Ragged & Dirty (song)

Ragged & Dirty is an old southern blues song popular in Memphis and other cities of Tennessee and Mississippi. The song was recorded and improvised by many southern blues artists in the 1920s, 1930s and is still covered by many new young blues musicians.

Origin

This song has many versions, the first version of the song was recorded by Blind Lemon Jefferson as "Broke & Hungry" The song became one of the famous delta blues songs it is covered by many artists, including Sleepy John Estes which appears in his 1964 album "Broke And Hungry Ragged And Dirty, Too" released by 77 Records. Bob Dylan also covered this song in his album "World Gone Wrong" in 1993AD.

Willie Brown's version

A popular version of this song was played by Delta Blues musician Willie Brown and was recorded by Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress in 1942. After many years Lomax wrote in his book "Land Where The Blues Began" about the time when Willie Brown sang Ragged & Dirty, "William Brown began to sing in his sweet, true country voice, poking in delicate guitar passages at every pause, like the guitar was a second voice...".^[1] Willie Brown was one of the earliest delta blues singers and had recorded with other notable blues musicians, including Son House and Charlie (Charley) Patton.

The Willie Brown version's is on open D tuning (D A F# D A D)played on acoustic guitar and the only recording of Willie Brown's version was done in 1942 by Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress. According to Lomax, Brown played the song on his request, Brown had commented, "Well, I ain't got no voice, but I'll give you the words of an old Memphis song."^[2] The song's first verse of the song is extracted from Blind Lemon Jefferson's "Broke & Hungry" and there is a possibility that the remaining verses in the song might have been extracted from older Delta folk songs.

Sleepy John Estes' version

In 1964, 77 Records released Sleepy John Estes' album "Broke & Hungry, Ragged & Dirty too".^[3] The song "Ragged & Dirty" appears in the album. Sleepy John Estes' version is a little different than Willie Brown's version and Blind Lemon's version. However, the song might have been recorded back in September 1929 in Memphis, Tennessee with the Three J's Jug Band.^[4] This version was recorded in March 3, 1964, in Chicago, Illinois.

Sleepy John Estes on vocals and guitar.
Yank Rachell on mandolin,
Hammie Nixon on harmonica
Mike Bloomfield on guitar

The first verse of the line is the same as of Blind Lemon Jefferson's "Broke & Hungry". The next three verses is similar to what Willie Brown had played in 1942 and the next two verses are different than previous versions of this song.

Bob Dylan's Version

Bob Dylan recorded the song "Ragged & Dirty" in 1993 for his album "World Gone Wrong". Bob Dylan's version was mostly influenced by Willie Brown's version. Although the two version of the song had differences in lyrics. Dylan covered the song in acoustic guitar playing in the same style like that of Willie Brown. But, Dylan's version differed in lyrics except for the 1st verse.

References