Topic: Texas Alexander's Lyrics

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Texas Alexander recorded "She's So Fair" backed by the Mississippi Sheiks immediately following the recording of "Stealing to Her Man".  For "She's So Fair", the band returns to its favorite key, (at least when backing Texas Alexander) B flat.  I particularly like Alexander's tag line for the third verse.  I had never heard it before.  Alexander had a phrasing mannerism that he used on occasion of repeating a word in the tagline to verses.  He does that in the third and final verses here, and it's a device that builds intensity very effectively.



   I know you won't want me, woman, by the way you do
   I know you don't want me, woman, by the way you do
   Lord, the way you treat me, woman, com' back home for you

   It's T for Texas, T for Tennessee
   Ah, it's T for Texas, T for Tennessee
   It's T for my woman, she don't come back home to me

   I've got a little low woman, 'bout five feet from the ground
   I've got a little low woman, five feet from the ground
   Says I love my woman, woman, from her necklace string on down

   You don't believe I love you, woman, look what a fool I've been
   You don't b'lieve I love you, woman, look what a fool I've been
   You don't b'lieve I love you, look what a shape I'm in

   SPOKEN, INTRODUCING SOLO:  Have your way


   Says, I wonder what's the matter, with my troublesome mind?
   Says, I wonder what's the matter with my troublesome mind?
   Lord, it must be trouble, trouble, else I wouldn't be here a-cryin'

Edited 5/14 to pick up correction from WhiskyMan

All best,
Johnm
   

[dingwall]

Just a thought on 'Deep Blue Sea Blues'.

"I'm goin' to be arraigned, gonna sign my initial down."

It is clearest (if that is the word!) in the first line.   It does make sense, too.

[Johnm]

Thanks for the suggestion re "Deep Blue Sea Blues", dingwall.  You're right, "be arraigned" does make sense with the tail end of that line.  It makes less sense with the tagline, which is usually used with an opening line in which the singer threatens to move elsewhere.  The existence of Barry, Texas in fairly close proximity to Dallas makes it a tough call.  As for the sound of it, I can make my ears hear "be arraigned" in the first singing of the line, as you say; in the repetition of the line, I can't hear it at all.  In neither line do you get a long E sound for the word "be".
I think the sense in terms of signing his initials down tilts the interpretation in favor of "be arraigned", since he wouldn't need to sign his initials down to go to Barry.  I will make the change.
Thanks also for the suggested corrections on the John Estes lyric thread.  I will work my way through them soon.  It's kind of time-intensive work, as you know.
all best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Yet another song that Texas Alexander recorded on June 9, 1930 with the backing of the Mississippi Sheiks was "Rolling And Stumbling Blues".  For this and several of the other songs the Sheiks backed Alexander on, Walter Vinscon does a nifty variation on the 12-bar form, much favored by Leecan & Cooksey, in which he substitutes a VI7 chord for the I chord normally played in the eighth bar and a II7 chord for the V7 chord normally played in the ninth bar.  The substitutions give the song a raggy sound.
Alexander really sings the hell out of this one.  He draws out the ending of the word "you" at the end of the opening line of the third verse, and the same thing with "know" at the end of the opening line of the last verse, in a way that gets to you.  His tagline on the next to last verse is striking, in the sexually frank style he employed throughout his career.



   This life I'm living, so unhappy to me
   This life I'm living, so unhappy to me
   I'm gonna get me another woman, so I will be well-pleased

   A good life to live, I'm just as wild about
   Boys, a good life to live, I'm just so wild about
   I'm gonna get me another woman, so I can live right

   You had me, woman, settin' on the bed with you
   I say, you had me settin' on the bed with you
   Say, your mind comes to ramblin' and you didn't know what to do

   SPOKEN, TO INTRODUCE SOLO:  Have your way

   I've been rollin', I've been stumblin', I've been fallin' for the last five, six long weeks
   I've been rollin' 'n' stumblin' for the last five, six long weeks
   Some man's taken my woman, I can see where he's dirtied my sheets

   I've been a good man, all you women know
   Says, I've been a good man, all the women know
   Says, I give one hundred dollars for my woman, a suit of clothes

All best,
Johnm
   
 

[Johnm]

Hi all,
"Frost Texas Tornado Blues" is an unusual topical blues that Texas Alexander recorded with the Mississippi Sheiks.  The second verse suggests that if Alexander got scared enough he was capable of getting religion.  He had a habit of shortening up his opening lines when he repeated them;  you can see it here and in many of his other songs.  Alexander's singing of the opening line of the last verse is wonderfully rhythmic, really funky.



   I was settin' and lookin', way out across the world
   I was settin', lookin', way out across the world
   Says, the wind had sands twistin' almost in a swirl

   Says, I've been a good fella just as good as I can be
   Says, I've been a good fella, good as I can be
   Says, it's Lord, have mercy, Lord have mercy on me

   Hum 8 bars
   Says, I've been a good fella, just as good as a man could be

   SPOKEN, BEFORE SOLO:  Have your way

   Some lost their babies, were thrown for two, three miles around
   Some lost their babies, thrown for two, three miles around
   When they come to thei' right mind, they come on back to town

   The roosters was crowin', cows was lowin', never heard such a noise before
   Oh, oh, Lordy Lord
   Said, it seemed like Hell was broke out in this place below

All best,
Johnm

[mmpresti]

I don't find anything irreligious about Texas Alexander. It sounds like he was a devout Texas Alexandrian. In Texas or elsewhere...

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Texas Alexander recorded "Prairie Dog Hole Blues" at a session in San Antonio on April 9, 1934 for which he was backed by "His Sax Black Tams", a combo consisting of an un-named pianist, guitarist, and on this number, clarinetist.  The guitarist, who is flat-picking out of C a bit low-tuned, does not sound to be any of the guitar accompanists used by Alexander on his other sessions.  The clarinetist really works well with Alexander, and the swingy-sounding combo suits Alexander's singing quite well.
After the opening verse, the finest blues lyric ever to mention a prairie dog's hole, Alexander moves on to verses that he was to use six months later in "Justice Blues" and 16 years later in "Bottoms Blues".  Because of Alexander's vocal volume relative to his accompaniment and the quality of the records used on the "Texas Alexander, Vol. 3" re-issue, his lyrics are easier to hear on "Prairie Dog Hole Blues" than on "Justice Blues".  Hearing his tagline on the third verse makes it apparent that the mystery pronoun in "Justice Blues" where the "th" sound was elided was the word "our".  I will make the change back there.  Alexander employs a neat phrasing device in this recording.  For the third verse, he hums the first four bars of the pass, and for the the last eight bars of the form reverses the order of his tag and opening lines from the previous verse.  For the concluding verse, he lets the clarinet finish the final four bars of the pass.



   I'm going out in West Texas, jump in a prairie dog's hole
   I'm going out in West Texas, jump in a prairie dog's hole
   If I don't find my baby, I ain't comin' here no more

   I cried, "Lord, my Father, Lord, thy kingdom come"
   I cried, "Lord, my Father, Lord, thy kingdom come"
   "Send me back my baby, and my will be done"

   Uhhh, uhh, eee, uhhh,
   Send me back my baby, then my will be done
   I said, "Lord, our Father, Lord, our kingdom come"

   CLARINET SOLO: 

   Says, I went to church and the people all called on me to pray
   I say, I went to church and they called on me to pray
   I set down on my knees and forgot just what to say

   Uhh, umm, uh, oh, uhh
   Lord, I fell on my knees and forgot just what to say
   CLARINET FINISHES PASS

All best,
Johnm

   
 
 

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Texas Alexander and His Sax Black Tams recorded "Worried Blues" at their April 9, 1934 session in San Antonio.  Alexander returns to lyrics that he used my years earlier for the second verse.  The "safety first" line was used by Sara Martin in a tune she recorded with Sylvester Weaver in the mid '20s.  The unnamed pianist does a great move in the fill following the line, "Every time that evenin' sun go down":  he plays a series of ascending chords moving in contrary motion to the sun--pretty slick.



   Some people say, worried blues, they ain't bad
   Some people say, worried blues, they ain't bad
   But it's the worst old feeling, I 'most ever had

   Brownskin women are evil, yellow gal, she is worse
   Lord, a brownskin woman are evil, yellow gal, she is worse
   I'm gonna get myself a black woman, then play safety first

   Uhh, umm, eee, umm, uhh
   Get myself a black gal, then play safety first
   CLARINET FINISHES PASS

   CLARINET SOLO:

   Every time that evening sun go down
   Ahh, every time that evening sun goes down
   Makes me think I'm on my last go-round

   Uh, umm, eee, um, uh
   Lord, every time that evening sun go down
   Puts me on a wonder, make me think it's my last go-round

All best,
Johnm 

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Texas Alexander recorded "Mistreatin' Woman" in San Antonio on April 9, 1934, backed by His Sax Black Tams.  He sounded almost surprisingly comfortable backed by this more modern-sounding ensemble, especially since it was almost four years since he had last been in the studio.
In the opening line of verse three, Alexander smears "how I" together.  He does a lot of simplification and shortening in his repetitions of his opening lines.  Alexander used the last verse of "Mistreatin' Woman" to open the next song he recorded in the session, and with the insertion there of the word "from" between "hearin'" and "my", the sense of the verse comes through better.  Here he uses "I've" in his own fashion, too.



   She had me sittin', thinkin' I'd wait for her
   She had me sittin', thinkin' I'd wait for her
   My mind comes to ramblin' like the stars above

   She's a mean old woman, won't do right no way
   She's a mean old woman, won't do right no way
   I'm gonna take my baby right back home and stay

   Says, I wonder what's the matter how I can't get no mail
   I wonder what's the matter how I can't get no mail
   Lord, it musta been, musta been, a black cat crossed my trail

   Sometime I think my baby's got it all
   Sometime I think my babe have got it all
   You can hear me howl, "Oh Lord, oh Lord!"

   CLARINET SOLO:

   Lord, I was sittin' here wonderin', "What in the world is gonna come of poor me?"
   I was sittin' here wonderin', "What's gonna come of poor me?"
   How I've can't get no hearin', my old time used-to-be

All best,
Johnm

   

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Texas Alexander and His Black Tams recorded "Polo Blues" on April 9, 1934.  The Black Tams' wind player switches to alto sax for "Polo Blues" and he sounds great.  The  "polo" of the title is not the horseman's game, but rather, according to Paul Oliver's liner notes for "Texas Alexander, Volume 3", "a "polled" animal whose horns had been removed so that its "strength" would go into beef and milk".

 

   I was settin' here wonderin', "What's in the world the matter with me?"
   I was settin' here wonderin', "What in the world is the matter with me?"
   I can't get no hearin' from my old-time used-to-be

   She's at home with her mammy, she stays on my mind
   At home with her mammy, she stays on my mind
   Lord, she keep me wonderin', almost runnin' and cryin'

   Uhh, uhh, uhh, ooo, ooo, uh (8 bars)
   She almost runnin', wringin' my hands and cryin'

   ALTO SAX SOLO:

   You can hand me my pistol, shotgun and some shells
   Uhh, get me my pistol, shotgun and some shells
   I'm gonna kill my woman, send the poor gal to Hell

   Get your milk from a polo, cream from a Jersey cow
   Get your milk from a polo, cream from a Jersey cow
   Your pigmeat from your pig, your bacon from a no-good sow

   ALTO SAX SOLO

All best,
Johnm

   

[Johnm]

Hi all,
"Blues In My Mind" is the first tune that Texas Alexander recorded with His Sax Black Tams on April 9, 1934.  It has a Pop-tune type feel and progression, but certainly not a Pop-tune type of construction.  The only members of the ensemble who seem relatively sure of what is going on are the clarinetist and the almost-inaudible guitarist.  The pianist seems no more certain of the song's structure than does Alexander.  The lyrics are kind of a dog's breakfast, stringing together Pop and Blues cliches in a way that leads nowhere in particular.  The phrase "in a strain" may be peculiar to Texas Alexander; I don't recall hearing it elsewhere.



   Where shall I go?  How must I roam?
   If she left me with these Blues in my mind
   I can not go away, have not a word to say
   I'm cryin' with tears in my eyes
   How can I lose, with these things I use?
   If she left me with these Blues in my mind

   I'm goin' away, if I don't stay first one day
   I'm cryin' with tears in my eyes
   Since my babe been gone, she have left me all alone
   But still she left me with those Blues in my mind

   CLARINET SOLO

   I have tried in vain to never more to call your name
   You left me all in a strain
   Since my babe been gone, she have almost told me wrong
   But still you left me, with those Blues in my mind

   CLARINET OUTRO

All best,
Johnm   

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Texas Alexander recorded "Cross Roads" at his last session, with Benton's Busy Bees, consisting of Buster Pickens on piano and Leon Benton on guitar accompanying him.  The session was in Houston in 1950, and it was sixteen years since Alexander had been in the studio.  The ensemble sound is pretty tough, and Benton, in particular, sounds fairly clueless.  It is somewhat reassuring to find via Paul Oliver's liner notes to "Texas Alexander, Volume 3" that Buster Pickens was not pleased with the session. 
Despite all that, Alexander retains a lot of his earlier vocal glory, though he must have been a very ill man at this point, with tertiary syphillis, from which he was to die in a couple of years.  The opening verse may have come from Robert Johnson; I don't know how wide a currency it had in the post-War era.  Leroy Carr used the opening line of the last verse, but concluded it, "Don't lose your temper, when you've been drinkin' booze."



   Lord, I was standin' at the crossroad, I was tryin' my best to get a ride
   I was standin' at the crossroad, I was tryin' my best to get a ride
   Nobody seemed to know me, everybody was passin' by

   Don't a man feel bad when all he's got is gone?
   Don't a man feel bad, people, when all he's got is gone?
   I haven't got nobody, holdin' on my right arm
   
   Mama told me when I was a little boy, at home playin' in the sand
   Mama told me when I was a little boy, down home, playin' in the sand
   She said, "Be a good long time, Texas, before you get to be a man."
 
   If I just had listened to what my mama said
   If I just had-a listened to what my mama said
   Yeah, I'da been at home asleep in mama's feather bed

   You have a woman that you really hate to lose
   You have any-a woman, I say, a woman you really hate to lose
   Yeah, I had a little woman, I gave her all my money, too

All best,
Johnm
   

[banjochris]

The phrase "in a strain" may be peculiar to Texas Alexander; I don't recall hearing it elsewhere.

The Mississippi Sheiks have a song, "Livin' in a Strain," (on Vol. 2 of the Documents) that uses that phrase in the same way. That's the only other one I can think of -- the Sheiks' song is really a good one, too.
Chris

[Johnm]

Thanks for that information, Chris.  Maybe Alexander picked up the usage from the Sheiks, or vice versa.
All best,
Johnm

[Bunker Hill]

Hi all,
Texas Alexander recorded "Cross Roads" at his last session, with Benton's Busy Bees, consisting of Buster Pickens on piano and Leon Benton on guitar accompanying him.  The session was in Houston in 1950, and it was sixteen years since Alexander had been in the studio.  The ensemble sound is pretty tough, and Benton, in particular, sounds fairly clueless. 

As an aside the 78 (Freedom 153) was noted in Mike Rowe's "Rare Post War Records" series in Blues Unlimited (issue 126 Sept/Oct 1977, p.7) as there being only two known copies.

Wonder if any more have surfaced in the past three decades.