Topic: R. L. Burnside Lyrics

[pinspas]

Hi everybody,

Anyone have a lyricstranscription of "Long Haired Doney" from RL Burnside ..

Version from George Mitchell's recording will be a goog one... ;-)



Many thanks for your help...

Pin's

[Rivers]

Ah pinspas, welcome to WC.... but you have to work for it first! See the sticky at the top of this forum, first post, second paragraph. Here's the link: http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?amp;Itemid=128&topic=6575.0

[Johnm]

Hi all,
R. L. Burnside's recording of "See What My Buddy Done" can be found on "R. L. Burnside-Mississippi Hill Country Blues", Fat Possum 80341-2.  The song was recorded by Leo Bruin in the Netherlands in October of 1982.  Burnside accompanied himself out of A position in standard tuning for the song.  His approach on the guitar for the song is a combination of linear/melodic material and drones.  There are no chords or harmonic content, either in terms of sound or execution on the instrument.  In a way, he could just as well be accompanying himself on a dulcimer, and I make this point not in a pejorative way, but as an indication of at how great a remove his approach was from the Country Blues guitarists of the '20s and '30s, who with few exceptions based their left hand approach on chordal positions and what they could reach melodically from those chordal positions.  Rev. Gary Davis and R. L. Burnside, for all intents and purposes, did not play the same instrument. 
Not having chords frees Burnside from a lot of the formal conventions of the blues, such as the IV chord arriving in the fifth bar of a 12-bar blues form, or the V7 chord arriving in the ninth bar.  With these harmonic signposts removed, the song has much more of a feel of being in a particular place, based on pitch and scalar vocabulary, from beginning to end.  Indeed, the song does not roam outside of its parent scale melodically once, from the beginning to the end of Burnside's rendition.  Not having to hold down chords while playing melodic phrases makes it possible to phrase melodic ideas with a degree of nicety and inflective nuance that is next to impossible to achieve while also holding down chords. 
Meter does not count for much in this music.  The music is governed much more by phrase length and pulse.  Burnside does not keep time in any recurring, regular way with the thumb of his right hand, but his pulse is so strong that he can afford to have the thumb drop out in irregular ways and the listener's sense of pulse is not confused or in doubt in any way. 
Probably because of the lack of harmonic content and the droning, static quality of the scalar content, there is a trance-like effect.  It particularly suits this song, which has a dark subject matter.

Then I went up on the mountain, just to see what my buddy done
Then I went up on the mountain, just to see what my buddy done
Yeah, you know he shot his baby, poor boy refused to run

I asked him, was he sorry, you know the poor boy shook his head
Yeah, you know I asked him, was he sorry, poor boy shook his head
Yes, said, "The way she up and treat me, I believe she should've been dead."

Said, "Now you in trouble."  That didn't seem to bother his mind.
Yes, "Now you in trouble."  That didn't seem to bother his mind.
Say, "I shot my baby.  I believe I can do my time."

All best,
Johnm

   

[David Kaatz]

[Johnm]

Thanks for posting that, Dave.  I couldn't find any versions that matched the length of the one on the CD, but the one in the video you posted is the same one, despite the length being different.  How about that!  Thanks!
All best,
Johnm

[Slack]

Wow, thanks for posting, and your explanation Johnm... I had not heard this Burnside piece.  Burnside has always been a bit of a mystery to me. His great rhythmic sense is other worldly.  I'm going to have to think about A position, standard tuning, but no cords or harmonic content... for awhile.  It boggles....

[Johnm]

If you listen to the notes Burnside hits in the bass on the song, John D, you'll get a sense of how much more important the rhythmic placement of those notes is than is the pitch of the notes.  Sometimes he just hits the open A string, sometimes he hits just the open D string, sometimes just the open G string, sometimes he brushes the D and A together, open, and sometimes he brushes the D and G together, open.  I think the key phrase in describing the notes that he strikes with his right hand thumb is open strings, that is, something you can keep going underneath melodic riffing without having to fret a durn thing in the left hand.  Incidentally, I don't mean to imply that this is simple--it's far from simple, but it does seem to be very much feel-driven as opposed to concept-driven, so to be most successful at it, I suspect you have to get in the groove, love repetition with minor variations, and trust your impulses.  I reckon playing it a really long time helps, too.
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I realized that we have never posted a transcription of R. L. Burnside's first recording of "Goin' Down South" that George Mitchell did.  Here is a video of that performance, which Burnside played out of E position in standard tuning, but tuned way low:



I'm goin with you, babe
I'm goin with you, babe
I'm goin' with you, babe
I'm goin' with you, babe
I'm goin' with you, babe
I don't care where you go

I'm goin' down South
I'm goin' down South
I'm goin' down South
I'm goin' down South
I'm goin' down South
I'm goin' down South
I'm goin' down South
The chilly winds don't blow

I'd rather be dead
I'd rather be dead
I'd rather be dead
I'd rather be dead
I'd rather be dead
Or six feet in the ground

Some black man
Uh-some black man
Uh-some black man
Uh-some black man
Uh-some black man
Uh-some black man
Uh-some black man
Uh-always hangin' around

Goin'
Goin'
Goin'
I don't care where you go

I'm goin with you, babe
I'm goin with you, babe
I'm goin with you, babe
I'm goin with you, babe
I'm goin with you, babe
I'm goin with you, babe
I'm goin with you, babe
I'm goin with you, babe
I don't care where you go

All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
R. L. Burnside's recording of "Mellow Peaches" was first released on Leo Bruin's Swingmaster label.  The song had earlier been recorded by George Mitchell as "Peaches".  R. L. Burnside played the song out of Spanish tuning and gets a lot of mileage out of his signature lick, which is a great one.  Here is "Mellow Peaches":



INTRO

Don't your peaches, they look mellow, hangin' way up in your tree?
Don't your peaches, they look mellow, hangin' way up in your tree?
Yes, them are your yellow peaches, babe, I know they're sweet

I'm gon' get me a step ladder, baby, climb up on your top limb
I'm gon' make me a step ladder, baby, climb up on your top limb
Get them all, your yellow peaches, yeah, it's gonna be, too-bad-Jim

Every time I decide to climb your tree, babe, I wonder what make you smile
Every time I decide to climb your tree, babe, I wonder what make you smile
Get them all, your yellow peaches, babe, I know they're sweet and mild

All best,
Johnm

[JAC]

Hi everybody!!

I was working on that great song but I can't get the job finish, can somebody help me, please?



Poor Black Mattie ain't got a change in clothes
Full got drunk, close that door
Poor Black Mattie ain't got a change in clothes

Need no heater fireplace by my bed
Women I got cherry red
Need no heater fireplace by my bed

Woman I got, keep me cherry red

Goin' to Memphis, see the World is Fair
Reason I'm goin', baby's there
Goin' to Memphis, see the World is Fair

Reason I'm goin', know my baby is there

See that moonlight shining throught the trees
Look at that woman,
See that moonlight shining throught the trees

See that woman,

Thank you so much!!!

[Blues Vintage]

1? = above her knee
2? = dress above her knee

[Blues Vintage]

Full Fool got drunk, close that door clothes outdoor

Goin' to Memphis, see the World is Fair Worldy Fair
Reason I'm goin', baby's there
Goin' to Memphis, see the World is Fair Worldly Fair


throught through the trees

[Blues Vintage]

“Memphis’ Worldly Fair”: Deciphering Riddles In A Hill Country Blues Lyric

http://thedeltareview.com/americana-2/memphis-worldly-fair-deciphering-riddles-in-a-hill-country-blues-lyric/

[JAC]

Thank you very very much!!

[Blues Vintage]

Little Babe


R.L. Burnside - Vocals, Guitar

Coldwater, Mississippi
1968

E position (I guess)





INTRO

You go, when I’ll come with you, little babe
You go, when I’ll come with you, little babe
You go, when I’ll come with you, bet your life, I won’t quit you, little babe

You get the fares, we go to show, you bet the horses, I'll pick up the dough
When you go, when I’ll come with you, little babe
You go, when I’ll come with you, little babe
You go, when I’ll come with you, bet your life, I won’t quit you, little babe

You go to jail, I’ll go your bond, you get time, here what I would do, stay outside and wait for you, you go
You go, when I’ll come with you, little babe
You go, when I’ll come with you, bet your life, I won’t quit you, little babe

OUTRO SOLO