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I don't see how anyone could live that long inhaling all that rust - Rev. Gary Davis concerned about Sonny Terry's health, Oh, What a Beautiful City

Author Topic: Mance Lipscomb Lyrics  (Read 38035 times)

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Offline wildcotton

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Mance Lipscomb Lyrics
« on: November 08, 2004, 04:39:40 AM »
I know this isn't as obscure as a lot of the lyrics that go up here, but I've had trouble finding these for some reason.  Maybe I should just break down and get the Mance CD that has it, but does anybody have the lyrics to Rocks and Gravel (besides the Dylan version--that's all that shows up on my searches)?  I've got the guitar part worked out from Steve James' version.  I know I should get the original, but right now it's a great song, and I need it in my repertoire!



Jeff
« Last Edit: July 17, 2020, 10:43:14 PM by Johnm »

Offline Slack

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Re: Rocks and Gravel
« Reply #1 on: November 08, 2004, 06:39:13 AM »
Hi Jeff,

Here you go:

Rocks and Gravel? Mance Lipscomb
Standard E

V1   Rocks and Gravel makes a solid road (x2)
   Takes a do-right woman   to satisfy my soul

V2   Well, I'm goin' out west just ta see my pony run
   Goin out west to see my pony run
   If I win any money I'm gon' send my good girl some

V3   Here's a dollar mama, made it in the rain (x2)
   It's a hard ol' dollar made it just the same

V4   That's your tone daddy, every time you come (x2)
   I ain't got no money but I'll soon have some

V5   Man in the army, wants a furlough home (x2)
   About face rookie, you ain't been here long

V6   Man in the army eatin' out of trough (x2)
   Just waitin' for Uncle Sam to try and pay him off

V7   Got a girl in the country, she won't come to town (x2)
   Got one in Louisiana and she's water bound

V8   I can't see how can you, treat your daddy mean (x2)
   When you lay all night in your daddy's arms and dream
« Last Edit: April 18, 2005, 06:00:03 PM by Johnm »

Offline wildcotton

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Re: Rocks and Gravel
« Reply #2 on: November 08, 2004, 06:57:23 AM »
Thanks, Slack! 

Jeff

Offline Johnm

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Re: Rocks and Gravel
« Reply #3 on: November 08, 2004, 05:55:18 PM »
Hi JohnD and Cotton,
I think the line in that last verse is, "When you lay all night in your daddy's arms and dream".  I feel like we figured this out once before.  I remember being excited about getting the line, "About face, rookie".  I had never understood that line despite listening to the song for 35 plus years.
All best,
Johnm

Offline Slack

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Re: Rocks and Gravel
« Reply #4 on: November 08, 2004, 06:16:23 PM »
Hi John, yes, we did do this before -- and I obviously did not update my file!  --- which I am doing forthwith -- and will also correct the above psoted lyrics.  Thanks for the correction (again).

Funny how the ear can play tricks (or is it the mind?) on you --- you can hear it plain as day, once you know the words! ;)

cheers,

Offline MuddyBuddy

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Mance Lipscomb Lyrics ---
« Reply #5 on: September 19, 2006, 04:15:14 AM »
Mance was such a wonderful singer and player. I have been working on his stuff a bit, and found very few lyrics on the net. So let's use this space for his stuff!

cheers
BERT

Offline MuddyBuddy

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Silver City
« Reply #6 on: September 19, 2006, 04:16:25 AM »
Tried to figure this out from the Mance Lipscomb -In Concert DVD  on VESTAPOL

corrections appreciated!




Silver City  - Mance Lipscomb

I?m on my way, I?m on my way
I?m on my way back to Silver City now
Well i?m going back (to) Silver city now.

Got up this morning I was feeling bad
Woke up this morning I was feeling bad
Thinking ?bout the good times I once have had

Poor girl is cripple but she do go clean
Poor girl is cripple but she do go clean
People all call her Mary Magdalene.

You hurt my feelings little in the wrong
You hurt my feelings babe, little in the wrong
Excuse me daddy, I didn?t mean now harm

See me coming  hike your windoww high
You see me coming hike your windoww high
Here come my Daddy think he wants to ride.

Yes I?m going back to Silver City now
I?m going back to Silver City now
Yeah I?m going back to Silver City now.

Don?t want me just tell me so
If you don?t want me just tell me so
You won?t be bothered with me no more.
« Last Edit: July 17, 2020, 10:44:45 PM by Johnm »

Offline uncle bud

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Re: Mance Lipscomb Lyrics ---
« Reply #7 on: September 19, 2006, 07:34:25 AM »
Hiya Bert,

Good idea. One of the things I notice about Mance is he has a lot of verses. Given that he also has a lot of songs, that a lot of words floating around in his head. Don't know how some of these guys do it.

Silver City is a favourite Mance Lipscomb tune of mine. Here's the version from the You Got To Reap What You Sow disc (Arhoolie CD 398). I have a few spots I'm not sure of, including a line from  a verse that appears in the version you transcribe above. Note that this version has more verses, different versions of verses. Interesting that he would just change lyrics, singing them as they came to him, drop verses, add verses etc. A true songster.

Silver City  - Mance Lipscomb

Well I?m on my way, yes, I?m on my way
Lord, I?m on my way, babe, to Silver City now
Yes I?m going back to Silver City now.

Got up this morning, I was feeling blue
I woke up this morning, Lord, a-feeling blue
I didn?t have no one to tell my troubles to.

You can tell all your high browns that you [see but one?] *
You can tell all your high browns that you [see but one?]*
Well I?m going back to Houston to have my washing done

Oh the poor girl is cripple but she do go clean
Oh the poor girl is cripple but she do go clean
And the people all call her Mary Magdalene.

Tell my baby, tell her this for me
If you see my baby, tell her this for me
Well I done got lucky found a money tree

If I had money like the leaves grows on trees
If I had money like the leaves grows on trees
Get any woman I want, work when I please

Well you hurt my feelings [a little in the wrong]**
Yes you hurt my feelings, babe, little in the wrong
Excuse me, babe, I didn?t mean no harm

If you see me coming hoist your windows high
If you see me coming hoist your windows high
Yonder come my daddy and he wants to ride.

Yes I?m on my way, yes I?m on my way
Yes I?m on way back to Silver City now
I?m going back to Silver City now.

Got up this morning, looked down the road
Got up this morning, looked down the road
Thought about my baby, wonder where did she go


* not sure of the lyric here. Could the word "Seabird", as in the juke box, be being used here?
** not sure of "a little in the wrong" and wondering if it is perhaps a name being sung here as in "little INSERT NAME"

Mance pronounces "hoist" as "heist" in the third to last verse. I suspect it is the same in the concert version.

Offline MuddyBuddy

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Re: Mance Lipscomb Lyrics ---
« Reply #8 on: September 25, 2006, 01:56:26 AM »
Hi Bud

thanks for the nice set of lyrics. I don't have that record, so it was exciting to see more lyrics!
Will be posting more of Mance in the future. Just have to get time to transcribe!
That southern dialect that a lot of singers have, like Son House especially, sounds like some sort of New York kind of accent at times to me. Like you mentioned hoist as "heist".  Like burst would be "BOYST". Interesting. Son was from Mississippi, but Mance was from Texas. Any ideas about where this pronunciation comes from or if it still exists? I am originally from New hampshire, but having lived in Sweden for 32 years, I am isolated from southern US dialects!

cheers
BERT

Offline uncle bud

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Re: Mance Lipscomb Lyrics ---
« Reply #9 on: September 25, 2006, 06:40:30 AM »
Hi Bert - No idea where it comes from or if it still exists. My guiding principle in deciphering some of these lyrics comes from Weenie member Frankie:

Quote
I occasionally have to relate to these things by imagining how Yosemite Sam might have said them.

Offline Stuart

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Re: Mance Lipscomb Lyrics ---
« Reply #10 on: September 25, 2006, 07:45:43 AM »
Any ideas about where this pronunciation comes from or if it still exists?

You're entering the realm of historical phonology. I'm sure that there's a lot written--and recorded--on North American pronunciation. A good intro book on theory will give you the basics as to the reasons why.

Offline GhostRider

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Re: Mance Lipscomb Lyrics ---
« Reply #11 on: September 25, 2006, 08:29:19 AM »
Hey MB:

Thank you so much for posting "Silver City". It has clears up a 20+ year old mystery for me.

It's the summer of 1983, and me and my girl are strolling along a mall-like conecting street between Rue St. Lawrence and Rue St. Denis in Montreal, Que. (the home of Unkie Bud, and a beautiful city) about 1:30 AM on a Saturday night, Sitting on a concrete bench is a young guy, dressed up and wearing a fedora, playing an acoustic guitar and singing a blues about Silver City. That was one of the seminal moments that turned me on to CB.

Thanks for the memories. Now that I know where to find it, I'll have to learn the tune.

Alex

Offline Johnm

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Re: Mance Lipscomb Lyrics ---
« Reply #12 on: September 25, 2006, 08:59:39 AM »
Hi all,
I have always loved Mance's performance of "Silver City Bound" on the old "Mance Lipscomb, Vol. 2" on Arhoolie, and for what it's worth, I think you have the lyrics exactly right in the places you have question marks, Uncle Bud.  I have always taken the line, "You can tell all your high browns that you see but one" as meaning "You can tell every one of your girlfriends that she's your only girlfriend."  And I think the verse beginning, "You hurt my feelings, a little in the wrong" makes sense if you think of that line as being his girlfriend talking and ""Scuse me, babe, I didn't mean no harm" as being Mance's response.
All best,
Johnm

Offline Michael Kuehn

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Re: Mance Lipscomb Lyrics ---
« Reply #13 on: June 28, 2007, 06:14:16 AM »
I've been working on Mance's You Got To Reap What You Sow, from the Arhoolie album of the same name. I did a search and didn't find any lyrics for this, so I took a shot at it myself. Here is my best guess, with somewhat questionable passages in brackets:



YOU GOT TO REAP WHAT YOU SOW

Honey, after all I did for you,
You told me baby, that you were through
You got to reap just what you sow

[Ya?ll my money you left me cold in hand]
Takin? my money give it to your other man
You got to reap just what you sow

Break

Cried all last night and the night before
[Change the way I?m living], ain?t gonna cry no more
You got to reap just what you sow

When you quit me you didn?t even shake my hand
That?s alright, you?re gonna understand
You got to reap just what you sow

Break

All I ever did for you
You say [it, baby, you are through]
You got to reap just what you sow

Break

Goodbye, I hate to see you go
I might not never see you no more
You got to reap just what you sow


I'd appreciate any thoughts on those "hard to hear" passages.
Thanks.

Mike
« Last Edit: July 17, 2020, 10:46:16 PM by Johnm »

Offline Blue in VT

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Re: Mance Lipscomb Lyrics ---
« Reply #14 on: June 28, 2007, 10:29:27 AM »
Great thread...I will be adding lyrics hears as I can find the time...

Silver city seems right to me...I agree with JohnM that ya'll picked up the fuzzy verses right.

Last time I Paul Germia he talked about how he stumbled across Silver City texas on a road trip once...its a crossroads outside of Dallas that used to have a road house and a few brothels etc.  Apparnetly this was a place that Blind Lemon and his friends loved to play and have a great time...I understand that Mance learned this tune from Lemon.

Mike,

You gotta reap looks right to me as well...I always sing the first line of the 2nd verse as "you  took all my money, left me cold in hand"...this is a great song and a lot of fun to play

Cheers,

Chris
Blue in VT

 


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