Topic: Bo Carter Lyrics

[phild121]

Who's Been Gone is a great Bo Carter tune, in his trademark Half Spanish tuning +1,  with almost a New Orleans feel to it. i believe it connects to, e.g., Charlie Patton's Elder Green Blues, etc.  The lyrics are relatively clear except for the very last line:



Baby who been here : since your daddy been gone
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

Baby who been here : since you daddy been gone
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

And the preacher's in the pulpit : jumping up and down
And the sisters back in the amen corner : their southern (? - so long - ?)
bound

It sounds to me sort of like "so long bound" - which might mean the sisters are planning on leaving, I suppose - though i have never heard that phrase - any opinions?

[banjochris]

I believe the sisters are "saloon bound" -- Bo just puts the stress on the first syllable to make it fit properly.
Chris

[Johnm]

That's great, Chris!  I've been stumped by that line in "Who's Been Here" for over forty years.  Thanks for that.
All best,
Johnm

[banjochris]

That's great, Chris!  I've been stumped by that line in "Who's Been Here" for over forty years.  Thanks for that.

Glad I could be of service!
Chris

[phild121]

Wow Chris - awesome read - seems so obvious as it fits so well in the theme of that and the preceding verse - 

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I had occasion recently to figure out "Ways Like A Crawfish" recently, a song of Bo's I had not previously heard.  He played it out of the DGDGBE tuning he so often used and the guitar part is really fine, but the lyrics make this song for me.  Bo is coming from a much tougher and more grown-up place on this one than in a lot of his double entendre titles, which start to seem like kid's stuff after a while.  This one is tough, and I really like that about it.




Now, here's one thing, baby, I really wanta state
The only difference in you and crawfish is you love money and he loves bait
REFRAIN: 'Cause your ways is like a crawfish
Baby, your ways is like a crawfish
I mean, your ways is like a crawfish, you get all you can get and doodle on back in your hole

Now, they been talkin about you all over your neighborhood
Says you's a no-good woman, don't mean no one man no good
REFRAIN: 'Cause your ways is like a crawfish
Baby, your ways is like a crawfish
I mean, your ways is like a crawfish, you get all you can get and doodle on back in your hole

Now, you'll get a man's money, tell him you gon' be in town
When he look for you, baby, you can not be found
REFRAIN: 'Cause your ways is like a crawfish
Baby, your ways is like a crawfish
I mean, your ways is like a crawfish, you get all you can get and doodle on back in your hole

SOLO

Now, you standin' 'round here, your hair all curly and rolled
You robbin' the young, you sure robbin' the old
REFRAIN: 'Cause your ways is like a crawfish
Baby, your ways is like a crawfish
I mean, your ways is like a crawfish, you get all you can get and doodle on back in your hole

Now, you rippin' and you runnin', it's all in vain
Some black-hearted man someday gon' make you change your name
REFRAIN: 'Cause your ways is like a crawfish
Aw, your ways is like a crawfish
I mean, your ways is like a crawfish, you get all you can get and doodle on back in your hole

OUTRO

All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Bo Carter accompanied himself out of Vestapol tuning for "Mean Feeling Blues".  As prolific as Bo was, he always seemed to come up with at least a couple of new licks on almost every tune, and "Mean Feeling Blues" is no exception in that regard.  Here it is:



Lord, I woke up this morning, baby, just as blue as I could be
Lord, I got up this morning, baby, just as blue as I could be
It just seems like the world, baby, Lord, honey, is turned thei' back on me

Lord, I haven't got a dollar, not a single dime
Lord, baby, not a dollar, honey, and not a single dime
It just seems like hard luck, baby's gonna just last me all the time

Says, my clothes gettin' raggedy, Lord, my shoes 'bout gone
Lord, my clothes is gettin' raggedy, and my shoes 'bout gone
Lord, I'm out in the weather, baby, Lord, honey, I surely ain't got no home

SOLO

Says, when I had plenty money, I was the popularest one in this town
Lord, I had plenty money, baby, I was the popularest one in this town
Now, I ain't got no money, Lord, my friends tryin' to throw me down

Lord, all my sweeties don't none pay me no mind
Lord, all my sweeties don't none pay me no mind
It just seems like hard luck, baby, gonna just last me all the time

CODA

Edited 11/30 to pick up correction from banjochris

All best,
Johnm

[banjochris]

John, for that last verse I'd suggest "don't none pay me no mind."
Chris

[Johnm]

Hi Chris,
I agree, "don't pay me no mind" makes much more sense and is the common usage, but both times Bo sings the line he inserts an extra syllable in between "don't" and "pay" that sure sounds like "un".  Please see if you can hear it and make any more sense of it than I did.  I think that "don't unpay  me no mind" doesn't make much sense, but it sure matches the sound of what he sang.
All best,
Johnm

[alyoung]

Try "All of my sweeties, don't none pay me no mind"

(Which, when I reread after posting, is what Chris also hears.) 

[Johnm]

Thanks for the catch, Chris, and the re-catch, Al.  I will make the change.
All best,
Johnm

[Blues Vintage]

Bo Carter - Old Devil (1938)



Go back old devil and look up on your shelf
Go back old devil and look up on your shelf
Go back old devil it ain't no joke no lie this time
Look up on your shelf and get you soap and water and bathe your dirty self

I beat my baby man with a rope and a line
I beat my baby man with a rope and a line
I beat my baby it ain't no joke no lie this time
With a rope and a line until she went stone blind

Some lowdown scoundrel been fishing all in my pond
Some lowdown scoundrel been fishing all in my pond
Some lowdown scoundrel it ain't no joke no lie this time
Been fishing in my pond catching all my game fish and grinding up their bones

What you want with a woman man and she can?t rob and steal
What you want with a woman man and she can?t rob and steal
What you want with a woman it ain't no joke no lie this time
She can?t rob and steal you don?t need no man baby don?t know in the dark when he feel

[Johnm]

Thanks for the catch, Harry.  I have made the change.
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I checked and I haven't transcribed this one yet--sheesh!  Bo played "She's Gonna Crawl Back Home To You" out of dropped-D, and it's pretty spectacular.  It's interesting that Bo was so versatile, you couldn't really call him a dropped-D specialist as you would Gabriel Brown, for instance, but when you hear Bo's pieces in dropped-D, you realize he must be acknowledged as one of the really stellar players in that tuning.  Bo's solo and outro are especially florid and flashy, here.  Bo had a pet move of taking a seventh chord voiced on the top four strings out of the C shape, 4-5-3-5 for a D7, moving the shape up three frets intact, moving the shape down one fret from there and then taking it back down two frets to where he started.  You can hear him do that several times in the course of this rendition, and he used the same move a lot in DGDGBE tuning for his IV chord.  And for whatever reason, Bo Carter's songs in dropped-D tend to have more serious lyrics and tend to be less novelty-ish than his repertoire in some of the other playing positions.



I mean, that's all right, baby, honey, now that's all right for you
I mean, that's all right, baby, honey, now that's all right for you
But the way that you treatin' your daddy, gonna crawl back home to you

Says, I take mistreatin', baby, honey, if there's all on account of you
I mean, I take mistreatin', baby, honey, if there's all on account of you
But the way that you treatin' your daddy, gonna crawl back home to you

I losed all my best friends, baby, that was all on account of you
I mean, I losed all my best friends, baby, that's all on account of you
But the way that you treatin' your daddy, gonna crawl back home to you

SOLO

I mean, I tried so hard, baby, now, just to try to get along with you
I mean, I tried so hard, baby, just to try to get along with you
But the way that you treatin' your daddy, gonna crawl back home to you

Says, I'm going tell you something, baby, Lord, it's something real good for you
Lord, I'm going tell you something, baby, Lord, it's something real good for you
If you do good deeds to Bo Carter, they will crawl back home to you

OUTRO

All best,
Johnm 

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Bo Carter played "Beans" out of C position in standard tuning, using one of the most common 16-bar ragtime progressions.  Bo plays a terrific coda on this one.  Just think--out of all of the legumes that Bo could have sung about, he chose beans.  Gosh!  I'm stuck on the last variety of beans and would appreciate some help with that.  Here is his rendition:



SOLO

I don't want no more navy beans, boys, I don't want no more
I don't want no more navy beans, they 'bout to make my stomach sore
I et 'em last night and the night before, when I got through, couldn't shut my door
I don't want no more navy beans, boys, I don't want no more

SOLO

I don't no more pinto beans, boys, I don't want no more
I don't want no more pinto beans, they 'bout to make my stomach sore
I et 'em last night and the night before, when I got through I had to scrub my floor
I don't want no more pinto beans, boys, I don't want no more

SOLO

I don't want none of them fava beans, boys, I don't want no more
I don't want none of them fava beans, they 'bout to make my stomach sore
Oh, I et 'em last night and the night before, get any luck ain't gonna eat no more
I don't want none of them fava beans, boys, I don't want no more

SOLO

I don't want none of them [?] beans, boys, I don't want no more
I don't want none of them [?] beans, they 'bout to make my stomach sore
I et 'em last night and the night before, run to the little house in the back, couldn't shut the door
I don't want none of them fava beans, boys, I don't want no more

CODA

All best,
Johnm