Glass Bottle Trees- Is it just a Mississippi thing?
We have received inquiries about the glass bottle trees, which will be available on our web site soon. Thought we might share some history and reading material for those interested.
Slaves from the Congo in Africa brought the idea of the traditional bottle trees - live trees with colored bottles on the ends of branches - into this country. Bottle trees protected homes from evil spirits by trapping spirits inside the bottle, where they could do no harm.
Recently, the bottle tree has seen new life as a tree-like metal structure with a steady base and branches (where colored bottles are placed).
It was the perfect song for Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon knew it. The song was still fresh and Muddy learned it quickly from Dixon while taking a break between sets at Chicago’s club Zanzibar, where he was playing a regular gig. The year was 1953 and Muddy was at the height of his power, both artistically and commercially.
When he tried “Hoochie Coochie Man” on his band and the club patrons moments later, he knew he had a hit. The crowd went nuts. Muddy growled and swaggered, imbuing the song with sexual power and menace. Muddy gave voice to the defiant pride of his audience, a pride long held in check in the segregated South, now finding a new freedom in the urban North.
But it wasn’t just the sexual swagger and electrified sound that connected Muddy to his fellow exiles. Muddy was openly acknowledging the power and influence of Hoodoo in the lives of his fellow African Americans.
Continue reading this article here: Glass Bottle Trees
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