Topic: Frank Stokes Lyrics

[uncle bud]

Welcome bleary! Happy to be annoying. 

[Cambio]

I was just going through a haul of hillbilly 78's yesterday morning and I came across a record by Bill Chitwood and Bud Landress "I Got Mine", Brunswick 2810, recorded in 1925.  Their version is different from Stokes' but definately in the same vein.  I was wondering about the orgin of the song, if it was an old  minstrel tune, who originally wrote, whether that person was black or white?  It once again made me realize that the further you go back, the more you listen to the old 78's and cylinders ( of blues, hillbilly and popular musicof the day) , look at old sheet music and song folios, read accounts of musicians from the old days, the more the lines blur and things become less cut and dry.
I suppose that one conclusion that I could have drawn from listening to that record was to say, "Well if they recorded this two or three years before Stokes recorded his version, Stokes must have learned it from them."  I could have also refrained from making that conclusion and instead said, "Who the hell knows." and gone on listening to the rest of the great records in the pile.  I chose the latter.

[GhostRider]

Hey Todd:

This tune by Stokes sounds so "minstrelly" it could have been 50+ years old when Frank recorded it.

But no matter how old was it's origin, Frank played it entirely within his style and certainly "made it his own" ( no cultural ripoff I hope, eek!).

Todd, I'd be interested in the words to the verses of the Chitwood-Landress version, if you have a moment.

That was against my will,
Alex

[Cambio]

No doubt that Frank made it his own, as did Chitwood and Landress.  Their version is very wierd and ancient sounding.  I'll try to record it to my computer and post it because it's worth hearing.  I'll also try to write out the lyrics and post them.
You're absolutely right, the song probably was 50 years old when Frank recorded it, as were many of the songs that he did.  They may have been originally from the African American song tradition, or they may have been penned by a Tin Pan Alley tune smith.  Maybe there's someone out there who knows their orgin.  I suppose I was just trying to support a point from a different angle.

[Alexei McDonald]

I have the sheet music for this number.   "I got mine - Coon song, words by John Queen, music by Chas. Cartwell" copyrighted 1901.

The lyrics are:
First verse:

I went out to a nigger crap game it was against my will,
The coons took all my money except one greenback dollar bill,
There was a hundred dollar bet upon the table ; the niggers point was nine,
Just then the coppers stepped through the door but I got mine.

Chorus:

I got mine boys, I got mine,
I grabbed that hundred dollar bill thro' the window I did climb,
Ever since then I've worn good clothes living on chicken and wine,
I'm the leader of all society since I got mine.

Second Verse:

I went out to a turkey feast ; the eatables were fine,
Half hour before the table was set the coons all formed in line,
When they brought that buzzard in their eyes began to shine,
They wouldn't wait but started to grab but I got mine.

Chorus:

I got mine boys, I got mine,
Getting to that piece of fowl I had one horrible time,
One coon grabbed that eagle by the neck ; I snatched on behind,
The coon in front thought he had the whole thing but I got mine.

Third verse:

I went out for to visit my gal the hour it was about nine,
Dressed up like a millionaire and feeling right in line,
I caught her sitting on another nigger's lap ; now that ain't a very good sign,
I told her what I thought of him then I got mine.

Chorus:

I got mine boys, I got mine,
That nigger pulled his shotgun out and used it mighty fine,
I tried to get through the window, but I couldn't get through in time,
I eat my meals from a mantelpiece since I got mine.

[skip bosco]

this is why the web is so damn cool....

i heard this song for the first time last night and got kinda obsessed with deciphering it...when i reached a point where i couldn't go no further i started to google...which brought me here.

i'm not so sure i have it completely right, but it's almost there.

i need to snoop around this place a bit...

skip

[Slack]

Welcome Skip!  by all means ...snoop away...

[GhostRider]

Hey Skip:

Please post your shot at the lyrics. As Unkie Bud said a few posts back, we're so close to having this tune tied down, it would be a shame not to finish it off.

Alex

[skip bosco]

I think the Crump thing is a reach.? I feel confident that it's "I won't steal meat and bread or other cooked products"

or if you wanna put a yuppie spin on it you could say...

I won't steal meat, bread, or artichoke hearts

[skip bosco]

Hey Skip:

Please post your shot at the lyrics. As Unkie Bud said a few posts back, we're so close to having this tune tied dow, it would be a shame not to finish it off.

Alex

i sure will.

wow, this place is sure a find...good to know i'm not the only one obsessing to songs on repeat, repeat, repeat...

and of course there the henry thomas threads....

[Cambio]

Wow!  Frank Stokes' energy must be surging through the cosmos with all the talk of him lately!  A real hot ticket!
I was out in the shop yesterday listening to Earl Johnson, a great Georgia fiddler.  He has a paired down version of this song, recorded down in 1927, involving a chicken stealing preacher.  It once again goes to show the overlap in preblues material between black and white musicians of that era.  John Miller hit on this in his preblues discussion and it was covered in the Rodgers/ Stokes controversy.  Does anyone have any idea about the origin of this song?

By the way, what lyrics are still unclear?

[a2tom]

wow, this place is sure a find...good to know i'm not the only one obsessing to songs on repeat, repeat, repeat...

what, obsessing?  who, us?

tom

[bleary]

Does anyone have any idea about the origin of this song?

see my post above (starting the recent thread revival) for my still unanswered question about an alleged authorship I saw referenced.

Among other notable versions, have you all heard Kind David's Jug Band, "chicken you can waltz the gravy around"?

I'm going to go ahead and post a few of my lyrics that are either misunderstood or willfully revisionist, I can't remember. Maybe I'm just a glutton for public ridicule, maybe some of them are so crazy they just might work:

...grabbed a big pullet, man, put 'm in my maul, that's something I would never let fall...

Police 'rrested me last saturday night, they couldn't think just what to roust...

...just as soon as you put me on the penitant path I'll have chicken on my mind.

...grabbed me a little appetizer, 'round my back felt a chicken right by my neck; I turned around quick as I could...

...I won't steal meat from right out of in front of me, steak chicken from anywhere!

[bleary]

and, of course, I meant "steal chicken" in that last line, not "steak chicken". totally screwed up the meaning there with one lousy typo.

[uncle bud]

Bleary - you can always use the modify button on the upper right of your post to correct things like that...

cheers
UB