M & O Blues is the
second surviving recording Willie Brown made during that now famous
Grafton, Wisconsin session. Like his Future
Blues, M & O exhibits a quiet discontent, a certain
restlessness, not speaking of the events of today but looking
elsewhere, this song begins:
“When I leave here gonna catch that M &
O. Going way down South where I ain’t never been
before.”
This is our first day of recording, October 9,
1998. We climb atop tanker cars parked on the railroad tracks
along side Old Highway 61 just south of Coahoma. We'd spotted these
train cars during our first trip down this stretch of 61 in search of
the curve that took the life of blues singer Bessie Smith.
Instantly, we knew this was the spot for M & O Blues. After
battling our way through tall grasses that entwine wheels, axles and
train car couplings, Eddie takes his guitar and climbs a rusting ladder
to perch atop one of the tankers. It's like a crows nest up here
looking out over ocean waves of cotton. This day lives a life of
its own. A couple of chords, a few gusts of wind and slowly our
ship of blues begins to move us on a sunward journey. Today we
catch that M & O.
