "blues mafia" found Bukka White in 1963. For Bukka , it was a one of many turns in a truly remarkable life. Booker T. Washington White (aka Bukka White) was born on a farm near Houston, Mississippi on November 12,1909. When he was 9, his father John White bought him a guitar. His father was a railroad man and many of Bukka's best tunes emulate the driving rhythm of trains and their mournful whistles. After hearing Charley Patton, Young Booker decided that he too would be a "great man like Charley Patton". Bukka's first recordings were14 songs done in Memphis in May 1930. One of those songs, The Panama Limited was a featured part of Bukka's repetoire until his death and is is probably one of the best "train" songs ever recorded. His driving alternating bass evokes the engines and his slide creates the sound of airbrakes and trainwhistle. The Panama Limited, The New Frisco Train, I am the Heavenly Way and Promise True and Grand were released on Victor (one secular 78, one Gospel 78) and can be found on the Fabulous CD Panama Limited along with most of his other prewar recordings(Sic 'Em Dogs On and Po' Boy are not on this CD. If you can find the Travelin' Man CD The Complete Recordings 1930-1940, it includes these two tunes.). To my knowledge, the remainder were never released

Bukka did an electrifying performance of this on the Vastapol Masters of The Country Blues DVD, complete with a trick playing style more often associated with Jimi Hendrix than a Delta Bluesman (This DVD also Features Eddie "Son" House).

Bukka White - Alcohol Dance From: bluesindex

During the '30 Bukka, like many other bluesmen, hoboed around, workied as a professional boxer in Chicago and as a Negro League pitcher with the Birmingham Black Cats. It wasn't until 1937 that Big Bill Broonzy got Bukka a shot at recording again, when he cut Shake em' On Down and Pinebluff Arkansas for ARC in Chicago( is Big Bill the uncredited 2nd guitarist on these tunes?). While Shake Em' On Down was a hit when released on the Vocalion label, Bukka was doing time on Parchman Farm in Mississippi . While at Parchman in 1939, Alan Lomax recorded two tunes by Bukka for the Library of Congress; Sic 'Em Dogs On and Po' Boy (played with National across his lap on Masters of The Country Blues) . In 1940 , he cut some more sides in Chicago accompanied by Washboard Sam. Shake em' On Down re-emerges as I Wonder How Long Before I Can Change My Clothes, and songs like Strange Place Blues, Parchman Farm Blues, High Fever Blues and Fixin' To Die Blues set a somber tone.

Until Fahey and Denson found him in 1963, it was assumed that Bukka was dead. If someone had checked, they would have known otherwise. In 1947 Bukka had given a young cousin, Riley King a Red Stella Guitar, Riley went on to be known as The Beale St. Blues Boy, B.B. King.

When Fahey and Denson did find Bukka, they immediately recorded him in his Memphis boardinghouse room . A few months later Bukka White was a recording artist with a new career playing the Coffee House/Folk Festival circuit. The recordings (available on the Aim CD Mississippi Blues)show that the fire was still there. Listen to New Orleans Streamline- a new train song, Poor Boy Long Way From Home or Parchman Farm Blues(actually I Wonder How Long Before I Can Change My Clothes) Bukka had been playing around Memphis with Frank Stokes and in his later stuff that influence comes through along with Bukka's desire to stay current (hence Big Bill Broonzy's Baby Please Don't Go). Unlike many other Blues artist of his generation, Bukka's audiences got to see the real thing, not a shadow. He continued to record and play until his death in Memphis on February 26, 1977.

Bukka White - Poor Boy Long Way from Home From: NaOH123