Topic: Lightnin' Hopkins Lyrics

[repeater]

In The Country Blues, Sam Charters says that Tim Moore's Farm has "dozens of verses."  As far as I can tell, only a few were recorded (i.e, the ones below).  Anyone have any idea if the others were ever written down, and if so, what they are?  Thanks!

Yeah, you know it ain't but the one thing you know, this black man done was wrong
Yeah, you know it ain't but the one thing, you know, this black man done was wrong
Yes, you know I moved my wife and family down on mr. Tim Moore's farm
Yeah, you know mr. Tim Moore's a man, he don't never stand and grin
He just said, "Keep out of the graveyard, I'll save you from the pen"
You know, soon in the morning he'll give you scrambled eggs
Yes, but he's liable to call you so soon, you'll catch a mule by his hind legs
Yes, you know I got a telegram this morning, boy, it read, it say, "Your wife is dead"
I show it to mr. Moore, he said, "Go ahead, nigger you know you got to plow old Red"
That white man says, "It's been raining, yes, and I'm way behind
I may let you bury that woman one of these old dinner times"
I told him, "No, mr. Moore; somebody's got to go"
He says, "If you ain't able to plow, Sam, stay up there and grab your hoe"

[davet]

Hello All

The following is a transcription of the first verse of Shotgun Blues

Yes, I said, go bring me my shotgun
Oh, bring me back some shells
Yes, I said, go bring me my shotgun
Oh, bring me back a pocket full of shells

Yes, if I don't get some competition
You know there's gonna be trouble here

Can anyone explain what the following line means:  "Yes, if I don't get some competition You know there's gonna be trouble here".

Thanks very much

Davet

[uncle bud]

Hi davet,

Bumping this to see if there is an answer out there. I don't know that Lightnin' tune myself. Normally, I would say "competition" would refer to another man/lover, as you find in Blind Lemon's Competition Bed Blues.

Competition Bed Blues (20749-2) - Blind Lemon Jefferson

Competition worryin' me, I don't even know what competition mean.
Competition worryin' me, do you realize what competition mean?
It pops up at every man's door and it worries him in his midnight dream.

I had a lovin' brown, I didn't never mean to do her wrong.
I had a lovin' brown, I didn't never mean to do her wrong.
My partner's so full of competition, he's got my gal and gone.

I passed my partner's house, I stopped in to comb my head.
I passed my partner's house, I stopped in to comb my head.
Who should I find, but my brown makin' up my partner's bed.

Almost wrecked my mind, competition's goin' between me and my friend.
Almost wrecked my mind, competition's goin' between me and my friend.
It hurts me so, I thought we'd be pals 'til the end.

It makes a man feel bad for his partner to turn him down.
It makes a man feel bad for his partner to throw him down.
Now it's so much competition, I believe I'll leave this town.


Not sure of the meaning in Lightnin's song. If I don't find another woman I'm going to start shooting? Perhaps others will chime in.

[Gumbo]

Sounds to me like there's going to be trouble either way!

She knows he is trouble and is trying to get rid of him.
the verses are:
Yes, you know my woman tried to quit me
When I ain't done nothin' wrong
She done put me out of doors
But I even ain't got no home as it goes

Yes, you know that my momma told me
The day that I left her door
She said, y' gonna have bad luck, son
And I don't care where you go

I take it to mean that either Lightning has competition or he doesn't. He's not sure. If he has competition (if there is another man in 'his' woman's life ... ) then he can understand being kicked out. I see him planning to stake out his girlfriends house and see how things are. if there is no competition (no other man) then she just kicked him out, and i think he is having trouble getting his head around that possibility. He wants to be part of the contest (and he wants the advantage of his trusty shotgun). Either way he's going to sort things out to his satisfaction.


In the 1960 version (Bring Me My Shotgun) Lightning is threatening to kill the woman, and competition isn't mentioned.

that threat is implied in this version (1948?)

Well, I cried, Bye-bye, baby
You know you done me wrong
I'm gonna take my little shotgun now
And I'm gonna carry it back home

I said one in the morning
I'm gonna carry my shotgun home
Yes, I figure the best thing I can do
Why did I leave that woman alone?

All in all it's a pretty scary portrait of a man who prefers murder to domestic upheaval!

[unezrider]

hello friend,
i always wondered what he meant by "competition", too. never quite made sense to me. b.b. king recorded the song in the mid or late fifties, & he used the word "consideration" in it's place. that made more sense. but lightnin' is definitely saying "competition". & i know this doesn't help any, but the king version suggests he didn't like it either. or perhaps translating a slang term that was dead within a decade after lightnin's original recording?

[LB]

Sounds like the word competition means what it says. Am I missing something? I can also state from my own experiences where country artists often get words reversed around in their meaning. Especially when they twist and take ownership of another tune. Sometimes intentional, sometimes simple ignorance. I know one guy I consider very authentic that sings, "I'm tired of living a bachelor" and I backed him up for a number of years as he performed that song and I know personally he was married and actually meant the opposite of what people would hear in his lyric. I never said a word to him but it's a great example how we can put more thought and analysis into the lyrics than the performer actually did. Lightnin took a ton of standard songs and made them his, and even claimed he wrote them. 

[IainS]

Hi folks:

I need the great ear of you folks and tell me what he's saying, especially in the first couple of verses?



Thank you!

[Mr.OMuck]

moan Big Brazoes whooo lawd here I come, you know I'm gonna do time for another man
When it haven't been a thing poor lightnin' done
 They say you oughta been on Brazos, 19an' 10 Buddy Russel drove the pretty women
Like he did the ugly men
Moan Big Brazoes here I come figurin' to do time for another man
when it ain't nothin' poor Lightnin' done.

[eric]

Penitentiary Blues
Mmm?.Big Brazos here I come
Mmm?Oh, Lord have mercy
Big Brazos here I come
You know I?m gonna do time for another man
When there haven?t been a thing poor Lightnin? done
They say you oughta been on Brazos
Nineteen and ten
Bud Russell drove pretty women
Just like he did ugly mens
Mmmm Big Brazos
Oh lord yes here I come
Thinkin?to do time for another man
And ain?t nothing poor Lightnin? done
Well, you oughta be ?shamed
Yeah you know my momma called me
I answered ma?am
She said son: You tired a workin?
I said Mama yes I am
Papa called me
I answered: Sir
He said son you tired a workin?
What the hell you gonna stay there for?
I couldn?t
No, I just couldn?t hear myself.
--
By the way, that's a GREAT album.

[IainS]

Thanks all.  You folks are amazing!

[JohnLeePimp]

Related:

[jphauser]

Penitentiary Blues
Mmm….Big Brazos here I come
Mmm…Oh, Lord have mercy
Big Brazos here I come

The Brazos River was originally named "Brazos de Dios" meaning "Arms of God."   The Texas Almanac link below has more info on it including various explanations for how that name came to be.

http://www.texasalmanac.com/topics/environment/rivers

In the book (and film) titled Racehoss, a former convict who served time in a penitentiary on the Brazos writes that the place was referred to by the convicts as "the burnin' hell." 

So you might say that the men who tried to escape from the prison by running to the river were running from hell to the arms of God.


Jim Hauser
https://sites.google.com/site/JohnHenryTheRebelVersions/

[Bunker Hill]

Since the early 70s I've had an ever disintegrating photocopy of Sterling Brown's Negro Folk Expression: Spirituals, Seculars, Ballads and Work Songs. This topic has reminded me that it's now on the internet. The chapters Seculars and Ballads and Work Songs and Social Protest might be of particular interest...or not, as the case maybe.

http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/brown/folkexpression.htm

[jphauser]

Since the early 70s I've had an ever disintegrating photocopy of Sterling Brown's Negro Folk Expression: Spirituals, Seculars, Ballads and Work Songs. This topic has reminded me that it's now on the internet. The chapters Seculars and Ballads and Work Songs and Social Protest might be of particular interest...or not, as the case maybe.

http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/brown/folkexpression.htm

Thanks for the link Alan.  I've got a copy of it too, but I'll be darned if I know exactly where it is.  I'll save this link to my bookmarks.

Jim
https://sites.google.com/site/JohnHenryTheRebelVersions/

[jphauser]

Yeah you know my momma called me
I answered ma?am
She said son: You tired a workin?
I said Mama yes I am
Papa called me
I answered: Sir
He said son you tired a workin?
What the hell you gonna stay there for?
I couldn?t
No, I just couldn?t hear myself.

Does anybody know the significance of the above lyrics from the song ?  Are they some kind of protest?  Are they somehow connected with the other lyrics in which Hopkins claims he hasn't done anything wrong and is serving time for another man's crime?  If he has done nothing wrong, then he should be free to go home.  Maybe this is some kind of veiled comment on the brand of justice that blacks had to endure???

These particular lyrics remind me of something I read in the Bruce Jackson book Wake Up Dead Man.  In it, a prison guard asks a convict if he's going home this weekend (knowing full well that the man is not done serving his time.)  I imagine that this question was asked regularly and was meant as a taunt.  The response was:

"No suh, I don't think I'm goin' home this weekend.  The warden told me I had to work, boss.  I can't make it."

The guard knows the convict can't go home and Hopkins's parents know that he can't go home, but they ask questions which assume the opposite.  In the case of the Jackson book, the convict even has to play along and pretend that he's not incarcerated. 

Jim
https://sites.google.com/site/JohnHenryTheRebelVersions

[jphauser]

The two sets of lyrics below help to clear things up regarding the question I asked about the verse in which the mother and father ask the singer/protagonist of the song if he's tired of working and why he's staying there.  I was assuming that they were asking him if he was tired of working on the prison farm and why he didn't leave and come back home (as if he had a choice in the matter.)



This first set of lyrics were found in an entry in WC for Blind Lemon Jefferson's Penitentiary Blues:

Blind Lemon's Penitentiary Blues (20363-2) ? Blind Lemon Jefferson
Chicago c. February 1928, Pm 12666
C position pitched at B

Take Fort Worth for your dressing and take Dallas all for your style.
Take Fort Worth for your dressing, Dallas all for your style.
If you wanna go to the state penitentiary, go to Groesbeck for your trial.

I hung around Groesbeck, and I worked in showers of rain.
I say, I hung around Groesbeck, I worked in hard showers of rain.
I never felt the least bit uneasy, till I caught that penitentiary bound train.

I used to be a drunkard, I was rowdy everywhere I go.
I used to be a drunkard and rowdy everywhere I go.
If I ever get out of this trouble I'm in, I won't be rowdy no more.

Boys, don't be bad, please don't crowd your mind.
I said, boys, don't be bad and please don't crowd your mind.
If you happen to get in trouble in Groesbeck, they're gonna send you penitentiary flyin'.

I want you to stop and study, and don't take nobody's life.
I want you to stop and study, don't take nobody's life.
They've got walls at the state penitentiary you can't jump, man they high as the sky.



The next set of lyrics are from Lightnin' Hopkins and were sent to me by Bunker Hill.  He points out that "Hopkins did four takes of Grosebeck Blues and none released at the time. Takes 2&3 came out on Arhoolie 2010 (1971) and take 4 appeared on a late 1964 Dart LP mis-titled Penitentiary Blues. All contain minor variations."

Boy, you may go to Grosebeck to have your trial, but you know the next penitentiary's after while
You may go to Grosebeck to have your trial, ooh, and the next penitentiary's after awhile
Yes, if you want to go to penitentiary in a hurry, man, you just go to Grosebeck and have your trial
 
Yeah, you know, my mama called me, boys, and I answered, "Ma'am?"
She said, "Son are you tired of working?" I said, "Mama, oh mama, yes I am"
Then, you know, my papa called me, peoples, and I answered, "Sir?"
He said, "Son, if you're tired of working down there, what the hell you're gonna stay there for?"
 
Grandma said, "Son, if you had been a good boy, yes, and stayed at home, you'd have been working for your mama, I'm talking about, and picking up chips on your grandma's farm"
I can't do nothing but hang my lonesome head and moan
 
Yes you know they got a dog named Rattler
You know she's a water dog
You know she can swim big Brazos, I done swear, man, that dog can walk a foot log



Taking all three sets of lyrics (the two sets in this post and the set of lyrics posted earlier by Eric Hubbard) into account leads me to a different interpretation.  The parents weren't asking the singer why he didn't leave the prison and come back home; they were asking him why he didn't leave Groesbeck.  Apparently, he left home to go work in Groesbeck (see verse 2 of Blind Lemon Jefferson's version which describes him working there in "showers of rain").  In Groesbeck, he got into some kind of trouble and this resulted in him being sent to the penitentiary.  In Blind Lemon's version, he puts the blame for his troubles on himself.  But I interpret the version by Hopkins as an indictment of the city--"Yes, if you want to go to penitentiary in a hurry, man, you just go to Grosebeck and have your trial."   I see it as Hopkins issuing a warning to stay out of Groesbeck or suffer the consequences.

JohnLeePimp's Youtube post of Smokey Hogg's version makes mention of a man named Cunningham (at about 3 minutes and 30 seconds into the song), with the mother asking "you tired of rollin' for Cunningham?"  I believe that Cunningham was a notorious levee camp contractor whose name appears in several other recordings by bluesmen.   I'm sure I read about this in an article by John Cowley titled "Shack Bullies and Levee Contractors: Bluesmen as Ethnographers."  I'll confirm that when I can get my hands on a copy of it, but it may be a while. 

The above is a good lesson for me on the importance of being aware of alternate takes/versions of a song by an individual bluesman and of versions by other bluesmen.  (Thanks to Bunker Hill and JohnLeePimp.)

Jim Hauser

https://sites.google.com/site/JohnHenryTheRebelVersions/home
 





 

[jphauser]

JohnLeePimp's Youtube post of Smokey Hogg's version makes mention of a man named Cunningham (at about 3 minutes and 30 seconds into the song), with the mother asking "you tired of rollin' for Cunningham?"  I believe that Cunningham was a notorious levee camp contractor whose name appears in several other recordings by bluesmen.   I'm sure I read about this in an article by John Cowley titled "Shack Bullies and Levee Contractors: Bluesmen as Ethnographers."  I'll confirm that when I can get my hands on a copy of it, but it may be a while. 

Jim Hauser

I was wrong about Cunningham being a levee contractor and being mentioned in Cowley's "Shack Bullies and Levee Contarctor's" article.  Instead, Cunningham had a lease with the state of Texas to run its prisons and he sublet the inmates to private farms, railroads and other industries. (Thanks to Bunker Hill for pointing this out to me.)

Below are the relevant lyrics from Smokey Hogg's version,  (A recording of  it was posted above.)


You oughta been in prison
The year 19 and 12
When the county farm
Was a burnin'
My mother called me,
I answered, "Ma'am"
"You tired of rollin'?"
"Mother, yes I am."
I could hear my father,
Talkin' to her.
"What you let your baby, baby
Suffer for?"
My mother called me.
 I said "Ma'am"
"You tired of rollin' for Cunningham?"

You oughta been in prison, big Brazos
The year 19 and 4
See a dead man layin'
On every turn row
I can hear them howl every morning
at the break of day
Well, I'm tellin' ya baby
Crime don't pay
In the morning
When the judge come down
Say "I found you guilty
You prison bound."


So now I'm back to where I started, wondering why a mother is asking her incarcerated son if he is tired of working on the prison farm.  Her question could be interpreted as asking her son if he has learned his lesson.  But I can also see the line as possibly holding an unspoken message of resistance.  I found these liner notes

http://lfs.alexanderstreet.com/liner/301a5e46e179bc0c56e26b66483759b1/FW05328.pdf  (See the notes for "Ain't No More Cane On the Brazos" which are on page 5.)

in which a former Texas prison inmate said the convicts used to ask each other that question in song.  Possibly asking the question was a survival technique, a way for the inmates to build solidarity with each other.  The quote below is from those liner notes.

"Oh I can't talk about it.  Them bad times was too bad.  It'd make me ache to have to think about them times with the whips and guns and the cane-cutting in that terrble bottom.  I remember when we'd raise up and sing to one another 'Is you tired of rolling for Cunningahm?'  But I can't talk about it."

[Johnm]

Hi jphauser2000,
It occurs to me that the asking such a question of a fellow inmate, or of an inmate by someone who is not incarcerated, might fall into the same sort of ironic category as asking someone on a day when the temperature is 105 degrees fahrenheit and the humidity is 95%, "Hot enough for you?".  The answer is so obvious that the asking of the question just serves to re-emphasize the fact that everyone concerned understands that the situation is very close to being unbearable.
All best,
Johnm
 

[jphauser]

Hi jphauser2000,
It occurs to me that the asking such a question of a fellow inmate, or of an inmate by someone who is not incarcerated, might fall into the same sort of ironic category as asking someone on a day when the temperature is 105 degrees fahrenheit and the humidity is 95%, "Hot enough for you?".  The answer is so obvious that the asking of the question just serves to re-emphasize the fact that everyone concerned understands that the situation is very close to being unbearable.
All best,
Johnm
 

That sounds like a very strong possibility.

Jim

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I merged all of the lyric threads dealing with individual Lightnin' Hopkins song lyrics into a single Lightnin' Hopkins Lyrics thread, without changing the titles of the earlier posts, so that the old discussions can be followed.
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Lightnin' Hopkins played "Crawlin' Black Snake" in D, out of dropped-D tuning, tuned a bit low.  His sound in dropped-D on the song is very distinctive and he has an unforgettable signature lick.  The song is very freely phrased, even by Lightnin's standards, and it is altogether effective.  I don't know the recording that this song appeared on, as it was sent to me in .mp3 form to transcribe.  It sounds like it may have come from a live performance recording.  When I haven't listened to Lightnin' for a while, I'm always shocked by his vocal instrument--it really was amazing.

You know I'm a crawlin' blacksnake, lots of these women like to cross poor Lightnin's trail
I'm a crawlin' blacksnake, lots of women like to cross poor Lightnin's trail
Well, they knows that I don't make no jokes, and the trail they cross, they knows it don't fail

SPOKEN, DURING SOLO:  You know that crawlin' blacksnake crawled a long ways . . . just to see a woman.  All I heared, he was deef and dumb, when they walk up, he'd give his sign by r-r-r-rattlin' his tongue.  But that was a one that stay back, 'cause she may get bit.  He may not be true, partner, but you may not be fit.

SUNG: Crawlin' blacksnake, one snake got dodge is that, the one they call the king
One snake got dodge, and that is the one that they call the king
They say he just got plenty power but no poison, he can kill any snake on earth, don't care how mean

SPOKEN:  I figure if he kill a rattlesnake, I better dodge him, too.  And so that's the reason I'm gon' tell you Lightnin' goin'.

SUNG: I'm that crawlin' blacksnake, don't dodge but one and that is the king
I'm that crawlin' blacksnake, I don't dodge but one and that is the king
Well, you know he is the best snake in the world and that king snake can kill anything

SPOKEN:  Then I drug down there, and I said:

SOLO

Edited 1/30 to pick up corrections from ScottN

All best,
Johnm

[ScottN]

Hi John,

For consideration on Crawling Black Snake

The title uses two words for black snake vs blacksnake - not that titles are remotely accurate sometimes ;-)

Verse 1
"lots" vs "lot"
Typo "thes" vs "these"

Spoken during solo
"crawled" vs "crawl" a long way
"may" get bit vs "might"

Sung
Line1 "I dodge and" vs "got dodgin"
L2A one snake "I dodge" vs "got dodge"
L2B one "that" they vs "one they"
L3 they say he "just" got plenty power vs no "just"

Spoken
I "figure" vs I "feel"

Sung
Line2 "I" don't dodge but one vs missing "I"

Thanks,
           Scott

[Johnm]

Thanks very much for the help, Scott.  I missed quite a lot of that song and your catches really helped.  I've made the changes.
All best,
Johnm

[ScottN]

Thanks John,

I think Lightning's vocals are surprisingly tough at times. He gets a lot of words in a short amount of time and his accent at times can really throw me for a loop. I had no clue it was "deef" (deaf) until I saw your transcription and I've probably listened to the song 40 or 50 times.

Thanks again,
                   Scott

[Johnm]

Hi Scott,
I missed a ton on my first go-round, and in the course of picking up your edits found a bunch more.  The reason I wrote the title animal as blacksnake as opposed to "black snake" as per the title, is that it is a blacksnake, not a snake that is black, if you see what I mean.
All best,
Johnm

[ScottN]

Hi John,

I see what you mean and have come to the conclusion that it is both logical and has historical precedent from blues scholar David Coverdale and his 80s ensemble Whitesnake.  QED.

Thanks,
              Scott

[wild irish rose]

Wanted to transcribe Lightnin's version of Beggin' Back. Particularly looking for any clues on the non-sequitur last verse.



Oh my babe, take me back
won't do nothing you don't like

take me back, I'll be good
get your water, yes babe, and I'll cut your wood

Take me back in the winter time
Don't do the soup (?) you break my neck for trying

Begging now baby, take me back
won't do nothing, darling, you don't like

I'll be good, cut your wood
Treat you better than, baby, your mother would
Take me back, take me back
won't do nothing, darling, you don't like

Some roast turkey, some roast goose
Don't roast chicken, man, 'till it ain't no use

[Johnm]

Hi wild irish rose,
Welcome to Weenie Campbell!  I think you just about have all the lyrics.  In the third verse, I think the tagline is:
   Don't do TO SUIT YOU, break my neck for trying
I think the tagline for the last verse is:
   GONNA roast chicken 'til it ain't no use.
All best,
Johnm

[wild irish rose]

That makes a lot more sense. Just re-listened and it sounds to me like you're spot on with those revisions. Thanks!

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Lightnin' Hopkins recorded "Thunder And Lightning Blues" for Gold Star, accompanying himself out of A position in standard tuning (not A position in dropped-D tuning).  His performance is very metrically free, and sounds very natural and in the moment being so--I think people who get hung up on Lightnin's choice not to conform to conventional blues structures are missing the boat in a big way.  His approach always resulted in a "nowness" that a strict adherence to blues conventions would have lost.  Both his singing and his playing are so nuanced.  Here is "Thunder And Lightning Blues":



INTRO

The night it was thunderin', thunder and lightning, bell that shine like gold, don't you hear me talkin', pretty mama?
It was thunder and lightning, bell that shine like gold
Yeah, you know that was the night I found my baby lyin', on the coolin' board

Well, I couldn't do nothin', walk the floor and moan, don't you hear me talkin', pretty mama?
I couldn't do nothing, walk the floor and moan
All I could say, "She was a nice little sparrow, but, now she's dead and gone."

SOLO

Don't the hearse look lonesome, backed up to your door, don't you hear me talkin', pretty mama?
Don't the, hearse look lonesome, backed up to your door?
Yes, with the motor runnin' and it's, almost ready to go

CODA

All best,
Johnm
   

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Lightnin' recorded "Death Bells" for Gold Star as well, and it is a spectacular tune in E position, standard tuning.  In the second verse, he does say "creeper" rather than "creature".  Boy, was he at the top of his game for these recordings!  Here is "Death Bells":



INTRO

Sound like I can hear, this mornin', death bells ringin' all in my ear
Sound like I can hear this mornin', baby, death bells ringin' all in my ear
Yes, I know I'm gonna leave on a chariot, wonder what kind's gonna carry me from here

You know every living creeper, man, was born to die
Yeah, you know every living creeper, whoa, Lord, was born to die
Yes, but when that chariot come for you, they're gonna break, run, and try to hide

SOLO

Yeah, you know my Mama told me, my Papa told me too. She says, "Someday, son, you know that chariot's comin' after you."
I been wonderin', what kind of chariot, whoa, gon' take me away from here?
Yes, you know this life I'm livin' I been livin', oh Lord, for a great many years

SOLO

Edited 7/10 to pick up corrections from harry

All best,
Johnm 

[Blues Vintage]

1.1 Sound like I can hear, this mornin', death bells ringin' all in my ear

2.2 Yeah, you know every living creeper, whoa, Lord, was born to die

[Johnm]

Thanks for the catches, Harry.  That's what happens when you enter in haste.

[Johnm]

Hi all,
"Penitentiary Blues" was the program opener on the Lightnin' Hopkins Folkways album that Samuel Charters recorded.  Lightnin' accompanied himself in A position, standard tuning.  I remember hearing this for the first time and being blown away.  Here is "Penitentiary Blues":



INTRO (Spoken: Penitentiary Blues)

Mmmmmmmmmmmm, Big Brazos, here I come
Mmmmmmmmmmmm, (Spoken: Hoo, Lord have mercy!) Big Brazos, here I come
You know I'm gon' do time for another man, when it haven't been a thing poor Lightnin' done

They say you oughta been on Braz', nineteen and ten, Bud Russell drove pretty women just like he did, ugly mens
Ahhnnnnnn, Big Braz', whoa, Lord, yes, here I come
Fixin' to do time for another man, and ain't nothin' poor Lightnin' done (Spoken: Well, you oughta be 'shame')

SOLO

Yeah, you know my mama called me, I answered, "Ma'am", she says, "Son, you tired of workin'?", I said, "Mama, yes, I am."
Papa called me, I answered, "Sir", he said, "Son, if you tired of workin', why in the hell you gon' stay there?", I couldn't,
No, I just couldn't help myself
You know a man can't help but feel bad, when he doin' time for someone else

CODA (Spoken: You better watch it, all the time)

All best,
Johnm

 

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Another wonderful rendition from the Lightnin' Hopkins Folkways album is his version of "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean", which he played out of E position in standard tuning.  Lightnin's vocals are always striking, but his guitar playing on this track is nothing short of sensational, and the way he varies his tone and rhythmic approach is masterful.  Wow!  Here is "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean":



INTRO

You know there's one kind favor I'll ask to you
You know there's one kind favor I'll ask to you
One kind favor I'll ask to you
See that my grave is kept clean

SOLO

You know there's two white horses in a line
Two white horses in a line
Two white horses in a line
Gonna take me to my burying ground

SOLO X  2

All best,
Johnm

[Blues Vintage]

Penitentiary Blues - 3.2 why in the hell you gon' stay there for?

I think he sings "for" pretty swallowed.

[Johnm]

Hi Harry,
In re-listening, the only thing he has of "for" is the letter "f", there's no vowel sound at all.  I suppose I could insert f' into the transcription.  It sounds like he thought of singing "for" but decided not to.  I think I'll leave it out.
All best,
John

[Lazy John]

I'm brand new here, so forgive me if I chose the wrong topic in which to ask my question.  It relates to Lightnin's "Penitentiary Blues". 

I've looked in vain for guitar transcriptions or tabs for "Penitentiary Blues" or "Prison Blues Come Down on Me".  I find the lyrics so evocative and the guitar playing so mournful that I'd like to try to learn one or both of the tunes.  I've looked online and at published books of blues tabs, blues fingerpicking and blues instruction with no luck.  In fact--at least in my unqualified opinion--it seems that Lightnin' Hopkins gets short shrift in those kinds of books with only a very few of his songs included, if any, despite how prolifically he recorded.

That said, I'm just learning how to play the guitar.  I think the songs would give me a clear goal to work towards (slowly) and also some good examples for when I start exploring fingerpicking.  As well, it will give me something to have my instructor help me learn, instead of having him assign me something of his choosing. 

Any help would be appreciated.

John

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I don't know when Lightnin' Hopkins recorded "Give Me 209 (Hello Central)", but it sure is a great number. Lightnin' accompanied himself out of E position in standard tuning. He was such a nuanced player in every aspect--his articulation, his bends, you name it, and his singing was every bit as nuanced, too. I would be interested to know who the bass player on this track was, if anyone has that information. Here is "Give Me 209":



INTRO

Hello Central, please give me 209
Hello, hello Central, will you please give me 209
Yes, you know I want to talk to my baby, oh Lord, and she's way down the line

Seem like the buses done stopped runnin', and the trains don't 'low me to ride no more
Seem like the buses done stopped runnin', trains don't 'low me to ride no more
Ticket agent said my ticket played out, he'll see that I don't ride, for sure

SOLO

I turned around from the telephone, went walkin' straight back home
Mmmm-mmm, turned around from the telephone, I went walkin' straight back home
I was praying in my heart, askin' Jesus, "Oh Lord, now, what wrong have I done?"

OUTRO

Edited 9/1 to pick up correction from banjochris

All best,
Johnm

[Blues Vintage]

Bass player is Donald Cooks.

Suggestion for 3.3,

I was pained playing in my heart, askin' Jesus, "Oh Lord, now, what wrong have I done?"

[Johnm]

Thanks for the bass player's name, Harry. I'm sticking with pained because playing in my heart makes no sense.

[banjochris]

I'd suggest "praying" for that –
Chris

[Johnm]

Thanks, Chris, I'll go for that. Thanks!

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Sam Charters recorded Lightnin' doing "Goin' Back to Florida" for his wonderful Folkways album. I think everything from that album is spectacular, and if I recall correctly, the recording set-up was decidedly low-tech, a portable tape recorder in a hotel room. When you can sing and play like Lightnin' could, you don't need much help from the studio. Here is "Goin' Back to Florida":



INTRO

Goin' back in Floriday [sic], where you got a plow, you've got to hoe
Goin' back in Floriday [sic], where you've got a plow, you've gotta hoe
You've gotta do one of the two, 'cause you know somebody's gotta go

I ain't gon' pick no cotton, I ain't gon' pull no corn, if the mule gonna run away with the world I'm gon', tell him to go ahead on, because I ain't gon'
Pick no cotton, God knows I ain't gon' pull no corn, if I catch a
Mule run away with the world, poor Lightnin', he gon' tell him to go ahead on

My baby got sleepy, she begin to gap, she said, "Get up, Sam, you's settin' in my lap." I say,
"No, no, no, baby, no. Yes, if a
Mule gonna run away with the world, I wouldn't even tell that mule, "Whoa!" (Spoken: And I don't be jokin'!)

SOLO

I was gettin' forty cents a hundred, pickin' for me and my wife, too, when I learned my lesson, you don't know, what I had to do, now
I couldn't do nothin', whoa, man, keep that sack on the scale, you know the
Man was payin' my checks every time I weigh up, oh yes, he keepin' check of the bales

CODA

All best,
Johnm