Topic: Geeshie Wiley and Elvie Thomas Lyrics

[uncle bud]

The Yazoo set "The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of" has me relistening to several songs I'd taken for granted, including this one. JohnM mentioned it recently as another example of a 16 bar blues in the 16-bar blues thread.

While the flipside of this record, Last Kind Words, is the masterpiece, this song is pretty tremendous as well. The lyrics are nasty and sung beautifully. Geeshie was truly outstanding at creating real atmosphere in her music. Just awe-inspiring really.

Am having much trouble with the second verse. I don't expect this to go on as long as the Last Kind Words thread  . But would like any help you can offer. The notes to an older Yazoo record by Don Kent suggest the lyrics come from Boar Hog Blues - without citing any source recordings. Obviously not the Jazz Gillum version which was recorded much later. Is it a reference to Hightower's Night Hawks' version (which I don't have and don't know)?



Skinny Leg Blues  Geeshie Wiley

And I'm a little bitty mama, baby and I ain't built for speed
Cryin' I'm a little bitty mama, baby and I ain't built for speed
Aaaaaaah and I ain't built for speed
I've got everything that a little bitty mama needs

I've got little bitty legs, keep up these noble thighs
I've got little bitty legs, keep up these noble thighs
Aaaaaah, keep up these noble thighs
I've got somethin' underneath them that works like a bo' hog's eye

But when you see me comin', pull down your window blind
And when you see me comin', pull down your window blind
You see me comin', pull down your window blind
So your next door neighbor sure can hear you whine

I'm gonna cut your throat baby, gonna look down in your face
I'm gonna cut your throat babe, gonna look down in your face
Aaaaaaaaa, gonna look down in your face
I'm gonna let some lonesome graveyard be your restin' place


edited to include corrections from Chezztone and Bunker Hill

[Chezztone]

Ah yes. One of my favorites and one of the strangest and most violent of all blues.
I hear it as:

I got little bitty legs, hold up these noble thighs
I got something underneath them that works like a bo' hog's eye.

[Bunker Hill]

The notes to an older Yazoo record by Don Kent suggest the lyrics come from Boar Hog Blues - without citing any source recordings. Obviously not the Jazz Gillum version which was recorded much later.

As nobody has answered this, and at the risk of seeming to like the sound of my own voice, Kent was probably thinking of Texas Alexander's 1928 Boe Hog Blues, sung from the male perspective. Song is not exactly identical but the troublesome verse he renders more coyly thus:

She got little bitty legs, gee, but below her thighs
She got something on-a-yonder works like a bo' hog's eye.

[uncle bud]

Thanks Chezz and Bunker.

On further listening, I'd say it's "keep up these noble thighs" as opposed to "hold."

I wonder if the good folks of Hogeye, Arkansas, know about this...

[Chezztone]

Yes, "keep" is correct. I was going from memory, not listening, when I wrote "hold."
Also, on the following verse, it might be "can't" instead of "can." Not that one can hear the difference, but does it make more sense that way? Pull down the blind so the neighbor can't hear you whine when I cut your throat as I am about to do?

[uncle bud]

I agree it would make sense as "can't hear you whine", although I'm currently hearing "can". She delivers that line quickly though.

I had interpreted that verse more as a sexual thing, the whining being sounds of pleasure. The song plays out a kind of "I can screw you, I can kill you" theme.

[Bunker Hill]

The notes to an older Yazoo record by Don Kent suggest the lyrics come from Boar Hog Blues - without citing any source recordings. Obviously not the Jazz Gillum version which was recorded much later.

As nobody has answered this, and at the risk of seeming to like the sound of my own voice, Kent was probably thinking of Texas Alexander's 1928 Boe Hog Blues, sung from the male perspective. Song is not exactly identical but the troublesome verse he renders more coyly thus:
She got little bitty legs, gee, but below her thighs
She got something on-a-yonder works like a bo' hog's eye.

Sorry folk couldn't resist reactivating this topic in light of something I've just stumbled upon in Jazz Journal, January 1961, which concludes a three part interview between Mack McCormick and Lightnin' Hopkins. What caught my attention was the following:

Mack: You told me about Texas Alexander getting in trouble over a song. What was that?
Sam: The way I heard it, he sung a bad song.
M: What was that?
S: Something about the boar-hog. 'She got box back nitties and all them noble thighs, something that works under cover like a boar-hog's eye.'
M: You think that's why they put him in prison?
S: Well, I don't know. That's what they tell me. After he got out, he never got to make any more records. Except that one time he almost made some but that woman took me to California, she was afraid of him. Say, 'I can't drive to California with that big old man'. So when we went, it was early in the morning. She told him he could go but then we left early?sneaked out of town. That was '46. I went to California for Aladdin records.
M: What's that song mean?
S: ' . . . works under cover with a boar hog's eye'. Now, I don't know what it means.
[yeah sam we'll believe you, thousands wouldn't - BH ]

[Bricktown Bob]

Noticed on the 'pedia that we have Geeshie Wiley's Last Kind Words and Skinny Leg Blues and thought, you know, there's not a whole lot else; maybe we should just wrap it up.  I'm hoping this isn't duplication of effort, though a cursory (and I do mean cursory) search of WC didn't turn up more than mentions of other song by Geeshie and by Elvie Thomas, whom I decided to toss in here too because, well, she's got fewer sides than Geeshie, and they both appear on several.  Y'all understand.

Here goes.



Pick Poor Robin Clean
as performed by Geeshie Wiley and Elvie Thomas

ET:  Hello there, Geeshie.
GW:  Hello there, Slack.
ET:  What are you doing down here?
GW:  I'm just down here trying to play these boys the new Cock Robin.
ET:  Let me hear it, then.

CH:
I picked poor Robin clean, picked poor Robin clean,
I picked his head, picked his feet,
I woulda picked his body but it wasn't fit to eat
Picked poor Robin clean, picked poor Robin clean,
And I'll be satisfied having a family.

Lord, did that jaybird laugh when I picked poor Robin clean,
Poor Robin clean, picked poor Robin clean;
Oh did that jaybird laugh when I picked poor Robin clean,
And I'll be satisfied having a family.

instrumental chorus

Get off my money, and don't get funny,
Cause I'm a Negra, don't cut no figure
Then old Miss Sadie, she is my baby,
[ET sings "Ah, Miss Sadie"]
And I'm a hustling coon, that's just what I am.

CH: You bet I picked poor Robin clean ...

Ehhhhhhhhh ...

instrumental chorus

Won't be long now.

Ah,
Dah dadila, di da-da,
Dah dadila, da di-dah.
Dah da-da, dah da-da dah.

Ah,
Dah dadila, di di-da,
Dah dadila, di di-dah.
Dah da-da, dah da-da dah.

CH (started hesitantly by ET in harmony, quickly picked up by GW)

instrumental half-chorus.

4/27: incorporated suggestions from Stuart and MrMando

[Bricktown Bob]

Eagles on a Half
Geeshie Wiley



It's a low, it's a low low, lowdown dirty shame,
It's a low, it's a low low, lowdown dirty shame,
I've got a brownskin man but I'm scared to call his name.

I say squat low, papa, let your mama see,
I say squat low, papa, let your mama see,
I want to see that old business, keeps on worrying me.

instrumental chorus

I twisted and I tumbled, I rolled the whole night long,
I twisted and I tumbled, I rolled the whole night long,
I didn't have no daddy to hold me in his arms.

instrumental chorus

I say get back, rider, don't care how you lay,
I say get back, rider, don't care how you lay,
I want to tell you I can't stay here till day.

I say eagles on a half, lord, say in God we trust,
I cry eagles on a half, babe, ah in God we trust,
I love you, daddy, but your dollar's first.

[Bricktown Bob]

Over To My House
as performed by Elvie Thomas (with Geeshie Wiley)



instrumental chorus

Come right on over to my house, ain't nobody here but me;
I been listless for the last six months, and I could not see.
Now you can shake it, you can break it, you can hang it on the wall,
Throw it out the window, run and catch it 'fore it falls.
On over to my house, ain't nobody here but --
I'm crying -- ain't nobody here but me.

Come right on over to my house, 'cause there ain't nobody here but me;
I been listless for the last six months and I could not see.
I say you need not think because you're little and cute
I'm gonna buy you a box-back suit.
Come right on over to my house, ain't nobody here but --
I'm crying -- ain't nobody here but me.

instrumental chorus

Come right on over to my house, 'cause there ain't nobody here but me;
I been listless for the last six months, and I could not speak.
When I was sitting in my parlor just as dumb as a lamb
I wasn't too dumb to hear the back door slam.
Come right on over to my house, ain't nobody here but --
I'm crying -- ain't nobody here but me.

Come right on over to my house, 'cause there ain't nobody here but me;
I been listless for the last six months and I could not see.
I'm gonna grab me a picket off of my back fence
Gonna whip your nappy head until you learn some sense.
Come right on over to my house, ain't nobody here but --
I'm crying -- ain't nobody here but me.

Come right on over to my house, 'cause there ain't nobody here but me;
I been listless for the last six months and I could not speak
I cried ashes to ashes and sand to sand
Every married woman's got a backdoor man.
C'mon over, baby, to my house, ain't nobody here but --
I'm crying -- ain't nobody here but me.

instrumental chorus.

Edited 9/2/20 to pick up corrections from Johnm

4/27: incorporated suggestions from doctorpep, banjochris, mr mando.

[Stuart]

Pick Poor Robin Clean
as performed by Geeshie Wiley and Elvie Thomas

I woulda picked his body if it wasn't too deep

I'm hearing, "I woulda picked his body but it wasn't fit to eat"

Lord, did that jaybird say(?) when I picked poor Robin clean,

I'm hearing, "Lord, did that jaybird laugh..."

[mr mando]

I'm hoping this isn't duplication of effort, .....

Well, it's been done, but not on WC but over at the IGS forum in 2002. Here's the link:
http://www.guitarseminars.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/001898.html

[doctorpep]

"I was sittin' in my quarters, just as quiet as a lamb", is what I'm hearing. McTell may have sung the same lyrics in "Come On Around to My House".

[banjochris]

I hear "sitting in my parlor". Also, the lyrics of "Pick Poor Robin Clean" should be around here on a Luke Jordan thread.

[Bricktown Bob]

the lyrics of "Pick Poor Robin Clean" should be around here on a Luke Jordan thread.

I thought so, too, but I can't find them.  Hmph!

[mr mando]

Originally posted by Lcwx2 on 08-02-2002 02:16
at http://www.guitarseminars.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/001898.html

OK, I've decided to help out anyone who needs info on this artist. I've only been able to locate two sources for info on Geechie, alternatively spelled 'Geeshie'. The two sources (well, three if you count the document disc) are Yazoo's cd 'Mississippi Masters' in which there is some info on some songs and some biography, and 'Chasin' That Devil Music' by Gayle Dean Wardlow, in which Ishmon Bracey is quoted as having met her. I will first give the info from the book, then the cd liner notes, and then I will present my own song analyses, including lyrics and chords. I will minimize material that would be redundant:
Book:
Bracey: 'She lived 'round there on John Hart Street for a while. Charlie McCoy got her for his old lady. She could play on the guitar as good as on that record [Eagles On A Half, Pm 13074]. She said she was from Natchez; close by Natchez was her home. She didn't stay here long, couple of months and she done left.'
Bracey said he was not confusing Wiley with Rosie Mae Moore. He said McCoy lived with both of them at different times. He said Wiley played guitar and accompanied herself when she sang. [Her 'Last Kind Words Blues' was prominently used by Terry Zwigoff in his documentary film on Robert Crumb.]
The four tunes (actually six) that Wiley recorded solo and with Elvie Thomas for Paramount in 1930 and 1931 establish her as one of the greatest female blues artists. According to Ishman Bracey, she hailed from the vicinity of Natchez. In the 1920s she spent three months in Jackson as a resident of John Hart Street; while there, she played in a medicine show. 'She could play a guitar, but she had a guitar player with her,' Bracey said. 'She'd play a guitar, and a ukulele too.' While in Jackson, she took up with Charlie McCoy.
A woman matching the description of Elvie Thomas was remembered as living near Palmer's Crossing, a small community outside of Hattiesburg. No other information is available.

CD liner notes:
Other than a report of Robert Wilkins (and Bracey's recollections) seeing her in eastern Mississippi around 1930, her name elicited no further response among her contemporaries.
She represents when black secular music was coalescing into blues. Her repertoire includes raggy pieces like Over To My House and Pick Poor Robin Clean. Last Kind Words probably predates WWI, but is handled with a blues sensibility. Her guitar technique is unusual: her use of an A minor chord is rare.
Wiley apparently came up to record with Elvie Thomas. Motherless Child Blues is in E. It shows traces of a northern Mississippi influence, but the B7th section is without parallel in rural blues. A very similar arrangement is used on Skinny Leg Blues. Wiley's masterpiece, Last Kind Words Blues is played in the key of E. The lyrics date it to WWI, but it's bar structure is probably older. The opening A minor chord that leads directly into the same A riff employed by Texas artists is unique, and the thumb rolls in the B7th part echo Patton Green River Blues.

OK, now for my analyses of her music. First, unless it's already been mentioned, I will give the chords to each song, then the lyrics, then a bit about what the lyrics might mean. Lyrics in parentheses could be mistaken. I've tried to do as good a job as I can. Enjoy.




Last Kind Words Blues
by Geechie Wiley

(Guitar Intro)

The last kind word I heard my daddy say
Lord the last kind word I heard my daddy say

If I die, if I die in the German War
I want you to send my body, send it to my mother-in-law

If I get killed, if I get killed, please don?t bury my (soul) (sword)
I (p?fer) just leave me out, let the buzzards eat me whole

When you see me comin?, look ?cross the (rich man?s) (Richland) field
If I don?t bring you flour, I?ll bring you (?)

(Guitar Solo)

I went to the depot, I looked up at the sign
Cry some train don?t come, there?ll be some walkin? done

My momma told me, just before she died
Lord, (since the dawn, I thought you?d be so wise) (I brought you a piece of ?)

The Mississippi River, you know it?s deep and wide
I can stand right here, see my (babe) (face) from the other side

What you do to me baby, it never gets out of me
I mean I?ll see you, after I cross the deep blue sea

Obviously, this song is about a guy that went off to war in WWI. It's interesting that he'd want his body sent to his mother-in-law and eaten by buzzards. If anybody knows more than I do about WWI, maybe you could help fill in the blanks, or give corrections?

Skinny Leg Blues
by Geechie Wiley

(Guitar Intro)

And I?m a little bitty Mamma, baby and I ain?t built for speed
Cryin? I?m a little bitty Mamma, baby and I ain?t built for speed
Ah, and I ain?t built for speed
I?ve got everything that a little bitty Mamma need

I?ve got little bitty legs, (he puts his old bull (nobble) ?twine)
I?ve got little bitty legs, (he puts his old bull (nobble) ?twine)
Ah, (he puts his old bull (nobble) ?twine)
I?ve got somethin? that (a?needs jelly, works like a bull won?t cry)

And when you see me comin?, pull down your window blind
And when you see me comin?, pull down your window blind
You see me comin?, pull down your window blinds
So your next door neighbor, sure can hear you whine

I?m gonna cut your throat baby, gon? look down in your face
I?m gonna cut your throat babe, gon? look down in your face
Ah, I?ll look down in your face
I?m gonna let some lonesome graveyard, be your restin? place


This song is pretty brutal. Geechie seems to be saying that I'm a cute little girl with whom you can copulate, and then I'm going to kill you. I say that because I think the second verse is very sexual in nature; however, it's possible that I'm missing some metaphors there that could be more threatening than I could hear. Help me out on this one, would ya?

Motherless Child Blues
by Geechie Wiley and Elvie Thomas



My mother told me just before she died
My mother told me just before she died
My mother told me just before she died
My mother told me just before she died

Oh daughter daughter please don?t be like me
Oh daughter daughter please don?t be like me
Oh daughter daughter please don?t be like me
To fall in love with every man you see

But I did not listen what my mother said
But I did not listen what my mother said
But I did not listen what my mother said
That?s the reason why I?m driftin? here today

Baby now she?s dead, six feet in the ground
Baby now she?s dead, she?s six feet in the ground
Baby now she?s dead, she?s six feet in the ground
And I?m a child, and I am driftin? ?round

Do you remember the day baby, you drove me from your door?
Do you remember the day baby, you drove me from your door?
Do you remember the day you drove me from your door?
?Go away from here woman, and don?t come here no more.?

I walked away and I wring my hands and cryin?
I walked away and I wring my hands and cryin?
I walked away and I wring my hands and cryin?
Didn?t have no blues, I couldn?t keep tarryin? aroun?


This one seems pretty self explanatory. She's saddened by a breakup and many before, and remembers what her mother told her, advice which she never heeded. Dig the beauty of Elvie's voice on this one. Wow.

Over To My House seems to be in Em. I've never heard a raggy piece done this way that I can think of, and everybody should hear this one. From what I get, the chords are: Em-B7-Em-B7-Em-Am-Em-B7-Em-B7-Em. Of course she doesn't just strum these, and she pulls plenty of punches in filler notes, etc. That goes for all of the chords I'll be giving; for instance, in Pick Poor Robin Clean, the D7 is often a D, etc.

Over To My House
Geechie Wiley and Elvie Thomas

(Guitar Intro)

Come ?round over to my house, ain?t nobody here but me
I been listenin? for the last six months, and I could not see
Cause you can shake it, you can break it, you can hang it on the wall
Throw it out the window, run and catch it ?fore it falls
On over to my house, ain?t nobody here but, I?m cryin?, ain?t nobody here but me

Come ?round over to my house, cause there ain?t nobody here but me
I?ve been listenin? for the last six months, and I could not see
I said you need not think because you?re little and cute
I?m gonna buy you a (fox-black) suit
Come on over to my house, ain?t nobody here but, I?m cryin?, ain?t nobody here but me

(Guitar Solo)

Come ?round over to my house, cause there ain?t nobody here but me
I?ve been listenin? for the last six months, and I could not see
When I was sittin? in my parlor, just a strummin? and playin?
I wasn?t too drunk to hear the backdoor slam
Come ?round over to my house, ain?t nobody here but, I?m cryin?, ain?t nobody here but me

Come ?round over to my house, cause there ain?t nobody here but me
I?ve been listenin? for the last six months, and I could not see
I?m gonna grab me a picket off of my back fence
Gonna whip ?em at your head until you learn some sense
Come ?round over to my house, ain?t nobody here but, I?m cryin?, ain?t nobody here but me

Come ?round over to my house, cause there ain?t nobody here but me
I?ve been listenin? for the last six months, and I could not see
I cried ashes to ashes, and sand to sand
Every married woman?s gotta backdoor man
On over baby to my house, ain?t nobody here but, I?m cryin?, ain?t nobody here but me


I love these lyrics, and they're very cleverly executed. This song gives you the feeling that old Geechie might have been a hard woman to live with: infidelity, assault, murder. The list goes on.

Pick Poor Robin Clean is probably a pretty old piece. Luke Jordan does a beautiful rendition of it on Document's 'The Songster Tradtion', from which one can exptrapolate it's vintage. The chord progression is a fairly standard rag progression: C-A7-D7-G7-C. It's a really fun piece, but I'd recommend switching some lyrics around before playing it in public.

Pick Poor Robin Clean
by Geechie Wiley and Elvie Thomas

Spoken: ?Hello there, Geechie!?
?Hello there, (Smack)!?
?What are you doin? down here??
?Oh I?m just down here tryin? to play these barn blues about Robin!?
?Let me hear it, then!?

I picked poor Robin clean, I picked poor Robin clean
I picked his head, I picked his feet, I woulda picked a spider but he wasn?t fit to eat
But I picked poor Robin clean, picked poor Robin clean
And I?ll be satisfied, having a family

Lord, in that Jaybird land, where I can pick poor Robin clean
Poor Robin clean, pick poor Robin clean
Lord, in that Jaybird land, where I can pick poor Robin clean
Then I?ll be satisfied, having a family

(Guitar Solo)

Get off my money, and don?t get funny
Cause I?m a nigger, don?t cut no figure
Gamblin? for Sadie, she is my lady
And I?m a hustling coon, that?s just what I am

You better pick poor Robin clean, pick poor Robin clean
Picked his head, picked his feet, I woulda picked a spider but he wasn?t fit to eat
But I picked poor Robin clean, picked poor Robin clean
And I?ll be satisfied, having a family

Spoken: ?Yeaah! Won?t be long now!?

(Guitar Solo)

Scat: Ahh, dah dah-dah-lah di-di-dah, dah dah-dah-lah dah dah
dah dah-dah, dah dah-dah dah
Ahh, dah dah-dah-lah di-di-dah, dah dah-dah-lah di-di-dah
dah dah-dah, dah dah-dah dah

Picked poor Robin clean, picked his head, picked his feet
I woulda picked a spider but he wasn?t fit to eat
I picked poor Robin clean, picked poor Robin clean
Said I?ll be satisfied, having a family


This song is about gambling and stealing, possibly to the extent of taking someone else's spouse. As always, it's sung with lots of spirit, giving one the impression that, given the opportunity, Geechie might just take all you've got; and why not? You'd probably be dead by then anyway.

Eagles On A Half is a really great piece in A, in which Geechie employs some licks used by Willie Brown when accompanying Patton on Moon Goin Down, as well as a D riff later used by Robert Johnson. Here's the progression: A-D7-A-E-D7-A. And the lyrics:


Eagles On A Half
by Geechie Wiley

(Guitar Intro)

It?s a low, it?s a low, low, low down dirty shame
It?s a low, it?s a low, low, low down dirty shame
I?ve got a brownskin man but I?m scared to call his name

I?ve to squat low Pappa, let your Mamma see
I?ve to squat low Pappa, let your Mamma see
I wants to see that whole business, please don?t worry me

(Guitar Solo)

I twisted and I tumbled, I roll the whole night long
I twisted and I tumbled, I roll the whole night long
I didn?t have no Daddy to, hold me in his arms

(Guitar Solo)

I said get back Rider, don?t care how you lay
I said get back Rider, don?t care how you lay
I wanna tell you I, can?t stay here today

I said eagles on a half dollar, babe ain?t gotta be cruel
I said eagles on a half babe, I ain?t gotta be cruel
I love you Daddy, what?s your dollar for?


This one gets pretty racy, and if I'm right about the last verse, we've finally stumbled upon something that Geechie wouldn't do: prostitute herself to her own man! My, the awe-inspiring virtue! However, if I screwed up the last verse, it could mean that she's just not willing to settle for a half-dollar, but would do it for a whole dollar, in which case we're right back where we started. In any case, Geechie is undoubtedly one of Mississippi's greatest artists, and definitley (in my opinion) it's greatest female blues singer. If you like acoustic blues, you must get to know her work. It's unparalleled in both skill and beauty. Happy listening and, please, if you've got better ideas as to my parethetical lyrics, let us know. One more treat. Go here, and you can learn to play her masterpiece; every acoustic blues player should know it: http://www.guitarseminars.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/001041.html


Bye for now.

Jon

[Bricktown Bob]

"I was sittin' in my quarters, just as quiet as a lamb", is what I'm hearing. McTell may have sung the same lyrics in "Come On Around to My House".

I hear "sitting in my parlor".

Thanks, doctorpep; thanks, banjochris.  Yes, I'll go with parlor, but the rest of the line's still got me.  A couple things it's not, I think: mr mando's "just a strummin? and playin?" and doctorpep's "just as quiet as a lamb."  It doesn't sound like a true rhyme (with "slam") at all.  In fact, the rhyme-position word (made-up term) sounds to me like "smell."  Of course, using a smell/slam kinda-rhyme is the sort of thing progressive English poets were doing back then, from Wilfred Owen to Dylan Thomas ...

[Yes, I know 1930 is after Owen and before Thomas.  Also that this sort of thing didn't start with the one and end with the other.  I just happen to really like these two, and they naturally sprang to mind.]

Anyway, except for that one half line, I'm pretty confident about this now.  Except maybe for "listless," as opposed to mr mando's "listenin'." 

[Bricktown Bob]

I'm hearing, "I woulda picked his body but it wasn't fit to eat"
Lord, did that jaybird say(?) when I picked poor Robin clean,
I'm hearing, "Lord, did that jaybird laugh..."

Thanks, Stuart.  That's it.

[CF]

For Skinny Leg I always heard the line as

'I got little bitty legs, keep up these noble thighs'

& then

[uncle bud]

Re. Skinny Legs, see this thread http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?amp;Itemid=83&topic=2269.0

Note the similarity with a Texas Alexander verse, which here is

I?ve got little bitty legs, keep up these noble thighs
I?ve got little bitty legs, keep up these noble thighs
Aaaaaah, keep up these noble thighs
I?ve got somethin? underneath them that works like a bo' hog's eye

[banjochris]

Thanks, doctorpep; thanks, banjochris.  Yes, I'll go with parlor, but the rest of the line's still got me.  A couple things it's not, I think: mr mando's "just a strummin? and playin?" and doctorpep's "just as quiet as a lamb."  It doesn't sound like a true rhyme (with "slam") at all.  In fact, the rhyme-position word (made-up term) sounds to me like "smell." 

I still can't make out that last word, but I think before that it's "parlor, just drunk as [a]?"
Chris

[LD50]

Re: 'Over to My House', I'm just about positive the disputed lyrics are as follows:

"When I was sittin? in my quarter, just as dumb as a lamb,
I wasn?t too dumb to hear the backdoor slam"

(Remember, the original meaning of 'dumb' used to be 'mute'; I think it's being used in the older sense the first time, and the 'stupid' sense the 2nd time. Also remember that 'quarter' was a term meaning buildings on a plantation where blacks lived, and was a holdover from the phrase 'slave quarters'.)

[morning wood]

Last Kind Word Blues

If I die, if I die in the German War
I want you to send my body, send it to my mother-in-law mother lord

Is what I hear, and it seems to make a bit more sense. Might be wrong though.

Paul.

[LD50]

Dunno, it really sounds like "send it to my mother-in-law". It has too many syllables to be "send it to my mother, lord"

Last Kind Word Blues

If I die, if I die in the German War
I want you to send my body, send it to my mother-in-law mother lord

Is what I hear, and it seems to make a bit more sense. Might be wrong though.

Paul.

[banjochris]

Re: 'Over to My House', I'm just about positive the disputed lyrics are as follows:

"When I was sittin? in my quarter, just as dumb as a lamb,
I wasn?t too dumb to hear the backdoor slam"

I think you may have the end of the two lines, LD50. Pretty sure she's singing "parlor," not quarter, though. Also, I'm thinking the second line of each verse, instead of "I been listless for the last six months and I could not see," could be "I had religion for the last six months..."
Chris

[uncle bud]

I agree, LD50, "dumb as a lamb" works, good ears. However, I too still hear "parlor".

Paul, the "mother-in-law" line in Last Kind Word dates at least to a song collected by Howard W. Odum as "If I Die in Arkansas" and published in his 1911 paper "Folk-Song and Folk-Poetry as Found in the Secular Songs of the Southern Negroes", The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 24, No. 93 (Jul. - Sep., 1911)


If I die in Arkansa',
Oh, if I die in Arkansa',
If I die in Arkansa',
Des ship my body to my mother-in-law.

If my mother refuse me, ship it to my pa...

If my. papa refuse me, ship it to my girl...

If my girl refuse me, shove me into de sea...
Where de fishes an' de whales make a fuss over me.

[LD50]

Right, Ed Bell's Squabblin' Blues clearly has the 'mother-in-law' line.

Well, what can I say, I'm still hearing 'quarter'.

I agree, LD50, "dumb as a lamb" works, good ears. However, I too still hear "parlor".

Paul, the "mother-in-law" line in Last Kind Word dates at least to a song collected by Howard W. Odum as "If I Die in Arkansas" and published in his 1911 paper "Folk-Song and Folk-Poetry as Found in the Secular Songs of the Southern Negroes", The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 24, No. 93 (Jul. - Sep., 1911)


If I die in Arkansa',
Oh, if I die in Arkansa',
If I die in Arkansa',
Des ship my body to my mother-in-law.

If my mother refuse me, ship it to my pa...

If my. papa refuse me, ship it to my girl...

If my girl refuse me, shove me into de sea...
Where de fishes an' de whales make a fuss over me.

[Gumbo]

The notes to an older Yazoo record by Don Kent suggest the lyrics come from Boar Hog Blues - without citing any source recordings. Obviously not the Jazz Gillum version which was recorded much later.

As nobody has answered this, and at the risk of seeming to like the sound of my own voice, Kent was probably thinking of Texas Alexander's 1928 Boe Hog Blues, sung from the male perspective. Song is not exactly identical but the troublesome verse he renders more coyly thus:

She got little bitty legs, gee, but below her thighs
She got something on-a-yonder works like a bo' hog's eye.

It's nice to see this corroborated so dramatically in the NY Times piece In fact I wonder if Weeniecampbell played a part in getting Don Kent interviewed for the article!

[alyoung]

Paul, the "mother-in-law" line in Last Kind Word dates at least to a song collected by Howard W. Odum as "If I Die in Arkansas" and published in his 1911 paper "Folk-Song and Folk-Poetry as Found in the Secular Songs of the Southern Negroes", The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 24, No. 93 (Jul. - Sep., 1911)

If my mother refuse me, ship it to my pa...
If my. papa refuse me, ship it to my girl...
If my girl refuse me, shove me into de sea...
Where de fishes an' de whales make a fuss over me.

See also Henry Thomas, Texas Worried Blues, for another version of this lyric set.

[Tim Connor]

Just discovered this site and this thread--for those who may not be in the habit of reading the New York Times, there was a major article on Geeshie and Elvie about a year ago, by a guy who managed to track down people who knew Elvie, who moved to Houston and died in 1979 (Geeshie is more of a mystery--she apparently murdered her husband in 1931 and disappeared).

The Ballad of Geeshie and Elvie: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/04/13/magazine/blues.html

[Kokomo O]

Thank you, Tim. It has actually been discussed extensively here: http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=10134.0

[raudiobrown]

I've always loved this song, and appreciate the informative posts I found here as to tuning, chords, and lyrics.

I'd like to offer my two cents on some of the harder-to-hear syllables and phrases:

Rather than "I p'fer just leave me out, let the buzzards eat me whole"
I believe it's "I cry just leave me out..."

For the fourth verse, second line, I hear:
"If I don't bring you flour, I'll bring you both a meal"
(if I don't bring you a little, I'll bring you a lot)

Instead of, "I went to the depot, I looked up at the sign,"
I hear, "...I looked up at the stars".
Doesn't rhyme well, but that's how I hear it.

The biggest change I would make in the lyrics posted here previously would be to verse six:

My momma told me, just before she died
Lord, (since the dawn, I thought you'd be so wise) (I brought you a piece of)
I believe that second line is:
Lord, sissy daughter, don't you be so wise
or maybe:
...don't you be so white.

Thanks again to all.

Rod

[Rivers]

Hi Rod, welcome to weenie campbell. Click on the tag 'Geeshie Wiley' to find several more work sessions on this song. The most exhaustive, not to mention creative and hilarious, was this one: http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=377.msg2490#msg2490

The 'bolted meal' line is discussed in depth, with examples of the same line from other songs. Hard to dispute, given the provenance of other songs, IMO

Re. buzzard bait, most, including me, agree with your 'I cry just leave me out...'

Elsewhere, 'Lord, Sister daughter, don't you be so wild' is how most, though not all, heard it.

'... looked up at the sun/sign/stars', take your pick! I sing 'sign' myself. My reasoning is there are numerous songs of the Depot Blues family where the protagonist '...looked up at the board' while waiting for a train. 'Sign' and 'board' are almost synonymous. But she could have been looking up at the sun before contemplating the long walk she might have to make if some train don't come. 'Stars' I can't really find a context.

Re. 'don't you be so white', I'd say you're having a 'beaujolais moment' (see the thread I linked to) 

It's endless.