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Wow - but Bessie Smith spills fire and fury in Hateful Blues on Columbia Record 14023D. Talk about hymns of hate - Bessie sure is a him-hater on this record. The way she tells what she is going to do with her "butcher" will make trifling fellows catch express trains going at 60 miles an hour. The music is full of hate too. You can almost see hate drip from the piano keys. Every note is a half-note. No quarter for anyone - Chicago defender ad, July 1924

Author Topic: Songs That Set New Lyrics to Melodies of "Careless Love" or "Corinna, Corinna"  (Read 4853 times)

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Offline Johnm

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Hi all,
Over the years I've noticed that the melodies of "Careless Love" and "Corinna, Corinna" have often been used to set new lyrics, and I thought it might be interesting to think of as many of these songs as we can.  Just to start out, the following songs use the melody of "Corinna, Corinna":
   * "Hold Them Puppies"--Leroy Carr
   * "The Northern Starvers Are Returning Home"--Mississippi Sheiks
These songs used the melody to "Careless Love"
   * "Be True, Be True Blues--Henry Sims with Charlie Patton
   * "County Jail Blues"--Funny Papa Smith
Can you think of other songs that employ either of these melodies but with different lyrics?
All best,
Johnm

Offline Johnm

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Hi all,
The Mississippi Sheiks' recording of "Sweet Maggie" used the melody of "Corinna, Corinna".  Any others out there?
All best,
Johnm

Offline harriet

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"Blues oh Blues" by Ma Rainey might be another to Careless Love melody:

Offline Johnm

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Good find, Harriet!  That one certainly fits the job description.
All best,
Johnm

Offline Bob B

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How about the Rev.'s powerful "12 Gates to the City (Oh, What a beautiful city)"? Fairly similar to "Careless Love".

Hap-hap-happy new year to all.

Bob

Offline Johnm

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Hi all,
Furry Lewis' rendition of "Roberta" that first appeared on his Prestige Bluesville album, "Back On My Feet Again", was done to the tune of "Corinna, Corinna", and even used several of the same verses, just subtituting Roberta for Corinna.
All best,
Johnm

Offline Prof Scratchy

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Does this one count for the Corinna Corinna melody?

Offline Johnm

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It sure sounds like it to me, Prof.  Good one!
All best,
Johnm

Offline d. spree

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Alberta Alberta is an old song with its own provenance.  To me seems like a very different melody indeed.

Offline Johnm

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D.Spree
You are wrong.  Snooks has some different harmonic touches, but he sings essentially the same melody as John Hurt, Merle Haggard, et al used for "Corinna, Corinna".  The Bob Dylan version of "Corinna, Corinna" uses a different melody for "Corinna", as does Taj Mahal's.  There is no one set melody commonly in use for "Alberta", and Snooks' version uses the same lyrics as the traditional "Corinna, Corinna", simply substituting Alberta for Corinna in the lyrics.

Offline dj

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The Mississippi Sheiks (1930) and Jimmie Gordon (1938) use the Corinna Corinna melody for their versions of Alberta.  Jazz Gillum's version (1937) is a different song both musically and lyrically, and would seem to be based on DarK Road and related tunes. 

Offline uncle bud

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Robert Jenkins, Butch Cage and Willie B. Thomas base I Had a Dream Last Night (All I Had was Gone) on Corinna. On the (great) Arhoolie disc, Old Time Black Southern String Band Music. Willie throws in a verse of Alberta for good measure.

Offline btasoundsradio

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See that my Grave is kept clean Blind Lemon,
Mississippi County Farm Blues Son House
Charlie is the Father, Son is the Son, Willie is the Holy Ghost

Offline joebanjo

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McTell's melody for the tune he calls "Lay Some Flowers on My Grave" is definitely the same as Careless love:


Offline Prof Scratchy

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Good  catch joebanjo!

 


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