"Delmar Avenue" - Signifying Mary Johnson - St. Louis, MO
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 38° 39.081 W 090° 15.638
15S E 738386 N 4281648
Signifying Mary Johnson recorded her last blues sessions with that moniker in Chicago on May 22/23, 1936; though Peetie Wheatstraw played piano, Roosevelt Sykes was the pianist and Kokomo Arnold guitarist backing Mary on "Delmar Avenue."
Waymark Code: WM10A1Q
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 03/30/2019
Views: 0
county of site: St. Louis Independent City
Loation of site: Delmar Avenue near Euclid Avenue, St. Louis
Artist: Signifying Mary Johnson
Composer: Mary Johnson (1936)
"The disparity between rich and poor, and often between black and white, in the city of St. Louis has often been typified by what is called "the Delmar Divide": great wealth, infrastructure and opportunity on the south side of Delmar Boulevard, great poverty on the north. Listen to enough blues music, and you'll find that the street was the setting for a different kind of pain. In this 1936 recording, slide guitarist James "Kokomo" Arnold and singer Mary Johnson tell of empty streets, rain clouds and "ragged daddies." It's desolate and dark, and while Johnson sings of wanting to cry, Arnold's bottleneck runs feel one step ahead of her." ~ Christian Schaeffer, Riverfront Times
Sittin' on Delmar Avenue
Watching the cars go by
Sittin' on Delmar Avenue
Watching the cars go by
Well, I could not see nothing
But the blue clouds in the sky.
Sometime it was raining
And sometime the sun would shine
Sometime it was raining
And sometime the sun would shine
And sometime poured May rain
People felt just like crying.
I know you got a racket, Daddy
And your Mama is going to find it out
I know you got a racket, Daddy
And your Mama is going to find it out
And if you don’t treat me no better
I’m going to move you 'round.
It was on one Thursday evening
When I looked up at the clock
It was on one Thursday evening
When I looked up at the clock
I say you got to move now Daddy
Or move to the Undertaker’s shop.
Because you got a racket Daddy
And your Mama’s going to find it out
Because you got a racket Daddy
And your Mama’s going to find it out
And if you don’t treat me no better
I’ve got to move you 'round.
You can listen to Mary sign "Delmar Avenue" Right Here