Topic: Blind Boy Fuller Lyrics

[Old Man Ned]

Hi John,

In the 3rd verse of  "Why Don't My Baby Write To Me" I'm hearing 'face' not place, as in:

"I'm gwonna get my .45 and blow her stayed face away"

Don't quite understand the phrase 'stayed face' but that's what it sounds like to me.

All the Best,
Ned

[Blues Vintage]

I think it's;   

blow her stayin' place away


2. 3 And her heart struck sorrow

I hear "sorry" instead of "sorrow" clearly. Could be Fuller's speech. Heard that line many times in the blues as "sorrow".

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Thanks for the suggestions. I'm going to stay with what I had originally, "stayed place". I've re-listened many times, and Fuller actually pronounces "place" very clearly. I understand the appeal in terms of meaning of "stayin'" as opposed to "stayed", but I hear one syllable with a hard "d" sound there. I'm going to stick with "sorrow" in the tagline of verse two. That tagline is one of Fuller's favorites and he used it in many songs. I think he does pronounce "sorrow" a bit funny, but I'm satisfied that's what he said.
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
For "My Best Gal Gonna Leave Me", recorded in New York City on February 10, 1937, Blind Boy Fuller accompanied himself out of G position in standard tuning. I'd appreciate help with the tagline to verse one. Here is "My Best Gal Gonna Leave Me":



INTRO SOLO

Yes, my best girl's goin' to leave me, and she won't be back no more
I say my best girl's going to leave me, and she won't be back no more
It weren't nothin' I was doin' to my baby, she left just drive along so

Now she's gone, she's gone, and I'll soon be gone myself
I say she's gone, she's gone, and I'll soon be gone myself
If I don't get the woman I'm lovin', Lord, I don't want no one else

I say she can't stay long, all 'f her clothes is in pawn
I say she can't stay long, all her clothes is in pawn
And I know she will be back, when her time have come

Yes, I know my baby, some day she gon' jump and shout
I says my baby, some day she gwon jump and shout
When that boat rows up, mama, and her daddy come walking out

CODA

All best,
Johnm

 

[waxwing]

Hi Johnm,

For first part of that tag line in v.1 I'm hearing "Aint' gwon' do, what I done to my baby". The second part is confusing. I think there is a chance that he meant to sing "She left, just a dry long so." meaning 'she left, that's for sure', but it came out as you have it. Maybe a BBF Mondegreen?

Wax

[Blues Vintage]

I hear;

It were nothin' that I done to my baby , she left just drive along so

Or "was" instead of "were" spoken in a weird cut-off way. "It were" vs "it was".

[Johnm]

Thanks for the suggestions, wax and Blues Vintage. After listening and listening and listening, I finally heard it:

   IT WEREN'T NOTHIN' I WAS DOIN' to my baby, she left just drive along so

I'll make the change. Incidentally, Fuller seems always to have sung the expression that is usually rendered as "dry long so" as "drive along so". He sang it the very same way on another song that I transcribed recently, though I can't remember what song it was. EDITED TO ADD: I checked and it was in "Baby, I Don't Have To Worry" that he also used "drive along so".
All best,
Johnm

[Rivers]

Can anyone shed any light on what that phrase means, and/or where it might have originated? I'm sure it's correct though.

[waxwing]

I hadn't noticed that about the previous "drive along so" lyric, Johnm. So, a Fuller Mondegreen indeed!



Riv, if you mean "dry long so" here's the three places I have posted about this:

https://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=64.msg13919#msg13919

https://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=1412.msg95148#msg95148

https://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=4700.msg35602#msg35602

(I knew a search for "dead cert" would bring it up but I didn't know there were three;)

Wax

[Rivers]

Thanks wax for the meaning. I did some digging, I see that Wikipedia and other places run the words together calling it a 'drylongso': https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drylongso

It's also listed here: https://blueslyrics.tripod.com/blueslanguage.htm#dry_long_so

[waxwing]

Those links are rather humorous. Run three English words together, "drylongso", and call it an ancient African word meaning either the general way of being for an African American, or being poor or without means. At least Gremer gets it close, citing it as "that's how it is, it. can't be changed". He goes into a digression about 'dry' being a reference to drought, which seems like filler to me (the book has a lot of filler, primarily fanciful speculation based on context alone).

My understanding is "dry long" is an intensifier in this usage, similar to saying "f*cking" before an action or object. If someone says something that you think is true, you might say, "that is so." But if you wanted to emphasize more strongly you might say, "that's f*cking so", or in the Black neighborhoods of Mississippi, Louisiana and Oakland CA, today, you might say, "That's a dry long so." Like the difference between "that's for sure," and "that's for damned sure."

This adds an emotionality to the certainty. That emotionality could be any number of feelings, anger, fear, dismay, but that comes from the context into which the speaker places the expression. Many of these other definitions cite the context as implied meaning. Gremer does this throughout his book. A pet peeve of mine is that he and many others define "doney" as a no good woman or prostitute, then cite RJ saying "she's a no good doney". A doney, from madonna, is a young girl. If she is no good, well you might say so, like RJ did, but she could just as easily be a sweet doney.

Sorry for the digression.

Wax

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Blind Boy Fuller recorded "Truckin' My Blues Away" at a session in New York City on April 29, 1936, accompanying himself out of C position in standard tuning. The song is one of the many 18-bar raggy blues he recorded that utilized the same progression and essentially the same guitar accompaniment. For his intro solo, Fuller plays a 12-bar form with a couple of raggy substitutions. I'd appreciate help with the front end of the third line of verse one. Here is "Truckin' My Blues Away":



INTRO SOLO

I got a gal here, in this town, she best-lookin' brown around
I got a gal, in this town, best-lookin' brown around
She's a strictly tailor-made, she ain't no hand-me-down, catch you trucking' with her, I'm gwonna sure shoot you down
Keep on truckin', mama, truckin' my blues away, truckin' my blues away

Keep on truckin', mama, truckin' my blues away
Keep on truckin' mama, 'til you truck my blues away
I got a gal, she's little and neat, when she start to truckin', man it's so sweet
Keep on truckin', mama, truckin' my blues away, truckin' my blues away

Keep on truckin', baby, truckin' my blues away (Spoken: Yes!)
Keep on truckin', baby, truckin' my blues away
I know a gal, she's long and tall, when she start to truckin' make a little man squall
Keep on truckin', mama, truckin' my blues away, I mean, truckin' my blues away (Spoken: Yeah!)

SOLO (Scatting on third four-bar phrase)

Keep on truckin', baby, truckin' my blues away
Keep on truckin', mama, truckin' my blues away
She does the dance you call beedle-um-bum, sure miss something if you don't truck some
Keep on truckin', mama, truckin' my blues away, truckin' my blues away

Keep on truckin', baby, truckin' my blues away
Keep on truckin', mama, truckin' my blues away (Spoken: Yes!)
You don't have to hurry, you don't have to go, wait a little while you might want to truck some more
Keep on truckin', baby, truckin' my blues away, truckin' my blues away

Keep on truckin', mama, truckin' my blues away (Spoken: Yeah!)
Keep on truckin', baby, truckin' my blues away
Make a lame man run, make a blind man see, sure gets good when she truckin' with me
Keep on truckin', baby, truckin' my blues away (guitar finishes verse)

Edited 12/21 to pick up correction from banjochris
All best,
Johnm

[banjochris]

Believe it's "strictly tailor-made" there, John –
Chris

[Johnm]

Thanks very much for the help, Chris. I've made the change, thanks!

[Blues Vintage]

Could be a typo. That's "Beedle um bum" not "needle-um-bum". Blind Willie McTell and Tampa Red had a song with this title.