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Skip James & the Craziest Blues Song Ever
Is any blues song darker than James’ “22–20"?
The song begins with James’ famous but not-so-well-known falsetto. James plays piano and staggers through the chords and pauses. Not unusual, but it is a twist. A piano is clever. Most of the early Mississippi Delta blues players played guitar. James could play both. He could also deliver a haunting lyric unlike all the others:
“Oh, Mr. Crest, Mr. Crest
How in the world you
Expect for me to rest?
Oh, Mr. Crest, Mr. Crest
How in the world you
Expect for me to rest?
You’ve got my 22–20
Layin’ up across my breast.” (Skip James)
From that point on, James’ has set the story up well — the oldest story in all of music. ‘My baby don’ done me wrong.’
James, it seems, is going to handle his sorrow with his 22–20 pistol.
Skip James is not a well-known bluesman. But he is my favorite. He is also, in my book. Most people think it is Robert Johnson, the famous Delta blues legend, who was poisoned to death by his lover or a jealous husband. Johnson only recorded 29 songs because of this, and when he was accidentally discovered many years later, Columbia Records and American pop culture elevated him to blues god status. Skip James, on the other hand, wasn’t even playing by the…
