I gave this a few more listens and came up with a theory about the v. 1 line 3. It might be 3 separate thoughts:
"A ghost jumped up."
He sees the ghost and is frightened
"Made my light."
I think this phrase could mean the "ghost" came more clearly into his vision. The 2nd verse line, that the ghost asks for a ride, makes me want to assume he is driving, so could mean came into his headlights, but even if walking he might be carrying a lamp, or it could just mean there was enough moonlight to see more clearly as she came close. I feel like I have seen this phrase "made the light" used in this way recently, perhaps in some Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler that I recently reread.
"Say, it was young."
He is remarking that the ghost does not look old and disheviled but is actually attractive, leading naturally to the first line of the second verse.
Pure conjecture, but I think it makes sense of the sounds as Johnm and I both seem to hear them.
Wax
« Last Edit: October 18, 2019, 06:03:05 PM by waxwing »
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"People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it." George Bernard Shaw
“Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you.” Joseph Heller, Catch-22
Hi all, George Carter's recording of "Hot Jelly Roll Blues" dates from 1929, and he accompanied himself out of Spanish tuning with a slide for the song, very much working the same instrumental territory in that tuning as did Barbecue Bob and Charley Lincoln on many of their songs. I can't really hear what he's singing at the end of each refrain and there are a couple of other places, too, in bent brackets, where I'd very much appreciate help Here is George Carter's performance of "Hot Jelly Roll Blues":
INTRO
Jelly roll, jelly roll, you can see it on the fence, if you don't go and get it, you ain't got no sense REFRAIN: I'm wild about my jelly, 'bout my sweet jelly roll When you taste my jelly, mama, can't [feel at home?]
Can make a blind man see, a lame man walk, can make a deef [sic]woman hear, and a little baby talk REFRAIN: I'm just wild about my jelly, 'bout my sweet jelly roll When you taste my jelly, mama, can't [feel at home?]
INTERLUDE
Gonna tell all you people what jelly roll's done done, made Grandmama marry her youngest grandson REFRAIN: She's wild about her jelly, 'bout her sweet jelly roll When you taste my jelly, mama, can't [feel at home?]
Jelly roll is a thing, a man won't do without, [he will miss things and drift if the people put him out] REFRAIN: I'm wild about my jelly, 'bout my sweet jelly roll When you taste my jelly, mama, can't [feel at home?]
I went up on the mountain, looked down at the sea, a good-lookin' woman winked her eye at me REFRAIN: I'm just wild about jelly, 'bout my sweet jelly roll When you taste my jelly, mama, can't [feel at home?]
If you don't believe my jelly roll'll do, you can ask anybody on old Armond Avenue REFRAIN: I'm just wild about my jelly, 'bout my sweet jelly roll When you taste my jelly, mama, can't [feel at home?]
Edited 7/5 to pick up corrections from Waxwing and Johnm
All best, Johnm
« Last Edit: July 06, 2020, 02:07:25 PM by Johnm »
Sounds like "feel at home" to me, Johnm. You can defiinetly hear him eliding the "L" of "feel" into "at" and I can't come up with anything else that would even make half sense.
He changes up the first line of the refrain quite a bit, for instance in the third verse the refrain starts:
"Just wild about HER jelly, 'bout HER sweet jelly roll"
Sounds to me like the 5th verse is:
"I went up on the mountain, looked down IN the sea, a GOOD-looking' woman winked her eye at me"
It sounds like "Almond Avenue" to me but could be something like Armand or Ormand, being family names. But none of those came up in a search of Atlanta or Georgia. There is an Almond Street in Atlanta, parallel and a block from Atlanta Avenue, so possibly running behind the shops. Might have been Avenue before the streets were raised up above the railroad lines. I visited Atlanta in the 1970s when they were first opening up "Underground Atlanta" for tourism. I guess it's a massive shopping mall now but then it was more like a museum. I also searched for an Almond/Ormand/Armand Avenue in South Carolina as there is some speculation that Carter is from there but nothing came up. Someone who knows the history of the black neighborhoods of Atlanta and or Charleston may know more.
Wax
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"People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it." George Bernard Shaw
“Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you.” Joseph Heller, Catch-22
Thanks very much for the help, Wax. The variations in the chorus were a good thing to look out for, as was a GOOD-lookin' woman. I"m satisfied that it is Armond Avenue, too. Thanks! I'd still like to see if anybody hears anything different for the ending of the refrain and the end of the first line in that one verse. Thanks! All best, Johnm
I've always heard it as: "Trim my wick 'fore it wilt to the floor" which I think I've heard elsewhere. I also heard the first verse as "a ghost jumped out said my life ain't worth yours". That said, my ears can't be relied upon as they didn't pick out the other stuff so huge thanks for this.