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You can jive me, baby, but I don't believe a thing you say. You just a confidencin' woman and wants to have your way. - Clifford Gibson, "Jive Me Blues"

Author Topic: Little Hat Jones lyrics  (Read 32502 times)

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Offline frankie

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Re: Little Hat Jones lyrics
« Reply #30 on: December 09, 2004, 09:15:45 PM »
I think the chord is close to

First: 3rd fret
Second: 2nd fret
Third: third fret
Fourth: 1st fret
Fifth: 1st fret
Sixth: not played

The chord you're describing is an Eflat7 (Bflat in the bass).? I'd have to listen to the tune to see if that's exactly what he's playing, but it certainly fits within the contours of the tune as I remember it.? That chord (w/o the Bflat bass) shows up in Rev. Davis' Lord Search My Heart and (with the open third string instead of the third fret/third string) in Blind Blake's That'll Never Happen No More.

Offline GhostRider

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Re: Little Hat Jones lyrics
« Reply #31 on: December 15, 2004, 08:35:14 PM »
Hi all:

Thanks Ramblin' Frank for the insight on the chord.

I'd like to give a go to figure out the words to "Rolled fromSide to Side Blues" by Little Hat Jones. S. Grossman does TAB out part of the song in this "Texas Blues Guitar" but tactfully omits to provide a transcription of the first verse. And I don't agree with some of his other ideas. Let's see what Weenies can do.

Rolled From Side to Side Blues
Little Hat Jones
1929

Standard tuning, G position.

Intro (double time)

(1) Mr Fairlay, Mr. Fairlay ??? nancy (?) women fo' ???? (x2)
I done tried to get my sweet woman like Mr. Failay got to go.

(2) Mmmmm, baby don't you think I know. (x2)
??? woman make a man love her, people,  and shake hands and go

(3) ??? Never take a woman, I'm speakin' 'bout to be your friend (x2)
Aww, she get all your money then look what a hole your in

(4) Instrumental break (16 bars)

(5) I went to bed last night, people, rolled from side to side (x2)
I didn't have no blues honey, things wern't goin' right.

(6) When you catch me sleepin', baby don't you think I'm drunk (???) (x2)
I got one eye on my pistol, the other on you trunk (???)

(7) Instrumental break (16 bars)

(8)Tell me sweet baby, honey what's on your mind (x2)
You keep a poor man troubled, really lookin' downhearted all the time

Thanks in advance,
Alex


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« Last Edit: February 10, 2008, 03:06:09 PM by GhostRider »

Offline waxwing

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Re: Little Hat Jones lyrics
« Reply #32 on: December 16, 2004, 10:19:47 AM »
Hey Alex,
I'll give it a shot. Got it loaded into Transcribe! so's I can slow it down a bit.

Rolled From Side to Side Blues
Little Hat Jones
1929

Key of G

Intro (double time)

(1) Mr Faraday, Mr. Faraday s'there (nasty)(?) women fo' sale (x2)
I done tryin' t' get my sweet woman like Mr. Faraday got a girl

(2) Mmmmm, baby don't you think I know (x2)
Pretty woman make a man love her, people, and shake hands and go

(3) Aww, never take no woman, I'm speakin' 'bout, to be your friend
I said man, don'never take no woman, I'm speakin' 'bout, to be your friend
Aww, she get all your money then look what a hole your in

(4) Instrumental break (16 bars)

(5) I went to bed last night, people, rolled from side to side (x2)
I didn't have no blues honey, damnit, things weren't goin' right.

(6) When you catch me sleepin', baby don't you think I'm drunk (x2)
I've a got one eye on my pistol, keep the other one on your trunk

(7) Instrumental break (16 bars)

(8)Tell me sweet baby, aww, what's on your mind
I said tell me sweet baby, honey, what's on your mind
You keep a poor man troubled, really lookin' downhearted all the time


Yeah, slowed down it sounds like "Mr Faraday".?The only question I really have is "nasty" which works in the line great but the "s" sound is barely there, sorta like "naaaaaastteh" or "naaaaaasttuh" with not much of a "y" on the end either. Oh well, it makes plenty of sense from the perspective of the rest of the song.

Key of G, hunh? Cool, I may have to look at this one some time, I could use more experience with G. Nice that it goes to a 16 bar break. Thanks for posting it.
All for now.
Barbecue John C.
« Last Edit: April 19, 2005, 08:18:20 PM by Johnm »
"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

http://www.youtube.com/user/WaxwingJohn
CD on YT

Offline GhostRider

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Re: Little Hat Jones lyrics
« Reply #33 on: January 03, 2005, 10:35:54 AM »
Hi all:

I recently had the chance to listen to LH Jones Kentucky Blues a lot while driving through the mountains over the holidays. I propose a few small changes to the lyrics, which I have noted in bold below.

BTW, thanks a lot Barbeque John, for your work on Rolled From Side to Side

Kentucky Blues
Little Hat Jones
1930

solo acoustic guitar
Standard tuning, E position, pitched at F.

Introduction (instrumental)

(1) Instrumental

(2)Well, whilst we here tryin' 'a have our fun
S'pose the law jumped up and said "Nobody run!"
Well you know I'm long gone, from Kentucky
Long gone and then got away lucky
'Cus I gonna leave Seguine, I'll be just like a submarine

(3) Well my woman poked her head out from way under the bed
She said "Please don't let 'em kill (deleted me)Mr. Little Hat dead"
I said "No use to worryin' sweet mama, ain't gonna be here long"
Told her not to sing this worried song
'Cus I'm gonna leave Seguine, I'll be just like a submarine.

(4) I once'd to know the man they call him Austin Jack
Stopped and put the bloodhounds righ on my track
Course the blindest could not catch my scent
Do you know they couldn't tell where the Little Hat went
'Cus I left Seguine, people I's just like a submarine.

(5) Instrumental

(6) Well yon' come the Santa Fe just passed me and flyin'
Oughta see me when I reached up and really caught them blinds
They said "That's another long gone, from Kentucky"
Long gone and then got away lucky
'Cus you left Seguine, you's just like a submarine

(7) Instrumental

( I'm gonna sing this song, ain't gonna sing no more
(instrumental)
(instrumental)
(instrumental)
'Cus I'm leavin' San Antoine, I declare ain't comin' here no more

(9) Well I don't play the dozen and neither the ten
'Cus she keep on talkin' I'll ease ya in
Well you keep on talkin' 'till you make me mad
Well I tell you 'bout the mother that your father had
'Cus I don't play the dozen, I declare, man, and neither the ten

(10) Instrumental

Outro

A note in the Martin Scorcese book accompanying his series (which I recieved for Christmas along with Guy Davis's latest CD) reminded me about the word game Dirty Dozens, about insulting anothers relatives, to which I think Verse 9 refers.

Alex
« Last Edit: February 10, 2008, 03:07:54 PM by GhostRider »

Offline GhostRider

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Re: Little Hat Jones lyrics
« Reply #34 on: January 11, 2005, 03:16:14 PM »
Hi all:

Just a quick jump back to Rolled From Side to Side Blues. I just don't hear some of Barbeque John's stuff in the first line(although the rest of his work is great and he's probably right). Nasty sounds like nancy (which makes no sense) and the last word -sale- I hear as stone. The st sound at the beginning is strong to me.

One other comment I would add "on" between "goin'" and "right" in Verse 5.

Just a note: S. Grossman had the rhyming pair in Verse 6 as thrown and throne

Any other ideas? Anyone else what to take a shot?

Alex

PS: When I listen to the 13th bar of the break I think I hear the sound of doubled strings. Could LHJ be playing a 12 string, poss. with single coarses on the bass in this tune?

A.
« Last Edit: January 11, 2005, 03:22:06 PM by pyrochlore »

Offline GhostRider

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Little Hat Jones Lyrics - Hurry Blues
« Reply #35 on: December 18, 2006, 09:17:25 AM »
Howdy:

I thought I'd give this tune a try. It shares many melodic elements with "Rolled From Side to Side Blues", which is why I'd paid it little attention in the past. However last week I noticed that it's in the Key of C, not G like "Rolled..."

The bass is monotonic, and the 6th bar untilizes the bVI chord (in this case Ab). The break is pretty frenetic, as LHJ takes the C shape up and down the neck (up to the 11th fret in spots).

The phrase "Hurry Blues" appears nowhere in the tune. The closest is "worried blues", sung in the 4th verse. Either the record comany misheard the lyric or there were already copyrighted "Worried Blues", so they had to find another title.

I can't decifer the lyrics at the very end of the tune, hope Weenies can help.

Hurry Blues
Little Hat Jones
June 21, 1929

Standard tuning, C position.

1) Intro verse

2) I know there's eagles on the dollar, other side "In God We Trust" (x2)
Well, a woman loves a man but I know dis dollar's first

3) Instrumental verse

4) (I said) Have you ever loved a woman (man, one) that didn't love you (x2)
Then you have the worried blues, to bother you the whole night through.

5) Instrumental verse

6) (Well) I'm going sweet baby, (honey, aw) don't you want to go (x2)
I'm aced out of town but I'm hotter 'n I ever been before.

7) Lead break (extended)

Eight) Instrumental verse

9) Some time you hear me singin' "Nearer Are My God to Thee" (x2)
And again you hear me singing, sweet land of blue cheese.

Outro

This outro is weird, it's like someone pulled out the electric chord. Stumbling!

Alex

Note: edited to reflect BJ's and dingwall's comments below.

[attachment deleted by admin]
« Last Edit: February 10, 2008, 03:08:44 PM by GhostRider »

Offline waxwing

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Re: Little Hat Jones lyrics
« Reply #36 on: December 18, 2006, 10:05:06 AM »
I think the last line of verse 6 is:

I'm aced out of town but I'm hotter 'n I ever been before

"Than I ever" run together sounding like 'nahever.

Can't make heads nor tails out of the last phrase, but at 3:09 I get the feeling LHJ was startled by whoever was motioning to him to wrap it up.

All for now.
John C.
"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

http://www.youtube.com/user/WaxwingJohn
CD on YT

Offline Bunker Hill

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Re: Little Hat Jones Lyrics - Hurry Blues
« Reply #37 on: December 18, 2006, 11:17:02 AM »
The phrase "Hurry Blues" appears nowhere in the tune. The closest is "worried blues", sung in the 4th verse. Either the record comany misheard the lyric...
A mishearing of "worried" was one of the suggestions made in Blues Unlimited 55 (July 1968) when reviewing Yazoo's Buddy Boy Hawkins & His Buddies compilation, on which it was included. The other suggestion was more tongue in cheek concerning his increasing speed to finish the song.  ;D

Offline tenderfoot84

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Re: Little Hat Jones lyrics
« Reply #38 on: December 20, 2006, 04:01:30 AM »
i can't listen to "rolled from side to side" right now but i always sing it as

mr freddie, mr freddie's a man you women-folks love
mr freddie, mr freddie's a man you women-folks love
lord i'm trying to get a sweet woman like mr freddie got his girls

oh baby don't you think i know
oh baby don't you think i know
that a woman'll make a man love her, and keep her and shake hands and go [i admit this sounds really awkward]

man don't ever take no woman i'm speaking about to be your friend
i said man don't ever take no woman i'm speaking about to be your friend
cos she'll get all your money then look what a hole you're in

if you catch me sleeping baby don't you think i'm drunk
if you catch me sleeping baby don't you think i'm drunk
i got one hand on ma pistol and one eye on your trunk

oh baby honey what's on your mind
oh baby honey what's on your mind
you keep a poor man worried really looking down-hearted all the time.

over the verses i play a melody in an alternating bass to start, going from G to C and back, then a walk up the 5th string i think (don't have my guitar right now) and a little melody on the high strings around a d chord.

this works for me but i've not really compared it too closely to the tune.
Cheerybye,
David C

Offline GhostRider

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Corpus Blues by Little Hat Jones
« Reply #39 on: January 05, 2007, 11:24:17 AM »
Hi:

I was foolin' around with  this one last night and thought I'd try to do the lyrics.

LHJ playsd this one in E, standard tuning. He uses a variation of the "Kentucky Blues" accompanyment.

In the first four bars he does one bar of E (0xx454), one bar of Eb7 (x0x323), one bar of E (0xx454) and one bar of E7 (0xx434).

In bars 5-8 (IV, A section), he does one bar of A (x0x320) (thanks Johnm), often doing a little run on the 1st string, 3 fret, 2 fret, open. He can do this by fingering the chord with the index and ring fingers, leaving the pinky and middle fingers to fret the 3rd and second frets respectively, during this run.. In the 6th bar he does a little single string run or repeats the 5th bar. In bar 7 he moves a E shape down from the 5th fret (x554x0) a semi-tone each beat thumping on the 5 string and plucking the 1 string as a pedal tone. In the 8 bar he plays an first position E.


In bars 9-12 he does his trademark E blues sequence. In bar 9 he plays the "Charley Patton" chord (x43404) for 4 beats. In 10 he plays 2 beats of sort of an F# (2x4320), then 2 beats of B7 (x21200 then x21202). In bar 11 he plays the first position E, then the "moving the E shape down" run ending at E on the first beat of Bar 12, finishing the bar there.

All this should be prefaced with ... I think.  Especially in the bass, LHJ is tricky. He loves dissonence.

If any of you have comments, corrections on any of this, please help!

In Verse 6, an instrumental verse, LHJ is offered encouragement by a female with a good voice. Does anyone know whom this is? Were there any females recording in the same session as "Corpus Blues" was recorded?

BTW, I assume the Corpus in the title refers to the Texas town of Corpus Christi.

Corpus Blues
Little Hat Jones
June 1929

Standard tuning, E position.


Instrumental introduction
(last 4 bars of accompanyment, played twice, double time)

1) (I said) I 'member one time people, aw (it) is in 19 and 24 (x2)
I's in hell in that year that I never wanta see no more.

2) I 'member one time, aw it is in 1921 (x2)
(???) been I start ta watch my sweet woman (???) from sun to sun.

3) I thought that my (woman, baby) aw, was treatin' me right (x2)
But, aw, when I went down to Corpus we didn't do nothin' but fuss and fight.

4) (And) I never had nothin' (mmm, aw turnout) to hurt me so. (x2)
Aw, when I was talkin' to my baby that mornin' and she told me that I shouldn't (???) no more.

5) Mmmmm, baby what's on your mind (x2)
Aww, you wanta be mean to me woman, give me a good word all the time.

6)Instrumental verse
Spoken (woman): Aw, play that thing, Little Hat, that's the talk of the town!
Spoken (LHJ): I cain't pick it, I'm just learnin', aw but I will go ahead on it soon.

7) Boogie instrumental verse and End

If he was "just learnin'" what was he like when he had it down!

MP3 attached. I hope someone(s) can help with the bits I can't get.

I can get more women than a passanger train can haul,
Alex
Note: edited to reflect some of phawk's comments below


[attachment deleted by admin]
« Last Edit: February 10, 2008, 03:12:26 PM by GhostRider »

Offline phhawk

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Re: Little Hat Jones lyrics
« Reply #40 on: January 05, 2007, 07:46:32 PM »
Hello Ghost Rider, It seems to me that I read somewhere that the woman who speaks on this record was Ruth Willis who also recorded with Willie McTell, also known as Ruth Day. I actually have a choice copy of this record and I listened to it to try to get the lyrics, so here is what I got, along with what you already have.

1. I 'member one time people, aw it was in 19 & 21 2X
 
    I's in (hell?) that year that I never wanta see no more

2. I 'member one time, aw it is in 1921 2X

    They said I start to watch my sweet woman (cheat'n?) from sun to sun                    (might mean from son to son?).

3. I thought that my woman baby was treat'n me right 2X

    But aw, when I went down to Corpus, we didn't do nothin' but fuss and
    fight.

4. And I never had nothing, mmm aw to hurt me so 2X
   
   Aw, when I was talking to my baby that mornin' and she told me that I
   (couldn't see her) no more 

5. mmmm baby what's on your mind 2X
   
    Aw, you wanta be mean to me woman, (won't) give me a good (word) all
    time


In the last verse the word won't is almost more implied than said. And I get the meaning of that phrase to say (you won't say anything good about me, anytime).

Anyway, that's what I come up with.

Regards, Phil

Offline Bunker Hill

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Re: Little Hat Jones lyrics
« Reply #41 on: January 05, 2007, 11:53:01 PM »
Hello Ghost Rider, It seems to me that I read somewhere that the woman who speaks on this record was Ruth Willis who also recorded with Willie McTell, also known as Ruth Day.
I'll have to double check this but when Morris Craig and Thomas Young interviewed Jones in 1962 I think he said he recalled taking a lady friend along to one of the sessions. His recordings were made by an Okeh mobile "field unit" in San Antonio, Texas so I guess rather unlikely that they'd have brought along Wiilis or Day for a spoken interjection. But stranger things have happened.... :)

Offline phhawk

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Re: Little Hat Jones lyrics
« Reply #42 on: January 06, 2007, 05:48:24 AM »
BH, You're probably right. After I posted that last night, I noticed that the recordings were made in San Antonio and it seems Willis was out of Atlanta. For some reason I thought  that I'd read that it was Willis, but checking Dixon & Godrich, the person is listed as unidentified.

Regards, Phil

Offline dj

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Re: Little Hat Jones lyrics
« Reply #43 on: January 06, 2007, 01:17:06 PM »
The only Black artists recorded by Okeh on the June 1929 field trip to San Antonio were Texas Alexander, Little Hat Jones, and Troy Floyd And His Shadowland Orchestra.  So it's likely that the female voice on Corpus Blues was a non-musician, a "friend of the band" as they say.
   

Offline GhostRider

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Re: Corpus Blues by Little Hat Jones
« Reply #44 on: January 07, 2007, 12:14:25 PM »
Howdy:

Thanks, phawk, for your good work on this one.

2) I 'member one time, aw  it is in 1921 (x2)
(???) been I start ta watch my sweet woman (???) from sun to sun.

The first (???) I can't get.
The second (???) of this verse sounds, after repeated listinings to be "beatball". Could this be some work(?) activity?


4) (And) I never had nothin' (mmm, aw turnout) to hurt me so. (x2)
Aw, when I was talkin' to my baby that mornin' and she told me that I shouldn't (???) no more.

In this verse I think he says "turnout", which he pronounces "turmont"
In the (???) I hear "be". Short for "be her man"?

Anyone else want to take a crack?

Alex
« Last Edit: January 07, 2007, 12:24:19 PM by GhostRider »

 


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