It’s been just over a year now since the passing of the Southern-born (some reports say Bessemer, Alabama; others, Vicksburg, Mississippi) but Pittsburgh-raised bluesman known as Louisiana Red. And although Red never did make it back to Pittsburgh after the Chess Brothers convinced him to move to the big city of Chicago, it’s nice to know that he remembered the Steel City fondly, at least according to this song recorded at a 1982 session for an album that wasn’t released until a dozen years later (as Sittin’ Here Wonderin’) – and then only with the help of fellow Pittsburgh transplant Michael Frank of Chicago’s Earwig Records, who of course also guided the career of the late David “Honeyboy” Edwards.
Gone, yes, but Red and his music will never be forgotten, especially by blues fans here in the city where he grew up. So here’s some down-home blues for the locals that a few out-of-towners will no doubt also appreciate.
“Pittsburgh, P.A. –
that’s where I growed up day by day.
Pittsburgh, P.A. –
that’s where I growed up each and every day.
You know, my ex-wife Eva,
she’s sorry she run this man away.
I bought her a brand new $12,000 home
and I bought her a brand new Cadillac car.
Bought her a $12,000 home
and I bought her a brand new Cadillac car.
And I was tryin’ to take care of children that wasn’t mine,
and she out there paradin’ with her men like a movie star…
Pittsburgh, P.A. –
I wanna’ go there again one of these days.
Pittsburgh, P.A. –
I wanna’ go back there again one of these days.
‘cuz that’s where I am most of my life
and I guess that’s where I wanna’ begin to stay.”
– “Pittsburgh Blues”, Iverson Minter a.k.a. Louisiana Red