How a 1927 Blues recording found its way into a 21st-century vampire film—and sparked a historical detective story.
When Warner Brothers approached us at Document Records to license “Pick Poor Robin Clean” for their new film Sinners—a brooding modern vampire tale—we expected a straightforward rights request.
However, what followed was far more intriguing: a collaboration that led us deep into the shadowy world of music history, identity, and interpretation.
The initial request was for the version recorded by Geechie Wiley and Elvie Thomas, but even that wasn’t straightforward. Was it “Geeshie” or “Geechie” Wiley? And who was Elvie Thomas? Our own releases used the name “Geechie,” as did the original Paramount label. But in the course of research, we uncovered a revealing and touching letter from musicologist Robert “Mack” McCormick to Paul Oliver, the late English blues historian, identifying the elusive singer as Lillie Mae “Geetchie” Wiley and her recording partner as Sister L.V. Thomas.
The Ballad of Geeshie and Elvie
On the trail of the phantom women who changed American music and then vanished without a trace.
Written by John Jeremiah Sullivan
Published by The New York Times Magazine, 2014
📰 Read the full interactive article →
This was not just academic nitpicking. For decades, these women were little more than ghost voices etched into rare shellac discs. McCormick’s letter details meeting L.V. Thomas in later life: a gentle, guitar-playing woman, reticent to speak of her past, but a living link to a world many believed lost. With this clarity, we and the Warner music supervisor agreed on the final credit: “Pick Poor Robin Clean” – Performed by Lillie Mae “Geetchie” Wiley and Elvie (L.V.) Thomas – Courtesy of Document Records Ltd.
Often shared online as “Geeshie Wiley and L.V. Thomas,” this photograph more accurately shows Zora Neale Hurston (left) in the 1930s. The identity of the woman on the right is unknown. No verified photographs of Wiley.
L.V. “Elvie” Thomas at a Houston nursing home, in a Polaroid photo taken a few weeks before her death in 1979 (Photograph by Robin Wartell).
Whilst we are full of praise for Warners Brothers we are sad to report that Sony Music who licenced the record for its soundtrack persist in accompanying the marketing with this image . We think it embarrassing and disrespectful.
We have reached out to the music super involved. She reached out to Sony and Sony replied saying
“We suggest Gillian contact Universal’s catalog music group to mention the photo misappropriation and request the photo is removed. Since it’s not our product this is not something have control of including the automatic artist association on DSPs. If we come up with a Universal Music colleague as a starting point, I’ll pass it along.”
In the end, the filmmakers also used a new version sung by actor Jack O’Connell on the official Sinners soundtrack. Artistic choice and quite fitting for the film’s tone. But what a joy it was working with a studio so diligent in getting the history right.
Yet the story of “Pick Poor Robin Clean” doesn’t stop there. The song itself is a riddle.
It was first recorded by Virginia-born bluesman Luke Jordan in 1927, whose two versions appear on our -Never Let The Same Bee Sting You Twice – Various Artists – Complete Recorded Works – Blues, Ballads, Rags & Gospel In The Songster Tradition (1927-1938) – Luke Jordan, Mississippi John Hurt, Hambone Willie Newbern.
A different take appears on Mississippi Blues Vol. 1 (1928–1937) (DOCD-5157), by Wiley and Thomas, giving it a wholly different emotional flavour.
Jordan’s version brims with verbal swagger and streetwise bravado:
Get off my money and don’t get funny / ‘Cause I’m a n****, don’t cut no figure…*
The lyrics have sparked debate for decades. While the title evokes imagery reminiscent of the English nursery rhyme “Who Killed Cock Robin?”—a rhyme dating back to at least 1744 and catalogued as Roud Folk Song Index number 494 , there is no concrete evidence to suggest a direct lineage between the two
Is it about gambling? Hunger? Power? The reference to “gambling for Sadie” suggests a dice game, yet the chilling chorus —
I picked his head, I picked his feet / Would’ve picked his body, but it wasn’t fit to eat…
— evokes starvation or even cannibalistic metaphor. Scholar Elijah Wald has noted its ties to minstrel tradition, while Mance Lipscomb spoke of hunting robins during hard times. Others argue it’s rooted in the “dozens,” a verbal sparring tradition full of witty, biting insults.
So is “picking poor robin clean” a metaphor for utter destruction? Emotional exploitation? Taking all one can from the vulnerable? Possibly all of the above.
And that, perhaps, is the point. The magic of the song lies in its ambiguity. Wiley and Thomas’s version, spare and haunted, feels more like mourning than mockery. The gender shift adds another dimension: women singing lines often tied to male braggadocio transforms them into something deeper, more plaintive.
We’d love to hear your thoughts. What do you think the song means?
Listen & Explore:
Pick Poor Robin Clean( Take 1) – Luke Jordan (DOCD-5045) download only
Pick Poor Robin Clean( Take 2) – Luke Jordan (DOCD-5045) download only
Pick Poor Robin Clean – Geechie Wiley & Elvie Thomas (DOCD-5157)
Want to explore more music like this?
DOCD-5678 – Blues and Songster Tradition (3 CD Collection)
DOCD-5106 – Sinners & Saints: Complete Recorded Works 1926–1931
