is anyone able to understand these lyrics? it would be great if someone could post these for me! Its a difficult task - i know - but i hope i get some help...
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If trouble was money I swear I'd be a millionaire - Albert King, If Trouble Was Money
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic. L. F. Nelson
is anyone able to understand these lyrics? it would be great if someone could post these for me! Its a difficult task - i know - but i hope i get some help...
Welcome to WeenieCampbell, LF. Great song. I have worked on this song myself and am a big fan of Jack Owens. But I agree, it's a tough slog to transcribe the lyrics to this one. Normally on the site, people will post what they've got so far and ask for suggestions and corrections. (Just filling you in, not trying to lecture or anything.) Here's my stab at it from awhile back, without revisiting the song. Frankly, most of the words in square brackets are very dubious, IMO. And I'd swear he sings "Stuart" more than "certainly", but -- with apologies to fine Stuarts everywhere, including here -- that seemed even stranger to me.
Jack Ain't Had No Water - Jack Owens Jack ain't had no water, [certainly??] had no -- Jack ain't had no water, [certainly??] ain't had no -- Ain't had worries, oh since the day has been done Looka here, woman, what's the matter now? Well looka here, woman, oh what's the matter now? You tell your trouble, I sure will tell you mine [So it??] ain't no water, Jack ain't had no [corn??] Still ain't had no water, still ain't had no [corn??] Ain't had no water, oh surely ain't had no [corn??] I ain't had no blues, yeah, oh since the train been gone I ain't had no worries, oh since the train been gone I ain't had no worries, oh since the train been gone Oh looka here, woman, what do you [call a lie?] Oh looka here, woman, what do you [call a lie?] Cause when you're leavin', oh run the [wind right down??] Oh quit your greedy, oh stop your lowdown ways Oh quit your greedy, oh stop your lowdown ways Well quit your greedy, oh stop your lowdown ways I don't want no water, I don't want no [corn??] I don't want no, baby, oh surely don't want no -- I ain't had no worries, oh since the train been gone dj
I've never heard this song, so I'm obviously not an authority on its lyrics, but it does make some sense to me. Some suggestions:
Jack ain't had no water, [certainly??] had no -- Could this be "STILL had no --", as in the other no water/no corn verses? Still ain't had no water, still ain't had no [corn??] Corn could quite well be correct here: no water, no corn, you can't work the still to make moonshine. [So it??] ain't no water, Jack ain't had no [corn??] "STILL it ain't no water..." would make sense in light of the other water/corn verses. There's a spot in the back of my mind that keeps telling me that "jack" is a term associated with distilling, but a cursory web search doesn't find it and I don't have time to look further right now. I've listened to it umpteen times via the Testament LP and I'm now beginning to hear what I want to hear, i.e. UB's suggestions.
If anybody owns an Otis Brothers cassette by the title of Land Of Corn and Wine maybe they?ve deciphered it. (see http://www.wirz.de/music/otisbfrm.htm) L. F. Nelson
i asked axel k?stner (he has been to bentonia many times and took great pictures of jack and also did some recordings with him) to tell me something about this song and he said that "Jack" is a synonym for a mule or donkey... that makes sense because he told me as well that "corn" is for sure!
While I don't have the recording, I think the Otis Bros. tune is a version of Do-Boy Diamond's song of the same name, which is a version of Long-Haired Doney.
Breaking my resolve not to get into any lyric threads, such a cool song I had to give my impressions. Great job Andrew.
Verse 1 Jack ain't had no water, [certainly??] had no -- Jack ain't had no water, [certainly??] ain't had no -- Ain't had worries, oh since the day has been done That's what I hear, the word is certainly 'certainly' Possible alternative last line 'Ain't had no belly since the train's been gone' (bear with me on this one, see the last verse) Verse 2 Looka here, woman, what's the matter now? Well looka here, woman, oh what's the matter now? You tell your trouble, I sure will tell you mine Agreed. Big nasal snark between 2 and 3 Verse 3 [So it??] ain't no water, Jack ain't had no [corn??] Still ain't had no water, still ain't had no [corn??] Ain't had no water, oh surely ain't had no [corn??] I hear "still" (not "so it..") and "corn". Last line I hear "still" repeated, not "surely" Ain't had no water, oh still ain't had no corn Verse 4 I ain't had no blues, yeah, oh since the train been gone I ain't had no worries, oh since the train been gone I ain't had no worries, oh since the train been gone I think I hear "belly" not "blues" or "worry" in all 3 lines. See last verse. Verse 5 Oh looka here, woman, what do you [call a lie?] Oh looka here, woman, what do you [call a lie?] Cause when you're leavin', oh run the [wind right down??] "call a lie" is good, I would never have caught that. Last line is tricky. My current theory is he's forgotten the line and is singing slur-gibberish, as we are all liable to do on occasion. Verse 6 Oh quit your greedy, oh stop your lowdown ways Oh quit your greedy, oh stop your lowdown ways Well quit your greedy, oh stop your lowdown ways Agree, except for the second line he leaves off the last word in classic blues fashion and plays a tremolo guitar figure, Oh quit your greedy, oh stop your lowdown... {twang} Verse 7 I don't want no water, I don't want no [corn??] I don't want no, baby, oh surely don't want no -- I ain't had no worries, oh since the train been gone I hear: Don't want no water, I don't want no corn Don't want water, I still don't want no corn I ain't had no [billy? burley? I like "belly"], oh since the train been gone My theory is "ain't had no belly" means he ain't been eating so well since his rider left town on that train. I do not have this problem having acquired a taste for Dogfish Head IPA Very cool song. I've had this LP for years and only listened to it a couple of times; it never did much for me, but this number is great.
I agree with Rivers about the last line of the first verse -- "Ain't had no belly since the train's been gone" However, I think he doesn't sing "still," or "Stuart," or "certainly" -- I think the line (and all the permutations of it should be along this line) is: Jack ain't had no water, stud ain't had no corn. Referring to a mule and a horse, and the corn is feed in this case, not moonshine, which would make the belly reference fit as well. Chris Very cool song.
I agree with Chris, I think he is saying stud. Lots of times in verse 3: Stud ain't no water, Jack ain't had no corn Stud ain't had no water, stud ain't had no corn Stud had no water, oh stud ain't had no corn Could well be "stud", I hear that as well. I assumed it was "still" as it might come out if you had a mucus problem, since there are several audible snarking interludes throughout the song. Which is part of the charm of the performance of course.
Good thread topic, "Major head colds in country blues". I will listen s'more. L. F. Nelson
[...] Verse 7
"I don't want no water, I don't want no [corn??] I don't want no, baby, oh surely don't want no -- I ain't had no worries, oh since the train been gone I hear: Don't want no water, I don't want no corn Don't want water, I still don't want no corn I ain't had no [billy? burley? I like "belly"], oh since the train been gone" [...] I hear "Jelly" in that line ... Could be possible in this case because the train is gone (and the woman too) so he had no jelly no more . What do you think about this possibility? Thanks Rivers and Chris, both stud and belly make sense to me. While I didn't start the thread, I've been puzzling over these lyrics for some time. Now I can play the song without feeling like I'm winging it on the words.
L.F. - not hearing jelly myself. L. F. Nelson
"call a lie, stud, belly" - that helped a lot! And i have to say i?m very happy about the fact that there are some more guys who are into this song (and one jack owens fan - like i am!)
Thanks a lot for your help! Anne Hi all,
Youtube has become such a wonderful resource. When this topic was first posted, if you didn't have the album or CD this song was on, you were out of luck. Now it is up on youtube for us all to hear. What a tremendous performance by Jack Owens, such strong, clean and dynamic playing. All best, Johnm Hi all,
Building on the work that was previously done in this thread on transcribing the lyrics to "Jack Ain't Had No Water", and some additional listening, here is what I currently have for the lyrics. Let me know if you think I've got them wrong somewhere, please, and what you think they should be. You can listen to the song at the last previous post in this thread. Jack ain't had no water, stud ain't had no -- Jack ain't had no water, stud ain't had no -- Ain't had no belly, oh, since the day's been gone Look-a here, woman, what's the matter now? Well look-a here, woman, oh, what's the matter now? You tell your trouble, I sure will tell you mine Stud ain't had no water, Jack ain't had no -- Stud ain't had no water, stud ain't had no corn Ain't had no water, oh, stud ain't had no corn I ain't had no belly, oh, since the train been gone I ain't had no belly, oh, since the train been gone Ain't no more belly, oh, since the train been gone Oh look-a here, woman, what do you call a lie? Just look-a here, woman, what do you call a lie? 'Cause when you're leavin', oh run to me, good night Oh quit your greedy, oh, stop your lowdown ways Oh quit your greedy, oh, stop your lowdown -- Oh, quit your greedy, oh, stop your lowdown ways SOLO Don't want no water, stud don't want no corn Want no more water, oh, stud don't want no -- Ain't had no belly, oh, since the train been gone All best, Johnm eric
It's been pretty quiet around here, so I thought I'd bump this great tune.
... What a tremendous performance by Jack Owens, such strong, clean and dynamic playing. just discovered this song through the program blues unlimited had on blues from bentonvile. super show!!! and a great song.
https://www.mixcloud.com/bluesunlimited-theradioshow/this-week-on-blues-unlimited-blues-from-bentonia-mississippi-hour-2/ Hi all,
I was just listening to this song and it struck me how similar the signature riff in the treble of the first two lines of each verse is to that of Bo Carter's "Old Devil", despite the fact that "Jack Ain't Had No Water" was played in cross-note and "Old Devil" was played in E position in standard tuning. What Jack Owens did with his thumb in the bass was really special and distinctive, and made the over-all sound pretty different. Of course, the first three strings are the same in E position, standard tuning and cross-note. Here is Bo's "Old Devil" for comparison, and you can listen to "Jack Ain't Got No Water" in the post three back from this one in this thread: All best, Johnm Hi all,
I was working on Jack Owens' song, "Train Time", for which he was joined by Bud Spires on harmonica, as he was on most of his recorded numbers. Jack played the song in Vestapol tuning with a slide, and its name sure suits it. Here is "Train Time": INTRO (Spoken, Bud: Right. I just blow, anything you pick. Lord, I'm tired, I'm tired, baby, leavin' in me, babe, by myself Lord, I'm tired, tired, baby, Lord, just leave me by myself Lord, I wanta go home, baby, Lord, I ain't got sufficient clothes Lord, I wanta go home, baby, Lord, I ain't got sufficient . . . Ohhhh, train time here, Lord, I thought I heard her blow Ohhhhhhh, train time here, baby, Lord, I thought I heard her blow Lord, train time here, gal, Lord, I thought I heard her blow (Spoken, Bud: Take your time, boy! I'm sure gonna blow what you pick.) FADE All best, Johnm Hi all,
"Can't See, Baby" is the opening track on Jack Owens' Testament CD, "Must Have Been The Devil", on most of which he was joined by Bud Spires on harmonica. Jack Owens was playing in cross-note tuning at E for this song, and it is some of the most inventive and adventuresome playing ever recorded in that tuning, for Jack gets into a lot of stuff, just in his opening solo, that other players who used that tuning a lot, like Skip James, Arthur Crudup and Booker White, never found or played, at least on recordings. Bud's harmonica playing and approach were really a good match for Jack's music, too. Here is "Can't See, Baby": INTRO SOLO I can't see, baby, Lord, t' save my life Lord, I can't see, baby, Lord, to save my life Why we can't get along, baby, just like man and wife Lord, like man and wife, like man and wife Lord, I love my baby, tell the world I do Lord, I love my baby, tell the world I do Sometime I b'lieve I, might can love me, too Take me, baby, well I, won't be bad no more Take me, baby, well I, won't be bad no more Lord, then maybe there, try me one more time I don't want no woman, let me stay all night (Spoken: Say that again, boy) I don't want no woman, let me stay all night 'Cause I'd rather want a woman, treat old poor Jack right Wish to good Lord, baby, Lord, have a good mind to love Wish to good Lord, baby, like I could learn to love Give myself to the devil, and my soul to the good Lord above I"d give myself to the devil, baby, and my soul to the good Lord above I don't want no woman, says she don't want me (Spoken: What was that?) I don't want no woman, says she don't want me Well, a thousand years, baby, well it, well that woman'll never be All best, Johnm Yeah, I agree, John. The CD that came from has been such an eye and ear-opener for me. I think that by the time Jack Owens came to Port Townsend, he was so aged (over 90!) that hearing him at that time didn't give an accurate picture at all of how he had been able to sing and play over the major portion of his life. Of course, this happens to everybody if you live long enough!
alyoung
Jack Owens was 92 when he died, in 1997. I visited him at his home in Bentonia, Ms, in 1989; it remains a highlight of my life. I took him a gift of what I’d been told was his favorite drink, Gordons gin, which he called “Hogmouth” because of the label’s drawing of a large open-mouthed boar. I handed him the bottle as we walked up his path; he immediately whipped the top off it, downed a long swig … then handed the bottle to me. And that is how I came to be drinking lukewarm straight gin at 9.30 on a blazing-hot Mississippi summer morning in Bentonia with Jack Owens.
Tags: Jack Owens Bud Spires
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