Topic: Alley Woman Blues Blind John Davis

[Pan]

Hi all

I could sure use some help with this one; several lines are really tough to understand for me! Any help or corrections would be greatly appreciated! On a side note, this tune apparently has the electric guitar pioneer George Barnes playing guitar.  Here is "Alley Woman Blues":



Alley Woman Blues  -Blind John Davis

SCAT SUNG CHORUS

Don't play me no Opera, baby.
No sweet music for me.
Don't sing me nothing, baby,
'bout the birds in the trees.

I don't want no woman
from the avenue.
Just a good-time brown
from the alley will do.

GUITAR SOLO

These witchy women (scat line).
They may be ever so nice.
When it comes down to loving, baby,
they just as cold as ice.

Can't use no woman (scat line)
who don't know what it's all about.
by the time she start her movements
I'll be all worn out

PIANO SOLO

I may be low-down, baby,
but I swear, I swear, I ain't nobody's fool.
I know something, loving little baby,
that you never learned in school,
Oh baby, that you never learned in school.




I just love that last line! Does it occur in other songs too, or is it original?

Cheers

Pan

[CF]

Hey Pan, here's a few things

V. 1, L.1-Don't play me no Opera(s) baby

V. 2, L. 3 . . . sounds like 'Brown' to me

V. 3, L. 1 . . . not sure here??

V. 3, L. 4 . . . they just as cold as ice . . .

V. 4, L. 1- sounds like a scat line

V. 4, L. 3 'By the time she start her movements'
V. 4, L. 4-I'll be home all now??

[Pan]

Thank you for your help, cheapfeet! Those were some good catches, I'll edit accordingly.

Cheers

Pan

[banjochris]

Agree with all the suggestions so far, and will add:

3.1 "witchy" is right, and, just like 4.1, it ends with scat syllables
4.1 ends with scat
4.3 "starts her movements" is right
4.4 I'll be all worn out.
5.1 Should be "I may be LOW down, baby"

I think that's the whole tune -- never had heard that one before, it's a good 'un.
Chris

[Pan]

Thank you so much chris! Never would I have finished the song by myself! I'll make the changes you suggested!

Cheers

Pan

[mr mando]

I just love that last line! Does it occur in other songs too, or is it original?

The lyrics are from the Bob Robinson And His Bob-Cats tune "Down In The Alley", which was released in 1936 IIRC. There are some variations in Blind John Davis' version, like "witchy women" instead of "Ritzy women", "brown" instead of "broad", or "start her movements" instead of "learned some movements", but the verses are in the same order. Musically, Bob Robinson's "Down In The Alley" is a 12 bar chorus blues with changes similar to "Hesitation Blues" (vi-III7-vi/III7-I/I7-IV-IV-I-I-V7-bVI7/V7-I-V7), so Blind John Davis' "Alley Woman Blues" omits the chorus to adapt the verse lyrics to a different musical form.

There are also versions of "Down In The Alley" by Big Bill Broonzy and by the Hokum Boys, BTW, which are musically similar to Bob Robinson's "Down In The Alley", but only the Hokum Boys version shares some lyrics with the Bob Robinson version, IIRC. I'm prettty sure they have the "I know something, loving little baby, that you never learned in school" verse in common. I don't remember if the BBB and HB versions were earlier than the BR version.

BTW, I play a tenor guitar arrangement of the Bob Robinson version (in F) and I sing the tune, too, that's why I knew all this stuff. I usually add a verse from the BBB version as last verse: "And if you want somethin' that smells like fish, down in the alley they serve that dish".
 

[Pan]

I just love that last line! Does it occur in other songs too, or is it original?

The lyrics are from the Bob Robinson And His Bob-Cats tune "Down In The Alley", which was released in 1936 IIRC. There are some variations in Blind John Davis' version, like "witchy women" instead of "Ritzy women", "brown" instead of "broad", or "start her movements" instead of "learned some movements", but the verses are in the same order. Musically, Bob Robinson's "Down In The Alley" is a 12 bar chorus blues with changes similar to "Hesitation Blues" (vi-III7-vi/III7-I/I7-IV-IV-I-I-V7-bVI7/V7-I-V7), so Blind John Davis' "Alley Woman Blues" omits the chorus to adapt the verse lyrics to a different musical form.

There are also versions of "Down In The Alley" by Big Bill Broonzy and by the Hokum Boys, BTW, which are musically similar to Bob Robinson's "Down In The Alley", but only the Hokum Boys version shares some lyrics with the Bob Robinson version, IIRC. I'm prettty sure they have the "I know something, loving little baby, that you never learned in school" verse in common. I don't remember if the BBB and HB versions were earlier than the BR version.

BTW, I play a tenor guitar arrangement of the Bob Robinson version (in F) and I sing the tune, too, that's why I knew all this stuff. I usually add a verse from the BBB version as last verse: "And if you want somethin' that smells like fish, down in the alley they serve that dish".

Wow! Thanks for all the information Mr. Mando. I'll be checking out some of these versions of the tune.

Cheers

Pan

Edited to add: I found the Bob Robinson version on Spotify, and it was very nice.
Big Bill Broonzy's version can be found on YouTube. I wonder who the pianist is? Thanks again, Mr. Mando!