Deep Elem Blues

DESCRIPTION: The listener is advised to be prepared when going to (Deep Elem): "If you go down to Deep Elem just to have a little fun, You'd better have your fifteen dollars when the policeman comes." The singer details his experiences with the women there
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (recording, Cofer Brothers)
KEYWORDS: whore money police theft trick sex warning crime humorous clergy
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore3 501, "Went Down Town"; 502, "Standin' on de Street Doin' No Harm" (2 fragments, consisting of little more than a declaration of innocence and a statement "along came the police and grabbed me by the arm," also found in some versions of this song)
Brown/Schinhan-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore5 502, "Went Down Town"; 503, "Standin' on de Street Doin' No Harm" (2 tunes plus text excerpts)
Cohen-AmericanFolkSongsARegionalEncyclopedia2, pp. 529-530, "Deep Elem Blues" (1 text)
DT, DEEPELM BLCKBTTM
RECORDINGS:
The Cofer Brothers, "The Georgia Black Bottom (Black Bottom Blues)" (Okeh 45111, 1927)
Richard O. Hamilton, "Deep Elm Blues" [excerpt] (on USWarnerColl01)
Lone Star Cowboys, "Deep Elm Blues" (Victor 23846, 1933)
Prairie Ramblers, "Deep Elem Blues" (Perfect 5-11-51, 1935)
The Shelton Brothers, "Deep Elem Blues" (Decca 5099, 1935; Decca 46008, 1946)
SAME TUNE:
Shelton Brothers, "Deep Elem Blues - No. 2" (Decca 5198, 1936)
Shelton Brothers, "Deep Elem Blues - No. 3" (Decca 5422, 1937)
NOTES [59 words]: "Deep Elem," according to Michael Cooney, refers to Elm Street, the red light district in Dallas, Texas (for the reputation of this area, see also, e.g., "Take a Whiff On Me"). It's not clear whether the Cofer Brothers' "Black Bottom Blues" or the Shelton Brothers' "Deep Elem Blues" is the older form; the latter seems to have inspired more recordings. - RBW
Last updated in version 4.1
File: DTdeepel

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