Originally Posted by
Fretbear
The Singing Brakeman's influence upon anyone even peripherally attached to Early Country Music cannot be overstated. I just finished Mark Eliot's "The Hag", and his influence upon Merle Haggard (along with Lefty Frizzell) was complete. Mr. Monroe liked to pretend that everything he did was "His", but he borrowed and stole freely, as does any great Artist. WSM's Opry debut was, as everyone knows, "Muleskinner Blues", which he recorded on the Bluebird Label in 1940, a full decade after J.R. recorded his (and George Vaughan's) composition in 1930.
But wait a minute.....
The song tells the tale of a down-on-his-luck muleskinner, approaching "the Captain", looking for work:
Tom Dickson's "Labor Blues"
The first verse of the song is similar to Tom Dickson's 1928 recording "Labor Blues" in which the exchange is clearly between a white boss and an African-American worker who is quitting the job, not applying for it:
It’s "good mornin’ Captain", ‘e said "good mornin’ Shine",
Said "good mornin’ Captain", said "good mornin’ Shine".
"T’ain’t nuthin’ the matter, Captain, but I just ain’t gwine.
"I don’t mind workin’, Captain, from sun to sun,
I don’t mind workin’, Captain, from sun to sun.
But I want my money, Captain, when pay-day come."
"Captain" was a traditional term for the white boss; "Shine" is a derogatory expression for "African-American". Dickson was black. After the narrator rebels and quits because he is not being paid, he turns his attention to his "Mississippi gal" and the remaining lyrics concern their romance. In this 12-bar blues recording, Muleskinning is not mentioned, and the remaining Dickson lyrics differ from Rodgers', whose other Blue Yodels also used verses previously recorded by Blues musicians, such as Blind Lemon Jefferson.
The term "Mule Skinner", slang for muleteer, is a driver of mules, and has nothing to do with removing the animal's hide.
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