Topic: Memphis Minnie Lyrics

[banjochris]

UB from a relatively quick listen I think that last verse is

Me and my brother went around [and then]
[Heard my gal] and couldn't [drive her in]

Me and my brother went around the bend
Had my gal and couldn't drive her in.

I think sea is right in the verse before that, too.
Chris

[uncle bud]

Thanks Chris. Re. "around the bend". That what I had initially and I think what we had back at the start of this thread, but I swore I was hearing a -th sound. I'll go with "bend" unless I convince myself otherwise.  

So what do you think he means?

[Rivers]

About time Minnie made it to weeniepedia so I started a Minnie lyrics category, starting with Nothing In Rambling.

I corrected a couple of details in my first attempt on page 1 of this thread and tried to get the emphasis right since the diction and the way she spits out the vocal lines is one of the things that makes it such a great performance: http://www.weeniecampbell.com/wiki/index.php?title=Nothing_In_Rambling

[edit: re. the other songs, please feel free to post final/closer versions after the first draft, makes it much easier to transfer them to weeniepedia]

[uncle bud]

Little Son Joe and Memphis Minnie recorded Bone Yard Blues in February 1939. I only have an mp3 of this song, and B&GR has Joe as the vocalist, but boy, he sure sounds like Minnie singing in a slightly lower register than usual. Anyone confirm it's Joe? The song has a nice hard groove.

There is some gibberish in the lyrics below I could really use some help on.



Bone Yard Blues - Memphis Minnie & Little Son Joe

[Women/Screamin'] on the line, makin' it swing
Preachin' to the public, you don't know a thing
Gettin' ready for the bone yard
I mean the bone yard
Said the life he's livin', swear it'll end too hard

Went out datin' with a big-time gal
[Knewed he was takin'/talkin' about savin' his pals]
That started at the bone yard
I mean the bone yard
Said the life he's livin', swear it'll end too hard

Don't play cards, don't shoot no dice
[Havin' spoke/sports] with the other man's wife
That'll take him to the bone yard
I mean the bone yard
Said the life he's livin', swear it'll end too hard

Dodgin' the police while the pistols poppin'
Huntin' for the gang where the points is hoppin'
That'll take him to the bone yard
I mean the bone yard
Said the life he's livin', swear it'll end too hard

Up before day, [care] how you feel
[Meetin'] the man and missin' meals
That'll take him to the bone yard
I mean the bone yard
Said the life he's livin', swear it'll end too hard

Weather's freezin', ain't got a dime
Moonshine whisky then muscatel wine
Takin' the boys to the bone yard
I mean the bone yard
Said the life he's livin', swear it'll end too hard

updated with corrections from Rivers

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Rivers]

There is some gibberish in the lyrics below I could really use some help on.

Great job, great number. All I have to contribute is:

[Women] on the line, makin' it swing

Possibly "Screamin' on the line...."

Preachin' to the public, he don't know a thing

I think it might be Preachin' to the public, "you don't know a thing"

Went out datin' with a big-time gal
[Knewed he was takin' her by savin' his pals]

Possibly "Knewed he's talkin' about savin' his pals

...with "talkin'" pronounced "takin'". I dunno what it means either.

Don't play cards, don't shoot no dice
[Havin' spoke/sports] with the other man's wife

"Havin' sports..." I think is correct.

Up before day, [care] how you feel
[Meetin'] the man and missin' meals

I think that's all correct, or at least I couldn't come up with alternatives.
Implied "don't" before "care", so probably I'd write it "Up before day, 'care how you feel", or something.

Weather's freezin', ain't got a dime
Moonshine whisky then muscatel wine

I think it might be "Moonshine whiskey, Miss Muscatel Wine, "Miss..." as in the form of address for a single gal. I definitely hear some sibilance in there, and does make it a cool lyric.

I have no idea if it's Minnie or Son Joe singing. Minnie has so many voices. It does sound like the singer on Black Rat Swing, also credited to Son Joe in B&GR. But I always think Minnie's singing on that one too. Maybe Minnie's beaus just ended up sounding like her. Kansas Joe on Joliet Bound for example always sounds like her to me, pitching her voice down.

[Rivers]

It's high time we did this one and I was messing around with it today. Corrections welcome, the recording's pretty good. KJ singing, sounding like MM. Swirling musical imagery, rain hissing down, Mississippi River rising ominously, this is the wettest song ever written:

[edit: amended per UB's suggestions 6.2 & 7.3]



When The Levee Breaks, Kansas Joe and Memphis Minnie, June 18 1929 NYC

If it keeps on rainin', levee's going to break
If it keeps on rainin', levee's going to break
And the water gonna come, and (I'll) have no place to stay

Well all last night I sat on the levee and moaned -- 'levee' pronounced 'lever'
Well all last night I sat on the levee and moaned -- same
Thinkin' 'bout my baby and my happy home

If it keeps on rainin', levee's going to break
If it keeps on rainin', levee's going to break
And all these people will have no place to stay

Now look here mama, what am I to do?
Now look here mama, what am I to do?
I ain't got nobody, tell my trouble to

I works on the levee, mama both night and day
I works on the levee, mama both night and day
I ain't got nobody to keep the water away

[break, 2 rounds]

Oh cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do no good
Now cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do no good
When the levee breaks, mama you got to move

I works on the levee, mama both night and day
I works on the levee, mama both night and day
Said I work so hard to keep the water away

I had a woman, she wouldn't do for me
I had a woman, she wouldn't do for me
I'm going back, to my used-to-be

Oh mean old levee, caused me to weep and moan
It's a mean old levee, caused me to weep and moan
Gonna leave my baby, and my happy home

[uncle bud]

There is some gibberish in the lyrics below I could really use some help on.

Great job, great number. All I have to contribute is:

[Women] on the line, makin' it swing

Possibly "Screamin' on the line...."

Preachin' to the public, he don't know a thing

I think it might be Preachin' to the public, "you don't know a thing"

Not sure of Screamin', though it was something I heard as well.  Agree with "you don't know a thing."

Went out datin' with a big-time gal
[Knewed he was takin' her by savin' his pals]

Possibly "Knewed he's talkin' about savin' his pals

...with "talkin'" pronounced "takin'". I dunno what it means either.

Don't play cards, don't shoot no dice
[Havin' spoke/sports] with the other man's wife

"Havin' sports..." I think is correct.

I'll keep the above in square brackets for now and see if others chime in with revelations.

Weather's freezin', ain't got a dime
Moonshine whisky then muscatel wine

I think it might be "Moonshine whiskey, Miss Muscatel Wine, "Miss..." as in the form of address for a single gal. I definitely hear some sibilance in there, and does make it a cool lyric.

I'm not sure I hear sibilance. I somewhat unconfidently still hear "then muscatel wine" sung "den muscatel wine". Perhaps "den it's muscatel wine" with everything but the S in "it's" swallowed?

I have no idea if it's Minnie or Son Joe singing. Minnie has so many voices. It does sound like the singer on Black Rat Swing, also credited to Son Joe in B&GR. But I always think Minnie's singing on that one too. Maybe Minnie's beaus just ended up sounding like her. Kansas Joe on Joliet Bound for example always sounds like her to me, pitching her voice down.

Listening to a number of the Son Joe cuts, like Just Had to Holler, Black Rat Swing, Key to the World, or Black Buffalo, the point of view is male, consistently singing about his woman, or being cheated on by another man etc. While there are examples of women singing from a man's perspective and men singing from a women's in country blues, I doubt there are entire sessions worth of these examples. So I suspect it's Joe on all of them and he just sounds remarkably like Minnie in vocal quality, accent, tone and phrasing.

[uncle bud]

I hear a few small things differently.

When The Levee Breaks, Kansas Joe and Memphis Minnie, June 18 1929 NYC

<snip>

Now look here mama, what am I to do?
Now look here mama, what am I to do?
I ain't got nobody, tell my trouble to

4.2 Now look here mama, NOW what am I to do?
4.3 I ain't got nobody, CARRY my trouble to (not certain of this, but I think carry is sung as carr')

I works on the levee, mama both night and day
I works on the levee, mama both night and day
I ain't got nobody to keep the water away

[break, 2 rounds]

Oh cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do no good
Oh cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do no good
When the levee breaks, mama you got to move

6.2 NOW cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do no good

I works on the levee, mama both night and day
I works on the levee, mama both night and day
I works so hard to keep the water away

6.3 SAID I WORK so hard to keep the water away

[Rivers]

Thanks Andrew I'll go through, comment & correct later. Notice how he sings "Well all last night I sat on the lever...", just idiomatic usage, a joke, or pronunciation I guess. I didn't transcribe it that way but might throw it in when singing it.

And yes, I agree, the two Joes just happened to sound a lot like Minnie and the attributions are correct.

Final comment, if you've never attempted to play "When The Levee Breaks" close to the original take it for a spin, you won't be sorry. Way to elevate a 12 bar into a seriously distinctive song.

And what's with that break? Sounds like Minnie misses the first change to the IV, Son Kansas Joe half changes, realizes what's happening, goes back to the I quickly. You can almost see him shrug his shoulders, and they proceed to make it into something truly unusual. Then a second break verse with them both making the changes. Killer.

I feel a thread topic coming on, "Brilliant mistakes in Country Blues".

[edit, I quoted the wrong 'lever' line, and got the wrong husband first time]

[Rivers]

Now look here mama, what am I to do?
4.2 Now look here mama, NOW what am I to do?
4.3 I ain't got nobody, CARRY my trouble to (not certain of this, but I think carry is sung as carr')

Whew, that's pretty subtle and you could be right in both cases. I'm not convinced though so await further comments.

6.2 NOW cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do no good

Agreed.

67.3 SAID I WORK so hard to keep the water away

You are correct. Updated.

[Rivers]

Pig Meat On The Line
Memphis Minnie & Little Son Joe, unk. string bass
May 21 1941, Chicago



[intro instrumental verse]

Is anybody seen my pig meat on the line?
Oh ho, ho, pig meat on the line
Say he worry me so I just can't keep from cryin'

Gettin' late in the evening and the sun is sinking down
Oh ho, ho, the sun is sinking down
Lonesome without my pig meat, wonder where he could be found

He left me peepin' all through my window blinds
Oh ho, ho, through my window blinds
Don't nothin' suit me like that pig meat daddy of mine

[instrumental verse]

Now peoples if you see him, please tell him this one thing
Oh ho, ho, please tell him this one thing
If he don't come tomorrow, please give poor me a ring

[instrumental verse, and out]

[Rivers]

7)Well the (jinx) overtakes us, now (the cannon) sound.
Me and my baby's got to leave this town.

Just revisiting the last verse in Call the Fire Wagon, I think it might be:

Well the jinx overtakes us now the candle's down
Me and my baby's got to leave this town

... which explains how the fire got started.

[later, added link to original post]

[uncle bud]

Yeah, that sounds like it's correct to me, and as you say makes some sense.

[Drew.MS.Blues96]

HI guys

I'm started to play I'm Going Back Home Memphis Minnie
can you help me I need of lyric pleas. Thanks

[thickpete]

In "That'll Be Alright" I hear things slightly differently -

I don't hear "sea" at all for the house building line. "Street" as suggested by Myk sounds more possible but still off to me...

I think the "old lady" line is actually "only if you"....

"Bend" to me sounds more like "again".