Week 22: Dupree Blues



Baby Tate

The Man

Baby Tate was a lifelong bluesman who shows the development of the Piedmont style from the early days to modern times. He was a taleneted performer, and played with some greats, but the circumstances of the time he was born into meant he never enjoyed the success his talents deserved.

Born Charles Henry Tate in Elberton, Georgia on January 28, 1916, as a child he saw the legendary bluesmen Blind Blake and Blind Lemon Jefferson performing in their prime in his home town. He was immediately infatuated by the blues guitar and at the age of 10, in 1926, his family moved to Greenville, South Carolina. Greenville was a major urban centre, it was racially segregated, and it had a blues scene that was about to explode.

Charles was already strumming chords when he arrived in Greenville and quickly found a tight knit group of talented musicians to jam with. Blind Blake and Blind Joe Taggert would roll into town occasionally; Peg Leg Sam was wailing on the harmonica; the Reverend Gary Davis was performing in Greenville until the early 30’s; Pink Anderson was a local legend on the guitar; Sam Brooks was performing on the street corners; and Blind Willie Walker led them all – Walker has been described by Davis and Anderson as the best guitarist in town. Following and learning from these slightly older blues men were a number of talented up and comers – including Josh White who would became on the of the most influential bluesmen in history and the first bluesman to have a record sell a million copies as well as the first to perform for a President.

Charles quickly formed a trio with Roosevelt Brooks, a younger nephew of Sam, and Blind Willie’s younger brother Joe Walker. The older men dubbed them the Babies, and the name stuck – Roosevelt became Baby Brooks and Charles became Baby Tate. They named themselves the Carolina Blackbirds and would play in parties and on the street.

A few years after Baby Tate came to town the Greenville bluesmen started to have an impact on the wider blues scene. Josh White was travelling with Blind Joe Taggert and was being used as a session guitarist on recordings from 1927; Pink Anderson was recorded and in 1928 Willie Walker with Sam Brooks recorded a 78 for Columbia. Willie was the leader of the Greenville bluesmen. Josh White would later say he was the best he’d ever seen – comparing his skill to the world famous pianist Art Tatum. The 78 he recorded in 1930 had “Dupree Blues” as the B side.

In 1933 the Greenville blues scene entered a different phase. Willie Walker died unexpected of syphilis at age 37; Gary Davis had relocated to Durham and would be recorded two years later; and Josh White, the best of the younger generation, had relocated to New York and was releasing hit after hit. The Depression was limiting opportunities for bluesmen to be recorded, but Tate continued to hone his skills. He was playing every Friday with the Blackbirds and they also had a weekly performance broadcast on the first radio station in Greenville.

During the mid thirties Blind Boy Fuller, whose records made him the number 1 bluesman in the country, came to town and had an enormous influence on Tate. They played together often and Tate adapting his playing to sound more like the popular style of Fuller. He even dated Fuller’s cousin from a nearby town for a while. A young Brownie McGhee also drifted through town and jammed with Tate. Baby Tate was working as a stone mason throughout this period, but continued to play the blues by night.

In late 1941 the United States entered the Second World War, and Tate enrolled in the army. Blind Boy Fuller had died unexpectedly earlier that year and, eager to find a replacement, the Okeh label offered Tate a recording session in 1942 that his service meant he could not attend. Likewise, his army commitments meant he had to turn down an opportunity to record with Josh White in New York.

Baby Tate’s war time experience included serving in the infantry in North Africa and in Southern England where he played guitar in the British pubs with an English friend on piano. He was wounded in the D Day landings in Normandy and spent a few months back in the US to heal. He was quickly back in action and was wounded again in the Battle of the Bulge. He was honourably discharged after the war and returned to Greenville in 1946 and continued to play solo in the local clubs.

In 1950 he recorded for the Kapp label, but the recordings were never issued and are thought lost. He relocated to nearby Spartanburg in 1952, where his old friend Pink Anderson lived, and the two started performing together. In 1961, Baby Tate recorded his only album: “The Blues of Baby Tate: See What You Done Done”, which was released in 1963. He also accompanied Pink on an album recorded the same year.

In 1962 he was featured in and recorded for the documentary film “The Blues” by Sam Charters, and he recorded a number of tracks for the Trix label between August and December 1970. All up he recorded material for 3 full length albums, but due to recording and performance quality none were ever released.

On August 17, 1972, Baby Tate suffered a heart attack and died at the age of 56. His full potential was never recorded, but what little we have is testament to his ability as a guitarist and singer. Tate served the blues scene of South Carolina for 46 years, entertaining thousands of people and influencing future generations of Greenville bluesmen. Tate was also an unsung hero of the blues revival – his 46 year history in the South Carolina blues scene enabled him to lead researchers to a number of thought to be dead musicians and helped with the rediscovery of forgotten Piedmont styles of blues.



The Song

On December 9th, 1921, in crime ridden Atlanta, a slight but good looking 18 year old local thief named Frank DuPre met the 17 year old Betty Andrews from Gainesville, Texas. The two fell madly in love, and 6 days later Frank drank half a bottle of moonshine, went to a Jewellery store on Peachtree Street and asked to see the most expensive wedding ring in the store. As soon as it was produced, Frank shot and killed the security guard, grabbed the ring and shot a pedestrian in the head making his escape. He fled to Chattanooga, where he sold the ring to a pawn shop and went on the lam. The press followed the story intently, and Frank enjoyed his notoriety, becoming a folk hero of sorts. From Chattanooga, he fled to Norfolk, where he had a narrow escape after the girl working at the Western Union office tipped him off. He was eventually caught in Detroit, was send back to Atlanta for trial.

During the trial, and subsequent appeal, the defence argued that Frank was borderline mentally retarded – his IQ was measured at 80 – and was led astray by the evil Betty. In the closing arguments, his attorney quoted Proverbs 5:17: “The lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword”. He was found guilty of murder and a petition of 12,000 signatories, mainly women, plead for mercy. The judge was unmoved, and on September 1st, 1922, Frank DuPre was hanged until death, one of the rare cases of a white man executed in Atlanta. For her part, Betty was sentenced to 10 years. She was paroled in 1930 and moved to Arkansas where she married and had children. She died in 1955 in Amarillo, Texas.

The story quickly became famous, and songs about “Betty and Dupree” soon appeared. It was picked up by bluesmen and became a standard of pianists, itinerant musicians and chain gangs alike. The Rev. Andrew Jenkins, a white native of Atlanta, wrote and recorded an exceedingly rare version titled “The Fate of Frank DuPre” in 1925. A book on “Negro Work Songs”, published in 1926, records the lyrics of two different versions called “Dupree” and “Dupree tol’ Betty” sang by chain gangs. The ‘negro’ versions were very different to the ‘anglo’ version. Kingfish Bill Tomlin recorded the first blues version on piano in November, 1930, soon followed by Willie Walker’s guitar version in December of the same year. Since then, it has been covered by hundreds of artists, including Brownie McGhee, The Grateful Dead, Chuck Willis, Taj Mahal and even Peter, Paul and Mary.

The song is a 12 bar in the key of G, played in standard tuning. Tate’s version, learnt first hand from Willie Walker, is based around the open chord shapes, but uses many up the neck melodic chord voicings. Somewhat unusually, he focusses on the high, treble end of chord shapes, and doesn’t play a bassline throughout most of the song. This is a very effective approach to solo guitar rhythm playing.



The Lyrics

G C G7 Betty told Dupree she wanted a diamond ring C G Betty told Dupree she wanted a diamond ring D7 A7 C7 G Dupree told Betty "your daddy buy you most any old thing" Then he shot a policeman, and then a detective too Well he shot a policeman, and then a detective too "Well you see now Betty, honey what you caused poor me to do" I'm standing here wondering will a matchbox hold my clothes Yeah I'm standing here wondering will a matchbox hold my clothes Babe I ain't got so many, but I've got so far to go Lord I'm going to hire me a taxi "Can you drive me back to Main?" Yes I'mma hire me a taxi "Can you drive me back to Main?" Baby you know I did a hanging crime, and I don't never be ashamed They catch poor Dupree, locked him in that county jail Yeah they catch poor Dupree, locked him in that county jail Dupree call on Betty "honey please come and go my bail" But you know now Betty wrote a letter, and this is the way the letter read Yeah Betty wrote a letter, and this the way the letter read She said "Come home pretty pappa, you know your mamma's almost dead" He said "Go on little girl, honey go-an and have your fun" He said "Go on little girl, go-an and have your fun" "Cause I done had mine, honey, before you was even born"

The Intro



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The Progression



Verse 1

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$3.4.$2.3 2.$3.3 $3.4.$2.3 $1.3.$2.3 $1.3.$2.3.$3.4.$4.5 $2.3/.$1.1/ | $2.5.$1.3 $2.3 7.$1.5 3.$2.5 | $6.3.$4.0.$3.4.$2.3 $3.4.$2.3 $3.4.$2.3 $1.0 $3.4.$2.3 2.$3.3 $1.0 $3.3.$2.2 1.$3.2 0 | $6.3.$5.2.$4.0 $1.1 0.$6.3.$5.2.$4.0 $2.3 $1.0 1.$6.3.$5.2.$4.0 $1.1 $6.3.$5.2.$4.0 $2.3/.$1.1/ | $2.5.$1.3 3 $2.5 $1.3 $2.5 $1.3 $2.5 $1.3 3.$2.5 $2.3/.$1.1/ | $2.5.$1.3 3 $2.5 $1.3.$2.5 7.$1.5 3.$2.5 | $6.3.$3.4.$2.3 $1.0 $3.4.$2.3 $1.0 $3.4.$2.3 /2.$3./3 $1.0 $3.3.$2.2 1.$3.2 0 | $6.3 $6.3 3.$3.0.$2.0.$1.3 $3.0.$2.0.$1.3 $6.3.$3.0.$2.0.$1.3 $3.0.$2.0.$1.3 $6.3.$3.0.$2.0.$1.3 $5.3 | $4.0 $4.0.$3.2.$1.2.$2.1 $3.2.$1.2.$2.1 $4.0.$3.2.$1.2.$2.1 $1.3 1 0 $2.3 | $4.2.$2.2 $1.3 $5.0 3 $4.2.$3.0 $1.0 $2.1.$5.3 $3.0 | $6.3 $3./4.$2./3 $1.0 $3.4.$2.3 2.$3.3 $1.0 $3.3.$2.2 1.$3.2 0 | $4.0 $6.3 3.$3.0.$2.0.$1.3 $3.0.$2.0.$1.3 $6.3.$3.0.$2.0.$1.3 $3.0.$2.0.$1.3 $6.3.$3.0.$2.0.$1.3 | Verse 3 and 4 play around with the ideas in of the first two verses then verse 5 goes up the neck for the opening G section ((he actually hits the open A in bar 4, but the open D sounds better). Here’s the first 6 bars:

$3.7.$2.8.$1.7 $3.7.$2.8.$1.7 $3.7 $3.7.$2.8.$1.7 $2.8.$1.7 $3.7.$2.8.$1.7 $3.7 | 8/9 $2.8.$1.8 $3.9.$2.8.$1.8 $2.8.$1.8 $3.11.$2.10.$1.10 $3.9.$2.8.$1.8 | $3.7.$2.8.$1.7 $2.8 $3.9/ $3.0 $1.1 $2.3 1 0 | $6.3.$5.2.$4.0 $1.1 0.$6.3.$5.2.$4.0 $2.3 $1.0 1.$6.3.$5.2.$4.0 $1.1 $6.3.$5.2.$4.0 $2.3/.$1.1/ | 3.$2.5 7.$1.5 3.$2.5 5.$1.3 $4.0 $2.3/.$1.1/ | 3.$2.5 5.$1.3 1.$2.3 1.$1.0 $3.0 | The remaining verses play around with the established ides, except for this little ascending double stop run in Verse 7:

$2.0.$3.0 $2.0.$3.0 $2.0.$3.0 $2.0.$3.0 $2.0.$3.0 $2.0.$3.0 $2.1.$3.2 $2.1.$3.2 $2.1.$3.2 $2.2.$3.3 $2.2.$3.3 $2.2.$3.3 | $2./3.$3./4 $2.3.$3.4 $2.3.$3.4 $2./5.$3./6 $2.5.$3.6 $2.5.$3.6 $2.6/7.$3.7/8 $1.x.$2.x.$3.x $6.x.$5.x.$4.x.$3.x | The progression is a 12 bar in G, with an added II chord in the turnaround. Tate plays a very melodious rhythm throughout, exploring the treble ends of different chord shapes up and down the neck. I’ve tabbed out a few verses and a few highlights to illustrate his quite effective rhythm style. He ignores bass notes most of the time, so concentrate on hitting the melody notes on the beat.Verse 1Verse 2Verse 3 and 4 play around with the ideas in of the first two verses then verse 5 goes up the neck for the opening G section ((he actually hits the open A in bar 4, but the open D sounds better). Here’s the first 6 bars:The remaining verses play around with the established ides, except for this little ascending double stop run in Verse 7:

The Outro