Topic: Bayless Rose Lyrics

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Bayless Rose, one of the Country Blues' "mystery men", had but one day in the studio, in Richmond, Indiana on June 7, 1930.  Little or nothing is known of him in the biographical sense, and his race is not known for certain, though it seems most listeners feel he was a white musician.  Two of the four songs he recorded were instrumentals, with "Jamestown Exhibition" a raggy tune played out of C in standard tuning, and "Frisco Blues" a slide number in Vestapol that sounds as though Rose had been listening to Furry Lewis songs like "Falling Down Blues" and "Judge Harsh Blues".
Bayless Rose backed his "Original Blues" out of E position in standard tuning, and his playing has a lot of nifty and unusual touches.  One peculiarity of his playing is that he goes almost the entire length of the song without striking his open sixth string, very unusual for someone playing out of E.  He just hits it once in his second solo.  He starts the song as a 12-bar blues, but switches to a 16-bar form for his second solo, maintaining the 16-bar form for his final two verses and switching back to a 12-bar form for his concluding solo.  This sort of switching of forms in the middle of a rendition was not nearly as uncommon as you might think it to be, especially in the early years of the recorded blues.  If you keep an ear out for it, you'll hear people like Frank Stokes, Bo Weavil Jackson and Edward Thompson doing it, as well as other players.  Bayless Rose was not a flashy singer, but his voice had an appealing reedy sort of tone.  Here is "Original Blues":



   SOLO

   Said, I didn't come here, baby, to take nobody's brown
   Said, I didn't come here, honey, take nobody's brown
   I'm just a poor man, babe, I just walked in your town

   From ashes from ashes, mama, from dust to dust
   From ashes from ashes, woman, from dust to dust
   Just show me a woman any poor man can trust

   Says, I laid and talked with my brown all night long
   Says, I laid and talked to my woman all night long
   Tryin' to teach that woman, teach her right from wrong

   Mississippi River, woman, is deep and wide
   Mississippi River (guitar fills in) deep and wide
   Couldn't see my brownie from this other side

   SOLO

   Said, go on, woman, look what you've done done
   Said, run here, woman, look what you've done done
   Said, run here, woman, look what you've done done
   You made me love you, now your man done come

   She's your and she's mine, she's someone else's, too
   She's your and she's mine, she's someone else's, too
   She's your and she's mine, she's someone else's, too
   Just any woman, Good Lord, she will do

   SOLO

All best,
Johnm
   
 

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Bayless Rose's other song recorded on June 7, 1930 in Richmond, Indiana is "Black Dog Blues".  The song has an unusual raggy 16-bar progression, played in G position, standard tuning, that goes like this:

   |   B7   |   B7   |   E   |    E   |

   |   A    |     A    |   D  |    D   |

   |   G    |     G    |   G  |    G   |

   |   G    |    D7   |   G   |    G   |

Lyrically, the song appears to be a variant of "Old Black Dog", which Dick Justice recorded a year previously in Chicago.  Like "Old Black Dog", "Black Dog Blues" has a full-form refrain, something not commonly encountered in a 16-bar blues.  Here is "Black Dog Blues":



   REFRAIN: Call me ol' dog when I'm gone, gone, gone, yes you
   Call me your dog when I'm gone
   It's when I come back with a ten dollar bill,
   "Honey, where you been so long?"

   Been all around Kentucky, yes, honey, and the
   State of old Tennessee
   It's everywhere, well, I hang my hat
   Home sweet home to me
 
   Daddy learned me how to gamble
   Told me to play that jack and trey
   Ev'y time when that deal would go down, I would
   Leave on that deuce, ace and trey

   REFRAIN: Old black dog when I'm gone, gone, gone, honey, it's
   Old black dog when I'm gone
   It's when I come back with a ten dollar bill
   "Honey, where you been so long?"

   Daddy learned me how to gamble
   Told me to play that jack and trey
   Ev'y time when that deal would go down, I would
   Leave on that deuce, ace and trey

   REFRAIN: Call me old dog when I'm gone, gone, gone, honey,
   Call me old dog when I'm gone
   It's when I come back with a ten dollar bill
   "Honey, where you been so long?"

   "Where'd you get that dress you wear,
   The shoes that you wore so fine?"
   "Got my dress from a railroad man,
   Shoes from a driver in the mine."

   SOLO X 2

   REFRAIN: Call me old dog when I'm gone, gone, gone, honey,
   You call me your dog when I'm gone
   It's when I come back with a ten dollar bill
   "Honey, where you been so long?"

   Bet my dice in Cuby
   Played my cards in Spain
   It's when I get ready, well, to leave this town
   I'm gonna ride that fast mail train

All best,
Johnm

 
   

[bayrum78]

Thanks for transcribing the lyrics and pointing out the bar length shift in Original Blues. I had been playing "Original Blues" for years before noticing the bar change shift and incorporating it. It's definitely more fun to play that way and repeating the IV chord theme adds interest. For me, those idiosyncratic elements are part of the charm of country blues and old time. Changing subject - any ideas what dice game he may have been singing about the deal going down and leaving on the deuce, ace and trey combination? I'm not a gambler, but perhaps he was referencing craps or the 3 dice game of Cee-lo.   

Thanks,

Bayrum78

[Johnm]

Hi Nate,
No, I don't know the card game being referenced.  I still don't know what card game is referred to in "Jack of Diamonds", either.  Any other takers?
All best,
Johnm

[banjochris]

We had a long discussion about this here:
http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?amp;Itemid=128&topic=5267.0

I think either Georgia Skin or Faro would be the big contenders for the terms in both "Black Dog" and "Jack of Diamonds."

I don't know of any special significance for the deuce, ace and trey, except from the context it sounds like Rose misheard a lyric about a train (which is what you usually hear in that verse) and rendered it thusly.

The only card game I know where the Jack of Diamonds specifically has any significance in play (as opposed to perhaps just superstition) is in Pinochle and its off-shoots.

Another game frequently referred to in old-time/blues songs is the game of Seven Up, All Fours, Set Back or Pitch, which are all basically the same thing. If you hear a song that refers to High, Low, Jack and the Game that's the one they're talking about.

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I realize that these two tunes have no lyrics, but it seemed a shame for them not to be included with the rest of Bayless Rose's recorded numbers.  Here is "Jamestown Exhibition":



Here is ""Frisco Blues":



All best,
Johnm