Topic: The Carolina Tar Heels--Tom Ashley Lyrics

[uncle bud]

OK, so it's not exactly country blues, but I thought I would share my current preoccupation with this silly song. The Tar Heels lyrics differ slightly from the original lyrics found, as I noted elsewhere, at the Indiana University Sheet Music Collection. A couple spots I can't make out.




Her Name Was Hula Lou ? Carolina Tar Heels

You can talk all you want about women
Said a sailor known as Dan McCann
But if you want to know about women
You got to talk to a sailor man

I don't know how many I have met
And there isn't many I regret
But the lady who gives me a trimmin'
Is a gal I can?t forget

Her name was Hula Lou
Kinda gal that never could be true
She did her dancin? in the evenin? breeze
Beneath the trees
Oh how she used to shake her seaweed dees
I never knew
A man who wouldn't shoot a Dan McGrew
And sail across the briny blue to woo
A lady known as Hula Lou

I?ve travelled in and out
Travelled back and forth
Seen ?em in the south
Seen ?em in the north
Seen ?em shakin' east
And I?ve seen ?em shakin' west
But she does the shakin' where the shakin? is best
Lotta hula smile
Lots of hula hair
Plenty hula here
Plenty hula there
Got the cutest eyes
Dunno what the shape they are
'Cause lookin? from the ground I never got that far

Her name was Hula Lou
Kinda gal never could be true
She did her dancin? in the evenin' breeze
Beneath the trees
Oh how she used to shake her seaweed dees
I never knew
A man who wouldn't shoot a Dan McGrew
And sail across the briny blue to woo
A lady known as Hula Lou

[banjochris]

I can't quite get that first missing line but it's something like "Wasn't [the] shape they are" because the next line is "'Cause lookin' from the ground I never got that far." I've listened to this song many times and never paid attention to the lyrics, so that was a treat. Looking at the sheet music, I believe that Jack Yellen who wrote the words also wrote "Are You From Dixie?" which the Blue Sky Boys used as their theme song.
Chris

[uncle bud]

Based on you filling in the second part of that line I'd hazard a guess that it's:

Got the cutest eyes
Dunno what the shape they are
'Cause lookin' from the ground, I never got that far

With "dunno" coming out as d'no.

Thanks again!

[Rivers]

Jack Yellen also wrote two of my all time favorite 'fun to play' songs Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now) and Ain't She Sweet.

[Papa John]

Hello all,

I'm trying to work out the lyrics to There Ain't No Use In Me Working So Hard by Carolina Tar Heels and I would be very grateful for your assistance once again.  My sincere apologies if this is straying too far from the blues for some tastes.

Below is what I have.  The third verse is the problem.  Any help filling in the blanks or correcting what I already have would be appreciated.  I think the answer line in the 3rd verse may be fluffed.  Is this a stock verse?  If it is, does anyone know what they were going for?



Well, there ain?t no use in me working so hard this morning, this morning
Well, there ain?t no use in me working so hard this evening, this evening
Well there ain?t no use in me working so hard
I?ve got a girl in the white man?s yard
This morning, this evening, right now

Well, she brought me eggs and she brought me ham this morning, this morning
She brought me eggs and she brought me ham this evening, this evening
She brought me eggs and she brought me ham
If she don?t bring chicken, I don?t give a ?..
This morning, this evening, right now

Well the ? sitting in her jimmy jam this morning, this morning
Well the ? sitting in her jimmy jam this evening, this evening
Well the ? sitting in her jimmy jam this morning,
If that ain?t a hot plate,
This morning, this evening, right now

Well, there ain?t no use in me working so hard this morning, this morning
Well, there ain?t no use in me working so hard this evening, this evening
Well there ain?t no use in me working so hard
I?ve got a girl in the white man?s yard
This morning, this evening, right now



Thanks
John

[Lyle Lofgren]

According to Uncle Willie's (Willard Johnson's) wordbooks, the third verse is:

Well, an old hen a-settin' in the chimbley jam, (etc.)
If that ain't a hot place, I'll be dogged, (etc.)

Lyle

[Cleoma]

Yes, and if you listen to "Ain't No Use To High Hat Me" by Ashley & Foster, you'll hear that same verse but clearer.  How I wish I'd ever gotten to hear Tom Ashley in person!! 

[Lyle Lofgren]

But if you had, Suzy, you'd be significantly older than you are now. On the basis of spending a weekend in his presence, my impression was of an astute, extroverted, gentleman (in the best sense) who came across like a natural-born entertainer -- perhaps something he learned on the medicine-show circuit.

Unlike, say, J.E. Mainer, he was aware of what was happening in the country in the 1960s, so he knew that, in the North, several lyrics needed changing (hence, "Run, Jimmie, Run").

And I've already told the story about his teaching us the "correct" tempo for "Frankie Silvers."

Lyle

[Johnm]

Hi all,
With two songs by the Carolina Tar Heels already transcribed and another being added, they seemed like good candidates for a merged lyric thread.  The Tar Heels played "The Train's Done Left Me" out of E flat, with Tom Ashley capoed up playing out of the C position, Gwen Foster playing harp and Doc Walsh playing the banjo.  Gwen is probably also playing guitar, which he usually did behind his harp playing, but if he is, he is next to inaudible.  The song has a wonderful straight-up-and-down rhythmic feel, and Gwen's harmonica playing is amazing, as usual.Tom Ashley's singing is mighty fine too.  Just a great effort all the way around, and if you'd like to hear it, I recently posted it on the Country Blues on youtube thread over in Down The Dirt Road.



   The train's done left me and the jitney bus has run
   The train's done left me and the jitney bus has run
   But a-walking ain't crowded, and I won't be here long

   I was leaving on Monday, Lord, I h'ain't a-comin' back no more, no more
   I was leaving on Monday, Lord, I ain't a-comin' back no more, no more
   For the woman I was loving, she's further down the road

   The train I was riding, she was fourteen coaches long
   The train I was riding, she was fourteen coaches long
   Oh, the woman I was loving, she's got another man and gone

   HARMONICA SOLO

All best,
Johnm
     

[Johnm]

Hi all,
For their version of "Got The Farm Land Blues", the Carolina Tar Heels were a duo, featuring Doc Walsh on banjo and Garley Foster on harmonica, guitar and vocals.  This is a nutty song.  Garley Foster's phrasing and the lyrics are so droll, and he paints himself into rhythmic corners and extricates himself from them with a jolt.  It gives the impression of being calculatedly awkward for humorous effect, and it sure works that way.  There are lots of odd "dwells", and considering that he was accompanying himself, it is peculiar that the guitarist so often sounds surprised by the singer's phrasing.  The guitar accompaniment, played out of A in standard tuning, bears a strong resemblance to that of Clarence Greene's "Johnson City Blues".  The song can be found on the County Records anthology, "Hard Times in the Country", CO-CD-3527.



   I woke up this morning, between one and two
   Woke up this morning, between one and two
   Heard a chicken squalling, down at my chicken roost

   I rushed down there, but a little too late
   I rushed down there, but a little too late
   Thief had got my chickens, and made his get-away

   Went out to my corn crib, for to get some corn
   Went out to my corn crib, for to get some corn
   Thief had broke in my corn crib, took away every ear of my corn

   Went to get my car, for to go get the sheriff
   Went to get my car, for to go get the sheriff
   Thief had took every tire, right off of my car

   SPOKEN: Hard luck

   Well, along come a storm, tore down my corn
   Along come a storm, tore down my corn
   While the bean beetle in the bean patch, eatin' up the beans, boll weevil in the cotton, he's tearin' up the bolls

   Got the farm land blues, got the farm land blues right now
   Got the farm land blues, got the farm land blues right now
   Not another fur-, row will I plow

   Gonna sell my farm, gonna move to town
   Gonna sell my farm, gonna move to town
   Got the farm land blues, right now

All best,
Johnm

[Gumbo]

Bulldog Down In Sunny Tennessee
key of G

There's a couple of words I'm missing. The place in  Tennessee where all this took place is one.
And Sal almost lost something when the pants tore but I can't make out what! It may be important to the narrative!


Once i knew a little gal her daddy called her Sal
she was living down in sunny tennessee

She had red long wavy hair and her face had freckles there
and of course you know she was the girl for me

One day i said i'd go just to see that gal y'know
for i longed to sit right down by her side

But her daddy always had a big dog he was bad
and i never could ask her to be my bride

Up the path i drew at last on the inside gate I passed
and i knew the old man's waiting inside the door

you could hear that bulldog growling through the gate i could not see
but i knew the old man's waiting just to set that dog on me

round the corner i heard a click heard the old man holler "Sic!"
for i knew i's getting a thing i's looking for

I shall never forget that spot in that little old backyard lot
where that bulldog chased me out of Tennessee

How i thought of Mama dear as my pants began to tear
and my darling Sal seemed almost lost to me [almost lost her knee]

You could hear old Sal a singing as she said farewell to me
as i crossed the hills and hollers to my home there i did flee

As the moon rose in his glory and i told my Ma the story
of that bulldog down in sunny tennessee

edited to pick up corrections from Cleoma, banjochris and uncle bud

[Cleoma]

I think that first word is "sunny", just pronounced differently:  "sunnah"
Can't make out that other line, though.
Great song!!!  I love the Carolina Tar Heels!

[banjochris]

In verse one, the missing word is "sunny." One of them pronounces it jokingly as "sunn-eye." If you listen to a lot of hillbilly 78s you'll occasionally hear people pronouncing words like "lovingly" as "loving-lie" -- I think it's supposed to be "archaic" sounding, and they're making fun of that. You can hear it done non-ironically on the Carter Family's "Anchored in Love" and on several Grayson and Whitter records, I think "Red and Green Signal Light" is one of them.

I think "knee" is right -- he's probably touching it and about ripping it off as he's running.

Also, one other suggestion: in this verse --
round the corner i heard a click heard the old man hollered sit

I think the last word should be "sic" or "sick" (however you want to spell it) as in he's siccing the dog on him.
Chris

[Gumbo]

Thank you both. I got caught up thinking it might be Souther(n) at first but i hear what you are saying. It's also clearer in the last verse. i remember the topic about siccing the dog now, too, chris - thanks for the reminder. I'm having lots of fun with this song at the moment.

[uncle bud]

In 5.1 and 5.2 it's

Up the path I drew at last, on the inside GATE I passed
AND I knew the old man's waiting...

In 9.2, it's

How I thought of mama dear as my pants began to tear
And my darling Sal SEEMED almost lost TO ME

In 10.2 it's

as I crossed the HILLS AND HOLLERS, to my home there I did flee

11.1

As the moon rose in its glory as I told my MA THE story

You can hear all this better in Dock Walsh's solo version, where the lyrics are pretty much the same. Some of the weird spots in this one come from overlapping vocals. Great tune.