Topic: Mance Lipscomb Lyrics

[banjochris]

BanjoChris-
I hadn’t listened to “Meet Me in the Bottom” in a long time. He plays/tunes that 6th string so perfectly in time with the song. Do you think this was a planned move, or maybe he realized he was in Dropped-D and tuned up on the fly? Either way, it sounds so good.

RE: “Going Down Slow” That dropped D really defines the sound of the whole song for me. Mance seems to emphasize that low note in his first solo too.

I am going to make it a point to use the word “honks” more often.

Cheers!

I think if it was an accident, it was an accident he was absolutely prepared for!
Chris

[Blues Vintage]

Night Time Is The Right Time


Mance Lipscomb – Vocals, Guitar

April 1966
Berkeley, California

E Position





INTRO SOLO

Listen here, baby, what I’m goin’ to say to you
I want you to know, baby, I got the bye-bye blues
Night time is the right time, be with the one you love

When you’re out late at night, baby, I can't rest
Well, even the food like honey, baby, it won’t digest
Night time is the right time, be with the one you love

SOLO

Grabbed my hat this morning, she followed me to the door
She says "Come back Daddy, you don’t have to go"
Night time is the right time, be with the one you love, with the one you love

Cried last night, cried the whole night long
Cried last night, I cried the whole night long
I didn’t miss my loved one, until she had gone

SOLO

You ain't gonna miss your water, ‘til your well go dry
Ain't gonna miss your loved one, until she say goodbye
Night time is the right time, be with the one you love, with the one you love

SOLO

Don't the moon look pretty, shinin’ down through the trees?
I can see my woman, when she don't see me
Night time is the right time, be with the one you love, with the one you love

OUTRO SOLO

[Blues Vintage]

Blues In G


Listening to some live Lipscomb and noticed that some of his lyrics are exactly the same, while others are almost completely different.
Like this one below (only 1 verse matches the Arhoolie recording). Corrections are welcome of course.


https://www.wolfgangs.com/music/mance-lipscomb/audio/20053562-10150.html?tid=4812060
track 16


Mance Lipscomb – Vocals, Guitar

May 6, 1966
Los Angeles, California

G position


Well, I guess I play a little blues and see how that gon’ sound, somebody may be blue here, hope you ain’t coming up after this

INTRO SOLO

Went down to your house, had your doors all locked
Went down to your house this mornin’, you had your doors all locked
I couldn’t get in, ‘cause you had my ways all/on blocked

I ain’t gonna be fool/food, for you baby no more
Ain’t gonna be fool/food, for you baby no more
I done made it up in my mind, baby, to let you go

You know you didn’t want me, why did you run that stall?
Know you didn’t want me, baby, why did you run that stall?
I can get more women, than a passenger train can haul

My baby quit me, throwed all my clothes outdoor
My woman quit me, throwed my clothes outdoor
That’s alright, baby, you gon’ reap just what you sow

SOLO

Ever woke in the mornin’, in a big bed by yourself
Ever got up in the mornin’, in a big bed by yourself
Felt for your little baby, and she had done left

Somebody, somebody been talking to you
I know somebody, babe, been talking to you
I don’t need nobody to tell me, I can watch the way you do

SOLO

Could be tomorrow, maybe a week or two
Could be tomorrow, maybe a week or two
But the way you done me, coming back home to you

OUTRO SOLO

[banjochris]

Run that stall is right for sure –
Chris

[Blues Vintage]

Alright, I never heard that expression and google neither.
I guess Mance meant something like this (from the Cambridge Dictionary "Stall");

If you stall a person, you delay them or prevent them from doing something for a period of time.
To delay taking action or avoid giving an answer in order to have more time to make a decision or get an advantage.

[banjochris]

It pops up sometimes in blues lyrics I think in the context of stringing someone along – two I can think of off the top of my head – Lemon Jefferson sings it in "Right of Way" and Luke Jordan uses "carry no stall" in other words carry on no stall in one of the takes of "Church Bell."

[Blues Vintage]

Frank Stokes sings it in verse 2 of "Mistreatin' Blues",

Well, if you don't want me, a-mama, you don't have to run no stall
I can find more good gals than a passenger train can haul

An act of deception. The term dates back to the 19th century (Partridge) and figured in a contemporary American catchphrase in Swartwood's 'Choice Slang' (1915):
"You've got more stalls than a stable"  (Stephen Calt - Barrelhouse Words)

[Johnm]

It occurs in a ton of blues lyrics, usually rhymed with "haul".

[Blues Vintage]

Bumble Bee


Mance Lipscomb – Vocals, Guitar

May 2, 1964
Berkeley, California

E Position





INTRO SOLO

Bumble bee, bumble bee, please come back to me
Bumble bee, bumble bee, please come back to me
You got the best old stinger, any bumble bee I ever seen

Now, you stung me this morning, I been looking for him all day long
Now, you stung me this morning, been looking for him all day long
Had me to the place once, hate to see my bumble bee leave home

Hmmm, wonder where my bumble bee gone
I begin to wonder, where my bumble bee gone
He stung me this morning, I been reckless all day long

Well, I can’t stand to hear you, buzz, buzz, buzz, come here bumble bee I want you to stop your fuss
You's my bumble bee, and you know your stuff
Oh, sting me bumble bee, ‘til I get enough

Hmmm, stinger long as my right arm
Oh, he got a stinger, long as my right arm
He stung me this morning, I been reckless all day long

My bum (sic) bee first left me I, thought I didn’t even care
When he first left me, thought I didn’t even care
You done come back home, I can’t stand to see him go nowhere

Hmmm, wonder where my bumble bee gone
Yes, I begin to wonder, where my bumble bee gone
He stung me this morning, I been looking for him all day long

OUTRO

[Johnm]

Thanks for posting this, Blues Vintage. I'm hearing just a couple of places differently.

   4.2 YOU'S my bumble bee . . .
   6.1 MY bumble bee first met me . . .
   6.3 HE done come back home

[Blues Vintage]

I agree with 4.2. 
I think he misspeaks at 6.1 
I think "you" is right at 6.3

Thanks for the input. I've got a Charley Patton song coming up.

EDITED TO ADD; 6.3 NOT 6.2 CORRECTION.

[islandgal]

This is what I'm hearing: (changes to first and third line)

My bum (sic) bee first left me I, thought I didn’t even care
When he first left me, thought I didn’t even care
He done come back home, I can’t stand to see him go nowhere

[Blues Vintage]

I thought about "left" too in the first line but it really sounds like "met", but I make that change 'cause it he certainly sings it in the second line.
You VS He, is tough. I keep "you" for now but keep listening.