Topic: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics

[banjochris]

Bruce -- that's interesting -- I suspect that the Jack Daniel's thing has just made it into apocryphal Macon lore because I've read about him hauling it in several places. This version makes more sense.
 
By the time Uncle Dave was recording (after 1924) he was pretty much done with hauling, wasn't he, so maybe by then he wasn't so worried about the effect of repeal on his personal finances.

In "From Earth to Heaven" he waxes nostalgic about the days when he was first hauling and could "find whiskey, beer and wine" and the intro of "You've Been a Friend to Me" he's appalled that someone is being tried for making good whiskey, so at least in retrospect he was thinking about it more from a personal than a business angle.
Chris

[bnemerov]

right, Chris.
Uncle Dave got into show business when his freight operation went south (so to speak)
and I doubt if his "wet" views were kept hidden even while he was benefiting from Tennessee being dry.
There are still a few old-timers here who knew him and, apparently, Dave didn't have a problem speaking his mind to whomever, whenever.
I wonder what he'd make of the current political climate in the USA? What would a song be like that he might write today???

best,
bruce

[uncle bud]

Uncle Dave recorded "Railroadin' and Gamblin'" on January 26, 1938 in Charlotte, N.C. A previous recording from 1929 was unissued. He was playing energetic clawhammer banjo and singing fast enough to be near incomprehensible at times. Several trouble spots below, including the part tagged onto the chorus that I've transcribed as "take your feet out (of) the sand, stick 'em in the mud", though I could be way off on that. Other possibilities are "Stick your feet out, Sam, stick 'em in the mud". All sorts of other possible errors in here so any suggestions/corrections welcome.


Railroadin' and Gamblin' - Uncle Dave Macon


What your mammy am told you, six months ago
Keep on your coat and hat, be ready to go

Oh, railroadin' and gamblin'
Pickin' up chips for mammy
Lord, lord, lord

[Take your feet out the sand, stick 'em in the mud
Take your feet out the sand, stick 'em in the mud]

Been in the state house, been in that hall
Been in that courthouse, the worst place of all

Oh, railroadin' and gamblin'
Pickin' up chips for mammy
Lord, lord, lord

Said that preacher, "God, ain't that a sin
Johnny, get [your wood/whiskers cut, here comes the wind"][his whisky 'cause here comes the wind"]

Lord that preacher "God ain't that a sin
Johnny, get [your wood/whiskers cut, here comes the wind"][his whisky 'cause here comes the wind"]

Cars on the roadside, cars on the track
Spent all my money, no way to get back

Oh, railroadin' and gamblin'
Pickin' up chips for mammy
Lord, lord, lord

Take your feet out the sand, stick 'em in the mud
Take your feet out the sand, stick 'em in the mud

[Lyle Lofgren]

When Kirk McGee was in Minneapolis for a concert in 1965, we spent an afternoon with him, quizzing him on all sorts of subjects. One of the questions was about "Railroading and Gambling." He said that Uncle Dave sang :

Said that preacher, "God, ain't that a sin
Johnny, get your wood cut, here comes the wind."

Kirk added that he didn't approve of singing profanity, but he was willing to recite the couplet for us.

Sam didn't come along, so Bud Claeson, a fellow-member of The Brandy Snifters, backed him up on guitar. There are some photos of Kirk at http://www.lizlyle.lofgrens.org/BrnSnift/Kirk.html and http://www.lizlyle.lofgrens.org/BrnSnift/JEMainer.html .

Lyle

[Lignite]

I think you have most of the lyrics right except he's pickin' up chicken for mammy, not chips. I think it's pick your feet up Sam stick 'em in the mud.

[Lyle Lofgren]

Kirk said the puzzling line was "get your feet outa the sand and stick 'em in the mud, get your feet outa the sand." The words go by really fast -- I haven't tried listening to them with modern technology, where you can slow down the words without lowering the pitch. Kirk was quite sure of the words, though, and I trust him because he was there at the time.

Lyle

[banjochris]

I agree it's "chips for mammy" and "take your feet outta the sand and stick 'em in the mud" -- Humphrey Bate and the Possum Hunters recorded a number called Take Your Foot Out of the Mud and Put It in the Sand, so at least a similar phrase was around.

I believe the other line is "Said that preacher, golly ain't that a sin, Johnny get your whiskers cut, here comes the wind."

Also, although Uncle Dave did indeed record "Railroadin'" in 1929, it was unissued; the version we're all familiar with was recorded January 26, 1938 in Charlotte.

[Lyle Lofgren]

As to "golly" vs. "god," I could hear "golly," too, except that Kirk made such a big deal about the blasphemy of using "god" in the song. Of course, it had happened a long time ago for him, and he might have been misremembering a dispute he'd had with Uncle Dave about it -- so maybe "golly" was on the record, after all. Unfortunately, I don't have time right now to listen to it closely -- not to mention that my hearing, even with hearing aids, is atrociously bad in my old age. It makes for interesting cross-topic conversations with others, as I completely misinterpret what they've saying. But it's a definite handicap for deciphering words on old records.

Lyle

[uncle bud]

Thanks Lignite, banjochris and Lyle for all the input and insight. I will listen some more and make changes. Chris, thanks for pointing out the recording date. I had looked it up in Country Music Records 1921-42 and the small print makes me impatient.

Re. golly vs. god. I will need to listen more. But perhaps Kirk was remembering what Uncle Dave would sing in live performance, not what made it onto the record?

Any thoughts on what "Johnny get your whiskers/wood cut, here comes the wind" would mean? Was Uncle Dave just sampling too much patent medicine?

[Lyle Lofgren]

The meaning of "Johnny get your wood cut ..." is fairly straightforward, but we checked it out with Kirk, anyway. "Here comes the wind" refers to winter, and you'd better have your wood cut if you want to keep warm.

Lyle

[banjochris]

I don't hear "wood" at all in that line, unfortunately. If the wind is coming and you have a long beard, maybe you don't want it blowing in your face? Either way I'm not sure why it's a sin!

Somewhere hopefully there's another song in a book or another recording that has that verse in a context that makes some more sense.

[dj]

Here's a vote for "get your whiskers cut". 

I'd thought at first you might want to get your whiskers cut so the wind doesn't blow them in your face, but on further reflection, I think it's probably (in the fist line) a reference to Samson (and the Biblical sect of Nazarenes, who took a vow to, among other things, not cut their hair or beard, hence the "sin") and (in the second line) a joke that, if your beard was as long as that of a Nazarene, the wind would catch it and carry you off.

How's that for over-intellectualizing a simple song?