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Country Blues => Country Blues Lyrics => Topic started by: si on June 05, 2007, 09:09:15 AM

Title: Lottie Beaman/Kimbrough Lyrics
Post by: si on June 05, 2007, 09:09:15 AM
I am learning "Rolling Log Blues" by Lottie Kimborough a.k.a Lottie Beaman.
Here is my attempt at the lyrics.
Can anyone fill in the blank or correct any errors?
Thanks
Si

https://youtu.be/aJbBjOjWm_w

I've been driftin n rollin along the road
Lookin for my room n board
Like a log I've bin jammed on the banks
So hungry I've bin ...?
Get me a pick n shovel dig down in the gound
Gonna keep on diggin til the blues come down
Mmm
I got the blues for my sweet man in jail
And the judge won't let me go his bail
I've bin rollin n driftin from shore to shore
Gonna fix it so won't have to drift no more
Mmm
Title: Re: "Rolling Log" lyrics
Post by: si on June 05, 2007, 09:26:51 AM
Just realised there are 2 versions.
I am working from the longer of the 2 versions on Weenie Juke.
East River String Band do a good cover of "Rolling Log", see the movie at

Also check out their myspace site for more videos of early blues.
Si

https://youtu.be/OzWywTqrPU4
Title: Re: "Rolling Log" lyrics
Post by: uncle bud on June 05, 2007, 02:57:52 PM
This is a bit of a guess after a quick listen but I'm hearing "So hungry, I feel lean and lame". It's not that clear to me actually. But Lottie was a big woman, so feeling lean would be a dramatic change for her.  :D
Title: Re: "Rolling Log" lyrics
Post by: natterjack on June 05, 2007, 04:12:59 PM
I've always heard as "lean and lank", this might be because I heard the Rory Block cover first and I'm sure that's what she sings. It does rhyme with "on the bank" I suppose. Which reminds me, I think it could "cast on the bank", rather then "jammed" but I'm not too sure really.

The Lottie Kimbrough version is one of my all time favourite CB recordings.
Title: Re: "Rolling Log" lyrics
Post by: uncle bud on June 06, 2007, 07:56:10 AM
Hi natterjack. Yes, "So hungry, I feel lean and lank" makes more sense to me. Thanks for the correction. Lottie Kimbrough was known as the Kansas City Butter Ball, so "lean and lank" would carry a little extra meaning.

I'm definitely hearing "jammed" and not "cast".

I agree, this is one of the great country blues of all time and Lottie one of the great singers.
Title: Re: "Rolling Log" lyrics
Post by: dingwall on June 09, 2007, 06:54:58 AM
My versions of Rolling Log Blues.

The  Gennet one.
              ROLLING LOG BLUES                          Ge 6624
                  ------------------------
I been drifting and rolling along the road.
Looking for my room and board.

Like a log, I've been jammed on the bank.
So hungry, I've grew lean and lank.

Get me a pick and shovel, dig down in the ground.
Gonna keep on diggin' till the blues come down.

(Humming verse.)

I've got the blues for my sweet man in jail,
And the judge won't let me go his bail.

I've been rolling and drifting from shore to shore.
Gonna fix it, so I won't have to drift no more.

(Humming verse.)

The Brunswick one.
                    ROLLIN' LOG BLUES                    Br 7147
                      ----------------------
I been rolling and drifting along the road.
Just looking for my room and board.

Like a log I've been jammed on the bank.
So hungry, I feel lean and lank.

Get me a pick and shovel, dig down in the ground.
Gonna keep on diggin' till the blues come down.

[Humming verse.]

I've got the blues for my sweet man in jail,
And the judge won't let me go his bail.

I've been rolling and drifting along the road.
Gonna fix it, won't have to drift no more.
Title: Re: "Rolling Log" lyrics
Post by: si on June 16, 2007, 06:29:58 PM
Thankyou all for your help. Yes now I think it is "lean and lank" and a quick bit of research reveals that was probably a commoner expression at that time in the USA than "lean and lame".
Gonna do this live soon, hopefully with a female singer. I have a question about the guitar but am going to ask that in the relevant forum.
Thanks again.
Si
Title: Lottie Kimbrough's "Don't Speak To Me"
Post by: Johnm on March 21, 2008, 12:18:48 PM
Hi all,
I've been listening to this track, re-issued on the Yazoo set "The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of", with great admiration.  What a beautiful singer Lottie Kimbrough/Beamon was!  On this one she is accompanied by one of the Pruitt twins playing a guitar with a high G string out of C position in (otherwise) standard tuning, and is joined by a less-annoying-than-usual Winston Holmes (no birdcalls).  I'm missing one word in the spoken introduction.  Holmes pronounces Kimbrough, by the way, "kim-brew".  Holmes joins Beamon, singing the last verse with her.  The song has a pretty 16-bar progression that sounds as though it may have come out of the Parlor music tradition.

   |      C      |       C      |     C     |     C     |

   |     F        |      F       |      C    |     C     |

   |     E        |     E        |      F    |      F     |

   |      C       |     G7      |     C     |     C     |

https://youtu.be/DB6cioBj6_0

   SPOKEN:  Holmes:  Hello there, Jerry!  Drop them dice, boy, and let me have that bottle of liquor.  Jerry:  Oh, looky-here, here comes Lottie Beamon.  Holmes:  Hello, Kimbrough.

   Don't speak to me, don't speak to me
   If you're a friend to Jerry Lee
   For he's a hustler, gambler too
   He belongs to that gamblin' crew

   Oh, boys and girls, take my advice
   Quit playing cards and shooting dice
   For in bad company, you must shun
   From the policeman, you must run

   SOLO:

   Don't drink no booze, for it ain't no use
   To end up in the calaboose
   For you can shun the doctor's bill
   By keeping away from the liquor still

   Be careful where you always go
   Don't be no thief, don't be no rogue
   Go to church and Sunday School
   Don't let nobody make you no fool

   I'm going to leave and let you be
   Take my advice and sympathy
   For if you're wild, as wild can be
   Just keep right on and don't speak to me

Edited 3/22 to pick up correction from Andrew
Edited 3/22 to pick up correction from dingwall

All best,
Johnm


   
Title: Re: Lottie Kimbrough's "Don't Speak To Me"
Post by: uncle bud on March 21, 2008, 01:34:11 PM
Hi John - I don't have the spoken part, though I momentarily thought it might be "here comes Lottie Beaman". It seems too clipped for that.

I think the 2nd line of the first verse is "If you're a friend TO Jerry Lee".

Great tune.
Title: Re: Lottie Kimbrough's "Don't Speak To Me"
Post by: Johnm on March 22, 2008, 08:11:38 AM
Thanks, Andrew.  I had "friend to" transcribed and typed "friend of".  That's a good catch.  I think in what I'm missing, the person may refer to Lottie as "Lena _______".  I know at least a couple of her titles were recorded by her as Lena Kimbrough.
All best,
Johnm
Title: Re: Lottie Kimbrough's "Don't Speak To Me"
Post by: dingwall on March 22, 2008, 01:13:53 PM
I would agree with Andrew on both points, Johnm (LOTTIE BEAMAN in the spoken intro, and TO in 1.2).   I find 'Lottie Beaman' quite clear.
Title: Re: Lottie Kimbrough's "Don't Speak To Me"
Post by: Johnm on March 22, 2008, 05:01:13 PM
I will make the "Lottie Beamon" insertion, dingwall, and thanks for the help.
All best,
Johnm
Title: Lottie Kimbrough's "Red River Blues"
Post by: Johnm on April 23, 2009, 07:27:21 PM
Hi all,
Lottie Kimbrough recorded "Red River Blues" at her first recording session, in Chicago around March of 1924.  The Pruitt Twins, Miles and Milas, accompanied her, with one of the brothers playing out of F position in standard tuning and the other working out of E position in standard tuning, either capoed a fret higher or tuned a half-step high.  The twins' accompaniment is superb, with a great deal of variety and a host of ideas.  It's only shortcoming is the egregiously flat D string on the guitar of whichever brother was playing out of F; it's hard to see how such accomplished players could have missed it.
Lottie Kimbrough's singing is wonderful, as it pretty much always was.  For her final verse, she is thrown for a bit of a loop by the twin playing in F going into an 8-to-the-bar walking bass line, but she rights herself by the time they get to the tagline.  The lyrics to "Red River Blues" have a sort of stilted formality here and there that reminds me of Peg Leg Howell's lyrics to "Low Down Rounder's Blues".  Some of the turns of phrase are surprising.  The opening line of verse four is just great.  Are there other blues lyrics that refer to a "Jonah"?  It's a term I'm accustomed to hearing in a nautical context, but was surprised to hear here.  I'm not at all certain that I have the beginning of the taglines on the first and last verses right, so I would appreciate corroborration/correction, however it works out.

https://youtu.be/klIQqtCZoJE

   The Red River flows like Dago wine
   The Red River flows like Dago wine
   A mystery 'bout it, that stays on my mind

   I'm going to that river, going just for fun
   I'm going to that river, going just for fun
   I'm going to do something I ain't never done

   I've been done so dirty, treated so doggone mean
   I've been done so dirty, treated so doggone mean
   I've been 'cused of things I ain't never seen

   I wish I knew how much life was mine
   I wish I knew how much life was mine
   I'd steal away, live down by the Rhine

   I'm going away, worry you off my mind
   I'm going away, worry you off my mind
   I refuse to stay with the mistreating kind

   The blues a Jonah, you say what you choose
   Oh, blues is a Jonah, say what you choose
   They sure gonna kill you, these Red River Blues

Edited, 4/24, to pick up corrections from Stuart and dingwall

All best,
Johnm

     
Title: Re: Lottie Kimbrough's "Red River Blues"
Post by: Stuart on April 23, 2009, 08:36:10 PM
John:

I just listened on my computer, which is far from the best way to go,  but which will have to do for now.

For "The mystery" I hear "A mystery."

Re: [The joke'll kill you], I can't do much better, except to suggest that "joke'll" might be "joker'll."

This might possibly be a mispronunciation of "Jonah," which works contextually, but I don't think so. I don't really think she's mispronouncing "Jonah" after singing it correctly 2X.

For those of you not familiar with Lottie Kimbrough, she is also known as Lottie Beaman (alt. spelling: Beamon) and Lottie Kimbrough-Beaman (alt. spelling: Beamon).
Title: Re: Lottie Kimbrough's "Red River Blues"
Post by: uncle bud on April 23, 2009, 10:32:28 PM
For those of you not familiar with Lottie Kimbrough, she is also known as Lottie Beaman (alt. spelling: Beamon) and Lottie Kimbrough-Beaman (alt. spelling: Beamon).

And as the Kansas City Butter Ball!

Title: Re: Lottie Kimbrough's "Red River Blues"
Post by: banjochris on April 23, 2009, 10:34:52 PM
John, I'm hearing what you have for the lyrics. You'll be glad to know that on the Document Elzadie Robinson Vol. 2 there are a number of alternate Lottie Kimbrough/Lottie Beaman takes, and there's a take 2 there of Red River (unfortunately quite a noisy copy) where the D string is tuned correctly.
Chris
Title: Re: Lottie Kimbrough's "Red River Blues"
Post by: dingwall on April 24, 2009, 12:44:46 PM
I hear the final line as

They sure gonna kill you -------
Title: Re: Lottie Kimbrough's "Red River Blues"
Post by: Stuart on April 24, 2009, 12:54:49 PM
I hear the final line as

They sure gonna kill you -------

After listening a couple of more times, I agree.
Title: Re: Lottie Kimbrough's "Red River Blues"
Post by: Johnm on April 24, 2009, 03:11:14 PM
Hi all,
Thanks very much, Stuart, for "A mystery", and dingwall, for "They sure gonna" in the last tagline.  I have made those changes.  I'm glad to hear, Chris, that they recorded the tune again, with a tuning correction.  I look forward to hearing that Take 2 some time, whupped as it may be. 
All best,
Johnm 
Title: Re: Lottie Beaman/Kimbrough Lyrics
Post by: Johnm on April 24, 2009, 04:30:05 PM
Hi all,
I merged two earlier Lottie Beaman lyric threads, one on "Rolling Log Blues" and one on "Don't Speak To Me" with the "Red River Blues" thread to form an all-inclusive Lottie Beaman/Kimbrough lyric thread.  I left the individual post titles as they were in the original threads to make for ease in following the earlier lyric discussions.
All best,
Johnm
Title: Re: Lottie Beaman/Kimbrough Lyrics
Post by: Johnm on April 30, 2009, 05:21:29 PM
Hi all,
Lottie Kimbrough recorded "Honey Blues" at her first session, in Chicago around March of 1924.  The Pruitt twins back her wonderfully well here, one flat-picking, from the sound of it, in F position, standard tuning, and the other playing (I think) a banjo-mandolin, though it may have been a tenor banjo.  Whichever instrument it was, the twin playing it had a beautifully controlled tremolo. 
"Honey Blues" is an 8-bar blues in which the twins vary the chord progression for their solos.  Behind Lottie Kimbrough's singing, they generally stick to the following progression:

   |    F    |     F    |    Bflat    |   Bdim7 (B)  |

   |  F  Dm  |  G7  C7   |    F   C   |     F       |

The banjo-mandolin suggests a B diminished 7 in the fourth bar and the guitarist generally sticks with a straight B, moving the B flat of the previous bar up one fret intact.  The guitarist takes full advantage of the great opportunities that the F position offers for bass runs--opportunities similarly utilized by Leadbelly, Peg Leg Howell and Luke Jordan.  In a way, there is not much to say about Lottie Kimbrough's singing, apart from the fact that it is great, as usual.

https://youtu.be/24-zCn67mz4

   Honey, now I cry, oh, hard to sleep tonight
   I'm packing my trunk and leaving town tonight

   It looks mighty cloudy, say, but it ain't gon' rain
   Goodbye, honey, if I don't see you again

   SOLO:  (Spoken, by Lottie:  Step on it, Pruitt!)

   My mama told me, papa told me too
   "Don't let no one man make a fool of you."

   By being so young, so foolish and so green
   Honey, that's why you treated me so mean

   SOLO

   Oh, is you half as purty, and you ain't no hand-me-down
   Don't think I'll stay and let you dog me 'round

   SOLO

   Yes, you're three times seven and knows what you want to do
   I'm leaving you now with the troubled Honey Blues

All best,
Johnm
Title: Re: Lottie Beaman/Kimbrough Lyrics
Post by: Johnm on May 13, 2009, 10:34:27 PM
Hi all,
Lottie Kimbrough recorded "Goin' Away Blues" for the first time at a session in Richmond, Indiana on August 21, 1928, backed by one of the Pruitt twins playing a guitar with an octave G string out of E position in standard tuning.  The same pairing was to re-record the song in Kansas City in 1929. 
The song employs a very unusual phrasing archetype.  Lottie sings across the first four bars as though the song is going to be a chorus blues, but when she arrives at the fifth bar, instead of launching into a chorus, she repeats either the first or second half of the opening line, winding up the verse with a conventional tagline in the last four bars of the form.  I'm surprised to hear the word "super" in the fourth verse; the usage seems very modern for the early recording date.  NOTE:  banjochris' correction of the lyric in the fourth verse makes the use of the word super considerably more plausible. 
For whatever reason, "Goin' Away Blues" has never attracted the same sort of attention that "Rolling Log Blues", recorded  at the same session, has garnered.  Perhaps something really strong can still suffer by comparison with something that is superlative.  Lottie's falsetto "hee-eee" break is beautiful.

https://youtu.be/UclpN0PfX3k

   I'm going away, it won't be long, I know you'll miss me from singing this lonesome song
   I'm goin' away, it won't be long
   And then you know you must have done me wrong

   My daddy got ways like a baby child, those doggone ways are driving me wild
   Those doggone ways are drivin' me wild
   And that is why you never see poor Lottie smile
 
   My heart aches so, I can't be satisfied, I believe I'll take a train and ride
   I believe I'll take a train and ride
   'Cause I miss my cruel daddy from my side

   I've got Cadillac ways, Hudson Super ideas, I can't see what brought me here
   I can't see what brought me here
   It must have been this new Kans' City beer

   Hee-eee-eee
   Hee-eee-eee-eee-eee
   Eee-eee-eee-eee

   I'm lame and blind, can't hardly see, my doggone daddy turned his back on me
   'Cause I'm lame, I can't hardly see
   I ain't got nobody to really comfort me

Edited 5/13, to pick up correction from banjochris

All best,
Johnm
   
     
Title: Re: Lottie Beaman/Kimbrough Lyrics
Post by: banjochris on May 13, 2009, 10:52:50 PM
John, I think that line in the fourth verse might be:

I've got Cadillac ways, Hudson Super ideas...etc.

Chris
Title: Re: Lottie Beaman/Kimbrough Lyrics
Post by: Johnm on May 13, 2009, 11:08:28 PM
That is great hearing, Chris, and makes the use of the word "super" seem a lot less strange.  Thanks!
all best,
Johnm
Title: Re: Lottie Beaman/Kimbrough Lyrics
Post by: Richard on May 14, 2009, 02:29:18 PM
Strangely enough I was listening to it today and thought it really nice  :)
Title: Re: Lottie Beaman/Kimbrough Lyrics
Post by: Johnm on May 14, 2009, 11:04:19 PM
Hi all,
Lottie Kimbrough recorded "Lost Lover Blues" at the same 1928 session that yielded "Rolling Log Blues" and "Goin' Away Blues".  She is joined on "Lost Lover Blues" by Winston Holmes, on bird calls, harmony vocals, and yodeling, and accompanied by one of the Pruitt twins on a guitar with a high G string played out of E position in standard tuning.  The song is really pretty, a 16-bar blues of a sort, though not particularly bluesy, with the following progression:

   |    I    |    I    |    IV    |    IV    |

   |    I    |    I    |    V7   |    V7    |

   |    I    |    I    |    IV    |    IV    |

   |    I    |   V7   |     I     |     I     |

The refrain has the same melody as the verses.  Winston Holmes starts out doing bird calls, sings harmony for the first verse and refrain, switches to yodeling for subsequent refrains and returns to bird calls at the end of the song.  To give him his due, he really yodels, something pretty rare on Country Blues recordings.  Lottie Kimbrough sings beautifully, as per usual, and is able to invest real emotion in even an odd set of lyrics like those to "Lost Lover Blues".  As usual, I'm missing a couple of places and would appreciate some help.

https://youtu.be/1-0vLrUHZ3M

   Spoken, by Lottie:  My how that little bird does whistle.  Gee, that reminds me of my long lost lover.

   I've lost my sweet lover, he's gone away to stay
   How I wish some gentle breeze would blow and bring him back to me

   REFRAIN:  I wish I had wings like an aeroplane that flies in the heavens above
   I wish I had wings like a little bluebird, I'd fly to the one that I love

   I'm going back to the South Sea isles, sit up in the sand
   Bathe and bathe in the tropical sun, maybe there I will find my man

   REFRAIN:  I wish I had wings like an aeroplane that flies in the heavens above
   I wish I had wings like a little bluebird, I'd fly to the one that I love

   I love that lost sweet baby boy, from his head down to his knees
   What a happy time it will be when long lost lovers meet

   REFRAIN:  I wish I had wings like an aeroplane that flies in the heavens above
   I wish I had wings like a little bluebird, I'd fly to the one that I love

   Lottie, wordless crooning w/bird calls:  Uhh, uhhh, uhh,

Edited 5/15 to pick up corrections from banjo chris and uncle bud

All best,
Johnm
Title: Re: Lottie Beaman/Kimbrough Lyrics
Post by: banjochris on May 15, 2009, 02:24:15 AM
John -- that first missing line is really a mystery to me. I think it might start with "I loved and lost" but can't make it out from there. The second missing bit is definitely "when long lost lovers meet," though. Beautiful song -- I love the yodeling.
Chris
Title: Re: Lottie Beaman/Kimbrough Lyrics
Post by: uncle bud on May 15, 2009, 06:32:11 AM
That mystery line sounds to me like

I love that lost [sweet] baby boy from his head down to his knees

Not sure about "sweet".

I'd agree Winston Holmes can be forgiven for yodelling that just works somehow in the song. But surely he met his end at the hands of a singer who couldn't take him anymore.
Title: Re: Lottie Beaman/Kimbrough Lyrics
Post by: uncle bud on May 15, 2009, 06:43:21 AM
Hi all,
Lottie Kimbrough recorded "Honey Blues" at her first session, in Chicago around March of 1924.  The Pruitt twins back her wonderfully well here, one flat-picking, from the sound of it, in F position, standard tuning, and the other playing (I think) a banjo-mandolin, though it may have been a tenor banjo.  Whichever instrument it was, the twin playing it had a beautifully controlled tremolo.

Hi John - Not that it proves anything one way or another, but the photo of the Pruitts on Weeniepedia (Blues in F (http://weeniecampbell.com/wiki/index.php?title=Blues_in_F)) features one of them with a regular mandolin. For what it's worth, it sounds like a banjo mandolin on this song to me.

(https://weeniecampbell.com/wiki/images/5/5f/Pruit_twins.gif)
Title: Re: Lottie Beaman/Kimbrough Lyrics
Post by: Johnm on May 15, 2009, 07:35:16 AM
Thanks, Chris and Andrew, for the corrections.  Both suggestions sound right to me, and I've made the changes. 
I agree that "Lost Lover Blues" is a beautiful song.  There is something about the way the Pruitt brother playing guitar on the tune keeps time that is unusual  and very strong--he does big thumb-brushed, pushed upbeats that simultaneously take maximum advantage of the high-strung chordal sound and keep things moving along briskly.  Part of what is distinctive about the chordal sound, too, is that the guitarist always puts a sixth note in his IV chord, which really gives it a shivery sort of sound in his high-strung tuning.  He does this on "Rolling Log Blues" and "Goin' Away Blues", too.  I haven't listened carefully enough to figure it out conclusively, but he could be fingering either:
   X-0-2-2-2-2, or X-0-7-6-7-0
I'm inclined toward the second option without having checked it carefully. It is a closer-voiced sound, with the fifth of the chord, the open first string, and the sixth of the chord, the seventh fret of the second string, just one step apart from each other.  The fingering makes it easier to inflect the chord, too, than the barre at the second fret in the other position.  In any event, it is superb and original guitar playing.
I'd forgotten about that picture of the Pruitts, uncle bud.  I agree, it sounds more like a banjo-mandolin on "Honey Blues", and "Regular Man", too.
All best,
Johnm   
Title: Re: Lottie Beaman/Kimbrough Lyrics
Post by: Johnm on May 15, 2009, 10:34:16 AM
Hi all,
After the last post, I figured, why not listen to it carefully?  The fingering being used for the IV (A) chord is X-0-2-2-2-2, because you can always hear the pitch of the high G string going up one half-step from the I chord, where it lives at the first fret of the third string to the second fret of the third string, where it lives in the IV chord.  And the Pruitt playing the guitar part is doing brush strokes with his thumb on both the downbeats and upbeats, with a little upward brush of the index finger on the + of each beat.  Occasionally on the IV chord, you can hear him going from the sixth, at the second fret of the first string, up to the flatVII at the third fret and back to the sixth.  In the I chord, the primary tactic is to keep hammers to the first fret of the third string going when doing the upbeat brushes with the thumb.  The left hand of the guitar part for "Lost Lover Blues" is really simple.  I think the real difficulty in capturing the sound of the accompaniment is nailing the sound of those big forceful brush strokes with the thumb, because they're very specific with regard to which strings are being struck--it's not being done heedlessly.
All best,
Johnm
Title: Re: Lottie Beaman/Kimbrough Lyrics
Post by: Johnm on May 30, 2009, 11:25:10 AM
Hi all,
Lottie Kimbrough recorded "Wayward Girl Blues" at the same session she recorded "Lost Lover Blues", and was once again joined by Winston Holmes on yodeling and commentary, and accompanied by one of the Pruitt twins.  This is an exceptional performance, both in the singing and in the accompaniment.  The song utilizes an 8-bar form for the verses and switches to a 16-bar form for the vocal interludes, during which Lottie hums while Winston Homes yodels   
In the "Octave G String" thread, http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?amp;Itemid=60&topic=2304.0, frankie identified the playing position of the Pruitt twin providing the accompaniment to "Wayward Girl Blues" as F in standard tuning, but with a high octave B string substituted for the normal B string.  The sound of the guitar part on this song is altogether striking and original, utilizing in its simpler moments a backwards alternation of the bass (treble towards the bass), in which the thumb strikes the third string on the strong beats (1 and 3) and alternates to either the fifth or sixth string for the weaker beats (2 and 4).  This is akin to the alternation pattern used by Rev. Gary Davis on some of his C tunes, like "Candyman" or "I Belong to the Band".  The Pruitt twin takes the effect even further, though, by occasionally doing the backwards alternation as a reverse thumb roll, with the thumb striking 1+ or 3+, with the + of the beat accented as it moves towards the bass, rather than simply landing on the beat all the time.  And as if all this was not enough, Miles or Milas also quite often does hammers, either into his downbeats or starting on his downbeats.  The over-all effect of the tuning, the approach to keeping time, and the rhythmic accenting is unique in the idiom, and that can be said of very few performances in this or any other musical style.  The feel is almost like calypso, and how it would have arrived in Kansas City in 1926 or was arrived at independently, I expect we will never know.

Lottie Beaman's singing is terrific here and her emotional identification with the lyric content is altogether believable.  Whether or not the lyrics spoke to an actual event in her life, she fully imagines and communicates the feeling.  Winston Homes' spoken interjections fortunately did not catch on in the style in a broader sense, but his yodeling on Lottie's hummed chorus really works well, as well or possibly even better than it did on "Lost Lover Blues".  After the initial spoken exchanges between Holmes and Kimbrough, I'll show his later spoken interjections in bent brackets.

https://youtu.be/I8he-yirtj0

   Holmes, spoken:  Yee hoo!  Hello, Lottie.  Let's go down to the cabaret tonight and have a big time!
   Kimbrough, spoken:  Oh, I can't do it, buddy, I'm all in.
   Holmes:  Why, what's the matter?
   Kimbrough:  I've got the blues.
   Holmes:  Why, tell me about it.

   I've got the blues from my mother's knee
   And I know she's got the blues for me  <Hey, hey>

   I've been thinking all day, thinking of the past
   And I'm thinking of my mother last <Oh, Lord!>

   I received a letter, what do you suppose it read?  <What'd it say?>
   Says, "Come home, your poor old mother's dead."  <What'd you do?>

   Then I grabbed a train, I went home a-flying
   She wasn't dead but she was slowly dying

   Said, "Run here, daughter, fall down on your knees.
   Won't you sing "Nearer My God to Thee"?"

   Fell on my knees, I began to moan
   "Yes, dear mother, I'll try to sing that song."

   HUMMED/YODELED VOCAL INTERLUDE

   GUITAR SOLO:

   The tears rolled down like the black showers of rain
   "Goodbye, mother, I won't see you again."

   Then I scampered away with fear in my heart
   I had no mother here to take my part

   HUMMED/YODELED VOCAL INTERLUDE

Edited 5/31 to pick up correction from Alexei and John D.

All best,
Johnm


   
           
Title: Re: Lottie Beaman/Kimbrough Lyrics
Post by: Alexei McDonald on May 31, 2009, 02:30:54 AM
I've always heard that first line as "I've got the blues for my mother's knee".
Title: Re: Lottie Beaman/Kimbrough Lyrics
Post by: Johnm on May 31, 2009, 10:29:00 AM
Hi Alexei,
That is the way I always heard it too, until recently.  I'm not altogether convinced I hear the "d" at the end of "need", though it makes more sense than "knee", I think.  I'm curious, what do other folks hear?  I will change it to "knee" if noone else hears "need".
All best,
Johnm
Title: Re: Lottie Beaman/Kimbrough Lyrics
Post by: Slack on May 31, 2009, 11:36:50 AM
I hear "knee" - I think it is a variation of getting life lessons from your mother - the more common phrase being 'at my mothers knee'.  I also think she is saying "from my mother's knee"  even though the word "from" sounds like "fa" or "fahm" (I think I can hear an "m" ending) --- "from my mothers knee" makes perfect sense.
Title: Re: Lottie Beaman/Kimbrough Lyrics
Post by: Johnm on May 31, 2009, 08:56:56 PM
I think you guys are right.  Thanks, Alexei and John D., I will make the change.
All best,
Johnm
Title: Re: Lottie Beaman/Kimbrough Lyrics
Post by: waxwing on June 01, 2009, 12:17:08 AM
I'm not sure why "from" makes more sense that "for". To me, either could make sense:

"I've got the blues from my mother's knee" would mean 'I've had the blues since my childhood experiences with my mother'. Certainly understandable. I guess you could even say that it implies that she's had the blues since she left her mother, i.e., "from" the time I left "my mother's knee", maybe?

"I've got the blues for my mother's knee" would mean 'I miss being at my mother's knee'

Contextually, I'd go with "for", but I don't have a copy to listen to.

Wax
Title: Re: Lottie Beaman/Kimbrough Lyrics
Post by: banjochris on June 01, 2009, 11:33:27 AM
"I've got the blues from my mother's knee" would mean 'I've had the blues since my childhood experiences with my mother'.

It also could mean that the blues was passed down from her mother along with all the other words of wisdom/experiences passed down from mother to daughter, that she means she learned about the blues -- her mother prepared her well for her current circumstances.
Chris
Title: Re: Lottie Beaman/Kimbrough Lyrics
Post by: dj on June 01, 2009, 01:52:30 PM
I've got to plead audio ignorance here, as I don't have the song in question, but just reading the text makes a strong case that it should be "for my mother's knee" for two reasons:

I've got the blues from my mother's knee
And I know she's got the blues for me  <Hey, hey>

I've been thinking all day, thinking of the past
And I'm thinking of my mother last <Oh, Lord!>

The first reason is contained entirely in the first verse, where "for my mother's..." in the first line would parallel the construction "she's got the blues for me" in the second line and emphasize the relationship between the two women.

The second reason is the first line of the second verse, "I've been thinking all day, thinking about the past", which explains why the singer has the blues for her mother.
 
Title: Re: Lottie Beaman/Kimbrough Lyrics
Post by: Johnm on March 21, 2012, 04:31:26 PM
Hi all,
Lottie Kimbrough recorded "Blue World Blues" at a session in Richmond, Indiana on August 21, 1928.  The song was the only one of the five recorded that day that did not feature one or both of the Pruitt twins providing accompaniment.  For "Blue World Blues", Lottie was backed by an unknown cornet player and unknown pianist, both very adept.  Boy, was she a great singer!  Her version of the second verse, which was to appear in slightly modified versions in many later recordings, may have been the earliest recorded version.  I really can not hear the last word(s?) of the song and would appreciate any assistance with the bent bracketed passage.

https://youtu.be/8cOjP_Bm-7A

   Just wandering around in this old blue world
   Just wandering around in this old blue world
   Waiting for St. Peter's call, I'll take mine out above

   If I call you, daddy, and you refuse to come
   If I call you, daddy, and you refuse to come
   I said, Hot Springs water sure won't help you none
 
   Give your heart to God, better run and hide from me
   Give your heart to God, better run and hide from me
   Or you may be crawlin' down on your hands and knees

   He came home last night, had the nerve to ask me out
   Came home last night, had nerve to ask me out
   And I didn't know what it was all about

   SOLO (Spoken during solo:  Ah, play it!)

   Sending my daddy a message of good news
   Sending my daddy a message of good news
   I've made up with him, and now we're thirty-eight and blue

Edited 3/21 to pick up correction from Gumbo
Edited 3/22 to pick up correction from uncle bud

All best,
Johnm
Title: Re: Lottie Beaman/Kimbrough Lyrics
Post by: Gumbo on March 21, 2012, 04:44:35 PM
I'd say it sounds like "38 and blue", John, though I'm blowed if I know what it means .....
Title: Re: Lottie Beaman/Kimbrough Lyrics
Post by: Johnm on March 21, 2012, 04:59:41 PM
Good on you, Gumbo, and thanks very much for you help!  I reckon you've got it, though I agree the meaning is impenetrable to me, too.  I will make the change.
All best,
Johnm
Title: Re: Lottie Beaman/Kimbrough Lyrics
Post by: Gumbo on March 21, 2012, 05:43:10 PM
I'm glad to be able to contribute some now and then, John. :)

Almost every verse of this song leaves me with a feeling of a mystery to be unravelled.
Title: Re: Lottie Beaman/Kimbrough Lyrics
Post by: uncle bud on March 22, 2012, 07:49:35 AM
For the last verse, I wonder if it's not:

Sending my daddy a message of good NEWS
Sending my daddy a message of good NEWS
I've made up with him, and now we're thirty-eight and blue

Lottie sings the last word of the first lines quite low and it's not that clear but I hear an EW sound.

As for "thirty-eight and blue". Perhaps it is related to Walter Taylor's usage in "Thirty-Eight and Plus". It's meaning in that song is a mystery to me as well.


Title: Re: Lottie Beaman/Kimbrough Lyrics
Post by: Johnm on March 22, 2012, 08:11:38 AM
Thanks for that catch, uncle bud.  You are certainly right, it is "news" at the end of those first two lines of the last verse.  I will make the change.  Interesting that the line talking about "38" appeared elsewhere in a slightly different form.
All best,
Johnm
Title: Re: Lottie Beaman/Kimbrough Lyrics
Post by: dj on March 22, 2012, 08:31:27 AM
If someone has a reference on the meaning of policy numbers at hand, that might throw some light on the meaning of 38.
Title: Re: Lottie Beaman/Kimbrough Lyrics
Post by: Slack on March 22, 2012, 08:44:03 AM
At first I thought 38 and blue was reference to the hand gun - as in 38 Special and color of the steel.

But she makes up with him at the end and so you would think she would no longer want to shoot him!  :P

Title: Re: Lottie Beaman/Kimbrough Lyrics
Post by: crustypicker on January 28, 2015, 08:51:47 PM
i've been trying to figure what position she's playing out of on rolling log blues. sounds like there's 2 guitars on it maybe one in d position and one in e?
Title: Re: Lottie Beaman/Kimbrough Lyrics
Post by: Johnm on January 28, 2015, 09:01:10 PM
Hi crustypicker,
I believe it is one guitarist, playing out of E position in standard tuning, but with a high octave G string substituted for the normal G string.
All best,
Johnm
Title: Re: Lottie Beaman/Kimbrough Lyrics
Post by: crustypicker on January 28, 2015, 09:23:31 PM
you tune the g string to a higher octave? wow its one guitar that is amazing.
Title: Re: Lottie Beaman/Kimbrough Lyrics
Post by: Johnm on January 28, 2015, 09:29:27 PM
Yes, you substitute a very light gauge string for the normal G string and tune it to the pitch of the first string, third fret.
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