by Dr. Barry Lee Pearson
Piedmont guitarist and vocalist: “I’m Gonna Keep On”
Precious Bryant (1942-2013) was born in Talbot County, Georgia. She learned to play guitar form her father who played guitar, banjo and fiddle. She also sang in a family gospel group under the name The Bussey Sisters. Her uncle, George Henry Bussey, also played guitar and sang blues. During the 1990s her son Tony accompanied her on bass. Folklorist/fieldworker George Mitchell introduced her to the blues and folklife festival audiences. This interview was done in Chattanooga, Tennessee, October 9, 1993. Harmonica player Neil Pattman was also present.
Precious Bryant : “My daddy had a guitar, an acoustic guitar, and that was a big old guitar. It was a family guitar. And I was a little bitty thing and I couldn’t tote the guitar because it was so big. But I would get it and drag it around. I would beat it, pick it and things. And I had about seven guitars since then so that’s how I got started.
My mother didn’t play. My daddy did but she didn’t. He played banjo, guitar. I’ve seen my daddy play guitar behind his head and play but my mama, she don’t play nothing. The only thing my mama like is flowers.
My daddy, he didn’t never go out nowhere, but he would play things at home, some of Blind Boy Fuller’s records. and I know that he would play that. “I want to see my chauffer,” and another thing, he would put the guitar behind his head and he would play that. He played that “Georgie Buck,” he played that too. I can’t name all of them but he played a whole lot of tunes. And he played that, “I woke up this morning blues all around my bed. I went to eat my breakfast blues all in my bread.”
And I told him one day that I was gonna learn how to play. So I would look at him and I didn’t understand why he played that stuff like that but then I learned how to play it. And Tony, my son, he learned a whole lot of stuff from me and my brother. Tony got a whole lot of good stuff, but you know, he won’t do it. He’ll sing at home but he won’t sing here. Now take me, I don’t care. I’ll sing anywhere.
So when I was going to school I used to take my guitar and in class I would play it. So I just been playing my guitar all my life, what it was back then, back in those days, they would call it, the best way I can put it they would have these talent shows.
And I would go to people’s houses and play until, now see, I quit doing that. The reason I quit, they start to showing out and when they get to showing out, I ain’t with that. I like to have fun. I’m a person that likes to go and have fun but when they get to doing that stuff like showing out and fighting and stuff I get gone. I ain’t ready for that. And when I was doing that, I was by myself but now I got my son playing with me, Tony. But back then when they want to cuss and cut, I ain’t. I didn’t go no more because I couldn’t take that. But I got sisters. I mean they could play guitar. They wanted to come up here. I got a group, a show with my sisters, named the Bussey Sisters. And they wanted to come, but see they ain’t like me. I ain’t got no husband. They got husbands. Somebody to make them sit down. I ain’t got nobody to tell me nothing. I’m by myself. I can go when I get ready.
Oh, yes, if my husband didn’t die, I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing. No, because he was just crazy. Jealous. Yes. My son can tell you that. If my husband didn’t die, I wouldn’t be where I am today because he was jealous. I remember one time when I was playing the guitar he come and snatched the guitar out of my hand and me and him got into fighting. But see he didn’t understand. I ain’t trying to tempt nobody. I just love playing music. But he couldn’t understand that. My parents encouraged me. Yeah they did, but the only thing now they tell me people so bad now about doing things, they don’t want us to go nowhere very much because they’re scared somebody might hurt us. But I’m not scared. I said, “God’s with us like he is at home.” They don’t want us to go nowhere because they feel like somebody might do something to us. But I don’t worry about that. My sisters, they tell me, “I wouldn’t go if I was you.” But, see, I wouldn’t have been here if I listened to them. But I ain’t scared of that. I’m not scared of that because then I won’t get nowhere. I got a passport and I been across the sea. I been some of everywhere. You name it, I been there.
Right now I got my son Tony, he plays bass with me. When I first started I didn’t have nobody but me. And I would sing acoustic guitar but right now I got an electric guitar. And it kind of does a number on me because I get tired of trying to hook that stuff up but when you have an acoustic guitar all you got to do is just play.
I played blues and I play spiritual songs. Well, I do a little of both of them because I had a song tonight that I said to Neal (Pattman), I said that I was going to play a song about “when the Lord gets ready, you got to move.” I didn’t mind. Neal’s a good friend of mine. I’ve been knowing him for a good while now.
I got a couple of tunes that I’m gonna play tomorrow, but see I don’t like mixing spirituals up with blues. But I think somebody got a request they want to hear, I’m gonna play it. I don’t feel good about doing that but I will do it. But I don’t like mixing up spirituals with the blues. I feel like it’s wrong. But I will do it. I’m gonna tell you about me. I like to play what people like to hear. I want them to be satisfied because if my audience is not satisfied, I’m not satisfied neither. But so far everywhere I been my audience has been satisfied.
Well, I’ll tell you one thing about it. I was told this, I don’t do it, but I was told that I was the only woman that played the blues like folks want to hear it. See, I don’t brag on myself. I let other people do it. And I played with another lady called Jesse Mae Hemphill. But I think I do a pretty good job. And I practice every day. And I got songs I wrote myself. And where I get all of my songs is I listen to the radio.
The first song I made was “Baby Tell me Don’t You Want to Jump.” And I had that on my menu. I’ll play it tomorrow. That’s the very first song that I wrote myself. If I get to thinking about a song, if it’s two o’clock in the morning, I’ll get up and write it. Because if I don’t, I can’t think about it no more. And the last song I wrote was “I’m sitting Tight.”
The very first time when I started playing guitar it was in Columbus, but I went down there and I started playing guitar and I was so scared that nobody wouldn’t like what I was playing. But when I hit the guitar, they started screaming and hollering so I went wild. So after that I been going. So when they told me they wanted me to come up here, I said we’ll I’ll go. I made it.
But sometimes you know what I feel like? I feel like I shouldn’t never have gotten in this kind of business because I’ll tell you what it is: it’s getting me down. I have to do so much things. But I ain’t gonna quit what I’m doing. I’m gonna keep on. I ain’t gonna quit.”
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Dr. Barry Lee Pearson, Professor in the English Department at the University of Maryland stands as the most steadfast supporter of the local acoustic blues scene in the greater Washington, D.C., area and beyond. As a musician, author, college lecturer, folklorist, and personal friend to the musicians, he has been the voice of this regional blues scene.