Hi all,
Every once in a while, you'll hear someone use a word in a blues lyric and you'll think, "Wow, I've never heard anyone sing that word in a blues before!". I got to thinking that it might be fun to collect a few words that we suspect were only sung once in recorded blues, and list them in this thread, along with the musicians who sang them and the songs in which they appeared. Just to get the ball rolling, here are a couple of examples:
* "doleful"--In "Sundown Blues", Alec Johnson sang:
When shadows spread that dreary hue around
From afar I hear a doleful sound
My soul just weeps when the evening sun goes down
I first remarked on that lyric close to fifty years ago, and I've never heard any other blues singer use the word "doleful" in a lyric in all that time.
* "chifferobe"--A chifferobe is a sort of free-standing closet or dresser, Characteristically, one side has space for hanging clothes and the other side has drawers, and you open up facing doors to get to the two sides. Last week, in the "What is this musician doing?" thread, I noticed Brownsville Son Bonds singing in the last verse of "80 Highway Blues":
Yes, and if you get in trouble, call down to Clubhouse 45
Yes, if you get in trouble, call down to Clubhouse 45
Baby, and now you just open up my chifferobe, and you'll see where my dollar lies
Evidently, Son Bonds kept his money in his chifferobe. NOTE: "Chifferobe" does not qualify as a word used only once in blues lyrics, since Charley Jordan used the word four years prior to Brownsville Son Bonds, in his "Chifferobe", as per Al Young's comment below in the thread.
* "shan't"--I remember banjochris commenting on Ishmon Bracey's use of the word "shan't" in the mis-titled "Four Day Blues":
Worried now, mama, and I can't be worried long
Worried now, mama, and I shan't be worried long
Mama, 'fore I'd be treated, be on the county farm
Can any of you folks think of other words you've only heard used once in blues lyrics?
All best,
Johnm
Every once in a while, you'll hear someone use a word in a blues lyric and you'll think, "Wow, I've never heard anyone sing that word in a blues before!". I got to thinking that it might be fun to collect a few words that we suspect were only sung once in recorded blues, and list them in this thread, along with the musicians who sang them and the songs in which they appeared. Just to get the ball rolling, here are a couple of examples:
* "doleful"--In "Sundown Blues", Alec Johnson sang:
When shadows spread that dreary hue around
From afar I hear a doleful sound
My soul just weeps when the evening sun goes down
I first remarked on that lyric close to fifty years ago, and I've never heard any other blues singer use the word "doleful" in a lyric in all that time.
* "chifferobe"--A chifferobe is a sort of free-standing closet or dresser, Characteristically, one side has space for hanging clothes and the other side has drawers, and you open up facing doors to get to the two sides. Last week, in the "What is this musician doing?" thread, I noticed Brownsville Son Bonds singing in the last verse of "80 Highway Blues":
Yes, and if you get in trouble, call down to Clubhouse 45
Yes, if you get in trouble, call down to Clubhouse 45
Baby, and now you just open up my chifferobe, and you'll see where my dollar lies
Evidently, Son Bonds kept his money in his chifferobe. NOTE: "Chifferobe" does not qualify as a word used only once in blues lyrics, since Charley Jordan used the word four years prior to Brownsville Son Bonds, in his "Chifferobe", as per Al Young's comment below in the thread.
* "shan't"--I remember banjochris commenting on Ishmon Bracey's use of the word "shan't" in the mis-titled "Four Day Blues":
Worried now, mama, and I can't be worried long
Worried now, mama, and I shan't be worried long
Mama, 'fore I'd be treated, be on the county farm
Can any of you folks think of other words you've only heard used once in blues lyrics?
All best,
Johnm