Topic: Sleepy John Estes Lyrics

[Johnm]

Hi Bunker Hill,
Thanks for this input.  Any information of this type directly from the artist is particularly valuable.  It's interesting that your sense of the sound does not match up with Sleepy John's recollection of the lyrics, and not altogether surprising.  I think sometimes serious aficionados of a musician imagine that his or her mind is constantly recollecting recordings or performances of the past, when I think, based on my own experience, it may have been years or decades since the performance or recording even came to mind.  I sympathize with Bukka White, who upon rediscovery evidently blanked altogether on "Fixin' To Die", one of the greatest Country Blues tunes ever.  Life often ends up being filled with thoughts and concerns quite different than those that other people find fascinating.
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Sleepy John Estes recorded "Government Money" at the August 2, 1935 session that also produced "Vernita Blues", "I Wanta Tear It All The Time", and "I Ain't Gonna Be Worried No More".  Unlike the other songs from that session, "Government Money" is a duet, pairing Sleepy John with Hammie Nixon on harmonica.  Musically, the song has no unusual features when viewed in the body of Sleepy John's work--he plays it in his favorite position, C in standard tuning, and the phrasing is not notably unusual or surprising.
Lyrically, "Government Money" find Sleepy John in his "civic commentator" mode, as in "Working Man Blues".  I particularly like these songs, and all the more for the rarity of songs of this type in the Country Blues idiom.  It's nice to encounter some Blues lyrics that are not so self-involved. 
I am missing a couple of crucial words here.  Any help with the bent bracketed portions would be greatly appreciated.



   Now, all the farmers, they oughta join the governor' loan (2)
   Now the governor give you three year's chances, then you could have something of your own

   Now, the governor fronts you a milk cow, a rooster and some portion of hens (2)
   You know, a loan through the spring, then you could have some money to spend

   Now, the women used to count on the bonus, but they are hollerin' on the rental check now
   Now, the women used to holler on the bonus, but they are countin' on the rental check now
   You know, I didn't go to the army, But I'm usin' this government money anyhow

   Now, the governor, he forced for the plant of plenty corn and wheat (2)
   You know along through the winter, you can have something to eat

Edited, 2/23 to pick up clarifications from Banjo Chris

All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Good on you, Bunker Hill!  I just went back and listened to "Easin' Back To Tennessee" and I think you are dead on the money about the last verse speaking of "1938 blues".  I have made the change.  Thanks!
All best,
Johnm

[banjochris]

John--

In "Government Money," he's saying:

The women used to count on the bonus...

Which explains the reference to the army in the last line of the verse -- I think this was around the time that World War I veterans, hit by the depression, were clamoring for the bonus money they had been promised years before, and in 1932, the "Bonus Army" marched on Washington.

Here's a paragraph from a website, http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/snprelief4.htm, which I found just by googling bonus army:
In 1924, a grateful Congress voted to give a bonus to World War I veterans - $1.25 for each day served overseas, $1.00 for each day served in the States. The catch was that payment would not be made until 1945. However, by 1932 the nation had slipped into the dark days of the Depression and the unemployed veterans wanted their money immediately. In May of that year, some 15,000 veterans, many unemployed and destitute, descended on Washington, D.C. to demand immediate payment of their bonus. They proclaimed themselves the Bonus Expeditionary Force but the public dubbed them the "Bonus Army."

Anyway, eventually troops were used to disperse them after the Senate voted not to give them their money.

In that last verse, he might be saying:
The governor, he force you for to plant plenty corn and wheat

Chris

[Johnm]

Thanks so much for the clarification, Chris.  I was definitely not coming up with bonus, though the context made it perfectly clear that it was some source of income.  I like your solution for the last line, too, and have made the changes.
All best,
Johnm

[Bunker Hill]

Thanks so much for the clarification, Chris.  I was definitely not coming up with bonus, though the context made it perfectly clear that it was some source of income.  I like your solution for the last line, too, and have made the changes.
All best,

For those who might be interested in a Blues/gospel approach to the "The Bonus" there's an entire chapter devoted to the subject in Guido van Rijn's "Roosevelt Blues: African-American Blues & Gospel Songs On FDR" (Mississippi UP 1997). It's entitled, not unsurprisingly, When The Soldiers Get Their Bonus. 

[mmpresti]

An' winter time comin', it's gonna be so
You can't make the winter babe, just dry long so.

All this goes against my blues logic. I've always sung it and understood it this way:

Winter time's coming, it's gonna be slow
you can't make the winter babe, that's dry long so

If you're dry and not out doors in the cold, then winter time won't seem so long. It won't seem long if you're warm and toasty and dry.

[mmpresti]

Now, all the farmers, they oughta join the governor' loan (2)
   Now the governor give you three year's chances, then you could have something of your own

   Now, the governor fronts you a milk cow, a rooster and some portion of hens (2)
   You know, a loan through the spring, then you could have some money to spend


This is one of my favorite John estes songs, and I've been listening to versions of it sung by him for about ten years but never heard the one he recorded in 1935 with Hammie Nixon.

The first lyric could also be interpreted this way, from the versions I've listened to, the one on the Newport Blues and Brownsville Blues albums:

All your people, they all at the (re)'gional government loan
All your people, they all at the (re)'gional government loan
You know the governor give you three year chance, then you could have something of your own

He may be referring to the regional loan offices established by the Veterans Administration beginning in the 30s. This is a timeline of VA history in the 30s http://www.75anniversary.va.gov/history/timeline/timeline-1930.htm. The VA camps were also giving aid at the Bonus March in '32.

On the Newport album, john seems to be singing the song from a woman's perspective, and her "man's gone to the army" in the last verse.

The second verse can be interpreted this way, but with another meaning

The governor fund/fined your milkcow, a rooster and some Forschner hen
The governor fund/fined your milkcow, a rooster and some Forschner hen
A loan, foolish thing, you could have some money to spend

Forschner and Hen and Rooster are knife brands, but Victorinox/Swiss Army, which makes Forschner cutlery, also sells Congress pocket knives which are similar to the Rooster/Hen make. I'm not sure what he's saying here, though probably referring to survival tools during depression, what does everybody else think?

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Sleepy John recorded "Tell Me How About It" with Robert Lee McCoy (Robert Nighthawk) backing him on guitar and harmonica off of a rack, and probably Robert's female partner, alluded to by dj earlier in this thread, on washboard.  It must be said, first off, that McCoy's harmonica playing is sensationally good, both in terms of tone and phrasing.  He's one of the best harmonica players off of a rack I have ever heard.
"Tell Me How About It" is a 12-bar chorus blues, with Robert Lee McCoy backing Sleepy John out of the E position in standard tuning.  The lyrics are exceptionally difficult to understand.  Any help with the bent bracketed portions is appreciated.

 

   Mist' Tom is good, [some say mean], haul in his cotton if he ain't got no team
   CHORUS:  Now, tell me how 'bout it, yes, tell me how 'bout it, tell me how 'bout it, Mist' Tom's all right with me

   You ever in Brownsville, go on to 19, over to the left sits Mist' Tom Mann's gin
   CHORUS:

   Mist' Tom ain't so tall, y'know he kinda low, everybody in Brownsville say he got plenty of dough
   CHORUS:

   You're out on the field, gettin' hand-out rules, ask for a little money, he said, "Boys, share the mule."
   CHORUS:

   Mist' Tom live in country, Mr. Robert in town, soon every mornin' Mist' Robert hit that black line
   CHORUS:

   [Sam Mann and ----run jams] on the truck, name's JY and they haul people's stuff
   CHORUS:

Edited, 7/12 to pick up clarification from Bunker Hill
Edited, 10/25 to pick up correction from banjo chris

All best,
Johnm

   

[Bunker Hill]

You ever in Brownsville, go on to 19th, over to the left sits Mist' Tom Mann's gin

I've listened to this over and over again and I hear something totally different, don't laugh too loud but:

You ever in Brownsville, go on to 19th, old [Too] Hevinson, store man'ger there

You're out on the field, get an [         on the rule]

I'm guessing here but in a post war recording (not of this) he uses the expression "rides over on fields giving hand-out rules". Trouble is, I now hear what I want to hear! Over to somebody else...

[Johnm]

Thanks for the suggestions, Bunker Hill.  Oof, this is hard to hear!  The "hand-out rules" line sounds good and I will make the change.
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Sleepy John recorded "When The Saints Go Marching In" on September 24, 1941, in Chicago, with the Delta Rhythm Boys, who according to the Document liner notes were Son Bonds on vocal and kazoo, and Raymond Thomas on imitation bass and vocal.  It actually sounds like there are two guitars on the cut, both being played out of G in standard tuning, but one using closed-position chords (Bonds, I suspect) and one playing open chords (Sleepy John).  The rendition opens with a very suave kazoo solo after a mystifying chordal vamp.  The song is done, as per usual, in a call-and-resonse style and has a number of verses I've not heard sung before.  The feel on this number is very swingy, and Sleepy John sounds right at home with the groove.



   KAZOO INTRO:

   Oh, when the crowd (when the crowd)
   Go marching in (go marching in)
   When the crowd go marching in
   Oh Lord, I want to be in that number
   Oh, when the crowd go marching in

   Oh, when the clouds (oh, when the clouds)
   Is swingin' low (is swingin' low)
   When the cloud is swingin' low
   Oh Lord, I want to be in that number
   Oh, when the cloud is swingin' low

   KAZOO SOLO:

   I'm gonna meet (I'm gonna meet)
   My mother there (my mother there)
   I'm gon' meet my mother there
   Oh Lord, I want to be in that number
   Oh, I'm gon' meet my mother there

   KAZOO SOLO:

   We gonna meet (we gonna meet)
   On the other side (on the other side)
   We gonna meet on the other side
   Oh Lord, I want to be in that number
   Oh, we gonna meet on the other side

   KAZOO SOLO:

   Oh, won't it be (oh, won't it be)
   Mighty day? (a mighty day)
   Oh, it be a mighty day
   Oh Lord, I want to be in that number
   Oh, won't it be a mighty day?

All best,
Johnm
   

   
   

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Sleepy John Estes recorded "Mary Come On Home" at a session in Chicago on June 4, 1940 at which he was backed for the most part by Robert Lee McCoy, and on a couple of cuts, McCoy's washboard-playing girlfriend, Ann Sortier.  "Mary Come On Home" is a chorus blues, and musically bears a very strong resemblance to "Clean Up At Home", recorded a little less than two years earlier.  Sleepy John sits out "Mary Come On Home" instrumentally, and McCoy's swingy solo flat-picked accompaniment in C is pleasingly expert.
Sleepy John changes the chorus as he goes along; in the latter verses, he has Mary speaking.  Any help with the bent bracketed portion of the second line of verse four would be appreciated.  I feel very close phonetically, but can not make much sense of what I have.  Tiptonville is near the Mississippi River, north and west of Brownsville.



   I started little Mary over across the creek,
   Soon as I got her somebody took her from me
   CHORUS:  Mary come on home, Mary come on home,
   Mary come on home, acknowledge you've done wrong

   I love little Mary, always will,
   Once in time she like to got me killed
   CHORUS:

   Took little Mary down to Tiptonville
   All the time she was out whe was raisin' hell
   CHORUS:  Won't you come on home, she want to come on home,
   Come on home, acknowledge I've done wrong

   Down in Lake County in that gumbo mud,
   'Fraid the mosquito bills keep on bitin' through 'her tub
   CHORUS:  Won't you come on home?  I want to come on home,
   I want to come on home, acknowledge I've done wrong

   I git to starin', I look all around,
   I asked anybody, "Little Mary in town?"
   CHORUS:  Won't you come on home?  I want to come on home,
   I want to come on home, acknowledge you've done wrong

Edited, 10/25 to pick up corrections from Bunker Hill and banjo chris

All best,
Johnm
   

   

[Rivers]

[Bread and mosquito bill keep from bitin' through a tub]

Makes perfect sense! I've got to hear it but I don't have it, what CD is it on John?

[Johnm]

Ooof, I know what you mean about making sense, Mark.  I have the song on the Document Complete Sleepy John Estes, Volume 2, which I was lucky enough to find recently as a result of suggestions of places to look from fellow Weenies.  I was able to order it from Down Home Music despite it being out of print, according to Document.
All best,
Johnm