Taj Mahal - "Cakewalk Into Town" (original version, 1972 & 1973 version), with information about the Cakewalk dance

olliestark, Sept. 18, 2009
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Here's some information about the African American Blues singer/musician known as Taj Mahal from https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taj_Mahal_(musician)
"Henry Saint Claire Fredericks, better known by the stage name Taj Mahal (born May 17, 1942), is an American blues musician. He has been performing and recording since 1964 and is still popular."...

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcases two versions of Taj Mahal's 1972 Blues song "Cakewalk Into Town". 

The Addendum of this post includes information about The Cakewalk dance.

The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Taj Mahal for his cultural legacy. Thanks to all other musicians who are featured on these recordings and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to the publishers of these examples on YouTube. 

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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM SHOWCASE VIDEO #1
Here are some comments from this sound file's discussion thread, with numbers added for referencing purposes only:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBGbrFlWwsE

1. sayyes2bull, 2011
"this is so cool i was waitin' for a bunch of polar bears to walk in."

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Reply
2. Morgan Taylor, 2019
"SAME"

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3. Unicornlove 10000, 2015
"How great is this song. Rock that tuba"

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4. Phillip Buscema, 2015
"Yeah the tuba and the hand claps."

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5. Teresa Rondo Blanco., 2015
"Love Howard Johnson's tuba playing!!"

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Reply
6. tankthetuba, 2021
"Unfortunately Howard Johnson passed away last month, January 2021"

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7. Tom Schneck, 2017
"Taj, tuba and handclap form innovative, joyful combo in blues tune - very nice"

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Reply
8. mymayapapaya, 2020
"Tom Schneck don’t forget the whistle solo"

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9. Howard Slade, 2016
"Just another way to step out of the "blues" "

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Reply
10. Morgan Taylor, 2019
"TRUE"

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domitype, 2020
…. "Cakewalking was a generally a parody of the ballroom dances the masters had - with exaggerated steps and swaggers, and the most outlandish dancers won a cake. This was also adapted into the minstrel shows that were popular at the time. Much more here: https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/12/23/256566647/the-extraordinary-story-of-why-a-cakewalk-wasnt-always-easy
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An excerpt of this article is given in the Addendum of this pancocojams post.

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #2: Taj Mahal - Cakewalk Into Town 1973



1016vortex, Sept. 18, 2015
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Here are some comments from this sound file's discussion thread, with numbers added for referencing purposes only:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAPqGZNtXTE

andy06525, 2016
"So Cool"

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2. Mr. Vinegaroon, 2017
"I think this is the happiest blues I have ever heard."

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3. Leisa K, 2019
"I absolutely Love me some Taj Mahal!"

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4. Zachary Robinson, 2021
"Optimistic blues:🙌🏼"

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LYRICS - CAKEWALK INTO TOWN

(Taj Mahal)

I had the blues, so bad one time it put my face in a permanent frown

You know I'm feeling so much better, I could cakewalk into town

Honey, I woke up this mornin' feelin' so good, you know I laid back down again

Throw your big leg over me mama, I might not feel this good again

 

My baby, my baby, I do love the way she walks

And when my woman gets sleepy, I love the way she baby-talks

My work is getting scarce, oh baby, my work it done got hard

I spend my whole day stealin' chickens, Honey, from the rich folks yard

I would love to take a picnic in the country and stay all day

I wouldn't do nothing but while my blues away

I had the blues so bad one time it put my face in a permanent frown

You know I'm feelin' so much better I could cakewalk into town


Online Source: https://genius.com/Taj-mahal-cakewalk-into-town-lyrics

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ADDENDUM - INFORMATION ABOUT THE CAKEWALK
From https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/12/23/256566647/the-extraordinary-story-of-why-a-cakewalk-wasnt-always-easy "The Extraordinary Story Of Why A 'Cakewalk' Wasn't Always Easy" December 23, 2013 by Lakshmi Gandhi
..."The cakewalk was a pre-Civil War dance originally performed by slaves on plantation grounds. The uniquely American dance was first known as the "prize walk"; the prize was an elaborately decorated cake. Hence, "prize walk" is the original source for the phrases "takes the cake" and "cakewalk."

Here's how the dance worked: Couples would stand in a square formation with men on the inside perimeter and then dance around the ballroom "as if in mimicry of the white man's attitudes and manners," according to Richard Kislan. The steps included "a high-leg prance with a backward tilt of the head, shoulders and upper torso."

Plantation owners served as judges for these contests — and the slave owners might not have fully caught on that their slaves might just have been mocking them during these highly elaborate dances.

In the 1912 novel The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, James Weldon Johnson has a character describe attending a cakewalk during the Reconstruction era:

"Then the floor was cleared for the cake-walk. A half-dozen guests from some of the hotels took seats on the stage to act as judges, and twelve or fourteen couples began to walk for a sure enough, highly decorated cake, which was in plain evidence. The spectators crowded about the space reserved for the contestants and watched them with interest and excitement. The couples did not walk round in a circle, but in a square, with the men on the inside. The fine points to be considered were the bearing of the men, the precision with which they turned the corners, the grace of the women, and the ease with which they swung around the pivots. The men walked with stately and soldierly step, and the women with considerable grace." "....
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Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/09/information-about-cake-walk-with-1903.html for a 2020 pancocojams post entitled "Information About The Cake Walk (with a 1903 Library Of Congress film clip & a reprint from streetswing.com)."

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