Topic: Papa Egg Shell Lyrics

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Lawrence "Papa Egg Shell" Casey was a St. Louis guitarist and singer, who has been reported to have been a long-time playing associate of the pianist Henry Brown.  I first heard him on the old Mamlish anthology, "St. Louis 1926--1932  Good Time Blues!".  Evidently, he recorded only four titles, all of which can be found on Document "Rare Country Blues", DOCD-5643.
"Far From Home", the track on the Mamlish anthology has Papa Egg Shell (so-called because of his bald head) accompanying himself out of E position in standard tuning, and he really shines in his accompaniment.  He was a terrific player with a complicated concept, strong rhythmic sense, and very clean execution.  I've only heard one other of his titles, "I'm Goin' Up The Country, Part 2", and it shares substantially the same accompaniment as "Far From Home".  Without having the recording available to hear here, it may give you some sense of Papa Egg Shell's sound to staying that in his touch and rhythmic feel, his playing reminds me a lot of Ari Eisinger's.

   My baby made me love her, she left me all alone
   My baby made me love her, she left me all alone
   I'm broke, disgusted, and a long, long ways from home

   Sometimes I wished I could see my baby's face again
   Sometimes I wished I could see my baby's face again
   But I know she have done quit me for some other man

   SOLO

   Now it's all right, kind mama, baby, you'll need my help someday
   Now it's all right, kind mama, you will need my help someday
   It will be too late, baby, for I'll be far away

   This is an unlucky country, and that's what I've always heard
   This is an unlucky country, and that's what I've always heard
   You'll be lookin' for me tomorrow and I'll be disappeared

   I'm leaving here walking, mama, don't you laugh at me
   I'm leaving here walking, mama, don't you laugh  at me
   Leaving this old North, goin' back South to my old used-to-be

All best,
Johnm
 

[uncle bud]

I wouldn't have thought of it but now that you point it out, John, his playing sure does call to mind something of Ari's style. On Papa Egg Shell's Whole Soul Blues, his playing also reminds me rhythmically of Hacksaw Harney.

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Papa Egg Shell backed himself on "Goin' Up the Country, Part 2" out of E position, playing an accompaniment quite close to the one he used for "Far From Home".  The song is a neat re-working of "Kansas City Blues".  As usual I could use and would appreciate help in a couple of places.  Boy, was he good!

   I'm gon' tell you people about my vamp
   Hung around St. Louis 'til I got these miss-meal cramps
   REFRAIN: That's why I'm going up the country, I'm going up the country
   I'm going up the country, St. Louis don't mean me no good

   If you've got plenty money, don't want none
   Hang around St. Louis with those Ninth Street bums
   REFRAIN: But I'm going up the country, I'm going up the country
   I'm going up the country, St. Louis don't mean me no good

   SOLO

   I walked up Mott Street, then out past Ann
   Everybody I saw was holding out their hand
   REFRAIN: That's why I'm going up the country, I'm going up the country
   I'm going up the country, St. Louis don't mean me no good

   You can hustle down Bell Street, Franklin Avenue
   Everybody beat you doin' just what you're trying to do
   REFRAIN: That's why I'm going up the country, I'm going up the country
   I'm going up the country, St. Louis don't mean me no good

   SOLO

   If you've got plenty money, don't want to have it long
   Hang around St. Louis and drink this Jones Lounge corn
   REFRAIN: And you'll be bound for the graveyard, you'll be bound for the graveyard
   You'll be going to the graveyard, St. Louis won't mean you no good

Edited 9/30 to pick up corrections from dj.

All best,
Johnm  

[dj]

Hi, John.

What you've transcribed as Goin' Up The Country, Part 1 is listed as I'm Goin' Up The Country - Part 2 on Document's Rare Country Blues Volume 4.  Are you sure you have correct title?  (It's interesting that, according to the master numbers, Part 2 was recorded before Part 1!)

I think the second line of the first verse is "HUNG around St. Louis 'til I got these miss-meal cramps".

Could the first line of the third verse be "I walked up Mott Street, then out PAST 'BAM"?  There's an Alabama Street that crosses Mott in St. Louis.

[dj]

A little more listening (hey, it's a catchy song!) and a little more map work, and I think the first line of the fourth verse is "You can hustle down BELL Street, FRANKLIN Avenue".  Bell Street (now Bell Avenue) and Franklin run parallel to each other, a block apart.  There is a Beale Street in St Louis, but it's very short and out in the middle of nowhere.  There is no Granville Avenue in St Louis.

[dj]

Ok, one more thought.  I think the third verse is more likely to be "I walked up Mott Street, then out PAST ANN".  Ann Avenue is about a mile north of Mott Street.  If you were going from Mott to Ann, staying just inland from the Mississippi to avoid the railroad tracks, you might well take Ninth Street for the second half of your trip.  Bell and Franklin are just northwest of Ann, and Jones is just north of those streets.  If you put that all together, Papa Egg Shell starts out at Mott and walks in a continuous line to Jones, where the corn whisky is.

[Johnm]

Thanks for all that work, dj!  It's terrific the way you correlated the lyrics to the street map of St. Louis.  I don't know if I have the title of the song right, since I took it from the video I found on YouTube.  If it was mis-identified there, I've transferred the mis-identification over to the transcription. 
I will make the place name corrections you've suggested as well as the "hung" in the first verse.  Any thoughts as to what he is saying between "Jones" and "corn" in the tagline to the last verse?
I do not have the Document CD with his other tracks, so if you would like to post transcriptions of his remaining two tracks in this thread, that would be great.  Also, feel free to edit the title of the song I've posted if you're sure I have it wrong.  Thanks!
All best,
Johnm

[dj]

I think the line in question in the last verse is "Hang around St. Louis and drink this Jones LOUNGE corn".

[Johnm]

Thanks for that, dj, I reckon you got it!  I'll make the change.
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Papa Egg Shell used substantially the same accompaniment in E position in standard tuning for "Goin' Up The Country, Part 1" as he used for "Part 2" and for "Far From Home", and it doesn't lose any of its luster being heard for the third time.  He introduces some exciting variations, particularly in his second solo.  Thanks to dj and uncle bud for making these remaining Papa Egg Shell titles available to me.

   I was born in Alabama, raised in Tennessee
   When I moved to St. Louis they would not let me be
   REFRAIN: That's why I'm going up the country, I'm going up the country
   I'm going up the country, St. Louis don't mean me no good

   When I had plenty money, had friends from miles around
   My money's done give out and my friends can't be found
   REFRAIN: That's why I'm going up the country, I'm going up the country
   I'm going up the country, St. Louis don't mean me no good

   SOLO

   Women 'round here will take on over you
   But when you get broke, they'll say, "I can't use you."
   REFRAIN: That's why I'm going up the country, I'm going up the country
   I'm going up the country, St. Louis don't mean me no good

   I love my women, love my good times
   I can't call none of these St. Louis women mine
   REFRAIN: That's why I'm going up the country, I'm going up the country
   I'm going up the country, St. Louis don't mean me no good

   SOLO

   I'm gon' sing this verse, I won't sing no more
   'Til my train's whistlin' and I'm ready to go
   REFRAIN: That's why I'm going up the country, I'm going up the country
   I'm going up the country, St. Louis don't mean me no good

All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Papa Egg Shell's fourth solo number was the only one of his songs not played out of E position in standard tuning, for he accompanied himself out of C position in standard tuning on "Whole Soul Blues".  Papa Egg Shell's accompaniment is unusually "top-heavy" behind his singing, for he never plays lower than the fourth string in his verse accompaniments.  For his solo, he introduces more bass via his pet thumb-popping of bass runs.  His playing throughout is really nifty (though his tuning is a bit puckery), and as uncle bud noted earlier in the thread, he sounds a bit like Hacksaw Harney in his treatment of time and articulation, as well as bearing some resemblance to Arthur Pettis' sound in C. 
Like many St. Louis blues musicians, Papa Egg Shell tended towards originality in his lyrics rather than dipping into the common pool for his verses.  According to the notes to the Mamlish album, released in the 1970s, he was still living in St. Louis at that time in a known address, and it sounded as though he had not been visited by any blues researchers/aficionados.  I wonder if that remained the case--arrggh.

   I am a whole soul man, I try to treat my baby right
   I am a whole soul man, I try to treat my baby right
   But I know she don't love me, for she stays out late at night

   Tell me, tell me, baby, what are you going to do?
   Tell me, tell me, baby, what are you going to do?
   Give your kidman all my money, let him wear out my good clothes, too?

   SOLO

   She made me love her, she caused me to go to jail
   She made me love her, caused me to go to jail
   And if I can't see her, just let me read her mail

   A real loving woman, I swear, is hard to find
   A real loving woman, I swear, is hard to find
   And the way she loves, she can make any man change his mind

   I'll swear I love her, I'll love her 'til the day she dies
   I swear I love her, I'll love her 'til the day she dies
   She's a mistreatin' mama, but she can really satisfy

All best,
Johnm
   

[dj]

According to the notes to the Mamlish album, released in the 1970s, he was still living in St. Louis at that time in a known address, and it sounded as though he had not been visited by any blues researchers/aficionados.

Papa Egg Shell doesn't have his own page in Kevin Belford's Devil At The Confluence: The Pre-War Blues Music Of St Louis Missouri.  The entry on Henry Brown states that "Although it was rumored that he was still around in the 1950s, Casey could not be found by music researchers".  The entry on Charlie O'Brien, the St Louis policeman who rediscovered many St Louis bluesmen, implies that everything we know of Papa Egg Shell came from Henry Brown. 

[banjochris]

For his solo, he introduces more bass via his pet thumb-popping of bass runs.  His playing throughout is really nifty (though his tuning is a bit puckery), and as uncle bud noted earlier in the thread, he sounds a bit like Hacksaw Harney in his treatment of time and articulation, as well as bearing some resemblance to Arthur Pettis' sound in C.

That definitely describes his playing on Henry Brown's "Stomp 'Em on Down to the Bricks," too.