Topic: Blind Boy Fuller Lyrics

[waxwing]

Hi Johnm,

You're right, those spoken lines by Red are tough. Sounds like you have most of them, as far as I can hear. On the long one in the solo I think I hear an alliteration on the 'g' sound giving a "get good" so I would suggest the spoken line is:

SOLO (Spoken: Long time. Play it 'til it get good, Mr. Fuller! Yeah!)

He does seem to have some sort of barely audible vocalization before "Mr Fuller," but I think that may be either stumbling over the 'd' at the end of good, or just an inadvertent vocalization. It might be Red speaking that portion of the line. Hard to tell them apart.

I think the spoken line about North Carolina is how you have it.

Wax

[Johnm]

I agree with "'til it gets good" for the spoken comment, wax, and have made the change. Thanks!

[Blues Vintage]

Almost sounds like gypsy jazz. Some suggestions,


1.1 Oh Red, wish he you was dead
1.2 Oh Red, I wish he you sure was dead

Very clear on the second "you" not sure on the first one.
I think he sings "you" instead of "he" in other parts as well.


2.1 No, I ain't yet) dead


Spoken; Play it 'til it gets good to, Mr. Fuller


4.4 Oh Red, sick in the, I mean, that bed


I don't hear the North Carolina line but I don't have a clue what it could be.

[Johnm]

Thanks for the suggestions, Blues Vintage, and I will incorporate all or almost all of them. Thanks!

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Blind Boy Fuller recorded "You Can't Hide From The Lord" at a session in New York City on March 7, 1940. As was most often the case in the religious songs he recorded, Fuller chose to accompany the song out of C position in standard tuning. He is joined by Sonny Terry, most prominently, on vocals and Bull City Red is credited with singing too, though he is hard to hear. One of the back-up singers claps throughout the rendition, too. Rather than being a call-and-response number, this one is sung in a very freely phrased "unison" (simultaneous, but not placing things identically rhythmically). The song just repeats the same verse/refrain over and over, and I'd appreciate help with the last line of it. Here is "You Can't Hide From The Lord":



You can't hide, ain't no use tryin'
You can't hide, 'cause you don't know how
God got your number, know where you live, and
Death got a warrant for you

Hey, you can't hide, ain't no use of tryin'
You can't hide, 'cause you don't know how
God's got your number, know where you live, and
Death got a warrant for you

Brother, you can't hide, ain't no use of tryin'
You can't hide, 'cause you don't know how
God's got your number, know where you live
Death got a warrant for you

Hey, you can't hide, ain't no use of tryin'
You can't hide, 'cause you don't know how
God got your number, know where you live, and
Death got a warrant for you

Hey, you can't hide, no use/need of tryin'
You can't hide, 'cause you don't know how
God's got your number, know where you live, and
Death got a warrant for you

Brother, you can't hide, ain't no use of tryin'
You can't hide, 'cause you don't know how
God got your number, know where you live
Death got a warrant for you

Preacher, you can't hide, ain't no use in tryin'
You can't hide, 'cause you don't know how
God's got your number, know where you live
Death got a warrant for you

Yeah, you can't hide, no use tryin'
You can't hide, 'cause you don't know how
God's got your number, know where you live
Death got a warrant for you

Hey, you can't hide, no need of tryin'
You can't hide, 'cause you don't know how
God's got your number, know where you live, and
Death got a warrant for you

Peter, you can't hide, no need of tryin'
You can't hide, 'cause you don't know how
God's got your number, know where you live, and
Death got a warrant for you

Edited 1/31 to pick up changes from banjochris

All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Blind Boy Fuller recorded "Shake It Baby" at a session on March 6, 1940 in New York City, backed by Bull City Red on washboard. Fuller played the song in C position in standard tuning, and it is essentially a raggy instrumental with incidental scat phrases and a lyric refrain. Fuller sounds so alive and energetic and vibrant here--it's almost impossible to believe he'd be dead within a year of the date. I  think the lyrics here are definitely an afterthought. Here is "Shake It Baby":



SCATTED BRIDGE

INSTRUMENTAL REFRAIN (Spoken: Yeah! Play it for me now!)

Shake it, babe 'f it's all night long, shake it, babe, 'f it's all night long
Shake it, babe, 'f it's all night long, hey-ey, shake it for me (Spoken: Yeah!)
(Scatted bridge)

INSTRUMENTAL REFRAIN (Spoken: Yeah! Yeah!)
(Scatted bridge)

INSTRUMENTAL REFRAIN

Shake it, babe, 'f it's all night long, shake it, babe, 'f it's all night long,
Shake it, babe, 'f it's all night long, hey-ey, shake it for me (Spoken: Shake it now!)
(Washboard bridge) (Spoken: Yeah! Yeah! Play it along time now, Yeah!)

INSTRUMENTAL REFRAIN

Baby ask m' for a watch and a ring, "You can get it, start to shake that thing."
Hey-ey, shake it all night long (Spoken: Yeah!)
(Bridge) (Spoken: Shake it for Fuller now! Yeah! Play it for me now)
(Out A part)
(Bridge)

INSTRUMENTAL REFRAIN

RHYTHM CODA

All best,
Johnm 

[banjochris]

John, I think that last line in "You Can't Hide" could be
Death got a warrant for you.

[Johnm]

Thanks so much for the help, Chris, you are certainly right, and I will make the change. With that song corrected, all of Blind Boy Fuller's songs on which he sang, apart from songs with multiple takes where only one take has been transcribed, have now been done and entered in Weeniepedia. "Jitterbug Rag" has no vocal but has the hilariously described "unknown kazoo", which is so obviously Fuller himself. Likewise, "Precious Lord" was put out as a Fuller title, but Bull City Red did the singing, so I think it should more properly be considered a Bull City Red title. That makes 122 Fuller titles transcribed and put up in Weeniepedia. That's an incredible number of titles for the relatively brief duration of his recording career. He was pretty much literally ridden until he dropped. I hope that all that recording did not contribute to his early demise. Particular thanks to you, Blues Vintage, waxwing and everyone else who helped so much in getting this recent run of transcriptions as accurate as they are. Thanks to you all!
All best,
Johnm       

[eric]

Amazing job, John and all who contributed.  He was a terrific player.

[Rivers]

Many congratulations on a great achievement go to everybody who contributed, and particularly to chief lyric wrangler JohnM

I checked back to post #1, it was made in 2004 by our friend Dab Bro', aka Thumbstyle, 18 years ago. Seems like only yesterday.

[Aurongroove]

Hy guys I made an account and logged in to say thank you to the people in this thread.

I'm a folk singer from Ireland and I have been looking for lyrics for some of these songs ever since I heard them several years ago.

Excellent work and thank you, I shall be performing some of these are our weekly sessions.

[Blues Vintage]

Glad to hear it.

[Blues Vintage]

This book just came out,

Ragtime Blues Guitar of Blind Boy Fuller
https://www.guitarvideos.com/stefan-grossmans-guitar-workshop-online-store#!/Ragtime-Blues-Guitar-of-Blind-Boy-Fuller/p/488167020/category=0

[Blues Vintage]

Seems like Stefan Grossman or a editor of the book above consulted Weeniepedia 'cause every song is a spot on match with the transcriptions listed there.
Great to know the people at Weenie Campbell (John Miller especially) contributed heavily to this publication.

[Lignite]

Well that's good to know because he used to get those lyrics wrong without fail in his past publications concerning Fuller. Good for Weenie Campbell making a difference in the blues world!