Paul Quarrington was an acclaimed non-fiction writer, novelist, poet, screenwriter, filmmaker, songwriter, and musician. He won the Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction for his novel Whale Music, and his novel, The Ravine, was long-listed for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Quarrington received the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour for his novel King Leary, which was also the victor in Canada Reads 2008. He was frontman, vocalist, and rhythm guitarist for the band Porkbelly Futures.
In the opening pages of Quarrington's posthumous memoir Cigar Box Banjo: Notes on Music and Life Paul recounts doing house concerts in people's living rooms, where guests who were invited would pay a small entrance fee to hear him sing his songs and recite poetry. The following poem Crossroad Blues is one of the poems he read regularly at these house concerts and was included in his memoir due to its thematic connection to music.
Crossroad Blues
When I was 15
My mother died and I
Started playing the blues on
A Zenon guitar and
Drinking Four Aces wine,
Which was not really wine.
Just like Robert Johnson.
Who made a deal with the Devil
at the Crossroads.
Robert Johnson sold his Soul
To the Devil,
Which was like selling his shoes
When he knew he had to walk down
A road of horseshoe nails.
I would listen to the records
And learn the licks with
Tongue-biting concentration.
I was pale and chubby and little-dicked.
I would drink Four Aces,
Which was not really wine,
But it was alcohol.
I would play the guitar,
Drunk in my bedroom,
Hiding from my father,
Who was drunk in the den
Of our house in Don Mills, Ontario,
Canada’s first planned community.
One night the Devil
Appeared in my bedroom.
The Devil has some personal hygiene issues
Which we need to get into.
The Devil offered me the same deal
He offered Robert Johnson
At the Crossroads.
He said, “I will make you
The best guitar player ever.
You will make strong men cry
And you will make women wilt
With their desire for you.
The songs you wrote will haunt
Mankind forever.
It will cost you your Soul.”
I thought about it.
“Well…what would it cost
If you just showed me how to play
An F7?”
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