Topic: Hezekiah Jenkins

[uncle bud]

I'm continuing to enjoy the Old Hat release Good For What Ails You. It's just a tremendous collection. Anyway, one of the artists who was new to me on this set was Hezekiah Jenkins, whose Shout You Cats, recorded in 1931 for Columbia, is included in the package.

Shout You Cats is a raggy pop tune with boom-chang, strummy accompaniment on guitar and some interesting chord changes I haven't figured out yet. Jenkins wrote I Got What It Takes (But It Breaks My Heart To Give It Away) with Clarence Williams, which was first recorded by Papa Charlie Jackson (later Bessie Smith). I don't think I've heard any of his other material but am curious if others have, opinions, what's the instrumentation etc. His recordings are on  Blues Obscurities 1923 - 1931 on Document  DOCD 5481. Notes to Good For What Ails You mention he wrote Fare Thee Well, though I don't know if this is the Fare Thee Well, which I thought was traditional. He also recorded with Dorothy Jenkins, presumably his wife. Anyway, I find Shout You Cats infectious and can't stop listening to it today...

On a completely unrelated note, I am also very enthusiastic about the Carolina Tar Heels' Her Name Was Hula Lou found on the same collection. What a hoot of a song. I guess I'd never paid attention to liner notes and never realized that Gwen Foster played guitar at the same time as that nutty harmonica. So that's rack harp that those crazy sounds are coming from? (!)

[Cambio]

I'll second that Uncle Bud, Good For What Ails You really is a truly great compilation!  Lots of wonderful crossover material and exceptional remastering.
On the Gwen Foster note, in addition to being one of the best pre-war harmonica players, having a command of both straight and cross harp, Gwen was an excellent guitar player to boot.  You can hear some of his guitar playing in the Carolina Tarheels material, where he is covering the harp and guitar (and singing harmonies), while Doc Walsh is covering the banjo and lead singing.  You can also hear some of his great playing (both guitar and harmonica) on a lot of Clarence Ashley's material.  Where he really shines and where you get to hear what a sophisticated player he truly was, is with the Carolina Twins, which was he and David Fletcher.  They play sort of a swinging, jazzy, hillbilly blues.  Really wild stuff but sort of hard to find. 
In my mind he is one of the most neglected of the early players. 

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I didn't remember "Shout You Cats" from the "Good For What Ails You" set, so I got it out tonight and gave it a listen.  As Uncle Bud described it, it is a complex raggy sort of song with three sections, a verse, which when repeated, has altered changes, a chorus, and a sort of interlude to scat over.  Chordally, this piece never comes up for air, and pretty much keeps changing from beginning to end.  Here goes:

VERSE 1:
   |      C      |      E7     |      E7     |      A7     |
   |      F      |   C     A7  |     D7     |      G7     |
   |     Am     |     E7      |     E7      |     A7      |
   |      F      |   C    A7   |  D7   G7  |      C      |

CHORUS:
   |   Aflat     |      Aflat  |      C      |      A7     |
   |      D7     |      G7    |C/C7/F/Aflat|C/G/C    |
   |   Aflat     |      Aflat  |      C      |      A7     |
   |Dm/A7/Dm | E7   Am |      D7    | G7     C   |

VERSE 2:
   |      Am    |      E7     |      E7     |      A7     |
   |      F       |      C      |      D7     |      G      |
   |      Am    |      E7     |      E7     |      A7     |
   |      F       |  C     A7  |  D7    G   |      C      |

CHORUS:  As before

INTERLUDE:
   |      F6     |  C      C7  |      F6     |  C    C7   |
   |      F6     |      C       |      D7     |      G6     |
   |      F6     |  C      C7  |      F6     |  C      C7  |
   |      F6     |  C      A7  |  D7     G7 |  C    A7   |
   | D7     G7 |      C       |

CHORUS:  As before

INTERLUDE:  As before, except last measure, |C/Aflat/C   |

In the chorus, Jenkins hits a big grinding stop on the second beat of the first measure of Aflat, and does not start playing again until the last beat of the second measure in Aflat.  The end of the interlude does a common sort of "resolvus interruptus" in the 16th bar, hitting the surprise A7 that sends it into one last circle of fifths before resolving.
Anyone looking to do a piano-y sort of ragtime guitar arrangement could do a lot worse than picking this song.  It has clever lyrics, too.
All best,
Johnm

[uncle bud]

Thanks for posting the chords, John. Exactly what I was thinking as far as ragtime-y arrangements go. One might not want to do the straight strummy accompaniment Jenkins has (although the more I listen to it, the more I can see why one might), and this would be a natural I'd think. Though requires remembering all those chord changes. 

Here's what I've got for the lyrics:

Shout You Cats - Hezekiah Jenkins

Went to a dance last Saturday night
And what I mean this dance was tight
Given by a man named Lovey Joe
In a small room ?bout two by four

And in this room they was thick as bees
You could hardly tell the he?s from the she?s
And when the band began to play
I could hear them say

Chorus:
Ohhhh shout you cats
Do it, stomp it, step you rats
Shake your shimmies, break a leg
Grab your gal and knock ?em dead

2nd Chorus:
Ohhhh do that thing
Hey, hey, everybody sing
It got so good they threw away their hats
I could hear ?em hollerin? shout you cats

In came the cop ?bout half past four
I thought for sure we was booked to go
He said everybody fall in line
They kept on dancin? paid him no mind

A great big fella ?bout six foot tall
Grabbed the cop and slammed him up against the wall
The cop said ?Buddy, everything OK.?
Listen to what I say

Chorus:
Ohhhh shout you cats
Do it, stomp it, step you rats
Shake your shimmy, break a leg
Grab your gal and knock ?em dead

2nd Chorus:
Ohhhh do that thing
Hey, hey, everybody sing
It got so good he threw away his hat
I could hear him hollerin? shout you cats

Scat interlude:
Dee doh doh doh doh etc.
Ohh do that thing

Dee dee dee dee doh doh?. etc.

Chorus:
Ohhhh shout you cats
Do it, stomp it, step you rats
Shake your shimmy, break a leg
Grab your gal and knock ?em dead

2nd Chorus:
Ohhhh do that thing
Hey, hey, everybody sing
It got so good they threw away their hats
I could hear ?em hollerin? shout you cats

Scat interlude:
Doh de doh doh doh etc.
Get off, get off
Doh de doh etc.
Ohhh, shake that thing
Walk it, walk it
Doh de doh etc.

[banjochris]

If he's the same guy who recorded "The Panic is On" -- and I think he is -- I'll post it when I get home tonight. Cool song.

[banjochris]

Here's another Hezekiah Jenkins recording: "The Panic Is On" -- recorded 1/16/31 in NYC.

[Bunker Hill]

Here's another Hezekiah Jenkins recording: "The Panic Is On" -- recorded 1/16/31 in NYC.

FWIW here?s the transcription Paul Oliver offers up on p. 132-3 of Songsters & Saints which can be the basis for a definitive one in conjuction with the MP3.

Not for the first time the phrase "the panic is on" was a catch-phrase for economic failure and resultant Depression: earlier it had applied to the "Panic" of 1893 when Jacob S. Coxey's "Army" of unemployed marched on Washington. Newman White quoted four ''Panic is on" fragments from 1915 and related these to the Panic of 1908-9, but it was the Panic of 1929, which had profound effects on the whole nation, that moved Jenkins to record his song.

What this country is coming to
I sure would like to know,
If they don't do somethin' bye and bye,
The rich will live and the poor will die:
Dog-gone, I mean the panic is on.

Can't get no work, can't draw no pay,
Unemployment gettin' worser every day.
Nothin' to eat, no place to sleep,
All night long folks walkin' the street.
Dog-gone, I mean the panic is on.

All the landlords done raised the rents,
Folks that ain't broke is badly bent.
Where they got dough from, goodness knows.
But if they don't produce it, in the street they goes.
Dog-gone, I mean the panic is on.

Some play the numbers, some read your mind:
They all got a racket of some kind
Some trimmin' corns off of people's feet.
They got to do somethin' to make ends meet.
Dog-gone, I mean the panic is on.

Some women are sellin' apples, some sellin' pies,
Some sellin' gin and rye,
Some sellin' socks to support they man,
In fact, some are sellin' everything they can.
Dog-gone, I mean the panic is on.

I pawned my clothes and everything,
Pawned my jewelry, watch and my ring,
Pawned my razor and my gun,
So if luck don't change - there'll be some stealin' done,
Dog-gone, I mean the panic is on

[uncle bud]

Thanks for the tune and the transcription Banjochris and Bunker Hill. The reference in Songsters and Saints must have escaped my notice, though I should have thought to go and look there. The book also features a transcription of Shout You Cats that differs only slightly from my more accurate one. 

[uncle bud]

Here's a complete version of The Panic Is On. Oliver left out the 3rd and the final verse. One line in verse 3 is not exactly clear to me. This is a very nice song and a pretty darned political one at that.

The Panic Is On - Hezekiah Jenkins

What this country is coming to
I sure would like to know,
If they don't do somethin' bye and bye,
The rich will live and the poor will die:
Dog-gone, I mean the panic is on.

Can't get no work, can't draw no pay,
Unemployment gettin' worser every day.
Nothin' to eat, no place to sleep,
All night long folks walkin' the street.
Dog-gone, I mean the panic is on.

Saw a man this morning walking down the street
In his BVDs, no shoes on his feet
You ought to seen the women [curvin? in thei? flats]
I could hear ?em sayin? what kind of man is that
Dog-gone, I mean the panic is on.

All the landlords done raised the rents,
Folks that ain't broke is badly bent.
Where they got dough from, goodness knows.
But if they don't produce it, in the street they goes.
Dog-gone, I mean the panic is on.

Some play the numbers, some read your mind:
They all got a racket of some kind
Some trimmin' corns off of people's feet.
They got to do somethin' to make ends meet.
Dog-gone, I mean the panic is on.

Some women are sellin' apples, some sellin' pies,
Some sellin' gin and rye,
Some sellin' socks to support thei? man,
In fact, some are sellin' everything they can.
Dog-gone, I mean the panic is on.

I pawned my clothes and everything,
Pawned my jewelry, watch and my ring,
Pawned my razor and my gun,
So if luck don't change - there'll be some stealin' done,
Dog-gone, I mean the panic is on

Old Prohibition ruined everything
That?s why I?m forced to sing
Here?s one thing I want you all to hear
Until they bring back light wine, gin and beer
Dog-gone, the panic will be on

[uncle bud]

I forgot to mention that I've also discovered there are two more Jenkins tracks on the Juke, from Document's Too Late, Too Late vol 8. Curious Blues and Miserable Blues.

[thickpete]

I've become obsessed with Hezekiah and Dorothy Jenkins. First got hooked on Shout You Cats then The Panic is On and now am working through the other six songs I can find. The lyrics and vocals are excellent - the playing often sounds deliberately demented. Hezekiah sounds like an old fella to me and possibly not of the South. I can't find the slightest bit of biographical info on either of these folks  online.

Trying to transcribe the six songs not yet discussed here. My first attempt is below - thanks in advance for any help or info on H&D!

Hen Pecked Man
Hezekiah and Dorothy Jenkins


Now I'm disgusted,
downhearted too,
cause my wife treats me
just as she choose.

If I's the only one that knew it,
that would [follow do??]
but all the neighbors round
knows it too.

They say they think
it is a shame -
the way she treats me
but I'm to blame.

Now everybody's calling me
the hen pecked man
in fact I knows I am

I pay her rent, buy her diamonds,
shoes and clothes.
She don't even have to put her feet
out of doors.

Now I wash the dishes, scrub the floors,
sometimes I'm chambermaid,
and that's more than I used to do
in my young childhood days.

She goes to cabaret balls,
anyplace she wants to go -
but you know if I ask her where she's been boys
with a rolling pin I get the floor.

She left last night at seven
come back this morning at eight -
folks and had the nerve to bring another man
right smack up to the gate.

She hugged him and she kissed him
I heard her say "babe you so nice and fat"
and I poked my head out the window and said
"who in the devil is that?"

And that ain't all I heard her
when she called the man sweet papa
I said "what's that you sayin?" She said to me
"I didn't say grasshopper."

Now folks I teached[?] her everything she do
and I'm actually scared to holler
I 'spect she done been to the fortune teller
and put me in the bottle

Then take my advice and don't let em get
you in they hands
cause everyone be calling you
a hen pecked man.



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[Bill Roggensack]

I particularly like the lyrics for "The Panic Is On" - thanks for daylighting this one.

I would guess it's about the same vintage as "Bread Line Blues" by Bernard (Slim) Smith, which was covered quite nicely by Jorma Kaukonen on "Blue Country Heart."


Sent from Mr. Page's iPhone using Tapatalk

[thickpete]

Okay - here's number two....

Fare Thee Well
Hezekiah and Dorothy Jenkins
(italics are Dorothy)

Lookie here hon what have I done?
Why we can not agree?

Cause you're the only man - in this world
that ever made a fool of me.
You beat me and you blacked my eyes!

Well didn't I try to apologize?

So I'm going away...

I ain't gonna ask you to stay!

...well listen while I say (what's that?)
Fare thee well, because I'm going...

Another mama's waiting now to take your home!

I'm gonna get me a man that won't treat me cold.

Well I see right now I got to get you told!
Woman when I met you you was ragged as a sheet,
and didn't even have a decent place to sleep.
I took you in and fed you cause you was hungry as a hound,
Put clothes on your back and took your feet off the ground.

Now you're all dressed up - stomach full,
and got the nerve to try to hand me some bull!
That's the way they are - soon as you get em out the barrel[??back?]
they're ready to find some other man and [send them for bear???beer???]

You outta never forget me woman
for letting me [smack your wrist??ribs??],
cause I'm the one that gave you a place to park your hips.
I bought you them clothes - I bought you that wig (Shhhhh!)

Gee - the devil! You know I did!

Well all that talk ain't gonna keep me home
so fare thee well brother because I'm goin'!

You say you got your trunk all packed,
I hope you leave and never come back!

All that talk ain't going to keep me home,
so fare thee well brother - because I'm gone!

Ashes to ashes - sand to sand,
the neighbors told me you had a back door man!

I said all your talk ain't gonna keep me home -
So fare thee well brother because I'm gone!

(I mean)well [Together:] Fare thee well brother because I'm gone!


Edited to incorporate corrections from Johnm. Cheers!


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[Johnm]

Hi thickpete,
I think the lyric in the first parenthetic passage in your transcription is:
   "Well, I can see right now I got to get you TOLD."

All best,
Johnm

[thickpete]

Thanks Johnm! Makes sense and sounds right to me now too!

Here is the next one.......getting a bit harder to decipher....

Sister It's Too Bad
Hezekiah and Dorothy Jenkins

(Dorothy is in italics)

Talk about your lovin' men,
but you ain't seen none yet. (Is that so?)
I got the onliest[?] chick[?pig?] in town
and that I'm sure will bet[? 'cept??].
Listen while I explain -
I'm kinda hard to get.

I got a man brother he's too bad -
the women all fall for him and keep me sad.
He ain't no Ingersoll - ain't got no Elgin movement.
There's nothing bout him needs improvement

When I'm blue, when I'm sad -
his sweet disposition sure will make me glad.

There's something peculiar about him makes me call him dad.
His hugging and his kisses are the best I ever had.
When it comes to lovin', brother he's too bad!

I got a gal - sister she's too bad -
get all crazy bout she's keeps me mad.
She aint no Ingersoll -  she got no Elgin movement.
Nothing about her needs improvement.

She may be blue when I'm sad,
Her sweet dispostion sure makes me glad.

I know lots of bakers scratch her[?] in town -
can beat her in baking bread, but she's a jelly rollin' hound!
And when it comes to lovin'- sister she's too bad!




Edited to add corrections from Lastfirstface and Gumbo. Thanks!

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