Seven Guitars

The song, “That’s All Right,” continues as the scene shifts into the past, shortly before Floyd’s death. Floyd Barton, age thirty-five, dances in the backyard with Vera, who is twenty-seven. Occasionally throughout the scene, a rooster crows. Floyd sings along, trying to hold Vera closer and then attempting to kiss her, but Vera rejects him. Floyd begs her for another chance. He asks Vera if she received his letter, but she is unimpressed, having recognized that Floyd had not written the letter himself. Floyd admits that he had paid a man at the prison workhouse to write it because the man was more adept at articulating Floyd’s feelings. Vera insists that she is not interested in reuniting with Floyd, asserting, “I done told you, my feet ain’t on backwards” (8). Floyd pleads with her to reconsider. But Vera points out that when Floyd had left for Chicago to record his music, he had promised to send for Vera but had taken a woman named Pearl Brown instead.

Floyd, who has recently been released following a ninety-day incarceration, tells Vera that he is only in town long enough to buy his guitar back from the pawnshop and then he is returning to Chicago and wants Vera to accompany him. Floyd adds that he may need to pawn the thirty-eight pistol that he left with Vera before he went to jail, saying that it had been fortunate that he hadn’t been carrying the gun when he and Canewell were arrested for vagrancy. Floyd claims that Canewell had been released because he had been carrying five dollars while Floyd had no money. According to Canewell’s account, however, Floyd had been jailed because he had threatened to burn the prison down. Floyd counters that he had only asked a guard about fire exits, and when the guard had told him that the prison wouldn’t catch fire, Floyd had offered to demonstrate with some gasoline. While sentencing him, the judge had decreed Floyd “worthless” (9).

Upon his return from jail, Floyd had found a letter waiting for him from the record company asking if he is the same Floyd Barton who recorded “That’s All Right” and offering another opportunity to record. Vera maintains that she will not go with him. Floyd tells her about his last trip, describing Chicago as “the only place for a black man to be” (11). He had seen Muddy Waters perform and had been in awe. Floyd’s manager, T.L. Hall, had promised to book Floyd at the Hurricane Club and had arranged a recording date with the record company. In an effort to win Vera over, Floyd reminisces about the day they met. Floyd, just out of the army, had spotted Vera, who had only recently left her mother’s house, on the street. Vera rebuffs him again. Floyd swears that his relationship with Pearl Brown had meant nothing, but Vera replies that the pain Floyd had caused when he left wasn’t nothing to her.

Floyd explains that at the time, he had felt that Pearl believed in him more than Vera did. Vera asserts that Floyd had made her feel inadequate as a woman by choosing to open up to someone else. After mourning for a year and a half, Vera had finally accepted that Floyd was gone, and now he has returned. Floyd begs her again, insisting, “I don’t want no hit record if I can’t have a hit record with you,” and Vera responds, “Then you don’t want it” (14-15).

Louise walks into the yard with a bag of groceries, and the tension between her and Floyd is instantly apparent. Louise notes that Floyd has gained weight and asks Vera what she plans to cook for dinner, which turns out to be Floyd’s favorite foods. Louise tells them that her niece from Alabama is coming to stay with her because she is in trouble, explaining vaguely that one man had killed another man over her. She challenges Floyd to a card game, and he agrees good-naturedly. Floyd slips an arm around Vera, and she relents. On the radio, “That’s All Right” plays again.

The following morning, Hedley enters singing to himself and assembling the table where he slaughters chickens. Intermittently throughout the scene, the rooster crows. He brings in a crate full of live chickens. Louise enters, wanting to buy a pack of cigarettes from Hedley, although he refuses to carry her preferred brand because no one else smokes them. Louise wonders if Floyd is with Vera, expressing hope that Vera won’t take him back. Hedley reminds Louise that she owes him money and Louise retorts that Hedley owes her for the meals she has cooked for him, and his rent is late. Hedley expects to sell a lot of chicken sandwiches that evening because a man named George Butler has died. Louise asks if Hedley has seen a doctor to be tested for tuberculosis since he started coughing up blood, but Hedley has only been to see Miss Sarah, a healer, who had given him some tea. Louise urges Hedley to see a doctor, insisting that Miss Sarah is only helpful for minor ailments. Hedley notes that he had tried to visit Louise the night before, but Louise exclaims that Hedley needs to visit a doctor before he tries to see her again.

Louise argues that Black people are allowed to be admitted to sanitariums now, and there’s no reason for him to die of tuberculosis. Hedley replies:

'Everybody got a time coming. Nobody can’t say that they don’t have a time coming. […] Hedley is fifty-nine years old. His time come soon enough. I’m not worried about that' (19).

Canewell enters, holding a plant for Vera and calling for Floyd. Hedley and Canewell argue briefly about the Bible. Louise reiterates her hope that Vera has not taken Floyd back. Canewell tells Louise and Hedley that several neighbors had gone to Mrs. Tillery, the rooster’s owner, to complain about the crowing. Louise agrees that a rooster doesn’t belong in the city. Exiting to the cellar, Hedley mentions George Butler’s death. Canewell muses that it seems as if someone is always dying, and he is lucky that he is still alive. Louise comments that Floyd’s song has been playing constantly on the radio. Canewell replies that if Floyd had followed his advice to ask for a percentage rather than a flat fee, he’d be rich.

Finally roused, Floyd appears at Vera’s window and Canewell beckons him outside. Louise asks Canewell about winning a raffle, and Canewell confirms that he had won a radio and given it to Vera. Floyd enters, crowing about the radio playing his song. Floyd had been laboring in the prison workhouse when he learned that the song was popular, and he started receiving visits from T.L. Hall, his manager. Floyd shows his letter to Canewell, who had played with him during his last recording session, but Canewell isn’t interested in going back to Chicago after being “arrested for nothing” (22). Floyd protests that he had also been arrested for nothing, but it happened in Pittsburgh right after his mother’s funeral, so could happen anywhere. Canewell reveals that on their previous trip, he had started playing his harmonica on the street and set his hat in front of him to collect tips. The police had arrested him for various charges relating to panhandling, adding disturbing the peace, resisting arrest, disrespecting the law, and “they tolled all that together and charged [him] with laziness” (23), for which Canewell had received a thirty-day sentence. Floyd invites Canewell to go to the pawnshop, where he hopes to buy back his electric guitar.

Hedley reenters, and Floyd sings a line from the song “I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say,” by Jelly Roll Morton (Buddy Bolden was an influential jazz musician who developed schizophrenia in his early 30s and spent the rest of his life in an institution). Hedley joins in and they go back and forth. A lyric about money prompts Hedley to describe his dream that he’ll come into wealth and purchase his own plantation, asserting, “Then the white man not going to tell me what to do” (24). Floyd indulges Hedley’s fantasy, commenting that he also won’t be told what to do, but he can achieve that with just his gun. Hedley quotes the Bible’s promise that “every abomination shall be brought low” as proof that he will one day “be a big man” (24). Canewell mentions that his name came from his grandfather who had been cutting sugarcane when someone had stated, “That boy can cane well” (25). Louise calls Floyd out for encouraging Hedley, but Floyd replies that he won’t be the person who tells Hedley that he can’t achieve his fantasies. Hedley and Canewell debate the Bible and whether Jesus had gone against God when he raised Lazarus from the dead. Vera enters and returns Canewell’s hat. Floyd, jealous, wants to know how Canewell’s hat is in his house. Vera replies that Floyd needs to pay rent if he wants her home to be his but explains that Canewell had left his hat after a late evening of arguing about the Bible with Hedley.

Canewell shows Vera the plant, a goldenseal, which he claims has medicinal powers. Louise interjects that they ought to go to a doctor when they’re sick for legitimate medication, but Canewell argues that the doctor’s medicine comes from the same place. When Vera plants it in the garden, Floyd notes that she won’t be around to see it grow when she’s in Chicago. Vera points out that she never agreed to go. Canewell dreams about owning his own house with reliable woman but admits that he has been drifting from home to home and woman to woman. Floyd announces that the prison workhouse still owes him money. He asks Canewell to go with him to collect it and then to the pawn shop. He also wants to visit his mother’s grave. Floyd goes into the house and returns with another guitar that he hopes to sell, promising to return and mentioning to Hedley that Joe Louis is fighting tonight, which makes Hedley excited. They exit and Hedley, alone onstage, kills one of the chickens.

A few hours later, Louise is telling Vera about her niece Ruby as they prepare food. The letter she received didn’t give an arrival date or all the details about Ruby’s troubles, but one man is in prison for killing another man over her. Louise grumbles, “She ain’t gonna be here long, knowing her. With her little fast behind. […] Talking about love. People don’t know what love is. Love be anything they want it to be” (30). With more optimism, Vera suggests that although Ruby is only twenty-five, she could be in love. Louise argues that love had only resulted in a bad situation for Ruby and that she, at forty-eight, isn’t interested in coming any closer to love than her relationship with Hedley, “and you see how far that is” (31). Vera brings up Floyd’s invitation to Chicago. She believes that Floyd tries to be a good person but can’t figure out how to do it.

Louise disagrees, comparing Floyd to her ex-husband, Henry, who had deserted her after twelve years. Henry had left nothing but a pair of shoes and a razor, which Louise hasn’t thrown out. This reminds Vera of the old guitar Floyd had left behind. Louise remembers asking her husband to let her keep his gun for protection. Henry had given it to her, and Louise had commented that she should shoot him. They had said goodbye and Henry had never returned. Louise adds, “What I’m trying to tell you is, don’t let no man use you up and then talk about he gotta go. Shoot him first” (32). Louise jokes that Vera should go to Chicago to look for a new man. Then, with more seriousness, she promises that Floyd’s faithfulness won’t last more than six weeks if Vera goes with him.

Canewell enters with Floyd, who still has the guitar and is raging furiously. When he tried to claim his pay from the workhouse, Floyd had been declined because he had lost the letter that he was supposed to present when collecting his money. He was told to return tomorrow. Floyd exclaims that he will get the money that he is owed, whether or not he finds the paperwork. He notes that the money is supposed to help someone get started so they aren’t immediately arrested for vagrancy again. Red Carter enters; he is well-dressed. Floyd tries to convince him to come to Chicago and record with him again. Red is reluctant at first, but Floyd persuades him. Vera asks Louise to teach her how to make greens. Canewell gives a speech with detailed instructions on cooking greens properly, and the two women exit into Vera’s apartment.

Red gives Floyd and Canewell cigars, announcing that his wife has given birth to a son. Floyd and Canewell complain about the quality of the cheap cigars, which Red says are stale because he has been carrying them around for nine months. Floyd asks Red to help him remember a bawdy poem, and they all recite it together. It ends with a rhyme about watermelon, which leads to a discussion comparing watermelon to women. Red claims that he used to have seven girlfriends, but it became too confusing.

The men hear Hedley approaching, and Floyd says, “Hey, Red, watch this” (39). Floyd launches into “I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say” and Hedley joins in like he did in the previous scene. Red offers Hedley a cigar and Hedley comments that he hopes that he might have a son someday, too. Red says that his wife named the baby Mister, and Canewell replies that White people would be incensed addressing a Black person as Mister.

Hedley begins talking about the Bible and its promise that “Ethiopia shall rise up and be made a great kingdom,” adding, “Marcus Garvey say the Black man is a king” (40). The other men aren’t interested in listening to Hedley’s religious speeches. Floyd asserts that if God is paying attention to what is going on in the world, he should intervene. Red wonders whether Louise and Vera are cooking. Since his wife doesn’t know how to cook, he is hoping for a good meal. Floyd states that he couldn’t be with a woman who didn’t know how to cook. When he was arrested, he was most upset about being deprived of Vera’s cooking. Floyd insists that although he wasn’t doing anything, the police arrested him “in advance” (41) because they knew he would eventually do something. Red comments that he had been arrested once for having too much money because they assumed he had stolen it. Floyd interjects that he had been arrested for having too little money. Floyd shows Canewell and Red his gun, which he says he carries because the police are after them regardless. He insists that it’s legal to carry a loaded weapon as long as he doesn’t try to conceal it. Red produces his gun to compare. Hedley exits to the cellar.

Canewell shows off his knife, and the men debate the merits of using a knife as opposed to a gun for protection. Hedley returns with a butcher knife. Then Hedley eats a hot pepper and challenges the other men to do the same. Red tries it, but nearly chokes. Conversation turns to Floyd’s guitar, and Floyd claims that T.L. Hall, his manager, will help him pay to get it from the pawn shop. Red adds that he should get Red’s drums from the pawn shop too, since Floyd’s name will be the one on the record. Canewell agrees that Floyd should also tell his Hall that his harmonica has been pawned, and he needs to pay for it if Canewell decides to go to Chicago too. Floyd assures them that getting themselves to Chicago is the most important thing. Canewell asserts that if he decides to go, he will require payment up front. Floyd argues that the music business doesn’t work that way; money flows in after they make the record and if people like it. Last time, Canewell had left while Floyd was attempting to explain this.

Canewell points out that he had left because Floyd’s manager had attempted to pay him only twenty-five of the thirty-five dollars he was owed and make up the difference with a bottle of whiskey. Canewell and Red agree that this is unacceptable, and Floyd promises to make sure that they are all compensated properly, including paying to get Red’s drums. Canewell takes his harmonica out and begins to play. Floyd starts strumming his old guitar, and Red gets out his drumsticks and plays on the table. The three men start to play and sing. Hedley goes into the cellar and returns with a wooden board and some chicken wire, and the men watch doubtfully as he makes a one-string instrument. Hedley tells them that when he was a child, his grandfather had told him that he could hear the sound of his great-grandmother praying if he listened hard enough to this instrument.

Floyd wishes that he could hear his own mother’s voice again. Floyd sings “The Lord’s Prayer” because it reminds him of his mother. He tells the others that his mother is buried in the poor part of the cemetery, where the grass is unkempt and makes it difficult to find her grave. Floyd plans to buy her a headstone when he can afford it, but that he will leave and never return after that because once he gives her a gravestone, he won’t owe anything to anyone. Canewell comments that everyone, no matter what they have done or how they died, ends up buried in the same cemetery, stating, “Death is fairer than life” (51). Vera calls to the men to let them know that the fight is starting. The announcer’s voice comes on the radio, introducing Joe Louis at Madison Square Garden.

Vera and Louise are seated at the table, which bears the remnants of a meal. As the boxing match plays out, the men gather around the radio to listen. The announcer describes the fight, and the men cheer when Joe Louis wins. Red offers to teach Vera a celebratory dance; Vera doesn’t notice that the moves are suggestive. Floyd watches jealously, finally pulling Vera away and insulting Red. The two men argue, and Floyd threatens to show Red his gun. Louise tries to break the tension before it erupts into violence, but the fight is interrupted when Ruby enters, carrying a suitcase.

According to the stage directions, Ruby is “an uncommon woman, [and] she exudes a sensuality that is electric” (55). Everyone turns to her and stares. Louise greets Ruby, chiding her for not telling her when to expect her arrival. Ruby replies that she had waited for Leroy’s funeral and then had to raise the money to travel. Red leaps to offer Ruby assistance. Ruby complains about carrying her suitcase up the hill to the house, worrying that the hills might make her legs too muscular. She balks when Louise calls her a “country girl” (56). Canewell and Red start flirting with Ruby and compete for her attention.

Ruby exits to Louise’s apartment for a glass of water. Canewell and Red struggle with each other for the right to carry her suitcase. Louise tries to distract everyone and start a game of cards. Floyd insists on dealing, stating, “I don’t trust you all. You liable to deal from the bottom of the deck” (57). Red and Canewell pepper Louise with questions about Ruby and Louise gives vague answers, commenting again that Ruby and her “fast behind” (58) are unlikely to stay in town very long. They start playing cards. Floyd muses that if he had punched a White man in the face, even with no witnesses, he would be arrested and given a five-year sentence; Joe Louis, on the other hand, does it for a hundred thousand witnesses and earns a million dollars. Red replies, “He got a license and you don’t” (58). They chat and the card game continues, although Floyd is distracted. The rooster crows, followed by a duck quacking. Floyd grumbles that he would shoot the rooster if he had a BB gun, adding, “That be a warning to the duck” (59). Louise agrees that the rooster is unnecessary, and Mrs. Tillery ought to buy an alarm clock instead.

Canewell explains that the rooster crows whenever he wants because he is an Alabama rooster, and Alabama roosters are useless as alarm clocks because they just like to hear themselves crow. Georgia roosters are useless because they act like guard dogs and only crow when someone approaches the property. But Mississippi roosters are committed to their job and only crow at sunrise and at church time on Sunday. Canewell claims that roosters refused to crow during slavery, but after emancipation, they celebrated by starting to crow. Floyd challenges Canewell’s claims, and they start arguing and placing bets about the rooster in the neighborhood. Louise tries to defuse the argument. Hedley comments, “The rooster is the king of the barnyard. He like the Black man. He king” (61). Floyd interjects that there aren’t any roosters in Chicago, sparking an argument with Red and Canewell about the city. Canewell exclaims that he won’t stay in Chicago and Floyd swears that he can easily find another harmonica player. Mrs. Tillery’s rooster crows again and Floyd furiously throws a rock over the fence at him.

Abruptly, Hedley stands up and leaves the yard, ignoring Louise when she tries to call him back. Red chimes in that the rooster does in fact sound like an Alabama rooster, which is where Red was born. Offstage, the rooster gives an annoyed squawk. Ruby enters from Louise’s apartment. Canewell and Red both start flirting again, inviting her to play cards. Louise tells them to stop and Ruby expresses disinterest. Hedley reenters, carrying the rooster. Hedley gives a speech, admonishing them for not appreciating the rooster who crows and reminds them that they’re alive. Suddenly, Hedley brings out his knife and slits the rooster’s throat, pronouncing, “That be for the living. Your black ass be dead like the rooster now. You mark what Hedley say” (64). The others look on, stunned as Hedley spreads the blood in a circle, declaring, “This rooster too good live for your black asses” (64). He tosses the bird’s body on the ground, pronouncing, “Now he good and right for you” (64). Hedley exits and the others express their shock.