Country Blues > Country Blues Lyrics
Sloppy Henry Lyrics
Johnm:
Hi all,
Sloppy Henry's version of "Canned Heat Blues" was recorded in Atlanta on August 13, 1928. It is included on the Document Peg Leg Howell set (vol. 1), apparently on the basis that Peg Leg may have played second guitar on the session. The instrumental sound is somewhat akin to Oscar Woods with Ed Schaffer backing him--a guitar duet with slide lead and boom-chang, possibly flat-picked rhythm guitar, though Sloppy Henry's sound is a lot more rough than Buddy Woods's was. Neither the slide playing nor the back-up sounds much like Peg Leg Howell; his slide sound was a lot cleaner and the rhythm guitarist is not nearly as nifty as Peg Leg was.
This song has terrific lyrics, and Sloppy Henry sang them with real relish. He was a great vocal groover, and even in the Blues, great rhythmic singers were not all that common. After the fourth verse, the song goes into a 12-bar break, holding the I chord, and it is tremendously exciting the way Sloppy Henry sings it. I couldn't identify a recurring glitch in the accompaniment through this passage until I realized the rhythm guitarist is rocking from a I to a IV chord before each vocal phrase, when he should have been rocking from a V7 chord to a I chord.
This is a terrific number that is really ripe for being picked up and performed by somebody. Here is Sloppy Henry's performance of "Canned Heat Blues":
I live down in the alley, full of canned heat as I can be, honey as I can be, oh my baby
I live down in the alley full of canned heat as I can be
Look like everybody in that alley sure done got mad with me
Liza bought so much canned heat, won't sell her no more, won't sell her no more, hear
me talkin'
Liza bought so much canned heat won't sell her no more
She's got the cans and the labels layin' all around her door
Canned heat whiskey'll make you sleep all in your clothes, lay down in your clothes,
hear, babe, I said
Canned heat whiskey make you sleep all in your clothes
When you wake up next morning feel like you stayed outdoors
I say, whiskey, whiskey, many folks' downfall, many folks' downfall, aahooh,
Whiskey--many folks' downfall
When I can't get my whiskey, I ain't no good at all
Walked in my room, the other night, man come in, he wanted to fight
Took my gun, my right hand, "Hold me folks, I don't want to kill no man."
When I said that, struck me 'cross my head, first shot I fired then the man fell dead, I
said,
Canned heat whiskey drove me to the county jail
Got me layin' up on my bunk and I got nobody to go my bail
It seems like this one should be on the Juke. It is definitely worth a listen.
All best,
Johnm
blueshome:
John,
This is indeed a great song. I think we discussed this briefly at EBA Bluesweek - it sound to me like the prototype for Willie McTell's "Bell Street Whiskey", recorded some years later.
Great to see you again at Northampton -really fine classes.
Phil
ajd:
John, thanks for the lyrics and info, this was on a long long list of songs I was hoping to learn in the coming months, so all that's left for me now is the easy task of figuring the guitar parts outs. ;) The guitar playing might be a little on the "sloppy" side (rough as you say), but his voice and singing style are definitely what makes the song stand out imo.
Adrian
uncle bud:
--- Quote from: Johnm on August 24, 2005, 11:34:55 PM ---Neither the slide playing nor the back-up sounds much like Peg Leg Howell; his slide sound was a lot cleaner and the rhythm guitarist is not nearly as nifty as Peg Leg was.?
--- End quote ---
I guess it's included simply because Sloppy Henry was vaguely associated with Peg Leg's gang and someone's making a guess about the guitar player. Eddie Anthony plays fiddle on some of Henry's other cuts. I agree that the guitar playing is difficult to identify as Peg Leg.
Henry has a huge voice, overpowering the instruments...
Johnm:
Hi all,
Sloppy Henry recorded "Say I Do It" on the same day he recorded "Canned Heat Blues", and with the same instrumentation. Like "Canned Heat", "Say I Do It" has great lyrics, though the subject matter is considerably further outside the normal realm of country blues lyrics. A blues devoted to a tale of cross-dressing and detailed denial of engaging in gay sex, it isn't like anything I had heard in the style before. The lyrics are very craftily put together. I find the second break in the chorus, beginning "Your husband is the doctor man" completely mystifying--what the hell is he talking about? It seems like the kind of song a burlesque comic might sing, but who knows? Sloppy Henry sings the hell out of it, as he did "Canned Heat Blues". I think "Say I Do It" may fairly be described as a one-of-a-kind song in this style. Any help with the phrase in bent brackets is appreciated. Here is "Say I Do It":
VERSE:
Mose and Pete lived on Greenwillow Street in Northwest Baltimore
Pete run with Mose 'cause he powdered his nose and even wore ladies hose
Two could be seen runnin' hand in hand in all kinds of weather
'Til the neighbors, they began to signify 'bout the birds that flock together
Mose, he began to sigh, Pete yelled out his reply,
CHORUS:
"Say I do it, ain't nobody seed me, they sure got to prove it 'bout me
Can't identify a man with his cover over his head, when a crab is cooked, he's bound to turn red
It's true I use a powder puff and has a shiny face, I wears a red necktie 'cause I think it suits my taste
I know my voice is tenor, I reduce myself with lace, and when you see me with the gang you'll find me singing bass
They say I do it, ain't nobody seed me, they sure got to prove it 'bout me, Listen!
Your husband is the doctor man that told Miss Liza Lee
They has gotten me a cottage out in the country by the sea
Turkey's 'bout to recommend my breakfast in my bed
Make sure that I will get it, he left a check instead
They say I done it, ain't nobody seed me, they sure got to prove it 'bout me
Say I do it, ain't nobody seed me, they sure got to prove it 'bout me
Can't identify a man, cover over his head, crab is cooked, he's bound to turn red
It's true I use a powder puff and has a shiny face, I wears a red necktie 'cause I think it suits my taste
They say I done it, ain't nobody seed me, they sure got to prove it 'bout me
All best,
Johnm
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