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231:(a follower of Petway's), asked if Petway wrote the song, replied, "He just made that song up and used to play it at them old country dances. He just made it up and kept it in his head." In his autobiography, Edwards also remembered the Delta blues guitarist Tom Toy, from Leland, Mississippi, who apparently was well known locally for his version of "Catfish Blues". Toy never recorded.
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There is no record, official or unofficial, of Petway's death. The last record of his public life is a quote from
Honeyboy Edwards: "nobody I know heard what become of him." In his autobiography, Edwards stated that he had heard that Petway may have moved to Chicago, where Edwards himself lived, but
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took their name). The composition credit given to Petway is based entirely on the recording date of his version of the song, but it cannot establish that his version was the original and the source of later versions. There is speculation that Tommy McClennan wrote the song, as he himself recorded it
164:], farm worker aged 18 in 1920; both in Leflore County. On February 16, 1942, four days before Robert Petway's second recording session in Chicago, a "Robert Pitway" of Benton, Mississippi registered for the US Draft in
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Petway recorded the song "Catfish Blues" in 1941. Among many other musicians who played variations of the song, Muddy Waters used the arrangement and lyrics of "Catfish Blues" for his song "
183:, in 1907, married in Chicago and died there in 1978. However, Eagle and LeBlanc consider that that person is unlikely to be the Petway who was a musician in Mississippi in 1940.
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singer and guitarist. He recorded only 16 songs, but it has been said that he was an influence on many notable blues and rock musicians, including
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641:"Mississippi Blues Vol. 3 Complete Recordings of Robert Petway, Mississippi Matilda, Sonny Boy Nelson – Document Records Vintage Blues and Jazz"
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128:. There is only one known picture of Petway, a publicity photo from 1941. His birth name may have been Pettyway, Pitway, Petaway, or similar.
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Little is definitively known about Petway. It has been speculated that he was born at or near the J.F. Sligh Farm, near
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Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft
Registration Cards, 1942. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010
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Assuming that the musician was born around 1902/03 in
Mississippi, the date and cause of his death are unknown.
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1910 United States
Federal Census for Robert Pettyway, Mississippi, Leflore, North Greenwood, District 0070,
202:, and other venues. Petway and McClennan often travelled and performed together. After McClennan had been in
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1920 United States
Federal Census for Robert Petaway, Mississippi, Leflore, Beat 4, District 0092,
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Alternatively, research by Jason Rewald has suggested that Petway may have been born at
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for a few years, Petway travelled north to join him and cut records, as did
Georgia's
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in 1903. Also registered in Yazoo City on the same day was "Tom McClinnan" of
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The first verse of Muddy Waters's "Rollin' Stone" has similar lyrics:
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The second verse of Petway's "Catfish Blues" is as follows:
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433:. Santa Barbara: Praeger Publishers. pp. 188, 447.
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158:], aged 7 in 1910; and to Robert Petaway [
112:(born c. 1903, date of death unknown) was an American
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479:"The Disappearance of Robert Petway: A New Theory"
32:The only known photograph of Petway (c. 1941)
249:Settin’ out hook for me, settin’ out hook for me
245:Settin’ out hooks for me, settin’ out hook for me
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695:Catfish Blues (Origins of a Blues) By Max Haymes
247:Settin’ out hook for me, settin’ out hook for me
327:"Rockin' Chair Blues" / "Let Me Be Your Boss"
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402:"Hard Working Woman" / "Ar'nt Nobody's Fool"
361:Second session, recorded on February 20, 1942
243:Have these gals now, sweet mama, settin’ out,
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335:"Sleepy Woman Blues" / "Don't Go Down Baby"
290:Petway only recorded two sessions, both for
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394:"My Baby Left Me" / "Cotton Pickin' Blues"
378:"Boogie Woogie Woman" / "Hollow Log Blues"
241:I said swimmin’ deep down in, deep blue sea
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343:"My Little Girl" / "Left My Baby Crying"
310:First session, recorded on March 28, 1941
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263:I would have all you good lookin women,
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583:"Document Records Blues – 5000 Series"
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386:"Bertha Lee Blues" / "In the Evening"
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429:Eagle, Bob; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013).
302:Original 78s (in chronological order)
755:People from Yazoo City, Mississippi
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271:Oh 'nough, oh 'nough, sure 'nough
210:, who had met them in Mississippi.
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132:Uncertainties over birth and death
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239:What if I were a catfish, mama
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282:that he never met him there.
259:Well, I wish I was a catfish,
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464:. Retrieved 27 December 2019
194:Like many bluesmen from the
168:, stating his birthplace as
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805:African-American guitarists
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662:"Robert Petway discography"
477:Jason Rewald (2007-10-18).
222:" (the song from which the
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277:Disappearance and death
269:Sure 'nough, a-after me
267:Sure 'nough, a-after me
265:fishin, fishin after me
138:Yazoo City, Mississippi
715:American blues singers
643:. Document-records.com
585:. Document-records.com
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170:Sunflower, Mississippi
50:Itta Bena, Mississippi
38:Background information
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227:as "Deep Blues Sea".
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82:Musician, songwriter
351:"Catfish Blues" / "
181:Gee's Bend, Alabama
174:Benton, Mississippi
60:unknown; after 1941
399:Bluebird unissued
568:978-0-14-006223-6
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286:Discography
73:Delta blues
704:Categories
668:2015-10-06
647:2015-10-06
589:2015-10-06
557:. p.
549:Deep Blues
489:2019-12-27
409:References
200:roadhouses
166:Yazoo City
664:. Wirz.de
146:Itta Bena
48:possibly
690:Allmusic
622:Archived
605:Archived
545:(1981).
461:wirz.de
296:Chicago
204:Chicago
46:c. 1903
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370:Title
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190:Career
124:, and
95:Labels
65:Genres
52:, U.S.
114:blues
69:Blues
563:ISBN
435:ISBN
57:Died
43:Born
688:at
559:104
294:in
161:sic
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
