Vance and I had a brief musical career as blues musicians. Here’s a studio-released promo shot of me, known then as “Westside ‘Chard” and Vance, who was known as Vee Den. Playing with us are the legendary Muddy Water (to my left) and the fictitious Blind Lemon Jefferson. We were at the Stax studios in Memphis to record my song “Wee Paper Boat Blues,” which goes like this;Well, it’s just a wee paper boat
float’n’ down that muddy Rio Grande.
Said it’s just a wee paper boat
afloatin’ down that dirty Rio Grande.
Gonna float my way to Mex’co
‘nd all the way out to Japan.
It used to be a letter
from that long gone gal o’ mine.
Jus’ an ol’ Dear Johnny letter
from that long gone gal o’ mine.
It ‘ppeared to say she’s leavin’
Shoulda took it as a sign.
The day she packed her suitcase,
Oh, I wept, I moaned, I begged.
Yeah, when she packed that suitcase, Lord,
I wept, I moaned, I begged.
She said “get off your knees, you tired fool
an’ le’ go my goddam legs”
The session was going good until we actually started to play. I sang the first line and Blind Lemon began projective vomiting and Muddy keeled over dead on the spot. Little known fact.
"Westside" was so pissed off that those two ruined a non-existent career, that he drank a 40oz. of 'Old English' and then broke the bottle over my head. I asked "Westside Chard" why he had done that and he apologized and said, "I thought you were a recycle bin."
ReplyDeleteAnyway, that moment inspired Rick and I to write more songs like, "Sister looks like milkman", "Railroad downers" and their only number one hit "Get off the stove mamma, you're too old to ride the range."
We travelled all through the south and even opened a small club in Wal-doxy, Mississippi called "The Skeeter Club." Although Rick and I were the only two white guys around, the community embraced us and we some became poor. With a whole $28.00 between us, we hopped a coal train and headed north to the promise land, Baltimore.