Sam Bush has long been regarded as one of the leading exponents of the mandolin and fiddle, and with New Grass Revival, he helped develop the progressive bluegrass genre. For the last thirty years, he has led the Sam Bush Band, which maintained his eclectic approach to material. While his bluegrass vocal abilities have also been praised, he has never seen himself as much of a songwriter. This changed in 2016 when he released “Storyman”, and he was involved with writing all eleven songs, rather than the occasional one or two on earlier albums. Sam Bush had been friends with Guy Clark for a long time, appearing on many of his albums, but he explained that it took him nearly twenty years before he had enough confidence in his songwriting to write with Guy Clark. The song they wrote together on “Storyman”, ‘Carcinoma Blues’, was personal to both of them. Bush was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in the early ’80s, and Clark sadly died after a long battle with lymphoma just before “Storyman” was released. As well as being personal, the song could be seen as a rewrite of Jimmie Rodgers ‘T.B. Blues’ for the 21st Century.
Tuberculosis was one of the leading causes of death in the early 1900s, and often resulted in a slow, painful death over a period of years. Jimmie Rodgers was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1924 and finally succumbed to the disease in 1933. He wrote ‘T.B. Blues’ in 1931 with input from Ray Hall, who had been a prisoner in the Texas State Penitentiary, as his condition was worsening. The lyrics concern a man coming to terms with the finality of the disease, despite his girlfriend trying to convince him he doesn’t have TB, and “…fightin’ like a lion, looks like I’m going to lose/ ‘Cause there ain’t nobody, ever whipped the T.B. blues”. Cancer has a similar position in the public consciousness of the 21st Century, and the lyrics of ‘Carcinoma Blues’, while giving a sense of what a cancer diagnosis can mean, also include a spirit of defiance rather than the acceptance shown by Jimmie Rodgers, and give an insight into how it impacts those close to those suffering with the disease.
The band on ‘Carcinoma Blues’ is Todd Parks bass, Scott Vestal banjo, Chris Brown drums, Stephen Mougin guitar, and Hargus “Pig” Robbins on piano on a tune and arrangement that looks back to the music of Jimmie Rodgers. Sam Bush’s mandolin strikes just the right tone and brings a bluesy feel, even though Jimmie Rodgers’ recordings didn’t feature mandolin, and Hargus “Pig” Robbins’ piano is perfectly bluesy in a ragtime kind of way that helps invoke the spirit of the ‘20s and ‘30s. The hand of Guy Clark can be felt in the simplicity of the tune and the effectiveness of the lyrics, with not a word wasted in getting the message over to the listener.
‘Carcinoma Blues’ succeeds on multiple levels. At the most basic level, it is a great song, expertly performed and sung, that effectively and appropriately pays homage to a musician who nearly a hundred years ago laid some of the very foundations of what is now called roots music. Cancer can be an illness that people avoid discussing until they are impacted personally by either themselves, a family member or a close friend being diagnosed with a particular cancer, and it can then be a great shock and source of anxiety. What ‘Carcinoma Blues’ manages to do is to give an overview of what a cancer diagnosis can mean in an entertaining way that also manages to be positive while not sugar-coating what may lie ahead. Sam and Guy, using their own personal experiences and musical skills, wrote a song that will help inform listeners of some of the realities around a cancer diagnosis, and which, in its own small way, may provide a sense of hope for those listeners who have received a diagnosis.
“I went to see the doctor
This is what the doctor said
I went to see the doctor
This is what the doctor said
You got a bad case with that old C boy
You know you’re gonna wind up dead
You know my doctor
Gave me everything I need
You know my good doctor
Gave me everything I need
It makes me feel so bad
It must be good for me
And now cancer, you ain’t rulin’ me
The nurse she asked me
For my insurance card
The nurse she asked me
For my insurance card
I said I do not have one
Times are hard
I know you worry
I’d be worried too
I know that you worry
I’d be worried too
‘Cause it’s hard to watch your baby
With the carcinoma blues
Well, now cancer, you ain’t rulin’ me
I hate to see that boy
And what he’s going through
I hate to see that boy
And what he’s going through
She said how come nobody’s asked me
Why I’m feelin’ blue
And now cancer, you ain’t rulin’ me.”
