Dear Remus, Sadie Heads South
I met Blue Charlie at midnight after sneaking into Beale St in Memphis.
There were neon signs blinking in shapes and colors and drunks rolling out of bars and building facades but I could hear his voice, rumbling and rickety like a frog song, from blocks away. I followed the sound of the rattling guitar, scratching through the amps, and the trembling tap of the drum kit, and the avian moan of the harmonica until I found them between bars at a little music park.
His mouth twisted and exaggerated the shapes of his slurred and throaty-rasp-croon rendition of John D. Loudermilk’s Turn Me On. He sounded a little like he was crying and a little like he was laughing and I had never heard a voice so indicative of everything that was the Blues genre. They played Ain’t No Sunshine When She’s Gone without the lyrics and women in denim and scarves danced and sweat in the street for the song before walking away.
His hair looked like steel wool under the blue streetlights and his skin reminded me of chocolate shavings. He was all browns and grays and yellows except for his brilliant white eyes, which glowed blue and blind in the night lights. He was staring right at me, unseeing and all knowing.
When they relaxed into a quiet Guitar Blues that teased their temporary audience into walking away and looking for something new, more potent, he nodded his head to me and leaned into the microphone to speak.
“Bring yo’ white voodoo o’er here ‘n play me a song, gran’chile,” he croaked.
.
I feel a little strangely about this just because it feels like something I would turn out for my classes, but I also sort of love it. Enjoy and I will keep you updated on how the chapter is going. At the moment I'd say it's about 10 % but that always changes.
When I'm over 50% I'll post some songs that will be featured in the chapter, so you can sing along or make yourself a bluesy chapter playlist.
There were neon signs blinking in shapes and colors and drunks rolling out of bars and building facades but I could hear his voice, rumbling and rickety like a frog song, from blocks away. I followed the sound of the rattling guitar, scratching through the amps, and the trembling tap of the drum kit, and the avian moan of the harmonica until I found them between bars at a little music park.
His mouth twisted and exaggerated the shapes of his slurred and throaty-rasp-croon rendition of John D. Loudermilk’s Turn Me On. He sounded a little like he was crying and a little like he was laughing and I had never heard a voice so indicative of everything that was the Blues genre. They played Ain’t No Sunshine When She’s Gone without the lyrics and women in denim and scarves danced and sweat in the street for the song before walking away.
His hair looked like steel wool under the blue streetlights and his skin reminded me of chocolate shavings. He was all browns and grays and yellows except for his brilliant white eyes, which glowed blue and blind in the night lights. He was staring right at me, unseeing and all knowing.
When they relaxed into a quiet Guitar Blues that teased their temporary audience into walking away and looking for something new, more potent, he nodded his head to me and leaned into the microphone to speak.
“Bring yo’ white voodoo o’er here ‘n play me a song, gran’chile,” he croaked.
.
I feel a little strangely about this just because it feels like something I would turn out for my classes, but I also sort of love it. Enjoy and I will keep you updated on how the chapter is going. At the moment I'd say it's about 10 % but that always changes.
When I'm over 50% I'll post some songs that will be featured in the chapter, so you can sing along or make yourself a bluesy chapter playlist.