• NEWS
  • REVIEWS
  • INTERVIEWS
  • EVENTS
  • VIDEOS

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest creative news from Blues Scene about music & art.

Talking Heads’ Jerry Harrison, Adrian Belew Announce Additional 2023 ‘Remain In Light’ Tour Dates

January 31, 2023

Bill Harden – Blues-Inspired Guitars at Harden Engineering

January 31, 2023

Exclusive: Guitarist/Singer-Songwriter Ally Venable Premieres Video for Title Track ‘Real Gone’

January 31, 2023

Barbara Blue Is a Piece of Work, A Very Talented One

January 30, 2023
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Facebook Twitter Instagram Vimeo
American Blues SceneAmerican Blues Scene
  • NEWS
  • REVIEWS
  • INTERVIEWS
  • EVENTS
  • VIDEOS
American Blues SceneAmerican Blues Scene
Home»News»Language of the Blues: STAVIN’ CHAIN
News

Language of the Blues: STAVIN’ CHAIN

Debra DeviBy Debra DeviAugust 23, 2016Updated:October 6, 2016No Comments2 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email VKontakte WhatsApp
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

This is the latest installment of our weekly series The Language of the Blues, in which author and rock musician Debra Devi explores the meaning of a word or phrase found in the blues.

Grab a signed copy of Devi’s entertaining & award-winning glossary The Language of the Blues: From Alcorub to Zuzu (Foreword by Dr. John) at Bluescentric.com. Also available as an eBook.

Lil Johnson
Lil Johnson

Stavin’ Chain was a 19th-century rail worker of legendary strength and stamina. According to Lil Johnson’s 1937 recording of “Stavin’ Chain,” he was the chief engineer on a train, and a big, strong man who could make love all night:

Stavin’ Chain was a man of might
He’d save up his money just to ride all night

No wonder Stavin’ Chain was a popular nickname among bluesmen in the 1930s. When John and Ruby Lomax were recording songs by prisoners at Ramsey State Farm, Camp #4, in Brazoria County, Texas in 1939, they noted that “two boys claimed the nickname of the famous ‘Stavin’ Chain’; they compromised by accepting the amended names Big Stavin’ Chain and Little Stavin’ Chain.”Alan Lomax also photographed and recorded Wilson Jones, a.k.a. Stavin’ Chain, in Layfayette, LA.

LOTB_WilsonJonesAKAStavinChain_RamseyStateFarm
Wilson Jones a.k.a. Stavin’ Chain, photo by Alan Lomaxette, Louisiana.

The term “staving chain,” may come from the chains used by barrel manufacturers to hold barrel staves together until an iron band could be fitted around the end of the barrel. Another theory is that staving chain was the name for the chain used to chain prisoners together by their ankles in a chain gang. Stavin’ chain may also be a corruption of “stave and chain.”

Pick up a signed copy of The Language of the Blues today!
Songs:
“Stavin’ Chain”- Lil Johnson
“Windin’ Boy”- Jelly Roll Morton (Ferdinand Joseph Lematt)
“Stavin’ Chain Blues”- “Big” Joe Williams

Video:
“Stavin’ Chain” – Lil Johnson

stavin' chain The Language of the Blues: From Alcorub to Zuzu
Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email WhatsApp
Previous Article2016 Bradenton Bluesfest Weekend Scheduled for December
Next Article Dan Auerbach Being Sued Over Howlin’ Wolf Project
Debra Devi
  • Website
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

Debra Devi is a rock musician and the author of the award-winning blues glossary The Language of the Blues: From Alcorub to Zuzu (foreword by Dr. John). www.debradevi.com

Related Posts

Talking Heads’ Jerry Harrison, Adrian Belew Announce Additional 2023 ‘Remain In Light’ Tour Dates

January 31, 2023

IBC 2023 Winners Announced

January 29, 2023

Listen: Colemine Records to Posthumously Release Fred Davis LP, ‘Cleveland Blues’

January 26, 2023

Savoy Brown to Release ‘Blues All Around’ After the Passing of Legendary Founder

January 24, 2023

Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

Advertisment
Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Events
  • Videos
  • About

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.