Uncensored History of the Blues

Show 61 - Preacher Blues

mrugel@purplebeech.com — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 23:04:00 +0000

As frequently as the blues was called the devil's music, it's no surprise that blues singers had a little something to say about preachers as well. There are plenty of songs about the hypocrite that says one thing from the pulpit, while he's stealing your crops or your woman. Hi Henry Brown sang about why he wanted the preacher to stay away from his house in 1932's Vocalion recording Preacher Blues.

If you want to hear preacher curse
Bake the bread sweet mama and save him the crust
Lord, if you want to hear preacher curse
Just bake the bread sweet mama and save him the crust

Preacher in the pulpit, bible in his hand
Sister in the corner crying "There's my man"
Preacher in the pulpit, bible in his hand
Well the sister’s in the corner crying "There's my man"

Preacher comes to your house, you ask him to rest his head
Next thing he want to know, "sister, where your husband at?"
Preacher comes to your house, lord, ask him to rest his head
Next thing he want to know, "baby, where your husband at?"

Come in here and shut my door
Want you to preach the same text you did night before
Come in here and preach at my door
Want you to preach for me same text you preached night before

See that preacher walking down the street
Fixing to meddle with every sister he meets
Well you see that preacher walking down the street
He’s fixing to meddle with every sister he meets

Preacher, preacher, you nice and kind
Better not catch you at that house of mine
Swear you’re nice and kind
Better not catch you at that house of mine

Frank Stokes and Dan Sane recorded You Shall in 1927 in the form of a prayer that told the story of a stealing preacher:

Oh well it's our Father who art in heaven
The preacher owed me ten dollars, he paid me seven
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done
If I hadn't took the seven, Lord I wouldn't have gotten none

Had to fight about it, but he owed me my money
Oh well some folks say that a preacher wouldn't steal
I caught about eleven in the watermelon field
Just a‑cutting and slicing got to tearing up the vine

They's eating and talking most all the time
They was hungry,
Don’t rob me preacher, my melons
Oh well you see a preacher laying behind the log

A hand on the trigger got his eye on the hog
The hog said mmm, the gun said zip
Jumped on the hog with all his grip
They had pork chops, had backbone, had spareribs

Now won’t the good Lord set me free
Now when I first went over to Memphis Tennessee
I was crazy about the preachers as I could be
I went out on the front porch walking about

Invite the preacher over to my house
He washed his face, he combed his head
And next thing he want to do was slip in my bed
I caught him by the head, man, kicked him out the door

Don't allow my preacher at my house no more
I don’t like them
They’ll rob you
Steal your daughter, take your wife from you
Eat your chickens
Take your money, you see
They’ll rob you

Madlyn Davis' Too Black Bad also talks about a preacher stealing from the field:

I'd rather be in the shifty river floating like a logThan to stay around here, be treated like a dogNow that’s my rag, now that’s my rag and it’s too black bad

Now all the little children playing around in a ringPlaying hooky from school just to rag that thingNow that’s my rag, now that’s my rag and it’s too black bad

Now it's some folks say a preacher won't stealBut I caught a preacher in my Daddy’s fieldNow that’s my rag, now that’s my rag and it’s too black bad

Now one had the sack, the other had the hoeIf that ain't stealing, boys, I'd like to knowNow that’s my rag, now that’s my rag and it’s too black bad

Hey everybody, come on and rag with me
Hey, whup that thing down to the break boys

Play it a long time, don't you hear me talking to you hey hey hey

Here come my father with his gun

You ought to seen them preachers runNow that’s my rag, now that’s my rag and it’s too black bad

Georgia Tom Dorsey accompanied Madlyn Davis on that song. He wouldn't be singing many lyrics like that after he became known as the father of gospel music, Thomas A. Dorsey.

Joe McCoy recorded his Preacher Blues in 1931:

Some folks say a preacher won't steal
I caught three in my cornfield
One had a yellow, one had a brown
Looked over by the mill, one was getting down

Now some folks say that a preacher won't steal
But he will do more stealing than I get regular meals
I went to my house about half past ten
Looked on my bed where the preacher had been

Now some folks say that a preacher won't steal
But he will do more stealing than I get regular meals
He will eat your chicken, he will eat your pie
He will eat your wife out on the sly

Now some folks say that a preacher won't steal
But he will do more stealing than I get regular meals
I been trying so hard trying to save my life
To keep that preacher from my wife

Now some folks say that a preacher won't steal
But he will do more stealing than I get regular meals
I went out last night, came in late
I found out where he had made his date

Now some folks say that a preacher won't steal
But he will do more stealing than I get regular meals
I done told you once, done told you twice
Keep over that preacher you be done lost your wife

Now some folks say that a preacher won't steal
But he will do more stealing than I get regular meals

In Who’s Been Here from 1938, Bo Carter wondered who'd been in his bed. He was pretty sure it was the preacher:

Baby who been here since your daddy been gone
Says he must have been a preacher daddy, had a long coat on
Says he must have been a preacher daddy, had a long coat on

Baby who been here since you daddy been gone
I don't know who the man was daddy, had a derby on
He had a derby on, had a derby on
I don't know who the man was daddy, had a derby on

Baby who been here since you daddy been gone
Says he must have been a jellybean had long shoes on
Had long shoes on...
Says he must have been a jellybean had long shoes on

Baby preacher's on the pulpit just trying to save souls
And his daughter's out on the highway corner selling sweet jellyroll
Selling sweet jellyroll
Says his daughter's out on the highway corner selling sweet jellyroll

And the preacher's in the pulpit jumping up and down
And the sisters back in the amen corner their saloon bound

Bob Robinson along with Meade Lux Lewis recorded The Preacher Must Get Some Sometime in 1930:

The preacher must get some sometime, when and wherever he can
The preacher must get some sometime, just like any other man
Brother, don't make no mistake, I just take a little gin for my stomach ache

The preacher must get some sometime, just like any other man
The preacher must get some sometime, when and wherever he can
The preacher must get some sometime, just like any other man

I found this sister all alone with her little blue silk pajamas on
The preacher must get some sometime, just like any other man
The preacher must get some sometime, when and wherever he can
The preacher must get some sometime, just like any other man

Now I ain't trying to hang no bluff, but you don’t blame me for wanting this stuff
The preacher must get some sometime, just like any other man
The preacher must get some sometime, when and wherever he can
The preacher must get some sometime, when and wherever he can
The preacher must get some sometime, just like any other man

Oh she serves that stuff in her negligee, it was doggone good, Lord, I must say
The preacher must get some sometime, just like any other man

Songs:
Preacher Blues - Hi Henry Brown
You Shall - Frank Stokes
Too Black Bad - Madlyn Davis
Preacher Blues - Joe McCoy
Who's Been Here - Bo Carter
The Preacher Must Get Some Sometime - Bob Robinson

Show 60 - Pistol Blues

mrugel@purplebeech.com — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 14:46:00 +0000

With the gun control debate raging in the U.S., I thought it seemed like a good time to look at some songs about guns. The first gun control law was passed right in the middle of the period we focus on here in 1934. The National Firearms Act was a response to the shootings occurring as part of the culture surrounding prohibition. It did specifically exempt handguns from any regulation under that law. It’s pistols that appear most often in the blues. They appear in the songs for a couple reasons, sometimes for going to bad neighborhoods or other rough spots. But mostly for revenge on that woman that’s done you wrong. Let’s start with a hit from 1929, Roosevelt Syke’s hugely influential 44 Blues:

And now I walked all night long with my .44 in my hand
And now I walked all night long with my .44 in my hand
I was looking for my woman, found her with another man

Lord I wore my forty‑four so long, Lord it made my shoulder sore
Lord I wore my forty‑four so long, Lord it made my shoulder sore
After I do what I want to ain't going to wear my forty‑four no more

Lord my baby say she heard the 44 whistle blow
Lord my baby say she heard the 44 whistle blow
Lord it sound just like ain't going to blow this horn no more

Lord I got a little cabin,, Lord it's number 44
Lord I got a little cabin, Lord it's number 44
Lord I wake up every morning, the world be scratching on my door

Blind Boy Fuller's Pistol Slapping Blues:

I can tell my dog anywhere I hear him bark
I can tell my rider if I feel her in the dark
You a cold-blooded murderer, when you want me out your waySays, that's alright mama, you gonna need my help some day
And you say you're gonna put me, mama, down in my lonesome graveSay you must remember, I once have been your slave

And I feel like snapping my pistol in your face
Let some brownskin woman be here to take your place
Let some brownskin woman be here to take your place

Now you know you didn't want me when you lie down across my bed
Drinking your moonshine whisky, mama, talking all out your head
Now give me the money, baby, I'll catch that train and goYou don't have to kill me cause you don't want me no moreHey, hey, cause you don't want me no moreNow you give me the money, baby, and I'll catch that train and go

Now you see my rider, tell her I said bring it home
I ain't had no loving since my gal been gone
It's two kind of people in the world that I can't standThat's a lying woman and a monkey man

Boweavil Jackson recorded Pistol Blues in 1926 with some violent lyrics for a woman that left:

Oh Jane, oh Jane, what makes you hold your head so high?
Oughta just remember, you got to live so long and die

I need not write me no letter, don't send me no word
Cut your head, woman, about the word I heard
I heard you had a man on the wheeler, had a man on the plow
Had a big man, swinging on the Johnson Bayou(?)

I'm going to carry that woman to the weeping willow tree
Oughta hear her crying, "Honey, don't murder me!"

I'm going to black her face, going to black that woman's eye
Going to kill her when she begins to cry

She said, "Roll on, Jack, Daddy do roll on"
"Roll on, Jack, Daddy do roll on"
Said, "Roll on, Jack, Daddy do roll on”
Like the way you rolling, but you ain't gonna roll so long

Ain't but two women in the world can spend my change
Not but two women, world can spend my change
Ain't but two women, mama, can spend my change
That represent Stella and that brown, my Jane

Lord, Lord, look what my brown said to me
Lord, Lord, look what she said to me
Said, Lord, Lord, look what she said to me
Said, "When I leave this town, gonna carry you back with me."

William Moore's Midnight Blues contains the classic lyric about buying a pistol as long as my right arm:

Some people say that the midnight blues ain't badSome people say that the midnight blues ain't bad
Some people say that the midnight blues ain't bad
Well, it must not have been those midnight blues I had

Tell me, fair brownie, where did you stay last night
Tell me, fair brownie, where did you stay last night
Tell me, fair brownie, where did you stay last night
Your hair's all down and your clothes ain't fitting you right

Oh, run here, mama, run and tell me now
Run here, mama, run and tell me now
Run here, mama, run and tell me now
Say, do you love your papa anyhow?

When you see two women going together so long
When you see two women going together so long
When you see two women going together so long
You can bet your life that there's something going on wrong

I'm gonna buy me a pistol as long as my right arm
I'm gonna buy me a pistol as long as my right arm
I'm gonna buy me a pistol as long as my right arm
Gonna carry it in my pocket and make you stay at home

Walter Roland's 45 Pistol Blues talks about needing a gun to go to the baddest place in town:

I'm going over to Third Alley, Lord but I'm going to carry my .45
I'm going over to Third Alley, Lord but I'm going to carry my .45
Because you know ain't many men go there and come back alive
They will shoot you and cut you, Lord they will knock you down
Lord, they will shoot you and cut you, Lord they will knock you down

And you can ask anybody ain't that the baddest place in town
Mens carry .38s, womens carry their razors too
Mens carry .38s, womens carry their razors too
And you know you better not start nothing, know they'll make away with you
Says I ain't going to Third Alley no more unless I change my mind
Ain’t going to Third Alley no more, Lord, unless I change my mind

Because you know I done got shot once over there, Lord it's about three or four times
Says you know I'm gonna need my .45 much too big
Lord, my .45 much too big
Cause you know when I carry that gun, Lord I can’t keep it hid

J.T. "Funny Paper" Smith takes on the role of an obsessive former lover who can't get over the woman that left him in Forty-Five Blues

I feel mean and hateful, I just can't feel satisfied
I feel mean and hateful, I just can't feel satisfied
I'm going out after my woman this morning and I'm taking my .45

My woman quit me last summer and I can't get her off my mind
My woman quit me last summer and I can't get her off my mind
And if she don't come back this morning, you gonna hear my .45 crying

Folks, I hate to be mean, but I can't be good if I try
Folks, I hate to be mean, but I can't be good if I try
And when I call my baby this morning, I'm calling her with my .45

Now the police got so they arrest me every time they catch me on the street
Police got so they arrest me every time they catch me on the street
And told me this morning, they're gonna let me catch you on my beat

Now everybody talking and telling me, why don't I let that no good woman be
Everybody talking and telling me, why don't I let that no good woman be
Cause she may show me that she didn't want me, but I don't got sense enough to see

Soon as I do what I want to do, then I'll be satisfied
Soon as I do what I want to do, then I'll be satisfied
That's kill my woman and walk to the police and hand them my .45

Leroy Carr's also singing about finding a woman who's left and he's bring a new Shinin’ Pistol, recorded in 1934:

I'm going to get me a brand new pistol with a long shiny barrel
I'm going to get me a shiny pistol with a long shiny barrel
I'm going to ramble this town over until I find my girl

I'm going to go to the station and try to find her there
I'm going to go to the station and try to find her there
And if the Lord has not got her, she's in this world somewhere

She left me with a head full of trouble and a head full of misery
She left me with a head full of trouble and a head full of misery
And now she's got me crying, baby please come back home to me

My mother told me, don't you weep don't you moan
My mother told me, don't you weep don't you moan
Because, son, there'll be women here when you’re dead and gone

When I get through rambling and looking this whole world through
When I get through rambling and looking this whole world through
I won't be dead with trouble you know I died to lose

Robert Johnson 32/20 Blues is all about handguns and ow he's got the advantage over his woman if she doesn't listen to him:

I send for my baby, and she don't come
If I send for my baby, man, and she don't come
All the doctors in Hot Springs sure can't help her none

And if she gets unruly, thinks she don't want to do
And if she gets unruly and thinks she don't want to do
Take my 32-20, now, and cut her half in two

She got a .38 special but I believe it's most too light
She got a .38 special but I believe it's most too light
I got a 32-20, got to make the caps alright

If I send for my baby, man, and she don't come
If I send for my baby, man, and she don't come
All the doctors in Hot Springs sure can't help her none

I'm gonna shoot my pistol, gonna shoot my gatling gun
I'm gonna shoot my pistol, got to shoot my gatling gun
You made me love you, now your man has come

Oh, baby, where you stayed last night
Oh, baby, where you stayed last night
You got your hair all tangled and you ain't talking right

Her .38 special, boys, it do very well
Her .38 special, boys, it do very well
I got a 32-20 now, and it's a burning...

If I send for my baby, man, and she don't come
If I send for my baby, man, and she don't come
All the doctors in Wisconsin sure can't help her none

Hey, hey, baby, where you stayed last night
Hey, hey, baby, where you stayed last night
You didn't come home until the sun was shining bright

Oh boys, I just can't take my rest
Oh boys, I just can't take my rest
With this 32-20 laying up and down my breast

These songs about men finding a weapon to go hurt a woman can be frightening, but they show how much despair getting hurt in a relationship can cause, which is the heart of the blues.
Songs:
44 Blues - Roosevelt Sykes
Pistol Slapping Blues - Blind Boy Fuller
Pistol Blues - Boweavil Jackson
Midnight Blues - William Moore
45 Pistol Blues - Walter Roland
Forty-Five Blues - J.T. "Funny Paper" Smith
32/20 Blues - Robert Johnson

Show 59 - Walking the Street

mrugel@purplebeech.com — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 00:36:00 +0000

Prostitution was illegal almost everywhere in the United States by the blues era. But, of course it was everywhere. Most blues songs on the subject address women walking in the street trying to find a trick. There’s no sign of the brothels that are often thought to be a higher class form of prostitution. Call girls that can be reached by telephone don’t seem to turn up either. In the blues, it’s the street walking woman. Some of the songs are poignant and touching descriptions of life of the street, others are pretty funny. Let’s start with a woman who chronicled prostitution in several songs. Georgia White’s Walking the Street:

Stood on the corner til my feet got soaking wet
Stood on the corner til my feet got soaking wet
These are the words I said to each and every man I met

If you ain't got a dollar, give me a lousy dime
If you ain't got a dollar, give me a lousy dime
I've got to beg and steal to please that man of mine

My feets are blistered just from walking these lonesome streets
My feets all blistered just from walking these lonesome streets
I've been walking all night like a police on his beat

Wait a minute mister, mister, give me a cigarette
Wait a minute minute mister, give me a cigarette
Stop your car, let me in, I've got what you should get

I've got these streetwalking blues, I ain't got no time to lose
I've got these streetwalking blues, I ain't got no time to lose
I've got to make six dollars just to buy my man a pair of shoes

Like Georgia White, Memphis Minnie was named for her Southern roots, but resided in Chicago by the mid-thirties. Down in the Alley is probably about the dangers of working the streets in that town.

I met a man, asked me did I want a pally
Yes, baby, let's go down in the alley
Take me down in the alley
Take me down in the alley
Take me down in the alley
And I can get my business fixed all right

Well, I met another man, asked him for a dollar
Might have heard that mother-for-you holler
Let's go down in the alley
Let's go down in the alley
Let's go down in the alley
Take me down in the alley
And I can get my business fixed all right

When he got me in the alley, he called me a name
What I put on him was a crying shame
Down in this alley
Down in this alley
Down in this alley
Where I got my business fixed all right

You got me in the alley, but don't get rough
I ain't gonna put up with that doggone stuff
Way down in this alley
Down in this alley
Down in the alley
Got me down in the alley, now my business fixed all right

(spoken:Woo, it's dark
Can't see no light
Got to feel my way out this alley
I'm sure gonna stop working at night)

You took me in the alley, you knocked me down
Now I'm gonna call every copper in this town
You got me down in the alley
Way down in the alley
You got me down in the alley
Now you got your business fixed all right
(spoken: Boys, I'm sure gonna stop working, and walking late at night, especially when you gotta do it in the alley)

Memphis Minnie recorded Tricks Ain’t Walking No More in 1931 about the difficulty of finding a trick during the hard times of the Great Depression.

Times has done got hard, work done got scarce
Stealing and robbing is taking place
Because tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
Tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
And I'm going to grab somebody if I don't make me some dough

I'm going to do just like a blind man, stand and beg for change
Tell these tricking policemen change my second name
Because tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
Tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
And I've got to make some money, I don't care where I go

I'm going to learn these walking tricks what it's all about
I'm going to get them in my house and ain't going to let them out
Because tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
Tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
And I can't make no money, I don't care where I go

I got up this morning with the rising sun
Been walking all day and I haven't caught a one
Because tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
Tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
And I can't make a dime, I don't care where I go

I got up this morning, feeling tough
I got to calling my tricks and it's rough, rough, rough
Because tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
Tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
And I have to change my luck if I have to move next door

Atlanta's Curley Weaver recorded his take on Tricks Ain’t Walkin’ No More in 1935 providing a male perspective and some humorous verses:

Tricks ain’t walking no more, babe, tricks ain’t walking no more
Tricks ain’t walking no more, babe, stay away from my door
I got a gal, she’s little and low
Used to have a trick, but she don’t no more
Now tricks ain’t walking no more, babe
Tricks ain’t walking no more
I said tricks ain’t walking no more

Tricks ain’t walking no more, babe, tricks ain’t walking no more
Tricks ain’t walking no more, babe, stay away from my door
Two fat women laying in the shade, waiting on the money the monkey man made
Tricks ain’t walking no more, babe, tricks ain’t walking no more
I said, tricks ain’t walking no more

Tricks ain’t walking no more, babe, tricks ain’t walking no more
Tricks ain’t walking no more, babe stay away from my door
I got a gal she’s long and tall, sleeps in in the kitchen with her head in the hall

Tricks ain’t walking no more, babe, tricks ain’t walking no more
Tricks ain’t walking no more, babe, tricks ain’t walking no more
Tricks ain’t walking no more, babe, stay away from my door
Sue’s out running every day, trying to drive her friends away
Tricks ain’t walking no more, babe, tricks ain’t walking no more
I said, tricks ain’t walking no more

Tricks ain’t walking no more, babe, tricks ain’t walking no more
Tricks ain’t walking no more, babe, stay away from my door
Come in hot mama you long and tall, shake for me like a cannonball
Tricks ain’t walking no more, babe, tricks ain’t walking no more

Sonny Boy Nelson recorded Street Walkin’ Woman about the difficulty of living with a woman that's walking the streets:

Nobody knows street walking woman like I do
Well, nobody knows street walking woman like I do
She’ll keep you up all night long, then will spend your money too

She’ll come home every morning with a rag tied on her head
She’ll come home every morning with a rag tied on her head
And if you speak about loving, man, she’ll swear she’s almost dead

She won’t cook you no breakfast, clothes ain’t never clean
She won’t cook you no breakfast, and your clothes ain’t never clean
But she can spend more money than any woman that you’ve ever seen

Sometimes she will say “Baby, I love you so”
Sometimes she will say “Baby, I love you so”
And again she will tell you to pack your clothes and go

I don’t want no woman that walks the streets all night
I don’t want no woman that walks the streets all night long
She will spend all of your money and then won’t want to treat you right

Memphis Jug Band recorded the metaphor-filled She Done Sold it Out in 1934:

You know I had a gal, she run a java shop
I asked her how about it, not a crust in that shop
You ought to know she done sold it out
You ought to know she done sold it out
You ought to know, you oughta know, she done sold it out

You know a man walked in, say have you any eggs
Say I'll sell you some meat, if you furnish your bread
You ought to know she done sold it out
You ought to know she done sold it out
You ought to know, you oughta know, she done sold it out

Now the butcher's in the market they begin to pout
She sold all their meat and the butchers could not sell out
You ought to know she done sold it out
He ought to know she done sold it out
He ought to know, you oughta know, she done sold it out

You know they taken her before the judge, the judge asked me what is your name?
Cooncan Suzie and my mother was to blame
He ought to know she done sold it out
He ought to know she done sold it out
He ought to know, you oughta know, she done sold it out

You know the judge said little girl, you know you're rather bold
You can sell me some meat just before you go
He ought to know she done sold it out
He ought to know she done sold it out
He ought to know, you oughta know, she done sold it out

I'm going to the races, see my pony run
I believe I can find something just begun
He ought to know I done sold her out
He ought to know I sold my racehorse out
He oughta know, he oughta know, I done sold him out out out.

Georgia White recorded a humorous take on the subject I’ll keep Sitting on It:

If I can't sell it, keep sitting on it
Before I give it away
You've got to buy, don't care how much you want it
I mean just what I say

Just feel that nice old bottom built for wear or tear
I really hate to part with such a lovely chair
If I can't sell it, keep sitting on it
Before I'll give it away

If I can't sell it, I'll keep sitting on it
Before I'll give it away
You've got to buy, don't care how much you want it
I mean just what I say

When you want something good you've got to spend your jack
I guarantee you will never want your money back
If I can't sell it, I'll keep sitting on it
Before I'll give it away

If I can't sell it, keep sitting on it
Before I give it away
You've got to buy, don't care how much you want it
I mean just what I say

When you want something good you've got to spend your jack
I guarantee you'll never want your money back
If I can't sell it, I'll keep sitting on it
Before I'll give it away

In these blues songs, prostitution is presented largely without judgment. It’s shown as a tough life, where sometimes you need to laugh. Having to walk the streets is a classic blues situation.

Songs:
Walking the Streets - Georgia White
Down in the Alley - Memphis Minnie
Tricks Ain't Walking No More - Memphis Minnie
Tricks Ain't Walkin' No More - Curley Weaver
Street Walkin' Woman - Sonny Boy Nelson
She Done Sold It Out - Memphis Jug Band
I'll Keep Sitting On It - Georgia White

Show 58 - Dirty Dozens

mrugel@purplebeech.com — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 19:07:00 +0000

I recently finished reading Elijah Wald’s book called The Dozens: A History of Rap’s Mama. The dozens is a game of trading insult wordplay, sometimes it rhymes, sometimes it doesn’t, it often involves talking about your opponent’s mama. The book covers the pre-blues period to recent hip-hop and a lot of things beyond the world of music. But there are some prewar blues songs that are great examples of the game and at least one that really affected it’s evolution. So, we’ll start there with Speckled Red’s very funny hit from 1929, The Dirty Dozen.

Now, I want all you womenfolks to fall in line
Shake your shimmy like I’m shaking mine
You shake your shimmy and you shake it fast
You can’t shake your shimmy, shake your yes, yes, yes

Now you’s a dirty mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip you in the dozen, your pappy is your cousin
Your mama do the lordy-lord

Yonder go your mama going out across the field
Running and shaking like an automobile
I hollered at your mama and I told her to wait
She slipped away from me like a Cadillac Eight

Now she’s a running mistreater, robber and a cheater
Pappy is your cousin, slip you in the dozen
Your mama do the lordy-lord

I like your mama and like your sister too
I did like your daddy, but your daddy wouldn’t do
I met your daddy on the corner the other day
You know by that that he was funny that way

So now he’s a funny mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip you in the dozen, your papa is your cousin
Your mama do the lordy-lord

God made him an elephant and he made him stout
He wasn’t satisfied until he made him a snout
Made his snout just as long as a rail
He wasn’t satisfied until he made him a tail
He made his tail just to fan the flies
He wasn’t satisfied until he made some eyes
He made his eyes to look over the grass
Wasn’t satisfied until he made his yes, yes, yes
Made his yes, yes, yes and didn’t get it fixed
Wasn’t satisfied until it made him sick
It made him sick, Lord, it made him well
You know by that the elephant caught hell

Now he’s a dirty mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip you in the dozen, your pappy is your cousin
Your mama do the lordy-lord

Six months later Speckled Red still had more dozens verses to lay down when he recorded The Dirty Dozen Part Two.

Now, now boys, say you ain’t acting fair
You know by that you got real bad hair
Your face is all hid, now your back’s all bare
If you ain’t doing the bobo, what’s your head doing down there?

You’s a dirty mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip you in the dozen, now your papa is your cousin
And your mama do the lordy-lord

Now, your little sister, why she asked me to kiss her
I told her to wait until she got a little bigger
She got a little bigger, said now I did kiss her
You know by that, boy, I did miss her

Now she’s a dirty mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip you in the dozen, and your papa is your cousin
Your mama do the lordy-lord

Now the first three months said she did very well
Next three months she began to raise a little hell
Next three months said she got real rough
You know by that, that she was strutting her stuff

Now you’s a dirty mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip you in the dozen, now your papa is your cousin
And your mama do the lordy-lord

Now I like your mama, but she wouldn’t do this
I hit her cross the head with my great big fist
The clock’s on the shelf going tick tick tick
Your mama’s out on the street doing I don’t know which

Four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and ten
I like your mama but she got too many men
Ashes to ashes, now it’s sand to sand
Every time I see her, she’s got a brand new man

Now she’s a dirty mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip you in the dozen, now your papa is your cousin
And your mama do the lordy-lord

Speckled Red with two versions of the dirty dozen singing about your family, how your mama’s got too many men,implying he got your little sister pregnant, and your papa’s funny that way. Also, singing about how god made an elephant in what would become a widely imitated rhyme.
The recorded version of this song is clearly a cleaned-up version of what Red was singing in the bars and brothels where he played in the twenties. In the sixties he did end up recording a far dirtier version.

Kokomo arnold recorded his own version of Speckled Red’s hit featuring his own slide guitar style. He called it The Twelves when he recorded it in 1935:

Says I want everybody, fall in line
Shake your shimmy like I'm shaking mine
You shake your shimmy, shake it fast
If you can't shake your shimmy shake your yas yas yas

Cause you a dirty mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip you in the dozen, your pappy is your cousin
Your mama do the lordy-lord

Says yonder gp your mama out across the field
Slipping and a‑sliding just like an automobile
I hollered at your mama I told her to wait
She slipped away from me just like a Cadillac Eight

Cause she’s a dirty mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip you in the dozen, your pappy is your cousin
Let your mama do the lordy-lord

Say I like your mama, sister too
I did like your papa, but your papa wouldn't do
I met your papa around the corner the other day
I soon found out that he was funny that a‑way

Cause he’s a dirty mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip you in the dozen, your pappy is your cousin
Let your mama do the lordy-lord

Says I went out yonder, New Orleans
The wildcat jumped on the sewing machine
The sewing machine sewed so fast
Sewed ninety‑nine stitches up his yes yes yes

Cause you a dirty mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip you in the dozen, your pappy is your cousin
Your mama do the lordy-lord

Says God made elephant, made him stout
He wasn't satisfied until he made him a snout
He made him a snout just as long as a rail
He wasn't satisfied until he made him a tail
He made him a tail just to fan the flies
He wasn't satisfied until he made him some eyes
He made him some eyes just to look on the grass
He wasn't satisfied then he made his yes yes yes
He made his yes yes yes and he didn’t get it fixed
He wasn't satisfied until he made him sick
He made him sick and then made him well
You know by that the big boy's coughing in hell

Luke Jordan’s Pick Poor Robin Clean ranges across a few subjects, but it’s got one great verse in classics dozens style where he tells his theoretical dozens opponent that if he comes after Jordan’s girls, he’s gonna have your ma, aunt, sister, and great granny:

You better pick poor robin clean, poor robin clean
I picked his head, I picked his feet
I picked his body, but it wasn't fit to eat

You'd better pick poor robin clean
Pick poor robin clean
But I'll be satisfied having your family

Get off my money and don't get funny
'Cause I'm a nigger, don't cut no figure
Gambling for Sadie, she is my lady
I'm a hustling coon that's just what I am

You better pick poor robin clean, poor robin clean
I picked his head, I picked his feet
I picked his body, but it wasn't fit to eat
I picked his head, I picked his feet
I picked his body, but it wasn't fit to eat
You'd better pick poor robin clean
Pick poor robin clean
But I'll be satisfied having your family
Well didn't that jaybird laugh
When he picked poor robin clean
Picked poor robin clean, poor robin clean
Didn't that jaybird laugh
When he picked poor robin clean
Well I'll be satisfied having your family

Well if you have that girl of mine
Gonna have your ma, your sister too
Your auntie three
If your great-grandmammy do the shivaree
I'm gonna have 'em all
I'll be satisfied keeping up your family

You better pick poor robin clean, poor robin clean
I picked his head, I picked his feet
I picked his body, but it wasn't fit to eat
I picked his head, I picked his feet
I picked his body, but it wasn't fit to eat

You'd better pick poor robin clean
Pick poor robin clean
But I'll be satisfied having your family
Well didn't that jaybird laugh
When he picked poor robin clean
Picked poor robin clean, poor robin clean

Didn't that jaybird laugh when he picked poor robin clean
Well I'll be satisfied having your family

You better pick poor robin clean, poor robin clean
I picked his head, I picked his feet
I picked his body, but it wasn't fit to eat

You'd better pick poor robin clean
Pick poor robin clean
But I'll be satisfied having your family

Well didn't that jaybird laugh
When he picked poor robin clean
Picked poor robin clean, poor robin clean, poor robin clean
Jaybird laughed..
When he picked poor robin clean
Well I'll be satisfied having your family

Charley Jordan recorded a song with some similarities to both Luke Jordan's and Speckled Red's songs in 1930. Keep it Clean:

I went to the river, I couldn't get across
I jumped on your papa because I thought he was a horse no
Rode him over, give him a coca-cola lemon soda, saucer of ice cream
takes soap and water for to keep it clean

Up she jumped, down she fell, her mouth flew open like a mussel shell
Now get him over, give him coca-cola lemon soda, saucer of ice cream
takes soap and water for to keep it clean

You sister was a tabby, your daddy was a bear
Put a muzzle on your mama, because she had bad hair
Got him over, give him coca-cola lemon soda, saucer of ice cream
takes soap and water for to keep it clean

If you want to hear that elephant laugh
Take him down to the river and wash his yes yes yes
Got him over, give him coca-cola lemon soda, saucer of ice cream
takes soap and water for to keep it clean

If you want to go to heaven when you D-I-E
You got to put on your collar and your T-I-E now
Got him over, give him coca-cola lemon soda, saucer of ice cream
takes soap and water for to keep it clean

If you want to get the rabbits out the L-O-G
You got to put on the stump like a D-O-G
Now ride him over, give him coca-cola lemon soda, saucer of ice cream
takes soap and water for to keep it clean

Run here doctor, run here fast
See what's the matter with his yes yes yes
Now ride him over, give him a coca-cola lemon soda, saucer of ice cream
soap and water for to keep it clean

Leroy carr recorded a whole series of "Papa" songs. Papa Wants to Knock a Jug is the most clearly in the dozens tradition from 1931, the lyrics are mostly about the mama:

I saw your mama in Kansas City
The way she was looking was a doggone pity

Feet on the ground, clothes wasn't clean
Dirtiest old stuff I’ve ever seen

Oh kind mama, Papa wants to knock a jug

Now I got a gal she is big as a bull
She never stops drinking till her belly gets full
Gets full of liquor and tries to sing
Tight like that and shake that thing
Oh kind mama, Papa wants to knock a jug

I ask her about it she said before long
Let's get together because your water's on
Let's get started, be long gone
Let's get together what you waiting on
Oh kind mama, Papa wants to knock a jug

I saw you mama way last spring, eyeballs shining like a diamond ring
Staggered down the street hollering and a‑fussing
I tried to stop her and I got a good cussing
Oh kind mama, Papa wants to knock a jug

I saw your mama, your papa too
What they was doing just won't do
I slipped up on them and took one look
What they was doing wasn't in the book
Oh kind mama, Papa wants to knock a jug

If you want some loving, you want it cheap
Go down on Ellsworth about the middle of the week
Show them girls a quarter, they won't let you go
It's four or five times and then some more
Oh kind mama, Papa wants to knock a jug

Ben Curry recorded New Dirty Dozen in 1932:

Emma went fishing, she went with Lou
Lou threw down her other shoe
Emma sit down up on the grass
Brother came and pushed on her yes yes yes

Now he’s a pushing mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip you in the dozen
Your father is your cousin
Mama doing the lordy lord

Papa killed a turkey, he thought he was a thief
Took him a long time to get a little peace
Brother tried to show her, she was so fast
Drove her all over from his yes yes yes

Now she’s a digging mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip you in the dozens
Father is your cousin
Mama doing the lordy lord

Bill and Oz were shooting dice the other night
Oz threw in the money and he started a fight
Bill tried to hit him a little too fast
took his knife and juked him on his yes yes yes

Now he’s a juking mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip them in the dozens
Father is your cousin
Mama doing the lordy lord

Charles and Zeke come to our town
Teaching everbody how to get it down
Old woman got down a little too fast
Caught the room and threw him on his yes yes yes

Now he’s a catching mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip them in the dozens
Father is your cousin
Mama doing the lordy lord

She was fishing forty years, she never broke a plate
She cooked forty years, she never burned a steak
We got her from the box, bottom to the top (?)
Cutting forty years said she should know her stuff

Now she’s a cutting mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip you in the dozens
Father is your cousin
Mama doing the lordy lord

Songs:

The Dirty Dozen - Speckled Red
The Dirty Dozen Part Two - Speckled Red
The Twelves - Kokomo Arnold
Pick Poor Robin Clean - Luke Jordan
Keep it Clean - Charley Jordan
Papa Wants to Knock a Jug - Leroy Carr
New Dirt Dozen - Ben Curry

Show 57 - Ponies and Heifers

mrugel@purplebeech.com — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 00:03:00 +0000

These songs are all from men singing about women, specifically young women. And more specifically songs where those young women show up in metaphors about horses and cows. There’s no better place to start than with Charley Patton who recorded several songs with this type of comparison. Here’s the earliest, from 1929, Pony Blues:

Hitch up my pony, saddle up my black mare
Hitch up my pony, saddle up my black mare
I'm gonna find a rider, baby, in the world somewhere
Hello central, what’s the matter with your line?
Hello central, matter, Lord, with your line?
Come a storm last night and tore the wire down
Got a brand new Shetland, man, already trained
Brand new Shetland, baby, already trained
Just get in the saddle, tighten up on your reins
Ain’t a brownskin woman like something fit to eat?
Brownskin woman like something fit to eat
But a jet black woman, don't put your hands on me
Took my baby to meet the morning train
Took baby to meet that morning train
And the blues come down, baby, like showers of rain
I got something to tell you when I get the chance
Something to tell you when I get a chance
I don't wanna marry, just wanna be your man

Big Joe Williams borrowed some of Patton’s ideas when he recorded My Grey Pony in 1935. Interestingly, his song starts with the same pony already trained, but she gets old and gray by the end of the song.

I got me a pony Lord and she already trained
I got me a pony Lord and she already trained
When I get in my bed mama, baby tighten up on your reins
Well I got something to tell you, mama when I get a chance
Mama, I got something to tell you, mama when I get a chance
Well I don't want to marry, baby just want to be your man
I got a brownskin woman, she don't pay me no mind
I got a brownskin woman, she don't pay me no mind
And I know you going to miss me, baby when I leave this town
And I know my woman, she going to scream and cry
Lord, I know my woman, she going to scream and cry
When she gets that letter, baby Lord I pass my ? by
I got me a gray pony down in my pasture somewhere
I got me a gray pony down in my pasture somewhere
I'm going to find my woman baby in this world somewhere

Fare you well, maybe tomorrow or today
Fare you well, mama, maybe tomorrow or today
I want you to know, babe I didn't come here to stay
I ain't got nobody to talk baby talk to me
Well, I ain't got nobody, mama, to talk baby talk to me
Said my mama's getting old, Lord her hair done got grey
Lord my mama she got older now and her hair done got grey
Well well if I break her heart you know, Lord treat her this way
Fare you well, maybe tomorrow or today

Sonny Boy Nelson recorded Pony Blues in 1936

I’m gonna get my pony, put my hands all in its main
I’m gonna let my pony lead me, I’ll defend my vain(?)
When I had my money, friends for miles around
When I had my money, friends for miles around
Since I spent all of my money, none of them can be found
I was born in Texas, but I was raised out on the sandy(?) field
I was born in Texas, but I was raised out on the sandy field
And you know about that baby, can’t make no fat mouth out of me

There are probably even more songs about young cows or heifers than there are about ponies. Charley Patton recorded one of these too. Jersey Bull Blues:

If you’ve got a good bullcow, you ought to keep your bull at home
If you’ve got a good bullcow, you ought to keep your bullcow at home
There may come along a young heifer and just tow your bull from home
Oh my bull's in the pasture babe, Lord where there's no grass
Oh my bull's in the pasture babe, Lord where there's no grass
I swear every minute it seems like it's going to be my last
And my bull got a horn, long as my arm
And my bull got a horn, baby, long as my arm
And my bull got a horn long as my arm
I've an old five pound ax and I'll cut two different ways
I've an old five pound ax and I'll cut two different ways
And I cut my little women both night and day
I've an old five pound ax and I just dropped in your town
I've got an old five pound ax and I just dropped in your town
I got weight enough behind me just drive that old ax on down
And I remember one morning between midnight and day
And I remember one morning between midnight and day
I was way upstairs throwing myself away

Tommy Griffin recorded young heifer, 1936 for the Bluebird label, singing about that young cow he wants to raise for himself without any interference from the old cows or the bulls:

I got a real young heifer, I’m gonna raise her for myself
I got a real young heifer, raising her for myself
Gonna teach her to love me, not to love nobody else
She’s a mule-headed heifer, I mean she ain’t got no home
She’s a mule-headed heifer, mean she ain’t got no home
Don’t want to catch no milkcow trying t o lead my heifer wrong
Going to build me a pasture, keep her from running around
Going to build me a pasture, keep her from running around
If she gets with a bull, he got to tear my pasture down
When I build my pasture, going to build it well
When I build my pasture, going to build it well
If a bull tears it down, people he’s going to catch some hell
Going to keep her in the pasture, keep her all alone
Going to keep her in the pasture, keep her all alone
So I won’t have so much trouble teaching my heifer right from wrong
Gonna tell all you bulls something, everyone that’s around
Gonna tell all you bulls something, everyone that’s around
If I catch you with my heifer, I’m gonna tear your playhouse down

Mose Andrews also recorded a Young Heifer Blues. He emphasized the importance of feeding her:

If you gotta young heifer, you better feed her good at home
If you gotta young heifer, you better feed her good at home
If you don’t, some bull will pull her away from home
My heifer is strong, I feed her three times a day
My heifer is strong, I feed her three times a day
I believe to my soul, some bull is going my way
If you got a young heifer, you better keep her under your command
If you got a young heifer, you better keep her under your command
If you don’t, some bull will make her understand
I swear before god, you oughta be ashamed of yourself
I swear before god, you oughta be ashamed of yourself
God, I swear, you better hold her by yourself

My heifer young, she won’t let a mule come down
My heifer young, she won’t let a mule come down
If she bares a leg, she will overflow the town

Kokomo Arnold recorded a series of blues about milk cows. Milk Cow Blues No. 4 describes some trouble with a young heifer:

I can't get my milk in the morning, I can't get my cream no more
I can't get my milk in the morning, I can't get my cream no more
And I want somebody to come here, help me get this bull from my door
Says I went out to my barn this morning, he didn't have one word to say
Says I went out to my barn this morning, he didn't have one word to say
He was laying down by my heifer's side, please on a pile of hay
Then I walked away and I hung my head and cried
Said I walked away and I hung my head and cried
Says I feel so lonesome, I ain't got my heifer by my side
Now there's nothing that I could do for that old bull has troubled me
Now there's nothing that I could do for that old bull has troubled me
When I get myself another heifer, I'm going to move back to Tennessee
Says I'm still in love with my milkcow, I just can't stand the way she do
Says I'm still in love with my milkcow, I just can't stand the way she do
I don't mind her drinking her whiskey, but please don't ballyhoo

Black Ace from Dallas, Texas sang about the sweet sounds he heard from his Lowing Heifer:

I’ve been a mighty good bullcow, oh lord, but I’ve gotta go
I’ve been a mighty good bullcow, oh lord, but I’ve gotta go
I found me a pigmeat heifer, I can tell by the way she lows
She lows all night long, you can hear it for a solid mile
She lows all night long, you can hear it for a solid mile
I can’t stand it here alone, I cry just like a child
Oh babe, your bullcow got to go
Oh babe, your bullcow got to go
I can’t stay here no longer, she calls me when she lows
Mama, I’m gone with a horn long as your right arm
Mama, I’m gone with a horn long as your right arm
And when I get to hooking, I’ll have me a brand new happy home
Goodbye, goodbye if I don’t see you no more
Goodbye, mama, if I don’t see you no more
Just remember me at night when you hear that mamlish heifer low

There are countless songs comparing men and women to animals. Most of these singers had backgrounds in the rural South. They would have grown up around ponies, heifers, and admiring at least some aspects of the life of the bull with the long horn, knowing when to keep other bulls away and seeing that the young heifer learn from the old cows. It’s only natural to sing about it. And of course, it’s funny.

Songs:
Pony Blues - Charley Patton
My Grey Pony - Big Joe Williams
Pony Blues - Sonny Boy Nelson
Jersey Bull Blues - Charley Patton
Young Heifer - Tommy Griffin
Young Heifer Blues - Mose Andrews
Milk Cow Blues No. 4 - Kokomo Arnold
Lowing Heifer - Black Ace

Show 56 - Delivery Man Blues

mrugel@purplebeech.com — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 00:22:00 +0000

In the pre-war period, people were dependent on delivery men coming to their doors with the necessities of life: coal to keep warm, ice to keep food fresh, and that food itself was often delivered. There were also plumbers and other repairmen showing up at your home. These men were necessary, but the way a lot of blues singers saw it they were trouble. A man showing up at your house when your woman is home alone couldn’t do any good. Washboard Sam recorded a song about it that became a classic - We Gonna Move:

When I get you mama, we going to move on the outskirts of town
When I get you mama, we going to move on the outskirts of town
Because I don't want nobody always hanging around

Well the reason mama, I don't want you to stay here
I don't need no iceman, I'm going to get me a frigidaire
That's why I'm going to move on the outskirts of town
Because sweet baby, I don't want no iceman hanging around

Well I'm going to heat with gas mama and not with coal
I don't need no coalman stopping and hauling coal
That's why we going to move on the outskirts of town
Because I don't want no coalman always hanging around

Well I'm going to bring my groceries mama myself every day
That’s going to keep that grocery boy, I know, away
That's what I'm going to do when we move on the outskirts of town
Because I don't want no delivery boy always hanging around

Well it may be funny mama, as funny as can be
If we have any babies, I want them all to look like me
That's why I'm going to move on the outskirts of town
Because I don't want nobody always hanging around

Blind Boy Fuller recorded the same song a few months after Washboard Sam. His version was titled I'm Going to Move (To the Edge of Town):

I‘m gonna take my baby and move on to the edge of town
Yes, I‘m gonna take my baby, gonna move on out of your town
‘Cause I don't want nobody always hanging around

Now the reason why, now baby, I don't want you to stay here
I don't need no iceman, I'm going to get me a Frigidaire
That’s what I’m gonna do mama, when I move on out of your town
Yes, I don’t want nobody always hanging around

Then I’m going to heat with gas mama and not with coal
I ain’t gonna have no coalman stopping and hauling coal
That’s why mama, I’m gonna move on out of this town
Cause I don’t want nobody, always hanging around

Well I'm going to bring my groceries baby, myself every day
That’s going to keep that grocery boy, I know, away
That’s why I’m gonna do when I move on out of your town
Cause I don’t want no grocery boy always hanging around

I may be funny mama, funny as daddy can be
If we raise any babies, I want them all to look like me
That’s why I’m gonna do when I move on out of your town
Cause I don’t want nobody, always hanging around

Papa Charlie Jackson took a different perspective with Coal Man Blues in 1927. His song was about the coal man on the road whose woman was at home alone:

I get up early in the morning, sweet mama and I comb and curry my horse
I get up early in the morning, sweet mama and I comb and curry my horse
Because I don't want nobody not to see my pa

Then I go up to the coal pile, get me a thing of ? coal
Then I go up to the coal pile, get me a thing of ? coal
Then I get on my wagon, then I'm a coal‑traveling soul

I ought to tell ‘em how much for coal: thirty‑five cents a bag
I ought to tell ‘em how much for coal: thirty‑five cents a bag
And if you want to know my name, just look around on my sack

I got on my wagon, trying my best to sell my coal
I got on my wagon, trying my best to sell my coal
My baby's back home serving my jellyroll

Now a lot of you women, some of you ought to be put in jail
Now a lot of you women, some of you all ought to be put in jail
Some standing on the corner trying to get themselves in jail

I’ve got coal
I’m selling coal
I’m selling coal
I’m delivering coal
Baby, baby, baby can’t you see your papa’s got coal?

Peg Leg Howell recorded Coal Man Blues about a tragedy involving a coalman on the road:

Woke up this morning 'bout 5 o'clock
Got me some eggs and a nice pork chop, cheap cigar and a magazine
Had to run pretty fast to catch the 5:15

Let me tell you something that I seen
Coal man got run over by the 5:15
Cut off his arms and it crushed his ribs, did the poor man die? No, the poor man lived

Let me tell you something that I know
Coal man got run over by the 5:44
Cut off his arms and it crushed his head, did the poor man die? No, the poor man lived

Hard coal, stovewood, man
Hard coal and the stovewood man
I ain't got but a little bit left, if you don't come get it, gonna burn it myself

Just the wood in the stove and the match in your hand
Get the wood in the stove and the match in your hand
Wood in the stove and the match in your hand
You run to the door and stop to tell the coal man

Sell it to the rich and I sell it to the poor
Sell it to the rich and I sell it to the poor
Sell it to the rich and I sell it to the poor
I sell it to the nice brown standing in the door

Furnish your wood, furnish your coal
Furnish your wood and I furnish your coal
Furnish your wood and I furnish your coal
Make you love me, doggone your soul

I've got your water, got your gas
Got your water and got your gas
Got your water and I've got your gas
You treat me mama, then that’s your last

Let me tell you, mama, what's the matter now
Let me tell you, mama, what's the matter now
Let me tell you, mama, what's the matter now
You don't want me, take me anyhow

Sweet mama, sweet mama, what's on your mind?
Mama, sweet mama, what's on your mind?
Mama, sweet mama, what's on your mind?
Says, "You can't quit me, no need of trying”

I'm going up the country, don't you want to go?
Going up the country, don't you want to go?
Going up the country, don't you want to go?
Leaving here, ain't coming back no more

Me and my rider and two or three more
Me and my rider and two or three more
Me and my rider and two or three more
We're going up the country don't you want to go?

Went down the road, feeling bad
Went down the road, mama, feeling bad
Went down the road, mama, feeling bad
I feel so worried as I ever had

Me and my
Me and my mama and two or three more
Me and my brown, two or three more
Going up the country don't you want to go?

Going away and it won't be long
Going away and it won't be long
Going away and it won't be long
Don't believe I'm leaving, count the days I'm gone

Sonny Boy Williamson sang about wanting to be a coalman or an iceman who can visit women in their homes. Coal and Iceman Blues:

Lord, I would love to be your iceman, but I would like to be your coalman too
I said, I would love to be your iceman, but then, and I would wanna be your coalman too
Now, you wouldn't be telling your coalman, you know what your iceman do

I'm going to give you my phone number, so you can call Sonny Boy up everyday
I'm going to give you my phone number, so you can call Sonny Boy up everyday
Now you need any ice or coal, you must let Sonny Boy know right away

Now, I believe you need some ice, baby, your ice has done gotten old
I believe you need some ice, baby, your ice has done gotten old
Now I won't disturb none of your people, baby, I'll ease it in through your back door

Now tell me what the matter with your basement? I don't believe you use Sonny Boy's coal no more
Oh, tell me what the matter with your basement? I don't believe you use Sonny Boy's coal no more
Well, I always been nice to you, I would bring it in through your back door

Sonny Boy was offering ice and coal to get into that woman’s house as often as he could. In a similar vein, Bo Carter offered absolutely any service that you could possible need. It’s one of Bo Carter’s classic example of that sexual innuendo that can barely be considered innuendo, All-Around Man from 1936:

Now I ain't no butcher, no butcher's son
I can do your cutting 'til the butcher man comes
'Cause I'm a all-around man, oh I'm an all-around man
I'm mean I’m an all-around man, I can do most anything that comes to hand

Now I ain't no plumber, no plumber's son
I can do your screwing ‘til the plumber man comes
'Cause I'm an all-around man, oh I'm an all-around man
I mean I'm an all-around man, I can do most anything that comes to hand

Now I ain't no miller, no miller's son
I can do your grinding ‘til the miller man comes
'Cause I'm an all-around man, oh I'm an all-around man
I mean I’m an all-around man, I can do most anything that comes to hand

Now I ain't no milkman, no milkman's son
I can pull your titties 'til the milkman comes
'Cause I'm an all-around man, oh I'm an all-around man
I mean I'm an all-around man, I can do most anything that comes to hand

Now I ain't no spring man, no spring man's son,
I can bounce your springs 'til the spring man comes
'Cause I'm an all-around man, oh I'm an all-around man
I mean I'm an all-around man, I can do most anything that comes to hand

Now I ain't no auger man, no auger man's son
I can blow your hole 'til the auger man comes
'Cause I'm an all-around man, oh I'm an all-around man
I mean I'm an all-around man, I can do most anything that comes to hand

Bluesmen both feared delivery and service men coming to their house and wanted to be those men. Having your woman cheat on you is the ultimate blues situation and these are some great songs about being on . You can try and avoid the ice man with new technology like the frigidaire, but in the world of the blues a man with the woman home alone means trouble and it seem to be unavoidable.

Songs:
We Gonna Move - Washboard Sam
I'm Gonna Move (to the Edge of Town) - Blind Boy Fuller
Coal Man Blues - Papa Charlie Jackson
Coal Man Blues - Peg Leg Howell
Coal and Ice Man Blues - Sonny Boy Williamson
All Around Man - Bo Carter

Show 55 - News of the World

mrugel@purplebeech.com — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 15:14:00 +0000

Most blues songs tend to focus on the local. Songs often address issues at home. But like everyone else, blues singers live in the world and are aware of the world beyond their hometowns. So I thought we’d take a look at some songs that talk about what’s going on overseas and news from around the world.

Maybe the best song of this type is Minnie Wallace’s The Cockeyed World. Recorded in 1935, the song’s about the Italian invasion of Ethiopia. The bravery of the Ethiopian soldiers fighting against an army with vastly superior weapons became a point of pride for African-Americans. Newspapers like the Chicago Defender reported on the war frequently and Minnie Wallace recorded this song just nine days after the invasion of October 3rd:

I woke up this morning feeling mighty sadI woke up this morning feeling mighty sadWas the worst old feeling that I ever had

It's war on Ethiopia and mama's feeling blue
It's war on Ethiopia and mama's feeling blue
I tell the cockeyed world I don't know what to do

They say that Ethiopia is a long ways from here
They say that Ethiopia is a long ways from here
They trying to steal my man and hurry him over there

I love my man, tell the cockeyed world I do
I love my man, tell the cockeyed world I do
It's coming the time that he'll sure love me too

This old cockeyed world will make your good man treat you mean
This old cockeyed world will make your good man treat you mean
He will treat you just like a poor girl he never seen

It's war on Ethiopia and my man won't behave
It's war on Ethiopia and my man won't behave
I tell the cockeyed world I'll spit in my baby's face

It's war on Ethiopia baby please please behave
It's war on Ethiopia please please behave
I tell the cockeyed world I'll follow you to your grave

Wallace sees the war in Ethiopia as an example of screwed up nature of the world. It’s the same thing that makes her man mistreat her at home. Several years later, Georgia’s Frank Edwards also looked at war with an eye towards how it affected things at home. He recorded We Got to Get Together in May of 1941, seven months before he U.S. would enter the war, but he was already seeing the effect of the War in Europe on the men at home that Uncle Sam would soon need:

Hitler cutting the world gotten disturbed
Uncle Sam better decide and gotten blood in his eye

You got to get together, you got to get together
Got to closen up together, join one hand in hand

Mussolini jumped back up in the sack
Hitler kicked him out so he couldn't get back
We got to get together
We got to get together
Got to closen up together, join one hand in hand

Uncle Sam called the men down name by name
He ain't together but they ready just the same
You got to get together
We got to get together
Got to closen up together, join one hand in hand

Uncle Sam need a champ, he rang the bell
A well trained man when you leave Camp Shelby

We got to get together
We got to get together
Got to closen up together, join one hand in hand

Say I left my woman standing in the door
Crying Lord have mercy they mustn't let him, please don't go
We got to get together
We got to get together
Got to closen up together, join one hand in hand

When King Edward VIII chose to give up the throne for the love of a divorced American woman in 1936, he became a symbol of love for romantics all over the world. That included Blind Willie McTell who recorded King Edward Blues in 1940.

Tell me honey, now tell me please
Is my lover now hard to please?
I’m getting groggy in my knees
Baby and it must be love

A funny feeling reaches up my spine
My head like cherry wine
Makes me think the world’s allmine
Baby and it must be love

I hear church bell ringing, I see visions clear
I hear the birdies singing
I know darn well that no bird is there

I don’t like your shirts and ties, they don’t seem to harmonize
They don’t match those big brown eyes
Baby and it must be love

Can be a rich man, a poor man, a beggar man king
It will make you give up everything
Every time you feel that sting, honey, it must be love

Make a preacher lay his bible down
Made a rabbit hug a hound
Made King Edward give up his crown
Baby and it must be love

I hear church bell ringing, I see visions clear
I hear the birdies singing
I know darn well that no bird is there

I don’t like your shirts and ties, they don’t seem to harmonize
They don’t match those big brown eyes
Mama and it must be love
Baby and it must be love

We know Kokomo Arnold traveled a lot across the United States, from the descriptive storytelling in Big Ship Blues he may have made a trans-Atlantic voyage as well:

Now this big ship is rocking and my body's filled with aches and pains
Now this big ship is rocking and my body's filled with aches and pains
Now if I get across the Atlantic Ocean, good people I will not live to Spain

Now the big tide is rising, you better lower your anchors down
Now the big tide is rising, you better lower your anchors down
Now if we don't make the circle, we never will get back to New York town

Now why don't you people quit laughing? I feel mighty sad in my mind
Now why don't you people quit laughing? I feel mighty sad in my mind
Said this big fog gone to rising and a cyclone is right behind

Now I feel bad, nobody seems to want to go my way
Now I feel bad, nobody seems to want to go my way
Said this big ship going to leaking, right between midnight and day

Now I see something shining, daylight is breaking all around
Now I see something shining, daylight is breaking all around
Soon as we make a few more notches, I will be right back in New York town

Arnold’s story brings to mind the many great songs telling the story of the sinking of the Titanic including Rabbit Brown’s amazing Sinking of the Titanic from 1928:

It was on the 10th of April on a sunny afternoon
The Titanic left Southampton, each one as happy as bride and groom
No one thought of danger or what their fate may be
Until a gruesome iceberg caused 1500 to perish in the sea

It was early Monday morning, just about the break of day
Captain said call for help from the Carpathia and it was many miles away
Everyone was calm and silent, asked each other what the trouble may be
Not thinking that death was lurking there upon that northern sea

The Carpathia received the wireless SOS redistress
Come at once, we are sinking, make no delay and do your best
Get the lifeboats all in readiness 'cause we're going down very fast
We have saved the women and the children and tried to hold out to the last

Now at last they called out all the passengers, told them to hurry to the deck
Then they realized that the mighty Titanic was about to be a wreck
They lowered the lifeboats one by one, taking women and children from the start
The poor men were left to care for themselves but they sure played a hero's part

You know they stood out on that sinking deck and they was all in great despair
You know accidents may happen most anytime and we know not when and where
The music played as they went down on that dark blue sea
And you could hear the sound of that familiar hymn, singing 'Nearer my God to Thee'

Nearer my God to thee
Nearer my God to thee
Nearer my God to thee
Nearer to thee

Though like a wanderer as the sun goes down
Darkness be over me just when the Titanic went down

Rabbit Brown recorded that in 1928 and the Titanic sunk in 1912, so Brown was retelling a legend more than commenting on the news. When the Memphis Jug Band recorded Lindberg Hop that same year they were talking about more recent news, Charles Lindbergh’s transatlantic flight of the year before:

I know they’re gonna write to me
When they get across the sea, every chance when that Washington lands in France

How you say it, for now, sugar baby

Now mama, don’t you weep and moan,
Uncle Sam’s got your man and gone,
Now he’s doing that Lindbergh across the sea.

Now mama how can it be, you went way across the sea,
Just to keep from doing that Lindybird with me
Oh babe now I done told you
If I had my uniform on, I could live it — just as sure as you born
Then I’ll do that Lindbergh across the sea

She asked me for a bottle of Kaye Ola
I said, “Mama, let me play it on your Victrola,
Then I’ll do that Lindybird with you. ”
How you say it, for now, sugar baby?

I asked her for a piece of banana
She said, “Jab, play the blues on your piano,
Then I’ll do that Lindybird with you."

Songs:

The Cockeyed World - Minnie Wallace

We Got to Get Together - Frank Edwards

Kings Edward Blues - Blind Willie McTell

Big Ship Blues - Kokomo Arnold

Sinking of the Titanic - Rabbit Brown

Lindberg Hop - Memphis Jug Band

Show 54 - The 1930 Drought

mrugel@purplebeech.com — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 14:13:00 +0000

In the spring of 1930, a horrible drought began in nearly every Southern state. It was particular tough for those dependent on agricultural work. As supply of crops dwindled, prices dropped with the Depression. People were starving. Mississippi and Arkansas were particular hard hit, so it’s no surprise that there are a few great blues songs about it. Charley Patton recorded Dry Well Blues that year at sessions for Paramount in Grafton Wisconsin focusing on the suffering of folks in his then hometown of Lula, Mississippi:

Way down in Lula, I was living at ease
Way down in Lula, hard living has done hit
Lord, your drought come and caught us, and parched up all the trees

Aw, she stays over in Lula, bid the old town goodbye
Stays in Lula, bidding you the town goodbye
Well it would come to know the day, oh, the Lula well was gone dry

Lord, there are citizens around Lula, all was doing very well
Citizens around Lula, all was doing very well
Now they're in hard luck together??, 'cause rain don't pour nowhere

I ain't got no money and I sure ain't got no home
I ain't got no money and I sure ain't got no home
Hot weather done come in, parched all the cotton and corn

Boy, they tell me the country, Lord, it will make you cry
Lord, country, Lord, it'll make you cry
Most anybody, Lord, hasn't any water nearby

Lord, the Lula women, Lord, putting Lula men down
Lula men, oh, putting Lula men down
Lord, you oughta been there, Lord, the women all leaving town

Also along on those sessions in Grafton were Son House, Willie Brown and pianist Louise Johnson. The story goes that Louise Johnson started out as Charley Patton’s girl, but by the end of the trip from Mississippi to Wisconsin, she was Son House’s girl. If Son House took Patton’s girl, he also seemed to take his theme. He recorded Dry Spell Blues in two parts due to technical limitations on recording length. Unlike Patton’s local focus, Son House shows the universality of the suffering from drought:

Part I:

The dry spell blues have fallen, drug me from door to door
Dry spell blues have fallen, drug me from door to door
The dry spell blues have put everybody on the killing floor

Now the people down South soon won't have no home
Lord, the people down South, soon won't have no home
'Cause this dry spell has parched all this cotton and corn

Hard luck's on everybody, ain't missing but a few
Hard luck's on everybody, ain't missing but a few
Now it’s been dry, oh, ain’t got even a dew

Lord, I fold my arms and I walked away
Lord, I fold my arms and I walked away
Just like I tell you, somebody's got to pray

Pork chops forty-five cents a pound, cotton is only ten
Pork chops forty-five cents a pound, cotton is only ten
I can't keep no women, no not one of them

So dry old boll weevil turn up his toes and die
So dry old boll weevil turn up his toes and die
No ain't nothing to do, but bootleg moonshine and rye

Part II

It has been so dry, you can make a powderhouse out of the world
Well, it has been so dry, you can make a powderhouse out of the world
And holler money men, like a rattlesnake in his quirl

I done throwed up my hands, Lord, and solemnly swore
I done throwed up my hands, Lord, and solemnly swore
It ain't no need of me changing towns, it's the drought everywhere I go

It's a dry old spell everywhere I’ve been
Oh, it's a dry old spell everywhere I’ve been
I believe to my soul this whole world is bound to end

Well, I stood in my backyard, wrung my hands and screamed
I stood in my backyard, I wrung my hands and screamed
Well, I couldn't see nothing, couldn't see nothing green

Oh, Lord, have mercy if you please
Oh, Lord, have mercy if you please
Let your rain come down and give our poor hearts ease

These blues, these blues is worthwhile to be heard
Oh, these blues, worthwhile to be heard
Lord, it’s even likely bound to rain somewhere

Son House probably wrote that song specifically for the recording session in 1930. He never played it when he returned to music in the 1960s and it’s possible his only performance of it may have been at that studio session.

St. Louis musician Spider Carter recorded a number with the same title as Son House’s song in 1930 singing about the hard times resulting from the drought. Dry Spell Blues:

Dry spell is on, many a man ain’t got no homeDry spell is on, many a man ain’t got no homeThey have caused poor me to wander and roam

I woke up this morning just about half past fourI woke up this morning just about half past fourAll I could feel was my love knocking on my door

Hard times are driving me madHard times are driving me madThey are the worst off feeling that I’ve ever had

It’s so dry down home, most can’t plant cotton and cornIt’s so dry down home, most can’t plant potatoes and cornAnd don’t I miss it, since the dry spell’s been on

Everywhere that I went was nothing but bad newsEverywhere that I went was nothing but bad newsThat’s why I’m singing these lonesome dry spell blues

The great spiritual singer and slide guitar player Blind Willie Johnson also recorded about rain in 1930. He might not have been singing about the drought specifically, but it’s about God’s gift of rain. Willie B. Richardson is the female vocalist.The title is Rain Don’t Fall on Me, but the lyrics sound close to “rain done fell on me:”

Oh the rain, that old rain, that old rain done fell on me
Oh the rain, that old rain, oh the rain, that old rain
that old rain, that old rain done fell on me
Oh the rain, that old rain, oh the rain, that old rain
that old rain, that old rain done fell on me

Don’t you know promise it’s true
It was sent from heaven to you
it was sent to the beloved son of God

Oh the rain, that old rain, that old rain done fell on me
Oh the rain, that old rain, oh the rain, that old rain
that old rain, that old rain done fell on me
It’s for you, it’s for you and your children too

Oh the rain, that old rain, that old rain done fell on me
Oh the rain, that old rain, oh the rain, that old rain
That old rain, that old rain done fell on me

The main reason that the 1930 drought doesn't get much historical attention is that the dust bowl droughts of the mid-1930s overshadow it. Woody Guthrie was the greatest chronicler of that drought in song. He recorded a blues number Dust Bowl Blues:

I just blowed in, and I got them dust bowl blues
I just blowed in, and I got them dust bowl blues
I just blowed in, and I'll blow back out again

I guess you've heard about every kind of blues
I guess you've heard about every kind of blues
But when the dust gets high, you can't even see the sky

I've seen the dust so black that I couldn't see a thing
I've seen the dust so black that I couldn't see a thing
And the wind so cold, boy, it nearly cut your water off

I seen the wind so high that it blowed my fences down
I've seen the wind so high that it blowed my fences down
Buried my tractor six feet underground

Well, it turned my farm into a pile of sand
Yes, it turned my farm into a pile of sand
I had to hit that road with a bottle in my hand

I spent ten years down in that old dust bowl
I spent ten years down in that old dust bowl
When you get that dust pneumonia, boy, it's time to go

I had a gal and she was young and sweet
I had a gal and she was young and sweet
But a dust storm buried her--sixteen hundred feet

She was a good gal, long, tall and stout
Yes, she was a good gal, long, tall and stout
I had to get a steam shovel just to dig my darling out

These dusty blues are the dustiest ones I know
These dusty blues are the dustiest ones I know
Buried head over heels in the black old dust, I had to pack up and go
And I just blowed in and I'll soon blow out again

Further reading: Luigi Monge's essay on Son House's Dry Spell Blues in the David Evans book Ramblin' On My Mind and Nan Woodruff's book As Rare as Rain about the drought and federal assistance programs providing relief.

Songs:
Dry Well Blues - Charley Patton
Dry Spell Blues Parts 1 and 2 - Son House
Dry Spell Blues - Spider Carter
Rain Don't Fall on Me - Blind Willie Johnson
Dust Bowl Blues - Woody Guthrie

Show 53 - More Cars

mrugel@purplebeech.com — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 14:46:00 +0000

Cars had become one of the centers of American life by the 1920s and plenty of blues musicians we’re singing about them. It’s interesting that Blind Lemon Jefferson sang in several songs about driving cars, something he could never do as a blind man. Booger Rooger Blues starts out about driving and ends up talking about the problems cars cause with women.

I drive to the station, woman, I bid you adieu (I swear it ain’t no use?)
I drive to the station, then I bid you adieu
Tell me, you always got a fatmouth following you

My baby's quit me, man, she done throwed me down
I said my baby's quit me, she done throwed me down
I wouldn't hate it so bad, but that talk is all over town

She's a long tall woman, she got relatives in Arkansas
Long tall woman, she got relatives in Arkansas
She ain't so good looking, but, lord, them dimples is all in her jaw

I cried all night and all that night before
I say, I cried all night and all that night before
Well, it's the best to get single and you won't have to cry no more

I got ten little puppies, I got twelve little shaggy hounds
I got ten little puppies and twelve little shaggy hounds
Well, it's gonna take them twenty-two dogs to run my good gal down

I got a girl in Oak Cliff and Highland Park, Oak Lawn, Lakewoods, ma'am, too
I got a girl in Oak Cliff, Highland Park, Oak Lawn, Lakewoods, ma'am, too
I'm gonna live in Magnolia Station and watch them Mill City women going through

Some joker learned my baby how to shift gears on a Cadillac Eight
Some joker learned my baby how to shift gears on a Cadillac Eight
Sugar, ever since that happened, I can't keep my business straight

Will Batts’ Cadillac Baby starts with the same verse that Lemon ended with:

Somebody learned my baby how to shift gears on a Cadillac Eight
Somebody learned my baby how to shift gears on a Cadillac Eight
Ever since that day, I can’t keep my baby straight
I was ?, I’m gonna let you have your way
Cause baby doll,

I said late one evening, I looked through your keyhole door
Woman you know you done me wrong, I ain’t coming back here no more
I turned right around, these are the words I said
Nobody don’t have to tell me because I heard the spring cry on your bed

In 1931, Memphis Minnie sang about her house burning down, but the only thing she’s worried about is losing her car. Garage Fire Blues:

My house on fire, where's that fire wagon now?
My house on fire, where's that fire wagon now?
Ain't but the one thing I don't want my garage to burn down

I got a Hudson Super Six, I got me an old model Cadillac Eight
I got a Hudson Super Six, I got me an old model Cadillac Eight
I woke up this morning, my Cadillac standing at my back gate

Hop on boys, I got the best chauffeur in town
Hop on boys, I got the best chauffeur in town
He saved my Hudson Super Six, my Cadillac didn't burn down

Oh Lord Lord, wonder where is my chauffeur now
Oh Lord Lord, wonder where is my chauffeur now
Got my Cadillac Eight, done Cadillaced out of town

I tell the whole round world I ain't going to walk no more
I tell the whole round world I ain't going to walk no more
I got a Cadillac Eight take me to where I want to go

In 1941, Memphis Minnie was still singing about that chauffeur with some classic double entendre lyrics. Me and My Chauffeur Blues:

Want to see my chauffeur, want to see my chauffeur
I want him to drive me, I want him to drive me downtown
Yes he drives so easy, I can't turn him down

But I don't want him, but I don't want him to be riding these girls, to be riding these girls around
So I'm gonna steal me a pistol, shoot my chauffeur down

Well I must buy him, well I must buy him a brand new V8, a brand new V8 Ford
Then he won't need no passengers, I will be his load

Going to let my chauffeur, going to let my chauffeur
Drive me around the, drive me around the world
Then he can be my little boy, yes, I'll be his girl

Robert Johnson sang some of the most poetic lyrics sexualizing the car as a woman. Terraplane Blues:

And I feel so lonesome, you hear me when I moan
When I feel so lonesome, you hear me when I moan
Who’s been driving my Terraplane, for you since I been gone?

I'd said I flash your lights, mama, your horn won't even blow
(spoken: Somebody's been running my batteries down on this machine)
I even flash my lights, mama, this horn won't even blow
Got a short in this connection, oh well, babe, it's way down below

I'm going to hoist your hood, mama, I'm bound to check your oil
I'm going hoist your hood, mama, mmm, I'm bound to check your oil
I’ve got a woman that I'm loving, way down in Arkansas

Now, you know the coils ain't even buzziing, little generator won't get the spark
Motor's in a bad condition, you gotta have these batteries charged
But I'm crying, please, please don't do me wrong
Who been driving my Terraplane now, for you since I been gone?

Mr. highway man, please don't block the road
Please, please don't block the road
'Cause she's reaching a cold one hundred and I'm booked and I got to go
You, you hear me weep and moan
Who been driving my Terraplane now, for you since I been gone?

I'm going to get down in this connection, keep on tangling with your wires
I'm going to get deep down in this connection, oh well, keep on tangling with these wires
And when I mash down on your little starter, then your spark plug will give me fire

Willie ‘61’ Blackwell also explored the car as a woman metaphor in 1941 with Noiseless Motor Blues:

They say you has a noiseless motor and a substantial steering gear
They say you has a noiseless motor, baby, and substantial steering gear
If you ever need a chauffeur, please let me be your engineer

If you has good rubber and your emergency brake’s okay
If you has good rubber, baby, and your emergency brake’s okay
And if you ever need a chauffeur, baby, please let me shift your gears

I stepped on the starter and the motor turned over slow
I stepped on the starter and your motor turned over slow

Well, well, it's the carbon-proof motor, boy, there's a short in some place I know
You said you would be my engine and wanted me for your engineer
You said you would be my engine and wanted me for your engineer

Ramblin’ Thomas explained how not having a car made it tough to hold onto your woman in Hard to Rule Woman Blues:

I've got a girl, I wish I could keep her home at night
I've got a girl, I wish I could keep her home at night
She's always going off on automobile rides

She sleeps late every morning, I can't hardly get her woke
She sleeps late every morning, I can't hardly get her woke
She will wake up in one second, when she hears a car horn blow

Some of these days, I'm going to be like Mr. Henry Ford
Said, some of these days, I'm going to be like Mr. Henry Ford
Going to have a car and a woman running on every road

If you ain't got a car, man, a woman is hard to rule
If you ain't got a car, man, a woman is hard to rule
That's why, I got them automobile blues

Songs:
Booger Rooger Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson
Cadillac Baby - Will Batts
Garage Fire Blues - Memphis Minnie
Me and My Chauffeur Blues - Memphis Minnie
Terraplane Blues - Robert Johnson
Noiseless Motor Blues - Willie '61' Blackwell
Hard to Rule Woman Blues - Ramblin' Thomas

Show 52 - Ford Blues

mrugel@purplebeech.com — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:40:00 +0000

Transportation is one of the most common themes in the blues. These were men and women who like to get around. Walking and trains come up often, but by the 1920s when recording blues became common, it was the car that was dominating American culture. Blues musicians sang about all kinds of makes and modes, but this time we’re gonna look at songs about Fords. The mass production of the Model T had made Ford the car of the people. A lot of bluesmen may have wanted a Cadillac, but they were driving a Ford.

In DB Blues, Blind Lemon Jefferson singing about a few different kinds of cars after he shows up in his new Ford:

(Oh, here come Lemon in that new Ford sedan. Oh, listen to the motor roar.)

Who is that coming, hey, with his motor so strong?
I say, who is that coming, hey, with his motor so strong?
That's Lemon and his DB, people thinks he's got his good luck(?) on

Gonna get out of my four-cylinder Dodge, I'm gonna get me a Super Six
Get out of my four-cylinder Dodge, get me a Super Six
I'm always around the ladies, and I like to have my business fixed

I'm crazy about a Packard, but my baby only rates a Ford
I'm crazy about a Packard, my baby only rates a Ford
A Packard is too expensive, Ford will take you where you want to go

Come here, brownskin, listen to my motor roar
Come here, fair brown, and listen to my motor roar
Because my Super Six sufficient to take you where you want to go

I never did like no horses and I never could stand no seal(?)
I never did like no horses, I never could stand no seal(?)
Every since I'm old enough to catch a brown, give me the automobile

Blind Lemon Jefferson mentions driving a Ford along with Dodges, Packards, and the Super six that was a model from Hudson. DB stands for Dodge Brothers.

Sleepy John Estes recorded Poor Man’s Friend (T Model) in 1937. The Model T was out of production by 1927, so this was probably an older song when recorded in 1937. But the T-Model was clearly an iconic automobile at that point:

Well, well, when you see it in the winter, please throw your winder over in the bin
Well, well, when you see it in the winter, I want you to throw your winder over in the bin
Well, well, probably next spring, I want to rig up my T-Model again

Well, well, a T-Model Ford, I say, is a poor man's friend
Well, well, a T-Model Ford, I say, is a poor man's friend
Well, well, it will help you out, even when your money's thin

Well, well, one thing about a T-Model, you don't have to shift no gear
Well, well, one thing about a T-Model, you don't have to shift no gear
Well, well, just let down on your brake and feed the gas and the stuff is here

Well, well, a V-8 Ford, and it done took to start
Well, well, a V-8 Ford, and it done took to start
Well, well, it reach all the way from ninety down to a hundred miles

Well, well, somebody, they done stole my winder out on the road
Well, well, somebody, done stole my winder out on the road
Well, well, let's find somebody got a T-Model Ford

The Model T did have to be started with a hand crank, that;'s probably the winder that Estes refers to.

Roosevelt Sykes recorded a song named for the founder of the Ford Motor Company, Henry Ford Blues from 1929:

Now, lady, won’t you let me drive your Ford
Now, miss lady won’t you let me drive your Ford
Now I ain’t your chauffeur, but I can’t hold it anymore

Now there was a woman, now she owned a Chevrolet
Now there was a woman, now she owned a Chevrolet
Now she been driving fourteen years, hasn’t had an accident yet

Now I tried so hard to treat my baby right
Now I tried so hard to treat my baby right
I tried so hard to keep down a fuss and a fight

You talking about your brick house, lord, you ought to see my frame
Now you spoke about your brick house, you ought to see my frame
I don’t take up no time with no goo dame

There was a late model car, it was named Roosevelt’s straight eight
There was a late model car, it was named Roosevelt’s straight eight
Lord the good lord must be righteous for me to drive it into your back gate

Cedar Creek Sheik’s real name was Philip McCutchen he recorded in Charlotte, NC in 1936 including Ford V-8:

Soon as I get my record all straight
Put my money in a Ford V-8
Lord, and I ain't gonna walk no more

Drive into Charlotte from the Baltimore
Park my Ford in Miss Etta Prince door
Lord, gonna play my radio

Now, Pete and Frances lying in the bed
Pete turned over and Frances said
Lord, she don't credit no more

Now, soon as I get my record all straight
Put my money in a Ford V-8
Lord, I ain't gonna pray no more

Some pray to the altar, I pray out the gate
I start gearing on the Ford V-8
Lord, and I sure won't pray no more

Sue in Charleston want to be convinced
Wish I'd married to Miss Etta Prince
And Lord, then I won't be lonesome no more

Dave Hardee and Booth Key sitting on a log
Hands on a trigger, eye on a hog
Lord, Jimmy ain't gonna credit no more

Some pray to the altar, I pray in the road
Ask God to give me John Henry Ford
Lord, I sure won't pray no more

Some pray to the altar, I pray out the gate
Ask God to give me one of the Ford V-8
Lord, and I sure wouldn't want no more

Some pray to the altar, I pray in the field
Ask God to give me an Oldsmobile
Lord, and I sure wouldn't want no more

Now, soon as I get my record all straight
I'm gonna buy a Ford V-8
Lord, and I ain't gonna walk no more

I'll drive in Charlotte from the Baltimore
Park my Ford in Miss Etta Prince door
Lord, want to play my radio

The car radio was commercially introduced by the Galvin manufacturing company in 1930. Radios were being commonly installed in cars including Fords when that song was recorded in 1936.

Joe Williams recorded Brother James in 1937. It has to be one of the earlier warnings about drunk driving:

Brother James went out riding, riding in that ’29 Ford
Brother James went out riding, riding in that ’29 Ford
That poor man was drinking bad whiskey, well boys he sure done lose his soul

Lord I went out in Greenville, looked down in brother James' face
I says sleep on brother James, I'll meet you Resurrection Day

Lord brother James died under surgery and he didn't have the time to pray
Brother James died under surgery, didn't have the time to pray
I said goodbye brother James, ooo well I'll meet you Resurrection Day

Now he left sister Lottie, trying to save her wicked soul
She ain't going to drink no more whiskey, ooo well boys going to ride no ’29 Ford

I went to the graveyard and I peeped down in brother James' face
Lord I went to the graveyard and I peeped down in brother James' face
Says you know you died drunk brother James and you didn't have no time to pray

Farewell brother James, hope we will meet some day
Farewell brother James, hope we will meet some day
I will be at the fishing table, ooo well when they send brother James away

Cleo Gibson only recorded two blues songs. One of them was I’ve Got Ford Movement in My Hips in 1929. It plays on a vaudeville era song “Elgin movement in My Hips”. Elgin movement was a slogan of the Elgin watch company refrring to the precision of the internal working of their timepieces. The phrase entered popular culture and showed up in many songs, most notably in the blues in Robert Johnson’s Walking Blues. Here, Cleo Gibson, say a watch is nothing, I’ve got a car in my hips:

Now listen kind folks what I have to say
Happened about a week ago
All about Valentino down to Loving Joe

Valentino, he was smooth, such as a Packard and such
But Loving Joe was like a Ford, handling a little bit too rough
Now you know all about the machine
Got a movement you ain't never seen

I’ve got Ford engine movements in my hips
Ten thousand miles guarantee
A Ford is a car everybody wants to ride, Jump in, you will see

You can all have a Rolls Royce, your Packard and such
Take a Ford engine boys to do your stuff
I've got Ford engine movements in my hips, ten thousand miles guarantee
I say ten thousand miles guarantee

I’ve got Ford engine movements in my hips
Ten thousand miles guaranteed
A Ford is a car everybody wants to ride, Jump in, you will see

You can all have a Rolls Royce, your Packard and such
Take a Ford engine boys to do your stuff
I've got Ford engine movements in my hips, ten thousand miles guarantee
I say ten thousand miles guaranteed

Kid Prince Moore recorded Ford V-8 Blues in 1938 comparing his woman to cars:

My girl is shaped like a Cadillac, she shift like a v-8 Ford
She’s shaped like a Cadillac, she shift like a v-8 Ford
When she shift from 1st to 2nd to high she said baby I ain’t got my load

She’s long and tall, you know she’s little and slim
She’s long and tall, you know she’s little and slim
The way she shift her gears, you know she’s bound to win

I used to have a gal everybody called a Cadillac 8
I used to have a gal everybody called a Cadillac 8
She could not burn enough gasoline to keep my third gear straight

I trade my Cadillac and got myself a Ford v-8
I trade my Cadillac and got myself a Ford v-8
When she starts to burning gas, I mean she just won’t wait

She can burn it all day, she loves to burn it at night
She can burn it all day, she loves to burn it at night
She starts her motor to running, her carburetor starts just right

Walter Roland is best known as a piano player and accompanist to Lucille Bogan. He also played guitar on his own records including T-Model Blues:

Said it's mmm baby mmm baby mmm
Said it's mmm baby mmm baby mmm
Say you know you do not love me like I say I love you

Say you know these here women sure do treat me mean
ooo, these here women sure do treat me mean
You know I ask one for a drink of water, she give me gasoline

Says mmm baby, you won't do nothing you say
Says mmm baby, you won't do nothing you say
You know you told me you love me but what about that man I seen you with the other day

These here women would call themselves a Cadillac, ought to be a T Model Ford
These here women would call themselves a Cadillac, ought to be a T Model Ford
You know they got the shape all right but they can't carry no heavy load

Says you know I'm going to sing this here verse now, ain't going to sing no more
Says you know I'm going to sing this here verse now, ain't going to sing no more
Because you know I've got to go home and get on my old lady because she won't come back no more

With the Model T, Ford made cars affordable they became the car of the common people. This could be both an insult and praise. Some men wanted something fancier, some just appreciated their Ford, whether it was an actual car or a woman.

Songs:
DB Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson
Poor Man's Friend (T-Model) - Sleepy John Estes
Henry Ford Blues - Roosevelt Sykes
Ford V-8 - Cedar Creek Sheik
Brother James - Big Joe Williams
I've Got Ford Movements in my Hips - Cleo Gibson
Ford V-8 Blues - Kid Prince Moore
T-Model Blues - Walter Roland

Show 51 - Levee Camp Blues

mrugel@purplebeech.com — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 19:49:00 +0000

Levee construction began in the 19th century in the U.S. on the Mississippi River and rivers like the Red and the Brazos. Work has pretty much continued on them since. In the 1920s and especially the 30s, government contractors brought laborers into camps to build the levees higher and higher. These camps were wild places where the only law was the boss. Murder and other crimes were common. It was yet another situation where black laborers were brutally exploited. Still, there was no shortage of men looing for jobs on the levees. Pay was better than sharecropping. At least when a worker got paid. They often didn’t.

Texas singer Gene Campbell told the story when he recorded Levee Camp Man in 1930:

These contractors, they are getting so slack
These contractors, they are getting so slack
They’ll pay you half of your money and hold the other half back

There ain’t but two men that get paid off
There ain’t but two men that get paid off
That’s the commissary clerk and the walking boss

I see somebody coming down to the water trough
I see somebody coming down to the water trough
I know it ain’t the contractor, it’s that doggone walking boss

A levee camp mule and a levee camp man
A levee camp mule and a levee camp man
They work side by side, and it sure is man for man

A levee camp man ain’t got but two legs you know
A levee camp man ain’t got but two legs you know
But he puts in the same hours that a mule do on four

I wouldn’t drive no four-mule team
I wouldn’t drive no four-mule team
For no doggone contractor I’ve ever seen

Men on the levee hollering “Whoa Haw Gee”
Men on the levee hollering “Whoa Haw Gee”
And the women on the levee camp hollering “Who wants me?”

Whoa, Haw, and Gee are direction calls for the mule teams. The women hollering who wants me presumably would have been prostitutes. Women at levee camps did include prostitutes as well as the wives and girlfriends of the men. In 1927, Lucille Bogan, recording as Bessie Jackson, sang about how difficult it was to be a levee camp girl in Levee Blues:

Down on the levee, Camp Number Nine
Down the levee, Camp Number Nine
You can pass my house, honey you can hear me cry

I never had no blues, until I come by here
I never had no blues, until I come by here
I'm going to leave this camp, you can’t start in here

My sister got the, brother got them too
We all got the levee camp blues
I ain't found no doctor, ain't no doctor in this whole round world
I ain't found no doctor, ain't no doctor in this whole round world
Just to cure the blues, the blues of a levee camp girl

In 1941, Son House recorded Levee Camp Blues for the Library of Congress telling a story about a woman after the good pay of a man working on the levee:

Every evening she would be standing at the landing crying
Oh she would be standing at the landing crying
Why don’t that big boat hurry and bring home that man of mine

Way down the river you get to hear that big boat whistle blow
Oh, you could hear the big boat when she blow
Well when that doney got that check, I said, she couldn’t use me no more

I’m going away, I’m going to stay a great long time
I’m going, I’m going to stay a great long time
You know I ain’t coming back, honey, until you change your mind

Oh, don’t a man feel bad when the good old sun goes down
Whoo, I said when the good old sun goes down
I said he don’t have a soul, boy, his soul is in the ground

Alan Lomax recorded work songs inclufing an example of he type of music sung by levee workers. Levee Camp Holler:

Whoo, I woke up this morning and I was feeling bad
Whoa, babe, I was feeling bad
I was thinking about the good time that I once have had

Whoa Lord, boy she brought my breakfast this morning and she didn’t know my name, she didn’t know my name
She said give it to the long line skinner with the brass knob hand
She said give it to the long line skinner with the brass knob hand

Oh, boys, iIf you want to go down to Mr. Charlie and don’t get hurt,
Go down Monday morning when the boy’s at work, you’ll be alright, you’ll be alright
Mmm, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord
Boys, I got a woman up here right away looking for me
Boys, she’s looking for me, she’s looking for me
Lord, I’m going home before long, hmmm
Bye bye, bye bye baby, I’ll be home before long

Texas Alexander recorded a similiar type of work song in 1927 for Okeh records, Levee Camp Moan accompanied by Lonnie Johnson on guitar. It’s a levee camp moan set to some amazing music:

Mmmmmm
Lord, they accused me of murder, but I haven’t harmed a man
Accused me of murder, I haven’t harmed a man
They have accused me of murder, and I haven’t harmed a man

They have accused me of forgery and I can’t write my name
Lord, They have accused me of forgery and I can’t write my name

Went all around that whole corral
I couldn’t find a mule with his shoulder well
I couldn’t find a mule with his shoulder well

Worked all morn and I worked all day
I couldn’t find a mule with his shoulder well

Mmmmmm, mmmmmm mmmmmm
Lord, that morning bell
Lord, she went up the country, yeah, but she’s on my mind
Well she went up the country, but she’s on my mind

If she don’t come on the big boat, she better not last
If she don’t come on the big boat, bog boat, she better not last
Lord, If she don’t come on the Big Boat, I mean she better not last

Leadbelly also examined the abuse of levee camp mules in his 1935 Library of Congress Recording, I am All Out and Down about life on the levee camp and a woman wanting a man's pay:

Honey, I'm all out and down
Honey, I'm broke baby, and I ain't got a dime
Every good man gets in hard luck some time
Don't it baby, don't it baby, don't it baby, don't it baby

Ah the mules and the horses taking corn and hay
The women in the levee, shouting 'cause it's morn' pay day
Sweet day, sweet day, sweet day

Honey, I’m a long ways from you
Honey, I'm going to tell my woman like the Dago told the Jew
You don't want me, honey I don't want you
Tell me baby, tell me baby, tell me baby, tell me baby

Well the sun is going down and the mules is getting hungry and the men are getting hungry too
And just thinking about it’s close to payday
And the man had a brown skin woman
And he he wished pay day would move off a little further
So he wouldn't give his baby nothing til payday comes
She was shouting because she knows it’s morn pf payday
And here’s what the woman said:

Ah the mules and the horses taking for the corn and hay
The women in the levee, shouting 'cause it's morn pay day
Crying Day, crying day, sweet day, sweet day, sweet day, sweet day, oh day

Honey, what you want me to do?
Honey, I'm going to tell my woman like the Dago told the Jew
You don't want me, honey I don't want you
Tell me baby, tell me baby, tell me baby, oh baby, oh baby

The brownskin woman keeps you worried all the time
Brownskin woman makes a good-eyed man go blind
Won’t you baby, won’t you baby, won’t you baby, won’t you baby, won’t you baby?

Honey, I’m a long ways from home
Honey, I’m the poor boy a long way from home
Can't get nobody one the ?
Can I baby, can I baby, can I baby, can I baby?

Honey, I’m all out and down
Honey, a yellow woman makes a preacher lay his bible down
A jet black woman makes a jackrabbit hug a hound
Won’t you baby, won’t you baby? Ah baby, ah baby

Don’t it baby, don’t it baby, don’t it baby, don’t it baby

Well, do you hear me blow my horn?
Honey, keep it in the market gunning side by side
Can’t get to ? nothing will let you ride
Won’t it baby, won’t it baby, won’t it baby, won’t it baby?

Honey, I’m bound to sing this song, honey

Ma Rainey saw the levee camps as something keeping a man and a woman apart. She recorded Levee Camp Moan in 1925:

My man has left and he’s gone away
Back to the levee where he used to stay
I kiss and hug him and his kiss is good
I feel so lonesome and awful blue
That’s the reason you hear me moan the levee camp moan, I can’t help myself

Each night and moment I yearn for romance
Back to the levee where my man be
That’s the reason I moan the levee camp moan

I’ve been to ? I’ve been to Houston
It’s all because I love him baby
That’s the reason you hear me moan the levee camp moan

Mmmmm, mmmmm,
It’s all because of...
That’s the reason you hear me moan the levee camp moan

In 1941, Washboard Sam sang about a more modern levee camp with most of the same problems. Levee Camp Blues:

Says I worked in a levee camp just about a month ago
Says I worked in a levee camp just about a month ago
Says I wind so many wagons, it made my poor hands sore

We slept just like dogs, eat beans both night and day
We slept just like dogs, eat beans both night and day
But I never did know just when we were due our pay

They had two shifts on day and the same two shifts at night
They had two shifts on day and the same two shifts at night
But if a man winds wagons, he can't treat his baby right

Yeah boy, wind it now, wind it

Electric lights going out, telephone is bogging down
Electric lights going out, telephone is bogging down
I'm going to keep on winding because I'm the best old winder in town

Songs:

Levee Camp Man - Gene Campbell
Levee Blues - Lucille Bogan
Levee Camp Blues - Son House
Levee Camp Holler
Levee Camp Moan - Texas Alexander
I'm All Out and Down - Lead Belly
Levee Camp Moan - Ma Rainey
Levee Camp Blues - Washboard Sam

Show 50 - Beating Blues

mrugel@purplebeech.com — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 02:53:00 +0000

Songs about abusing women are pretty common and there is another huge set of songs about murdering women. They do illustrate how attitudes toward violence against women have changed and how prevalent this problem was. One of the great Robert Johnson songs, Me and the Devil Blues,
includes lyric about beating:

Early this morning, when you knocked upon my door
Early this morning, ooh, when you knocked upon my door
And I said, "Hello, Satan, I believe it's time to go"

Me and the devil, was walking side by side
Me and the devil, ooh, was walking side by side
And I'm going to beat my woman, until I get satisfied

She say you don't see why, that you will dog me around
Now, babe, you know you ain't doing me right, don't you
She say you don't see why, ooh, that you will dog me around
It must be that old evil spirit, so deep down in the ground

You may bury my body, down by the highway side
(Baby, I don't care where you bury my body when I'm dead and gone)
You may bury my body, ooh, down by the highway side
So my old evil spirit, can catch a Greyhound bus and ride

Robert Johnson associates himself with the devil, calling himself evil and talking about the bad things a man does in life including beating his woman. Roosevelt Sykes Single Tree Blues, recorded in 1929, is not so metaphorical. It’s about how a man deals with a woman that’s not treating him right. A singletree is a wood bar that’s a part of a plow.

Hit my woman with a singletree
Hit my woman with a singletree
You might've heard her hollering “daddy don't you murder me”

Going to shoot you mama, going to cut you too
Going to shoot you mama, I’m going to cut you too
Lord on account of the old way you do

Been sick and down babe, I'm getting up again
Been sick and down mama, I'm getting up again
Mmm but I'm bl...

Going away mama, coming here no more
Going away baby, coming here no more
You know you shout at me, you’ve thrown my trunk outdoors

She's a good old girl, but she do mess around
She's a good old girl, but she do mess around
She ain't there, she's all over town

The Memphis Jug Band recorded a similar song with first couple verses alone the same lines, I Whipped My Woman With a Single Tree:

I said my woman had a falling out
People in the town want to know what it was all about
Same thing, same thing
Now don’t you hear me talking to you, talking about the same old thing

Yes, I whipped my woman with a singletree
You oughta heard her hollering don't you murder me
What about? Same thing, same thing
Now don’t you hear me talking to you, talking about the same old thing

Yes, I went to the Gypsies to get my fortune told
The Gypsies told me something I didn't want no one to know
What about? Same thing, same thing
Now don’t you hear me talking to you, talking about the same old thing

Yes, I went to my back door and that ??? was locked
I went to that front door you know the ??? was locked
What was it doing? Same thing
Now don’t you hear me talking to you talking about the same old thing

Now don't you wish your easy roller was little and cute like mine
Every time she walks she leaves a lot behind
Oh same thing, same thing
Now don’t you hear me talking to you talking about the same old thing

Sonny Boy Williamson recorded another example of a song about beating a woman that a man feels is out of line. You Give an Account:

I'm going to tell you something baby you can't do
You better take it kind of easy, I've got my eyes on you
You got to give an account of just what you do

If you got a good woman and she won't treat you right
You feed her three times a day and whip her a little at night
You got to give an account of just what you do

Now Mr. depot agent, don't you make me cry
Did my baby stop here, did she keep on by?
You got to give an account of just what you do

Now I want all you people to gather around
My baby done left me, treat me like a hound
You got to give an account of just what you do

I told her I'd buy her a Chevrolet say but she wanted a V‑Eight Ford
She say she wanted something would beat us a hole in the road
She got to give an account of just what she’ll do

Now I waved my hands, she wouldn't pay me no mind
Way out on my door she made a loving sign
But she got to give an account of just what she’ll do

In one of his few pre-war recordings, 1941’s Little Boy Blue, Robert Lockwood jr. sang about whipping and stabbing a woman:

Little boy blue, please come blow your horn
Little boy blue, please come blow your horn
My baby she gone and left me, she left me all alone

Now the sheep is in the meadow and the cows is in the corn
I've got a girl in Chicago she loves to hear me blow my lonesome horn
Little boy blue, please come blow your horn
My baby she gone and left me, she left me all alone

I'm going to take my whip and whip her, I'm going to whip her down to the ground
I'm going to take my dirk and stab her then I'm you know I'm going to turn it round and round
Little boy blue, please come blow your horn
My baby she gone and left me, she left me all alone

I have rambled and I've rambled until I broke my poor self down
I believe to my soul that the little girl is out of town
Little boy blue, please come blow your horn
My baby she gone and left me, she left me all alone

There’s often at least some female perspective to provide counterpoints in the blues, and Jewell Nelson provided one in 1928, Beating Me Blues:

I wish someone could tell me where that man of mine that has been mistreating me all the time
My daddy’s beating me almost every day
I’m getting sick and tired of the way my daddy’s killing me

He used to be sweet, everybody know
But here on lately, he beats me everywhere we go
He’s just killing me, yes just killing me
I’m getting sick and tired of the way my daddy’s treating me

I went on the mountaintop, he found me there
I believe he’ll find me anywhere
He’s just killing, yes, just killing me
I’m getting sick and tired of the way my daddy’s killing me

I’m going to find the policeman
Tell him how my daddy is beating me
You know he’s killing me, just killing me
I’m getting sick and tired of the way my daddy’s beating me

Clara Herring also recorded a song about receiving beatings in 1928, Beating Blues:

Woke up this morning, my eyes were dark as night
I woke up this morning, my eyes were dark as night
And you know about that, my man ain’t acting right

He beats me in the morning and before the break of day
Beats me in the morning and before the break of day
Then I’m getting tired of being treated this way

Now the way he beats me, there must not be no laws
The way he beats me, there must not be no laws
And I know about that, some other girl is in my ...

Someday sweet papa, someone’s going to take your place
Someday sweet papa, someone’s going to take your place
But you took off(?) and left with that in your place(?)

You don’t want me papa, I’ll pack my things and go
You don’t want me papa, I’ll pack my things and go
But remember daddy, you got to reap just what you sow

So what should we think about men like Robert Johnson, Sonny Boy Williamson, Robert Lockwood, men whose music I admire tremendously, singing about whipping, stabbing, and beating women? Well, it’s always a mistake to assume that these songs are autobiographical. But they do reflect the culture that these men were a part of and that they helped create. Their casual mentions of beatings should be recognized. Though the violence can certainly be seen as yet another consequence of the oppression of the black male in a Jim Crow world, it can never be excused and shouldn’t be ignored.

Songs:
Me and the Devil Blues - Robert Johnson
Single Tree Blues - Roosevelt Sykes
I Whipped My Woman with a Single Tree - Memphis Jug Band
You Give an Account - Sonny Boy Williamson
Little Boy Blue - Robert Lockwood, jr.
Beating Me Blues - Jewell Nelson
Beating Blues - Clara Herring

Show 49 - Sick With the Blues

mrugel@purplebeech.com — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 00:56:00 +0000

Perhaps the most poetic song ever written about being sick is St. Louis Jimmy Oden’s 1941 classic Goin’ Down Slow:

I have had my fun if I don't get well no more
I have had my fun if I don't get well no more
My health is failing me and I'm going down slow

Please write my mother, tell her the shape I'm in
Please write my mother, tell her the shape I'm in
Tell her to pray for me, forgive me for all my sins

Tell her don't send no doctor, doctor can't do no good
Tell her don't send no doctor, doctor can't do no good
It's all my fault, didn't do the things I should

On the next train south, look for my clothes home
On the next train south, look for my clothes home
If you don't see my body, all you can do is moan

Mother please don't worry, this is all in my prayer
Mother please don't worry, this is all in my prayer
Just say your son is gone, I'm out in this world somewhere

Oden expressed the sentiment that a doctor couldn’t help. Bukka White did the same thing when he was calling for his lover to help with the High Fever Blues:

I'm taken down with the fever and it won't let me sleep
I'm taken down with the fever and it won't let me sleep
It was about three o'clock before he could let me be

I wish somebody would come and drive my fever away
I wish somebody come and drive my fever away
This fever I'm having sure is in my way

The fever I'm having sure is hard on a man
The fever I'm having sure is hard on a man
They don't allow my lover come and shake my hand

I wonder what’s the matter with the fever, sure is hard on a man
I want to know what’s the matter, how come it’s hard on a man
Doctor said it ain’t the fever, it’s that your lover had another man

Doctor get your fever gauge and put it under my tongue
Doctor get your fever gauge and put it under my tongue
Doctor says all you need, your lover in your arms

I want my lover come and drive my fever away
I want my lover come and drive my fever away
Doctor said she do me more good in a day than he would in all of his days

In Sick Bed Blues from 1937, Peetie Wheatstraw expressed what it’s like to have your baby suffering in bed:

When I left, my little girl was sick and in the bed
I said when I left home, my little girl was sick and in the bed
Now I know she wished that I was there, well now to hold her aching head

She's on her sickbed suffering with aches and pains
She's on her sickbed suffering with aches and pains
Now you know it hurts my heart well now when she calls my name

She rolls and she tumbles now from side to side
She rolls and she tumbles I said from side to side
Then again now you know all that I can do is start and hang my head and cry

Ain't it hard now when you're all alone
I said ain't it hard when you're all alone
I never did mind though, well now when all you’ve got is gone

The future gospel great Thomas Dorsey recorded a couple of variations on a song featuring a duet between a doctor and a patient. One featured Big Bill Broonzy and was released under the name Georgia Tom and Jane Lucas. Terrible Operation Blues:

Alright nurse, bring in the next patient

Get up on this table, pull off that gown
Raise up that right leg, let that left one down
Pull off them stockings, that silk underwear
The doctor's got to cut you, mama, don't know where

You got two or three tumors, shaped like a cube
Two or three leaks in your inner tube
Bring on that ether, bring on that gas
The doctor's got to cut you, mama, yes, yes, yes
The doctor knows to fix it, the doctor knows just what to do

Oh doctor, can I have a just a little water?
Shh, be quiet now, be quiet
Oh doctor, I'm so sick!
That’s alright, the doctor ain't gonna hurt you
Can I have a little water?
After a while
Oh, what you gonna do with that long knife?
Oh, don’t worry about that, that's just the doctor's tool
Oh doctor, what you gonna do with that saw?
Oh, we just take off legs with that, be quiet now
Ooooo

Now see, there you are, the doctor's through!
Oh doctor, what did you take out of me?
Alright, I’ll tell you now

Four monkey wrenches, and a two-horse shed
Pair of old britches and a bale of hay
Your ribs were kinda loose, they moved about
if I hadn't sewed you up, everything woulda fell out
I put in new tubes, tightened the exhaust
I went into your hood and cleaned your spark plugs off
Your body's kinda weak, now don't be hard
From now on be careful with them connection rods
Alright, doctor!
The doctor knows to fix it, the doctor knows just what to do

Oh gee, doctor, but I feel fine
Oh... that’s fine
Hey doctor, I feel like I wanna do a little messaround
That so? Go ahead
Ooooh, say doctor that’s good
Now, that's the way patients do that come to this hospital

Now your body's kinda weak, don't be hard
Go kinda easy with them connection rods
Alright, doctor!
The doctor knows to fix it, the doctor knows just what to do

The other was Operation Blues with Frakie Jaxon doing his female impersonation:

Is Doctor Eazit in?
I’m right in, what’s your trouble?
Oh Doctor I think I’ve got appendicitis
What side?
I need operating right there

I can see right now, you’ve got to take off all of your clothes
Do what? Now doctor, don’t get fresh, I’m a married woman
I can see right now madam, you’ve got to take off all of your clothes
Oh, I understand that, I can see you know what I need
Yes, better than anyone knows
Oh, doctor

Oh doctor, doctor I can’t undress before you
Alright now, don’t be bashful, don’t be bashful, I’m a doctor
I know, but doctor oh doctor, I cant ‘u’nress before you

But you do a lot of funny things, honey
When?
Before the doctor sees
Oh doc, you don’t mean to tell me that
Quiet

I know but look, what’s that you got there doctor? What’s that you got holding in your hand?
Don’t you worry about that, now don’t you worry I’m, the doctor
Yeah, but a woman knows doctor
Please tell me, what’s all of that you’ve got holding in your hand
That’s nothing but my tools honey, can’t you understand?
Oh, I understand now

Now be real quiet madam, lay flat on your back
This way doc? This way?
No, just kinda raise that left leg a little
Oh, now, I can do that
Now be real quiet madam, lay flat on your back
How am I doing now?
Fine

But if you hurt me doctor, I swear I ain’t never coming back
I won’t hurt you
Oh, doctor you’re hurting me...
Oh... oooo.. yes, that is nice, you’re doing so much good
O doctor, kiss me, kiss me
Be quiet

Now how do you feel sweet lady?
Is there anymore that the doctor can do?
Now how do you feel sweet lady?
Is there anymore that the doctor can do?
Put your clothes on now

Oh, I could stay right here forever
and take off a reason from you
Kiss me again doc....

In 1924, Clara Smith sang about needing a doctor to cure her blues in Prescription for the Blues:

All day long I'm worried, all night long I'm blue
I'm so awfully lonesome, I don't know what to do
So I ask you doctor, see if you can find
Something in your practice to pacify my mind
Doctor, doctor write me a prescription for the blues, the weary blues

Let me tell you doctor why I'm in misery
Once I had a love, he went away from me
Been to see the Gypsy, hoodoo doctors too
Shook their heads and told me, nothing they could do
Doctor, doctor write me a prescription for the blues, the mean old blues

Like a little baby, all day long I cry
And if you can't cure me, I'm just as sure to die
Give me something poison, doctor won't you please
Then I'll sign a paper, died with the heart disease
Doctor, doctor write me a prescription for the blues, the plain old blues

Memphis Minnie sang about how tough it is when the doctor tells you not to drink anymore in Doctor, Doctor Blues:

Doctor stopped me from drinking, boys, I can't smoke no more
Doctor stopped me from drinking, boys, I can't smoke no more
And I can't see no peace, seems like nowhere I go

Oh, doctor, doctor, you know I got a lot of faith in you
I'd trust you everywhere
Oh, doctor, doctor, you know I got a lot of faith in you
But it hurt me so bad, when you say if I took another drink, nothing you could do

Oh, doctor, doctor, I ain't drinked in a great long time
Oh, doctor, doctor, I ain't drinked in a great long time
Bring us half a pint
I'm gonna take a drink of this, if the good Lord don't change my mind

Now, look here, doctor, don't you know my mama's done gone blind?
Now, look here, doctor, don't you know my mama's done gone blind?
I know her trouble
I was doing the best I could, but she wouldn't pay the doctor no mind

Oh, doctor, doctor, tell me what's my trouble now
Oh, doctor, doctor, tell me what's my trouble now
If you take another drink, I bet they put you in the ground
Doctor, you all right with me anyhow

Songs:
Going Down Slow - St. Louis Jimmy Oden
High Fever Blues - Bukka White
Sick Bed Blues - Peetie Wheatstraw
Terrible Operation Blues - Georgia Tom and Jane Lucas
Operation Blues - Frankie "Half-Pint" Jaxon
Prescription for the Blues - Clara Smith
Doctor, Doctor Blues - Memphis Minnie

Show 48 - Disease Blues

mrugel@purplebeech.com — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 02:25:00 +0000

Pneumonia -- it’s a disease of the lungs. Even by the first part of the twentieth century, medical developments had improved the prognosis for people with pneumonia, but it was still dangerous in the 1920s (as it is today). In 1929, Blind Lemon Jefferson sang about the aches and pains after catching pneumonia while running down alleys in a cold rain trying to catch his woman cheating. Pneumonia Blues:

I'm aching all over, believe I got the pneumonia this time
I'm aching all over, believe I got the pneumonia this time
And it's all on account of that lowdown gal of mine

Slinking around the corner, running up alleys too
I said slinking around corners, running up alleys too
Watching my woman trying to see what she going to do

Stood out in the street one cold dark stormy night
I stood out in the street one cold dark stormy night
Trying to see if my good gal going to make it home alright

I believe she's found something that probably made her fall
She must have found something that made her fall
I stood out in the cold all night and she didn't come home at all

Wear BVDs in the winter, traveling around in the rain
Wear BVDs in the winter, traveling around in the rain
Last time my baby give me this pneumonia pain

Now when I die, bury me in a Stetson hat
I said when I die, bury me in a Stetson hat
Tell my good gal I'm going but I'm still standing pat

Big Bill Broonzy talked about aches from pneumonia in Pneumonia Blues (I Keep on Aching) in 1936:

I’m feeling sick and bad, my head is hurting too
Go get the doctor so he can tell me just what to do
Because I keep on aching, yes I ache both night and day
Yes, doctor, doctor please drive this old pneumonia away

I have got the pneumonia, I’ve got it in both my sides
My friends treat me so bad, til I just cant keep from crying for me
I keep aching, yes I ache both night and day
Yes, doctor, doctor please drive this old pneumonia away

I have used big fan(?), I used everything my friends say
Now I believe I’ll drink a hot toddy and go to bed
Because I keep aching, yes I ache both night and day
Yes, doctor, doctor please drive this old pneumonia away

My friends told my wife they had did all they could
They said put him in the hospital before he ruins the neighborhood
I keep aching, yes I ache both night and day
Yes, doctor, doctor please drive this old pneumonia away

The doctor said my fever was 103
The nurse said put him in crowded room, that’s where he ought to be
Because he keeps aching, yes I ache both night and day
Yes, doctor, doctor please drive this old pneumonia away

Influenza or the flu killed countless millions around the world in the twentieth century. One of the pandemics broke out in 1918. This was a few years before blues music was being recorded, but given the incredible virulence of what they called Spanish Flu, it’s surprising there aren’t more blues records about it. At east a couple recording artists did mention the flu including gospel great Blind Willie Johnson when he recorded Jesus is Coming Soon:

Well, we done told you, our God's done warned you, Jesus coming soon
We done told you, our God's done warned you, Jesus coming soon

In the year of 19 and 18, God sent a mighty disease
It killed many a-thousand, on land and on the seas
We done told you, God's done warned you, Jesus coming soon
We done told you, God's done warned you, Jesus coming soon.

Great disease was mighty and the people were sick everywhere
It was an epidemic, it floated through the air
We done told you, God's done warned you, Jesus coming soon
We done told you, God's done warned you, Jesus coming soon

The doctors they got troubled and they didn't know what to do
They gathered themselves together, they called it the Spanish influ
We done told you, God's done warned you, Jesus coming soon
We done told you, God's done warned you, Jesus coming soon

Soldiers died on the battlefield, died in the count too
Well the Captain said to the lieutenant, "I don't know what to do"
We done told you, God's done warned you, Jesus coming soon
We done told you, God's done warned you, Jesus coming soon

Well, God is warning the nation, He's a-warning them every way
To turn away from evil and seek the Lord and pray
We done told you, God's done warned you, Jesus coming soon.
We done told you, God's done warned you, Jesus coming soon.

Well, the nobles said to the people, "You better close your public schools"
"Until the events of death has ending, you better close your churches too"
We done told you, God's done warned you, Jesus coming soon
We done told God's done warned you, Jesus coming soon

Read the book of Zacharias, bible plainly says
Said the people in the cities dying, account of they're wicked ways

Ace Johnson was recorded for the Library of Congress by John Lomax at Clemens State Farm, Brazoria, Brazoria County, Texas. Influenza:

In nineteen hundred and twenty-nine, men and women sure was dying
From the disease, what the doctors called the flu
People was dying everywhere, death went creeping through the air
For the groans of the sick sure was sad

It was God's almighty hand, he was judging this old land
North and South, East and West can be seen
Yes, he killed the rich and poor, and he's going to kill more
If you don't turn away from your sins

It was Memphis, Tennessee, doctors said it soon would be
In a few days, influenza we’ll control
But God showed that He was head, and He put the doctor to bed
And the nurse they broke down with the same

It was God's almighty hand, he was judging this old land
North and South, East and West can be seen
Yes, he killed the rich and poor, and he's going to kill more
If you don't turn away from your sins

Influenza is a disease, that makes you weak all in your knees
Tis a fever everybody sure does dread
Puts a pain in every bone, a few days and you are gone
To a place in the ground called the grave

It was God's almighty hand, he was judging this old land
North and South, East and West can be seen
Yes, he killed the rich and poor, and he's going to kill more
If you don't turn away from your sins

Silicosis, is a lung disease caused by inhalation of crystalline silica dust. It’s common to tunnel diggers and mine workers. Josh White sang something of a labor protest song called Silicosis is Killing Me:

I said silicosis, you made a mighty bad break of me
Awww, silicosis made a mighty bad break of me
You robbed me of my youth and health
All you brought poor me was mis..

Now silicosis, you're a dirty robber and a thief
Awww silicosis, dirty robber and a thief
Robbed me of my right to live and all you brought poor me was grief

I was there digging that tunnel for six bits a day
I was there digging that tunnel for six bits a day
Didn't know I was digging my own grave, silicosis eating my lungs away

I says mama, mama, mama, cool my fevered head
I says mama, mama, come and cool my fevered head
I’m going to meet my Jesus, God knows I'll soon be dead

Six bits I got for digging, digging that tunnel hole
Six bits I got for digging, digging that tunnel hole
Takes me away from my baby, it sure done wrecked my soul

Now tell all my buddies, tell all my friends you see
Now tell all my buddies, tell all my friends you see
I'm going way up yonder, please don't grieve for me

Blind Blake used the parasitic hookworm as a metaphor for that man you don’t want hanging around:

Hookworm in your body and your food don't do you no good
Hookworm in your body, your food don't do you no good
Same way with a rounder come in a nice neighborhood

Dirty old hookworm got into my room, causes me to walk, groan and moan
Man like a hookworm got a hold to my baby
He got to point it fast people and I don't mean maybe

Never can tell what a hookworm man will do
You never can tell what a hookworm man will do
Take your baby and make her stop loving you

I'm going to leave my baby and let her have her way
I'm going to leave my baby and let her have her way
She’ll want me back some day when he throws her down

Mmmmm, mmmm, mmmm, mmmm
Her man like a hookworm taking a hold to my babe

Bumble Bee Slim used or a cold or tonsilitis to address a fear of pain and death in I Done Caught My Death of Cold:

Doctor, please give me something just to ease these awful pains
Doctor, please give me something just to ease these awful pains
I done caught my death of cold and it’s settling on my brain

I can’t hardly breathe, I got a wheezing in my chest
I can’t hardly breathe, I got a wheezing in my chest
Well, I’m having tonsilitis, doctor you should know the rest

Give me Oil of ninety-nine, three-sixty , anything
I done caught my death of cold
Lord have mercy

Ay doctor, is there any cure for me?
Ay doctor, is there any cure for me?
Well I’m in so much misery, I’m in so much misery

I done caught my death of cold, now my friends cannot be found
I done caught my death of cold, well my friends cannot be found
Well I been wading deep water and I been sleeping on the ground

It’s great to see how these different musicians use diseases. Blind Lemon Jefferson sees the aches and pains of pneumonia as yest another consequence of being with a no-good woman. Big Bill sees the aches and pains as a blues situation themselves and Bumble Bee Slim does something similar singing about his tonsilitis. Blind Blake uses the hookworm as a metaphor for a man showing up where’s he’s not wanted. The common thread is the abandonment of friends, family, or lovers with the disease. The fear of sickness and death was all to real, but the fear of the blues that comes from being truly alone never leaves.

Songs:
Pneumonia Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson
Pneumonia Blues (I Keep on Achin') - Big Bill
Jesus is Coming - Blind Willie Johnson
Influenza - Ace Johnson
Silicosis is Killing Me - Josh White
Hookworm Blues - Blind Blake
I Done Caught My Death of Cold - Bumble Bee Slim

Show 47 - T.B. is Killing Me

mrugel@purplebeech.com — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 03:27:00 +0000

Tuberculosis is a deadly disease that attacks the lungs. It's been around since ancient times and there's something about it that compels stories about the suffering it cause. This includes a lot of blues songs. Georgia bluesman Buddy Moss who recorded T.B. is Killing Me in 1933. He sings that he's headed to the graveyard with T.B.

I went to the doctor of the sea
I sat right down and he looked at me
He said Y hate to tell you but you got disease
You ain't got nothing but them old T.B.s

Oh T.B. is killing me
I used to have friends, but none of them that I can see
mmmm, T.B. is killing me
And it won't be long before some lonely graveyard I'll be

I had a good girl and a happy home
But the T.B. got me, she left me all alone
said now, mmmm, T.B. is killing me
And it won't be long before some lonely graveyard I'll be

Now boys, these days I'm just hanging on
And it wont be long before I'll be gone
Said now, mmmm, T.B. is killing me
And it won't be long before some graveyard I will be

The disease often was a death sentence when that song was recorded. That was due to mostly to the inadequate care available, particularly to poor black men and women. Victoria Spivey who recorded the first of the string of T.B. song when she made the often covered T.B. Blues in 1927. She continued exploring the idea in 1929 with Dirty T.B Blues:

Here I lay a crying
Something is on my mind
It's midnight, I wonder where the nurse can be

I feel down, not a friend in this town
I'm blue and all alone
Sisters are gone, brothers are too
Nowhere to call my own

I can't keep from crying
Left alone while I am dying
Yes, it may look crazy, for me to beat on my knee
But if the Lord 's forgiven between the breaks(?) and T.B

Oh Lord, yes he railroaded me to the sanitarium
Its too late, too late mother, I've finished my run
This is the way all good women are done
When they got the dirty T.B.

Yes I run around for months and months
From gin mill to gin mill to honky tonks
Now its too late, yes look what I gone done
I got the dirty T.B, oh Lord, mmmm

Harmonica legend Sonny Boy Williamson recorded T.B. Blues in 1939:

Now but oh, T.B. is killing me
Now I want my body buried way down in Jackson, Tennessee

Now when I was up on my feet now I couldn't even walk down the street
For the women looking at me from my head to my feet
But oh, T.B. is killing me
Now I want my body buried way down in Jackson, Tennessee

I ain't going to buy you no more pretty dresses, I ain't going to even buy you no diamond rings
And I'm going to sell my V‑8 Ford because I don't want a doggone thing
Because oh, the T.B. is killing me
Now I want my body buried way down in Jackson, Tennessee

Well now my mother she said one thing, you know my father said the same
You keep on fooling around, Sonny Boy, they going to change your name
But I told them Oh, mama T.B. is killing me
Now I want my body buried way down in Jackson Tennessee

Well now here I am here sick baby, you know and I'm laying here in my bed
And now even won't none of my friends come and even rub my aching head
Because oh, T.B. is killing me
Now I want my body buried way down in Jackson Tennessee

In 1028, New Orleans Willie Jackson recorded his version of Victoria Spivey's T.B. Blues:

Too late, too late, too late, too late, too late
too late, too late, too late, too late, too late
I'm on my way to Denver and papa mustn't hesitate

TB is alright to have if your friends don't treat you so lowdown
TB is alright to have if your friends dont treat you so lowdown
Don't you ask 'em for no favors, they'll even stop hanging around

Oh T.B. is killing me, Oh T.B. is killing me
I am like a prisoner always wishing I was free

When I was up on my feet I couldn't walk down the street
For you women looking at me from my head to my feet
But oh now T.B. is killing me

I want my body buried in the deep blue sea
Oh oh, I got tuberculosis, consumption's killing me

In 1936, Victoria Spivey herself returned to the T.B. theme with T.B.'s Got Me

Here I lay a crying Something is on my mind It's midnight, I wonder where the nurse can be

T.B.'s got me, all my friends done throwed me down
T.B.'s got me, and all my friends done throwed me down
But they treated me so nice when I was up able to run around

Ooaah my poor lungs are hurting me so
Mmmm my poor lungs are hurting me so
I don't get no peace or comfort no matter where I go

Lord, my good man don't want me no more
MMMM my good man don't want me no more
Well I wished I was dead and in the land I'm doomed to go

Sleepy John Estes talked about consumption in Milk Cow Blues:

Now ask sweet mama let me be her kid
She says, "I might get boogied Like to keep it hid"
Well, she looked at me, she begin to smile
Says, "I thought I would use you for my man a while"
That you just don't let my husband catch you there
Now, just don't let my husband catch you there"

Now, went upstairs to pack my leaving trunk
I never saw no whiskey, the blues done made me sloppy drunk
Say, I never saw no whiskey, blues done made me sloppy drunk
Now, I never saw no whiskey but the blues done made me sloppy drunk

Now some said disease some said it was dream
But it's the slow consumption killing you by degrees
Lord, it's the slow consumption killing you by degrees
Now, it's the slow consumption and it's killing you by degrees

The songs share a lot of verses and musical ideas, but even when the lyrics are totally different they all dress abandonment by friends, family, and lovers when suffering from a disease that's going to send you to the grave. That kind of abandonment is really the classic blues situation.

T.B. is Killing Me - Buddy Moss
Dirty T.B. Blues - Victoria Spivey
T.B. Blues - Sonny Boy Williamson
T.B. Blues - Willie Jackson
T.B.'s Got Me - Victoria Spivey
Milk Cow Blues - Sleepy John Estes

New feed for podcast

mrugel@purplebeech.com — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 14:10:00 +0000

The old host for the podcast is dead. So I just set it up with a new feed (http://feeds.feedburner.com/UncensoredHistoryOfTheBlues). Everything should be available again. ~~Still working on getting it fixed in itunes.~~

Subscribe in a reader

Show 46 - Sales Tax Blues

mrugel@purplebeech.com — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 00:32:00 +0000

Most American (and people around the world) are used to paying sales tax when they make a purchase. In the U.S., most of these taxes were enacted in the 1930s, so it's not surprising that blues songs were written when the taxes were new. the first sales tax was in West Virginia in 1921. The sales tax became law in Georgia in 1929, eleven other states enacted sales taxes by 1933 including Mississippi in 1932. The Mississippi Sheiks and Bo Carter recorded this song about the subject with a little introductory skit in 1934:

Say Walter, we need some cigarettes. Let's go in here and get a pack.
Ok
Hello boys, what can I do for you?
I'll have a pack of cigarettes
Alright. Here you are. Be three cents more though
What's that for?
Sales tax. Haven't you ever heard of sales tax?
Sure haven't
What's gonna happen next, man? You know they got a law here they call the sales tax
Sales tax? What is that for?
That's three cents tax on everything that's sold. They say that's the government's rule.
The government's rule? Well there's a lot of things sold that the government knows anything about them
Well, I'll just sing you a little song about these sales tax:

These times now ain't suiting me, corn is costing a dollar and three
Oh, the sales tax is on it, oh, the sales tax is on it
Oh, the sales tax is on it, everywhere you go

Old Aunt Martha lived behind the jail
A sign on the wall saying: "Liquor for Sale"
You know, the sales tax is on it, oh, the sales tax is on it
Oh, the sales tax is on it, everywhere you go

I never seen the like since I've been born
The women got the sales tax on the stuff at home
Oh, the sales tax is on it, oh, the sales tax is on it
Oh, the sales tax is on it, everywhere you go

You know the sales tax is a pain
You used to could buy it for a dollar a round
Now sales tax is on it all over town
Oh, the sales tax is on it, oh, the sales tax is on it
Oh, the sales tax is on it, everywhere you go

I'm as lovin as a woman can be
The stuff I've got'll cost you a dollar and three
Oh, the sales tax is on it, oh, the sales tax is on it
Oh, the sales tax is on it, everywhere you go

Now, you may take me to be a fool
Everything is sold buy the government's rule
You know the sales tax is on it, oh, the sales tax is on it,
Oh, the sales tax is on it, everywhere you go

That version of the sheiks featured brothers Lonnie and Bo Chatmon (Carter) with Walter Vinson on violin. They were talking about everything now costing a dollar and three. And even the bootleggers and the prostitutes charging that extra 3 cents in sales tax for for every dollar. Two years later another great band featuring brothers explored the same theme. It's the Harlem Hamfats with Charlie and Joe McCoy singing Sales Tax on It (But It's the Same Thing).

Listen here boys, don't start no fuss
About these women, selling their stuff
Cause it's the same thing, it's the same thing
They got the sales tax on it, but it's the same thing

Some sell it high, some sell it low
It's done gone bad, and they can't sell it not more
Cause it's the same thing, it's the same thing
They got the sales tax on it, cause it's the same thing

Now I'm going up the river, to sell your sacks
It'll be here, when you get back
Cause it's the same thing, it's the same thing
They got the sales tax on it, but it's the same thing

I done been up the river, sold my sacks
I can buy, but I can't pay no tax
But it's the same thing, but it's the same thing
They got the sales tax on it, but it's the same thing

Big mama told me, little mama told me too
"Come on home, let that do"
Because it's the same thing, it's the same thing
They got the sales tax on it, cause it's the same thing

Went out last night, sure I could be fooled
Tried it once, broke my tool
Cause it's the same thing, but it's the same thing
They got the sales tax on it, but it's the same thing

Yet another brother band explored the them of sales tax on women. This time on the white country side of the fence. The Dixon Brothers of North Carolina recorded Sales Tax on the Women in 1936:

You may sales tax the flour, the lard, and the meat
Take the pennies away from me and my pals
You may sales tax everything that we have to eat
But don't put a tax upon the gals

One cent, two cents, three cents in cash
That's the way my money goes spending
But take off my hat and hit me with a bat
If you put the sales tax on the women

Now don't put the taxes on the good-looking girls
Although I know the pennies have to go
Well I wouldn't have it done for a hundred or more
The boys wouldn't stand a bit of show

One cent, two cents, three cents in cash
That's the way my money goes spending
But take off my hat and hit me with a bat
If you put the sales tax on the women

I love the little girls with their lovely little curls
If that is wrong, I hope I will repent
I would sure be sore and I couldn't love no more
If I had to pay the taxes as I went

One cent, two cents, three cents in cash
That's the way my money goes spending
But take off my hat and hit me with a bat
If you put the sales tax on the women

That's the way it goes, Uncle Sam knows
He's just torturing me and my pals
We would die with the blues without any shoes
If you put the sales tax on the gals

One cent, two cents, three cents in cash
That's the way my money goes spending
But take off my hat and hit me with a bat
If you put the sales tax on the women

Well I don't mean any harm when I step out at night
Happy times with the ladies I've spent
Sales taxes on the kisses just wouldn't be right
In my pockets I would never have a cent

One cent, two cents, three cents in cash
That's the way my money goes spending
But take off my hat and hit me with a bat
If you put the sales tax on the women

Let's get a way from the sales tax to finish up with a couple songs about different kinds of taxes. Here's a piano player who called himself Monkey Joe singing about a fishing tax in a pretty funny song called Taxes on My Pole"

I want to fish out of town, doggone my bad luck soul
I want to fish out of town, doggone my bad luck soul
If I fish out of town I've gotta pay taxes on my pole

I put good bait on my hook, then I stick my pole in the ground
I put good bait on my hook, I stick my pole in the ground
Then I lay back on the thing, just to see my carp(?) go up and down

I've got a long fishing pole, I use the best bait in town
I've got a long fishing pole, I use the best bait in town
The women run after me, just the same as I was a country clown

I've been fishing in Lake Michigan, baby I've fished in there all the time
I've been fishing in Lake Michigan, baby I've fished in there all the time
The reason I fish in Lake Michigan, I don't have to pay taxes on this pole of mine.

A few years later in 1951, folks were of course stil complaing about taxes. Ralph Willis recorded Income Tax Blues where he states his feleling about the sales tax, income tax and other taxes:

I got my income tax this morning, yes and it's gotta be paid
I got my income taxes this morning, yes and it's gotta be paid
It's a shame, it's a shame, no one taxes what my boss made

Tax on my electric, tax on my gas, I'll soon be paying tax on my yes, yes, yes
I got my income taxes this morning, yes it's gotta be paid
It's a shame, it's a shame, no one taxes what my boss made

I went to buy a pack of cigarettes, taxes up three cents
Walked out to my backyard, they put a doggone tax on my fence
I got my income taxes this morning, yes and it's gotta be paid
It's a shame, it's a shame, no one taxes what my boss made

Tax on my electric, tax on my gas, I'll soon be paying tax on my yes, yes, yes
I got my income taxes this morning, yes and it's gotta be paid
Well it hurts me yes it do, though they forget to tax my boss' made

I went to buy a cake of soap, taxes up three cents
Walked out to my backyard, they put a doggone tax on my fence
I got my income taxes this morning, yes and it's gotta be paid
It's a shame, it's a shame, though they forget to tax my boss' made

Tax on my electric, tax on my washing machine, soon be no tax left, boys, on a ten-dollar bill
I got my income taxes this morning, yes and it's gotta be paid
It's a shame, it's a shame, though they forget to tax my boss' made

Nobody likes extra cash leaving their pockets and that's why these songs pop up when new taxes are introduced. It's fascinating to see these musicians immediately consider the money that's exchanged that's beyond the vision of the government. And as always, as in ever situation in life, taxes have these men thinking about women.

Songs:
Sales Tax - Mississippi Sheiks and Bo Carter
Sales Tax on It (It's the Same Thing) - Harlem Hamfats
Sales Tax on the Women - Dixon Brothers
Taxes on My Pole - Monkey Joe
Income Tax Blues - Ralph Willis

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Show 45 - Dope Head Blues

mrugel@purplebeech.com — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 03:26:00 +0000

Drugs and music seem inextricably linked. It certainly shows up in some of the early recorded blues. The word dope came around during the 19th century opium craze. But by 1927, when Victoria Spivey recorded Dope Head Blues (with Lonnie Johnson on guitar and Porter Grainger on piano) the term could apply to all kinds of drugs. Dope Head Blues is about the difficulties of drug addiction and a drug-induced delusional fantasy about being rich, important and healthy:

Just give me one more sniff of, another sniff of that dope
Just give me one more sniff of, another sniff of that dope
I'll catch a cow like a cowboy, and throw a bull without a rope

Doggone, I've got more money than Henry Ford or John D. ever had
Doggone, got more money than Henry Ford or John D. ever had
I bit a dog last Monday and forty doggone dogs went mad

Feel like a fighting rooster, feel better than I ever felt
Feel like a fighting rooster, feel better than I ever felt
Got double pneumonia and still I think I got the best health

Say, Sam
Go get my airplane and drive it up to my door
Aw, Sam, go get my airplane and drive it to my door
I think I'll fly to London, these monkey men makes mama sore

The president sent for me, the Prince of Wales is on my trail
The president sent for me, the Prince of Wales is on my trail
They worry me so much, I'll take another sniff and put them both in jail

Willie the Weeper was already an old song when Frankie "Half-Pint" Jaxon recorded it in 1927. Jaxon's version of the song would influence Cab Calloway's hit Minnie the Moocher a few years later. Willie the Weeper goes back to the Vaudeville era and tells the story of a drug-using chimney sweep that, like the protagonist of Victoria Spivey's song, engages in fantasy when he gets high:

Have you heard the story, folks, of Willie the Weeper?
Willie's occupation was a chimney sweeper
He had a dreaming habit, he had it kind of bad,
Listen, let me tell you about the dream he had

Dreamed he bought a hound from a man that lived in Turkey
He told the gals who's dancing all to make it kind of jerky
Danced until she wore the carpets off the floor
And said, you haven't done nothing, just do it once more

At the North Pole, someone shouted "Willie!"
Turned around and saw a sight that knocked him silly
Right before him in the zero breeze
A nudie chimp(?) was dancing in his BVDs

He walked around, and his feet started freezing
Someone said, "Kid, you better listen to reason"
Says, "I want my coffee, want it good and strong
I want to have biscuits eighteen inches long"

Now tell me, what would you do
If you could have all of your dreams come true?
Why there's something tells me that you'd lock your door
Like Willie the Weeper, and cry for more

Now take my little ship, dream's about over
Called the best from up on the shore
Hump on a camel, hump on a flea
Put them two humps together, you got nothing on me

Now tell me, what would you do
If you could have all of your dreams come true
There's something tells me that you'd lock your door,
Like Willie the Weeper, and cry for -- please go away and let me sleep
Don't disturb my slumber deep
Something tells me that you'd lock your door
Like Willie the Weeper, and cry for more, more, more, more, more

Marijuana became popular as a recreational drug in the second decade of the 20th century. It was criminalized by Congress in 1937. Drugs are probably more associated with jazz than blues, and the Harlem Hamfats bridged those two musical worlds perfectly. The Hamfats were also frequent accompanists to Frankie Jaxon later in his career. Weed Smoker's Dream is another fantasy about being rich recorded in 1936.

Sitting on a million, sitting on it every day
Can’t make no money giving your stuff away
Why don’t you do now, like the millionaires do
Put your stuff on the market and make a million too

Fay's a betting woman, she bets on every hand
She’s a tricking mother for you every where she land
Why don’t you do now like the millionaires do
Put your stuff on the market and make a million too

May's a good looking frail, she lives down by the jail
On her back though she got hot stuff for sale
Why don’t you do now like the millionaires do
Put your stuff on the market and make a million too

In 1938, Jazz Gillum recorded a song complaining about his woman using too much. Reefer Head Woman:

I can't see why my baby sleeps so sound
Well, I can't see why my baby sleeps so sound
She must have smoked that reefer and it's bound to carry her down

When I left her this morning, I left her sleeping sound
When I left her this morning, I left her sleeping sound
The only way she could kiss me is to run like a full bloodhound

She said she was going to leave, going to some no good town
She said she was going to leave, going to some no good town
She was a rough-cutting woman, she didn't like to break them down

If you got a good woman, mens, please don't take her around
If you got a good woman, mens, please don't take her around
She will get full of reefers and raise sand all over this town

Reefer-Head Woman featured Big Bill Broonzy and Washboard Sam. Those guys played another drug-related song recorded for Bluebird this time under then name Wasboard Sam and His Washboard Band. The song's about giving up pimping for the better money available selling dope. Bucket's Got a Hole in It:

Oh my bucket's got a hole in it, Oh my bucket got a hole in it, Oh my bucket got a hole in it
Can't buy no beer
When you walking down Thirty-First Street, you had better look around
The vice squad is on the beat and you'll be jailhouse bound

I was standing on the corner, everything was going slow
Can't make no money, tricks ain't walking no more

Going to start a little racket, going to start it out right
Going to sell moonshine in the day and sell the dope at night
Then if I can't make no money, going to catch the Santa Fe
Going to drink good liquor and let all women be

Piano player Curtis Jones was a prolific recording artist in both the pre-war period and later. In 1938 he recorded Reefer Hound Blues:

I'm high up on my reefer, I'm nothing but a reefer hound
I'm high up on my reefer, I'm nothing but a reefer hound
My gage has just hit bottom(?), I believe I'll lay my body down

My whole body is king, I feel like I'm a millionaire
My whole body is king, I feel like I'm a millionaire
If I'm broke, I still got money, If I'm hungry, I don't even care

Lord, I really like my gage, that weed you call the reefer tea
I really like my gage, that weed you call the reefer tea
It's done sent my whole body and it sure feels good to me

This weed I've been smoking, it's done sent my very soul
This weed I've been smoking, it's done sent my very soul
And nobody could imagine, unless it's another cat who blows

I'm so high, I swear I'm as high as I could
I am so high, I'm as high as I can be
I'm so doggone high, the sun and sky even look low to me

In 1941, New pianist Champion Jack Dupree recorded the first version of a song that had been around New Orleans for a few years and would become something of a drug anthem and an incredibly influential song on countless New Orleans musicians. Junker Blues:

They call, they call me a junker
Cause I'm loaded all the time
I don't use no reefer, I'll be knocked out with that angel wine

Six months, Six months ain't no sentence
And one year ain't no time
They got boys in penitentiary doing from nine to ninety-nine

I was standing, I was standing on the corner
With my reefers in my hand
Upstairs the sergeant took my reefers out of my hand

My brother, my brother used a needle
and my sister sniffed cocaine
I don't use no junk, I'm the nicest boy you ever seen

My mother, my mother she told me
and my father told me too
That that junk is a bad habit, why don't you leave it too?

My sister she even told me
And my grandma told me too
That using junk partner was going to be the death of you

The 1941 storyteller is in denial while his family and the police sergeant try and get him off the junk. That's unlike some of the later versions of the song (many recorded as Junko Partner) where the drug use is openly embraced.

Whether legal or illegal, drugs were a part of the lives of blues musicians and they sang about it. Almost all of the songs recognize the difficulties of a lifestyle that includes drug use. Delusions, harm to your health, time in jail they all show up. And like most blues, it includes trouble caused by women.

Songs:
Dope Head Blues - Victoria Spivey
Willie the Weeper - Frankie "Half-Pint" Jaxon
Weed Smoker's Dream - Harlem Hamfats
Reefer Head Woman - Jazz Gillum
Bucket's Got a Hole in It - Washboard Sam and his Washboard Band
Reefer Hound Blues - Curtis Jones
Junker Blues - Champion Jack Dupree

Show 44 - Snow Blues

mrugel@purplebeech.com — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 02:58:00 +0000

Songs:
Ice and Snow Blues - Peetie Wheatstraw
Easin' Back to Tennessee - Sleepy John Estes
South Bound Backwater - Lonnie Johnson
Cold Winter Blues - Kokomo Arnold
Cold Winter Day - Blind Willie McTell
Ice and Snow Blues - Clifford Gibson