Hayes McMullan

Everyday Seem Like Murder Here

Recollections of Charley Patton and the music of 1920s Mississippi.

Hayes McMullan (1902–86) of Tallahatchie County, Mississippi, knew Charley Patton and lived long enough to share his memories with researcher Gayle Dean Wardlow in the ’60s. He had been a singer and guitarist himself, though he had not played for 30 years, and his nine anecdotes are interspersed with 22 songs. Some are associated with Patton, like Hitch Up My Pony and ’Bout A Spoonful, others perhaps with Ishman Bracey or Tommy Johnson, but McMullan’s approach is less assertive than theirs, and in standards like Roll And Tumble or Kansas City Blues his warm voice and gently insistent picking patterns recall other elderly songsters like Joe Callicott or even, in Fast Old Train, Mance Lipscomb. Skilful sound restoration and illuminating notes by Wardlow and guitarist John Miller enhance a recital of enormous charm.