Blues Singer

Series produced by Dean Rathje

Caption: PRX default Series image
PRX default Series image 

Iowa native Dean Rathje has been researching, adapting, and producing his own versions of work by early blues artists including Frank Stokes, Gus Cannon, Robert Johnson, Luke Jordan, Bo Carter, and Blind Lemon Jefferson. He presents his work here, with brief narrative intros.

Much of American music has its roots in the blues. In the late 1920s, record companies like Victor Records and Paramount started recording blues artists from the South. Thanks to digital technology, much of this music is still available today.

Dean Rathje’s “Blues Singer: Hour One” features modern-day renditions of works first created by nine blues artists. Some of these artists recorded a few sides, while others recorded over a hundred songs. Buckers who played on streetcorners, barbershops, fish fries, parties, and saloons had a chance to be heard everywhere.

Most of them didn’t get rich from recording. A new car may have been the reward for a long recording session. Some had day jobs, while others, like Robert Johnson, were itinerant.

Dean Rathje, an Iowa native, does his renditions of these prewar blues songs with voice, guitar, slide guitar, bass guitar, and in some cases, banjo, mandolin, and piano.

The series is introduced with a minute and a half intro over a blues music sound bed. Each artist is introduced with a short narrative. Historical, informative, and entertaining.

Here the the contents of this program (total running time, 56:10):

(0:00 – 1:29) Intro
(1:29 – ¬¬6:14) Chicken Roost Behind the Moon (Frank Stokes)
¬(6:15 – 10:23) Whoa Buck (Leadbelly)
¬¬(10:25 – 14:56) Statesboro Blues (Blind Willie McTell)
¬¬(14:57 – 18:48) Dyin’ Crapshooter Blues (Blind Willie McTell)
(18:49 – 23:07) ¬¬Church Bell Blues (Luke Jordan)
(23:08 – 26:02) Pick Poor Robin Clean (Luke Jordan)
(26:02 – 29:25) Cocaine Blues (Luke Jordan)
(29:26 – 34:04) Broke & Hungry Blues (Blind Lemon Jefferson)
(34:04 – 37:25) Matchbox Blues (Blind Lemon Jefferson)
(37:25 – 43:24) Ants In My Pants (Bo Carter)
(43:24 – 47:45) Four Until Late (Robert Johnson)
(47:46 – 51:24) Money Never Runs Out (Gus Cannon)
(51:25 – 56:10) Tear It Down (Memphis Jug Band)

To see all of Dean Rathje's work, go to www.deanrathje.com
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Much of American music has its roots in the blues. In the late 1920s, record companies like Victor Records and Paramount started recording blues artists from the South. Thanks to digital technology, much of this music is still available today. Dean Rathje’s “Blues Singer: Hour One” features modern-day renditions of works first created by nine blues artists. Some of these artists recorded a few sides, while others recorded over a hundred songs. Buckers who played on streetcorners, barbershops, fish fries, parties, and saloons had a chance to be heard everywhere. Most of them didn’t get rich from recording. A new car may have been the reward for a long recording session. Some had day jobs, while others, like Robert Johnson, were itinerant. Dean Rathje, an Iowa native, does his... Show full description


2 Pieces

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Caption: Dean Rathje
Dean Rathje's research into the early recorded blues leads him to the work of artists like Blind Boy Fuller, Geeshie Wiley, and Mississippi John Hu...

  • Added: Feb 01, 2017
  • Length: 53:35
Caption: Dean Rathje, Blues Singer producer
Dean Rathje’s “Blues Singer: Hour One” features contemporary renditions of works first created by nine blues artists. Brief histories of the blues ...

  • Added: Jan 27, 2017
  • Length: 56:11