Country Blues > Country Blues Lyrics
Robert Petway Lyrics
Johnm:
Hi all,
Robert Petway accompanied himself out of G position in standard tuning for his recording of "Sleepy Woman Blues". He had such a strong driving sound working out of that position. I've not heard his usage "sleep me" used elsewhere. Here is his performance:
SOLO
Well, she sleeps me in the mornin', baby, well, she sleeps me late at night
Well, she sleeps me in the mornin', baby, well, she sleeps me late at night
She sleep me so long now, little woman, I b'lieve to my soul you ain't treatin' me right
Sleeps me so long now, little daddy, she b'lieve to my soul I'm dead (Spoken: Yes, yes!)
Sleep me so long now, baby, she b'lieve to her soul I'm dead
Way you treat me now, baby, I b'lieve it done gone to my head
Don't sleep me so long, baby, 'til I can't teach you right from wrong
Don't sleep me so long, baby, I can not teach you right from wrong
Reason I love you now, little woman, 'cause you done been here but now you're gone
(Spoken: Yes, yes! Play it now for 'em there, partner!)
SOLO
Keep on sleepin' me now, baby, oh well, you sure ain't gonna call it right
Keep on sleepin' now, baby, oh well, you ain't gonna call it right
Catch you sleepin' now, little woman, I said, wit' your kidman at night
All best,
Johnm
Johnm:
Hi all,
Robert Petway backed himself out of E position in standard tuning for his recording of "Catfish Blues", certainly one of the strongest performances ever recorded in the genre. It's impossible for me to imagine how his rendition could be any better. The way his vocal and the guitar interact and respond to each other is masterful and so exciting. He pronounces "any" "anna" in his final verse. Like all of Petway's recorded repertoire, it concludes with a fade-out. Here is his performance:
Well, I laid down, down last night
Well, I tried to take my rest
Notion struck me last night, babe, I'll b'lieve I
Take your stroll out West, take your stroll out West
Take your stroll out West
Take a stroll out West, take a stroll out West
What if I were a catfish, mama,
I says, swimmin' deep down in, deep blue sea
I b'lieve the gals, now sweet mama, settin' out
Settin' out hooks for poor me, settin' out hooks for 'oor me,
Settin' out hooks for poor me
Settin' out hook for me, settin' out hook for me
Settin' out hook for me
Well, I went down, (spoken: yes!), down to the churchhouse, (spoken: yes!)
Well, I [sic] called on me to pray
Fell on my knees now, mama, I didn't know a darn
Not a word to say, not a word to say
Not a word to --, not a word to --
Not a word to say, not a word to say
Not a word to say
(Spoken: Play 'em, man, play 'em a long time!)
LONG TIME
I'm gwonna write, write me a letter, baby,
I'm gonna write it, just to see
See if my babe, my baby, do she think any
Little old thing of poor me, little old thing of poor me
Little old thing of poor me
Little old thing of me, little old thing of me
Ho, little thing of me
Edited 2/22 to pick up corrections from Waxwing and Johnm
All best,
Johnm
waxwing:
Catfish Blues is a song I've spent some time with. A few suggestions:
2.2 WHAT if I WERE a catfish, mama
2.3 HAVE THESE GALS, now sweet mama, settin' out
Pronounced "hava these gals." Either way I don't hear a "the" between the long E syllable ("b'lieve" or "these") and "gals".
2.6 Pretty sure that's a typo where you have "knook" (also maybe an extra "for" in 2.4)
3.2 Well I called on me to pray
Hard to discern really.
3.5 Repeats "Not a word to --" another time. (One of the places he violates the "threes".)
4.3 See (no "if") my babe, my baby, do she THINKIN' OF
4.4-7 Throughout here I think he sings "think" not "thing", and it might be "think on" instead of "think of". I see different meanings here, perhaps. Either he is wondering if she thinks about him, or he is writing to be sure she thinks about him. One is a more passive stance, the other proactive.
It's really hard to hear many of his consonants throughout the song, and colloquial locutions can be pretty confusing too. I think coming up with a definitive transcription on this one is pretty tough.
Wax
Johnm:
Thanks very much for the lyric fix suggestions, Wax. I took the 2.1 suggestion, it matched the sound better than what I had. For 2.3, I'm hearin' "b'lieve" very clearly in the front end of the line, but agree it is "gals" rather than "gal". You were right about the typos, and I fixed them. In 3.2, I agree that the sound at the front end of the line is more like "I" than "they", though it makes no sense, and everyone else who has sung the verse sings "they" in the corresponding place. I put "I" as you had it, both for the sound, and because Robert Petway has some pronoun confusion in his other lyrics, too. I added the additional "not a word to --" to verse three, as well. I kept the back end of verse four as I had it. I do hear an elided "if" in between "see" and "my", sort of "seei'". I like the idea of "think" in the last part of the verse, but don't hear that sound at all. I think the transition into that as you suggest "do she thinkin' of" is very awkward, especially the "do she thinkin'" portion.
These suggestions were all so closely heard. Thanks for your close listening and catching my typos. I certainly work too fast on occasion. I incorporated all of your suggested changes as indicated above and caught a couple of things that I had missed on the first go-round, too. Thanks.
All best,
Johnm
Chezztone:
I think verse 2 is "Well if I..", same as other verses, rather than "What if I."
And in verse 3, "I crawled on knee to pray" rather than "I called on me..."
Thanks! Cheers, Chezz
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