Topic: Andrew and Jim Baxter Lyrics

[dj]

I would suspect that "Moore Girl" was a deliberate mishearing and used as a nickname...

Aha.  Thanks Chris, that connected the dots for me.  Not a "deliberate mishearing" so much as a pun, I suppose.

The collective wisdom of Weenie Campbell is truly astounding.   

[Lastfirstface]

Sorry if I'm posting this in the wrong spot, but I couldn't find another thread about the Baxters to post this ephemera. I was looking at the Facebook page of Spring Fed Records the other day and saw these documents regarding sales figures and management contracts for the Baxters and the Georgia Yellow Hammers and I thought they might be of interest to people here:

https://www.facebook.com/springfed/photos/a.619940054712676.1073741826.194869070553112/910068022366543/

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Re "Moore Girl" as sung by Willie McTell and spoken by Jim Baxter vs. "mogul", the actual name of the engine type in question, it occurs to me it may be neither a pun, nor a deliberate mishearing, but a cultural way of coming to terms with, and making sense of a name that bore no connotations that made any sense.  I once read a brilliant essay by the late writer Walker Percy (who was from Mississippi), called "Metaphor As Mistake".  One example he gave in the essay was the fact that he discovered, upon visiting a juke joint, that everyone referred to the jukebox as a "seabird".  Come to find out, the jukeboxes were manufactured by the Seeburg Company.  I think the name "Moore Girl" for "mogul" came about via a similarly circuitous route, making sense out of something that otherwise didn't make sense.
All best,
Johnm

[Stuart]

You could be right, John. Some of us have probably heard "sparrow grass" or just "sparrow" used for asparagus, so anything is possible.

I ran across the following (scroll up a bit):

http://tinyurl.com/pkcprmb

And a couple  more:

http://www.american-rails.com/moguls.html

http://www.engine-driver.com/article/show/3529/where-did-those-exotic-names-for-us-steam-loco-types-come-from

Thanks for the info, dj. There's always more to learn.

[Neal Cassady]

Is it known whether Jim used a flatpick or not?

[Johnm]

I don't think it is known conclusively, but you can find a photo of Andrew and Jim Baxter by googling it. In the photo, Jim's picking hand is in a fist position, making it likely that he used either a flat pick or a thumb pick--it's not a hand position that would lend itself to playing without one of the afore-mentioned pick types.
All best,
Johnm

[Kells]

John, I always assumed that Jim was singing "assistance" rather than "central" in K.C. Railroad Blues. This might also explain why you heard "sister" for a while. Anyways, thanks for these threads! I'm working on Bamalong and KC right now and it's nice to know this info is here.

[Johnm]

I"m glad that you're finding the thread helpful, Kells. I'm pretty sure Jim sang "Centrals" in "K C Railroad Blues", though.
All best,
Johnm

[MarkC]

Sounds like central to me.

Here’s a Leadbelly song that explains it a bit:



Charlie Patton also says “Hello Central” in one of his songs.

[altaltcountry]

...
I'm gonna give you my last old dollar
...

A minor emendation, perhaps, but I think Jim sings "my last gold dollar" here. "Gold" would reinforce the "yellow" imagery (and is consistent with Jim's frequent wordplay). What puzzles me is the reference to mixed race ("yellow woman"), given the African-Cherokee heritage of the Baxters. Any thoughts here?

[Johnm]

Hi altaltcountry,
Welcome to Weenie Campbell. After re-listening, I agree that it is last "gold" dollar in "Goodbye Blues" and have made the change, thanks. I wouldn't attach any particular significance to the "yella" reference--the couplet in which it appears was widely sung, as was the one referring to "black" skin color in the verse prior to it, and there's no reason to assume that the content of the song actually relates to the Baxters themselves. 

[altaltcountry]

Many thanks--what a wonderful treasury of wisdom and experience I've stumbled upon when researching NW Georgia string bands (I'm about 40 miles from Gordon County). I just wish I knew more about fiddling. I can tell that Andrew is doing something fairly unique but I don't know how to describe what I hear in terms of bowing / tuning, harmony, rhythm, and phrasing. The observations of you and others about Andrew's and Jim's techniques are invaluable to a non-player like me.

[altaltcountry]

a garbling of "second Babylon", and a biblical reference.

Two questions about lyrics here:
1. I think the final verse says "The Georgia sun sets in the golden west" rather than "As sure as the sun...." You can  hear the soft "g" in both lines, and the word "the" is clearer in the second line. This may be important for a reason I'll suggest below.
2. In the next-to-the-last verse, Jim may be singing "He don't want me, don't you dog me around..." rather than "You don't....." Tough call. But this  may also be significant; it's possible that persona of the song is a woman.
The Georgia reference may be important because there is another Georgia allusion in the song, "Been to the nation... brought the sack." This alludes to the Cherokee nation (the exile from Georgia to Oklahoma) and the Cherokee custom of the nation sack (which women were more likely to carry or conceal). My tentative hypothesis is that the song IS about a "second Babylon" as in Revelations. This hypothesis wouldn't require the speaker of the lyrics to be female.

[banjochris]

I don't hear "Georgia" in that last line at all – I hear "Just sure" or "Just as sure" with the "as" swallowed. Also, Jim Baxter articulates the "r" in Georgia very distinctly in "Dance the Georgia Poss," which he isn't doing at all here if he's singing the word "Georgia."

And although the first "You" is a bit swallowed, the repeat of "you didn't want me" is pretty clear to me.

And the "second Babylon" thing I have always thought was a stretch, since the "m" in "bamalong" or "'Bama long" is also very distinct.

I'm not sure I totally buy any of the explanations put forward, although 2nd 'Bama as a regiment is somewhat convincing. Although we have no way of knowing, it seems odd to me that if it is 2nd 'Bama, that when the A&R guys asked the Baxters for the title, that they would say "Bama Long Blues" if it was a regiment. Of course it could just be a transcription error from what the suits heard. Such a beautiful tune, though!

Chris

[Johnm]

Hi altaltcountry,
1. The final verse is as it was transcribed. There is clearly no "the" at the beginning of the line, which is "just", and in the repetition of the line you can clearly hear the break between "sure" and "as. There is nothing sung that sounds like the second syllable of "Georgia" either.
2. Jim is singing "You don't want me ..." It's a commonplace line that is encountered many places in the blues.
3. If Jim is meaning the "second Babylon", he is nonetheless consistently pronouncing it "the second bamalong", so interpreting it as the second Babylon involves jumping through some interpretive hoops and presuming that he meant something other than what he sang.