Topic: Skip James Lyrics

[uncle bud]

Skip didn't sing the verse in the original 1930 recording. As John notes, Bo sang the same verse. And so did Johnnie Temple in this nifty version:



I'm sure there are other examples of this verse.

They're just singing "bayou" and cutting the last syllable with a little of that intrusive 'r' so common in some blues singers (like Bo). There's a thread here about that somewhere.

[davet]

greetings



The last verse of Skip James Hard time killin floor blues is popularly noted as follows

You know, you'll say you had money You better be sho'
But these hard times gon' kill you Just drive a lonely soul

We are planning to play this song. Before we do I wanted to check the final line of the song with the experts in this forum please.

i hear
lord these hard times gon' kill you just dry lon so


Best Wishes

Davet

[waxwing]

Listening to the original recording from 1931, the entire verse is somewhat different:

If you thought you had money, you better be sure
'Cause these hard times will drive you from door to door

It's also not the last verse in that version.

I don't have the version recorded in 1964, so someone else will have to speak to those lyrics.

If he does say "dry long so" in the later version, it means "for sure" or that's "a certainty". I once worked with several young men (in their 30s) from a family that still had strong ties back to Mississippi and Louisiana. One day I heard one of them use the expression, more popularly known from the Robert Johnson song Come On In My Kitchen. I asked him what he meant and he said, "You know, it's a dead cert." You gotta love Oakland for the incredible mix of cultures.

Wax

[banjochris]

Skip for sure sings "dry long so" in many versions from the '60s.
Chris

[davet]

Thank you very much for your help gentlemen. It now makes sense. Of course folk knew what the phrase meant when the song came out so we will be provide a comment about the meaning of the phrase before we perform the song.

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I merged the recent thread on Skip's lyrics to "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues" into this thread.
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Skip James recorded "Jesus Is A Mighty Good Leader" in 1931, accompanying himself out of cross-note tuning.  As the melody ascends in the second and third phrases of each verse, he harmonizes with it on the guitar in octaves, and it sure is pretty.  He always resolves to a I7 chord, which nothing in the melody prior to that has suggested.  Here is his 1931 performance of the song:



INTRO

REFRAIN: Let Jesus lead you, let Jesus lead you
Let Jesus lead you all the way
All the way from Earth to Heaven
Let Jesus lead you all the way

He's a mighty good leader, He's a mighty good leader
He's a mighty good leader all the way
All the way from Earth to Heaven
He's a mighty good leader all the way

REFRAIN: Let Jesus lead you, let Jesus lead you
Let Jesus lead you all the way
All the way from Earth to Heaven
Let Jesus lead you all the way

He led my Mother, He led my Mother
He led my Mother all the way
All the way from Earth to Heaven
He led my Mother all the way

REFRAIN: Let Jesus lead you, let Jesus lead you
Let Jesus lead you all the way
All the way from Earth to Heaven
Let Jesus lead you all the way

He's a mighty good leader, He's a mighty good leader
He's a mighty good leader all the way
All the way from Earth to Heaven
Let Jesus lead you all the way

He led my Father, He led my Father
He led my Father all the way
All the way from Earth to Heaven
He led my Father all the way

He's a mighty good leader, He's a mighty good leader
He's a mighty good leader all the way
All the way from Earth to Heaven
Let Jesus lead you all the way

He led my sister, He led my sister
He led my sister all the way
All the way from Earth to Heaven
He led my sister all the way

He's a mighty good leader, He's a mighty good leader
He's a mighty good leader all the way
All the way from Earth to Heaven
Let Jesus lead you all the way

All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Skip's other religious recording from his early sessions was "Be Ready When He Comes", played in cross-note tuning like "Jesus Is A Mighty Good Leader".  Once again, Skip utilizes octaves a lot in the left hand in his arrangement of the song, this time closely tracking the melody.  He sang this song full voice rather than falsetto, and his voice was singularly sweet.  I'd appreciate help with any bent bracketed passages.  Here is the song:



INTRO

REFRAIN:  Be ready when He comes, be ready when He comes
Be ready when He come, oh Lord,
He's coming again so soon

Jesus is coming to this world again
Coming to judge the hearts of men
Don't let him catch your heart filled with sin
He's coming again so soon

REFRAIN:  Be ready when He comes, be ready when He comes
Be ready when He come, oh Lord,
He's coming again so soon

REFRAIN:  Be ready when He comes, be ready when He comes
Be ready when He come, oh Lord,
He's coming again so soon

Don't let him catch you like He done before
Skippin' and dancin' on the barroom floor
Raisin' up stirment [sic] everywhere you go
He's coming again so soon

REFRAIN:  Be ready when He comes, be ready when He comes
Be ready when He come, oh Lord,
He's coming again so soon

Don't you let him catch you like He done before
Skippin' and dancin' on the barroom floor
A-raisin' up stirment everywhere you go
He's coming again so soon

REFRAIN:  Be ready when He comes, be ready when He comes
Be ready when He come, oh Lord,
He's coming again so soon

Jesus is coming to this world again
Coming to judge the hearts of men
Don't let him catch your heart filled with sin
'Cause He's coming again so soon

REFRAIN:  Be ready when He comes, be ready when He comes
Be ready when He come, oh Lord,
He's coming again so soon

REFRAIN:  Be ready when He comes, be ready when He comes
Said, be ready when He come, oh Lord,
He's coming again so soon

Edited 6/19 to pick up correction from banjochris

All best,
Johnm

[banjochris]

John, I've always heard that word as something like "stirment" and think he means "disturbment."
Chris

[Johnm]

Thanks for the help, Chris.  The sound and the sense are certainly there.  I wonder if this was one of Skip's own coinages--I don't recall hearing it elsewhere.  I've made the change.  Thanks!
All best,
Johnm

[Shambolic]

Anyone got an idea of the lyrics to Prison Blues? I haven't even heard Skip James version, can't find it anywhere but I am learning John Cephas's version. I guess it doesn't help that I am from the UK not the U.S. I can't work it out at all.

I would post my efforts to work them out so far but I think I would be making a fool of myself 

[banjochris]

Hi Shambolic, welcome to Weenie Campbell!

The song that Cephas calls "Prison Blues" was called "Good Road Camp Blues" by Skip James, and you can find John Miller's transcription of the lyrics earlier in this thread. The original is one of Skip's best and is almost certainly on YouTube.
Chris

[Shambolic]

Hi Shambolic, welcome to Weenie Campbell!

The song that Cephas calls "Prison Blues" was called "Good Road Camp Blues" by Skip James, and you can find John Miller's transcription of the lyrics earlier in this thread. The original is one of Skip's best and is almost certainly on YouTube.
Chris

That's great, thanks for the help. I was wondering why there was no sign of it anywhere.

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Skip James' recording of "I'm So Glad" from his 1931 sessions is such an exciting track--he takes the song at a tremendous clip, and even at that breakneck tempo is able to play with startling dynamics. The origins of the song are a mystery. Is there another song like it? I guess he was glad. Here is "I'm So Glad":



INTRO

I'm so glad, and I am glad, I am glad, I'm glad

I don't knows what to do, don't know what to do, I don't know what to do

I'm tired of weeping, tired of moaning, tired of groaning for you

SOLO

And I'm so glad, I am glad, I am glad, I'm glad

I'm tired of weeping, tired of moaning, tired of groaning for you

And I'm so glad, you know I am glad, I am glad, I'm glad

SOLO

I'm so tired of moaning, tired of groaning, tired of moaning for you

I'm so glad, I am glad, I am glad, I'm glad

I don't know what to do, know what to do, I don't know what to do

And I'm so tired, you know I am tired, I am tired . . .

LONG SOLO

And I'm so glad, and I am glad, I am glad, I'm glad

I don't know what to do, know what to do, I don't know what to do

I'm tired of weeping, tired of moaning, tired of groaning for you

And I'm so glad, and I am glad, I am glad, I'm glad

LONG SOLO

I'm so tired, yeah I am tired, I am tired, I'm tired

I'm tired of weeping, tired of moaning, tired of groaning for you

I am so glad, I am glad, I am glad, I'm glad

I don't know what to do, know what to do, don't know what to do

CODA

Edited 10/5 to pick up corrections from Harry

All best,
Johnm

[Stuart]

Supposedly, "I'm So Glad" was based in part on the Dallas String Band's recording / version of "So Tired." "So Tired" (Russ Morgan / Jack Stuart) had been recorded previously by Gene Austin. Both are available on YouTube. There are similarities re: the lyrics, but as for a direct line of transmission, I'm far from convinced.

cf. Calt, I'd Rather Be The Devil, p.109