Topic: Blind Joe Reynolds/Blind Willie Reynolds Lyrics

[uncle bud]

In several moments of procrastination, I took a stab at transcribing the lyrics for Ninety Nine Blues. Blind Joe Reynolds recorded this in November 1929 and played out of C position, showing the influence of Blind Lemon Jefferson, but definitely getting his own idiosyncratic sound going. Would love some help on the stuff in square brackets, and anything else. Joe blows the tag line in the second verse and stops to correct himself. Interestingly, he does the same in "Third Street Woman Blues", where he begins to sing, "Don't like my..." then reminds himself the verse should be about chicken by saying "Chicken", going on to sing "Had so much of chicken till I heard 'em clucking in my sleep".



Ninety Nine Blues - Blind Joe Reynolds

I got ninety-nine women, cravin' nineteen more
I got ninety-nine women, cravin' nineteen more
And if I [get them hundred], boys, I'm gonna let these nineteen go

I got a big fat mama, meat shakin' on her bone
I got a big fat mama, the meat shakin' on her bone
And every time I quiver -- Every time she quiver, small woman lose her home

Lord, I'm goin' away, mama, wear you off my mind
Lord, I'm goin' away, mama, just to wear you off my mind
Because you keep me worried and bothered all the time

SOLO

(Lord have mercy)

Oh when you feel tomorrow, like I feel today
If I feel tomorrow, huh, mama, like I feel today
I'm gonna drink corn liquor just to drive these blues away

Well let me tell you boys what these women will do
Let me tell you boys what these old women will do
They will get your money and leave [a ?? cup] to you

Oh tell me mama, what's the matter now
Oh tell me mama, tell me what's the matter now
For the blues I've got, the blues [like] ninety-nine

Yeah my woman got something called a stingaree
Yeah my woman got something that the men call a stingaree
At four o'clock every morning she turns it loose on me

[beljum]

Thanks for the introduction to Blind Joe Reynolds.

Dont know if this is much help for the lyrics.

I'm sort of hearing  "They will get your money leave an I could care cup to you"

Something about "care cup" though.

[banjochris]

UB: I think you're right on all the bracketed bits except 1.1 and 1.2, which I think are
1.1, 1.2 CRAVIN' nineteen more

and 5.3, which I can't get either, but I offer this suggestion for further listening. What if it's
"They will get your money, leave, and XXXXX'll come to you" -- maybe?
Chris

[uncle bud]

Thanks fellas. Chris, CRAVIN' sounds good to me.

Verse 5 is still fairly mysterious. Here's my latest extremely tentative take:

They will get your money AN' LEAVE A NATURAL CHILD COME to you.   Child being sung more like chell. Still really guessing though.

[banjochris]

I was hearing "natural" in there too, but yeah, that's a toughie. I'll try it again in a day or two.

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Blind Willie Reynolds accompanied himself out of C position in standard tuning for his recording of "Third Street Woman Blues".  It is an exceptionally beautiful track, with an unforgettable signature lick.  It's substantially the same piece musically as Blind Joe Reynold's "Ninety-Nine Blues", but is much more cleanly executed and sung.  I assume the two Reynolds are the same person, but vocally, especially, they sound pretty different.  Blind Willie sort of fluffs the lyrics a couple of times, but soldiers on, and the rendition is not harmed in any way.



Mmmmm, where my Third Street woman now?
Mmmmm, where my Third Street woman now?
But the way she treat me, that's the coldest stuff in town

Don't like my . . .tck . . . chick'n. . .
I et so much of chicken 'til I heard her cluckin' in my sleep
I et so much of chicken 'til I heard her cluckin' in my sleep
I got . . . Don't like my 'tatoes, mama, please don't dig so deep

Mmmmmm, I got a . . . she's a big fat mama with the meat shakin' on her bones
She's a big fat mama with the meat shakin' on her bones
And every time she shake it, Lord, a hustlin' woman lose her home

She got somethin' that the men call a stingeree
She got somethin' that the men call a stingeree
Four o'clock every mornin', she turn it loose on me

Mmmmmm, where my Third Street woman gone?
Mmmmmm, where my Third Street woman gone?
B'lieve to my soul she will hustle everywhere but home

If you can't do my rollin', mama, you can't spend your change
If you can't do my rollin', mama, you can't spend my change

All best,
Johnm
 

[Johnm]

Hi all,
After re-listening to "Third Street Woman Blues" and "Ninety Nine Blues", I would say that, based solely on sound, Blind Joe Reynolds and Blind Willie Reynolds were not the same person.  Blind Joe has a phlegmy rattle in his vocal delivery that was present on all of his other records, "Outside Woman Blues", "Married Man Blues", et al, and Blind Willie's voice is smooth.  Instrumentally, Blind Joe has the strong but noisy sound of a street player, whereas Blind Willie's sound is smooth, without buzzing or rattling.  I suppose it's possible that Blind Willie was actually Blind Joe on an uncharacteristically suave day in the studio, but I don't think so.  That having been said, if they were two different people, the one who copied the accompaniment obviously heard the creator of the accompaniment perform it; the accompaniment is too singular to have just occurred to two different people without them ever having heard each other.  I would suggest that if they were two different people, the imitator/second person to the accompaniment took not only the accompaniment, but the surname (for performance/recording purposes) from the other.  I'd be interested what you all think after listening to the two tracks (and the rest of Blind Joe Reynolds' tracks).
All best,
Johnm

[banjochris]

I'm going to have to go and listen at home with the discography in front of me, since the tunes tend to be listed interchangeably and Joe and Willie on YouTube, but the similarities I think are closer than mere imitation, especially on Outside Woman/Married Man.

I definitely hear what you mean, though. Possibly inebriation could have played a part? If he was in the middle of a Sterno bender that might affect his tuning and singing both.

Or if they are two different people, maybe they were brothers, playing the same style like Barbecue Bob and Charlie Lincoln. Of course the odds against them both being blind would be high (especially since Joe's blindness is documented as being from an injury, isn't it?).

[dj]

Well, banjochris beat me to my two main points, inebriation and relation.

To amplify on the inebriation theme a bit, Blind Joe Reynolds recorded in the Paramount studio in Grafton Wisconsin, and we know from Son House, among others, that Paramount liked to keep whiskey in the studio for its "race" artists.  Victor, recording remotely in Memphis, probably didn't have such an amenity at hand.  Note the roughness of Son House's voice on his Paramount tracks as compared to his Library of Congress recordings, where the only drink was Coca Cola. 

It sure would be interesting if Blind Willie Reynolds' two unissued sides, Short Dress Blues and Goose Hill Woman Blues, turned up.  Though one could make an educated guess, based on the extant recordings of the two artists, that Blind Willie's Short Dress Blues is a version of Blind Joe's Nehi Blues.  This would tend to make one think that if Blind Willie and Blind Joe weren't the same person, they were probably related either by blood or friendship.   

Finally, I'll note B&GR's comment: "Blind Joe Reynolds and Blind Willie Reynolds may well be the same artist, but the evidence is not conclusive."

[btasoundsradio]

I remember reading somewhere that the difference could've been due to the fact that Victor's studio environment was more repressive that Paramount's, and that Willie/Joe was very nervous at the Victor session. Didn't also his nephew recognize "Third Street Woman" as definitely being Blind Joe?

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Thinking more about the question of the identity of either this one musician with two different names or two different musicians, I think one of the strongest factors suggesting that it was one and the same person on both songs is that on both "Third Street Woman Blues" and on "Ninety Nine Blues", there are false starts in the singing of verses, and in both instances, the false starts feel the same and are recovered from in the same way by the performer.  It seems a little too much to suggest that two different players would screw up the same way, in analogous places in the songs and recover the same way.  That having been said, I sure prefer the Blind Willie Reynolds sound on "Third Street Woman Blues" to the Blind Joe Reynolds sound on "Ninety Nine Blues".  That's just me, though.
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Since it seems to be reasonably certain that Blind Joe Reynolds and Blind Willie Reynolds were the same person, it seemed to make sense to do a merged lyric thread for songs recorded under the two different names.
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I've been listening to Blind Joe Reynold's "Ninety-Nine Blues", and heard something for the tagline to verse five.  See what you think:
   They will get your money and leave a NATCHEZ SHERIFF COME to you
I think the sound is the closest to what Blind Joe sings of anything suggested thus far.  If correct, the lyric would suggest a situation something like what Booker White sang about in "Sic 'Em Dogs On Me".
What do you think?
All best,
Johnm

[One-Eyed Ross]

I hear it as "come FOR you", not that it is a significant difference....

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Here are the lyrics to Blind Joe Reynolds "Outside Woman Blues" which he recorded in 1929, accompanying himself out of Vestapol with a slide.  Apart from his signature lick, he uses the slide very sparingly in his verse accompaniments.  Here is the song:



INTRO

When you lose your money, Great God, don't lose your mind
When you lose your money, Great God, don't lose your mind, mmm-mmmm
And when you lose your woman, please don't fool with mine

I'm gon' buy me a bulldog, watch my old lady whilst I sleep
I'm gon' buy me a bulldog, watch my old lady while I'm 'sleep, mmm-mmmm
'Cause women these days, they're so doggone crooked, 'til they might make a 'fore-day creep

GUITAR SOLO

Tell you married men, how to keep your wives at home
Tell you married men, how to keep your wives at home
Get you a job, roll for the man, and try to carry your labor home

Tell you married women, how to keep your husbands at home
Tell you married women, how to keep your husbands at home, mmm-mmmm
You want to take care of the man's labor, and let these single boys alone

GUITAR INTERLUDE

You can't watch your wife and your outside womens, too
You can't watch your wife and your outside womens, too
While you're off with your woman, your wife could be at home, beatin' you doin', buddy, what you tryin' to do, mmm-mmmm, buddy, what you tryin' to do

OUTRO

All best,
Johnm