Last night I was listening to a compilation of Mississippi blues, specifically, those of artists who originally hailed from the Jackson area.  Now, this is not a writing about the broad swath of influence and notoriety that Jackson has in the history of the blues; that could be a sizeable piece of journalism unto itself.  No, last evening as I listened intently to the Mississippi blues collection, I was once again drawn to the work of Ishmon Bracey.  Though his ledger of recorded blues is thin, consisting of only a very few sides for both the Victor and Paramount labels, they are uniformly of high quality, and in this writer’s opinion, ideally represent the best of the very earliest of Delta blues from the late 1920s and early 1930s.  Having never profiled the life and career of Bracey, now is the time to offer a brief overview of him.

Bracey came into the world in early January, 1901 to parents Richard Bracey and Etta Bracey in Byram, Mississippi, a town in Hinds County, an area located in the lower southwest portion of the state.  Byram lies roughly ten miles south of Jackson.  As is generally the case, Bracey was heavily influenced by local blues musicians, specifically Rube Lacey, Lee Jones and Louis Cooper.  Again, as if often the case, these bluesmen were willing to assist the young Bracey in learning the rudiments of the guitar, thus nudging his strong interest in the instrument and the blues.

As a teenager, ss his guitar and general performing proficiencies continued to develop, Bracey first began his blues performing career by offering his musical services at local frolics, picnics, and fish fries in the greater Jackson area.  As with so many of the rural pre-war bluesmen, Bracey used these events to hone his blues art.

It was in the later 1920s when Bracey made the decision to move northward to Jackson.  This choice came as a result of meeting noted Delta bluesman Tommy Johnson on his home turf in Crystal Springs, a town located roughly 26 miles south of Jackson.  Knowing that Johnson and many other prominent bluesmen recognized Jackson as a major center of blues activity, Bracey felt this move was the next best step in his burgeoning blues career.

Along with the host of very talented bluesmen calling the Jackson area their primary blues territory, Bracey soon found his blues capabilities appreciated in Jackson, as he regularly found performing opportunities there.  Jackson’s blues scene was vigorous, and there was more than enough space to allow for yet another bluesman to seek his livelihood in the town.  Other bluesmen performing there included the three brothers of Tommy Johnson (Mager, LeDell, and Clarence), brothers Joe McCoy and Charlie McCoy, Slim Duckett, Walter Vinson, Son Spand, Luther Huff, Percy Huff, Shirely Griffith, and the entirety of the Chatmon family, among many others, the majority of whom came, like Bracey, from other smaller rural Mississippi towns.  Jackson was obviously a magnet for blues talent.

When considering the music coming out of Jackson as a whole during this period, what is notably apparent is that unlike the more downhome, harder blues found in the rural Mississippi locales, certain players on the Jackson blues scene incorporated instruments such as the violin and mandolin into their styles and musical constructs, thus affording what could be deemed a bit suppler approach to their blues.  Nonetheless, there were ample jobs to accommodate all in many differing venues, with blues musicians in Jackson also finding work for Black and White employers at dances.  At the performing occasions for White bosses, the Jackson bluesmen knew that to be competitive they needed to be able to play true dance songs in the waltz and ragtime styles, and Bracey made sure he was certainly adept in these formats. 

Also, Bracey, again like the majority of his blues peers, knew that there was money to be made playing for sidewalk traffic on the streets of whatever town he found himself in.  This street performing actually led to Bracey’s opportunity to record his blues for the first time.

Research has indicated that Bracey was performing on Jackson’s vibrant Mill Street when his brand of blues caught the attention of H.C. Spier, a blues talent scout for the Victor label.  Spier also owned a furniture store in the area and knew that the locale was ripe with top-quality blues talent, so his talent scout opportunities were many, and his reputation was strong upstream with the Victor label, among others. 

So, it came to be that both Bracey and Tommy Johnson were able to lay down tracks in Memphis, Tennessee in February, 1928 at the Memphis Auditorium.  These initial Bracey sides (released in June, 1928) were entitled “Saturday Blues” and “Left Alone Blues,” with Bracey singing and playing guitar with accompaniment by Charlie McCoy who offered second guitar arrays and on mandolin.  “Saturday Blues” became something of an area success for Bracey.

Both Bracey and Johnson returned to Memphis later the same year in August to record a total of seven additional sides.  Of note are the Bracey cuts entitled “Brown Mamma” (sic) and “Trouble Blues,” both of which represent Bracey’s blues attributes very well (released in November, 1928), along with “Leavin’ Town Blues” and The Four Day Blues,” with these sides including Charlie McCoy on mandolin, which were released in 1929 (exact date unknown).

Interestingly, Bracey’s first name on these cuts and subsequent others, was spelled “Ishman” instead of Ishmon.

Bracey continued to actively perform “live”, as that was his bread-and-butter livelihood, and in November and December, 1929 he again traveled northward to the home of the Paramount label, Grafton, Wisconsin, to again record.   On these selections, which are credited to Ishman Bracey and New Orleans Nehi Boys (Charlie Taylor on piano and Ernest Moliere on clarinet), the songs were framed in what really was a jazz-ish tone; the clarinet is seldom an inclusion on Delta blues recordings.  The sides laid down were “Jake Liquor Blues” and “Family Stirving (sic); thought to meant to be “Striving.”  These two recordings saw the light of day in May, 1930.

Also recorded in November and December, 1929, were “Where My Shoes At” and “Too Damp To Be Wet (Laughing Blues)” with the selections credit to Charley Taylor and Ishman Bracey.  These cuts were released in June, 1930.

In January, 1930, Bracey was again in the studio to record the solo sides “Woman Woman Blues” and “Suitcase Full Of Blues.”  These songs saw the light of day in August, 1930.  January, 1930 again found Bracey with the New Orleans Nehi Boys on four cuts including “Mobile Stomp,” Farish St. Rag,” Bust Up Blues,” and “Pay Me No Mind,” with Bracey providing the guitar and vocals on these sides.  The four tunes were released between August, 1930 and February, 1931.

Bracey also recorded two additional solo sides in January, 1930, “Low Down Blues” and “Run To Me At Night.”  The exact 1931 date of their releases is difficult to pinpoint.

In the 1930s, Bracey could be found in tandem with Tommy Johnson performing on the active medicine show circuit, but as the 1930s progressed, many of his blues contemporaries had relocated, and his association with Johnson had concluded. 

Bracey did continue his blues career until 1951, though he was also known to have been both a painter and a common laborer during this period of his life.  Also significant in 1951 is that Bracey became a Baptist minister, being fully ordained as such.  This change of priorities ended Bracey’s blues music career.

This did not stop Bracey, however, from contributing to the blues realm, when in 1963 notable blues academic Gayle Dean Wardlow sought Bracey for his recollections on certain aspects of the Jackson blues landscape, and any interactions he may have had or witnessed with and of Bentonia bluesman Skip James.  Bracey willingly took part in Wardlow’s investigational efforts.

Bracey passed away in mid-February, 1970.  At the time of his demise, Bracey was pastoring at a Canton, Mississippi house of worship.  Canton is in the northern metropolitan area of Jackson.

So, what is it about Bracey’s blues that made them so appealing?  There is little doubt that Bracey was, and remains, very influential. 

First, Bracey was a master lyricist.  Consider the lyrics to his “Saturday Blues,” one of his most well-known and renowned blues songs:

Now you tell me, mama/Do you fake disguise/Kid wit’ you, hid all day/Run to me at night

Wit’ yo’ kid all day/An run to me at night/Wit’ yo’ kid all day/An run to me at night

Now, my big love woman/Tote my pocket change/And my, sometimes woman/Won’t do the same

An you better not let my Angel catch you here/Don’t never let my/Angel catch you here

‘Cause it’s ain’t no tellin’/What she might do/Now, an she might cut you/And she might shoot you, too

Now, an she might cut you/She might shoot you, too/Lord, she might cut you/She might shoot you, too

Now, she’s the meanest woman/ And when I ask for water/Gave me gasoline/Now, I asked her for water/Gave me gasoline

Lord, an asked for water/Gave me gasoline

Now, if you want yo’ woman/To look like the rest/You buy her high-brown powder/Palmer’s Skin Success

You buy her high-brown powder/Palmer Skin Success/Buy her high-brown powder Palmer Skin Success

Now, I’ve got 4, 5 puppies/An got 1 shaggy hound/It takes all them dogs/To run my women down

It takes all them dogs to/Run my women down/6 for them dogs to/Run my women down

Now, just 4, 5 puppies/An got 1 shaggy hound/It takes all them dogs/To run my women down

It takes all them dogs to/Run my women down

Takes 4 a-them dogs to/Run my women down

Bracey presents here, as an example, blues poetry of the highest order, and paints a dysfunctional relationship picture that in no way can be interpreted in any other manner.

Bracey’s guitar style is highly percussive, yet melodic.  The percussive aspect cannot be underemphasized.  His ability to effortlessly combine lower-end bass structures and harmonious higher string counterpoints is thrilling, creating a full, rich sound.

Bracey’s vocals, though somewhat nasal, were completely capable of achieving, when required, a dramatic falsetto-esque effect.  He used this effect to build great allure and attain consistent success.

The great Document Records label is an excellent resource for Ishmon Bracey music.  Avail yourself to their web site and use their search feature to find it.  See the link below.  You will not be disappointed in the work of Ishmon Bracey.

The Document Records Store – Homepage