Topic: Henry Thomas Lyrics

[Bunker Hill]

(your scanner software seems to have subbed 'h's for k's.)

Oops sorry about that. About a decade ago I OCR'd the entire 20,000 (yep, 20,000) word booklet and when extracting that segment completely forgot I'd never checked it for anomalies. My original intention was to do so as an when there was a requirement to reproduce elements of it. That good intention got forgotten last night when performing the copy and paste to the topic.

[dj]

Bunker Hill, since you scanned the entire booklet:

Ken Romanowski, in his notes to Document CD 5160, Georgia Blues & Gospel discussing Lil' McClintock's "Don't Think I'm Santa Claus", cites McCormick's essay.  Specifically, he quotes a few sentences and summarizes McCormick's discussion of "rags", i.e. verses of songs "patched together" to make one performance.  Both "Don't Think I'm Santa Claus" and "Arkansas" are examples of this meaning of "rag".  Might you be able to post the section of McCormick's essay that discusses "rags"?

[dj]

Uncle Bud, I hope you don't mind my hijacking your thread just a little.  Bunker Hill replied directly to me with the section of Mack McCormick's notes to Herwin 209 that deals with "rags".  I think it's an interesting description of what Henry Thomas is doing in "Arkansas" and which you'll find popping up very occasionally in the work of other African-American artists in the pre-WWII period.  Here it is:

Polished perhaps for just such encounters, the most intriguing aspect of
Henry Thomas' songlore is what were known as "rags" That is, pieces of songs
patched together, compressed into anthologies with an almost Joycean
flavor.(16) He worked on the assumption that his audience knew in full such
standard songs as Let Me Bring My Clothes Back Home and The State of
Arkansas and Traveling Man and thus he was free to merge them into a
patchwork medley that may follow a subtle chain of association (not always
apparent unless the listener is equally familiar with the songs quoted and
alluded to).
One of these "rags" follows a gambling motif. Using a wisp of an old
Kentucky horse race ballad Run Mollie Run for its title, it repeats the
lines "She learned me how to deal those cards, 'Hold that jack and trey!'"
and thrice alludes to the final stanza of a ballad, well known in Texas,
where a young man en route from the Dallas jail to the state prison at
Huntsville confesses to a life of sin and ends his songs with the moral
preachment:

Come all you drinking gamblers, take warning now from me,
And never drink rye whiskey while walking on the street;
The juries they are plenty, the judge is standing there,
They'll take you down to Huntsville to wear the ball and chain. 17

Footnote
16. Another example of such "rags" is Lil McClintock's Don't You Think I'm
Santa Claus recorded in 1930 which is a composite of four songs published in
the 1904-05 period. See the article by Richard Raichelson in JEMF Quarterly,
No. 19 (Autumn, 1970). The recording is available on CBS 52796. The term
"rags" in the sense in which it is used here is distinct from, but has a
close relationship with, the word "ragtime" that designated the popular
music and a formal style of the 1890s. Both terms allude to music which is
patched together from pieces of different colors and textures.   

17. Otis Glover (Blind Boy), When I Was A Small Boy, Phamous 101:  the
matrix number of this obscure recording (ACA 1395) indicates it was produced
in Houston, c. 1950. Versions of this ballad appear in a number of standard
reference books, often under the title The Dallas County Jail. See a partial
listing in Malcomb Laws, Native American Balladry (Philadelphia, 1950) which
catalogs it as E 17. An early recording is The Sporting Cowboy by Watts and
Wilson on Paramount 3006.

[Deluge]

I?ve been thinking about Henry Thomas a lot these days.  His song Arkansas has always been one of my favorites. It has everything from ramblin? to gamblin? and even a little moonshinin?! It is however garbled in a few places so I believe a closer listening should be given to this song.  I think Uncle buds transcription is pretty close but if I might be so bold I would like to offer my interpretations of Arkansas.

The third and fourth line of the first verse I believe are closer to the original song thematically than Oliver?s transcription in that it still contains a racial over tone.  I think Thomas shows a keen wit in his word choice to say, ?my wife said ?honey I?m done with beans/ I?m gonna pass for CREAM? Logically it makes sense to keep his metaphors straight.  I think it would be awkward to finish with ?pass the train? or ?Pass for green?. Phonetically I hear a voiceless velar stop rather than voiceless alveolar stop. [k] rather than[t].

The sixth line might be a stretch in my reading but I think it shows us another example of just how funny Thomas could be.  As he is pleading with his wife to stay the singer claims he will straiten up but when he offers his plan to get a job he tells her that he will become a gambler and a moonshiner! ?I?ll crapshoot yes I will SHINE/good little baby just let me work? Obviously his wife was not impressed?

In the fifth line of the second verse I think what Thomas is saying is ?night is young/ dresses turn/ the railroad track is ROUND? Sometimes I swear though that I hear him say ?nice girl (but) dresses turn/ that railroad track is round.? 

The last line of the second verse is a mouthful but I am quite sure he says, ?a NATURAL ROVER that'a HEAVY POOR MAN.?

In the second line of the fifth verse I hear Thomas say ?he fed me ON corn dodger, it was hard as any RUNG? Rung as a noun like the bit in a horses mouth. He seems to end the word with a nasal veral stop! [N] as in (ruNG).  I agree though that rock is likely what he is singing. 

Finally when I sing this song I sing ?well it t?aint no use writtin? no news on a travelin? man?

Well I hope that this was helpful. Nice to meet you folks! This seems to be a very informative board.  I have been combing the old threads for the past few days!

Arkansas

Oh Roberta round, "pack your trunk and go"
Yes, he came back home last night
My wife said ?Honey, I?m done with beans
I?m gonna pass for cream.?
Oh my little honey, don't you make me go
I'll get a job if you allow me sure
I?ll crapshoot yes I will shine
Good little baby, just let me work
When you buy chicken, all I want is the bone
When you buy beer, be satisfied with foam
I?ll work both night and day
I?ll be careful what I say
Honey (What?) please, let me bring my clothes back home

Down the track this mornin? she did stroll
Well a accident, her foot got caught in a hole
I?m goin? to tell you the truth
A natural that poor man
Nice girl (but) dresses turn that railroad track is round
I?m going to buy ?em all
Cigarettes and chewing tobacco that I can
A natural rover that a? heavy poor man

I am a ramblin? gamblin? man, I?ve gambled in many town
I?ve rambled this wide world over, I rambled this wide world around
I had my ups and downs through life and bitter times I saw
But I never knew what misery was till I left old Arkansas

I started out one morning to meet the early train
He said, "You better work with me, I have some land to drain
I?ll give you fifty cents a day, your washing, board and all
And if you?ll be a different man for the sake of old Arkansas

I worked six months for the rascal, Joe Heron was his name
He fed me on corn dodger, it was hard as any rung
My tooth?s all got loosened, And my/the (***************)
That was the kind of hash I got for the state of old Arkansas

Travellin? man, I?ve traveled all around this world
Travellin? man, I?ve traveled from land to land
Travellin? man, I?ve traveled all around this world
Well it t?ain?t no use ridin? on through ?cause I?ve traveled this land

Be well,
-Daniel

By the by, anyone care to tackle Jonah In The Wilderness?

[Slack]

Welcome Daniel, glad you found us!

[Bunker Hill]

Daniel, welcome, interesting input to the HT Arkansas lyrics elsewhere on WC.

As you raised the subject of Jonah In The Wilderness your mission, should you choose to accept, it is to see what you can make of Mack McCormick's transcription as given in the booklet to the Herwin LP. have fun!



chorus: Hey, Jonah, Hallelujah!
Hey, Jonah, preaching in that wilderness
Preaching in that wilderness, preaching in that wilderness

Go down yonder to the bottom of the ship
See can you find the ? Christian
Go yonder to the bottom now
See can you find the  ? Christian
Sure to come after, so say the Lord
Could not find the ? Christian
Go yonder to the elder I saw
See can you find the  ? Christian
Sure to come after, so say the Lord
Could not find the  ? Christian

Chorus
 
Lord told Jonah, said to go and preach
Jonah declared that he would not go
Hid himself in the bottom of the ship
Searched that ship from bottom to top
Had Brother Jonah sent overboard
Cast the bird and dropped the seed
Dropped the seed, along came the root

From the root is that strong vine
From the vine is that strong shade
Under that shade brother Jonah laid
Walked right up to the Mansion room
Entitled to the throne that Jonah sat on
When I get to heaven, I will sit and tell
I've escaped both death and hell

Chorus

Ship rocked from shore to shore
Ship rocked from shore to shore
God declared that the ship went wrong
Jonah started leaving there one night

Chorus

God told Noah to go build an Ark
God told Noah to go build an Ark
Declared to God that he would not build
Rained forty days and forty nights

Chorus

Narrative Gospel Song.
An essential preamble to following this difficult song is an acquaintance with the book of Jonah and recognition that in a folk religion, Christian symbols mix readily with stories of Old Testament prophets. Thus, the reluctant prophet Jonah may also be described as an unfaithful or backsliding Christian.
The first stanza concerns the efforts of the seamen to search their ship for the cause of the tempest that had come upon them (see Jonah 1:4-7) Jonah is found, and tells the seamen that he "fled from the presence of the Lord," urging that they cast him overboard. Henry Thomas, consistent with his principal of avoiding the obvious, skips the most familiar part of the story where a "great fish" swallows Jonah and three days later vomits him out on dry land.
The song then leaps to the book's final chapter and the episode of the gourd vine growing over Jonah's head to afford him shade. In the popular belief that surrounds the Biblical story, the role of the gourd vine is entirely different. In the Bible, the vine provides the example for a parable about mercy, but in oral tradition it comes along to form a cross over Jonah's head. Hear for example Rich Amerson's narrative (on Folkways FE 4418):

Well the water whale come along swallowed him whole!
Reeling and Hocking of the ship so long!
Then he puked Brother Jonah on dry land!
Reeling and Hocking of the ship so long!
Then the gourd vine growed over Jonah's head!
Reeling and Hocking of the ship so long!
Then the inch worm come along - cut it down!
Reeling and Hocking of the ship so long!
That made a cross over Jonah's head!
 Reeling and Hocking of the ship so long!
spoken: Then Jonah got up and - then he went to preaching

Other versions of the story and other interpretations of these parables are scattered through many recordings such as those by Louis Armstrong, Uncle Dave Macon, Rev. J. C. Burnett & Congregation, Marshall Smith & John Marlor, Norfolk Jubilee Quartet and Rev. F. W. McGee (this last available on Roots 304). The chorus of Henry Thomas' version is from the well-circulated Preaching in the Wilderness which typically strings together narrative verses dealing with various prophets who failed to heed the Lord's instructions. Somewhat unjustly, Noah is often included among the reluctant ones, as is the case here.

[frankie]

See can you find the ? Christian

"Sturdy, true-hearted Christian" - from memory, though.

[uncle bud]

Hi Daniel, and welcome to WeenieCampbell! Thanks for the suggestions on Arkansas. I am intrigued by a number of them and need to listen carefully some more first before commenting. Tough call on a lot of them! BTW, I checked out your myspace page. Really enjoyed the tunes.

[Deluge]

Well, this is as a far as I could get with Jonah In The Wilderness.  There are still a few holes but it is getting closer! 

Thank you Frankie for the sturdy true-hearted Christian suggestion, as that seems to fit quite nicely! (Seriously, that line has driven me crazy for years!)


Hey, Jonah, Hallelujah!
Hey, Jonah, preaching in that wilderness
Preaching in that wilderness, preaching in that wilderness

Go down yonder (sit/said???) the bottom of the ship
Seek and you?ll find the sturdy, true-hearted Christian
Go yonder to the power of God
Seek and you?ll find the sturdy, true-hearted Christian
Sure to come back, so say the Lord
Could not find the sturdy, true-hearted Christian
Go yonder to the elder I saw. (Oh yonder to the hills I stole???)
Seek and you?ll find the sturdy, true-hearted Christian
Show the commandment, so did say the Lord
Could not find the sturdy, true-hearted Christian

Chorus
 
Lord told Jonah, said to go out and preach
Jonah declared that he would not go
Hid his self in the bottom of the ship
Searched that ship from bottom to top
(a hail???) Brother Jonah sent overboard
at last come the bird that dropped the seed
Dropped the seed that sprung the root

From the root there sprung the vine
From the vine that sprung the shade
Under that shade brother Jonah was laid
Walked right up to the Mansion room
(try the shoes that Jonah tried on?)

When I get up to heaven, I will sit and tell
I've escaped both death and hell (a well a??)

Chorus

Ship was rocked from shore to shore
Ship was rocked from the door to door
God declared that the ship went wrong
Jonah gotta leave (it/us) in there

Chorus

God told Noah to go build an Ark
God told Noah go to build the Ark
Declared to God that he would not build
(Rained) forty days and forty nights

Chorus

[Deluge]

Hello Everyone!

I?ve read a lot about the Herwin release of Thomas?s material.  Is it worth owning?  Is it possible to find the written material that accompanies this set elsewhere?  Does anyone have it in PDF?

All the best,
Daniel

[Johnm]

Hi Daniel,
I believe that Nick Perls bought the Herwin re-issue of Henry Thomas and the Gus Cannon Herwin re-issue, as well, outright from Bernie Klatzko, so that the early Yazoo LP versions of these two sets include the notes from the Herwin re-issue.  In the case of the Henry Thomas Yazoo re-issue, there are additional notes by Stephen Calt, but you do get the Herwin notes that were written by Mack McCormack, too.  The Yazoo Henry Thomas album in the vinyl format is probably easier to find than the original Herwin issue at this point.
All best,
Johnm

[Deluge]

Does the Yazoo release include the picture in the upper right?
Does anyone know who is in the picture?

It seems as though the Herwin release is full of photos that
I have never seen!



Thanks for the info!

[Johnm]

You make a good point, Daniel, the Yazoo release did not include the photos that you show in your scan of the Herwin release's innards.  You probably should hold out for that if you can find it.  Even when they were in business I always found Herwin albums terribly hard to find, even harder to find then Mamlish and that's going some.  For some reason, I think they are easier to find in England.
All best,
Johnm

[Bunker Hill]

Does the Yazoo release include the picture in the upper right?
Does anyone kno who is in the picture?

Only what McCormick tells us in the note underneath the photo, he's not even reference in the booklet. Had the Oliver/McCormick Texas book ever come to fruition I'm sure we'd have found out all about Prentiss Mayfield of Shreveport and how he came to know HT. But as it didn't, well...

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Working on the same theory as with the Furry Lewis thread, I have merged all the threads dealing with the lyrics to different Henry Thomas songs.  For ease of following the discussions, I have kept the titles as originally posted.  The songs currently spoken of in the thread are "Bob McKinney", "Honey, Won't You Allow Me One More Chance", "Bulldoze Blues", "Arkansas", and "Jonah In The Wilderness". 
All best,
Johnm