I'll go down to the levee--take a rocking chair.
If the blues doesn't leave me, babe, I'll rock away from here.
Oh, tell me how long have I got to wait?
Oh, babe, can I get you now or must I hesitate?
Al Bernard sings "Hesitation Blues" on Edison Blue Amberol 3738
This song has been around since 1915 or so.
Jelly Roll Morton knew it.
Rev. Gary Davis knew it.
Jorma Kaukonen picked it up by the early 1960s and made it popular again with Hot Tuna's first lp (recorded in 1969). That doesn't mean Jorma heard this Edison cylinder. The song was a folk music standard.
Alfred A. Bernard was born to Alfred and Katherine Bernard in New Orleans, probably on November 23, 1888. This date comes from the ASCAP Biographical Dictionary of 1952,
His death certificate cites November 23, 1887.
He attended St. Francis School and took a business course at Jesuit College. His brother Joseph E. Bernard was an entertainer in vaudeville and then films.
The singer was known as Al Bernard, "the boy from Dixie." In popularizing songs with "blues" in the title, especially W. C. Handy numbers that would eventually be recognized as classics, he was a pioneering artist. He was the first singer to record "St. Louis Blues" and "Beale Street Blues." He made his debut as a solo artist with "St. Louis Blues" on Emerson 9163, issued in May 1919.
His first records were made in early 1919. Around the time he recorded "St. Louis Blues" for Emerson, he also provided vocal refrains on dance numbers issued by the Aeolian Company, maker of Aeolian-Vocalion discs. Bernard sang on dance records cut by the Novelty Five, a Harry A. Yerkes ensemble. The earliest titles with Bernard contributing a vocal refrain are "Bluin' the Blues" (12117), "Don't Cry, Frenchy, Don't Cry" (12117), "Shake, Rattle and Roll" (12124), and "I Want To Hold You In My Arms" (12135). Aeolian-Vocalion 12117 was issued in May, 12124 and 12135 following in June.
With the Novelty Five he again cut Handy's "St. Louis Blues," and the rare Aeolian-Vocalion 12148 was issued in July 1919. In 1919 as a solo artist he recorded for Aeolian two more of his own compositions: "Sugar" and "Big Chief Blues," issued on Aeolian-Vocalion 12191 in October.
He worked for Edison around the time he made records for the Aeolian Company. Soon afterward he had Emerson, Okeh, and Gennett sessions. His first Edison session was on February 14, 1919. His version of Middleton and Smythe's "Hesitation Blues" was issued as Blue Amberol 3738 in June 1919 and Diamond Disc 50524 a month later. It was followed in July 1919 by two Blue Amberol selections. Blue Amberol 3766 features a 1913 Leroy "Lasses" White composition called "Nigger Blues" (Bernard later recorded with minstrel entertainer Lasses White for Columbia). Notwithstanding its offensive title, "Nigger Blues" is important for being one of the first published songs labeled "blues." George O'Connor had recorded it in 1916 for Columbia.
If the blues doesn't leave me, babe, I'll rock away from here.
Oh, tell me how long have I got to wait?
Oh, babe, can I get you now or must I hesitate?
Al Bernard sings "Hesitation Blues" on Edison Blue Amberol 3738
This song has been around since 1915 or so.
Jelly Roll Morton knew it.
Rev. Gary Davis knew it.
Jorma Kaukonen picked it up by the early 1960s and made it popular again with Hot Tuna's first lp (recorded in 1969). That doesn't mean Jorma heard this Edison cylinder. The song was a folk music standard.
Alfred A. Bernard was born to Alfred and Katherine Bernard in New Orleans, probably on November 23, 1888. This date comes from the ASCAP Biographical Dictionary of 1952,
His death certificate cites November 23, 1887.
He attended St. Francis School and took a business course at Jesuit College. His brother Joseph E. Bernard was an entertainer in vaudeville and then films.
The singer was known as Al Bernard, "the boy from Dixie." In popularizing songs with "blues" in the title, especially W. C. Handy numbers that would eventually be recognized as classics, he was a pioneering artist. He was the first singer to record "St. Louis Blues" and "Beale Street Blues." He made his debut as a solo artist with "St. Louis Blues" on Emerson 9163, issued in May 1919.
His first records were made in early 1919. Around the time he recorded "St. Louis Blues" for Emerson, he also provided vocal refrains on dance numbers issued by the Aeolian Company, maker of Aeolian-Vocalion discs. Bernard sang on dance records cut by the Novelty Five, a Harry A. Yerkes ensemble. The earliest titles with Bernard contributing a vocal refrain are "Bluin' the Blues" (12117), "Don't Cry, Frenchy, Don't Cry" (12117), "Shake, Rattle and Roll" (12124), and "I Want To Hold You In My Arms" (12135). Aeolian-Vocalion 12117 was issued in May, 12124 and 12135 following in June.
With the Novelty Five he again cut Handy's "St. Louis Blues," and the rare Aeolian-Vocalion 12148 was issued in July 1919. In 1919 as a solo artist he recorded for Aeolian two more of his own compositions: "Sugar" and "Big Chief Blues," issued on Aeolian-Vocalion 12191 in October.
He worked for Edison around the time he made records for the Aeolian Company. Soon afterward he had Emerson, Okeh, and Gennett sessions. His first Edison session was on February 14, 1919. His version of Middleton and Smythe's "Hesitation Blues" was issued as Blue Amberol 3738 in June 1919 and Diamond Disc 50524 a month later. It was followed in July 1919 by two Blue Amberol selections. Blue Amberol 3766 features a 1913 Leroy "Lasses" White composition called "Nigger Blues" (Bernard later recorded with minstrel entertainer Lasses White for Columbia). Notwithstanding its offensive title, "Nigger Blues" is important for being one of the first published songs labeled "blues." George O'Connor had recorded it in 1916 for Columbia.
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