...both sound plausible to me...I'll go listen more closely ... seems BWM had a bunch of nicknames!
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Well I would holler murder, but I was born to die - William Do-Boy Diamond, The Shaggy Hound
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic. ...both sound plausible to me...I'll go listen more closely ... seems BWM had a bunch of nicknames!
si
I always thought it was "act like an angel in the daytime and mess by the ditch at night"
si
That is real interesting about Willie Mctell clicking his tongue.
Maybe he was using it as a second transmitter for echolocation (the first being cane-tapping)? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_echolocation I'm trying to figure out the lyrics for Blind Willie McTell's Razor Ball, the 1930 version, not the Atlantic sessions version, which is a different song. A lot of words in this one.
Here's what I've got so far and I'm not sure of so much more than what the question marks indicate, so feel free to offer corrections/suggestions for any part of it. I've included the song as an attachment, since it's one people may not have if they don't have the complete McTell. Razor Ball - Blind Willie McTell Spoken: All right boys, let?s talk about this razor ball Down at the razor ball even at the razor hall Sluefoot Mose and old cross-eyed Joe didn't go in at all They hung around outside, this is what they spied ? what was it? A big crap game in the hall, started in to fight Joe got drunk, that wasn't all, went and turned out the lights And then Mike took Charlie, shot his automatic twin Charlie grabbed his gal, and he crawled?? cross ten Police came and pull the hall?? down at the razor ball I mean ball Down around the razor ball Doin the? shimmy she wobble and shakin? your? Quit the shimmy she wobble and quit shakin? your hips Down at the razor I mean ball Down around the razor ball Playin? baseball and football and don?t get enough Playin? baseball and football, and struttin? his stuff Down at the razor I mean ball Down around the razor ball Spoken: Play it a little bit now Put a little good stuff in it How you put that in there Go ahead, I'm gonna like a good drink of whiskey Play that thing again I heard another crap game was in the hall, started in to fight Joe got drunk, that wasn't all, went in and turned out the lights Mighty big chief shot his automatic twin The high sheriff took the couple and double crossed him Rest of ?em came and got the crowd from down at the razor ball I mean Down around the razor ball, shootin? craps Down around the razor ball, playing cards Down around the razor ball, they was gamblin? Down around the razor ball, cuttin? on the corner Down around the razor ball Spoken: Put a little good stuff there now I know you like it like that, Two Bits ?Cause I?m crazy about it myself, hit it now I know you crazy about it Talkin? about the razor ball, I mean Screamin? ?bout the razor ball Now there?s another crap game was in the hall, started in to fight Joe got drunk, that wasn't all, went and turned out the lights Put the/your lights out Kelly/Callie ?cause fightin's my game Put me head of the list and don?t forget to call my name Police came and got the crowd Down at the razor ball, drinkin? gin Down around the razor ball, don?t mean football But down around the razor hall, neither basketball But down around the razor ball, neither golf ball But down around the razor ball Spoken: Spank it a little bit now I mean that razor ball, where I found you Down around the razor ball, where they made love Down around the razor ball, where I left you Play it now edited to incorporate corrections from dj, banjochris, doug [attachment deleted by admin] There's postwar blues recording (by who I can't at present recall) which uses the expression:
Big Chief shot Automatic Slim Could this be what McTell sings? Just an idea.... dj
Quote shot his automatic twin I think this is correct. The reference, I think, is to a twin-barrelled pistol. Quote Police came and pull the hall?? "Police came and pulled the hall"... i.e. they arrested everyone. Quote Go ahead, it?s just?? like a good drink of whiskey I hear "I'm gonna like it, it's just like a whiskey". Quote Put the lights out count?? ?cause the ? ? the game Tough one! "Put the lights out and counted 'cause he's ? the game" is as close as I can get. I think that last garbled line might be something like:
(I'll) put your lights out Kelly (or Callie) 'cause fightin's my game Doug
I hear the last line similar to banjochris:
Put the lights out Kelly, cause fighting's the game... I'm guessing they had some good brawls after the lights had been turned out, and the singer was ready to rumble... Thanks fellars. Despite no experience with guns, I somehow thought the automatic twin referred to weaponry.
I'm not sure about the spoken line about a "good drink of whiskey". Still not hearing either my transcription or dj's suggestion. In the "I'll) put your lights out Kelly (or Callie) 'cause fightin's my game" line, I'm not sure whether I hear "your" or "the" but do think I hear "my game" as Chris suggests. Thanks for getting this. Any thoughts about the line "Charlie grabbed his gal, and he crawled?? cross ten" in the first verse? I thought it might be "double-crossed him" as in the later verse, but just don't hear that. Doug
You picked a good one... some really tough lines to try to figure out....
The "good drink of whiskey" is tough. When I first listened to it, I thought he was saying something like the singer was going to get a good drink ("gonna want a good drink of whiskey"), so he wanted the instrumental to continue for a bit.... Now, I'm wondering if he's comparing the playing to the good drink ("play it/just like a good drink of whiskey"). Either way it's tough to make out. What Charlie does after he grabs his gal is tough too... It sounds like McTell fumbles the line... I'm thinking it's a negative: "he couldn't cross/crawl/count ten"... imagining that Charlie gets shot (by the automatic twin), rushes to his gal, but is too weak to get very far. Hi Doug -
I lean towards McTell comparing the playing to a good drink of whiskey myself. Could be wrong. Re. Charlie, "crawl" is definitely a possibility, the way you have characterized it. Maybe "crawled across Tim"? Another name as the last word - though it doesn't sound like "Tim". Thanks! It's tricky as you say. I've never heard it, but does Sara Martin's "Down at the Razor Ball" have any helpfully similar lyrics?
I've never heard it, but does Sara Martin's "Down at the Razor Ball" have any helpfully similar lyrics?Well done. I've been busting my brains attempting to remember who else I had performing that. It's on a 36 year old cassette recorded from a beat up 78 and is the very tune and lyric but with variations. Anybody have access to the Document set of CDs? Dang, I was hoping that the Red Hot Jazz site might have it online at their Sara Martin page. That song is not one of the pieces they feature in audio format though. But this is still great to know and I'll have to track the song down somehow. Thanks for the information!
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