Anyone else hear a melodic similarity between Baby Please Don't Go and Another Man Done Gone?
I'll admit I was able to cheat a bit by searching my google play files for versions
One more Joe Williams version, this time with Williamson, Ransom Knowling and Judge Riley in 1945
Down in New Orleans
Down in New Orleans:
Well the girl I love she take the cold ice cream,
She down in New Orleans
Now your man done gone (x3)In the same field trip Courlander recorded a woman identified only as Cora. Her version echoes Big Joe's geographical reference a long way from Livingston.
To the county farm
Now your man done gone
Baby please don't go (x3)
Back to Baltimore
Baby please don't go
Turn your lamp down low (3)
And baby please don't go
Baby please don't go
You know I love you so (3)
And baby please don't go
Baby please don't go
I beg you all night long (3)
And the night before
Baby please don't go
Now your man done gone (3)
From the county farm
Now your man done gone
Baby please don't go (x3)
Back to Baltimore
Baby please don't go
I'm goin' to walk your log (3)
And if you throw me off
I'm goin' to walk your log
Got me way down here (3)
By the Rolling Fork
Treat me like a dog
Baby Please don't go
While he (Willie Turner) sings a melody that closely resembles hers, and his lyrics follow the same general pattern, he expresses a different sentiment. If Vera's performance seems more reflective, Turner's sounds more declarative. His personalised approach suggest a greater blues influence, while hers, in its stillness and abstraction, inclines towards the spirituals. These styles correspond with the singers' respective performance environments. Turner sang this piece outside with an all-male road gang. Vera, meanwhile, has taken whatever she heard from her convict play on the guitar, and fitted it stylistically into her domestic and church house repertory. Turner makes a statement of masculine loss, while Vera conveys a message akin to a civil rights anthem.
Stood on the corner, feet got soaking wet
I was hollering and crying to every brown, to hell I'm at
I'm Alabama bound, I'm Alabama bound
Then if you want me to love you babe, you got to leave this town
When the rooster crowed, the hen looked around
Said if you want me to love you babe, you got to run me down
Look here pretty mama, who can your regular be
Says the reason I'm blacking out stalling babe, you been so good to me
There's a preacher in the pulpit, Bible in his hand
And the sisters was back in the amen corner, hollering that's my man
Now the boat's up the river, can't be floated down
But she's way on south now darling babe, Alabama bound
Just like a beefsteak beefsteak, ain't got no bone
Then if a man like a good brownskin woman now babe, he ain't got no home
Elder Green's in town, and he's going around
And he's telling all the sisters and the brothers he meets, he's Alabama bound
Now don't you leave me here, don't you leave me here
Just before you and your partner get ready to go, leave a dime for beer
I?m Alabama bound,
Alabama bound,
If you like me, sweet baby,
You gotta leave this town.
When that rooster crowed,
When the hen ran around,
If you want my love, sweet babe,
You?ve got to run me down.
She said, ?Don?t you leave me here,
Don?t leave me here,
But, sweet papa, if you just must go,
Leave a dime for beer.?
I said, ?Sweet mama babe,
Sweet mama babe,
If you must stay,
I?ll be gone for days and days.?
Papa Harvey Hull and Long "Cleve" Reed (The Down Home Boys) sang a similar Don't You Leave Me Here
www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPo6_ekG4fgQuoteSpoken: All right, boy, let's go back home
Alabama bound
Alabama bound
If the boat don't sink and the stack don't drown
Alabama bound
Boats up the river, runnin' side by side
Well, you got my lovin', kind sweet babe, guess you're satisfied
Don't you leave me here
Don't you leave me here
Well, I don't mind you goin', sweet lovin' babe
Leave a dollar for beer
Spoken: Hey, hey! Let's go, boys
How long, how long, has this train been gone?
How long, how long, sweet lovin' babe, has this train been gone?
Kate Adams got ways, just like a man
Well, she steals a woman, sweet lovin' babe, everywhere she land
Alabama bound
Alabama bound
If the boat don't sink and the stack don't drown
Alabama bound
Can you tell me how long, Jackson to McComb?
Well, it's fifteen miles, sweet lovin' babe, maybe, to my home
Don't you leave me here
Don't you leave me here
Well, I don't mind you goin', sweet lovin', babe, leave a dime for beer
Alabama bound
Alabama bound
If the boat don't sink and the stack don't drown
Alabama bound
Spoken: Oh, do it, boys
Alabama bound
Baby, turned around
If the boat don't sink and the stack don't drown
Alabama bound...
[See the Forum thread Composer/ publisher credits of the song: Don't You Leave Me Here]
Henry Thomas introduced one or both of the two theme as a chorusQuoteDon't leave, don't you leave : Don't you leave me hereYouTube doesn't have this, but I've now attached a sound file.
It's all night long, sweet mama : Don't leave me here
I was standing on the corner : a‑talking to my brown
I turned around sweet mama : I was workhouse bound
Don't leave, don't you leave : Don't you leave me here
It's all night long, sweet mama : Don't leave me here
I'm Alabama bound : I'm Alabama Bound
It's all night long, sweet mama: I'm Alabama bound
Says I've got a girl : and she working hard
She had a dress she wear loving babe : says it's pink and blue
She bring me coffee : and she bring me tea
She bring me everything : except the jailhouse key
Don't leave, don't you leave : Don't you leave me here
It's all night long, sweet mama : Don't leave me here
Yes I'm going away : and it won't be long
Just sure as the train leaves out of the yard : she's Alabama bound
Don't leave, don't you leave : Don't you leave me here
It's all night long, sweet mama : Don't leave me here
I'm going away : and it won't be long
Just ease your train loving' babe : I'm Alabama bound
Don't leave, don't you leave : Don't you leave me here
It's all night long, sweet mama : Don't leave me here
Says the boat's up the river : and she won't come down
I believe to my soul pretty mama : she's water bound
I look to the east : and I look to the west
If she heads to the South great God : she's Alabama bound
Don't leave, don't you leave : Don't you leave me here
It's all night long, sweet mama : Don't leave me here
Alabama bound : Alabama bound
It's all night long, sweet papa : Don't leave me here
YouTube does have a later re-working Don't Ease Me In which is musically the same but without the Alabama Bound refrain.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq-tNhtrkF4
Jelly Roll Morton also reworked Alabama Bound as recorded for the Library of Congress, and recorded this version as Don't You Leave Me Here ? with a band, and as this beautiful solo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jr2uNbctVFUQuoteDon't you leave me here
Don't you leave me here
If you just must go, sweet babe
Leave me a dime for beer
And the rooster crowed
The hen run around
She said if you want my fricassee
You gotta run me down
Never had
No one woman at a time
I always had
Six seven eight or nine
Don't you leave me here
Blind Lemon Jefferson recorded Elder Green's In Town, but it was never issued. But we do have Charley Patton's Elder Greene Blues ? which doesn't actually include the other two themes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UsXd14iVeI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UsXd14iVeI)QuoteGreen is? Elder Green is gone[I'm very dubious about 'Molly Cunningham', but whatever he sings sound like what Henry Thomas sings on Don't Ease Me In ? just possibly It's all night long Cunningham.]
Gone way down the country with his long coat on
With his long coat on (2)
Gone way down the country with his long coat on
Elder Green told the Deacon, ?Let?s go down in Prayer
There?s a big ?sociation in New Orleans, come and let?s go there
Come and let?s go there (2)
There?s a big ?sociation in New Orleans, come and let?s go there
I love to fuss and fight (2)
Lord and get sloppy drunk off a Bottle an? Bond
And walk the streets all night
And walk the streets all night (2)
Lord and get sloppy drunk off a Bottle an? Bond
And walk the streets all night?
Elder Green told the deacon, ?Settle down in prayer
You can tak the thing I got
Almost anywhere, yeah most anywhere
You can take all summer and walk anywhere.?
Elder Green is gone. Elder Green is gone
Gone way down the country with his long coat on
If you?ve got a woman, or raise her to your hand
Keep away from my woman, Molly ?ham is lonesome
Molly Cunningham
Molly Cunningham (2)
Keep away from my woman, Molly ?ham is lonesome, Molly?
I love to fuss and fight (2)
Lord and get sloppy drunk off a Bottle an? Bond
And walk the streets at night
Although some performances are more elaborate, they all seem to have at their base the same structure. In British English we call it a eight-bar blues ? I believe Americans would say eight measures. This is split into four musical units, three of them split between vocal phrase and instrumental phrase. At its simplest:
Alabama bound : INSTRUMENT
Alabama bound : INSTRUMENT
If the boat don't sink and the tank don't drown
Alabama bound : INSTRUMENT
Slightly more complicated
Don't you leave me here : INSTRUMENT
Don't you leave me here : INSTRUMENT
But if you just must go, sweet babe
Leave a dollar for beer : INSTRUMENT
But this is also the structure of Baby Please Don't Go
Baby please don't go : INSTRUMENT
Baby please don't go : INSTRUMENT
Baby please don't go back to New Orleans
You know I love you so : INSTRUMENT
Another man done gone : INSTRUMENT
Another man done gone : INSTRUMENT
Another man done gone from the county farm
He had his shackles on : INSTRUMENT
A minor difference is that the opening lyric phrase is repeated as half of the third unit.
Vera Hall uses even more repetition. No instrument, of course, but effective pauses:
Another man done gone : PAUSE
Another man done gone : PAUSE
Another man done gone from the county farm
He had his shackles on : PAUSE
I'm gonna walk your log : PAUSE
I'm gonna walk your log : PAUSE
I'm gonna walk your log, I'm gonna walk your log
I'm gonna walk your log : PAUSE
Stephen Wade suggests another link between all these songs:QuoteLonging for another place, desiring different circumstances, and wishing not to be left behind figures in many of these pieces.
Someone else who definitely saw a connection between two of these songs was Big Joe Williams. His version of Don't You Leave Me Here uses the tune and arrangement, and a reworking of some of the lyrics of his Baby Pease Don't Go.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4JkcYV3MRo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4JkcYV3MRo)
Gospel singer does the blues, so what else is new? A lot, in 1951. Slow, slow version of Baby Please Don't Go,and you can feel the pain. Predicts the coming hysteria of Little Richard.