Blues, Stomps, & Rags #9
I couldn't find much information about the mandolin player, Matthew Prater (1883-19--?), other than that he was born in New Albany, Mississippi in 1893, and teamed up with guitar player Nap Hayes in Vicksburg, Mississippi. They recorded under the name, The Blue Boys, with Prater playing lead and Hayes rhythm. They also recorded as The Johnson Boys, with the singer, guitarist, and violin player, Lonnie Johnson.
"Prater Blues" is a great tune by Matthew Prater. However, though it's posted on YouTube, as recorded by The Johnson Boys, it's "unavailable" to me. You may have better luck. Other musicians do play it on YouTube. Steve James teaches the first part of "Prater Blues" on his DVD Learn To Play Blues Mandolin 2, and both parts in his book with MP3's, Roots and Mandolin Blues, under the title, "Blues in A."
According to a Wikipedia entry, Prater & Hayes were the first to record Scott Joplin's ragtime classic, The Entertainer, under the title, Easy Winner. The Wikipedia entry says that they combine it with Creole Belles by J. Bodewalt Lampe, though I don't hear it. If you do, please let me know where it begins on the counter. Joplin also wrote a tune called, "The Easy Winners," but the Johnson Boys' "Easy Winner" is clearly "The Entertainer." Perhaps Prater & Hayes or their record company mixed up the titles.*
Here is the recording made by The Blue Boys in 1928. If the links don't work, search for "Easy Winner -- Prater and Hayes" on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XdOAUyESGA
* For those who are curious, here's "Creole Belles" by the Edison Concert Band (You'll hear "Rubber Dolly" in this tune):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCvRaR0aGS4
and "Easy Winner" by Scott Joplin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdCBT_VHnUk
Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
"I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.
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