Now the police coming With his ball and chain Mmmm mmmm Police coming With his ball and chain And they accusing me of murder Never harmed a man
Now some got six months Some got a solid year Mmmm mmmm Some got six months Some got one solid year Now me and my buddy Got a lifetime here
Now the judge he pleaded Clerk, he wrote it down Mmmm mmmm Judge he pleaded Clerk, he wrote it down That if I miss jail sentence now Must be Joliet Bound
Now cook my supper Let me go to bed Mmmm mmmm Cook my supper now Let me go to bed I've been drinking white lightning And it's gone to my head
Now they quit me baby What they want to do Mmmm mmmm Quit me baby What they want to do Some day you gonna want me Cinch and I won't want you
Now the police shifted a Pistol in my side Mmmm mmmm Police shifted a Pistol in my side That if you run big boy, now Must be born to die
When they had my trial You could not be found Mmmm mmmm Had my trial You could not be found Now and I got all messed up And I'm Joliet Bound --
Third verse seems like a garbling of the common "Judge he wrote it / Clerk he wrote it down" couplet. I've been arguing with my wife about the resolution. Opinions?
Fifth verse: Huh? Interpretations?
Sixth verse: Not sure I'm hearing that quite right...
« Last Edit: July 07, 2020, 02:51:53 PM by Johnm »
Now don't quit me, baby, First thing you wanna do. Quit me, Baby, First thing you wanna do. Some day you gonna want me, Cinch that I won't want you.
Last couplet of Sixth verse sounds like:
Said, "If you run big boy, now, Must be born to die."
That seems to make better sense of both, I think. The "shifted a pistol in my side" line gives me the image of the cop scraping his (Joe's) ribs with the barrel of his revolver, followed by the threat. Great song/arrangement. Spanish, eh? Hmmm. Second guitar adding bass runs? I'll look it up on Document. Thanks. All for now. John C.
« Last Edit: December 05, 2003, 11:45:38 PM by waxwing »
Logged
"People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it." George Bernard Shaw
“Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you.” Joseph Heller, Catch-22
Hey Frankie, So, in fact, Memphis Minnie was backing Joe, Feb. 3, '32, in New York City. While I was looking that up in Bob McLeod's lyric volumes, I checked his transcription and found a few things that sounded good. For the last couplet of the third verse he gives:
Writin' my next jail sentence now, Must be Joliet Bound.
I like it. I can hear it, and it makes more sense, too. For the Sixth verse he gives:
Now the old police shook his old Pistol in my side. Mmmm mmmm Police shook his old Pistol in my side. Man, if you run big boy, now, Must be born to die.
I like this pretty well, too. He uses "the old" (or perhap's it should be th'ol') in the first line of the first verse and the first line of the third verse, too, to describe the judge. That's sorta there. "shook his old"(or ol') does sound good. Man, or Said, or That? Could be any of those to me. For what it's worth, for the fifth verse he gives:
Now I'm goin', quit me baby, Do anything you want to do. Mmmm mmmm Quit me baby Do anything you want to do. Some day you gonna want me, Cinch and I won't want you.
I still hear "Now don't quit me, baby. First thing you wanna do". what do you think? All for now. John C.
Logged
"People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it." George Bernard Shaw
“Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you.” Joseph Heller, Catch-22
Writin' my next jail sentence now, Must be Joliet Bound.
I dunno about this - I agree that it "makes sense" but it's not what I hear at all.
I think that Now the old police shook his old in the sixth verse has some possibilities. Can't say that I hear him use "old" in the first or third verses, but it sounds like a possibility here. Need to listen a few more times. The last line of the verse sounds like it begins with That to me... not saying that it "makes sense", but that's what I hear.
Sounds to me like he's got the first parts of the fifth verse wrong. I'm pretty sure at this point that he's singing Now don't quit me, baby. First thing you wanna do as well. I do hear Cinch and rather than Cinch that at the beginning of the last line... I concede that it probably makes less sense, however.
Hi Frank and John C., Sounds to me like the one verse says, Now the police shoved (pronounced shivved) his ol' pistol in my side MmmmMmmmm Police shivved his ol' pistol in my side, Says, "If you run big boy, Must be born to die"
The other verse sounds to me like, Quit me babe, do anything you wanta do MmmmMmmm You can quit me baby, do anything you wanta do Well, some day you're gonna want me, and I won't want you.
This is a tough one to hear. Neat the way it stays in the I chord where most blues go to the IV chord. Take care. John
Merriam Webster online (http://www.m-w.com) gives the definition of 'shiv' as slang for knife, dating from 1674. I've seen 'shivved' used as a synonym for stabbed - can a guy be 'shivved' with anything but a knife, though? Is 'shiv' (the noun & verb) anachronistic for 1932? Hmmm...
I don't think it makes sense to shiv someone with a gun. Shiv is prison slang though - usually for a fabricated knife that one hides. I also hear two syllables, as in shift-ted and I can see using the phrase 'shifted a pistol' meaning 'stuck a pistol'. ... so I like 'shifted a pistol'.
Coupla differences I hear:
V2 Now me and my buddy -> Now I mean my buddy
V5 Now don't quit me, baby, First thing you wanna do. Quit me, Baby, First thing you wanna do. Some day you gonna want me, Cinch that I won't want you.
I like this except for the last line, which I hear as-> 'Imagine I won't want you'.
If she won't wait for him to get out, they are through.
Hi all, I agree that the verb "shivved" doesn't make sense except when used with a knife--I think it's just a regional vowel-sound pronunciation of "shoved". And actually the vowel sound is more like "shevved". I think Joe was a Central Mississippi guy, like Bo Carter, and Bo had a lot of vowel sounds that were different than I would pronounce them in the same words. The sense of the lyric is pretty much the same whether it is "shifted", "shoved", "shivved", or "shevved". All best, John
Was messing around with this song a little tonight and decide to update the lyrics:
Joliet Bound - Kansas Joe McCoy
Now the police coming With his ball and chain Mmmm mmmm Police coming With his ball and chain And they accusing me of murder Never harmed a man
Now some got six months Some got a solid year Mmmm mmmm Some got six months Some got one solid year Now I mean my buddy Got a lifetime here
Now the judge he pleaded Clerk, he wrote it down Mmmm mmmm Judge he pleaded Clerk, he wrote it down That if I miss jail sentence now Must be Joliet Bound
Now cook my supper Let me go to bed Mmmm mmmm Cook my supper now Let me go to bed I've been drinking white lightning And it's gone to my head
Now quit me baby Do anything you want to do Mmmm mmmm Quit me baby Do anything you want to do Some day you gonna want me Cinch and I won't want you
Now the police shoved (shivved) his old Pistol in my side Mmmm mmmm Police shoved his old Pistol in my side Says, if you run big boy, now Must be born to die
When they had my trial You could not be found Mmmm mmmm Had my trial You could not be found Now and I got all messed up And I'm Joliet Bound
Out of interest I'm pretty sure that (without excavating the 78 itself) the second verse was used verbatum by Jesse James in his 1935-6 Lonesome Day Blues. Well now, that's a pretty useful nugget of info one could drop into a flagging dinner party conversation....!
I might have mentioned before that I'm a big fan of Kansas Joe McCoy, I'm having trouble deciphering one of my favourite songs of his and would appreciate some diligent help on your part
Something gonna to happen to you:
I'm going to ask my own buddy now, how come he shall Going to fool around every ? # Crying something bad now, sure goinna to happen to you # That's when I done everything, a poor boy could do I'm have bought me a pistol, shotgun and some shells Start some stuff to show them raise some hell ## Yes you talked about me all through the neighbourhood Told everybody that I was no good Yes you called on the law and he brought his ball and chain Accused me of murder I haven?t harmed a man ## Yes my mother she told me, my daddy sat down and he cried Some day son you got to lay down and die ## There'll be, one of these mornings you gonna to jump and shout Open the jailhouse door, you come walking out ## I used to have so many women I didn't know who I loved Used to gather round me like the ants on a bug ##
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« Last Edit: July 07, 2020, 02:54:00 PM by Johnm »