M.B.:Eugene, why don't you start by telling me a little bit about your past.
E.P.: Well, now Sam Chatmon, me and him used to play together. He never did like for you to talk no bad talk.
M.B.:You and Sam used to play in the Mississippi Sheiks?
E.P.: Yea, dem was his brothers, the Mississippi Sheiks. They was all brothers. And Sam, they played with him but all the time they want to try and make fun of his music.
M.B.: Why was that?
E.P.: I Don't know. They thought that they was so good that they was better than anybody else I reckon. Those boys would always be talkin' that old sharp talk tongue. And he sit with 'em for a while, 'den he go home, walk out of there, quit playin' with 'em. He was playin' just as good as dey was, better on some pieces, a whole lotta pieces. He played nice music. Down in that drugstore in Hollandale.
M.B.: Did your contemporaries such as Tommy Johnson, Robert Johnson or Charlie Patton have any influence on your style of playing?
E.P.: No. Tommy Johnson play allright. But me and Sam was over him. Yea, we was over him playing. Well ya see we had a right to be because we were playin' all the time and playin' in a band, band-playing ya see. And Sam, all that I didn't pick up on, Sam would pick up on it. So it was played good and nice. Yeah, me and him played good together. I was to play with him and Robert.
M.B.: Robert McCoy?
E.P.: Yeah, that's right. Robert McCoy. I played good with him and I played with O'l Robert Hill. I used to play with him. He played good. All them fellas played good. We all made pretty good music together. Made records. You've seen one of my albums, didn't ya?
M.B.: Yes, some sides made in 1936 on Bluebird with your wife Mississippi Matilda and guitarists Willie Harris Jr., and Bo Carter.
E.P.: Yeah, sure is right. Well I declare. We put out some nice music. Bo Chatmon was there and he knows more better about playin', how to play on those records and things. He taught us how to get started on it.
M.B.: Did you ever play house-parties, picnics, and social gatherings?
E.P. Yeah, sure did.
M.B.: Were you getting paid to play?
E.P.: Yeah, got paid for it. Got paid pretty good. A whole lot better than I had been gettin'. But after all, Sam and them had music of their own. You know what I'm talkin' about-pieces they made up. They made up a lot of nice pieces. 'Sittin' On Top of the World' and every thing else. Another was 'Gonna Look Like a Monkey When Ya Get Old.' (laughter from Eugene)We all learnt to play good music.
M.B.: The song about looking like a monkey, did they play that for both blacks and whites?
E.P.: I reckon that was played for just blacks, out in the country. Meant somethin' to my people, was personal. Chatmons like to play songs that say somethin', say somethin' real.
M.B.: Were you always travelling through out the Delta region?
E.P.: Yeah. I was always gone. But I never did go too far off. I'd go to Crystal Springs, and I have been to New Orleans. Played there, made records there.
M.B.: Did you ever play for the King Biscuit Radio show in Helena, Arkansas?
E.P.: Yeah I reckon I played for them once. And one time, they said I was the best guitar player amongst all of 'em.
M.B.: That sure was a nice compliment, well-deserved I'm sure.
E.P. Yeah, I could really pick that guitar back then.