WeenieCampbell.com
Country Blues => Country Blues Lyrics => Topic started by: bob long on July 01, 2006, 08:53:53 AM
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Can anybody help me with the lyrics of this song? Thanks in anticipation
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Hi Bob, what have you got so far?
Also, RB just posted this song in the Back Porch - have you listened to his version?
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You can also check here:
http://www.dylan61.se/taft.htm
The accuracy and completeness leave something to be desired, but its better than nothing.
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Bob;
I found these lyrics on line at http://www.harptab.com/lyrics/ly2886.shtml The lyrics I used on my recording are my take from listening to the original.
Thanks; RB
by
Booker T. Washington White a.k.a. Bukka White
recording of 19
from
The Complete Sessions 1930-1940 (Travelin' Man 3)
&
The Complete Bukka White (Columbia CK-52782)
Hey, come on you women, let's do the
Jitterbug
swing
When you do the Jitterbug swing, you know you will be doing a thing
Hey, I can't stand it long, I'm telling you women, I can't stand it long
Hey, every time I ask you, you won't let me follow you home
You must have some
rounder
, lyin' in your arms
Hey, you women workin' on my nerves
Hey, you women workin' on my nerves
Hey, you gonna drive me in my blood
Hey, please, m'am, don't say, "Uh uh"
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Thanks guys!.....Very helpful!!!
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Hi all -
The song "The Promise True and Grand" by Booker White came up in my random listening today. Does anyone know if it is based on a particular hymn or religious text? The lyrics seem like they're "pre-existing", i.e. not written by Booker. The song structure, too, seems to be coming from somewhere else. I don't have much familiarity with hymns and the like (being a heathen and all).
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Can anyone help with the lyrics for Charlie Patton's "Po' Boy." It is very difficult to make them out from the recording that I have.
I have amended this message since I originally wrote Charlie Patton when I meant to say Bukka White.
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Hi littledog,
Do you mean "Poor Me"?
All best,
Johnm
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Thanks Johnm. I actually meant to say Bukka White....well the names are similar aren't they? Seriously, I have a recording of Bukka White singing Poor Boy Long Way From Home (named on my version accessed from Limewire as "Po' Boy") I think the audio is taken from a film clip that is on YouTube. My problem is that whenever I try to find the lyrics I get something quite different to what he is singing on the clip. There is also a YouTube clip of KeniLee Burgess singing Poor Boy A Long Way Fom Home, but again his lyrics are not those sung on the Bukka White clip.
All the best
Littledog
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The problem is he sang it differently every time. If you could find the particular clip that would help.
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Do you mean the version of 'Poor Boy' that White recorded for Lomax in 1939?
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I think this may be the Youtube clip under discussion :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0jRX69mxcE
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Yep that's the clip. Can anyone here the lyrics clearer than I can?
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Po' Boy he was travellin'
he's heading on the road
Po' Boy he got hungry
he didn't even have nowhere to room
Po' Boy says a hateful
till evening sun go down
he say me rock fill my pillow
and the cold ground was sleeping frame
Po' Boy momma's come to see him
boys [sic] is heading river bound
when she looked and seen him
Oh she went screamin' and cryin'
She said to her Mother
Po' Boy must [sic] river bound
Oh she kneeled on her knee
Oh how Ole momma scream and cryin'
(spoken) Love her boy
`Fore she says goodbye
your mother's going to leave you alone
she says you be a good boy
you'll be home by and by
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Hi all,
I was listening to "Bukka White--The Vintage Recordings (1930-1940), Document DOCD-5679 today, and found I was hearing this the best I've ever heard it. This is what I heard today. Booker White and Washboard Sam belong in the Time Hall of Fame for this rendition. Here is "Jitterbug Swing":
https://youtu.be/Hs650r2O5-I
He-e-y, come all you women, let's us do the Jitterbug Swing
Come all you women, let's us do the Jitterbug Swing
When you do the Jitterbug Swing, then you know you will be doin' the thing
He-e-y, I can't stand this long
I'm telling you women, I can't stand this long
He-e-ey, every time I aks you, you won't let me follow you home
You must have some rounder layin' in your arms
He-e-ey, you women workin' on my nerve
Hey, you women, workin' on my nerve
He-e-y, you gonna drive it in my blood
He-e-ey, please, ma'am, don't say "Unh uh"
All best,
Johnm
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Hi all,
Booker White recorded "Black Train Blues" on March 7, 1940, at the beginning of the amazing 2-day session in which he was backed by Washboard Sam and ended up with 12 of the strongest Country Blues songs and performances ever recorded. Booker accompanied himself out of A position in standard tuning on "Black Train Blues", and the song employed a phrasing archetype that Booker would use over and over in the course of the 2-day session. Basically, what Booker did in his phrasing was shorten the instrumental response that answers each sung line. He did this by the following means: he would sing over the first two bars of each phrase, do a four-beat instrumental response and tag on two extra beats to accommodate the pick-up beats for the next vocal line. The form for "Black Train Blues" maps out so, assuming four beats per bar unless otherwise indicated:
| IV7 | IV7 | I +2 beats |
| IV7 | IV7 | I + 2 beats |
| V7 | IV7 | I + 2 beats |
Booker's lyrics for "Black Train Blues" are unusual in their use of interior rhymes in the opening lines of the verses. "Haints" = "Haunts", ghosts or spirits. Here is "Black Train Blues":
https://youtu.be/RUswnpGj6GU
My heart is filled with pain, I believe I'll catch the train
My heart is filled with pain, I believe I'll catch the train
The woman I love, she has another man
Yonder come the train, and I ain't got no change
Yonder come the train, and I ain't got no change
All I can do is stand and wring my hands
I don't feel ashamed, standin' and wringin' my hands at the train
I don't feel ashamed, standin' and wringin' my hands at the train
I ain't the first man the train left cold in hand
That the same big black train that put me in a strain
That the same big black train that put me in a strain
I ride the train, keep the women from spendin' my change
I don't see nothing but haints standin' at the train
I don't see nothing but haints standin' at the train
That the same black train that left me in a strain
OUTRO
All best,
Johnm
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Hi all,
Booker White seemed a good candidate for a merged lyric thread, so I brought together pre-existing threads on "Jitterbug Swing", "The Promise True and Grand" and "Poor Boy", and merged them, keeping the original post titles with the exception of the thread starter. We can take it from here now.
All best,
Johnm
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Hi all,
Booker White recorded "When Can I Change My Clothes" on March 7, 1940, the same day as "Black Train Blues". I believe "When Can I Change My Clothes" to be one of the most remarkable commercial Country Blues ever recorded. The singularity of its lyric stance and the intensity of Booker's delivery make it unique. Booker accompanies himself out of E position in standard tuning, playing with tremendous force and power. For the melody, he borrows from "Shake 'Em On Down", a melody that I believe, but am not sure, was first recorded by Johnnie Temple.
I've always thought of the chorus blues archetype as essentially a Pop music convention, but "When Can I Change My Clothes" definitely makes me re-think that assessment, for it is so much more intense and closer to the bone than chorus blues normally are. As great as the blues are and can be, there have only ever been a couple of lyricists that I've heard in the genre who could make something like this song--Booker White, Sleepy John Estes, Robert Pete Williams, and . . .? Booker's searing delivery paints the whole picture. Here is "When Can I Change My Clothes?":
https://youtu.be/7JcLwvF2vZE
Never will forget that day when they had me in Parchman jail
Wouldn't no one even come and go my bail
REFRAiN: I wonder how long, babe, b'fore I can change my clothes
I wonder how long b'fore I can change my clothes
So many days I would be sad and down
I would be sad and down, lookin' down on my clothes
REFRAIN: I wonder how long before I can change my clothes
I wonder how long b'fore I can change my clothes
So many days, when the day would be cold
They would carry me out in the rain and cold
REFRAIN: I wonder how long before I can change my clothes
I wonder how long b'fore I can change my clothes
So many days, when the day would be cold
You could stand and look at the convict toes
REFRAIN: "I wonder how long before I can change my clothes.
I wonder how long b'fore I can change my clothes."
So many days I would be walkin' down the road
I could hardly walk for lookin' down on my clothes
REFRAIN: I wonder how long before I can change my clothes
I wonder how long b'fore I can change my clothes
Never will forget that day when they taken my clothes
Taken my citizen clothes and th'owed 'em away-ee
REFRAIN: Wonder how long before I can change my clothes
I wonder how long b'fore I can change my clothes
Edited 1/11 to pick up corrections from banjochris
All best,
Johnm
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Hi all,
Booker White recorded "Black Train Blues" on March 7, 1940, at the beginning of the amazing 2-day session in which he was backed by Washboard Sam and ended up with 12 of the strongest Country Blues songs and performances ever recorded. Booker accompanied himself out of A position in standard tuning on "Black Train Blues", and the song employed a phrasing archetype that Booker would use over and over in the course of the 2-day session. Basically, what Booker did in his phrasing was shorten the instrumental response that answers each sung line. He did this by the following means: he would sing over the first two bars of each phrase, do a four-beat instrumental response and tag on two extra beats to accommodate the pick-up beats for the next vocal line.
Thanks for describing that phrasing pattern, John. It sure is effective, isn't it? I really like it.
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Yep, uncle bud, I really like the way Booker phrased those songs, too. I should have said that he reserves this phrasing model for his songs that are in an AAB lyric format, with the first line sung twice and answered by a concluding tagline. He didn't use the archetype for either chorus blues, like "When Can I Change My Clothes", or for more freely phrased songs like "Aberdeen Mississippi Blues" or "Jitterbug Swing". One thing I especially like about the phrasing model that Booker was using for his AAB songs in that 2-day session is the way that the shorter, "interrupted" instrumental response lends a greater sense of urgency to the phrasing. This, taken in combination with the force and urgency with which Booker played and sang everything at those sessions, makes for a much more intense feel than what we're accustomed to hearing in an AAB-phrased blues.
All best,
Johnm
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Hi all,
As long as we're discussing aspects of Booker's performances that don't pertain strictly to his lyrics here, it's worth mentioning that part of the musical source of the heightened tension in his accompaniment to "When Can I Change My Clothes" results from the bass notes he's hitting with his thumb behind the I chord in the first four bars of the form. He's playing in E, and despite the fact that he has a beautiful deep open E string to strike, he chooses instead to back those first four bars with a non-chord tone, the open A string, at which he hammers away. The fact that he's pounding away at that low A beneath his E chord phrase really ups the ante with regards to building up tension through the first four bars of the form. When he does resolve to A in the fifth bar, it's like the other shoe drops, and we get a release from the cumulative tension that built up in the first four bars. The fact that the release of the tension coincides with the arrival of the song's chorus makes it all the more masterful. I remember Phil Thorne mentioning that he listened for tension and release in the blues--well, Booker gave us a prime instance of that in "When Can I Change My Clothes".
All best,
Johnm
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Hi all,
John Lomax recorded Booker White while Booker was an inmate at Parchman Penitentiary, Camp 10, on May 23, 1939, and listed Booker's name as Washington (Barrlehouse) White, according to Keith Briggs' liner notes to "Bukka White-The Vintage Recordings", Document DOCD-5679. "Sic 'Em Dogs On", recorded that day, may be Booker's first recorded slide number that he played out of cross-note tuning. It has the characteristic rocking on the third string, from the major third of the I chord to the root of the IV chord, a sound common to all of Booker's later cross-note slide tunes and absent from his earlier Vestapol recordings, like "Panama Limited".
"Sic 'Em Dogs On" is a unique song and performance. It is very freely phrased, with verses of varying lengths, and outlines an altercation between Booker and a local woman. It sounds as though Booker's sense of what the money he had paid her entitled him to greatly exceeded her own sense of obligation for that amount. It's an odd feeling to hear a prison inmate singing a song in which he is threatening to summon the law. I'd appreciate help with the bent bracketed portion of the lyrics--I may have it right or not. "Suc" is the past tense of "sic". The call-and-response between the voice and guitar is so tightly knit that it doesn't make any sense to think in terms of Booker taking a solo in the course of the rendition. I think this is about as good as it gets in Country Blues. Here is "Sic 'Em Dogs On":
https://youtu.be/7HS1OWE8d9o
Says, "I'm goin' downtown and tell the Chief poli' you siccin' your dogs on me."
She went to runnin', runnin' and cryin'
She said, "Listen, Son, I ain't gonna do it no more, I ain't gonna do it no more."
"You done got my money, now you tryin' to sic your dog on me."
"That's all right there, girl, how you do men, you gon' cheat again."
"I'm gonna tell the Chief you suc your dog on me, told me you didn't want me around."
"Oh, Mister Chief, she done got my money now, siccin' her dog on me."
She went to running and crying, says,
"Sic 'em, Butcher, 'cause Spider, he won't bite."
"If you take me back, I won't do it no more, baby, don't sic your dogs on me."
She said, "Listen, daddy, don't you drive me, don't you drive me around."
Edited 1/4 to pick up corrections from banjochris and dj.
Edited 1/13 to pick up correction from Johnm
All best,
Johnm
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White is quoted at length telling the story behind this song in the Country Blues Songbook.
In later recordings of this, he sings "Sic them Butcher, Fido he won't bite," which I think is the missing line here, except for that word after Butcher, which sounds something like cross or 'cross to me.
Also perhaps worth noting in the Library of Congress recording after the line "If you take me back, I won't do it no more, baby, don't sic your dogs on me" you can hear John Lomax telling Booker: "One more."
Chris
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I hear the line in question as:
Sic 'IM Butcher 'CAUSE SPIDER he won't bite
Though I suppose what I hear as SPIDER could be FIDO, pronounced "FIDER", with a bit of the "s" from 'CAUSE carried over at the start of the word.
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I think you're right on the 'CAUSE, dj. All I know on the "Fido" is that's definitely how he sang it in the '60s. I'll go back tonight and listen again to see if I hear "Spider." My guess is he's just adding the r sound at the end as you suggested.
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Thanks very much for the help, Chris and dj. For the Parchman recording of the song, "Sic 'em, Butcher, 'cause Spider, he won't bite." sounds dead on the money. I will make the change. I hadn't noticed Lomax saying "One more" before the final verse of "Sic 'Em Dogs On", though I had noticed him saying the same thing before the last verse of "Poor Boy". I'm glad to get that line, thanks.
All best,
Johnm
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Hi all,
As long as we're discussing aspects of Booker's performances that don't pertain strictly to his lyrics here, it's worth mentioning that part of the musical source of the heightened tension in Bukka's accompaniment to "When Can I Change My Clothes" results from the bass notes he's hitting with his thumb behind the I chord in the first four bars of the form. He's playing in E, and despite the fact that he has a beautiful deep open E string to strike, he chooses instead to back those first four bars with a non-chord tone, the open A string, at which he hammers away. The fact that he's pounding away at that low A beneath his E chord phrase really ups the ante with regards to building up tension through the first four bars of the form. When he does resolve to A in the fifth bar, it's like the other shoe drops, and we get a release from the cumulative tension that built up in the first four bars. The fact that the release of the tension coincides with the arrival of the song's chorus makes it all the more masterful. I remember Phil Thorne mentioning that he listened for tension and release in the blues--well, Booker gave us a prime instance of that in "When Can I Change My Clothes".
All best,
Johnm
John:
Little Hat Jones made use of this device in this six accompaniments in the "Corpus Blues" mold. In the first four bars (E position, Standard tuning), as you mention, even with a perfectly good low open E string, he double thumbs (E to A) into the open A string and thumps on it. When the IV chord arrives, the does an identical thumb into A and the tension is released. 'Though LHJ would not be happy with NO dissonance, so he adds the 3rd fret, second string (D) to his A chord to get it back!
Both Texas players LHJ and Funny Papa Smith often use non-chord tone monotonic bass behind some of their tunes, again often when the chord tone is available, which is probably just for the reason you describe. Sounds cool, if you can get past the ear grate (which is lessened by the damping of the bass strings). Hungrey Wolf is a good example.
Alex
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That's a good point, Alex, and there are other players, Mance Lipscomb and Bo Carter among them, who were not exactly fastidious about matching up the notes they were hitting in the bass with the chord being played. With Mance at least, I think the time-keeping function of the bass was far more important than the note being struck.
I think another factor that may have come into play with players like Booker and some of the St. Louis players like Clifford Gibson and Jaydee Short, who rarely pick the sixth string, is that the string being struck in the bass may be determined as much or more by the way they positioned their right hands and what was comfortable from that playing position than the sound of the note or pitch being struck. In other words, it's possible that for their right hands, a spacing which allowed for the thumb to strike the fifth string and the index finger the first string was comfortable, and a spacing that had the thumb striking the sixth string and the index finger the first string felt a little too wide and difficult to control, or drive as hard as these players preferred to do.
All best,
Johnm
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I figured I would pitch in here since I have High Fever Blues transcribed. Booker recorded it March 8, 1940. He is tuned quite low, playing out of C position pitched a little sharp of A. Here is "High Fever Blues":
https://youtu.be/ZGLbpuZsF-Y
High Fever Blues - Booker White
I'm taken down with the fever, and it won't let me sleep
I'm taken down with the fever, and it won't let me sleep
It was about three o'clock, before heat would let me be
I wish somebody would come and drive my fever away
I wish somebody, come and drive my fever away
This fever I'm havin', sho' is in my way
The fever I'm havin', sure is hard on a man
The fever I'm havin', sure is hard on a man
They don't allow my lover, come and shake my hand
I wonder what's the matter with the fever, sure is hard on a man
I wanna know what's the matter, how come this fever hard on a man
Doctor said, "Ain't the fever, just your lover has another man"
Doctor, get your fever gauge and put it under my tongue
Doctor, get your fever gauge and put it under my tongue
Doctor says, "All you need, your lover in your arms"
I wants my lover, come and drive my fever away
I wants my lover, come and drive my fever away
Doctor says she'd do me more good in a day, than he would in all of his days
edited to pick up correction from Johnm
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Thanks for posting "High Fever Blues", uncle bud. I think the tagline in the first verse might be
It was about three o'clock, before HEAT would let me be
All best,
Johnm
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Could be "heat" or he's pronouncing "it" like "hit," which he's doing to a lesser extent in the first two lines. And dj was definitely right on the "Spider" on "Sic 'Em Dogs," LoC version.
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Hi all,
Booker White recorded "Sleepy Man Blues" at his March 7, 1940 session. Like Robert Johnson's "Love In Vain", it is based on Leroy Carr's "In The Evening", and is played out of G position in standard tuning. Booker's song appears to take depression, in its clinical sense, as its topic. Once again, Booker is going someplace other than the places frequented by most blues lyricists. Here is "Sleepy Man Blues":
https://youtu.be/NYnlANBrTac
When a man gets troubled in mind, he want to sleep all the time
When a man gets troubled in mind, he want to sleep all the time
He knows if he can sleep all the time, his trouble won't worry his mind,
Won't worry his mind
I'm feelin' worried in mind, and I'm tryin' to keep from cryin'
I'm feelin' worried in mind, and I'm tryin' to keep from cryin'
I am standing into sunshine to keep from weaken down
Keep from weaken down
I want somewhere to go, but I hate to go to town
I want somewhere to go to satisfy my mind
I would go to town, but I hates to stand around
Hates to stand around
I wonder what's the matter with my right mind, my mind keep me sleeping all the time
I wonder what's the matter with my right mind, my mind keep me sleeping all the time
But when I had plenty money, my friend would come around
Would come around
If if had my right mind, I would write my woman a few lines
If I had my right mind, I would write my woman a few lines
I will do most any ol' thing to keep from weaken down
Keep from weakenin' down
All best,
Johnm
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Thanks for posting "High Fever Blues", uncle bud. I think the tagline in the first verse might be
It was about three o'clock, before HEAT would let me be
Thanks John and Chris. I have made the change.
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Hi all,
Booker White recorded "Fixin' To Die Blues" on March 8, 1940, accompanying himself with a slide in Spanish tuning. The song employs a stammering vocal archetype. It's such a remarkable song; it's hard to imagine it, but according to people who knew him at the time, Booker had altogether forgotten it at the point at which he was re-discovered in the '60s. Maybe he just didn't feel like doing it as an older man. I'd appreciate help with the bent bracketed section in the lyrics. Here is "Fixin' To Die Blues":
https://youtu.be/u8RolY4_fo0
I'm lookin' funny in my eyes and I, b'lieve I'm fixin' to die, b'lieve I'm fixin' to die
I'm lookin' funny in my eyes and I, b'lieve I'm fixin' to die
I know I was born to die but I hate to leave my children cryin'
Just as sure we's livin', I say, sure we's born to die, sure we's born to die
Just as sure we live, sure we's born to die
I know I was born to die but I hate to leave my children cryin'
Your mother treated me, children, like I was her baby child, was her baby child
Your mother treated me like I was her baby child
That's why it's I tried so hard to come back home to die
So many nights at the fireside, how my children's mother would cry, how my children's mother would cry
So many nights at the fireside, how my children's mother would cry
'Cause I told thei' mother I had to say good-bye
Look over yonder, on the buryin' ground, on the buryin' ground
Look over yonder, on the buryin' ground
Yonder stand ten thousand, standin' see 'em let me down
SOLO
Mother, take my children back, before they let me down, before they let me down
Mother, take my children back, 'fore they let me down
Ain't no need of them screamin' and cryin' and on the graveyard ground
OUTRO
Edited 1/5 to pick up corrections from banjochris and Johnm
All best,
Johnm
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Booker did record it at least once in the '60s, for Adelphi, but he plays it in cross-note, similar to "Aberdeen," and he doesn't sing it with much confidence. My guess is someone had him relearn it off his old record. I think it's interesting, too, that he never re-recorded this accompaniment or the one for "Pinebluff, Arkansas." The one in Spanish he plays for "Gibson Hill" and others is the closest he gets to it.
On the lyrics, the first line of verse 2 I think should be
Just as sure as we's livin', I SAY, sure we's born to die...
and the bracketed bit I'm 99 44/100% sure he says
STANDIN' SEE 'EM LET ME DOWN
Chris
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Thanks, Chris. It's really nice to get it right, and I could not hear a crucial part of that line. There's something about the way Booker voiced and hit his IV chords in both cross-note and Spanish that really kills me. It's not like it's some big mystery, but it just sounds so great the way he did it. I was thinking, we have threads for people who played slide in Spanish only, Vestapol only, and both Spanish and Vestapol, but we don't have any thread for people who played slide in Spanish, Vestapol and cross-note. I reckon of the old-timers, Booker may have been the only one in that category.
All best,
Johnm
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Hi all,
"Aberdeen Mississippi Blues" was recorded by Booker White the same day he did "Fixin' To Die Blues". He played "Aberdeen" out of cross-note tuning with a slide. The phrasing is really neat, Booker's invention as far as I know, with the tagline of each verse coming right out of the repetition of the opening line like a run-on sentence. I don't recall hearing any Blues with this phrasing model prior to the songs of Booker's that employ it. Booker occasionally inserted the "r" sound between the vowel sound that concludes "New" and that which begins "Orleans". Here is "Aberdeen Mississippi Blues":
https://youtu.be/H6vFPHtkCYs
I was over in Aberdeen on my way to Newr Orleans
I was over in Aberdeen on my way to New Orleans, them Aberdeen women told me they would buy my gasoline
There's two little women that I ain't never seen
They has two little women that I ain't never seen, these two little women just from Newr Orleans
Oh, I'm sittin' down in Aberdeen with New Orleans on my mind
I'm sittin' down in Aberdeen with New Orleans on my mind, but I believe these Aberdeen women gonna make me lose my mind
SOLO
Aberdeen is my home but these mens don't want me around
Aberdeen is my home but the mens don't want me around, they know I would take these women and take them out of town
Listen you Aberdeen women, you know I ain't got no dime
Oh-oh, listen you women, you know I ain't got a dime, they been had the poor boy all hobbled down
SOLO
Edited 1/15 to pick up corrections from banjochris and Johnm
All best,
Johnm
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Hi all,
Booker White recorded "Fixin' To Die Blues" on March 8, 1940, accompanying himself with a slide in Spanish tuning. The song employs a stammering vocal archetype. It's such a remarkable song; it's hard to imagine it, but according to people who knew him at the time, Booker had altogether forgotten it at the point at which he was re-discovered in the '60s. Maybe he just didn't feel like doing it as an older man.
John:
I seem to recall on the liner notes to one of his vinyl albums that, when asked about this song, he said that the reason he could not remember it was that he made it up on-the-spot at the recording session, he'd never sung the words before.
Re-f*%#ing-markable!
Alex
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...I seem to recall on the liner notes to one of his vinyl albums that, when asked about this song, he said that the reason he could not remember it was that he made it up on-the-spot at the recording session, he'd never sung the words before.
Re-f*%#ing-markable!
Alex
I recall reading the same thing somewhere--I'll have to check the liner notes to my LPs. I also remember reading that prior to Booker's re-discovery, some people conjectured that he was no longer living as they interpreted the song as an authentic farewell piece.
FYI: In the book Tennessee Traditional Singers (ed. by Thomas G. Burton; Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1981) there is a section on Booker White by F. Jack Hurley and David Evans.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1572334347/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER
Used copies available via http://www.bookfinder.com/
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John:
I seem to recall on the liner notes to one of his vinyl albums that, when asked about this song, he said that the reason he could not remember it was that he made it up on-the-spot at the recording session, he'd never sung the words before.
Re-f*%#ing-markable!
Alex
As an aside, Simon Napier in Blues Unlimited 7, December 1963 wrote ""Bukka remembers writing Fixin' To Die upon the death of his mother". Three years later Bukka told David Evans writing for Blues Unlimited that the song was inspired by the coma death of a friend, Flem Smith, in 1938 and said "He [Flem] was looking funny in his eyes. They were all white. I got to wondering how a man feels when he dies".
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Hi all,
Booker White recorded "District Attorney Blues" on March 8, 1940. Booker accompanied himself for the song out of E position in standard tuning, tuned a minor third low and sounding in C#. The low tuning combines with Booker's playing for a very ominous sounding accompaniment and song. Like "When Can I Change My Clothes", "District Attorney Blues" is a chorus blues, and also like it, "District Attorney Blues" is backed by Booker in the first four bars of the I chord with non-chord tones being sounded in the bass very insistently. Behind the I chord, E, Booker sounds the following bass notes, striking two per beat until the fourth beat of the fourth measure. NOTE: The notes are named as though the guitar was tuned in standard tuning at pitch. It works so, with the count shown above and the corresponding bass note shown below:
|1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +| 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + | 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + | 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + |
A A A D A D A D A A A D A D A D A A A D A D A D A A A D A D A
With this driving bass line going on while Booker is naggingly bending the third fret of the first string, all while singing, the effect is really tough. Booker has a 2-bar signature lick that he plays at the end of the second and third vocal phrases. The lick takes 8 full beats to play out, so he adds two extra beats at the end of the last measure in each of those lines to accommodate the vocal pick-up into the next line. The only exception is the final chorus, where he shortens the signature lick following the first line of the chorus to four beats and adds on the extra two beats to that. With the exception of the final verse, the song maps out as follows, assuming four beats per measure except where indicated:
| I | I | I | I |
| IV | IV | I | I + 2 beats |
| V VI | V VI | I | I + 2 beats |
Lyrically, the song is intense and distinctive as well. Each verse and each chorus begins with the same line, something I don't recall seeing elsewhere. Booker pronounced "attorney" "atturnuh". Here is "District Attorney Blues":
https://youtu.be/jSiwccXFTws
District Attorney, sure is hard on a man
He will take a woman's man and leave her cold in hand
REFRAIN: District Attorney, sure is hard on a man
He will take a woman's man and leave her cold in hand
District Attorney, sure is hard on a man
He have caused a many mens to be in some distant land
REFRAIN: District Attorney, sure is hard on a man
He have caused a many women to be cold in hand
District Attorney, sure is hard on a man
Tain't no woman, but he sure will take a woman's man
REFRAIN: District Attorney, sure is hard on a man
He will take a woman's man and leave her cold in hand
District Attorney, sure is hard on a man
He can tell just as well when he gonna take a woman's man
REFRAIN: District Attorney, sure is hard on a man
Well, he'll take a woman's man and leave her cold in hand
District Attorney, sure is hard on a man
He taken me from my woman, cause her to love some other man
REFRAIN: District Attorney, sure is hard on a man
He will take a woman's man and leave her cold in hand
All best,
Johnm
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It might be interesting to readers of this thread to hear White's account of writing the songs for this session. Edited from the notes to the Columbia Legacy CD "The Complete Bukka White":
Bukka White showed up with a sheaf of songs which were revamps of current blues hits. Lester Melrose ... told White he couldn't use this material, but offered him "a meal ticket and a room at a hotel" and two days to come up with something original. "So help me God", White recalled decades later, "I got down to it." ... White recalled ... Melrose's reaction to his compositions: "I never had a man, black or white, kiss me dead on the mouth before; but that's what he done. He say 'Lord, man, you done 100 percent. I've been on this job thirty-five years and I never seen a man do what you done in two days.' He said 'Just how the hell did you get it? Where did it come from? When you came up here before, you had what all the other folks had. You was doin' Peetie Wheatstraw and Tampa Red and all the others. But this stuff is Booker White all the way!"
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Thanks for that quote, dj, it makes me happy just reading it. Lester Melrose is pretty harshly judged some times, or at least his effect on the music at the sessions he produced has been, but give him credit for not being willing to record a bunch of covers. And what Booker did--Good Lord! I suppose this may illustrate the occasional benefit of working with a deadline, though I expect for most of us no amount of deadlines of whatever degree of intensity would have resulted in the kind of results Booker was able to achieve in this instance.
All best,
Johnm
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John, I hear some of the verses of Aberdeen quite a bit differently that what you have here, so I thought I'd post my transcription and you can take a look. In the first verse I think it's possible in the last line that he says "buy all my gasoline" but more likely I think is he's just dragging out "buy" more like "buy-a." I've transcribed it just as "buy."
Chris
I was over in Aberdeen on my way to New Orleans
I was over in Aberdeen on my way to New Orleans, them Aberdeen women told me they would buy my gasoline.
There's two little women, that I ain't never seen
There is two little women, that I ain't never seen, these two little women just from New Orleans.
I'm sittin' down in Aberdeen with New Orleans on my mind
I'm sittin' down here in Aberdeen with New Orleans on my mind, but I believe them Aberdeen women gonna make me lose my mind.
SOLO
Aberdeen's my home but the mens don't want me 'round,
Aberdeen is my home but the mens don't want me 'round, they know I will take these women and take them out of town.
Listen you Aberdeen women, you know I ain't got no dime,
Oh oh listen you women, you know I ain't got no dime, they been had these poor boys all hobbled down.
SOLO
Hi all,
"Aberdeen Mississippi Blues" was recorded by Booker White the same day he did "Fixin' To Die Blues". He played "Aberdeen" out of cross-note tuning with a slide. The phrasing is really neat, Booker's invention as far as I know, with the tagline of each verse coming right out of the repetition of the opening line like a run-on sentence. I don't recall hearing any Blues with this phrasing model prior to the songs of Booker's that employ it. Booker occasionally inserted the "r" sound between the vowel sound that concludes "New" and that which begins "Orleans".
I was over in Aberdeen on my way to Newr Orleans
I was over in Aberdeen on my way to Newr Orleans, them Aberdeen women told me, was about my gasoline
There's two of these women that I ain't never seen
They has two of these women that I ain't never seen, they stole these women just from Newr Orleans
Oh, I'm sittin' down in Aberdeen with New Orleans on my mind
I'm sittin' down in Aberdeen with New Orleans on my mind, but I believe these Aberdeen women gonna make me lose my mind
SOLO
Aberdeen is my home but these mens don't want me around
Aberdeen is my home but the mens don't want me around, they know I would take these womens, take them out of town
Listen you Aberdeen women, you know I ain't got no dime
Oh-oh, listen you women, you know I ain't got a dime, they been hurt before, boy, all hobbled down
SOLO
All best,
Johnm
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I thought I'd do one, so here's "Special Stream Line," which may be a record for the sheer number of words on one side of a blues 78. A couple of bits in brackets -- I can't tell if Booker is misspeaking slightly or what. He could play this one just as well in the '60s, too. Here is "Special Streamline":
Chris
https://youtu.be/MivU_OX017Q
"Special Stream Line"
Spoken: That's that fast Special Streamline leavin' out of Memphis, Tennessee goin' in to New Orleans. She runnin' so fast the hoboes don't fool with this train, just stand on the track with their hat in their hand. I had a friend-girl that mornin' was catchin' that train she got up singing this song.
Sung
Hey, Daddy I'm sorry to leave my home,
Mmmm, mmmmm
Lord, lord, lord, lord
Spoken
She heard that 8:30 local blowin' that morning, she hadn't heard the train in a good while, she thoughted there of that Special Stream Line. She heard that 8:30 local when she's coming to the line to clear it up for that Stream Line blowin' like this:
SOLO
Spoken
She said, "Daddy, is that my train?" I said, "I ain't keepin' up with the train time, I'm tryin' to make a few dimes." She dropped her head and went to singin' and cryin':
Sung
Hey, it's all right how you turned me down,
Mmmm, mmmmm
I ain't got a dime
Spoken
After she called for her ticket she heard this Special Stream Line blowin' thirty-six mile from Memphis, Tennessee. Make it lonesome, now, 'cause I'm a hobo myself sometime.
SOLO
Spoken
Man asked her, "What hour the train?"; she told him she didn't know but if she could hear the bell she could tell him more about it. After she dropped over that hill and dropped off in the valley she heard the bell begin to tone like this:
SOLO - "Bell" passage
Spoken
Make it sound like a church bell talk. Little 'fore she got to that ten-mile trundle she blowed then, throwed on airbrakes.
SOLO
Spoken
Airbrakes. When she got to that ten-mile trundle she was gettin' 'cross she was tippin' across them automatic switch gettin' the water and coal on the fly. You could hear her when she's strikin' that double-iron like this:
SOLO
Spoken
When she run 'cross the last one she squalled then:
SOLO
Spoken
This girl looked out and seen that train she commenced to singing and cryin':
Sung
Hey, daddy I don't want to leave,
Mmmm, mmmmm
I believe I'll lose my mind
Spoken
When that train got a little 'fore she got to New Orleans she went around that curve you could hear her when she's blowin' like this:
SOLO
Spoken
The peoples all was standin' at the station down there to see that train to come in. You could hear her when she squalled:
SOLO
Spoken
Board, everywhere but here.
Edited 1/10 with corrections from JohnM and one from myself
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Hi Chris,
Thanks for the catches on "Aberdeen Mississippi Blues". I'll just print the lines where you differed with me with anything I hear different from you capitalized. I'll also mention differences where I think you're right on.
Tagline to verse one: "them Aberdeen women told me they would buy my gasoline." Good hearing! Booker's vowel sound on "buy" threw me right off. I wonder if Booker considered how uncomplimentary to himself this line was--basically the women are willing to pitch in to get him out of town.
Verse two--You're right, "LITTLE women" in both lines. I'm reasonably certain that in the second line he starts the line "THEY HAS two little women . . . ". The "they" being referenced would be the operators of a house he frequents, I think.
Verse four--The only differences I hear are: Aberdeen IS in the first line, and "AROUND" rather than "'round" in both lines.
Last verse--Only difference I hear is "they been had THE poor BOY all hobbled down.
Thanks very much for your help and your close listening, as always. I will make the changes.
All best,
Johnm
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Hi Chris,
"Special Stream Line" looks really good, and I have only a couple of very minor suggestions for choices/changes.
In the second spoken passage, I do think it is "thoughted there".
In the fourth spoken passage, I hear: "thirty-six MILE from Memphis, Tennessee. Make it lonesome, now, 'cause I'm A hobo myself sometime."
In the fifth spoken passage, I believe it is "What hour the train"
In the the sixth spoken passage, I think he says "that ten-mile TRUNDLE". I think his usage here is synonymous with "trestle". He later talks about getting across the ten-mile trundle and nobody talks about getting across a tunnel.
In the seventh spoken passage, I hear "got TO that ten-mile TRUNDLE"
Those are the only differences I could hear, like I said, not much. The spoken cuts are fun to transcribe, aren't they, like those William Moore ones.
All best,
Johnm
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Hi all,
Booker White recorded "Good Gin Blues" with Washboard Sam on March 7, 1940. Booker accompanied himself with a slide in Spanish tuning. In some ways, instrumentally the song feels almost like a sketch for "Fixin' To Die Blues", which the duo was to record the next day. Once again, he employs a lot of interior rhymes in his lyrics, and his way of opening each verse by talking to a "friend" gives the whole song a much looser, more improvisatory feel. Booker pronounced "it", "hit", as banjochris noted in the discussion of "High Fever Blues" The song opens with a washboard flourish. Here is "Good Gin Blues":
https://youtu.be/3SUfIBhf-Qw
Washboard flourish
SPOKEN: Here come old Todd Walker, full o' his good gin!
Good morning, friend, I wants me a drink of gin
Good morning, friend, I wants me a drink of gin
'Cause they told me this mornin', revenue men would be back again
Oh, listen you men, don't you let 'em in
Listen you men, don't you let 'em in
Well, they might catch me, uh, with a pint of gin
SOLO
Oh, come in friend, and have a drink again
Come in friend, and have a drink again
I know it is a sin, but I love my good ol' gin
Oh, come back, friend, when I need my gin
Come back friend, when I need my gin
'Cause I don't care nothin' about, uh, them old revenue men
SOLO
Edited 1/11 to pick up corrections from banjochris
All best,
Johnm
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Hi all,
Booker White and Washboard Sam recorded "Strange Place Blues" on March 7, 1940, with Booker backing himself out of G position in standard tuning. The performance has tremendous heavy time, and Booker's vocal is impassioned. He does his own version of Peetie Wheatstraw's signature "ooo well, well" vocal lick, and it seems that many or most of the blues singers working in that period came up with their own ways of doing that lick. In Booker's outro, he walks a melodic line up the first string, first taking the bass along for the ride on the sixth string, and then the fifth string. I'd appreciate help with the bent bracketed sections, I'm not at all sure I have them right.
Here is "Strange Place Blues":
https://youtu.be/FlkPfxmYtUg
I was a stranger at this place, and I'm lookin' for my mother's grave
I'm a stranger at this place, and I'm lookin' for my mother's grave
Well, it seems like to me, hoo-hoo, well, some almost throwed away
I was at my mother's grave when they put my mother 'way
I was at my mother's grave when they put my mother 'way
And I can't find no one, hoo-hoo, well, to take her place
I thought after my mother was put away, I thought my wife would take her place
After my mother was put away, I thought my wife would take her place
I's sure you'd give me any mother and wife, hoo-hoo, well, my wife done throwed me away
I wished I could find someone to take my mother's place
I wished I could find someone to take my mother's place
If I can't find no one, hoo-hoo, well, you will find me at her grave
I'm standing on my mother's grave, and I wished I coulda seen her face
I'm standing on my mother's grave, and I wished I coulda seen her face
I be glad when that day come, hoo-hoo, well, you women be through drive me away
Edited 1/11 to pick up corrections from banjochris, Johnm
Edited 1/13 to pick up correction from uncle bud and banjochris
All best,
Johnm
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Hi Chris,
"Special Stream Line" looks really good, and I have only a couple of very minor suggestions for choices/changes.
In the second spoken passage, I do think it is "thoughted there".
In the fourth spoken passage, I hear: "thirty-six MILE from Memphis, Tennessee. Make it lonesome, now, 'cause I'm A hobo myself sometime."
In the fifth spoken passage, I believe it is "What hour the train"
In the the sixth spoken passage, I think he says "that ten-mile TRUNDLE". I think his usage here is synonymous with "trestle". He later talks about getting across the ten-mile trundle and nobody talks about getting across a tunnel.
In the seventh spoken passage, I hear "got TO that ten-mile TRUNDLE"
Those are the only differences I could hear, like I said, not much. The spoken cuts are fun to transcribe, aren't they, like those William Moore ones.
All best,
Johnm
Thanks, John, I believe I agree with all of these -- I also realized he says "LITTLE 'fore" before the first mention of trundle. I was listening to my old raggedy-ass CD of these tracks on Travelin' Man from about 1991 -- I hadn't realized how much better the sound was on the Document version and I actually downloaded that CD from iTunes tonight. Big difference, and much easier to hear!
Chris
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John -- pretty sure that last line of "Strange Place" is right on, and the last line of that third verse is a toughie. I think if you take out the "whereas" that the last part is right, but I'm not sure about the first half. The sound you've transcribed fits, but I don't know if he misspoke or what, there seems to be something missing there.
Also, in "Good Gin," I think the line "Oh, come in friend, and have a drink of gin" might end with AGAIN rather than "of gin," reversing the rhyme scheme of verse one. Take a listen again and see what you think. I'm really enjoying listening to these tunes again, and carefully too, I sort of forgot how great they were.
Chris
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John, I've been going back through some of these now that I have the better sound, I and I think these verses from "When Can I Change My Clothes":
So many days, when the day would be cold
They would carry me out into rain and cold
REFRAIN: I wonder how long before I can change my clothes
I wonder how long b'fore I can change my clothes
So many days, when the day would be cold
You could stand and look at me, convict told,
REFRAIN: "I wonder how long before I can change my clothes.
I wonder how long b'fore I can change my clothes."
should be for the first one:
They would carry me out IN THE rain and cold
and for the second one:
You could stand and look at THE CONVICT TOES
Chris
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Thanks for all those fixes, Chris. Sometimes Booker's vowel sounds really throw me, as in
"out in the rain and snow". "The" has the consonant sound of "the" and the vowel sound of "to". You're right, though, it is "out in the rain and snow", which also makes more sense. "Convict toes" is a great fix and an unforgettable coinage and image. That's one I don't think I'll ever forget. I think I've got an ending to the tagline of verse three in "Strange Place Blues" that makes more sense. "Again" at the end of the first two lines of that verse in "Good Gin Blues" is especially clear in his repetition of the line.
I really appreciate the help fine-tuning these transcriptions. The songs and Booker's performances of them definitely merit this kind of close attention. I listened to the Document CD quite a lot when I first bought it a couple of years ago and reviewed it for the Weenie site, http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?amp;Itemid=60&topic=970.0, but hadn't listened to it for a couple of years. It is really such strong stuff.
All best,
Johnm
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I's sure you'd give me any mother and wife, hoo-hoo, well, where's my wife? Done throwed me away
John, not a lot to add: I've listened to this line from Strange Place Blues many times now and damned if I can tell what he's singing. What you've got to start the line is what I am currently hearing. To end the line, I think you're adding an extra syllable. After the "hoo-hoo, well" he sings "my wife done throwed me away" right away. I don't hear the "where" or "whereas".
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Thanks for checking that uncle bud. At this point, I'm just hearing an "s" sound at the end of "hoo-hoo, well", like "hoo-hoo, wells, my wife done throwed me away", or possibly "as my wife done throwed me away" . Do any of you all hear that "s" sound?
All best,
Johnm
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Hi all,
Booker White recorded "Shake 'Em On Down" with an unknown second guitarist at a session in Chicago on September 2, 1937, a short time before he was sent to Parchman Penitentiary. Both guitarists are working out of E position in standard tuning by the sound of it and working in a pretty strictly defined accompaniment capacity with no instrumental fireworks.
Vocally, Booker is really channeling Johnny Temple here, both with regard to the melody he sings and the vocal mannerisms he employs in the course of the rendition. It's an interesting reminder that even artists we think of as being utterly original and distinctly themselves most often start out imitating their models as closely as they can. It takes a while for a musician to find his or her own style. Who knows--this may be the kind of performance that Lester Melrose passed on in 1940, resulting in Booker's great 12 song 2-day session that year. Here is "Shake 'Em On Down":
https://youtu.be/lPp-KCrmBkU
Get your nightcap, mama, and your gown
Just before day we gonna shake 'em on down
REFRAIN: It's, must stop hollerin', or must I shake 'em on down
I done stop hollerin', mama, must I shake 'em on down
To much of jelly to be throwed away
Save this jelly 'til some old rainy day
REFRAIN: Must stop hollerin', or must I shake 'em on down
I done stop hollerin', mama, must I shake 'em on down
Fix my supper let me go to bed
This white lightnin' done gone to my head
REFRAIN: Must I holler, or must I shake 'em on down
I done stop hollerin', mama, must I shake 'em on down
I ain't been to Georgia but I been tole
Georgia women got the best jellyroll
REFRAIN: It's, must stop hollerin', or must I shake 'em on down
I done stop hollerin', mama, must I shake 'em on down
See, see, mama, what you done done
Made me love you now your man done come
REFRAIN: It's, must stop holler' or must I shake 'em on down
I done stop hollerin', mama, must I shake 'em on down
Baby got somethin', don't know what it is
Make me drunker than a whiskey still
REFRAIN: It's, must stop hollerin', or must I shake 'em on down
I done stop holl'in', must I shake 'em on down
Edited 1/12 to pick up corrections from banjochris
All best,
Johnm
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Thanks for checking that uncle bud. At this point, I'm just hearing an "s" sound at the end of "hoo-hoo, well", like "hoo-hoo, wells, my wife done throwed me away", or possibly "as my wife done throwed me away" . Do any of you all hear that "s" sound?
I can't, but haven't listened through headphones. By the way, here are two little fixes I think for "Shake 'Em On Down":
2.2 Save THIS jelly
5.1 SEE SEE mama
Chris
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Thanks for the help, Chris. I've made the changes.
All best,
Johnm
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Here's "Shake 'Em On Down's" session-mate, "Pinebluff Arkansas." Booker's playing in Spanish, somewhat similar to the later "Fixin' to Die." The second guitar sounds like it's in standard tuning to me. The lyrics for this one seem to me to be closer in style to his later more improvisational material rather than the carefully distilled lyrics of the 1940 session. Couple parts in brackets that could use some help. Here is "Pinebluff Arkansas":
https://youtu.be/50ffpmVHevQ
Whoo, well I got a little woman in Pinebluff, Arkansas,
She one o' the sweetest little woman that your men most ever saw.
Gonna get up in the mornin', baby with the risin' sun,
Whoo, well, in the mornin', baby with the risin' sun,
If the train don't run, gonna be some walkin' done.
My baby she called me, she called me up on the phone,
Whoo, well, she called me, she called me up on the phone,
She said daddy daddy, now don't start come go hurry home.
My baby says I'm tired, going to bed and moan
Whoo, well she said, tired of goin' to bed and moan,
She say I ain't had no lovin' daddy, daddy since that you been gone.
Oh, she says I'm tired, daddy singin' these lonesome song,
Whoo, well she said, I'm tired of singin' these lonesome song,
She say I ain't even heard daddy, I ain't even heard his horn.
My baby said I'm tired, daddy hearin' my bed springs groan,
Whoo, well she said, I'm tired of hearin' my bed springs groan,
She said I declare if you want me daddy, you better hurry home.
Chris
Edited with corrections from JohnM
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Hi Chris,
I have a couple of potential fixes on "Pinebluff Arkansas".
In 1.2 I hear, She ONE O' the sweetest little woman that your men most ever saw
In 3.3 I hear, She said, "Daddy, daddy, NOW don't START, come go hurry home
In 5.3 I hear, She say, "I AIN'T even heard, daddy, I ain't even heard YOUR HORN
I'm most sure of the 1.2 fix. I think "now don't start" is right, but am unsure about the end of that line--it almost sounds like "control hurry home". The first "ain't" in 5.3 is swallowed, but I'm pretty sure it's there and it makes for a parallel construction with the tail end of that line. These things are really hard to hear.
All best,
Johnm
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Thanks for checking that uncle bud. At this point, I'm just hearing an "s" sound at the end of "hoo-hoo, well", like "hoo-hoo, wells, my wife done throwed me away", or possibly "as my wife done throwed me away" . Do any of you all hear that "s" sound?
I can't, but haven't listened through headphones.
Chris
I can't really hear an 's' either. I listened through the phones to two versions I have, and there may be some kind of aspiration in there but I can't say it's an 's'.
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Hi all,
Booker White recorded "Parchman Farm Blues" on March 7, 1940 with Washboard Sam, and it was the first recorded appearance of Booker's signature accompaniment in cross-note tuning, what seems his most characteristic sound. It must be said that Washboard Sam's playing on this track is just masterful. If you listen to how he syncs up with Booker and plays to the shifting accents in the repetition of the opening line of each verse, it's a treat, simultaneously unobtrusive and making everything more musical.
I found these lyrics to be kind of hard to hear. In the third verse, I believe Booker refers to himself as "Son", because in the repetition of the same line, he replaces "Son" with "I". Likewise, in "Sic 'Em Dogs On" he is referred to as "Son", so I wonder if in his early years he went by that name on occasion. I'd appreciate help with the bent bracketed passage. The long passage at the tail end of verse four particularly has me stumped. Here is Parchment Farm Blues":
https://youtu.be/jM23S12LXaE
Judge give me life this morning, down on Parchman Farm
Judge give me life this morning, down on Parchman Farm, I wouldn't hate it so bad, but I left my wife in mournin'
Oh you, good-bye, wife, all you, have done gone
Oh, good-bye, wife, all you, have done gone, but I hope someday you will hear my lonesome song
SOLO
Oh you, listen you men, I don't mean no harm
Oh, listen, you men, I don't mean no harm, if you want to do good you better stay off ol' Parchman Farm
We goes to work in the morning, just the dawn of day
We go to work in the morning, just the dawn of day, just to the settin' of the sun, that's when the work is done
Oh, I'm down on old Parchman Farm and I sure wanta go back home
I'm down on old Parchman Farm but I sure want to go back home, but I hope someday, I will overcome
OUTRO
Edited 1/13 to pick up corrections from dj
Edited 1/13 to pick up corrections from banjochris
All best,
Johnm
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Thanks for re-checking that place in "Strange Place Blues", uncle bud. If neither you nor banjochris can hear an "s" sound there, I expect it is because there is no "s" sound there. I will make the change.
All best,
Johnm
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What you have as
We go to work in the morning, just to dawn of day, [just to the sayin' of these songs] that when the work is done
should be
We go to work in the morning, just to dawn of day, just to THE SETTIN' OF THE SUN, THAT'S when the work is done
-
John,
I think the line you have transcribed as "Oh you, good-bye, wife, call you, have done gone" and it's repetition in the next line is "Oh you, good-bye, wife, FO'/OH you have done gone". I don't really hear an F on the start of the word in question, but it might be swallowed up in the ending of "wife".
-
Thanks very much for the help, dj. "To the settin' of the sun" is great, and I sure wasn't hearing it. I think half the time I'm really stumped it is as much a failure of imagination as it is a failure of hearing. In verse two, I think it is "all you, have done gone", with him saying good-bye to his wife and everybody else, and the "have done gone" referring to himself.
All best,
Johnm
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Hi Chris,
I have a couple of potential fixes on "Pinebluff Arkansas".
In 1.2 I hear, She ONE O' the sweetest little woman that your men most ever saw
In 3.3 I hear, She said, "Daddy, daddy, NOW don't START, come go hurry home
In 5.3 I hear, She say, "I AIN'T even heard, daddy, I ain't even heard YOUR HORN
I think you're right on these, John -- I suspect Booker misspoke in that last line of verse three. In 5.3 I hear "HIS horn," so I made that change as well.
Chris
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John, see what you think of these for "Parchman Farm." His way of dragging out his vowels creates some misleading artifacts sometimes, I think. FWIW, I agree with both the change dj suggested and the "all you have" you added.
1.2 but I LEFT MY WIFE IN MOURNIN'
3.1 Don't hear Son, just "I"
4.1 & 4.2 just THE dawn of day
Chris
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Thanks again for the help, Chris. "But I left my wife in mournin'" certainly sounds right, with "mournin'" trailing away. Re "THE dawn of day", I got caught on Booker's vowel sound in the very same context in another one of these songs, missing the "th" at the front of the word and hearing "to" on the basis of the vowel sound. The hardest one to give up on was "Son" for "I", but I do think it is "I" after all. You are definitely right about the misleading artifacts. I think the reason "I" could be taken for "Son" in this instance is that as soon as he made the "I" sound in that line, he lifted his tongue to the roof of his mouth and closed up so that he could get the buzzy head tone he was looking for. In the repetition of the line, he sang "I" open-throated and it is a lot easier to identify it as such.
Whew--I'm enjoying working on these songs, but they provide a seemingly endless variety of opportunities to screw things up.
All best,
Johnm
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Hi all,
I wouldn't normally post a set of lyrics so far from being complete, but Booker White's song "The Promise True and Grand" is one of those religious songs with many, many words, and they are exceedingly hard to hear. I'll just post what I have thus far, and all who wish to can have at it.
I have read of the promise true and grand
A wonderful place, this heavenly land, oh Lordy,
A place I'll dwell with Christ eternally.
And every trouble [raise the roof]
No trouble for God saves [brother's soul]
This promise was made for you and me, how long will it be?
How long [ ] oh, will it be,
Until it shall feel [three weeks] up there.
How long 'til I feel that final [preachings]
That shall behold with the [body's secret]
Oh, but that lovely heavenly home beyond the sea
How long must I toil, a heavy load
How long must try, [try with the fold]
How long 'til I view that Promised Land,
Thank God it's with the snow white angel's band
Lordy, hear of our plea
How long will it be?
Said, in that land that feels so light,
Oh Jesus, and never will be in night
The River of Life, it's cold and soft
Will flow so free.
And in the [ ] we are told
The streets are paved with the purest gold,
this promise is made for you and me,
How long will it be?
How long [ ]
Oh, will it be-uh
Until I feel that [ ] up there.
How long 'til I view that Promised Land, thank God
It's with a snow white angel band,
Oh, Lordy hear of our plea,
How long will it be?
Said, they tell from on high will call no more
and sufferig to be, [I'll be old]
we shall [rapture] we shall
Press a prison down on Calvary
We'll meet our deliverer on the stand
We can join him and clasp him by the hand
This promise is made for you and me
How long will it be
How long says the star,
It will-a be-uh
Until I feel that [ ] up there
How long 'til I view the Father's preaching
And shall behold with my deep secret
Oh, but that lovely heavenly home beyond the sea
I long for the toil, the heavy load
I long to serve, oh will it be
I long to view that Promised Land
Thank God it's with a snow white angel's band
Oh, Lordy, hear of our plea
How long will it be
All best,
Johnm
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Hi all,
I wouldn't normally post a set of lyrics so far from being complete, but Booker White's song "The Promise True and Grand" is one of those religious songs with many, many words, and they are exceedingly hard to hear. I'll just post what I have thus far, and all who wish to can have at it.
Hi John - thanks for starting this one. I've gone through and made a bunch of suggestions. Some are wild guesses or just words I think I hear, without focussing on trying to shoehorn much sense into them right away. This is one of the great performances on record, in my opinion.
I have read of the promise true and grand
A wonderful place, this heavenly land, oh Lordy,
A place I'll dwell with Christ eternally.
And every trouble [raise the roof]
No trouble for God saves [brother's soul]
This promise was made for you and me, how long will it be?
1.3 WHERE ALL [REPENTANTS?] shall dwell with Christ eternally (no "oh Lordy" at the end of line 1.2)
1.4 Where never a trouble with the [rule?]
1.5 No trouble, THEY GOT PLACE FOR US ALL
How long [ ] oh, will it be,
Until it shall feel [three weeks] up there.
2.1 How long [SINCE THE ??] oh, will it be, (wild guess: since the song? sun?)
2.2 Until WE shall BE-UH, BE WITH ?? up there
How long 'til I feel that final [preachings]
That shall behold with the [body's secret]
Oh, but that lovely heavenly home beyond the sea
2.4 How long 'til WE feel that final [BRIDGE?? ??]
2.5 AND shall behold with the [SMILING FACE-UH] (these are pretty wild guesses as well, just sort of what I am hearing)
2.6 [OFFERED THAT LOVE-UH??], FILL THE home beyond the [SEA/SAND?] (While "beyond the sea" may be correct, I swear I hear the female singer - Minnie perhaps - singing SAND)
How long must I toil, a heavy load
How long must try, [try with the fold]
How long 'til I view that Promised Land,
Thank God it's with the snow white angel's band
Lordy, hear of our plea
How long will it be?
2.7 How long must I toil, HEAVENLY LORD
2.8 How long must I [STRIVE, STRIVE] with the fold?
2.9 How long 'til WE view that Promised Land,
2.10 AND God ALL with the snow white IN HIS BEARD
2.11 LORD, hear our plea (no OF in `hear our plea")
Said, in that land that feels so light,
Oh Jesus, and never will be in night
The River of Life, it's cold and soft
Will flow so free.
3.1 Said, in that land THEY'LL feel so light
3.2 FOR Jesus'S LAMP will FILL THE NIGHT (at first I thought this was JESUS THE LAMB but I think LAMP now)
3.3 THAT River of [LIGHT?] (FROM) HIS GOLDEN THRONE
3.4 Will flow so free
And in the [ ] we are told
The streets are paved with the purest gold,
this promise is made for you and me,
How long will it be?
3.5 And in the BLESS'D CITY we are told
3.6 THERE the streets are paved with the purest gold
How long [ ]
Oh, will it be-uh
Until I feel that [ ] up there.
4.1-3 See wild guesses in 2.1/2.2 above
How long 'til I view that Promised Land, thank God
It's with a snow white angel band,
Oh, Lordy hear of our plea,
How long will it be?
4.4 How long 'til WE view that Promised Land (no "thank God")
4.5 AND God ALL with THE SNOW WHITE IN HIS BEARD
4.6 LORD hear OUR plea (as earlier, he sings OUR as two syllables OW-WER)
I can't believe there's another verse.
Said, they tell from on high will call no more
and sufferig to be, [I'll be old]
we shall [rapture] we shall
Press a prison down on Calvary
5.1 Said the TEARS FROM OUR EYES WILL FALL no more
5.2 And SUFFERIN' TOO WILL ALL BE O'ER
5.3 We shall REST A-WITH the [??] BLESSED LAMB, O CALVARY
We'll meet our deliverer on the stand
We can join him and clasp him by the hand
This promise is made for you and me
How long will it be
5.4 We'll meet our DELIVERANCE on the SAND
How long says the star,
It will-a be-uh
Until I feel that [ ] up there
Still the problematic lines to start the chorus. I am sort of hearing "How long since the n- (a word beginning with 'n') here. Where I hear a word beginning with 's' in the other instances)
How long 'til I view the Father's preaching
And shall behold with my deep secret
Oh, but that lovely heavenly home beyond the sea
I long for the toil, the heavy load
I long to serve, oh will it be
I long to view that Promised Land
Thank God it's with a snow white angel's band
Oh, Lordy, hear of our plea
How long will it be
6.4 How long 'til WE feel that final [BRIDGE?? ??] (bridge? breeze?)
6.5 AND shall behold HIS SMILING FACE-UH
6.6 [OFFERED THAT LOVE-UH??], FILL THE home beyond the sea
6.7 HOW long MUST I toil, OH HEAVENLY LORD
6.8 HOW LONG [THIS TOIL?], oh will it be?
6.9 HOW LONG 'TIL WE view that Promised Land
6.10 AND God ALL with THE snow white IN HIS BEARD
6.11 LORD, hear OUR plea-AHH
6.12 How long will it be?
Holy cow.
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Thanks for the help, uncle bud. Holy cow is right--it's epic isn't it? Some of the stuff I put was certainly nonsense, just phonetic approximations, but you've already made a big dent in it. With a song this big it didn't make sense to try and get it too close before getting underway because I know I would require a huge amount of help to get it done in any event. I'll do some more listening with your suggestions inserted and see what gives next. Thanks!
All best,
Johnm
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Wow, you guys are right, not remotely an easy one. There's a better sounding copy of this tune on the Yazoo "Masters of the Delta Blues - Friends of Charlie Patton" CD, but it doesn't help much, except maybe with the first line of the chorus. I combined what I heard with what both of you had and just re-wrote the whole thing. Some of the changes I'm very sure of, some not so much, which I put in brackets. In the third verse Booker clearly gets tangled up and swaps "night" and "light" in two lines, very understandable, but if you swap them you get a common enough phrase in gospel music. Also, toward the end, although you can't hear the "r" very well, I'm convinced that I can hear it a bit and it should be "strand," not "stand," at least partially because there are a million gospel songs where people are met on the "heavenly strand." See what you think -- Here is "The Promise True And Grand":
https://youtu.be/I0tyTiCsw-4
I have read of the promise true and grand
A wonderful place, this heavenly land,
Where all the redeemed shall dwell with Christ eternally,
[Where never a trouble we shall rue,
No temple, for God's place holds us all,]
This promise was made for you and me, how long will it be?
How long blessed Lord, oh will it be?
Until it shall be we reach that day?
How long till I feel that fond embracing,
There shall behold with His smiling face-a
Up at that lovin' hea'enly home beyond the sea,
How long must I toil, here below,
How long must strive, strive with the fold,
How long till we view that promised land,
And join-a with the snow white angels' band
Lord-a hear our plea, how long will it be?
Said, in that land there is no light,
Where Jesus the Lamb will be the night,
The River of Life (from) his golden throne will flow so free,
And in the blessed city we are told,
There the streets are paved with the purest gold,
This promise is made for you and me, how long will it be?
How long blessed Lord, oh will it be
Until it'll be we reach that day?
How long till we view that promised land,
And join-a with the snow white angels' band
Lord-a hear our plea, how long will it be?
There the tears from our eyes will fall no more,
And sufferin' too will all be o'er,
We shall rapture we shall praise that blessed Lamb of Calvary,
We'll meet our deliverers on the strand,
We shall join them and clasp them by the hand,
This promise is made for you and me, how long will it be?
How long blessed Lord, oh will it be?
Until it'll be we reach that day?
How long till I feel that fond embracing,
And shall behold His smiling face-a
Up in that lovin' hea'enly home beyond the sea,
How long must I toil, oh here below,
How long blessed Lord, oh will it be?
How long till we view that promised land,
And join-a with the snow white angels' band
Lord-a hear our plea, how long will it be?
Chris
Edited with suggestions from JohnM
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Dare I ask those with far superior ears than mine after that masterful effort to enlighten me and anyone else curious on the lyrics to "I am in the Heavenly Way?"
I'd offer what I can make out, but i don't think it'd be enough to assist.
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I'm sure we'll get to it -- I actually started to do it earlier tonight then realized my ears needed a rest after "Promise." It'll be easier, though, since he recorded it in the '60s -- that version may furnish some clues in better sound.
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Hi all,
This has gone farther faster than I would have thought possible. Thanks for entering what you heard, Chris. It makes more sense than having me edit my original pass, which was so much farther from a solution. Way to listen! I don't have any answers yet to the thorniest passages, those in the bent brackets, but I think I hear a couple of little things differently along the way that may be worth checking. I'm going to review what I had originally, what uncle bud heard, and what you've posted most recently.
In 1.5, I hear "No temple, FOR GOD'S place HOLDS us all"
In 2.5, "Up AT that lovin' heavenly home beyond the sea"
In 2.10 "LORDY hear OF our plea, how long can it be?"
In 4.2 "Until IT'LL be, we reach that day"
In 5.4, "We'll meet OUR DELIVERERS on the strand"
In 6.2, "Until IT'LL be, we reach that day"
In 6.5, "Up AT that LOVIN' heavenly home beyond the sea"
6.10 "OH LORDY hear OF our plea, how long can it be?"
At this point, these are the only suggestions I'm feeling solid enough about to make.
All best,
Johnm
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Wow, you guys are right, not remotely an easy one. There's a better sounding copy of this tune on the Yazoo "Masters of the Delta Blues - Friends of Charlie Patton" CD, but it doesn't help much, except maybe with the first line of the chorus.
Yep, that's the version I've been listening to. Fat lot of good it did me! :P I''ll be relistening but a lot of what you have in here makes sense. I'd still be curious to know whether this song has any specific precedents in hymns.
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Yep, that's the version I've been listening to. Fat lot of good it did me! :P I''ll be relistening but a lot of what you have in here makes sense. I'd still be curious to know whether this song has any specific precedents in hymns.
It did plenty of good! That "tears fall from our eyes" bit I didn't have at all, amongst other places! I haven't found any hymns through Googling with either the phrase "promise true and grand" or a chorus with "How long will it be?" in it and I looked for quite a bit yesterday.
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John, I agree with most of the changes you suggested and made them. I part of the first verse still in brackets, though. I'm still not hearing "hear of our plea" -- I can see how you could hear it but I think it's just the way he pronounces "our" and they way it sounds after the r in "hear". I also left "Lord-a" in to make it clear that he's adding a syllable to make the line scan better rather than saying the expression "Lordy".
I think we're pretty close, though!
Chris
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I agree with Chris, uncle bud--you took it a lot farther than I had it in what I first posted, that's for sure. I do think you guys are right about it being "Lord, hear our plea", as opposed to "Lord, hear of our plea". I think Booker was doing his closing of his mouth on a held vowel sound, as he did on the word "I" in "Parchman Farm". He ended up giving off some misleading consonant sounds when he did that. It is pretty darn close at this point, and that's great. Oh, and I forgot to mention earlier, I do think that for 1.4 "Where never a trouble we shall rue" is correct.
all best,
Johnm
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It must be said that Washboard Sam's playing on this track is just masterful. If you listen to how he syncs up with Booker and plays to the shifting accents in the repetition of the opening line of each verse, it's a treat, simultaneously unobtrusive and making everything more musical.
Judge give me life this morning, down on Parchman Farm
Judge give me life this morning, down on Parchman Farm, I wouldn't hate it so bad, but I left my wife in mournin'
Oh you, good-bye, wife, all you, have done gone
Oh, good-bye, wife, all you, have done gone, but I hope someday you will hear my lonesome song
SOLO
Oh you, listen you men, I don't mean no harm
Oh, listen, you men, I don't mean no harm, if you want to do good you better stay off ol' Parchman Farm
We goes to work in the morning, just the dawn of day
We go to work in the morning, just the dawn of day, just to the settin' of the sun, that's when the work is done
Oh, I'm down on old Parchman Farm and I sure wanta go back home
I'm down on old Parchman Farm but I sure want to go back home, but I hope someday, I will overcome
OUTRO
I agree Sam absolutely kills it on the track. I have my doubts as to the few rendered lyrics I've encountered on the internet for this tune. The opening judge is logical, but if you compare his use of "just" in the rest of the song it just doesn't sound like he's using a G consonant in the opener, I'm hearing an ST. I don't mean to stir dissent because there has been some fine transliteration occuring already.
I also want to point out the goodbye wife pretext. Booker uses the "all" drawl in the last stanza of hear my lonesome song i.e., hear'll. All you have done gone isn't exactly logical and I understand it's been discussed, yet Oh you have done gone is lyrically logical since the preceding stanza starts with Oh you as well being his hook in the rest of the song. I think we are hearing the "all" in the oh's stanza because he's anticipating his hear all in the last line.
The work verses are a job well done. The comparison between this tune and Aberdeen I always thought was cool in that he inverts the gender motif between the songs. Booker White is truly one of the great poets in Blues music.
Just give me life this morning, down on Parchman Farm
Just give me life this morning, down on Parchman Farm
I wouldn't have it so bad, but I lay off my wife and moan
Oh you, good-bye wife, oh you have done gone
Oh, good-bye wife, oh you have done gone
but I hope someday you will hear (all) my lonesome song
SOLO
Oh you, listen you men, I don't mean no harm
Oh, listen you men, I don't mean no harm
if you wanna do good you better stay off ol' Parchman Farm
We goes to work in the morning, just oh dawn of day
We go to work in the morning, just a dawn of day
just to the settin' of the sun, that's when the work is done
I'm down on old Parchman Farm, I sure wanna go back home
I'm down on old Parchman Farm, but I sure want to go back home
but I hope someday I will overcome
OUTRO
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Hello Michael Cardenas,
I've listened over and over again to "Aberdeen Mississippi Blues", with particular attention to the places where you differed with the posted transcription, and I have to say, I'm not hearing what you're hearing--quite the contrary. In the first verse for instance, "judge" seems perfectly clearly enunciated and an altogether different word than the very clear "just" he uses in verse four. In general, I'm leery of explanations of lyric transcriptions that rely heavily on assumptions that the creator of the song was moving around lyric motifs between verses, but where the assumptions are not supported by the sound of the words as they were sung, as in this case, such an explanation makes even less sense. I didn't hear anything in the re-listening to "Aberdeen Mississippi Blues" that would justify changing the transcription that we already have posted. This, of course, doesn't speak to how you hear the song yourself or may choose to sing it when performing it. To my ears, though, your suggestions are not supported by the sound of what Booker sang.
All best,
Johnm
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Its just an offering John, the important thing is we both care enough. So are you putting together a B. White songbook as result of this thread?
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No, I don't think so, Michael. I just like having the information there for its own sake. Occasionally I need to transcribe lyrics for an instructional video I'm doing, but for the most part I don't think about the transcriptions serving any purpose other than being available for folks who are interested. I really enjoy working on them and find I much prefer to be doing something all the time rather than sitting around. The Weeniepedia Lyrics section is rapidly approaching 800 songs transcribed, too, which is quite an accomplishment for the folks who have been engaged in that here.
All best,
Johnm
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"New Frisco Train" was the first song recorded at Booker White's first session, which he shared with guitarist/vocalist Napoleon Hairiston, in Memphis on May 26, 1930. Only four songs from a 14-song session were released, unfortunately. (I think it's very odd that Victor recorded this many numbers by unknown artists on a field trip -- 4 each was more often their quota, IIRC). Listening to "New Frisco," I think it's pretty clear from the timing and interaction of vocals, guitar and commentary that the track is sung and played solely by Hairiston (out of Vestapol pitched around Eb), with Booker offering plenty of flavor with his asides. There's a third voice present on the track as well, who adds the "Breeze along" comment.
The Frisco, by the way, ran through both Aberdeen, MS and nearby Columbus, which Booker sang a song about in the '60s, but went nowhere near Vicksburg. On this same day in the studio, Memphis Minnie cut her two sides with the Memphis Jug Band.
No surprise here that Booker's comments are the hardest part of the song to decipher -- three bits in brackets have got me stumped. I didn't put phonetic approximations in the first one because I think I'm wrong with all of what I came up with and didn't want to lead anyone astray as they were listening.
Chris
Here is "New Frisco Train":
https://youtu.be/4xCWavXsOOM
"New Frisco Train" (all comments spoken unless otherwise noted)
N (sung)
Hey, the Frisco train, done stole my gal and gone
B
I told you he's gon' do that boy, ain't nothin' to these Mississippi guys
N (sung)
Hey, tell me woman, do you love your man?
B
No, they don't love your man, boy.
N (sung)
Hey, it's train time here, and I ain't got my free ride
B
Pull it, boy, pull it!
N (sung)
Hey, thought I heard, them lovin' whistle ring.
3rd voice
Breeze along, boy, breeze along, going to Vicksburg in the cool of the evenin'!
N
Hush, hush, I thought I heard 'em now.
B
That's them ringin' boy, good God almighty.
Oooh, listen at that bell, good God, makes me think about Itta Bena,
Get your shoes, boy, and let's go,
Uh, let's catch it in the bend, we can't catch it at the corner,
Goin' in Alabama, now, and I know it.
N (sung)
Whoa, leave here walkin', chances I may ride
B
I know I'm gon' ride, boy, I know if I can't catch it on the cross, I'm gon' catch it in the bend,
I'm goin' to Georgia, too, boy
N (sung)
Hey, I thought I heard that lovin' whistle blow
B
That was it blowin', boy
Edited 1/20 with corrections from JohnM, dj
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Hi Chris,
Good work! Hairiston is difficult because he tends to close up and swallow everything.
I think Booker's first response is:
I told you he's gon' do that boy, ain't NOTHIN' TO THESE MISSISSIPPI [gods, guys,gals?]
I'm pretty sure up to that last word in the line.
I think Booker's last comment is:
THAT WAS IT BLOWIN', boy
with "it" pronounced "hit".
I do think Booker says "Ada Benn" in that one place.
Hairiston's first line sounds to me like,
Hey, THE Frisco train, done stole my gal and gone
I hear this Hairiston line like so:
Whoa, leave here walkin', chances I may ride
With "walkin'" given an extra little nudge at the end of his singing of it.
That's all I can offer to help with it, I think. Thanks for doing this one.
All best,
Johnm
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Hi, Chris.
I think the line by the third voice is "Breeze along, boy, breeze along. Goin' to Vicksburg IN THE cool OF THE evenin'"
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Hi Chris,
One other thought--might Booker be saying
makes me think about ITTA BENA
I have no idea if the Frisco Train passed through or near Itta Bena, or if Itta Bena had a notable church bell. Given Booker's vowel sounds, it seems a possibility at least.
All best,
Johnm
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John, dj, I made the changes -- I think agree with all of these. I had heard the "ain't," "nothin'" and "Mississippi" but couldn't make any sense out of hit. I'm pretty sure it's "guys" at the end. I went with Itta Bena -- the Frisco didn't go through there, but Ralph Lembo, who arranged White and Hairiston's session, was from there, so it's a reasonable supposition that they could have been there recently.
Chris
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Here's "Panama Limited," recorded at the first session along with "New Frisco Train" (tuned in Vestapol around Eb). IMHO not in the same class with either "Frisco" or the later "Special Streamline," which shares a lot of the same musical ideas and excitement over airbrakes. Some of the bits in brackets I'm assuming are names of trains that left out of Chicago (as did the Chief and the Panama Limited), but I couldn't find anything on Wikipedia that matched phonetically. Some other bits in brackets as well, and I also think it's possible the word "'twas" is "pulled" as in pulled out, but see what you think. Here is "Panama Limited":
Chris
https://youtu.be/nPNgvk_zK50
"The Panama Limited"
(Spoken)
It's this old soul, you know, time she left Chicago, you know, old soul taken down with the flu, you know. When she's taken down with the flu, you know, the [????] and the Chief come 'round that morning, they're going to put out, you know. When they got there the old soul was gettin' up, you know, singin' and cryin', you know.
(Sung)
I ain't got nobody take me to this train,
Mmmmm, mmmm, hmmm hmm mmm
(Spoken)
I know you ain't, old soul, I feel sorry for her. A'ter while, you know, she seen the [???????] gonna put out, she retched (reached) and got her two little grandchildren, you know, and she got up on the street, you know. The water begin to settle in old soul's eyes she commenced to cryin' and then singin', you know,
(Sung)
Fare you well if I don't see you no more,
Mmmmmm, lord, lord, lord, lord.
(Spoken)
Then old soul, you know, went on down to the Union Station, you know. She asked the depot man what time it 'twas. She heard 8:30 freight blowin' but she was gon' catch that fast Panama Limited, you know. She kinda blowed a little diff'ent, though.
After she heard this freight, you know, she asked the man again what time it 'twas. He told her go lay her head on the rail line and she hear that rail poppin', train time wasn't long. Old soul stooped down she heard the rail poppin', you know, and she got up singin', you know,
(Sung)
I'm a motherless child I'm a long way from my home,
Mmmmmm, mmmm hmmmm, hmmm, hmmm
(Spoken)
Don't moan it so loud, [Aunt Haggie]. So when old soul, you know, began to moan, you know, she heard this here train comin' in there holl'in, you know. After the holl'in, you know, she heard the bell blowin', after the bell blowin' she heard her when she cut down.
Airbrake!
[When her headed????] you know heard the train cut down, you know, the old soul got happy, y'know, she commenced to singin', y'know,
The train I ride, it don't burn no coal,
Mmmmmm, hmmm, hmmm, hmmm, hmmm,
Mmmmmm, mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm,
Hmmm hmmm, hmmm, hmmm, hmm,m hmmm.
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A few suggestions:
"When she's taken down with the flu, you know, the TEC MAN and the Chief come 'round that morning, they're going to put out, you know." Tec man = detective, i.e. the police were going to evict her.
"When her HEARDED, you know heard the train cut down, you know, the old soul got happy, y'know, she commenced to singin', y'know," I think Booker just got the verb wrong to start the line and corrected himself.
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dj, I think you might be right on both of those. I had thought about "detective" to go with chief but couldn't hear that, but "tec man" could fit. I'll listen again when I get home.
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Just thought I'd bump this one up. I need to check back on "Panama Limited" for corrections but the only two left of Booker's pre-war recordings are "I Am in the Heavenly Way" and the LoC "Poor Boy." Might get to the first of these tomorrow if I have some time. I really am not a fan of his "Poor Boy" in any of its incarnations if someone else wants to give it a whack...
Chris
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Good on you, Chris! I never gave "Panama Limited" the strong listen. I'll do that and work on "Poor Boy".
All best,
Johnm
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work on "Poor Boy".
I would be very interested to see how people hear the whole second verse as well as the second lines in the third and fourth verses.
Po' Boy he was travellin'
he's heading on the road
Po' Boy he got hungry
he didn't even have nowhere to room
Po' Boy says a hateful
till evening sun go down
he say me rock fill my pillow
and the cold ground was sleeping frame
Po' Boy momma's come to see him
boys [sic] is heading river bound
when she looked and seen him
Oh she went screamin' and cryin'
She said to her Mother
Po' Boy must [sic] river bound
Oh she kneeled on her knee
Oh how Ole momma scream and cryin'
(spoken) Love her boy
`Fore she says goodbye
your mother's going to leave you alone
she says you be a good boy
you'll be home by and by
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Thanks for helping out, Michael. Here's what I hear relative to your transcription:
1.4 He didn't even have nowhere to GO
2.1 Poor boy says, "I HATE 'FORE
2.2 YOUR evening sun GOES down.
2.3 THE CURB, THE ROCKS ARE my pillow,
2.4 And the cold ground MY sleeping PLACE."
3.1 Poor boy's MOTHER come to see him
3.2 [ ] IS THEN PRISON bound
3.4 Oh, she went TO screamin' and cryin'
4.1 TAKE BACK, YOUR OLD mother
4.2 Poor boy IS NOW PRISON BOUND
4.4 Oh how, old mother SCREAMED and CRIED
spoken:ONE MORE (from Lomax)
5.3 She says YOU'LL be a good boy
The front end of 3.2 is especially hard to hear, sounds like "Widen", which makes no sense at all.
All best,
Johnm
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I think between John and Michael you have it right -- I would suggest two things:
2.1 John has right but it should be "I hate for" not "'fore" -- he hates for the sun to go down, because it means another night homeless.
3.2 I hear as "Boys was sad and prison bound"
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Thanks for the help, Chris. Here is a melded version of "Po' Boy" with Michael's start, my changes, and the final suggestions. Here is "Po' Boy":
https://youtu.be/e0S9vn-NfVY
Poor boy, he was travellin'
He's headin' on the road
Poor boy, he got hongry
He didn't even have nowhere to go
Poor boy says, "I hate for
Your evening sun goes down.
The curb, the rocks are my pillow,
And the cold ground my sleeping place."
Poor boy's mother come to see him
Boys was sad and prison bound
When she looked and seen him
Oh, how old mother screamed and cried
Take back your old mother
Poor boy is now prison bound
Oh, she kneeled on her knee
Oh, how old mother screamed and cried
Spoken by Lomax: "One more."
`Fore she says goodbye,
"Your mother's going to leave you alone."
She says,"You'll be a good boy.
You'll be home bye and bye."
All best,
Johnm
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All pretty close now withstanding the missing 5th verse, I'm so impressed you folks have such great ears. For what its worth makes the music mean more, clarity and all. I use a slowed down version of this song to keep from going nuts. In using a slowed down version it seems he is out of A flat.
Poor boy, he was travellin'
He's headin' on the road
Poor boy, he got hongry
He didn't even have nowhere to go
I didn't hear him using a G consonant for Go, rather I hear R as in either Roam or Room. I do see the logic in Go because there is no M on the end, but I can't hear his teeth coming together on that word to form a G. He sounds open like an R (roh). Keep in mind stylistically he favors ending lines with a teeth-clenched hum/vibrato.
Poor boy says, "I hate for
Your evening sun goes down.
The curb, the rocks are my pillow,
And the cold ground my sleeping place."
Poor boy's mother come to see him
Boys was sad and prison bound
When she looked and seen him
Oh, she went to screamin' and cryin'
I didn't hear 5 syllables before the screamin' & cryin', only 4 and the "to" I am hearing right before is very faint. It's true that his meter delivery is faster in these stanzas, but I'm hearing S & W consonsants. What I think's happening here is we're confusing the 4th and 5th verses because the "how old mother" would be correct in verse 5. However, the second line in verse 5 is still illusive, obvious that he's telling her something. Is it must or was and is he even saying river bound? If he were singing river bound then that would validate her reactions.
He said to her Mother
Po' Boy must [sic] river bound
Oh she kneeled on her knee
Oh how old Mother scream and cried
Spoken by Lomax: "One more."
It's so faint and slurred and when I listen without direct focus it comes out One more. When I listen tightly I hear 3 syllables and since it's spoken I compare it with other tunes where Booker is using a speaking voice and it doesn't seem so far from his speaking voice. Might as well be Lomax though chiming in which is what I initially thought.
`Fore she says goodbye,
"Your mother's going to leave you alone."
She says,"You'll be a good boy.
You'll be home bye and bye."
-
Hi Michael,
I missed the fourth verse altogether in putting together the melded version of the lyrics, as you noted. I've got it in there, now. Thanks for your help.
All best,
Johnm
-
It's a lyric that pops up on the quote overlines -- "It may get lonesome now, cause I'm a hobo myself sometime - Bukka White, Special Streamline "
Finally I get round to suggesting... I think it's "Make it lonesome now, cause I'm a hobo myself sometimes." (It's Booker's injunction to himself as he mimics the train whistle with his slide.)
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http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=2438.msg57281#msg57281 (http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=2438.msg57281#msg57281)
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Thanks guys. Since I was the one who transcribed it originally I'd better go back and give it another listen.
Later...
'May get...' versus 'Make it...'. It's 50/50 to my ear and I can't form an opinion either way. I agree there's no 'It...' on the front end. Would anyone else like to take a listen?
The version on Genes Blues Vault CD, '1963 Isn't 1962', which will be forever one of my favorite album titles, does not have the line. It's great to listen to the two versions back to back, totally different narrative yet somehow the same, just Booker moving on through life.
-
I've always heard it as "Make it..." ...Booker coaching himself.
-
I concur "Make it lonesome"
-
On the 2:39 timed version from the Blues with Bukka CD I definitely hear "make it."
The words aren't anywhere near as clear on the 2:54 timed version from the The Complete Bukka White CD. I could go either way on that one, but having heard the clear "make it" in the shorter version I have to assume he's saying the same thing here.
This thread has reminded me what a fun tune this is to play--gotta get back to work on it.
-
Thanks y'all, "Make it..." it is, I will amend. I originally copped it from 'The Complete...' so I guess I can be forgiven for the misread.
Later, done.
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Hi all,
I merged a thread on Booker White's "Special Streamline" into Booker White's Lyrics thread here. The newly-merged thread immediately precedes this post.
All best,
Johnm
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Hi all,
There are some wonderful later performances by Booker White on "Furry Lewis, Bukka White & friends: Party! At Home", Arcola CD A CD 1001. Booker does "Grey-Haired Woman" accompanying himself out of cross-note tuning, and essentially playing the same part he used to back up "Aberdeen Mississippi Blues". I think this song has an unusually sweet set of lyrics. Booker delivers it so strongly, both in his playing and his singing. Here is "Grey-Haired Woman":
https://youtu.be/1BG_r76qfO8
I got old lady and her head is turnin' grey
Well, I've got an old lady and her head is turnin' grey
Well, it makes no difference, I ain't gon' throw you away
Oh, listen, old lady, don't worry 'bout your head turnin' grey
Aw, listen, old lady, don't worry 'bout your head turnin' grey
Don't you know if you keep on livin' your head sure is gon' turn grey?
You don't have to worry, babe, 'cause you gettin' old
Well, you don't have to worry 'cause your baby gettin' old
I got a brand new Ford will take you on down the road
Hush, hush, little papa, don't nothin' get old but clothes
Uh-huh, listen, old lady, don't keep on talkin' 'bout old
I don't b'lieve I'll be gettin' your baby special clothes
Baby, it's turnin' cold, you're welcome knock on my door
Well, it's turnin' cold, you've got to knock, baby, on my door
Well, it makes no difference, babe, 'cause your head is turnin' grey
OUTRO (Spoken: She goin' out now, tonight.)
All best,
Johnm
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Thanks for sharing Johnm, those are a beautiful set of lyrics. It's a shame that Arcola is hard to find down under, Bob West is such a wonderfully kind man and has sent me a couple throughout the Son House documentary's process, but I'm hoping to get my uncle in Chicago to get me all of the CDs. Thanks also for noting that it was similar to Aberdeen blues, as now I'll be able to try it for myself!
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Here's my crack at "I Am in the Heavenly Way." This one is just as big a pain as "Promise True and Grand" despite having fewer words. Something about the way this song is recorded doesn't help intelligibility and I own four different remasterings of it, the best being Yazoo on "Masters of the Delta Blues," with "Goodbye, Babylon" not too far behind.
Booker recorded this again in the '60s; I only have one version from then, and unfortunately he doesn't sing one of the verses he repeats in the 1930 version, plus he sings one verse differently. I can't find any printed source for this song, either. You'll see the brackets where I can't make things out, I've offered some phonetic approximations, none of which are worth much of anything as actual suggestions!
Any suggestions or help would be much appreciated; I've transcribed both the version on 78 (I did not transcribe the female singer's responses) and the version from Booker's first "rediscovery" album. Also, it's very difficult sometimes to tell whether he's singing "movin' on" or "goin' home," especially because of the "r" sound he puts into "goin'," so I'm sure I've missed a few.
Victor 78
I am in the heavenly way
Travelin 'long from day to day
And I'll say [the weary load? that we below? that we in love?]
Oh this joy, I?m movin? on
Oh the joy, the joy, the joy
Oh goin' home
Oh these joy, great joy,
I?m goin? home.
Happy and I?ll sing this song
Try and [?]
Oh these joy, great joy,
I?m goin? home
Day by day, oh where I see [there I stay?]
Heavenly things unfold to me,
[Meet my fate they?ll be more strong????]
Oh the joy, I?m movin? on
Oh the joy, great joy,
I?m goin? home.
Oh the joy, great joy,
I?m goin? home.
Happy and I?ll sing this song
Try and [?]
Oh the joy, great joy,
I?m goin? home
Day by day, oh where I see [there I stay?]
Heavenly things unfold to me,
[Meet my fate they?ll be more strong????]
Oh the joy, I?m movin? on
Oh the joy, the joy, the joy,
I?m goin? home.
Oh the joy, great joy,
I?m goin? home.
Happy and I?ll sing this song
Try and [?]
Oh the joy, great joy,
I?m goin? home
And at last, when labor is done,
And a crown in heaven is won,
I will sing the wonderful song,
Oh the joy, I?m movin? on.
Oh the joy, great joy,
I?m goin? home.
Oh the joy, great joy,
I?m goin? home.
Happy and I?ll sing this song
Cryin? Try and ??
Oh the joy, great joy,
I?m goin? home
Oh the joy, the joy, the joy,
I?m goin? home.
Oh the joy, great joy,
I?m goin? home.
Spoken: Pick it!
Joy, great joy
I?m goin? home.
Oh the joy, great joy,
I?
'60s version
I am in the heavenly way
Travelin 'long from day to day
And I'll say that [?]
Oh the joy, I'm movin? on
Oh the joy, the joy, the joy
The wonderful joy I'm goin' home
Oh the joy, great joy
The peace and joy I'm going home
Happy and I sing this song
And I'm going home
Oh the joy, great joy
Oh, I'm goin' home
And I'll sing the wonderful song
Oh I'll sing the wonderful song
Oh the joy, the joy, the joy
The peace and joy I'm goin' home
Oh the joy, great joy
Oh I'm movin' home [it sounds like he starts to sing ?movin?? but changes partway through so it sounds like a combo of movin? and goin? (with the extra ?r? in it)]
And at last, when labor is done
And a crown in heaven is won
I will sing the wonderful song
Oh, the joy, I'm movin' on
Oh the joy, the joy, the joy
The peace and joy I'm goin' home
Oh the joy, great joy
Oh, I'm goin' home
Happy and I sing this song
And am sing song [Booker obviously blows the line here]
Oh the joy, great joy
Oh, I'm goin' home
And at last, I'll sing that song
And at last, I'll sing the song
Oh the joys I'm goin' home,
Oh the joys I'm goin' home,
Oh the joy, great joy
Oh, I'm goin' home
And at last, when labor is done
And a crown in heaven is won
And I'll sing the wonderful song
Oh, the joy, I'm movin' on
Oh the joy, the joy, the joy
The wonderful joy I'm movin' on
Oh the joy, great joy
The peace and joy I'm movin? on
Happy and I sing this song
The wonderful song I'm movin' on
Oh the joy, great joy, the peace and joy
I'm goin' home
And at last, when labor's done
And a crown in heaven is won
And I'll sing the wonderful song
Oh, the joy, I'm movin' on
Oh the joy, the joy, the joy
The wonderful joy I'm movin' on
Oh the joy, great joy
The peace and joy I'm goin' home
Happy and I sing this song
The wonderful song I'm movin' home
Oh the joy, great joy
I'm goin' home
And at last, when labor's done
And a crown in heaven is won
I will sing the wonderful song
Oh, the joy, I'm movin' on
Oh the joy, the joy, the joy
The wonderful joy I'm movin' on
Oh the joy, great joy
The peace and joy I'm goin' home
Happy and I sing this song
The wonderful song I'm movin' home
Oh the joy, great joy
Oh I'm goin??
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Whew, re-listening to this one I can see why you took some time off from it, Chris! I'll see if I hear anything.
In 1.3, it sounds like it might be
And I'M CARRYIN' A WEARY LOAD
1.4
Oh, these joys, at movin' time
In the first chorus, I think it might be
Oh, THESE joys, the joys, the joy
OF goin' home
Oh, these joys, great joy
OF goin' home
Happy and I'll sing THESE SONGS
'TIL I CAN HAVE THAT THRONE
Oh, these JOYS, great joy
OF goin' home
In the second verse, it sounds like Booker sings in the first line:
Day by day, oh THERE I see
with Miss Minnie responding WHERE I see, which doesn't help matters at all.
I think the third line might be
MAKE MY FAITH BE A LITTLE MORE STRONG
followed by
Oh these joys, AT MOVING TIME
Second chorus:
Oh, these joys, great joy
Of goin' home
Oh, these joys, great joy
Of goin' home
Happy, and I'll sing these songs
'Til I can have that throne
Oh, these joys, great joy
Of goin' home
Verse three is a pretty close repetition of verse two, it seems
Day by day, oh there I see
Heavenly things unfold to me
Make my faith, little bit more strong
Oh these joys, at movin' time
Chorus pretty much the same
Oh these joys, joys, the joys
Of goin' home
Oh, these joys, great joy
Of goin' home
Happy and I'll sing these songs
'Til I can have that throne
Oh, these joys, great joy
Of goin' home
fourth verse is as you have it, but I hear the last line as:
Oh, these joys at movin' time
Next chorus:
Oh, these joys, great joy
Of goin' home
Oh, these joys, great joy
Of goin' home
Happy, and I'll sing these songs
'Til I can have that throne
Oh, these joys, great joy
Of goin' home
Next chorus:
Oh, these joys, the joys, the joy
Of goin' home
Oh, these joys, great joy
Of goin' home (SPOKEN: Pick it)
Joys, great joys
Goin' home
Oh, these joys, great joy
---( Guitar finishes chorus)
All best,
Johnm
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Hi Chris,
Any thoughts on the suggestions I made for the lyrics to "I Am In The Heavenly Way"?
All best,
Johnm
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John -- I meant to write back sooner -- I agree with most of what you have but have been going back and listening again. I'll try to post revisions tonight. It is a tough one!
Chris
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Here's a re-done version of the 1930 version of "I Am in the Heavenly Way" -- John, I incorporated most of your suggestions and thanks! The two I didn't hear at all were "moving time" and the "carrying" a weary load in the opening verse. I'm pretty sure he says "say" there both on the 78 and in the '60s version. "Weary load" seems the most logical thing there, however, I agree. Here is "I Am In The Heavenly Way":
https://youtu.be/_bZHLnlgIqs
I am in the heavenly way
Travelin 'long from day to day
And I'll say the weary load
Oh this joy, I?m movin? on
Oh these joy, the joys, the joy
Of goin' home
Oh these joy, great joy,
Of goin? home.
Happy and I?ll sing this song
So I can have that throne
Oh these joys, great joy,
Of goin? home.
Day by day, oh there I see
Heavenly things unfold to me,
Make my faith, it?ll be more strong
Oh these joys, I?m movin? on
Oh these joys, great joy,
Of goin? home.
Oh these joys, great joy,
Of goin? home.
Happy and I?ll sing this song
So I can have that throne
Oh these joys, great joy,
Of goin? home
Day by day, oh there I see
Heavenly things unfold to me,
Make my faith, it?ll be more strong
Oh these joys, I?m movin? on
Oh these joys, the joy, the joy,
Of goin? home.
Oh the joy, great joy,
Of goin? home.
Happy and I?ll sing this song
So I can have that throne
Oh these joys, great joy,
Of goin? home
And at last, when labor is done,
And a crown in heaven is won,
I will sing the wonderful song,
Oh these joys, I?m movin? on.
Oh these joys, great joy,
Oh goin? home.
Oh these joys, great joy,
Oh goin? home.
Happy and I?ll sing this song
So I can have that throne
Oh these joys, great joy,
Of goin? home
Oh these joys, the joy, the joy,
I?m goin? home.
Oh these joys, great joy,
Of goin? home.
Spoken: Pick it!
Joys, great joys
I?m goin? home.
Oh these joy, great joy,
Oh?
Chris
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I needed to cleanse the mental palate after "Heavenly Way" so I transcribed one of my favorite of Booker's 1960s recordings, "Columbus Mississippi Blues" off the Memphis Swamp Jam/Kings of Country Blues set. It's played just like "Aberdeen" but he's having a lot of fun with it. I have a couple spots in brackets I'd appreciate some help with -- I assume the missing first one is some kind of liquor. Here is "Columbus Mississippi Blues":
https://youtu.be/0GOILNB0O70
Columbus Mississippi Blues
Well, I was fixin' to cross Tombigbee (Booker says Tombigbo) River on down,
I am fixin' to cross Tombigbee River goin' on 'cross,
Well I'm goin' to Columbus, baby, I'm goin' to settle on down.
Well, Columbus, baby, Columbus is my old home
Well I'm goin' to Columbus, I'm goin' down to Sandy Land,
You know that?s where they all, old drunkards hang around.
Goin' down to Columbus, that ain't but 20 miles from Aberdeen
Well I was over in Columbus down in Sandy Land,
Well I was over in Columbus, down in Sandy Land,
That's where all the poor peoples go, down where they raisin' sand.
Play it now!
Well, you take Columbus broads, cat scratch on your line,
When you take Columbus broads, cats scratchin' on the line,
What they men buys old [?] on Tom River bridge
That ain't no lie boy!
Hey you Columbus women, you watch what's comin' down,
Oh, listen, Columbus, tell the women what's comin' down,
Well, Booker's sending them blues down, in Columbus town.
Play it!
Sell about four or five [?]
Co-lumbus my home, but I used to hang around,
Columbus was my home, but I used to hang around,
'Cause where you find a good time, down in Sandy Land.
They ain't lyin', that's what it was!
Go down in Sandy Land and tell Booker, I said, "Come there and ask for it.", yes!
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Thanks, Chris, for doing the additional slog on "I Am In The Heavenly Way". I'm still hearing "at moving time" ("at" rather than "I'm" especially) at the end of the verses, but I can certainly live with the difference. Thanks!
All best,
Johnm
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Thanks, Chris, for doing the additional slog on "I Am In The Heavenly Way". I'm still hearing "at moving time" ("at" rather than "I'm" especially) at the end of the verses, but I can certainly live with the difference. Thanks!
I see how you're hearing the "at" but I think it's another instance of Booker's weird vowel articulation; his "a" sound is very, very nasal.
This was a tough one, for sure!
Chris
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Hi, folks. I would be delighted to receive any feedback on my transcription of the performance of "Aberdeen, Mississippi Blues" linked below. My mode here tends more to transcribing the words that White is singing rather than trying to reflect his distinctive delivery of them. Thanks!
"Aberdeen, Mississippi Blues"
Bukka White
1967 television performance (?)
Aberdeen is my home, but the men don?t want me around.
Aberdeen is my home, but the men don?t want me around.
?Cause they?ll come and take their women, I will take them out of town.
I was over in Aberdeen on my way to New Orleans.
I was over in Aberdeen on my way to New Orleans.
Then them Aberdeen women told me they would buy my gasoline.
Aberdeen is my home, but the men don?t want me around.
Aberdeen is my home, but the men don?t want me around.
?Cause they know I?ll take their women, I will take them out of town.
Hush, hush, hush, I?somebody?s knocking on my door.
Oh, hush, oh, hush, somebody?s knocking on my door.
Well, I believe that?s my woman coming to tell me she don?t want me no more.
Oh, look over yonder where we used to live.
Oh, look over yonder where we used to live.
Don?t you know it?s killing me, baby, we won?t live there no more.
I?I?hush?I?somebody?s tipping up to my door.
Oh, hush, oh, hush, somebody?s tipping up to my door.
Well, I believe that?s my woman coming to bring me all of my clothes.
(She?s going out on red, now.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbHtNMyAB7g (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbHtNMyAB7g)
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My mode here tends more to transcribing the words that White is singing rather than trying to reflect his distinctive delivery of them.
Hi DavidR,
What do you mean by the statement quoted above? How can a transcription reflect a singer's "distinctive delivery" of the words?
All best,
Johnm
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My mode here tends more to transcribing the words that White is singing rather than trying to reflect his distinctive delivery of them.
Hi DavidR,
What do you mean by the statement quoted above? How can a transcription reflect a singer's "distinctive delivery" of the words?
All best,
Johnm
Every transcriber has to decide: To what degree am I trying to denote the actual sounds that are coming out of the singer's mouth, as opposed to just writing down the words that he or she is singing? The most common example is when a singer drops the final -g of a word. Do you transcribe "knocking" or "knockin'"? With White's singing, this issue is particularly acute, as he often deviates far from the ordinary pronunciations of words.
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Hi DavidR,
Speaking only for myself, I try to transcribe words as the singer pronounced them. I think the challenge with Booker White is his vowel sounds, which are sometimes untranscribable for me. In such an instance, I'll use the word that I believe he meant, with conventional spelling. So I guess the approach doesn't end up being consistent. I think I still prefer it to transcribing dictionary versions of the words, if the singer simply doesn't pronounce the words that way. It just seems too stilted to have words not reflecting the sound that the singer made when singing them. As I said, though, that's just my own preference.
All best,
Johnm
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Hi DavidR,
Speaking only for myself, I try to transcribe words as the singer pronounced them. I think the challenge with Booker White is his vowel sounds, which are sometimes untranscribable for me. In such an instance, I'll use the word that I believe he meant, with conventional spelling. So I guess the approach doesn't end up being consistent. I think I still prefer it to transcribing dictionary versions of the words, if the singer simply doesn't pronounce the words that way. It just seems too stilted to have words not reflecting the sound that the singer made when singing them. As I said, though, that's just my own preference.
All best,
Johnm
To me, the hardest thing in this White performance is at the beginnings of lines where I transcribe "Oh." There is at least one occasion where that definitely does seem to be the word he's singing, but in other places, who knows? The sounds serve the same purpose as "Oh" would, but they are, as you say, not transcribable. I recall back when the original Robert Johnson box came out in 1990, the lyric transcribers tried to do accurate phonetic transcriptions of all of Johnson's non-word vocalizations. I thought that the results were sort of ridiculous, but I don't blame them for the effort. I also recall the preface to Michael Taft's book of transcriptions, where he urges that lyric transcriptions should never be read independent of listening to the performances. This is why I prefer to write down the actual words without worrying about whether to include that -g or not. In my mind, the purpose of lyric transcriptions is to give you the actual words. To know what they sound like in performance, you listen to the songs.
Best,
DavidR
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Hi all,
I was able to find and insert links to the original recorded versions of all of the lyrics posted here in finished versions that didn't already have videos in this thread.
All best,
John