Week 43: Showers of Rain Blues



Edward Thompson

The Man

Edward Thompson is an absolute mystery of the blues.

He was a bluesman from Alabama, who travelled to New York to record six songs on October 23, 1929. They were released on three 78’s, two of which were under the name “Tenderfoot Edwards”. The songs show a great variety – different keys, different positions – and the playing was quite advanced. Those 6 tracks, including one that is almost unlistenable due to the only remaining copy being damaged, are the only things we know about Thompson – we do not even have a single photograph of the man.



The Song

Showers of Rain is a 12 bar, played in the key of G in standard tuning. It uses the IV chord for the first two bars of the progression.

It’s a fast, rollicking song, propelled by a great right hand technique. In the C sections, Edwards gets an almost flamenco sounding flourish on the chords using a combination of his thumb and fingers. He mixes up picking single and double stops with strumming the chords. He

The solo is repeated and has a slight variation. I’m not 100% sure about the fingering, but I play it by moving into a barre on the 3rd string for the first 2 bars, them switching down to an open G7 shape for the third and fourth bars. The C section features that great rhythm set up by the thumb playing the A and D strings them that flourish over the full chord.



The Lyrics

G Intro C G Don't mistreat me, mama, because I'm young and wild C G Don't mistreat me, mama, because I'm young and wild D7 C7 G Say, you must remember, you once have been a child Mama, don't ever drive a stranger from your door Mama, don't ever drive a stranger from your door He may be your best friend, baby, you don't know Solo Now, I love my brownie, don't care what she do I love my brownie, don't care what she do Some one of these days, she gonna love me, too Solo I went to the station in a shower of rain I went to the station in a shower of rain I seen the brown I love when she caught the northbound train Going up on the mountain, look down in the sea Going up on the mountain, look down in the sea Must be the whales and fishes doing the shivaree

The Intro



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The Progression



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The Solo



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The Outro