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William Grant, [born in 1908], was born near Pittsview, Alabama...He was given a harmonica one Christmas, and he says he learned how to play it while sitting on a plow in the fields. 'I played at parties in the countries,' he said. 'I used to pick guitar, but I come to religion and I put the guitar down. I promised the Lord I wouldn't fool with a guitar no more, but I didn't promise Him I wouldn't fool with a harp. I always keep a harp' - George Mitchell, from In Celebration of a Legacy: The Traditional Arts of the Lower Chattahoochee Valley http://southernspaces.org/2004/blues-lower-chattahoochee-valley

Author Topic: Hi Henry Brown Lyrics  (Read 8260 times)

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Offline GhostRider

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Hi Henry Brown Lyrics
« on: August 31, 2006, 12:11:01 PM »
Hi:

There's my go at the lyrics to this tune. There's a fair amount of stuff I can't figure out. Any help would be much appreciated.

Another tune about the wayward holy man.



.MP3 attached

Preacher's Blues
Hi Henry Brown (with Charley Jordan)
1932

Standard tuning, Key of E
Capo III (G)

Instrumental intro (8 bars of I chord)

1) If you wanna hear, preacher cus, bake the bread, sweet mama, save him the crust.
Lord, If you want, hear preacher cus.
Just bake a bread sweet mama, doh, and save no crust.

2) Preacher in the pulpit, bible in his hand, sister in the corner cryin' "that's my man".
Ehhh, preacher in the pulpit, bible in his hand.
Well it's sister in the corner, cryin, "that's my man".

3) Preacher come to your house, yes, seem to rest his hat, next thing he want to know, sister, where's your husband at?
Well he, preacher come to your house, Lord, he seem to rest his hat.
Next thing he want to know, tell me where's you husband at?

4) Come in here, then shut my door, (??????)  things you did, night before.
Well, come in here, please, shut my door.
Please, (?????) for me (???) night before

5) See that preacher walkin', down the street, thinkin' of mess with  every sister he meet.
Want you to see that, walkin' down the street.
Well he's thinkin' go bed with every sister he meet.

6) Preacher, preacher you, nice and kind, when I catch you at that, house of mine.
Eh,  swear you nice and kind.
Well I better not catch you at that, that house of mine.

Outro

Praise the Lord,
Alex
« Last Edit: July 08, 2020, 01:08:14 PM by Johnm »

Offline dj

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Re: Hi Henry Brown Lyrics
« Reply #1 on: August 31, 2006, 12:46:13 PM »
Hi, Alex. 

I think verse 3 is:

"Preacher come to your house, y'ask him to rest his hat...

Verse 4:

"Come in here, then shut my door, (*)  things you did, night before.
Well, come in here, Lord, please shut my door.
Want you to preach the same text to me, preached the night before.

(The * in the first line is, I think, a bit of a garble of "want you to preach the same text to me".  It's a lot to fit into a few beats.   ;))

Verse 5:

Where you have "thinkin' of mess" and "thinkin' go bed", I hear "thinkin' the matter" in both places.  But I don't feel really confident with this one.

Verse 6:  I think Brown sings "better not catch you at that house of mine" in both lines.

Hope this helps, or at least doesn't hinder.

Offline a2tom

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Re: Hi Henry Brown Lyrics
« Reply #2 on: August 31, 2006, 12:56:20 PM »
dang - just beat me on the "preach the same text".  Yes, the first line is a variation of the same. (that's the lyric pattern through the whole song, just two lyric lines repeated)

For the first verse I've got:

If you wanna hear preacher cuss, bake the bread sweet mama and s___ in the crust
Lord if you want to hear a preacher cuss
Just bake your bread sweet mama, Lord and spit in the crust

tom
« Last Edit: August 31, 2006, 12:57:27 PM by a2tom »

Offline Stuart

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Re: Hi Henry Brown Lyrics
« Reply #3 on: August 31, 2006, 01:54:39 PM »
FWIW this is what I hear:

Come in here *Elder* and shut my door,
Want you to preach the same text you did the night before,
Come in here *Elder* and please shut my door,
Want you to preach the same text for me [you] preached the night before.

See that preacher walkin' down the street,
[He's] thinkin' of messin' with every sister he meet,
When you see that preacher walkin' down the street,
Well he's thinkin' of messin' with every sister he meets.

I hear an "L" (a lateral) as in "Elder"--it works contextually, but I'm not sure--maybe the power of ellipsis and suggestion at work here.

As I recall, Mike Stewart and Stephan Michelson did this back in the 60's on their "Deadly Duo" LP on Adelphi. (I just checked--here's the link to Stefan's page:

http://www.wirz.de/music/american.htm

It came with liner notes and perhaps a lyric sheet, but I don't have the LP at hand. Maybe someone else can check.



« Last Edit: August 31, 2006, 03:44:20 PM by Stuart »

Offline a2tom

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Re: Hi Henry Brown Lyrics
« Reply #4 on: August 31, 2006, 06:11:09 PM »
OK, spit wasn't right - I was going too fast.  But "save him the crust" doesn't make sense to me (why will that make him cuss?).  After listening again I am ~75% sure it's "bake the bread sweet mama and stave in the crust".  It's more clear the 2nd time.  Given what I am sure it means to bake the bread, I know staving in the crust would make me cuss  :o  BTW, I have no better alternative, but "doh"?  Homer Simpson meets the country blues?

I notice you haven't edited "preach the same text".  Definitely what I hear.  And "elder" has very strong possibilites, realizing that the woman is talking to the preacher in this verse, i.e someone in a position of (supposed) respect.

Thanks - great song, lots of fun.

tom



Offline frankie

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Re: Hi Henry Brown Lyrics
« Reply #5 on: August 31, 2006, 06:22:21 PM »
But "save him the crust" doesn't make sense to me (why will that make him cuss?)

To leave him the crust would mean eating the bread and leaving the preacher whatever's left over.

Sometimes bread is bread.... and sometimes it ain't.  I don't think Henry's talking about Pillsbury products.

Offline a2tom

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Re: Hi Henry Brown Lyrics
« Reply #6 on: August 31, 2006, 06:41:36 PM »
these songs'll drive you nuts - I swear I can hear it one way perfectly and then listen again five minutes later and hear it completely differently!  The mind is a fickle thing.  Fine, I'll defer to "save him the crust".  I still think its a strange metaphor, given that I obviously agree that the bread in question was not baked by Pillsbury...  Just thinking too hard.  I tend to do that...

tom

Offline Stuart

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Re: Hi Henry Brown Lyrics
« Reply #7 on: August 31, 2006, 07:55:38 PM »
...these songs'll drive you nuts--.....  Just thinking too hard.  I tend to do that...

Welcome to the club, my friend. As the old saying goes, "You can overthink any problem and overwrite any topic."--advice I always try to bear in mind (along with Bo Carter's Advice). Now I got to get back to over-listening--if there is such a thing!

Stu

Offline GhostRider

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Re: Hi Henry Brown Lyrics
« Reply #8 on: September 07, 2006, 08:54:09 AM »
Hey, guys:

Thanks for all the great suggestions on "Preacher's Blues. I have incorporated most of them in the amended text below. Changes are in italics.

Preacher's Blues
Hi Henry Brown (with Charley Jordan)
1932

Standard tuning, Key of E
Capo III (G)

Instrumental intro (8 bars of I chord)

1) If you wanna hear, preacher cuss, bake the bread, sweet mama and, save him the crust.
Lord, If you want, hear preacher cuss.
Just bake a bread sweet mama, doh, and stave in the crust.

2) Preacher in the pulpit, bible in his hand, sister in the corner cryin' "there's my man".
Ehhh, preacher in the pulpit, bible in his hand.
Well it's sister in the corner, crying, "there's my man".

3) Preacher come to your house, y' askin' to rest his hat, next thing he want to know, sister, where's your husband at?
When a, preacher come to your house, Lord, ask him to rest his hat.
Next thing he want to know, tell me where your husband at?

4) Come in here, then shut my door, want to preach the same text you did, night before.
Well, come in here, lo, please, shut my door.
Want you to preach same text for me preached, night before

5) See that preacher walkin', down the street, thinkin' of mess' with  ev' sister he meet.
Want you to see that, walkin' down the street.
Well he's thinkin' of messin' with every sister he meet.

6) Preacher, preacher you, nice and kind, better not catch you at that, house of mine.
Eh,  swear you nice and kind.
Well I better not catch you at that, that house of mine.

Outro

How's that look?

Note: edited to reflect Unkie Bud's and ghe and blueshome's comments below.

Alex
« Last Edit: September 02, 2013, 12:31:14 PM by GhostRider »

Offline uncle bud

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Re: Hi Henry Brown Lyrics
« Reply #9 on: September 07, 2006, 09:29:52 AM »
1) If you wanna hear, preacher cus, bake the bread, sweet mama and, stave in the crust.
Lord, If you want, hear preacher cus.
Just bake a bread sweet mama, doh, and stave in the crust.

I really think it's "save him the crust" not stave in. Also cuss with an extra 's'.  :P  As a further note, is it really 'doh' or 'Lord' pronounced 'd Lo'? Is Henry Brown a precursor to Homer Simpson?

Quote
3) Preacher come to your house, y' ask him to rest his hat, next thing he want to know, sister, where's your husband at?
Well he, preacher come to your house, Lord, ask him to rest his hat.
Next thing he want to know, tell me where your husband at?

In the second line above it's "When a preacher come to your house..." (When a-a-a-a-ay...)

Quote
5) See that preacher walkin', down the street, thinkin' of mess with  ev' sister he meet.
Want you to see that, walkin' down the street.
Well he's thinkin' go bed with every sister he meet.

First line it's "thinkin' of messin' ", though it happens quickly.
Second line: "When you see that..."
Last line is IMO "Well he's thinkin' o' messin' with every sister he meet."  Repetition from the first line makes sense. The o' is sung as more of an o-o-h...


Offline GhostRider

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Re: Hi Henry Brown Lyrics
« Reply #10 on: September 07, 2006, 12:00:33 PM »
I really think it's "save him the crust" not stave in. Also cuss with an extra 's'.  :P  As a further note, is it really 'doh' or 'Lord' pronounced 'd Lo'? Is Henry Brown a precursor to Homer Simpson?
Quote

OK, I'll go with this

Quote
3) Preacher come to your house, y' ask him to rest his hat, next thing he want to know, sister, where's your husband at?
Well he, preacher come to your house, Lord, ask him to rest his hat.
Next thing he want to know, tell me where your husband at?

In the second line above it's "When a preacher come to your house..." (When a-a-a-a-ay...)
Quote

I'll go with this, too

[

Quote
5) See that preacher walkin', down the street, thinkin' of mess with  ev' sister he meet.
Want you to see that, walkin' down the street.
Well he's thinkin' go bed with every sister he meet.

First line it's "thinkin' of messin' ", though it happens quickly.
Second line: "When you see that..."
Last line is IMO "Well he's thinkin' o' messin' with every sister he meet."  Repetition from the first line makes sense. The o' is sung as more of an o-o-h...

I'm sure he says mess, and I'm sure he means messin', as you state.

In the second rep, I just don't hear the same. will continue to listen.

Thanks Unkie Bud,
Alex

Offline LeftyStrat

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Re: Hi Henry Brown Lyrics
« Reply #11 on: February 15, 2007, 02:56:57 PM »
Glad to be of help Alex :-)

I'm looking for the words to "Nut Factory Blues". I've got some of them, but Henry Brown's diction gets a little muddy in places.  Anyone out there have any ideas?
« Last Edit: August 23, 2015, 12:29:22 PM by Johnm »
Stop by and give a listen! :)

http://www.facebook.com/leftystratblues

Offline GhostRider

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Re: Hi Henry Brown Lyrics
« Reply #12 on: February 15, 2007, 03:12:19 PM »
Lefty:

Post what you have and a less that 1000Kb MP3 of you can. We need some place to start from.

Alex

Offline LeftyStrat

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Re: Hi Henry Brown Lyrics
« Reply #13 on: February 15, 2007, 05:21:06 PM »
Lefty:

Post what you have and a less that 1000Kb MP3 of you can. We need some place to start from.

Alex

OK. I don't know offhand how I'd go about pulling the track off the CD I have and making it into an MP3 to post here, but I can try to put up what lyrics I've managed to figure out.



Nut Factory Blues (by Charley Jordan and "Hi" Henry Brown) from "The Essential Charley Jordan.

Verse 1:
(I cant make out the first two lines at all yet)
Well, its down in the basement(?)
Where the women do meet.

Verse 2:
Down in the basement(?)
Where they work so hard (X2)
And its all on account of
Their husbands ain't got not jobs

Verse 3:
On Saturday Evenin'
When they draw their pay (X2)
When they don't draw nothin'
Their husbands done throwed (drove?) them away

Verse 4:
Some draw (??)
Some draw nothin' at all
Some draw (??)
Some draw nothin' at all
When they don't draw nothin'
Their Husbands bust 'em in the jaw

Verse 5:
Down on Franklin Avenue
Jellybeans standin' to and fro (X2)
Y'hear one Jellybean ask the other one
"Which way did my good girl go?"
« Last Edit: July 08, 2020, 01:10:21 PM by Johnm »
Stop by and give a listen! :)

http://www.facebook.com/leftystratblues

Offline banjochris

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Re: Hi Henry Brown Lyrics
« Reply #14 on: February 15, 2007, 09:29:43 PM »
Lefty, you've got most of it right:

Down on Deep Morgan, just about 16th Street,
Well it's down on Deep Morgan, just about 16th Street
Well it's down in the basement, where the women do meet

Down in the basement, where they work so hard,
Well it's down in the basement, where they work so hard,
Well it's all on the count of they husbands ain't got no jobs.

Saturday evening, when they draw their pay
On Saturday evening, when they draw their pay
When they don't draw nothin', they husbands done drive them away.

Some draw a check babe, some draw nothin' at all
Cryin some draw a check lord, some draw nothin' at all
When they don't draw nothin', they husbands bust 'em in the jaw.

Down on Franklin Avenue, jellybeans standin' to and fro
Oh down on Franklin Avenue, jellybeans standin' to and fro
Well you hear one jellybean ask the other one, which a-way did my good girl go?

Chris

 


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