Topic: Bo Carter Lyrics

[Yves]

anyone can help with these Carter's lyrics...
this is what I can hear on the record ...



I told you, told you, I told you to
Quit hard liquor and gamblin? too
Look-a here Babe, you?re goin? too fast
The law?s gonna step on you

And now you twist, you twist, you step on your tail
You?re gonna need somebody to go your bail...

Now you may think that they?re doin? you wrong
But they?ll send you to the county farm...

If you want to leave from home
Smoke around with a bottle of corn...
(travelling too fast)

I told you, told you like a friend
You?d better drop you business then...

many thanx

Yves

[Richard]

Yes... I think having just returned fron the US bearing an amazing book of lyrics entitled Talking to  Myself by Michael Taft it has the lyrics, they are not shown in vrese form, but like poems so you will have to sort them out........

I told you, told you, I told you to
Having quit hard liquor and gamblin? too
Look-a here Babe, you?re (goin? travelling) too fast
The law?s gonna step on your yas yas yas

And now you can twist, you can twist, you step on it's tail
You?re going to need somebody to go your bail...

Now you may think that they are doin? you wrong
But they?ll send you to the county farm...
Now if you want to leave from home


Walk around with a bottle of corn...
Now I told you, told you like a friend
You?d better draw your business in

[Yves]

Hello Richard
Thanx a lot for your help
I suggest "muck around" vs "walk around"

I do not understand :
Your ... yas yas yas as the title is ... gonna step on you (not your)
I suggest "on you ... yes yes yes"
what do you think Bo says ?

all the best

Yves

[Richard]

Yves, I'm giving you this from the book and I have just noted that it refers to a 5 June 1931 recording which is unissued - which begs the question how did they hear it to get the lyrics!!! At the minute I cannot find my copy of the CD with track on so this is the best I can do!

"The law going to step on your yas yas yas"   which I see as the law going to sort out his baby!

I think "walk around" with a bottle of corn makes more sense than "muck around with a bottle of corn" ?

What you thinks?

[GerryC]

Hi Yves and Richard. I transcribed the lyric myself a while back from the Document 2 CD set The Essential Bo Carter and came up with:

THE LAW GONNA STEP ON YOU    Bo Carter

1. I done told ya, told ya, I told ya too
   Quit hauling liquor and gambling too.

Refrain: Now look here baby, you going too fast,
               The law gonna step on your ----- yas-yas-yas.

2. Now you can twist, you can twist, you can step on its tail
   You gonna need somebody to go your bail.   [R]

3. Now you may think you?re doing no wrong
    But they?ll send you to the county farm.    [R]

4. Now if you wanna leave from home
    Muck around with a bottle of corn.    [R]

5. I done told you, told you like a friend
   You better draw your business in.        [R]

I don't think there is any need for confusion over the slight difference between the title and the refrain; I often find myself reading printed transcriptions of black Southern speech where 'your' (in standard English) is given as 'you' or even 'yo'' eg "Is you goin' to yo' mama, child?" and 'their' is given as 'they', eg "The guys went out to git they liquor". It's an attempt to mimic in print the distinctive sound of the speech of people from that culture. Similarly, "yas-yas-yas" is a standard comic euphemism: a "straight" version of the line would read "The law gonna step on your ass!"

Cheerily,

Gerry C

[uncle bud]

I agree with Gerry and Richard, it's "the law gonna step on your --- yas yas yas", as in the law's gonna step on your ass.

Verse 4.2 is "MONKEY around with a bottle of corn"

[Richard]

And I was being polite about the Ass asspect too...

"Walk around" is as writ from the unissued version.

[uncle bud]

And I was being polite about the Ass asspect too...

"Walk around" is as writ from the unissued version.

I presume you refer to the Taft book here. It's a nice book to have (I do!) with many transcriptions but one must be careful. There are large numbers of errors, some of them doozies, some of them less so. The lyrics were not revised from his original concordance transcriptions, found online at http://www.dylan61.se/taft.htm and were simply republished in book form. There should have been major revisions, IMO, and there should have been transcriptions of choruses (I'm sure there was a reason for this in the original publication from the 80s, but it's beyond me).

Whether Bo sings "walk" or "monkey" I'll leave for other ears here, but just thought I'd mention my issues with Talkin' to Myself.

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Here is a thread merger for Bo Carter lyrics, too.
all best,
Johnm

[Cleoma]

There's a few lines I can't get, maybe someone here has a suggestion??



Baby how can it be (2x)
I?ll never believe
That you belong to me

Babe I?m doubtful in mind (2x)
I don?t b?lieve your sign, is to be all mine
(I'm pretty sure this line is wrong but can't quite get what it really is)

Now listen baby, my love is, like a love-vine
Growing and squeezing, a little all the time
I?ll keep you happy, always in mind
If you will come and just be mine

Now listen baby, I?m telling you what I?ll do
I?ll get you a  , A radio too
I?ll keep you happy, always in mind
If you will come and just be mine

Thanks,
Suzy

[frankie]

Babe I?m doubtful in mind (2x)
I don?t b?lieve your sign, is to be all mine
(I'm pretty sure this line is wrong but can't quite get what it really is)

From memory here:

I don't believe you're assigned
Just to be all mine

I?ll get you a  , A radio too

I'll get you a Graftonola (sic), a radio too

The actual record player was named the Grafonola, but Bo seems to say "Graftonola."  

Hmmm...  and a radio...  like giving your honey an iPod touch and a subscription to satellite radio, these days!

Always loved this song.

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I realized that I have some Bo Carter lyrics transcribed that I've never entered here.  Bo played "Cigarette Blues" out of Vestapol.  Instrumentally, it's a version of "Cow Cow Blues", a blues instrumental that has the unusual distinction of being covered on instruments other than that upon which it was originally played (piano).  The Mississippi Mud Steppers "Jackson Stomp" is another cover of it.  How about that!




   Says, I come over here, sweet baby, ?cause I?m all alone
   Haven?t got nobody just to carry my smokin? on
   REFRAIN:  Won?t you just draw my cigarette, smoke it there all night long
   Just draw my cigarette, baby, until you make my good ashes come

   Now I got to go up the country just to get my cigarette boiled
   The women ?round this place gonna let my cigarette spoil
   REFRAIN:  Won?t you just smoke my cigarette, draw it there all night long
   Just draw my cigarette, baby, until you make my good ashes come

   I come over here, sweet baby, just to get my ashes hauled
   Lord, the women at the other place goin? to let my ashes spoil
   REFRAIN: Won?t you just draw my cigarette, smoke it there all night long
   Just draw my cigarette, baby, until you make my good ashes come

   Here?s one thing I want you to know, ?fore you leave from home
   My cigarette ain?t too big and you know it ain?t too long
   REFRAIN: Won?t you just draw my cigarette, smoke it there all night long
   Just draw my cigarette, baby, until you make my good ashes come

All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Bo Carter's "Your Biscuits Are Big Enough For Me" is one of his 32-bar Pop Blues, utilizing the most common Pop bar structure of his period.  The Fm9 he goes to in the second bar is really pretty and provides a reminder of the degree to which Bo employed an expanded chordal vocabulary compared to most of his peers.  It seems that Bo and Hacksaw Harney and Eugene Powell comprised a sort of contingent of Mississippi players who operated at a very distant remove from the pared back chordal vocabulary of delta or hill country blues.
Bo's lyrics here are silly and funny--kind of naughty and childish as opposed to generating any real heat, like some of Texas Alexander's lyrics.  "Some men like lunch meat"--there's a line for the ages.




   Baby, don?t put no more baking powders in your bread, you see,
   ?Cause your biscuits is plenty tall enough for me
   Baby, I don?t want no more sugar in your jellyroll, you see,
   ?Cause your jellyroll is plenty sweet enough for me
   Some men like lunch meat and some, they likes old tongue
   Some men don?t care for biscuits, they likes the doggone big fat bun
   But baby, don?t put no more baking powders in your bread, you see,
   ?Cause your two biscuits is plenty big enough for me

   I don?t want no more baking powders in your bread, you see,
   ?Cause your biscuits is plenty tall enough for me
   Baby, don?t put no more sugar in your jellyroll, you see,
   ?Cause your jellyroll is plenty sweet enough for me
   Says, some men, you know they?re straight, some crooked as a barrel of snakes
   Some men don?t like bun and biscuits, like the doggone flat batter cakes
   But baby, don?t put no more baking powders in your bread, you see,
   ?Cause your biscuits is plenty tall enough for me

Edited 2/9 to pick up corrections from banjochris

All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Bo Carter played his "Policy Blues" out of dropped-D tuning, and it is one of his strongest numbers.  No fooling around this time, the number is very intense, and has enough good ideas for three or four standard issue blues.  This must be one of the strongest blues played in dropped D tuning.




   Hey, I wonder where?s that policy-writin? man now?
   Hey, I wonder where?s that policy-writin? man now?
   I done losed all my money shooting craps and I can?t win no money nohow

   I?m gonna put my last dime on that twenty, thirty and that little old ten
   I?m gonna put my last dime on that twenty, thirty and that little old ten
   Oh, they tell me that?s my baby?s initials and it?ll bring my money back home again

   I?m gonna play ?em straight across, man, you know I?m playin? ?em straight down
   Boy, I?m playin? ?em and you know I got ?em straight down
   Now, policy man, my numbers done come out, bring me twenty-seven dollars on around

   I?m gonna put a four-bit piece back on the twenty, thirty, and that little old ten
   I?m gonna put a four-bit piece back on the twenty, thirty, and that little old ten
   And if them numbers come out, man, it?ll bring my money back right again

   Policy man, if my numbers come out, don?t fool around on the street
   Policy man, if my numbers come out, don?t fool around on the street
   Just cut across on St. Lawrence Avenue and bring my money on home to me

All best,
Johnm

[banjochris]

Couple of suggestions on "Biscuits," John --

I think it's "some they LIKES OLD tongue" and "they LIKES A doggone big fat bun". And I always heard "burnin' biscuits" instead of "bun and biscuits."

Also worth noting is that the song is only 2:09 long, pretty short for a 78 (unless you're the Monroe Brothers).