Topic: Barbecue Bob Lyrics

[Johnm]

Thanks very much for that, Mark.  I think that is spot on, and I will make the change.
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Barbecue Bob backed himself out of Spanish tuning with a slide for "Good Time Rounder".  He varied his accompaniment in a variety of exciting ways, and seems to have been a player who employed different attacks and tonal variations for their own sake; his second solo is striking for the way he hits his strings in different ways . 
Bob uses a neat sort of run-on sentence phrasing for his second and fifth verses, and his secure sense of time keeps everything hanging together.  This is another terrific tune I've never heard covered.



Honey, I'm so worried, ain't had my right mind today
Honey, I'm so worried, I ain't had my right mind today
I got one mind to leave here, and one mind to stay

You was arguin' in the morning, fusses at noonday, curses me late at night
You was arguin' in the morning, fusses at noonday, cursin' me late at night
But if you keep on arguin', your dad ain't gon' treat you right

I'm the good-time rounder, I runs a good-time flat
I am a good-time rounder, I runs a good-time flat
Sometimes for two or three weeks, my mama don't know where I'm at

SOLO w/falsetto

She's a two-timin' mama, always tryin' to two-time me
But she's a two-timin' mama, always tryin' to two-time me
Say, the law told me I couldn't hurt her, but something that I didn't see

SOLO

There's twenty-five womens in this hotel, with me, you and your brother, what time would it be?
There's twenty-five womens in this hotel, with me, you and your brother, honey, what time would it be?
That's very easy, mama, be twenty-five after three

Good brown, don't you never drive a stranger from your door
Good brown, don't you never drive a stranger from your door
It may be your best friend, honey, you don't know

All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Barbecue Bob backed himself out of Spanish tuning for "Motherless Chile Blues".  His performance of the song is justifiably famous, at least in the world of Country Blues, for it is one of the most arrestingly beautiful of blues songs, and his delivery of it, and the timbre of his accompaniment set it off to great effect.  I'd appreciate help with the bent bracketed phrase in the last verse.  What I have seems a little odd, but I can't think what else it might be.



If I mistreat you, gal, I sure don't mean no harm
If I mistreat you, gal, I sure don't mean no harm
I'm a motherless child and I don't know right from wrong

Please tell me, pretty mama, honey, where you stayed last night
Tell me, pretty mama, Lord, honey, where you stayed last night
You didn't come home 'til the sun was shinin' bright

I have to go so far to get my hambone boiled
I have to go so far, gal, to get my hambone boiled
These Atlanta womens gon' let my hambone spoil

I done done more for you, than your daddy ever done
I did more for you, gal, than your daddy ever done
I give you my jelly, he ain't gived you none

When you see two women always runnin' hand in hand
When you see two women always runnin' hand in hand
You can bet your bottom dollar, one's got the other one's man

I'm goin' to the river, get me a Tango rocking chair
I'm goin' to the river, get me a Tango rocking chair
If the blues overtake me, gonna rock 'em away from there

All best,
Johnm

[LeftyStrat]

I've always heard that word as "tangled".  How much sense it makes though, I don't know...probably very little.

[Johnm]

I know what you mean, LeftyStrat, that's what it sounds like, if not what I suggested, but neither one makes a whole lot of sense.
All best,
Johnm

[uncle bud]

I think tan gold makes a little more sense, as a basic description of the colour of the wood of the rocking chair.

I will also just throw this out there as a Google result, not because I think it's right, but just in case the mashing together of terms makes sense to anyone who can run with it further. If you google Tango, which is sort of what it sounds like Bob sings, and rocking chair, you actually get a connection, as Rocking Chair is apparently one of many Tango dance steps.

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Barbecue played "Unnamed Blues" out of Spanish tuning with a slide, and like "Twistin Your Stuff" and "She Shook Her Gin", it was never released by the record company that recorded it.  I have it on the old Yazoo anthology "Georgia Blues", Yazoo 10012.  As with the other two tunes, the reasons behind its not being released are difficult to imagine, for it is a very strong cut.  He does flub a couple of lines, but nothing drastic.  There are some pretty dodgy lyrics here, verse three is particularly tough.



Let me be your little dog until your big hound comes
Let me be your little dog 'til your big hound comes
I can do more howlin', your big dog ever done

Look over your rollbook, see if you've got my baby's name
Look over your rollbook, see if you've got my baby's name
She's acting funny now, she don't seem the same

Take care of the baby, she'll make a broad someday
Take care of the baby, 'cause she'll make a broad someday
And if I'm not too busy, I'll be stopping by your way

I feel like falling from the treetop to the ground
I feel like falling from the treetop to the ground
My gal got a mean joker, and, uh, he don't 'low me around

I go there early in the morning, else go there late at night
I got there early in the morning, else I have to go there late at night
She used to be my sugar, man, he ain't treatin' her right

You got to love your baby 'cause she'll stay home at night
You got to love your baby so she'll stay home at night
And if you don't love her, she sure ain't gonna treat you right

You can't love me, baby, and love my brother, too
You can't love me, baby, and love my brother, too
Because that's bad stuff and it will never do

SOLO w/falsetto

Edited 1/17 to pick up corrections from banjochris

All best,
Johnm

[banjochris]

Couple of suggestions, John --
1.3 DOG instead of hound
5.3 the second she should be HE

Worth mentioning that verses 4 and 5 are cribbed more or less from Lemon's "Mean Jumper Blues."

[Johnm]

Thanks for the catches, Chris.  I have made the changes.
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

uncle bud, re "rocking chair" being a dance step of the tango, It's hard to figure the sense of Barbecue Bob saying "I'm going to the river, get me a dance move".  I think I'll go with "tan gold".
All best,
Johnm

[uncle bud]

I agree! Just a fluke google result mentioned on the wild chance that someone could make some sense of it. I sure can't. Tan gold seems reasonable. The other possibility is a brand name or style of some kind we are not getting yet.

[ScottN]

Hi John,

Maybe dang old instead of tan gold...sounds like tan gold to me but he has enough other odd pronunciations that who could know for sure...

My other guess might have been that he fluffed the words and was going for something like "take me an old" rocking chair but he delivers it consistently the same way twice and after "get me..." adding "...take me..." makes no sense. 

Clapton's cover sounds like "tangled" to me.

Thanks,
              Scott

[banjochris]

Suggesting another possibility for "tangle" or "tangled" rocking chair -- could he mean a hammock and going to sleep his blues away, ala Charlie Patton? Maybe it was a local or personal way of referring to it.
Chris

[Johnm]

Thanks for the thoughts, guys.  Thinking more about it, I think the strongest factor in favor of "tangled" is that it is a perfectly common word in wide use, whereas I don't know that I've ever heard anyone refer to "tan gold", or classify gold as having that color among its many other possible shades or varieties.  Thinking of it that way, I'm more inclined to go with "tangled", and just assume that it had some meaning to Barbecue Bob that made sense to him.  I'd sure be curious to know what the line did mean to him.  I'll change it to "tangled", though--"tan gold" just seems too unique in a bad or implausible way.
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Barbecue Bob accompanied himself out of Spanish tuning with a slide for "She's Gone Blues".  He uses a form that Booker White used for a lot of his blues, though Booker's time and feel was completely different than Bob's.  It involves starting each of the first two vocal phrases over the IV chord, and then responding instrumentally over the I chord.  The V chord is never sounded at all, with the entire final phrase sounding over the I chord.  Barbecue Bob was such a strong and consistent singer, but he was able to tap different tonal qualities in his vocals; sometimes he has a pretty dark, deep sort of tone, and sometimes his tone is very bright, somewhat akin to Blind Willie McTell's sound on some of his early recordings, like "Statesboro Blues".



When you were down, sick down on your bed
When you were down, sick down on your bed
Know Bobby brought you your medicine, also brought you bread

You was up today, looking good again
You was up today, looking good again
I knock on your door, won't even let me in

But the sun's gon' shine, once more in my back door
But the sun's gon' shine, once more in my back door
It's true I love you, sweet mama, but you can't mistreat me no more

I was standing at the terminal, arms fold up and cried
I was standing at the terminal, arms fold up and cried
Cryin', "I wonder what train taken that brown of mine?"

Then I run to the telephone, took the receiver down
Then I run to the telephone, took the receiver down
I say, "Hello Central, give me Doctor Brown."

My baby looks for me at any old hour at night
My baby looks for me at any old hour at night
No matter when I goes there she never turn out all her lights

Hmmm, hmmm, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord
Hmmm, hmmm, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord
You womens in Atlanta, treat these men like your dogs

Before this time, brown, maybe another year
I'll be up the country, drinkin' that cool canned beer

All best,
Johnm