Furry Lewis: A Temperate Blues

What separates this gentleman, Furry Lewis, from the throngs of other pre-WWII players out there? I suppose not too much. His vocals and guitar style are something akin to Mississippi John Hurt, but not exactly. Lewis isn’t less adroit at the six string, just not as exacting in his playing. Hurt was also able to come across as a sweetheart as he sang. Lewis isn’t as gruff as Blind Lemon – or anywhere near that singing approach – but more sits between that and Hurt.

Lewis, despite singing about any number of topical blues concepts, sounds like a good guy to be around. He’s not a too much of a bawdy character. But after having made a name form himself in Memphis, Lewis headed to Chicago in 1927 to record some sides. After he did so and achieved a modicum of success in the ‘race records’ market, he returned home to work as a street sweeper until the ‘60s.

This portion of his story is roughly the same as everyone else who was re-discovered. Found down there in Memphis, Lewis set about a brief, yet, successful comeback and even found himself on the Tonight Show at one point.

Apparently as a result of his newfound visibility, Joni Mitchell wrote a song about Lewis and the Memphis scene that she’d enjoyed while passing through. Lewis demanded cash in payment for the use of his name. So maybe he was something of a character. Awesome.

That scenario is actually reminiscent of Rosa Parks suing Outkast, an Atlanta based rap group, a few years back for a song that used her name as the title. During the cases initial 1999 hearing, it was dismissed by a judge. But that didn’t stop Parks from returning a few years later. Also, we shan’t forget that Robert Johnson’s widow was also necessitated to take legal action against the Rolling Stones for using her husband’s material. Either way, let’s hope that Furry got a settlement.

The music that got set down in Chicago, before any of this, was actually well enough preserved as to make for the basis of one of the stronger Document Records releases. There aren’t too many recordings from that time period that retained such a crisp sound. And when tossing that disc on, one could imagine that Furry’s just in the other room. And while he lived into the ‘80s, far beyond many of his cohort, the tracks he laid down fifty some odd years prior were his legacy.

In previously comparing Lewis to Hurt, it’s essential to note that both work out “Stack o’ Lee.” It’d be difficult to figure one version as better than the other. But Lewis’ recording of “John Henry,” despite Blind Arvella Gray’s rendition being the source for Dylan and other’s latter reconstitutions, might be the most rewarding out of all the versions.

‘Vagary,’ some will exclaim, but it’s true.

Lewis’ playing of the American standard so far surpasses other versions of the song as to make it an indispensible part of the blues song book. Surely, Lewis isn’t renowned for his own compositions, but those are assuredly decent. His interpretations of classics, though, are boss.