Release Date: 1993.
Release Info: TRIX 3302, CD, Compilation.
Recording Date: August 7, 1970 - December 11, 1972.
Back in the old days before television came along, one created entertainment or went to an occasional traveling show that might stop for a while - especially in the south; especially if you were black. There were, of course, travelling rep companies, as well as high-class vaudeville shows of all sorts, but these were not so much patronized by blacks. There was, instead, the circus, carnivals, tent shows (like the old "ten-in-one" ... ten acts under one canvas), minstrel shows, and medicine shows. These last were often looked at as the bottom rung of the entertainment ladder (for Blacks), used by some to climb to higher reaches - for others, it was their whole life ... often by choice. Among the shows about, and the last extant in the U.S., was one run by "Chief Thundercloud" - a full-blood Oklahoma Potawotomi indian - who ran the gamut of the entertainment business before getting into medicine shows (he headed his own show rather late in their history). By the early fifties it was of some size, with a tent purchased from another show that had folded, but by the sixties it consisted of only a couple of people. The one with him today, and has been on and off since the fifties, is one "Peg Leg Sam" ... an amazing story-teller, toast-giver, reciter of poetry, dancer, singer, and master of the French harp (as the harmonica is often referred to in the south).
Born Arthur Jackson on December 18, 1911 into a family near Jonesville, S.C. with some music in it ... his mother played church songs on the organ and accordion ... from which he ran away with amazing frequency starting at the age twelve. Before rambling, though, he learned to play harp a bit, listening to locals like Butler Jennings, Bigger Mapps and Sun Jennings. The first piece he learned was "Lost John", which he practiced a lot while standing in the corner ... might as well do something while being punished! He became fairly good at this song and a few others, so he took off for the far reaches of Columbia, S.C. The travel bug had him then, and while he returned to Jonesville occasionally, he always went off again ... farther with each succeeding jaunt.
These travels took "Peg" all over the south, either on foot, hitching, or riding freight trains (he can tell you the easiest lines to catch a ride on today!) - this last was to cause the loss of his right leg below the knee during 1930 in North Carolina. This didn't seem to slow him down at all; later he got to New York City, and even shipped out on steamers from Key West (after being caught stowaway) to Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, and the Bahamas! Sometime in the twenties he met Elmon "Keg Shorty" Bell, the son of an Atlanta preacher, while in Spartanburg ... this is the one that taught him the "modern" style of harp that he now employs (as opposed to the older accordion style). His trick of playing two harps at once was "stolen" from an unknown practitioner in the city of Durham, N.C. during the thirties.
On one return trip home, he met veteran medicine show performer Pink Anderson, who persuaded him to join up with the Emmitt Smith show ... this being 1938. This has been a major source of revenue for him ever since that first show in Chesnee, S.C. - he met his present boss/partner "Chief Thundercloud" (Leo Kahdot) some seasons later when the Indian joined Smith's show. They, together with Pink and a washboard player named "Chilly Wind" (Charlie Williams) were the core of the shows "Chief" took out until Pink retired and Charley died. In 1972 the two-man show was just "Chief" as pitchman and "Peg" as draw - they were recorded by yours truly in Pittsboro, N.C., and recordings will be released by the English label, Flyright - playing whatever fairs and exhibitions they could still get into ... always the smaller ones now (Pittsboro was a predominately black- audience fair).
Of course, this was not the only thing "Peg" would do - in 1936 he was heard playing around the Fenner Tobacco Warehouse in Rocky Mount, N.C. by the owner ... he put "Peg" on the radio, sponsoring him for fifteen minutes each morning the tobacco market was in session! This was obviously successful, since the association lasted for some 25 years, and it later included some TV spots when that came along at the local level!!! There were also stints with the Doc Thompson Carnival, as well as copping the prize money at local talent shows. Of course, all this was secondary to his first and continued love - busking ... that is to say, playing in the streets and passing around the hat. This he has been doing for some fifty years, and he will say "I'd rather do that than anything l know ..."
Generally he has traveled alone in the latter instance of gaining lucre, but he has played with some fine guitarists in his day ... he won't let just anyone play along. Among them are the late Charles Henry "Baby" Tate, and Henry "Rufe" Johnson - it was the former that introduced me to "Peg" in 1970, and "Peg" in turn got me together with Johnson in 1972. Both of them play on several tracks here ... Johnson already has an album available (TRIX 3304 - "The Union County Flash!"), while Tate will have one put together in the forseeable future (it will be TRIX 3313) ... contributing some lovely guitar when they do assist, each having a different way of backing the harp.
"Peg Leg Sam" is sort of an anachronism today in the eyes of some ("You mean that sort of thing still exists!?"), but he is completely at peace with things and reasonably content. Shown on this album are his harmonica talents, which are second to none in this style, as well as two of his spoken pieces to give you a taste of that sort of thing (there's more on the set of LPs from the medicine show). Remembered by many of the blues men throughout the South (and some points north), he has been something of a legend ... that peg leg harp player that plays two harps at once (one with his nose) ... it's nice that a legend is still around, and living up to advance notices!
(TRIX 3302 - Peg Leg Sam: "Medicine Show Man")
Credits: Cover, Photography By - Jim O'Neal; Harmonica, Vocals, Producer - Peg Leg Sam; Layout, Design - Raoul Vezina; Producer, Liner Notes, Photography By - Pete Lowry; Vocals - Henry Johnson (2) (tracks: 4, 11); Vocals, Guitar - Baby Tate (tracks: 1, 5, 9, 12).
Tracklist:
- 01. Who's That Left Here 'While Ago (4:38)
- 02. Greasy Greens (5:27)
- 03. Reuben (4:37)
- 04. Irene, Tell Me, Who Do You Love (4:21)
- 05. Skinny Woman Blues (4:14)
- 06. Lost John (3:58)
- 07. Ode To Bad Bill (4:36)
- 08. Ain't But One Thing Give A Man The Blues (6:27)
- 09. Easy Ridin' Buggy (3:29)
- 10. Peg's Fox Chase (3:12)
- 11. Before You Give It All Away (4:14)
- 12. Fast Freight Train (3:40)
- 13. Nasty Old Trail (3:52)
- 14. Born In Hard Luck (7:28)
Recorded: Spartanburg, South Carolina August 7-8, 1970 - Tracks 1, 5, 9, 12
Recorded: Jonesville, South Carolina October 14, 1972 - Track 4 / October 16, 1972 - Tracks 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 14 / November 11, 1972 - Tracks 8, 13 / December 11, 1972 - Track 11.