Deep Ellum
by Debby Richards
Title
Deep Ellum
Artist
Debby Richards
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Deep Ellum developed in the late 1800s as a residential and commercial neighborhood on the east side of downtown Dallas. The area was originally called Deep Elm, but the pronunciation “Deep Ellum” by early residents led to its current and historically accepted name.
Deep Ellum's real claim to fame, however, was found in its music. By the 1920s, the neighborhood had become a hotbed for early jazz and blues musicians, hosting the likes of Blind Lemon Jefferson, Robert Johnson, Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter, and Bessie Smith in Deep Ellum clubs like The Harlem and The Palace.
At the time, you could find gun and locksmith shops, clothing stores, the Cotton Club, tattoo studios, barber-shops, pawn shops, drugstores, tea rooms, loan offices, domino halls, pool halls, and walk-up hotels. On its sidewalks you could find pigeon droppers, reefer men, craps shooters, card sharps, and sellers of cocaine and marijuana.[2] Sometime around World War I, Lead Belly and Blind Lemon Jefferson got together and began composing folk tunes, with Dallas often in the lyrics. In a song called "Take A Whiff on Me":
Walked up Ellum an' I come down Main,
Tryin' to bum a nickel jes' to buy cocaine.
Ho, Ho, baby, take a whiff on me.[2]
Another song about Deep Ellum, "Deep Ellum Blues", performed by the Grateful Dead included:
When you go down on Deep Ellum,
Put your money in your socks
'Cause them Women on Deep Ellum
Sho' will throw you on the rocks.
(chorus)
Oh, sweet mama, your daddy's got them Deep Ellum Blues.
Oh, sweet mama, your daddy's got them Deep Ellum Blues.
Info from Deep Ellum Website & Wikipedia
Uploaded
May 1st, 2016
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