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blues,
Hopkins; Lightnin',
Blues Musicians - United States,
Blues Musicians
Lightninâ was paid $150, to âperform and make recordings ⦠as stipulated in the regular artistâs contract,â which gave Quinn âsole and exclusiveâ rights. Apparently, Lightninâs contract with Aladdin had already expired, as Aladdin never challenged Quinn and there are no records of lawsuits ever being filed. Aladdin did, however, continue to release Lightninâs records into the early 1950s.
After Lightninâs last recording for Aladdin on February 25, 1948, Quinn produced as many records with him as he could. However, unbeknownst to Quinn, Lightninâ frequently claimed to have written songs that were in fact covers, such as âBaby, Please Donât Goâ by Big Joe Williams, who recorded it twice (1935 and 1945) prior to Lightninâs Gold Star release. 40
Quinn never seemed to question the origins of Lightninâs songs, but instead focused on producing the best possible recordings. According to Texas Johnny Brown, who went to a couple of sessions, âQuinn knew that studio A&R part. He didnât have too many people working with him. Matter of fact, he did most of that set up part himself in his own place. Lightninâ would sing a whole song with all sort of things without you ever knowing what the title of it wasâ¦. If he come up with a word that matched pretty good and it sound like he could do something with it, heâd start playing and make a song out of it. There was no reworking or rehearsing. Turn your machine on and let him go.â 41 Lightninâ played amplified guitar for all his sessions with Quinn, except on Gold Star 634âthe guitar in both âWalking Bluesâ and âLightninâ Blues,â recorded in March 1948, sounds acoustic.
During Lightninâs sessions for Quinn in 1949 and 1950, he recorded more than twenty sides. Of these, âUnsuccessful Blues (Canât Be Successful)â and âZolo Goâ were standouts. âUnsuccessful Blues,â Quinn told Chris Strachwitz, was not planned as part of the session, but was made after Lightninâ found out that his wife had already collected money from Quinn as an advance payment for recording it. So, as an afterthought, he went back into the studio and made up this song on the spot, accompanied by the jazz band that was assembling for the next session. 42
Boy, you know, I went down to my boss manâs house
Thatâs where everybodyâs getting paid
You know, my wifeâs been down there
Takinâ up all in this world that Iâve made
You know I turned around and went back home
With my mouth all poked out
She had even nerve enough to go ask
âLightninâ, what is all this bull corn about?â
And I told her, âCanât be successful, no matter how I triedâ
In the curiously titled song âZolo Go,â Lightninâ made it clear that he was aware of the music of the growing Louisiana Creole population in Houstonâs Fifth Ward. The word
zologo
was apparently Quinnâs misunderstanding of Lightninâs pronunciation of the word
zydeco,
because in his introduction, which was omitted from the 78 rpm record but was included on the original acetate (and appears on the Arhoolie reissue of the song), Lightninâ explained: âLetâs zydeco a little while for you folk / You know, young and old likes that.â âZolo Goâ is the only recording in which Lightninâ mimicked the sound of the accordion, as he accompanied himself on an electric Hammond organ.
Quinnâs recordings of Lightninâ were remarkably well done, given the limitations of recording technology and duplication. Andy Bradley, a recording engineer and co-owner of SugarHill Studios 43 (the current incarnation of Gold Star) speculates, âWith the case of Lightninâ, Quinn parked one ⦠omni-directional microphone in front of him to capture both the guitar and his voice. Probably a foot away from his