Vocal Harmonies Allie Fox, John Rutherford, Iain McKinna
"...quality
and daring in one take."
Folk Roots
"...a good
old-fashioned liberal protest."
Q
"...kicks
you till you cry out." Southern Reporter
"...a writer
of tremendous depth and maturity." Simon Jones, www.freefolk.com
"Allie Fox's
voice is heartbreakingly pristine on tracks such as Joe Louis Blues."
MOJO
"Joe Louis Blues
from the long-awaited Diving for Pearls album is quite brilliant."
Southern Reporter
This song was
inspired by the story of Joseph Louis Barrow (aka Joe Louis) who
was born in a small shack in Alabama in 1914 and grew up to become
one of the most famous heavyweight boxing champions of this century.
Joe Louis Blues
is dedicated to the people of Nakibembe village in the Iganga district
of Uganda, whose singing of Muliranwa can be heard on this track.
Special thanks are due to Andy Cooke for his kind permission to
use his recording of them.
One day I was
listening back to a previous take of Joe Louis Blues that my producer
had copied onto an old cassette for me. As the final guitar chord
faded away I suddenly heard the most amazing African singing. It
was the people of Nakibembe village who had been recorded earlier
on that cassette. I knew immediately that their song was part of
my song, just as Joe Louis himself was part of Africa.
My name it is Joe Louis, I'm famous through the land
A poor and wretched ghetto boy who became a fighting man
I won the white man's title more than twenty times around
The boxing ring was the only place where he couldn't knock me down
Knock me down, knock me down
Some will write a poem,
others use a kiss
Some compose a symphony but I was given fists
The left one is for glory, unfettered and unscarred
The right one's for my family who were brought from Africa
And I strike a blow for
freedom, I strike it from my heart
I strike it for the many ones whose lives you've torn apart
And I stand before my people, proud to their acclaim
Your dogs and guns and hooded ones will only bring you shame
Bring you shame, bring you shame
There's no-one who can
save you, not your fortune, not your fame
Not the money in your pocket or the letters after your name
Don't wave that piece of paper, it doesn't mean a thing
'Cos the world will see right through it when you're standing in the
ring
And I strike a blow for
freedom, I strike it from my heart
I strike it for the gentle ones whose lives you've torn apart
And I strike it for the dispossessed who stood out in the cold
I strike it for the courageous ones who never sold their souls
And this is for my brothers and this for his art
And this is for the butchers and the slayers of his heart
And I'll hit you till you're bleeding and I'll knock you to the floor
I'll hit you till you hit the deck and you can't get up no more
No more, no more
And I'll hit you till you're
bleeding and I'll knock you to the floor
I'll hit you till you hit the deck and you can't get up no more
'Cos I strike a blow for freedom and I strike it from my heart
Yes I strike a blow for freedom and I strike it from my heart
From my heart
From my heart
From my heart
From my heart
Written
by Allie Fox. Published by fox & fox music international
