This song is one of my staples as a solo song. I do it with my own rhythm riff instead of trying to roughly copy Ram Jam's, and it's more harp-intensive. I use no percussion at all...because I have none. Gotta do something about that.
I love Son of Dave, and I quite like his rendition of this song. However, it has always made me a bit...uncomfortable...when I hear white artists doing this song. I'm not saying that they can't or shouldn't, I'm just saying that it just feels a bit strange to me when they do... ----------
This might be one of those songs that sounds like it should cause a controversy that shouldn't- the rare counterpoint to all the songs that really should be considered offensive but somehow sneak in.
@nacoran: I agree that the main text of song may be about other things, but words are laden with multiple meanings, and so evoke feeling that are embodied in a class/racial subtext that is always underlying public discourse (this is the anthropologist part of me speaking here). I want to make it clear that I'm NOT saying white folks can't or shouldn't sing this song, or any other song that hails from traditional black musical forms. I'm merely calling awareness to the subtext that exists within those particular lyrics. By the way, when I said I felt "uncomfortable" hearing white singers sing this song, I want to be clear that I in no way meant that to mean that I felt "bad". In many contexts, it's GOOD to be made uncomfortable, and I can certainly see how this song can be used to evoke that feeling on purpose. I don't know if Son of Dave (or any other singer who has covered this tune, white, black, or other) knows he is evoking that response from his listeners, or if he has even thought about that stuff at all (my gut tells me that he absolutely knows what he is doing, however), but this song still evokes those feelings whether the singer wants them evoked or not...
Now I will descend from my soapbox! :)
PS. perhaps you just caught me on a day when I'm just "on" to this stuff. I'm currently preparing a lecture and race and racism from an anthropological point of view, so my "race" sense is quite heightened at the moment. ----------
I can relate. I was apprehensive about playing it at a Lions tailgate in Detroit and even went so far as asking some of my closer friends if they thought it would be all right. "In the Pines" is another one, but I can substitute "my girl" for "black girl." I felt more comfortable after I made a short intro (much as in this vid) that it was originally a song done by Leadbelly. Some of my younger friends (forties and fifties) remember me blasting the Ram Jam version when they were kids, so it's kind of a tradition with us. Then again, I often replace "Black Betty" with the name of a local lovely.
Isaac, I was an English Major, so I certainly get the idea that there could be subtext! When you mentioned it I went straight to the Googles to see. There is always a different context. In literary theory they even argue whether the context exists even if the writer didn't intend it (Reader Response Criticism). I actually wish the Wikipedia entry was more detailed, or part of a bigger discussion. Without an 'original' lyricist to interview there is only so much you can dig out of their original intent. You could argue the same point about the girl in the blindfold too.
FM, that's what Kurt Cobain did when he covered in the Pines. There are actually several other variations of that lyric I've heard. It seems to be one that a lot of people have changed to suit their needs. St. James Infirmary is another one like that.
'She's not quite ready yet to be known as "the daughter of the son of dave"? Still in cognito :) '
He's probably saving her from being identified on the 'pervynet' or maybe she's only agreed to play drums if her friends don't get to find out. We all know how kids get at a certain age.
I make a point of grabbing my ten year old who's dropped 'daddy' and now only calls me 'dad' at the front door before school and giving him lots of big kisses on the cheek and telling him that he's 'daddy's little soldier'.
Needless to say he hates me at the moment. Ha! Sorry, I had to share. Heh......
gotta admit, this and other videos I've seen of Son of Dave - the groove and masterful commanding of presence just flies out of this guy - total package. He has that "extreme essence".
