For this morning’s CarTune we reach back to the origins of Mississippi delta blues with Robert Johnson’s “Terraplane Blues,” here performed by Roy Rogers.
To contemporary listeners, Robert Johnson is a phantom, a ghost, a legend as much as an actual blues performer. He died in 1938 at age 27, leaving behind three known photographs and a catalog of only 42 recorded songs, including “Terraplane Blues.”
Johnson’s song is ostensibly about the Terraplane automobile, manufactured by the Hudson Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan from 1932 to 1938 and marketed as a cheaper, sportier version of the big Hudson. But as with so many songs in the classic American blues repertoire, the car is simply an extended metaphor for sex.
When I feel so lonesome
You hear me when I moan
Who been drivin’ my Terraplane
For you since I been gone?
Here, “Terraplane Blues” is performed by guitar virtuoso Roy Rogers in a performance at Sierra Center Stage in Chico, California in 2001. Also known for his work as a producer and collaborator with Bonnie Raitt and John Lee Hooker, Rogers is one of the greatest slide players alive. Thanks to MCG reader, Terraplane owner, and blues fan Wayne Graefen for the CarTune request. Now watch this.
Thanks, I love this song, probably my favourite Johnson tune. I have kind of mixed feelings about Roy Rogers though, despite his obvious skills. I remember Ry Cooder saying that the song should always come first, and that the musician’s purpose is to present the song as best he can. He said the audience, after listening to a song, should be thinking “Wow, what a great song”, not “Wow, what a great guitarist”, and I think Cooder generally succeeds in doing just that. There’s no denying Rogers’ abilities, I just sometimes wish he’d stop showing off and just let the song speak for itself.
I know what you mean, but I’m willing to cut Roy some slack. At least he doesn’t carry on like the contemporary electric guitar heroes — play acting that the guitar weighs 800 lbs or every chord is causing blinding pain. Just play fer crissake. And Roy can play.
He sure can. When I was a teenager I used to dream of being a guitar hero. A few years later I realized that guys like BB King could say more with three notes than most of the shredders could with three thousand…