The two sets of lyrics below help to clear things up regarding the question I asked about the verse in which the mother and father ask the singer/protagonist of the song if he's tired of working and why he's staying there. I was assuming that they were asking him if he was tired of working on the prison farm and why he didn't leave and come back home (as if he had a choice in the matter.)
This first set of lyrics were found in an entry in WC for Blind Lemon Jefferson's Penitentiary Blues:
Blind Lemon's Penitentiary Blues (20363-2) ? Blind Lemon Jefferson
Chicago c. February 1928, Pm 12666
C position pitched at B
Take Fort Worth for your dressing and take Dallas all for your style.
Take Fort Worth for your dressing, Dallas all for your style.
If you wanna go to the state penitentiary, go to Groesbeck for your trial.
I hung around Groesbeck, and I worked in showers of rain.
I say, I hung around Groesbeck, I worked in hard showers of rain.
I never felt the least bit uneasy, till I caught that penitentiary bound train.
I used to be a drunkard, I was rowdy everywhere I go.
I used to be a drunkard and rowdy everywhere I go.
If I ever get out of this trouble I'm in, I won't be rowdy no more.
Boys, don't be bad, please don't crowd your mind.
I said, boys, don't be bad and please don't crowd your mind.
If you happen to get in trouble in Groesbeck, they're gonna send you penitentiary flyin'.
I want you to stop and study, and don't take nobody's life.
I want you to stop and study, don't take nobody's life.
They've got walls at the state penitentiary you can't jump, man they high as the sky.
The next set of lyrics are from Lightnin' Hopkins and were sent to me by Bunker Hill. He points out that "Hopkins did four takes of Grosebeck Blues and none released at the time. Takes 2&3 came out on Arhoolie 2010 (1971) and take 4 appeared on a late 1964 Dart LP mis-titled Penitentiary Blues. All contain minor variations."
Boy, you may go to Grosebeck to have your trial, but you know the next penitentiary's after while
You may go to Grosebeck to have your trial, ooh, and the next penitentiary's after awhile
Yes, if you want to go to penitentiary in a hurry, man, you just go to Grosebeck and have your trial
Yeah, you know, my mama called me, boys, and I answered, "Ma'am?"
She said, "Son are you tired of working?" I said, "Mama, oh mama, yes I am"
Then, you know, my papa called me, peoples, and I answered, "Sir?"
He said, "Son, if you're tired of working down there, what the hell you're gonna stay there for?"
Grandma said, "Son, if you had been a good boy, yes, and stayed at home, you'd have been working for your mama, I'm talking about, and picking up chips on your grandma's farm"
I can't do nothing but hang my lonesome head and moan
Yes you know they got a dog named Rattler
You know she's a water dog
You know she can swim big Brazos, I done swear, man, that dog can walk a foot log
Taking all three sets of lyrics (the two sets in this post and the set of lyrics posted earlier by Eric Hubbard) into account leads me to a different interpretation. The parents weren't asking the singer why he didn't leave the prison and come back home; they were asking him why he didn't leave Groesbeck. Apparently, he left home to go work in Groesbeck (see verse 2 of Blind Lemon Jefferson's version which describes him working there in "showers of rain"). In Groesbeck, he got into some kind of trouble and this resulted in him being sent to the penitentiary. In Blind Lemon's version, he puts the blame for his troubles on himself. But I interpret the version by Hopkins as an indictment of the city--"Yes, if you want to go to penitentiary in a hurry, man, you just go to Grosebeck and have your trial." I see it as Hopkins issuing a warning to stay out of Groesbeck or suffer the consequences.
JohnLeePimp's Youtube post of Smokey Hogg's version makes mention of a man named Cunningham (at about 3 minutes and 30 seconds into the song), with the mother asking "you tired of rollin' for Cunningham?" I believe that Cunningham was a notorious levee camp contractor whose name appears in several other recordings by bluesmen. I'm sure I read about this in an article by John Cowley titled "Shack Bullies and Levee Contractors: Bluesmen as Ethnographers." I'll confirm that when I can get my hands on a copy of it, but it may be a while.
The above is a good lesson for me on the importance of being aware of alternate takes/versions of a song by an individual bluesman and of versions by other bluesmen. (Thanks to Bunker Hill and JohnLeePimp.)
Jim Hauser
https://sites.google.com/site/JohnHenryTheRebelVersions/home
This first set of lyrics were found in an entry in WC for Blind Lemon Jefferson's Penitentiary Blues:
Blind Lemon's Penitentiary Blues (20363-2) ? Blind Lemon Jefferson
Chicago c. February 1928, Pm 12666
C position pitched at B
Take Fort Worth for your dressing and take Dallas all for your style.
Take Fort Worth for your dressing, Dallas all for your style.
If you wanna go to the state penitentiary, go to Groesbeck for your trial.
I hung around Groesbeck, and I worked in showers of rain.
I say, I hung around Groesbeck, I worked in hard showers of rain.
I never felt the least bit uneasy, till I caught that penitentiary bound train.
I used to be a drunkard, I was rowdy everywhere I go.
I used to be a drunkard and rowdy everywhere I go.
If I ever get out of this trouble I'm in, I won't be rowdy no more.
Boys, don't be bad, please don't crowd your mind.
I said, boys, don't be bad and please don't crowd your mind.
If you happen to get in trouble in Groesbeck, they're gonna send you penitentiary flyin'.
I want you to stop and study, and don't take nobody's life.
I want you to stop and study, don't take nobody's life.
They've got walls at the state penitentiary you can't jump, man they high as the sky.
The next set of lyrics are from Lightnin' Hopkins and were sent to me by Bunker Hill. He points out that "Hopkins did four takes of Grosebeck Blues and none released at the time. Takes 2&3 came out on Arhoolie 2010 (1971) and take 4 appeared on a late 1964 Dart LP mis-titled Penitentiary Blues. All contain minor variations."
Boy, you may go to Grosebeck to have your trial, but you know the next penitentiary's after while
You may go to Grosebeck to have your trial, ooh, and the next penitentiary's after awhile
Yes, if you want to go to penitentiary in a hurry, man, you just go to Grosebeck and have your trial
Yeah, you know, my mama called me, boys, and I answered, "Ma'am?"
She said, "Son are you tired of working?" I said, "Mama, oh mama, yes I am"
Then, you know, my papa called me, peoples, and I answered, "Sir?"
He said, "Son, if you're tired of working down there, what the hell you're gonna stay there for?"
Grandma said, "Son, if you had been a good boy, yes, and stayed at home, you'd have been working for your mama, I'm talking about, and picking up chips on your grandma's farm"
I can't do nothing but hang my lonesome head and moan
Yes you know they got a dog named Rattler
You know she's a water dog
You know she can swim big Brazos, I done swear, man, that dog can walk a foot log
Taking all three sets of lyrics (the two sets in this post and the set of lyrics posted earlier by Eric Hubbard) into account leads me to a different interpretation. The parents weren't asking the singer why he didn't leave the prison and come back home; they were asking him why he didn't leave Groesbeck. Apparently, he left home to go work in Groesbeck (see verse 2 of Blind Lemon Jefferson's version which describes him working there in "showers of rain"). In Groesbeck, he got into some kind of trouble and this resulted in him being sent to the penitentiary. In Blind Lemon's version, he puts the blame for his troubles on himself. But I interpret the version by Hopkins as an indictment of the city--"Yes, if you want to go to penitentiary in a hurry, man, you just go to Grosebeck and have your trial." I see it as Hopkins issuing a warning to stay out of Groesbeck or suffer the consequences.
JohnLeePimp's Youtube post of Smokey Hogg's version makes mention of a man named Cunningham (at about 3 minutes and 30 seconds into the song), with the mother asking "you tired of rollin' for Cunningham?" I believe that Cunningham was a notorious levee camp contractor whose name appears in several other recordings by bluesmen. I'm sure I read about this in an article by John Cowley titled "Shack Bullies and Levee Contractors: Bluesmen as Ethnographers." I'll confirm that when I can get my hands on a copy of it, but it may be a while.
The above is a good lesson for me on the importance of being aware of alternate takes/versions of a song by an individual bluesman and of versions by other bluesmen. (Thanks to Bunker Hill and JohnLeePimp.)
Jim Hauser
https://sites.google.com/site/JohnHenryTheRebelVersions/home