KIPSIGI CENTAUR/SINGING BRAKEMAN MEETS HOMELESS “3/4
BANJO PICKER,” EDDIE “ONE-STRING” JONES, AT SLIM HARPO
INSPIRED HIP SHAKE HOE DOWN.

THREE SONGS SMASHED TOGETHER HERE. THE DOZENS, BY EDDIE ONE-STRING JONES, CHEMIROCHA BY MEMBERS OF THE KIPSIGI TRIBE IN KEN-YA, AND AT THE END, HIP SHAKE BY SLIM HARPO. THERE'S QUITE A BIT OF INFO ONLINE ABOUT CHEMI-ROCHA NOW. AND AN NPR DOCO THAT SOMEHOW, MIRA-CULOUSLY, SEEMS TO MISS THE POINT ENTIRELY. BYE BENECO DOES A VERY GOOD COVER, IF YOU'RE INTO DREAM-POP. THE STORY, WHICH AS FAR AS I CAN TELL IS ABOUT HALF TRUE, IS THAT BRITISH MISSIONARIES CAME TO KENYA TO EXTRACT BLOOD FROM THE NATIVES. SOMEONE THOUGHT MUSIC MIGHT MAKE THE JUSTIFIABLY SUSPICIOUS KIPSIGIS A TAD MORE RELAXED ABOUT OFFERING THEIR VEINS TO THESE QUESTIONABLE WHITE PEOPLE WHO SHOWED UP OUT OF NOWHERE. SO THE BLOOD SUCKERS PULLED OUT A
VICTROLA AND THREW SOME JIMMY ROGERS ON THERE--BECAUSE IN 1929, HEY, EVERYBODY LIKED JIMMY ROGERS, RIGHT? SO THE KIPSIGIS THEN ASSOCIATED THIS STRANGE YODELING WHITE MAN WITH BLOOD EXTRACTION AND DANCING. FROM THAT POINT ON, HE BECAME A WEIRD SORT OF
DANGEROUS LAUGHABLE VAMPIRE DEMIGOD NAMED “CHEMIROCHA” (THE KIPSIGI TRANSLITERATION OF “JIMMY ROGERS”) WITH ANTLERS. IF YOU'RE WONDERING ABOUT THE ODD LYRICS WHERE EVERYBODY'S HOLDING ONTO THEIR CLOTHES, I PUT AN AD ON CRAIGSLIST FOR A KIPSIGI TRANS-LATOR BECAUSE I COULD NOT FIND ANY TRANSLATION OF THE ACTUAL LYRICS OF THE SONG. JUST A LOT OF SOLEMN WHITE
PEOPLE TELLING ME THAT IT HAD DEEP SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE. THE KIPSIGI TRANSLATOR I GOT TOLD ME THE SONG WAS MOSTLY ABOUT GIRLS MAKING SURE THEIR CLOTHES WERE NOT LOOSE FITTING BECAUSE LOOSE FITTING CLOTHES TEND TO FALL OFF WHEN DANCING. THERE'S YOUR DEEP SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE.
EDDIE ONE STRING JONES WAS A HOMELESS GUY THAT PLAYED A DIDDLEY BOW ON THE STREETS OF LA IN THE EARLY SIXTIES. HIS WORDS ARE PRESENTED HERE IN THEIR OBSCENE ENTIRETY BECAUSE FUCK IT, WHY NOT? “THE DOZENS” (HIS TITLE FOR "THE ELEPHANT CALLED HELL" SONG) IS A GENERIC TERM FOR BLUE (EXPLICIT) BLUES SONGS, BUT YOU OBVIOUSLY KNOW THIS ALREADY. GOOD BYE... OH... HIP SHAKE IS A SLIM HARPO THING
MAX ALWAYS WANTED TO PERFORM IT WITH RUBE WADDELL BUT WE NEVER DID. SORRY MAX. THANKS TO PETER ESMONDE WHO INTRODUCED ME TO EDDIE ONE STRING, CHEMIROCHA AND SLIM HARPO (WOW, ALL THREE!) WITH THOSE AMAZING MIXED TAPES
HE USED TO MAKE BACK IN IN THE 1880S... ERR 1980S. SO THIS SONG IS HIS FAULT.