Ted Tocks Covers loves story songs.
Whenever I see the words ‘the ballad of” I am drawn to the song and I pay close attention to the lyrics. Many times, ballads become learning opportunities. If you are looking for life lessons you can do a lot worse than focusing on music and the morals depicted in the words of song writers. In fact, I would highly recommend it, because in today’s world we definitely can’t rely on traditional media because they are clearly beholden to corporate entities, to the point where almost nothing they share can be believed at face value.
Of course, that is another story. It is also another fight.
It says here that the song writing duo of Ronnie Van Zant and Allen Collins don’t get enough love when it comes to the message contained in some of their lyrics.
Today’s feature is a perfect example.
On this day 50 years ago Lynyrd Skynyrd released the album ‘Second Helping’. Ted Tocks Covers has featured ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ and ‘Call Me the Breeze’ in previous posts. Continuing with a commitment to share the Lynyrd Skynyrd mystique, today’s feature will take a look at ‘The Ballad of Curtis Loew’.
‘The Ballad of Curtis Loew’ is the story of an old Black musician who the narrator recalls as being “the finest picker who ever played the blues.” While Curtis Loew gets the acknowledgement as the lead character, it is every bit as much about the young boy who is telling the story.
There is an innocence that serves as the background. It all comes through in his routine. Imagine a child growing up in the ‘50s. Kids were always faced with the challenge of how best to spend their day. In this case, the entrepreneurial young fella opted to search his community for soda bottles and exchange them for their deposit value. There was an underlying motive. Following this exchange with the store owner he headed off to meet up with a friend who introduced himself as ‘Curtis Loew’.
Old Curt was a black man with white curly hair
Ronnie Van Zant and Allen Collins
When he had a fifth of wine he did not have a care
He used to own an old dobro, used to play it across his knee
I’d give old Curt my money, he’d play all day for me”
Both parties felt this was a fair trade.
Here is the full story
Ronnie Van Zant and Allen Collins
Well I used to wake the morning before the rooster crowed
Searching for soda bottles to get myself some dough
Brought ’em down to the corner, down to the country store
Cash ’em in and give my money to a man named Curtis Loew
Old Curt was a black man with white curly hair
When he had a fifth of wine he did not have a care
He used to own an old dobro, used to play it across his knee
I’d give old Curt my money, he’d play all day for me
Play me a song Curtis Loew, Curtis Loew
I got your drinking money, tune up your dobro
People said he was useless, them people are the fools
‘Cause Curtis Loew was the finest picker to ever play the blues
He looked to be sixty, and maybe I was ten
Mama used to whip me but I’d go see him again
I’d clap my hands, stomp my feets, try to stay in time
He’d play me a song or two
Then take another drink of wine.
Yes sir
On the day old Curtis died, nobody came to pray
Ol’ preacher said some words, and they chunked him in the clay
But he lived a lifetime playin’ the black man’s blues
And on the day he lost his life, that’s all he had to lose
Play me a song Curtis Loew, Hey Curtis Loew
I wish that you was here so everyone would know
People said he was useless, them people all are fools
‘Cause Curtis you’re the finest picker to ever play the blues”
Part of the magic of ‘The Ballad of Curtis Loew’ is found in the ability to simply picture the scene. Imagine a ten-year-old being so captured by the power of music, and recognizing the talent of someone who the entire community saw as a ‘useless’ vagrant with a drinking problem.
It is here that the underlying message of the song truly reveals itself.
‘The Ballad of Curtis Loew’ is about a young boy who is trying to reconcile the social ills of overt racism. So often, the innocence of childhood comes with an open canvas. The young boy who clearly adores his old friend ‘Curtis’ recognizes his value as a gifted musician. In his world, Mr. Loew is the only one who affords him the opportunity to lose himself in the music. Meanwhile, ‘Curtis Loew’ is more than happy to play his dobro for an audience of one, because in this insular world there is only one person who truly understands him.
For ‘Curtis Loew’ the world was reduced to a dusty porch in a sleepy town somewhere in the southern United States. He was an amalgam of all the tropes that led people of the day to write off an entire race as ‘stupid’, ‘useless’ and lazy, and not worthy of their time, let alone equal rights. If you give ‘them’ equal rights they will steal your jobs and ‘overtake our way of life’. They are your enemy. They need to be held down.
The interaction was forbidden, but the ten-year-old boy rebelled.
Mama used to whip me but I’d go see him again”
Ronnie Van Zant and Allen Collins
This narrative was repeated, until one day ol’ Curtis died.
Because he was denigrated to such a degree, the funeral was sparsely attended. In fact, as the story goes, it was once again; an audience of one.
The young boy laments the fact that someone of such immense talent and wisdom could be so grossly misunderstood.
Somewhere within all of this resides a lesson, for anyone willing to pay attention, decades later, people still seem to struggle.
Which brings me to the mess we are in today. Racism is orchestrated by corporations, millionaires and billionaires. It is then perpetuated by political parties who are bent on presenting an enemy. They then manipulate the most vulnerable in society to identify the reason for their struggle. A scapegoat. Rinse and repeat.
So much of the value of what we could rise to in humanity is lost due to our inability to maximize the capabilities of everyone who share our space.
Here’s a hint. People of colour are not the enemy. Look the other way and you will see who needs to be stopped. The manipulation continues. Ignorance and blind obedience remain our greatest enemy. The perpetrators of this grotesque pattern somehow slide through without any real consequence.
Them people all are fools.”
Ronnie Van Zant and Allen Collins
Hopefully this will change, and ideally it will happen soon.
As a band, Lynyrd Skynyrd are on record as saying that ‘The Ballad of Curtis Loew’ is a combination of characters and locales near where the band grew up in the Jacksonville, Florida area. There is even a store once known as ‘Claude’s Midway Grocery’. The spelling of ‘Loew’ was the idea of Ed King. The wanted a name that rhymed with dobro and once ‘Loew’ was decided on, King suggested that they alter the spelling to pay homage to the Jewish Loew’s Theatre. Through the years, names that have been conjured up in relation to ‘The Ballad of Curtis Loew’ have been Claude H. Papa Hammer, Rufus ‘Tee Tot’ Payne, Robert Johnson and Shorty Medlocke, who is the grandfather of present day Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist, Rickey Medlocke. Medlocke, whose history with Lynyrd Skynyrd goes back to their early days, has Lakota Sioux and Cherokee heritage.
In order to celebrate everything good about ‘The Ballad of Curtis Loew’ let’s enjoy a six pack of quality covers. There are some cool versions here, each of which focus on the quality guitar work and blues style that inspired this song.
Here is Moe along with John Hiatt, in 2008. This is from ‘Under the Influence: A Jam Band Tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd’.
From jam bands we move on to ‘country’. I love the music, but not a fan of the twangy, cookie cutter, new country vocals presented by Eric Church.
Whenever Ted Tocks gets an opportunity to share Hayseed Dixie he is all in. This is from their 2017 album ‘Free Your Mind and Your Grass Will Follow’. Great stuff. My favourite so far.
Hayseed Dixie is neck and neck with this 2020 cover by Larkin Poe. Whenever I listen to this musical partnership I think of the great free form DJ, Jim Ladd. Sadly, we lost Jim suddenly, late in 2023. His radio show on Sirius XM turned me on to many great artists, and some incredible deep tracks.
Once again, when sharing a Lynyrd Skynyrd song I found a cover version by former Skynyrd drummer Artimus Pyle and the current band that bears his name. The vocals are presented by Chris Janson as part of The Artimus Pyle Band’s 2023 album, ‘Anthems: Honouring the Music of Lynyrd Skynyrd’. Janson’s political leanings are dubious at best, and present layers of contradictions. He calls himself a conservationist, yet he supports the ‘Rapist in Chief’ who is a devoted climate change denier who would destroy any natural setting if it meant he could make a dollar for his billionaire friends. Maybe he has grown up a little since hollering ‘Trump Yeah’ from the stage during the 2016, Republican National Convention. Yikes! He has remained silent since the 2021 insurrection. Frequently, silence speaks volumes. Anyway, here is the cover version. May integrity prevail. I am not holding my breath.
There is something about ‘The Ballad of Curtis Loew’ that translates across musical genres but there is no doubt that next to the blues, bluegrass works best. Listen to this live cover by Greensky Bluegrass from earlier this year.
In order to bring everything back around to where this post began, it is important to reiterate that Ted Tocks Covers loves story songs. I have often imagined this song as a novel or a screenplay where the depth behind the relationship between the young boy and the musician is developed. Deeper themes could be explored that expand on the man’s life, and what brought him to this place. From the other side, perhaps some degree of understanding about the boy’s home life could be shared. Why would a parent be so threatened, by what her son is doing to pass the day? With music providing the backdrop, allowing one to peel back the layers, the truth would be exposed. Presented in a pre-civil rights era, southern U.S. locale, the sad reality of poverty and systemic racism would become apparent. The moral would become clear. Possibility for change lies in the blank slate of future generations…
Bigotry, hatred and mistrust is passed on from the generations before. Too often, it has been manufactured by people who want you to look away from the root cause. Until this changes, the likelihood that this hopeless cycle will continue remains an alarming possibility.
Lord knows, we can change
Ted Tocks Covers 