Topic: Brand and product names in country blues

[uncle bud]

Re. Jake references. I just came across one while listening to Earl McDonald's Original Louisville Jug Band and their version of He's In the Jailhouse, which is done as "She's In the Graveyard Now."

We were drinkin' every minute/I thought I was in it/I was buying Jamaica Ginger by the pound

Probably inspired by Whistler's Jug Band's 1924 recording which has a similar reference:

We were strikin' every minute/I made sure I was in it/I was buying Jamaica Gin just by the gallon/But when I went to pay that man/I found that poor gal's hand etc etc

Jamaica rum I've sampled, but gin is there such?

I think it would rightly be Jamaica Ginger, not gin (though Whistler's JB may have sung it or pronounced it as such), no?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaican_ginger

Though they'd be better off with the gin.

Never heard of Jamaican gin.

[Bunker Hill]

Never heard of Jamaican gin.

Me neither. I've only have this on an EP using a pretty ropey 78 for its source. The trouble is the more I listen, the more I'm hearing what I want to hear, namely a garbled "ging". It must be on a Document somewhere...oh come back Weenie Juke all is forgiven.

[dj]

It must be on a Document somewhere...

Document's Jazz Perspectives series, JPCD 1501-2, Clifford Hayes and the Louisville Jug Bands, Volume 1.  It's not the highest fidelity recording, is it?  But I think a reading of "I was buying Jamaica Ginger by the gallon" fits what's being sung.     

[Rivers]

Wiki says:
"Bathtub gin refers to any style of homemade spirit made in amateur conditions. It first appeared in the prohibition-era United States in reference to the poor-quality alcohol that was being made."

So probably 'gin' was appended to various types of concoctions. Jamaica 'gin' would just be another name for Jake. edit: spoke too soon, see UB's post below! Corrected the lyric.

[edit: moved table to latest post]

[uncle bud]

OK, so I went and dug out the Document JPCD 1501-2, Clifford Hayes and the Louisville Jug Bands, Volume 1, that dj refers to. While "Jail House Blues" is definitely a lo-fi recording (hey, it's 1924), it is pretty clear to me that Buford Threlkeld is singing the line as dj has it:

I was buying Jamaica Ginger by the gallon

He pauses slightly as he sings it: Ginn-ger.

[Rivers]

Was that Whistler or LJB? I'm confused, who sang 'by the pound', if anyone? Can someone post the two lyrics, I don't have either tune.

Whistler's 'Strikin' should be 'drinkin', n'est pas?

On a side note googling the brands and products discussed brings up this thread at or near the top of Google's search results.

[dj]

Was that Whistler or LJB? I'm confused, who sang 'by the pound

Earl McDonald's Original Louisville Jug Band is "by the pound", Whistler is "by the gallon".

[dj]

From Bunker Hill much earlier in the thread:

I can hear in my head a verse concerning Seagram's Seven Crown Blended Whiskey which I thought was by Black Ace but can't locate. Goes something like:

You spent all your money on Seagram Seven Crown
If you ever get sober you'll find the deal's gone down

Good memory!  The song is "Drink On Little Girl", recorded September 10, 1960.  The exact lyric is:

You spends all your money on Seagram's Seven Crown
If you ever get sober mama,  you'll find that the deal's gone down

The company name at the time was The Seagram Company Ltd., based in Montreal.

[uncle bud]

Was that Whistler or LJB? I'm confused, who sang 'by the pound', if anyone? Can someone post the two lyrics, I don't have either tune.

Whistler's 'Strikin' should be 'drinkin', n'est pas?

On a side note googling the brands and products discussed brings up this thread at or near the top of Google's search results.

Yes, Whistler should be "drinking". Here are the lines in Whistler's Jug Band "Jail House Blues":

Well, we was drinking every minute, I made sure I was in it
I was buying Jamaica Ginger by the gallon

And here's Earl McDonald's Original Louisville Jug Band's "She's In the Graveyard Now":

We were drinking every minute, I thought I was in it
I was buying Jamaica Ginger by the pound

And here's the audio file examples for both of them, since this has become complicated and folks may want to know what we're talking about.



[attachment deleted by admin]

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Rivers]

Thanks for clearing that up. Also updated Black Ace.

edit: Moved the updated list to the joola content manager database. To access it you can click here or use the 'Miscellania' menu item on the left.

[Rivers]

How did we miss this one:

Barlow, knife, Bessie Smith, Send Me To The 'Lectric Chair, "I cut him with my Barlow, I kicked him in the side, I stood there laughing over him, while he wallowed 'round and died"

[Slack]

Good quote too...

[Rivers]

Thanks Slack for posting the Juke list. Found a few more old Fords in there.

Quiz time... There are a few titles that could be products and brands.
Anyone know to what Lonnie Johnson is referring in '6/88 Glide'?
How about A & B Blues, Boy Green?
A & V Blues, Mississippi Matilda... probably a railroad but maybe not.

While I'm at it, who knows what a C.C. Pill is?

[Rivers]

I'd post the updated table but it's blown out the 15,000 character limit for a post. Slack, is that something we can control easily?

[Slack]

I'd post the updated table but it's blown out the 15,000 character limit for a post. Slack, is that something we can control easily?

It is - but maybe it would make more sense to post the table as an attached file...??