Them Deep Ellum Blues

Jimmie Revard and His Oklahoma Playboys

The first time I heard Deep Ellum Blues, was around 1990. I was collecting pre-war Country and Blues 78’s, and my first honest-to-god pre-war depression record was a buff Bluebird, (Victor’s depression label that sold for 35 cents each), by Jimmie Revard and His Oklahoma Playboys . I was so fascinated, that I played that thing over and over on an old Califone record player I bought at a school board auction. It had a preamp tube, a 6” speaker, and would play 33, 45, and 78rpm. I played that record so much in fact, that my girlfriend threatened to break that precious disc of shellac across her knee. The irony though, was that she was a pretty devoted Deadhead, and had she done her homework, she would have found a great version of Deep Ellum Blues in the Grateful Dead catalog. The point of all this, is that music recorded from 1925-1936, especially Country, String, Jug, and Blues, is priceless. And Deep Ellum is on my list of places to see before I die.