Stomp Off 1001 - Dickbaker.org

Hal Smith on 1217 says “also known as ‘TomCat Blues.’” Des Plantes on 1233 says,“‘Mama’ was a reworking of Morton’s earlier‘Tom Cat Blues,’ which in turn had beenappropriated from his earlier still bordello song‘Winin’ Boy Blues.’” Chris Tyle in 1432 says,“‘Tom Cat Blues’ is very similar to another ofMorton’s compositions, ‘Midnight Mamma,”copyrighted the same year. Jelly cleverlyreorganized melodies and musical segmentsto create ‘new’ compositions.”“Very similar”? EARLIER in this index, Texand other argued for respecting the differenttitles given to very similar-sounding songs(see, e.g., Do What Ory Say / Gatemouth /Get It Right / Mamma’s Baby Boy). Well, inthis case, Morton didn’t just record this undera different title but copyrighted it that way too.If they’re at all different, mustn’t we respect hisintention that they be considered differentcompositions? We could, of course, use “seealso” notes (as we did with Ballin’ the Jack—Barrel House Stomp, Dipper Mouth—SugarFoot Stomp, and Gully Low—S.O.L. Blues.Finally, see the extended discussion at “DoWhat Ory Say,” with all our experts counselingto split the tunes up and not make ourselvescrazy trying to define degrees of difference.This one’s even easier, since Morton filedseparate copyrights.But when I asked Tex Wyndham aboutdifferences/similarities, he sent a copy ofButch Thompson’s extensive notes for histranscription of Tom Cat Blues, which say thatwhile the lyrics between the songs are entirelydifferent, the melodies are the same. Texrelistened to both and agrees.(I’ll Be in My Dixie Home Again)To-morrow (J. Russel Robinson–Roy Turk)John Gill’s Novelty Orchestra 1227Down Home JB 1264