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Any old limb that you hang me on will be a home-sweet-home for me - Bill Chitwood & His Georgia Mountaineers, Fourth Of July At The Country Fair (1927)

Author Topic: Blind Joe Taggart Lyrics  (Read 11181 times)

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Offline dj

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Blind Joe Taggart Lyrics
« on: June 27, 2006, 05:17:58 PM »
If the Vocalion master numbers are a guide to chronology, Blind Joe Taggart recorded "C & O Blues" (as by Blind Joe Amos) immediately before recording "The Storm Is Passing Over".  Like "The Storm Is Passing Over", "C & O Blues" is in Spanish, capoed at the second fret and pitched just about a quarter tone above concert pitch.  tenderfoot84's post on Taggart got me listening to his music a little more deeply and fooling around with a bit of it.  Any help with the lyrics to "C & O Blues" would be appreciated.

 

Did you ever wake up 'tween midnight and day
Did you ever wake up 'tween midnight and day
And felt for your rider, she done eased away

For ten long years C & O run by my door
For ten long years C & O run by my door
My brown told me this mornin' she didn't want me no more

If you don't want me baby what makes you whine and cry
If you don't want me what makes you whine and cry
Just put that thing on me mama and let a black child die

Which a way, which a way, do the C & O leave your town?
Which a way, which a way, do the C & O leave your town?
She's goin' west baby, Cabin Creek Junction bound

My mama told me baby, two long years ago
My mama told me two long years ago
If you fool with that little woman, you'll have nowhere to go

Want all of you men to surely understand
Want all of you men to surely understand
[This?] Alabama woman, she's gonna quit you for another man

I love you baby, tell the whole round world I do
I love you baby, tell the whole round world I do
I love you baby, don't care what you do

Edited:  I just could not figure out the end of the first line in the fourth verse.  I listened to it fast, slow, over and over and just couldn't get it.  Then after posting this, I looked at the song title and realized that the phrase that I just couldn't make out was "C & O"!   ::)
« Last Edit: July 15, 2020, 04:02:53 PM by Johnm »

Offline Bunker Hill

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Re: "C & O Blues" by Blind Joe Taggart
« Reply #1 on: June 27, 2006, 11:52:24 PM »
Which a way, which a way, do the C & O leave your town?
Which a way, which a way, do the C & O leave your town?
She's goin' west baby, [Cattle/Kettle?] Creek Junction bound
FWIW the late Keith Briggs wrote a lengthy feature entitled "Blind Joe Taggart: Separating the Wheat from the Tares (Blues & Rhythm 33, Dec 1987). In that he too pondered what the location was named. Two issue later in the letters page Chris Smith came up with this after consulting a map (reproduced to accompany letter):

About location: if a singer refers to "New York" or "Alaska" (as Amos/Taggart does), it's not much help, but if he sings "Avalon's my home town", it may well be. Thus, wherever the train left west for in "C & O Blues", it's a promising clue. "Cattle Creek" (Briggs) and "Capitol Creek" (David Evans, notes to OJL-17, Mark Johnson letter in BU 125) aren't in the gazeteer I checked. However, Cabin Creek certainly exists, and on relistening to the song, I believe that's what he sings. it's in West Virginia and it's on the C&O railroad, although the map doesn't show this too well. The map, though not showing Cabin Creek itself, does show that it, and its neigbouring towns, aren't very far from Coal River, which may support the notion that Blind Percy and Six Cylinder Smith are also our man. We know that Taggart had two children at least, so maybe a search in towns east of Cabin Creek like East Bank, Glasgow and Handley is called for. (This assumes, of course, that Taggart is Amos, but I think that's a cert.)


Offline tenderfoot84

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Re: "C & O Blues" by Blind Joe Taggart
« Reply #2 on: June 28, 2006, 12:19:50 AM »
Hey dj,
thanks very much for putting this up,
c & o is another excellent taggart song of the same ilk as 'the storm is passing over' - i think your doing a smart thing by looking at how taggart plays this song as it shares many of the same ideas as the more up-tempo 'storm is passing over'.

as for the lyrics i reckon i hear
'fourteen long years, c & o run by my door' in the 2nd verse
and 'whine and cry' as opposed to 'whine' and cuss' in the 3rd.

thanks very much bunkerhill for your information as well. i can definately convince myself i'm hearing cabin creek at the very least. though maybe this is just wishful thinking. it would be amazing to think this may help pin down more information on taggart as he is fast becoming one of my favourite players.
i'm glad you mention coal river blues too - it's another one of my BIG favourites.

cheerybye
Cheerybye,
David C

Offline dj

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Re: "C & O Blues" by Blind Joe Taggart
« Reply #3 on: June 28, 2006, 02:34:06 AM »
Thanks for the help, Bunker Hill and tenderfoot84.  I've added your changes.

Bunker Hill, you're an amazing font of arcane information, as usual.

tenderfoot84, that "C & O" in verse two is pretty obvious, isn't it?  That'll teach me to keep the title of a song in mind while transcribing its lyrics.   ;)  And once you pointed out the "whine and cry" I don't know how I ever could have heard "cuss".  I've gone back and forth on the start of the second verse.  It may well be "Fourteen", or it may be "For ten" with the e in "ten" broadened as it is in many Southern US dialects.

Offline tenderfoot84

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Re: "C & O Blues" by Blind Joe Taggart
« Reply #4 on: June 28, 2006, 03:21:42 AM »
yeah you could well be right about the for ten long years part dj. when it comes to getting lyrics off a song it never seems to help me to slow it down. i like to stick it on repeat and just listen, usually i get most tough parts when i'm in another room and i catch it a different way. but once you hear a line you'll always hear it the same unless someone else says something different. i've made many a mistake that way.

Cheerybye,
David C

LoneWolf

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help with Blind Joe Taggart
« Reply #5 on: March 03, 2009, 09:37:07 AM »
Can anybody figure out what he's singing in "I Wonder Will My Trouble Then Be Over"?



Thanks!
« Last Edit: July 15, 2020, 04:03:57 PM by Johnm »

Offline uncle bud

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Re: help with Blind Joe Taggart
« Reply #6 on: March 03, 2009, 11:21:30 AM »
Can anybody figure out what he's singing in "I Wonder Will My Trouble Then Be Over"?

Thanks!

I'm sure they can, but you should get things started by typing out what you have. There should be more than a couple Taggart fans who can help.

Offline dj

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Re: help with Blind Joe Taggart
« Reply #7 on: March 03, 2009, 03:32:30 PM »
Here's a quick pass at it.  There's just one line I'm not quite sure of.

Lord I wonder will my troubles then be o'er
Wonder will my troubles then be o'er
Comin' 'round the curve, strainin' every nerve
Good Lord I wonder will my troubles then be o'er

Some of us are in trouble, don't know what to do
Call up Jesus in Heaven, He will answer you
He will come to the 'phone, put your feet on solid stone
Good Lord I wonder will my troubles then be o'er
Wonder will my troubles then be o'er
Comin' 'round the curve, strainin' every nerve
Good Lord I wonder will my troubles then be o'er

Good Lord I wonder will my troubles then be o'er
Wonder will my troubles then be o'er
Comin' 'round the curve, strainin' every nerve
Good Lord I wonder will my troubles then be o'er

When you get in trouble, tell you what you do
Call up Jesus in Heaven, He will answer you
Good Lord I wonder will my troubles then be o'er
Wonder will my troubles then be o'er
Comin' 'round the curve, strainin' every nerve
Good Lord I wonder will my troubles then be o'er

Gospel train is coming, bound for kingdom land
Be standin' at the station, have a ticket in your hand
Jesus is the an engineer, you have no dread or fear
Good Lord, I wonder will my troubles then be o'er
Wonder will my troubles then be o'er
Comin' 'round the curve, strainin' every nerve
Good Lord I wonder will my troubles then be o'er

Good Lord I wonder will my troubles then be o'er
Wonder will my troubles then be o'er
Comin' 'round the curve, strainin' every nerve
Good Lord I wonder will my troubles then be o'er

Good Lord I wonder will my troubles then be o'er
Wonder will my troubles then be o'er
Comin' 'round the curve, strainin' every nerve
Good Lord I wonder will my troubles then be o'er


Edited to pick up changes from Johnm.
« Last Edit: December 08, 2013, 10:15:06 AM by Johnm »

Offline Cleoma

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Blind Joe Taggart's Been Listening All the Day
« Reply #8 on: April 06, 2009, 09:02:45 PM »
Anyone able to figure out these words?  Frankie? The Chinese sounding fiddle in 5ths is so cool!



Suzy
« Last Edit: July 15, 2020, 04:04:50 PM by Johnm »

Offline frankie

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Re: Blind Joe Taggart's Been Listening All the Day
« Reply #9 on: April 06, 2009, 09:31:42 PM »
This is the closest I've been able to get.  Maybe Chris has some suggestions for the last verse.  I tend to substitute enthusiasm for elocution when singing, so not knowing a couple of words doesn't really bother me...  much.

Dark was the night and cold the ground
On which my Lord was laid
His sweat like drops of blood ran down
In agony he prayed

Been listening all night long,
Been listening all the day,
Been listening all night long,
To hear some sinner pray.

Been listening all night long,
Been listening all the day,
Been listening all night long,
To hear some sinner pray.

Father, remove this bitter cup,
If such Thy sacred will;
If not, content to drink it up
Pleasures I fulfill

Been listening all night long,
Been listening all the day,
Been listening all night long,
To hear some sinner pray.

Been listening all night long,
Been listening all the day,
Been listening all night long,
To hear some sinner pray.

Some say that John, he's a Baptist,
He was nothing but a Jew
But the Holy Bible tells us,
John was a preacher too.

Been listening all night long,
Been listening all the day,
Been listening all night long,
To hear some sinner pray.

Been listening all night long,
Been listening all the day,
Been listening all night long,
To hear some sinner pray.

[] [] came from Heaven
[] [] from the ground
When [she] sound the trumpet
All the (thy?) love come down

Been listening all night long,
Been listening all the day,
Been listening all night long,
To hear some sinner pray.

Been listening all night long,
Been listening all the day,
Been listening all night long,
To hear some sinner pray.

Been listening all night long,
Been listening all the day,
Been listening all night long,
To hear some sinner pray.

Been listening all night long,
Been listening all the day,
Been listening all night long,
To hear some sinner pray.

Offline banjochris

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Re: Blind Joe Taggart's Been Listening All the Day
« Reply #10 on: April 06, 2009, 10:04:52 PM »
That one verse is tough. I hear it as

A man he came from heaven (or possibly Manna came from heaven or possibly Mary came from heaven)
Captured from the ground
When she sound the trumpet,
Holy love come down.

Not much help, I fear.

Offline dj

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Re: Blind Joe Taggart's Been Listening All the Day
« Reply #11 on: April 07, 2009, 03:47:09 AM »
Just to further confuse things, here's my interpretation:

A man he came from heaven
Oh you kept him from the ground
But whence he sound the trumpet
All the laws come down

It seems to me like a bit of a garbled comment on Christ's resurrection and His return in the last days.

Offline Cleoma

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Re: Blind Joe Taggart's Been Listening All the Day
« Reply #12 on: April 07, 2009, 11:12:39 AM »
Thanks so much -- I will now be listening all the day and night, trying to figure out what makes sense to me.  The above is way, way more than I was able to get. 
Suzy

Offline ndlxs

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Re: Blind Joe Taggart's Been Listening All the Day
« Reply #13 on: April 08, 2009, 11:49:25 AM »
Really good deciphering, folks, I can't figure out ANY of those words.

Perhaps the practical approach to resolve the last verse would be best: give up trying to figure out what Blind Joe was singing, and craft a verse out of the three versions printed above.  Two approaches: the Moses approach, and the Jesus approach:
Manna came down from heaven
Was laying on the ground
And when the trumpet sounded,
all the laws came down

A man came down from heaven
and lay dying on the ground
When the trumpet sounded,
all the love came down.

or something like that...

Andy Alexis

Offline ndlxs

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Re: Blind Joe Taggart's Been Listening All the Day
« Reply #14 on: April 08, 2009, 11:52:50 AM »
On a bit of reflection, the Moses version is better, and furthermore, fits the theme of the song better
(you listen to the laws...).

 


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