Topic: Hokum Boys Lyrics

[davet]

Hello

Here are the Lyrics for the Hokum boys "Keep your mind on it" see below



I think the transcription is ok apart from one line.
"Old aunt Jane said too much brew, all of the things she made Jim do"

I would be grateful for your opinion please. 

Regards

Davet

I need lovin every day, just to drive my blues away
You?ve got to keep your mind on it          to keep me satisfied
You?ve got to keep your mind on it          to keep me satisfied
You?ve got to keep your mind on it, that?s the way to give it me

I don?t want that old half way stuff, you got to let me get enough
You?ve got to keep your mind on it          to keep me satisfied
You?ve got to keep your mind on it          to keep me satisfied
You?ve got to keep your mind on it, that?s the way to give it me


Hold me in your lovin arms, squeeze me till my clock alarms
You?ve got to keep your mind on it          to keep me satisfied
You?ve got to keep your mind on it          to keep me satisfied
You?ve got to keep your mind on it, that?s the way to give it me

Love me mama all night long, so I can carry my business on
You?ve got to keep your mind on it          to keep me satisfied
You?ve got to keep your mind on it          to keep me satisfied
You?ve got to keep your mind on it, that?s the way to give it me

Old aunt Jane said too much brew, all of the things she made Jim do
She made him keep his mind on it       to keep her satisfied
She made him keep his mind on it       to keep her satisfied
You?ve better keep your mind on it, that?s the way to give it me


Put your hands up on my knee, watch out gal don?t you tickle me
You?ve got to keep your mind on it          to keep me satisfied
You?ve got to keep your mind on it          to keep me satisfied
You?ve got to keep your mind on it, that?s the way to give it me

When I say now, strut your stuff, change your stroke but don?t get rough
You?ve got to keep your mind on it          to keep me satisfied
You?ve got to keep your mind on it          to keep me satisfied
You?ve got to keep your mind on it, that?s the way to give it me

[LB]

Think of the phrase "Aww shucks" ... also the way he puts the s on the end of Jane and the way he says "had" makes it sound like "said" but that's misleading your ear, I think.

...this is what I hear.

Old aunt Jane's had too much brew, Aww but the things she made Jim do

referencing this recording at the 1:40 mark

[Gumbo]

Does anyone else hear
"Old Aunt said "Jim I'm through" .. Aw but the things she made Jim do"

?

[LB]

Yeah that does work better to my ear too now Gumbo

[LB]

Does anyone want to talk about the playing part of this song? The reason I mention is because I've gotten hooked on playing along with the video posted above. And there's one additional Hokum tune that play after this one, contained in the video above. 2 songs total. But the first on "Keep your mind on it" is a ball to play, heck they both are.

On the first tune I could very well be wrong, but I have capo on fret 2 playing the overall E system in a 1/4/5 + 1/6/2/5 pattern. Both using the first position chords and up the neck to get a more chunky rhythm. I can play with fingerpicks and get the timing right but seems to be even more correct if I strum it with a flat pick.

Then for the slide part I'm in open G but with the strings lowered to I guess what is F#. I didn't put a ton of thought into this. I just grabbed a guitar and my old Trojan reso with 14 frets and worked myself into the video, playing along.

One curious thing is how the slide intro and solos are played which dawned on me could be lap style based on the broad movement made on some of the licks and what seems like going high above the body join with the slide. I had to grab the reso with 14 frets to the body in order to accomplish the high end notes.

Last comment is the fact this song has amazing timing, and groove you really have to work on and listen on every off-beat to maintain perfectly. This is a master class in feel. And the extra two beats they toss in only before the chorus kicks in everytime. That simple little thing compared to the instrumental cycle also makes a difference. I could be happy if this was the only kind of music I ever played, nothing but fun all the way. These songs are simple but they are done masterfully, I think dolling them up and adding a million complex licks would screw them up.

Anyway, just had to post that. This is some great stuff.


Here's Dave's lyrics from above with the proposed correction added.

I need lovin every day, just to drive my blues away
You?ve got to keep your mind on it          to keep me satisfied
You?ve got to keep your mind on it          to keep me satisfied
You?ve got to keep your mind on it, that?s the way to give it me

I don?t want that old half way stuff, you got to let me get enough
You?ve got to keep your mind on it          to keep me satisfied
You?ve got to keep your mind on it          to keep me satisfied
You?ve got to keep your mind on it, that?s the way to give it me

Hold me in your lovin arms, squeeze me till my clock alarms
You?ve got to keep your mind on it          to keep me satisfied
You?ve got to keep your mind on it          to keep me satisfied
You?ve got to keep your mind on it, that?s the way to give it me

Love me mama all night long, so I can carry my business on
You?ve got to keep your mind on it          to keep me satisfied
You?ve got to keep your mind on it          to keep me satisfied
You?ve got to keep your mind on it, that?s the way to give it me

Old Aunt said "Jim I'm through" .. Aw but the things she made Jim do
She made him keep his mind on it       to keep her satisfied
She made him keep his mind on it       to keep her satisfied
You?ve better keep your mind on it, that?s the way to give it me


Put your hands up on my knee, watch out gal don?t you tickle me
You?ve got to keep your mind on it          to keep me satisfied
You?ve got to keep your mind on it          to keep me satisfied
You?ve got to keep your mind on it, that?s the way to give it me

When I say now, strut your stuff, change your stroke but don?t get rough
You?ve got to keep your mind on it          to keep me satisfied
You?ve got to keep your mind on it          to keep me satisfied
You?ve got to keep your mind on it, that?s the way to give it me

[Johnm]

Hi Little Brother,
The only thing I would add to what you said is that Casey Bill must be in "high G" tuning, like modern dobro players, rather than Spanish, because at the 3:03 mark on "Keep Your Mind On It", when he goes to the IV chord he plays an ascending arpeggio, root-3-5-root without moving the bar, coming up from the sixth string. The high G tuning, GBDGBD, gives you that ascending arpeggio coming up from the sixth string wherever you set the bar down, whereas the same arpeggio is unavailable in Spanish, because it is 5-root-5-root-3-5, or DGDGBD.  I agree that Casey Bill was a lap-style style player all the way, and two Weenies, Richard from Guernsey and dj from upstate New York, have been studying his music for some time.
I have to admit I can't hear the backing guitar at all.
All best,
Johnm

[LB]

John,

Thanks man, I'll try that as soon as I get home tonight. That should unlock it more for me. Plus I had this idea to get with a friend and killer dobro player to give the song a try. Sorry for my ignorance on this next question but if you come back to read this topic, what is the instrument I'm hearing playing rhythm? Am I missing something such as that being a tenor or some other kind of instrument... What instrumentation are you hearing in this.

Man, I really need to spend some study time on the Hokum stuff.

Thanks as always,
D. LB

[Johnm]

Hi Doug,
I re-listened and was able to hear the rhythm guitar--not any detail with regard to pitches and positions, mostly just the time of it.  I agree it sounds like Broonzy is flat-picking, playing "sock" rhythm, just hitting the chords four-to-the-bar and damping their back end of the chords by lifting his left hand.  Sounds like there is a washboard too, or somebody playing a reduced drum kit with brushes.  Sorry I can't hear more.
All best,
Johnm

[dj]

The personnel for Keep Your Mind On It is: Casey Bill Weldon, lap steel and vocal; Big Bill Broonzy, guitar and vocal; Washboard Sam, washboard and vocal; unknown, string bass.

You're right about Casey Bill's tuning, John.  Every Casey Bill tune that Richard and/or I have worked on is in "High G", though sometimes pitched a halftone up or down to take advantage of open strings.  That's not to say that all his stuff is tuned that way, but it certainly was his most usual tuning.     

[LB]

You guys are awesome thanks!!! Time for some High-G High-jinx.

[LB]

Had chance to listen to 3:03 mark like John recommended. High G helped me fill out more of the slide parts, still need to work hard on my skills to master some of those moves.

I always thought of The Hokum Boys as Tampa Red and others but amazing to read about all the other famous people that recorded under that same group name. There was a whole lot of Hokum going on.

[Gumbo]

LB

thank you for opening this song up. It would have been a good while before i realised there were two strumming patterns in this! I'm just playing in standard right now with a capo on 2 but it is great fun!

[LB]

Tell me about it Gumbo. My pleasure. I've been having a ball with this tune, and a good bit of fun with the other one they tacked onto the end of that same video-sampler. Seems like the more I learn about music the more I realize how little I actually knew. Endless fun...

[davet]

Thanks very much one and all.

I am going to change the line we use to:

Old Aunt Jane said "Jim I'm through" .. Aw but the things she made Jim do

We are going to play this song at our next gig.

[Gumbo]

davet - let me know when you tour ireland

but I have capo on fret 2 playing the overall E system in a 1/4/5 + 1/6/2/5 pattern.

... before i realised there were two strumming patterns in this!

so i think i was doubly confused. my brain does get fuzzy like that but ..

I think the pattern is consistently 1/// //// 4/// 1/6/ 2/5/ 1///
where the forward slash indicates repeating the chord (I hope i understand that 1/4/5 etc notation correctly)

or in shapes (although there is a capo on 2)
E/// //// A/// E/C#7/ F#/B/ E///