ELI FRAMER
Eli Framer recorded only two titles, I believe, in Atlanta in 1929. I don't think anything is known about him in the biographical sense, but he is supposed to have been from Alabama. He accompanied himself out of E position in standard tuning for "Framer's Blues", and does a nifty job of it, with strong thumb-popped bass notes. From his singing, he sounds like he may have been an older man when he recorded. This is a terrific cut, and the extent to which he barely varies his accompaniment ends up giving the whole rendition a sort of "lost in time" quality and cumulative impact. That sense of sameness or repetition is strikingly broken when he goes long at the end of the opening line of his fifth verse. I like the idea of him having his own blues named for him, and think we should all have such songs. Here is "Framer's Blues":
One of just four recordings by the obscure bluesman, Eli Framer. Recorded in Atlanta, Georgia, November 30, 1929. The song released on the reverse side of this 78 was 'God Didn't Make Me No Monkey Man.' The remaining two songs have never been issued.
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