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I caught a pretty little animal, it was stripy, black and white. What it done to me, it spoiled me the rest of my life - Barbecue Bob Hicks, Black Skunk Blues

Author Topic: Jim Jackson Lyrics  (Read 15813 times)

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Offline Marco

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Jim Jackson Lyrics
« on: February 06, 2007, 02:15:14 AM »
Hello!

Please, could you help me with the lyrics of this song?
This is what I understand listening to the CD: "Jim Jackson - Complete Recorded Works in Chron. Order VOL. 1" - Document DOCD-5114.
(?) = I'm not too sure!  :-\
.... = I don't understand   :(
A lot of problems with the last verse!   :'(

MANY THANKS!!!

Jim Jackson?s Kansas City Blues Pt. 1


 
I woke up this morning, feeling bad
Thought about the good times I once had
I'm gonna move to Kansas City
I'm gonna move to Kansas City
I'm gonna move, baby, honey where they don't like you (?)

My mother told me, daddy told me too
If by the cramps in your feet son, ain't no friend to you
You oughta move to Kansas City
You oughta move to Kansas City
You oughta move to Kansas City, baby, honey where they don't like you (?)

I got me a bulldog, shephered and two greyhounds
Two high yellows, three blacks and one brown
We gonna move to Kansas City
We gonna move to Kansas City
We gonna move to Kansas City, baby, honey
where they don't like you (?)

It takes a rocking chair to rock, a rubber ball to roll
Nice looking season ground (?) to satisfy my soul
??? move to Kansas City
??? move to Kansas City
I?m gonna move to Kansas City, baby, honey
where they don't like you (?)

T is for Texas, T is for Tennessee
Boll weavil gotten Mississippi, and the women wants me
I'm gonna move to Kansas City
I'm gonna move to Kansas City
I'm gonna move, baby, honey where they  don't like you (?)

You can hold? when you good girl want to?.
......
......
......
« Last Edit: July 10, 2020, 11:59:04 AM by Johnm »

Offline tenderfoot84

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Re: Jim Jackson?s Kansas City Blues Pt. 1
« Reply #1 on: February 06, 2007, 02:42:33 AM »
don't have the tune handy but jim jackson definately sings 'nice looking teasing brown'.

i just remembered i have this song on my mobile phone so i can listen to it in class :)

Jim Jackson?s Kansas City Blues Pt. 1
 
I woke up this morning, feeling bad
Thought about the good times I once have had
I'm gonna move to Kansas City
I'm gonna move to Kansas City
I'm gonna move, baby, honey where they don't like you / don't 'llow you

My mother told me, daddy told me too
If by the cramps in your feet son, ain't no friend to you
You oughta move to Kansas City
You oughta move to Kansas City
You oughta move to Kansas City, baby, honey where they don't like you / don't 'llow you

I got me a bulldog, two shepherds and two greyhounds
Two high yellows, three blacks and one brown
We gonna move to Kansas City
We gonna move to Kansas City
We gonna move to Kansas City, baby, honey where they don't like you / don't 'llow you

It takes a rocking chair to rock, a rubber ball to roll
Nice looking teasin' brown to satisfy my soul
then i'll move to Kansas City
then i'll move to Kansas City
I?m gonna move to Kansas City, baby, honey where they don't like you / don't 'llow you

T is for Texas, T is for Tennessee
Boll weavil got to Mississippi, and the women wants me
I'm gonna move to Kansas City
I'm gonna move to Kansas City
I'm gonna move, baby, honey where they don't like you / don't 'llow you

You can always tell when you good girl want to flirt
want to where red slippers to match that old matching skirt


i forgot to note down what ending there was to the last verse but i don't think it's any different from the ones above. anyhoo, best get back to work.
« Last Edit: February 06, 2007, 03:05:25 AM by tenderfoot84 »
Cheerybye,
David C

Offline Marco

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Re: Jim Jackson?s Kansas City Blues Pt. 1
« Reply #2 on: February 09, 2007, 12:09:28 AM »
Many thanks, Tenderfoot!   :D

Offline Johnm

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Jim Jackson Lyrics
« Reply #3 on: June 19, 2012, 09:01:06 AM »
Hi all,
Jim Jackson played "Foot Achin' Blues" out of D position in standard tuning tuning.  After a very nifty intro, he relegates the guitar to a strict time-keeping role for the rest of his rendition.  This must be one of the only piano/guitar duets from the early years of the Country Blues in which the guitar completely drowns out the piano.  I don't know who the pianist was--anyone out there know?  The lyrics to this one have a distinct "all-over-the place" quality that I find very winning.  Jim Jackson plays wonderfully strong time, but his chordal sense erodes as the rendition goes along, and towards the end he makes some decidedly odd choices.  The song can be found on the Country blues on YouTube thread at:  http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=2101.msg71974#msg71974.



I've got the foot achin' blues, mama, my corn hurts me all the time
I've got the foot achin' blues, and my corns hurts me all the time
'Cause the gal I love is always on my mind

My dog got the measles, what's the matter with my cat?
My dog got the measles, what's the matter with my cat?
He's sittin' in the corner, tryin' to charm a rat

My woman left this mornin' with her suitcase in 'er hand
My woman left this mornin' with her suitcase in 'er hand
I wouldn't hate it so bad, but she's gone with another man

Listen, good people, I'll tell you what your friends will do
Now, listen, good people, I'll tell you what you friends will do
They will sleep and eat at your house and take your good gal from you

I can't sleep, cain't rest nowhere I go
I can't sleep, babe, cain't rest nowhere I go
Always remember, you got to reap just what you sow

I love you, honey, and will love you all my life
I love you, honey, will love you all my life
Papa Jim Jackson cain't let the same bee sting him twice

All best,
Johnm
« Last Edit: July 10, 2020, 12:00:01 PM by Johnm »

Offline dj

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Re: Jim Jackson Lyrics
« Reply #4 on: June 20, 2012, 05:25:20 AM »
Quote
I don't know who the pianist was--anyone out there know?

the discography on Document 5115, Jim Jackson Volume 2, which is based on B&GR 3 with emendations based on Johnny Parth's gut feelings, has "probably Speckled Red" (Rufus Perryman) as the pianist.  B&GR 4 has "unknown", which I think is probably more accurate.  Looking at who was in the studio in Chicago around May 15 1929, when Foot Achin' Blues was recorded, I don't see any obvious candidates.

Offline Johnm

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Re: Jim Jackson Lyrics
« Reply #5 on: June 20, 2012, 10:07:54 AM »
Thanks very much for that info, dj.  I think the pianist on the track would be next to impossible to identify on the basis of his sound, since he's virtually inaudible.  I'd recognize that "unknown" anywhere, though.
All best,
Johnm

Offline uncle bud

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Re: Jim Jackson Lyrics
« Reply #6 on: June 20, 2012, 10:40:59 AM »
I'm no piano expert, but I do have a fondness for Speckled Red's playing, and what little is audible from the piano doesn't sound like Red at all to me. I also think he would have never been able to exercise that much restraint.

Offline Johnm

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Re: Jim Jackson Lyrics
« Reply #7 on: June 20, 2012, 10:43:22 AM »
Hi all,
Jim Jackson recorded "My Monday Woman Blues" in 1927.  It is an 8-bar blues in E position, standard tuning, and must be one of the very earliest of its type to be recorded.  Jim Jackson's guitar playing is really fine on it, with tremendous heavy time.  Was this the earliest song with a woman for every day of the week?  I know Long Cleve Reed and Papa Harvey Hull recorded "Gang of Brownskin Women" and Cripple Clarence Lofton and Pink Anderson had versions much later. 
For his fifth verse, Jackson goes to a 12-bar form opening with an 8-bar lyric break.  It's almost as though "Rabbit" Brown was singing a response to the opening line of Jim Jackson's final verse when Brown sang "James Alley Blues".  Jackson had a way of closing his mouth emphatically when singing the word "I" sometimes so that it ended up sounding like "I'm".  I seem to remember Booker White doing this also.  You can hear Jim Jackson's rendition of the song at http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=2101.msg71960#msg71960.



My Monday girl, she works twenty-two off Main
But my Tuesday brownskin brings me pocket change

My Wednesday girl love whiskey, sometime she do drink beer
But my Thursday woman give me the devil if she catch me here

My Friday good girl, she reads me the daily news
But my Saturday highbrown buys my socks and shoes

My Sunday woman, she lays on my right arm and sleep
You can know from that, I got a woman for every day in the week

I got a gal in Georgia, one in Lou'siana
Four in Chattanooga, six in Alabama
Four, five women right here in Memphis, Tennessee
If you don't like my peaches, let my orchard be

I wish I was a jaybird in the air
I'd build my nest in some of you highbrowns' hair

I'm just from the country, you know I'm easy to rule
You can hitch me to your cart, girl, and drive me for your mule

All best,
Johnm
« Last Edit: July 10, 2020, 12:00:59 PM by Johnm »

Offline Johnm

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Re: Jim Jackson Lyrics
« Reply #8 on: June 20, 2012, 03:34:56 PM »
Hi all,
"Bootlegging Blues" is, for the most part, another 8-bar blues played out of E position in standard tuning by Jim Jackson.  The exception is a one-chord refrain that Jackson inserts from time to time over the course of his rendition.  It's a neat feature, since it is phrased differently than are the 8-bar verses.  The song has interesting lyrics; like some of the Old-Time anti-Prohibition songs, it disapproves of Prohibition because of the greater danger involved in drinking the illegally made hooch than in drinking legal, regulated spirits.  This is all assuming one can stop drinking whenever one cares to, of course.  The song has a great slow-rocking groove. 



Since corn liquor came in style, that's plenty money to be made
Just get a job at one of these stills and you surely will be paid

I'll tell you, it's a mighty risk to run and a mighty chance to take
To spend your money for the corn that the bootleggers make

REFRAIN: The bootleggin' man got his bottle in his hand
And all he needs is a little more speed
So he can out-run the Revenue man

When the bootlegger goes to his still, get ready to make his stuff
He's got his concentrated lye, cocaine and his snuff (Spoken: He'll fix you up a drink, just won't quit!)

It'll make you fight a circle saw
Make you slap the ladies down
And make you pick a fight with your Pa

REFRAIN: The bootleggin' man got his bottle in his hand
And all he needs is a little more speed
So he can out-run the Revenue man

I went home the other night, I swore I wouldn't drink no more
Until saloons come back with bottled in bond and the days of long ago

But I see that will never be, so I just got drunk again
I haven't nothin', as long as corn liquor lasts 'til I got no money to spend

REFRAIN: The bootleggin' man got his bottle in his hand
And all he needs is a little more speed
So he can out-run the Revenue man

SOLO

REFRAIN: The bootleggin' man got his bottle in his hand
And all he needs is a little more speed
So he can out-run the Revenue man

All best,
Johnm

 
« Last Edit: July 10, 2020, 12:02:00 PM by Johnm »

Offline GhostRider

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Re: Jim Jackson Lyrics
« Reply #9 on: June 21, 2012, 09:14:04 AM »
John:

Re: My Monday Woman Blues. I have this tune (by Jim Jackson) on a British compilation and it has a number of different verses, two of which are bridge-like verses with slightly differing chords.

Alex

Offline uncle bud

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Re: Jim Jackson Lyrics
« Reply #10 on: June 21, 2012, 09:56:31 AM »
John:

Re: My Monday Woman Blues. I have this tune (by Jim Jackson) on a British compilation and it has a number of different verses, two of which are bridge-like verses with slightly differing chords.

Alex

There are two surviving takes of My Monday Woman Blues on Jim Jackson Vol. 1 on Document, take 1 and take 3. And then Jackson also recorded My Monday Blues, essentially the same song with some different opening lyrics that show up later in Blind Willie McTell's East St. Louis Blues. The version JohnM has transcribed is take 3.

Jackson did this a lot of course. I believe there are 142 takes of Kansas City Blues.

Offline Johnm

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Re: Jim Jackson Lyrics
« Reply #11 on: June 21, 2012, 10:20:59 AM »
Seems like after Jim Jackson got past about "Kansas City Blues, Part 4", he could have spiced things up a little by calling subsequent releases things like "I Still Intend to Move", just as Tampa Red and Georgia Tom could have titled the later versions of "Tight Like That" "It's Still Tight".  It beats the hell out of "Tight Like That, Part Seven".
All best,
Johnm

Offline Johnm

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Re: Jim Jackson Lyrics
« Reply #12 on: June 21, 2012, 05:45:10 PM »
Hi all,
Jim Jackson recorded his version of "Policy Blues" in 1928, backing himself out of E position in standard tuning.  There are no instrumental fireworks here, just an easy rocking accompaniment with a deep backbeat.  Jim Jackson had such a resonant voice; he always sounds like there's some special reverb on his voice.  I think I have the lyrics right, but I usually make a mistake somewhere, so any help is appreciated.  Here is the recorded performance:



Have you ever taken a chance, with the policy game?
Have you ever taken a chance, with the policy game?
You play three numbers, see what you can gain

If you should lose, don't get mad at all
If you should lose, don't get mad and all
You sure can't win, 'less'n your number's called

I've got the policy blues, I ain't got no money to play
I've got the policy blues, I haven't got no money to play
I know my number will fall today

I woke up in the mornin', with one thin dime
I woke up, up this mornin', with one thin dime
The policy man gets that before the clock strikes nine

Then I set around hungry, the rest of the day
Then I set around hungry, rest of the day
Waitin' for him to come black [sic], with your play

I'll tell you what all the boys on Beale Street know
I will tell you all what the boys on Beale Street know
It's the black man in the train and four--eleven--forty-four

They almost curse, when the drawing comes back
They almost curse, when the drawing come back
That policy man sure can shake a wicked sack

Edited 6/22 to pick up corrections from dj

All best,
Johnm


 
« Last Edit: July 10, 2020, 12:02:51 PM by Johnm »

Offline dj

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Re: Jim Jackson Lyrics
« Reply #13 on: June 22, 2012, 04:06:03 AM »
Hi, John.  A few corrections and suggestions for Policy Blues:

(Note:  There are two surviving takes of Policy Blues, John has transcribed the unissued one)

Verse 1 line 3:  "You play THREE numbers, see what you can gain"

Verse 2 line 1:  "If you should lose, don't get mad AT all"  Jackson clearly sings AT on both repetitions of the line in the issued take, and I think he sings AT in the first line here and AND in the second.

Verse 4 line 1:  "I woke up IN THE mornin', with one thin dime"  Again, he sings "IN THE" both times in the issued take, I think he just missung the second line here.

Verse 5 line 3:  Just a note - Jackson clearly sings BLACK here, as you have it.  In the issued take, he sings BACK, which makes more sense.  I guess this is one of the reasons why this take was originally unissued.

Verse 6 line 3:   "IT'S the black man in the train and four--eleven--forty-four"  On the issued take, Jackson sings IT IS.

Offline Johnm

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Re: Jim Jackson Lyrics
« Reply #14 on: June 22, 2012, 07:46:29 AM »
Thanks very much for the help, dj.  I've made the fixes you suggested and found a couple of other places I had wrong when I posted it.  That's great that you can compare with other takes, I think that must be especially helpful in problem areas.
All best,
Johnm

 


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