Topic: Rosa Lee Hill Lyrics

[Johnm]

Hi all,
It seems (I hope) that Rosa Lee Hill is beginning to get recognition as one of the giants of Mississippi blues, or Country Blues in the larger sense.  Her bending of the next lower string up to a semi-unison or "corrupted unison" with its open string upper neighbor is utterly distinctive and a mainstay of her sound.  It's also very challenging to do with anything like the accuracy and expressive inflection with which she did it.  This is from her recording of "Bullying Well", made by Alan Lomax on September 25, 1959 in the home of Fred McDowell.  Note the unusual structure of the lyrics in verses two and three and their later repetitions:  it is a relative commonplace to elide the end of lines and have the guitar "sing" the missing words, but in these verses it is the front end which is elided.  I'm hard put to think of other places I've heard that done.  Here is her performance: 



Ain't goin' down to your bullying well no more
Bullying well no more

Miss my water, 'til my well went dry
'Til my well went dry

Miss my faro, 'til he say "goodbye"
'Til he say "goodbye"

I had wings like, jaybird in the air
Jaybird in the air

Make my nest, in my rider's hair
In my rider's hair

Ain't goin' down, bullying well no more
Bullying well no --

Miss my water, 'til my well went dry
'Til my well went dry

Miss my faro, 'til he say "goodbye"
'Til he say "goodbye"

Faro, what's the matter now?
What's the matter now?

Treatin' your faro, like you used to do
Like you used to do

Hey-ey-ey, ey-ey-ey-ey
Ey-ey-ey-ey
Ey-ey-ey-ey
Ey-hey-hey-hey

All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
"Count The Days I'm Gone", record August 22 or 23 in 1967 by George Mitchell, finds Rosa Lee Hill playing in cross-note tuning at Bb, which is to say that her sixth string, tuned to E in standard tuning at pitch is dropped a full diminished fifth, half an octave.  People, that is LOW!  It sure makes for a spooky sound.  Her tunes remind me a little bit of those of Thelonius Monk in that they always seem to have exactly the right amount of musical information/content, and when you have a signature lick as cool as hers for this tune you'd be crazy not to play it over and over and over.  She wasn't crazy.  Here is her performance:



Be here walkin', talkin' to my self

Yes, you see my rider, tell 'im to hurry home

Now, I know you gon' miss me, baby, baby, when I'm gone
Hey-ey, know you're gonna miss me, baby, when I'm gone
Babe, I'm leavin', count the days I'm gone

Think I'm sinkin', look what a hole I'm in

All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Rosa Lee Hill recorded "Roll and Tumble" for Alan Lomax in 1959 and again, for George Mitchell, in 1967.  Here is the version she recorded for George Mitchell--as the rendition goes along she switches from two-line stanzas to single-line stanzas.  Her notion of blues lyrics seems to have pre-dated the AAB lyric convention for 12-bar blues.



INTRO

Rolled and I tumble, cried the whole night long
Rolled and I tumble, cried the whole night long

What you gon' do when your trouble get like mine?
What you gon' do when your trouble get like mine?

Rolled and I tumble, cried the whole night long
I rolled and I tumble, cried the whole night long

Roll and I tumble, cried the whole night long

What you gon' do, your troubles get like mine?

Worried now, won't be worried long

Worried now, won't be worried long

SOLO

All best,
Johnm

[Longsands]

Hi John,

This got me thinking that quite a few of the old songs I?ve been digging through for the Fred McDowell Lyrics thread follow a two line lyric format, either AA (Milk Cow Blues, Jim Steam Killed Lula, You Drove Me From Your Door), AB (Big Fat Mama) or a bit of both (Red Cross Store, one version of Dankin?s Farm), sometimes packed out with repetition of part of the A or B line.  Perhaps this form was relatively popular in the Hill Country compared to other areas?  (Or maybe I?m reading too much into a small sample of songs?)

David

[Johnm]

Hi David,
I had not remarked upon the 2-line stanza being particularly characteristic of Hill Country Blues, but you might be on to something.  I'll pay more attention to lyrics as sung by folks like R. L. Burnside and Robert Belfour, in addition to Rosa Lee Hill and Fred McDowell.  Good thought!  I do know that Texas Alexander, in his more "work song" mode, on tunes like "Levee Camp Moan" sang two-line stanzas.
All best,
Johnm

[Longsands]

I had a quick listen to Ranie Burnette?s Hill Country Blues CD (recorded 1980).  He was a near cotemporary of McDowell and Rosa Lee Hill, and played in the same circles.  I reckon he uses a 2 line AA stanza on five of the eleven songs (Coal Black Mattie, Two and Two Blues, Hungry Spell, Turn On Down, and Yonder Goes My Baby) and a variant AABB on Gone Dead On You.  (He often truncates the second line lyric).  Apologies if I?m straying off topic from Rosa Lee, of whom the more I hear the more I like.
Cheers, David

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Rosa Lee Hill recorded "Pork And Beans" for George Mitchell, and I first heard this rendition on The George Mitchell Collection, on Fat Possum. I mis-identified her playing position/tuning as being cross-note, tuned very low, and in re-listening, I'm sheepish that I did so, for she has repeated hammers from a IV note to a V note in the bass that would only be available in cross-note if she were hammering from the fifth to the seventh fret of the sixth string, which she certainly was not doing. So, she was either playing in E position, standard tuning or EAEGBE tuned low, both of which playing positions/tunings make a low IV note available on the open fifth string. I believe EAEGBE is the more likely candidate, for she never hits anything but an uninflected I note on the fourth string. Whatever the case, this is absolutely ripping guitar playing, and I would rate her as highly as any other Mississippi guitarist that I can think of--stylistically, she may fairly be said to fall into the "not a broad range of expression, but an incredibly deep one" category, something like Skip James or Garfield Akers in that respect (though she sounds nothing like either of them). And for my money, she mines the expressive possibilities of extreme low tuning to work with extravagant bends as well as anyone who ever played in the style. Her singing has an eerie quality, too. I would love to have been able to hear her in person. Here is "Pork And Beans":



INTRO

Mama in the kitchen, cookin', pork and beans, say my, Dad on the ocean, runnin' submasrine [sic]
Mama in the kitchen, cookin' pork and bean

INTERLUDE

Mama in the kitchen, cookin', pork and beans, says my, Dad on the ocean, runnin' submasrine [sic]

INTERLUDE

Mama in the kitchen, cookin', pork and beans, says my, Dad on the ocean, runnin' submasrine [sic]

INTERLUDE

See my clothes clean, hangin', on your line, say you, know by that I got a ramblin' mind

INTERLUDE

Marry your daughter, be your, son-in-law, let me, marry your daughter
Be your son-in-law

INTERLUDE

Marry your daughter, be your, son-in-law, let me, marry your daughter
Be your son-in-law, be your son-in-law

INTERLUDE AND CODA

All best,
Johnm