Listen and enjoy!

My favorite version is by Judy Roderick, from one of the best Folk/Blues lp of the sixties, “Woman Blue”. She called it “Born in the country” and made the song completely her own. You will notice that half of the versions here are (beautifully) sung by women who reverse the gender of the original version.

In the 1960’s, when a new generation of folk singers discovered the Anthology, “James Alley” Blues became a favorite to perform, with his catchy lyrics and simple Folk/Blues chord format. The song is still appealing today for numerous rock and folk performers and remains one of the most enduring Anthology classic.-I’ve compiled eight versions of the song that I love, including a rare performance from Bob Dylan in the early sixties (from the “Minnesota Tapes”), before he even recorded his first lp.

“James Alley” (a corruption of Jane’s Alley) is a remarkable early Blues song that tells of the difficult relationships between two lovers from the man’s point of view (the previous Anthology track by Didier Hebert was the woman’s point of view).

Recorded in New Orleans in 1927, Richard (Rabbit) Brown was a songster, a black folk singer and musician, often itinerant, busking on street corners and working as a boatman on Lake Pontchartrain. He grew up in the late 19th century on Jane Alley (or Jane’s Alley, as the residents called it), the turpentine distillery district of New Orleans. Louis Armstrong grew up in the same neighborhood, a rough and dangerous one by all accounts. From the sides he recorded in 1927, we can assume that his repertory was a mix of Minstrel-type and pop songs (Never let the same bee stings you twice, I’m not Jealous), ballads about contemporary events (The Sinking of the Titanic, Mystery of the Dunbar’s Child) and proto-Blues (James Alley Blues). Harry Smith said in his notes that Brown was one of the earliest musician to learn the twelve bar-Blues cord pattern and the most important (and maybe the only one, during this time)New-Orleans folk singer to record. He was accompanying his singing with a rough, vibrant and slapping guitar style that fits well with his deep and gritty voice.

The times ain’t now nothin’ like they used to be.Oh, times ain’t now nothin’ like they used to be.And I’m tellin’ you all the truth. Whoa, take it from me.I done seen better days, but I’m puttin’ up with these.I done seen better days, but I’m puttin’ up with these.I could have much a better time with these girls down in New Orleans.Cause I was born in the country, she thinks I’m easy to rule.Cause I was born in the country, she thinks I’m easy to rule.She try to hitch me to a wagon, she wanna drive me like a mule.You know, I bought her the groceries and I pay the rent.Yeah, I buy her the groceries and I paid the rent.She try to make me to wash her clothes, but I got good common sense.I said, if you don’t want me, why don’t you tell me so?You know, if you don’t want me, why don’t you tell me so?Cause it ain’t like I’m a man that ain’t got nowhere to go.I been give you sugar for sugar, let you get salt for salt.I give you sugar for sugar, let you get salt for salt.And if you can’t get ‘long with me, we’ll it’s your own fault.How you want me to love you, and treat me mean?How do you want me to love you, you keep on treatin’ me mean?You’re my daily thought and my nightly dream.Sometime I think that you’re too sweet to die.Sometime I think that you’re too sweet to die.And another time I think you ought to be buried alive.