Topic: Willie Reed Lyrics

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Texas bluesman Willie Reed had a two-song recording session in Dallas on December 8, 1928.  The first song he recorded was "Dreaming Blues", a spectacular blues played in A, standard tuning.  Willie Reed had enough ideas in his rendition of "Dreaming Blues" for three or four normal songs; he tosses off terrific original riffs as though he had an inexhaustible supply of them.  Maybe he did.  After the next-to-last verse he goes into some free-form syncopated one-chord riffing in A that is just about as cool as it gets in this music, a prime example of "thriving on a riff", playing an idea for its own sake and perseverating outside of the form as it is normally played and sung, until the impulse is satisfied.  (For more discussion of thriving on a riff, go to the thread on it at http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?amp;Itemid=60&topic=2764.0.)
I think I have most of these lyrics right, but I think the opening of the second verse's tagline, the portion in bent brackets, is weak, and I'm sure somebody here can hear the line as plain as day, so I'd appreciate any help.

   I'm going to leave you, but I'll be back some old day
   I'm going to leave you, but I'll be back some old day
   I will make you remember how you drove me 'way

   Girl, I lay down dreamin', girl, and I woke up cryin'
   I lay down dreamin', woman, then I woke up cryin'
   Sayin' my babe's down Sou', well, poor girl is on my mind

   Have you ever been 'cused, mama, ain't done nothin' wrong?
   Have you ever been 'cused, mama, ain't done nothin' wrong?
   That's the cause of today, many people leave their home

   Sometime I think my babe too sweet to die
   Sometime I think my babe too sweet to die
   Then again I think, Lord, she ought to be buried alive

   SPOKEN, DURING SOLO:  Eh, it's all night long!

   Excuse me, mama, for knockin' at your room
   Excuse me, mama, for knockin' at your room
   If I can't be your sweeper, let me be your broom

   SOLO

   I followed Corinna, long as I could see
   I followed Corinna, long as I could see
   And the mens had my woman, Lord, and the blues had me

Edited, 6/6, to pick up correction from banjo chris
Edited, 6/7, to pick up correction from dingwall
Edited, 6/13, to pick up corrections from dingwall


All best,
Johnm
   

   
   
   

[Johnm]

Hi all,
The second song Willie Reed recorded at his Dallas recording session on December 8, 1928 was "Texas Blues".  He plays it out of E position in standard tuning, and it is every bit as strong and original a musical statement in that position as "Dreaming Blues" was in A position, standard tuning.  Once again, the sheer abundance of great musical ideas is staggering.  This is a far cry from coming up with one nifty pass and playing it over and over again.  Willie Reed's lick that he plays over the V chord at the tail end of the form in the first couple of verses, where he is doing syncopated hammers to bends in the bass, sets a standard for coolness of invention and execution that has seldom been equalled. 
Once again, I could use some help with the lyric.  I am not sure about the word "and" in the opening line of the fourth verse, and any help would be appreciated.

   I'm going out in West Texas, where I can hear the wild ox moan
   I'm going out in West Texas, where I can hear the wild ox moan
   Says it moaned so bad, 'til it made me leave my home

   Lord, pretty mama, what's the matter now?
   Lord, pretty mama, what's the matter now?
   You know if you didn't want me, why'd you leave me back in town?

   I'm going way out in West Texas, just to learn the cowboy style
   Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, learn the cowboy style
   Then I'm comin' back to Dallas, gonna run these women wild

   You can read your schoolbook, hymnbook on down
   You can read your schoolbook, hymnbook on down
   You can read my letter but you sure can't read my mind

   You can't never tell when your woman's gonna put you down
   Well, you can't never tell when your woman's gonna put you down
   Got a smile on her face and a heart that's full of frown

   Take me, pretty mama, try me one more time
   Oh Lord and, try me one more time
   If I don't treat you better, I'll break my neck a-tryin'

   Said, I lay down last night, my mind was ramblin' 'round
   I lay down last night, my mind was ramblin' 'round
   Thinkin' about my lover, she had done put me down

Edited 6/7, to pick up correction from dingwall
Edited, 6/13, to pick up corrections from dingwall

All best,
Johnm
   

[banjochris]

   Said my [bed's down sideways], poor girl is on my mind

John -- it sounds to me like "Said my berries done soured..."
Chris

[Johnm]

Wow, Chris, I don't feel too bad about not having gotten that one!  The sound is exactly right, but the idiom is certainly not one you hear every day.  That is great hearing, thanks!  I will make the change.
All best,
Johnm

[banjochris]

My last name's Berry, so that probably helped. 
Chris

[dingwall]

John M, the two doubtful bits you were asking about are, I think, "Sayin', my babe's down South and------" and "hymn book on down".   I would differ on other bits, but these are largely trivial.

[dj]

One minor comment on "Dreaming Blues":  It sounds like there's another syllable after "done", making the line "Said my berries done ha' soured...", where "ha'" is an elision of "have". 

[Mr.OMuck]

On what records do these songs appear?

[Johnm]

Hi O'Muck,
I meant to say in the posts that they can be found on the JSP "Texas Blues" set, which has the complete Willie Reed recordings, along with the complete Ramblin' Thomas, Henry Thomas, Little Hat Jones, and good bits of Smith Casey and Pete Harris.  I first heard them on two old Yazoo anthologies, "Tex-Arkana-Louisiana Country, 1929-1933" and "Buddy Boy Hawkins and his Buddies", but I don't think either of these survived into the CD era (maybe the first one did).  The JSP set is well worth getting.
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi dingwall,
Thanks very much for "hymnbook" in "Texas Blues", that is certainly right and I will make the change.  The fragment from from "Dreaming Blues" is sounding right to me, too, at present, but I need to listen to it some more.  I'll report any changes.
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
After listening to "Dreaming Blues" many times, I can hear dingwall's "babe's down south" clearly, (especially the two bs in "babe's) with the "th" on "south" elided, though it sounds to me like Willie Reed follows that phrase with the word "well".  Thanks, everyone, for the help, and I will make the change.
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Thanks to dingwall for additional suggestions to the lyrics of "Dreaming Blues" and "Texas Blues", most of which I have incorporated into the transcriptions at the start of this thread. 
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Willie Reed's next solo session was almost exactly one year after his first, on December 5, 1929, in Dallas, and it yielded two tracks, "Leavin' Home" and "Goin' Back To My Baby".  Willie Reed's instrumental sound from this second session is drastically different from that of his first session.  Rather than focusing on the highly rhythmic finger-picking of his 1928 session, Reed switched to a flat pick for his 1929 session, working a musical territory that seems to combine elements of the playing of Lonnie Johnson, Ramblin' Thomas (as in "So Lonesome" or "Saw Mill Moan"), and possibly Gene Campbell.  When you're talking about musicians so long dead, it is very difficult to unravel strands of influence, for the first player to record with a particular sound or approach may have gotten his ideas from someone who didn't get an opportunity to record until some time later.  In any event, "Leavin' Home", which Willie Reed played in C, in standard tuning, seems closest to Ramblin' Thomas, with metrically irregular phrasing and the singing and playing right on top of each other.  It's a style that would be very difficult to recreate for a present-day player, I think, without sounding like some kind of musical parrot.
Willie Reed's lyrics are sometimes really hard to hear, so I would particularly appreciate any help with the bent bracketed phrase in the tagline of verse two.  I feel like I'm pretty close phonetically, but would be happier with something that was both phonetically strong and made more sense.

   I'm going to leave you, I'll be back some old day
   I'm going to leave you, I'll be back some old day
   Don't you worry, mama, because I was carried away

   4-BAR SOLO

   Don't never take no woman for to be your friend
   Don't never take no woman for to be your friend
   It will be death, all in destruction, graveyard'll be your end

   I was just sitting here a-wond'ring, mama, about my used-to-be
   I was sitting here a-wond'ring, worried about my used-to-be
   I can see my lover, Lord, but she can't see me

   How can I love you when you gone both night and day?
   How can I love you, you're gone both night and day?
   Say, that's the very reason I'm bound in jail today

   SOLO

Edited, 6/14, to pick up correction from Andrew

All best,
Johnm
   
   

 

[uncle bud]

Hi John,

Re. the line in question in 2.3. Hard to make out Willie Reed's marblemouthed vocal here but I am wondering whether it is something like "They will be deaf followin' instruction..." or "they will be just followin' instruction...". The second half of the line I hear as you do, though am not sure of the sense.

I agree that Ramblin' Thomas seems to be the main influence here, though that means one can hear Lemon Jefferson in there too. I was less familiar with this song than other Willie Reed material like Dreaming Blues, and now I want to play it! Having played some irregular Lemon material, this song sounds totally normal to me. 

[Johnm]

Thanks for the help, Andrew.  Both of your suggestions make more sense than what I had, and I will re-listen.  I hope you do figure this one out!  I didn't mean to suggest it was impossible, though it would certainly be a challenge to make it sound fully inhabited and natural.  I'll hope to hear it at Port Townsend.
All best,
Johnm

[uncle bud]

Thanks for the help, Andrew.  Both of your suggestions make more sense than what I had, and I will re-listen.  I hope you do figure this one out!  I didn't mean to suggest it was impossible, though it would certainly be a challenge to make it sound fully inhabited and natural.  I'll hope to hear it at Port Townsend.

Yes, Port Townsend 2009.    I've worked on Dreaming Blues on and off over the years. Would love to get that one together. But as you say there's a lot of material in there. I've got through the intro and 2 verses, and then you listen to the rest of the song and think, "Jeez, there's more?"

[Johnm]

Hi Andrew,
I gave it a listen, and I think "They will be just followin' instruction" is it.  Way to hear!
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Willie Reed played "Goin' Back To My Baby", the second tune that he recorded in his Dallas session of December 5, 1929, with a flat pick out of G position in standard tuning.  Instrumentally, he was working very much the same territory as Gene Campbell here.  He often played the melody right underneath his singing and played connecting single-string runs for his fills.  He pronounced the word "baby", "baybay", like many a Soul singer.  Willie Reed almost always shortened the opening lines of his verses when he repeated them.  I think the sense of the opening line in verse two is, "What possessed you to act that way?"

   I'm goin' back to my baby, I'll get down on bended knee
   I'm goin' back to my baby, get down on bended knee
   I'm gonna ask my baby to, Lord, have mercy ron (sic) me

   Tell me, baby, what had you doin' me wrong?
   Yes, tell me, baby, what had you doin' me wrong?
   I ain't done nothin' to you, mama, neither have I done nothin' wrong

   I'm goin' back to my baby, if I don't stay but one day
   I'm goin' back to my baby, don't stay but one day
   It was cold and rainy, Lord, when she drove me 'way

   I was sitting here wonderin', would a matchbox hold my clothes?
   I's sitting here wonderin', matchbox hold my clothes?
   It's dark and rainy, she done throwed my clothes outdoors

   I wants all my bags, mama, now I'm up on bended knee
   I wants all my bags, mama, now I'm up on bended knee
   I'm gonna ask my baby to, Lord, have mercy on me

All best,
Johnm

[dingwall]

Hi, Andrew/Johnm.   I have a problem with my Willie Reed disc, and I'm trying to get a replacement, so I'm throwing this at you without having been able to listen again.   What you're getting is my version from twelve or so years ago where I notice I've written in a small correction to the line 2.3 in 'Leavin' Home'.

It will be death only on her instruction, graveyard be your end.

At least, you can chew on it!!

[Johnm]

Hi dingwall,
I will give the line in question another listen.  Thanks for the suggestion.
all best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Willie Reed's next solo performance, "Some Low Down Ground Hog Blues", dates from a session in Dallas on September 26, 1935.  Willie Reed played the song out of C position in standard tuning, and sounds either to be hybrid picking with a flat pick and fingers or using a thumbpick and fingers a la Lemon Jefferson.  In his introductory solo, he does a Jazzy progression in the final four bars of the form, like so:

   |        A7          |     D7    G7         |          C        |         C        |,

but in the solo between the third and fourth verses, he uses only the I and IV chords to negotiate the form.  The most striking aspect of his accompaniment is an ominous-sounding two note motif, from the low G to B flat that he plays into the strong beats of the opening line of his verses, with B flat (flat VII in his key) landing on the beat. 
Lyrically, the major portion of the song comes from Ramblin' Thomas's "Groundhog Blues", recorded in 1932, where Thomas was working in a Tampa Red style in his accompaniment, which is nothing like Willie Reed's.  Reed's final verse is kind of an interpolation; it has nothing to do with his primary thematic material and comes instead from Texas Alexander's 1934 recording of "Polo Blues".

   INTRO SOLO

   There's a low-down groundhog, been rooting in my back yard
   There's a low-down groundhog, been rooting in my back yard
   He's been rooting there so long 'til he've almost got me barred

   I knowed that old hog was rooting, I thought it was rooting straight down
   I knowed that old hog was rooting, but I thought it was rooting straight down
   When I learned about his rooting, he was turning it 'round and 'round

   There's a low-down groundhog, been rooting 'round my back door
   There's a low-down groundhog, been rooting 'round my back door
   He rooted there so long 'til I can't go home no more

   SOLO

   If I catch that old hog a-rootin', I'm gonna tell you just what I'll do
   If I catch that old hog a-rootin', I'm gonna tell you just what I'll do
   I'm gonna take my knife and cut his rooter right half in two

   I get my cream from a polo, my milk from a Jersey cow
   I get my cream from a polo, my milk from a Jersey cow
   I get my lard at Piggly Wiggly's and my bacon from a no-good sow

All best,
Johnm

   

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Willie Reed's final solo cut, "All Worn Out and Dry Blues", was recorded the day after "Some Low Down Groundhog Blues", on September 27, 1935.  It is similarly played in C position in standard tuning and shares many of the same musical ideas, but it is a looser take, in a good and exciting way.  In his introductory solo, Willie Reed makes a fingering choice that Pan had remarked upon in an earlier thread, concerning Frank Stokes' method for fingering an F chord in "Right Now Blues", leaving the B string open and using the index finger to fret the first string first fret, rather than flattening the index to get both strings.  The sound is unmistakable.  Willie Reed's accompaniment here is exciting and varied, with elements of Lemon Jefferson, Lonnie Johnson and many of his own ideas. 
Following his humming, Willie Reed pulls the Texas Alexander trick of repeating the tagline from the previous verse, but then goes Alexander one better by doing a re-interpretation of the opening line of the previous verse, effectively reversing the order.  It's a terrible shame that Willie Reed did not get more opportunities to make solo recordings, as it is with so many great musicians in this style.

   I got a brownskin woman, she live over 'cross this town
   I've got a brownskin woman, she live over 'cross this town
   All I hate about that woman, man, she like to run around

   You can treat me low-down and dirty, mama, do as you please
   You know that I love you, b'lieve you can do as you please
   But some other lonesome day, you'll be sorry 'bout your used-to-be

   I love my baby, and I don't care what she do
   I say I love my baby, and I don't care what she do
   And I'm in the hope someday that she'll come to love me, too

   Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
   I'm in the hope someday, people, she'll come to love me, too
   'Cause I love my woman and I don't care what she do

   I'm goin' away this mornin', no need to weep and moan
   I'm goin' away this mornin', no need to weep and moan
   Because you know, when I had you, woman, we couldn't get along

   I'm gonna leave you, baby, and I ain't gonna say goodbye
   I'm gonna leave you, baby, and I ain't gonna say goodbye
   Because you's a no-good woman, and you know hit's (sic) all worn out

All best,
Johnm 

[Johnm]

Hi all,
After listening way too many times to the line in "Leavin' Home", I now believe it to be "It will be death, all in destruction, graveyard'll be your end".  I don't hear "instruction" because there is a syllable ("de") between "in" and "struction".  I've made the change.
All best,
Johnm

[Zoharbareket]

Hi there,
Currently working on dreaming blues and found this thread! Wanted to take my hat of to you guys,  especially Johnm- the work you do with/for this music is just inspiring.
Thank you from the tip of my fingers!

Be well,
Z

[Johnm]

I'm glad you're enjoying "Dreaming Blues", Zohar, and thanks for the good words.
All best,
Johnm

[Forgetful Jones]

Man! Willie Reed is a total badass on that guitar. I just recently found him and started learning Dreaming Blues. I can't believe just how awesome this song is. That solo around 2:20ish is a rhythmic beauty. The whole song really.
JohnM, I agree with the last commenter. I find it amazing how you can hear and decipher what Willie Reed is doing in this track. Especially since the vocals are so loud on the recording. The thumb drags were an exceptionally helpful tip. It is really fun learning this tune, and I agree...it's one of the greatest blues in A that I've heard.
Some great lines too:
"If I can't be your sweeper, let me be your broom"   Perfect!
 Thank you JohnM. You're a fantastic player and teacher.

[Johnm]

Thank you kindly for the good words, Forgetful Jones, and I'm happy that you have discovered Willie Reed and "Dreaming Blues".
All best,
Johnm