Topic: Blind Boy Fuller Lyrics

[ozrkreb]

Folks....I'd like to contribute some opinions here. I grew up in the heart of the Ozarks (a few hours from the Delta) where everyone speaks in a fashion very similar to the old blues players, so listening to these guys sounds very natural to me, and I can often understand things that others can't. There are a couple of points where people are hearing something different.....I'll tell you what I hear. I'm listening to the version of Mama Let Me Lay It On You No.2 contained on the Classic Blues 2-disc set.

2nd verse:
I?ll buy you a diamond ring
Now ?? shake that thing
I?ll do anything in this whole round world
Mama let me lay it on you

In the second line I hear: "Now let's go shake that thing" He's leaving the "L" off of lets....something I do very often...especially if I say "let's go".....I never say the "L" in that situation. The Ozark dialect is characterized by relaxed speach...no need to pronounce all the letters if you can get by without it.

Verse 5:
I hear "I'll fill it fulla gasoline" This one sounds very clear to my ear.

Az

[lebordo]

short toot toot, throat toot toot

I think both of these are "throat to boot".

I think your right -- I'll make that change.? Certainly makes sense, I just didn't hear it before.

to moms

I hear "So you can drive tomorr'" (elining the final syllable of "tomorrow").

You could be right, but I don't hear the "r" sound in tomorr', I hear an "m" sound.? I'll have to sleep on this for a while.

Also, thanks for using "elining" -- haven't seen that word before, and I always feel good when I learn something new -- old dogs may be slowed with age, but occasionally we still learn something new and sage :-).

I know that isn't a valid use of "sage", but I felt like a rhyme, and sage is what came out.  Maybe if I use it in a song, 60 years from now somebody could debate what I was really saying :-).

I think all your other underlined words or phrases are correct. Like you, I clearly hear "Stargler" or "Stargler's". Was that a department store or something?

I actually had 'stragler' instead of 'Stargler' -- ...ra... instead of ...ar... , but I meant straggler (as in someone who strays or falls behind).? I underlined it mainly because it doesn't make sense.? I guess it could be a department store name.? Or maybe it was slang for outdated or out of fashion?

I grew up in the heart of the Ozarks (a few hours from the Delta) where everyone speaks in a fashion very similar to the old blues players, so listening to these guys sounds very natural to me

Not to be pickey, but Blind Boy Fuller wasn't from the Delta.? Fuller was born, raised, and died in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, where accents and speech patterns are much different from the Delta accents and speech patterns.

2nd verse:
...
In the second line I hear: "Now let's go shake that thing" He's leaving the "L" off of lets....something I do very often...especially if I say "let's go".....I never say the "L" in that situation. The Ozark dialect is characterized by relaxed speach...no need to pronounce all the letters if you can get by without it.

Dropping the initial "L" in "Let's" is not something I would expect to hear in the North Carolina Piedmont -- a area I have considerable experience with (more likely would be to drop the t resulting in "Le's".? Not to say you're wrong -- just that it would be unexpected.? However, at both regular and half-speed, aurally and visually (looking at the wave form), I find a syllable after "go"' and before "shake".? "...lets go shake..." is missing that extra syllable.? On the other hand, "...it's gonna shake..." has the correct number of syllables.  But that doesn't mean it's correct -- just that if fits.

Verse 5:
I hear "I'll fill it fulla gasoline" This one sounds very clear to my ear.

After listining to this line several dozen more times, I'm now at the point where I hear "I'll fill it fulla gasoline" if that's what I expect to hear, and "I'll just pour the gasoline" if that's what I expect to hear.

However, since you and dj agree on "I'll fill it fulla gasoline", I can go along with this wording.  Besides, I'll admit "fill it fulla" sounds better to me too -- even if it's not what I always hear.

[ozrkreb]

Not to be pickey, but Blind Boy Fuller wasn't from the Delta.? Fuller was born, raised, and died in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, where accents and speech patterns are much different from the Delta accents and speech patterns.

I didn't note that I was from the Ozarks because I thought Fuller was somewere close...only to indicate that I grew up in a very rural setting where the dialect is similar to the dialect spoken by many blues singers. Take it for what its worth.

I find a syllable after "go"' and before "shake".? "...lets go shake..." is missing that extra syllable.? On the other hand, "...it's gonna shake..." has the correct number of syllables.? But that doesn't mean it's correct -- just that if fits.

Well, once you hear something it's hard to not keep hearing it, but this one is automatic to my ear. This is exactly how I would say that phrase. You may be right about an extra syllable....but that would make sense if the phrase were "lets go an shake that thing." Besides, which makes more sense: "I'll buy you a ring, now let's go have sex" or "I'll buy you a ring, and the ring's gonna shake your thing"? Both make some sense, but the first one seems more reasonable to me.

As I said before, take it for what it's worth.

Az

[uncle bud]

Folks....I'd like to contribute some opinions here. I grew up in the heart of the Ozarks (a few hours from the Delta) where everyone speaks in a fashion very similar to the old blues players, so listening to these guys sounds very natural to me, and I can often understand things that others can't. There are a couple of points where people are hearing something different.....I'll tell you what I hear. I'm listening to the version of Mama Let Me Lay It On You No.2 contained on the Classic Blues 2-disc set.

2nd verse:
I?ll buy you a diamond ring
Now ?? shake that thing
I?ll do anything in this whole round world
Mama let me lay it on you

In the second line I hear: "Now let's go shake that thing" He's leaving the "L" off of lets....something I do very often...especially if I say "let's go".....I never say the "L" in that situation. The Ozark dialect is characterized by relaxed speach...no need to pronounce all the letters if you can get by without it.

Verse 5:
I hear "I'll fill it fulla gasoline" This one sounds very clear to my ear.

Az

I agree with both of these lines. Dropping the L in let's makes some sense after the W in now, as well. But I have no experience of the Piedmont outside of listening to records.

In the 1936 version, I've always heard "cut your throat to boot" as noted. And I agree with "tomorr' "  This is what I hear as well.

[boots]

There was a typo in there, elining should read eliding.

Boots

[lebordo]

You may be right about an extra syllable....but that would make sense if the phrase were "lets go an shake that thing."

Yes, "Now lets go and shake that thing" fits, and makes sense.  You may well be right, but that isn't what I hear.  Other things that would fit would be "Now lets go-o and shake that thing" (with a prolonged "o" sound that gets a little extra breath on the second beat) or "Now let's go a-shake that thing".  Too bad Sonny Terry isn't still alive -- I'm sure he could tell us for sure.  Another Piedmont musician, Sonny was only 4 years younger than Fuller, but lived 40 years after Fuller's early death.  He also had the experience of playing with Fuller a lot and, if memory serves me correct, of living with Fuller for a while in Durham.

Besides, which makes more sense: "I'll buy you a ring, now let's go have sex" or "I'll buy you a ring, and the ring's gonna shake your thing"? Both make some sense, but the first one seems more reasonable to me.

I don't think I suggested that "I'll buy you a diamond ring, no let's go shake that thing" didn't make sense -- or that "..., now its gonna shake that thing" did make sense -- just that "now let's go shake that thing" is not what I hear, and what I hear is not the way I think Fuller would have spoken those words.

I've know many Piedmont folks of Fuller's generation, black and white (my dad included), and that's just not how I remember them talking. 

In the end, though, I can force myself to hear "Now 'et's go-o shake that thing", so while I don't think that's what he's saying, there is no way to prove it one way or another, so rather than argue about it, I'm willing to concede it is something similar to "Now 'et's go shake that thing" so we can all move on.

... I agree with "tomorr' " This is what I hear as well.

Again, not what I hear, but since there seems to be some agreement on this phrase, I'll make the change.

I probably get too hung up in the actual wording anyway -- particularly when the old blues singers themselves seldom sang a song the same two times in a row -- not even two consecutive takes in the recording studio.  If they weren't worried about the exact words and phrases and verses they sang, we probably shouldn't either.

[ozrkreb]

I probably get too hung up in the actual wording anyway -- particularly when the old blues singers themselves seldom sang a song the same two times in a row -- not even two consecutive takes in the recording studio.? If they weren't worried about the exact words and phrases and verses they sang, we probably shouldn't either.

I think it's natural to want to understand exactly what the lyrics are....I find myself doing that all the time. And once I've heard it one way it's very hard for me to hear it any other way. As a matter of fact, I've read the lyrics written by the songwriter themself and not been able to hear anything other than what I heard that first time. I think you are also right that we shouldn't split hairs over lyrics either....many performers treat the lyrics as a fluid thing rather than being set in stone. When I comes to performing these songs, I just sing what I think they are saying and if I don't know, I slur words together so nobody knows what the heck I'm saying.

[chipmonk doug]

I think you are also right that we shouldn't split hairs over lyrics either....many performers treat the lyrics as a fluid thing rather than being set in stone. When I comes to performing these songs, I just sing what I think they are saying and if I don't know, I slur words together so nobody knows what the heck I'm saying.

Agreed, we hear different versions by different performers.  When I do them I just work the lyrics as a frame work.  If I want to change a verse I do.  They did.  The jet plane verse that RGD uses wasn't written in the 30's.

[Bluesymel]

Does anyone have the lyrics to this by Blind Boy Fuller?



I think it starts with I'm going up town with my hat in my hand

[MTJ3]

This is a transcription of the Take 1 from the JSP box set. Curiously perhaps, the lyrics to Take 2 (including the refrain) in that set are identical.  They are also the same as the "unissued take" on the Columbia Roots and Blues series (which, according to B&GR, would have been the first take of this song).  My phonograph is still "busted," so I can't check this against versions of what I believe are Take 2 that I have on LP.  I have not listened to the Document CD for both takes and would be grateful if someone could, by reference to the Document CD, identify which take this is or advise if both takes there are also identical.  Caveat: BBF's singing here is not particularly melodic, and I have not made any effort to show which words are spoken.

"Rag, Mama, Rag" (Take 1)
Blind Boy Fuller, 25 July 1935

[Instrumental break]

Says I'm going uptown hat in my hand
Looking for the woman ain't got no man.
Just as well be looking for a needle in the sand
Looking for a woman ain't got no man.

Oh, rag.
Rag.
Rag.
Said do that rag. 

Oh, rag.
Oh, rag.
Rag.
Said do that rag. 

Says I wouldn't have thought my gal would treatin' me so.
Love another man stay at my back door.
Mind, mama, what you sow.
You got to reap just what you sow.

Oh, rag.
Rag, now.
Rag, baby.
Rag, mama.
Said do that rag. 

Oh, rag.
Do it a long time.
Rag.
Said do that rag

Now if you'll get you one woman better get you two,
One for your buddy other one for you.
Got me a wife and a sweetheart too.
Wife don't love me my sweetheart do.

Oh, rag.
Rag, baby.
Rag.
Rag, mama,
Said do that rag.

Oh, rag.
Rag.
Rag, baby.
Said do that rag.

[Instrumental break]

[Scat verse]

Oh, rag.
Oh, rag, baby.
Rag, mama.
Said do that rag

Oh, rag.
Oh, rag, baby.
Rag, mama.
Said do that rag.

Now rag, baby

[Instrumental break]

Oh, rag.
Oh, rag.
Rag, mama.
Said do that rag.

Said my gal hollered murder I ain't raised my hand.
Pistol in my pocket black jack in my hand
Took my gal under the willow tree.
Ought to hear her hollering, "Don't murder me!"

Oh, rag, shh...
Oh, rag.
Rag, now, baby,
Rag.
Said do that rag.

Oh, rag.
Oh, rag, baby.
Rag again.
Said do that rag.

[Instrumental break]

Spoken:  Rag, now, gal

[resoplayer]

Hy ,
I would like to thanks again for the "trouble blues" lyrics johnm gave me last time.
Now I am singin' and playing it(part 2)! I am working actually at "homesick and lonesome blues" from B.B.Fuller(same open D/Eb key and interessing "police dog blues"quotes).I tried to find out through the lyric's web links...No way! This is the most obscure "slide's stuff" Fulton has done...
If someone has the lyrics ?
Many thanks again...



Pascal

[Bunker Hill]

As this gave me the opportunity to play one of Bruce Bastin's earliest Carolina compilations (Bull City Blues, Flyright 106, 1972), here's my attempt at a transcription. Those owning CDs which have used for their source masters (rather than original 78s) will be able to pick up any mishearings. The interesting thing about this number is that Fuller starts and ends the song with "broomdusting slide".

I laid down last night mama, I tried to take my rest.
Says I laid down last night baby, I tried to take my rest.
And you know my mind got to ramblin' like wild geese in the West.

Ain't but the one thing, jest (?) like to change my mind.
Ain't but the one thing, like to change my mind.
When I started to New York, I left little Cora Mae cryin'.

I sure can't sleep mama, I sure can't rest at night.
I can't sleep mama, I sure can't rest at night.
When I get to thinkin' about my little woman, it takes my appetite.

(Solo - Play that thing, boy)

I'm gonna tell my baby, says when I go home.
I'm gonna tell my baby, lord when I go home.
These here women in Harlem, New York, won't let her baby alone

[Marco]

Hi, Friends of Weenie!!! 

I'm looking for the lyrics of "Truckin' my Blues Away" (Blind Boy Fuller)  .
I've searched on the net but I've found nothing about! 
Please, could you help me?

Many thanks!

[uncle bud]

Hi Marco -

Here you go:

Truckin' My Blues Away - Blind Boy Fuller
in C position

I got a gal here in this town, she's the best lookin' brown around
I got a gal in this town, best lookin' brown around
She's a-strictly tailor-made, she ain't no hand-me-down
Catch you truckin? with her, I'm gonna sure shoot you down
Keep on truckin' mama, truckin' my blues away
Truckin' my blues away

Keep on truckin' mama, truckin' my blues away
Keep on truckin' mama, girl you truck my blues away
I got a gal she's little and neat
When she's starts to truckin', man it's so sweet
Keep on truckin' mama, truckin' my blues away
Truckin' my blues away

Keep on truckin' baby, truckin' my blues away, yeah
Keep on truckin' baby, truckin' my blues away
I know a gal she's long and tall
When she starts to truckin' make a little man squall
Keep on truckin' mama, truckin' my blues away
I mean, truckin' my blues away, yeah

do be dee be da....zee za za etc.

Keep on truckin' baby, truckin' my blues away
Keep on truckin' mama, truckin' my blues away
She has a dance she call biddle-um-bum
Sure missin' somethin' if you don't truck some
Keep on truckin' mama, truckin' my blues away
Truckin' my blues away

Keep on truckin' baby, truckin' my blues away
Keep on truckin' mama, truckin' my blues away, yeah
You don't have to hurry, don't have to go
Wait a little while you might wanna truck some more
Keep on truckin' baby, truckin' my blues away
Truckin' my blues away

Keep on truckin' mama, truckin' my blues away, yeah
Keep on truckin' baby, truckin' my blues away
Make a lame man run, make a blind man see
Sure gets good when she truckin' with me
Keep on truckin' baby, truckin' my blues away

[Marco]

THANK-YOUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!

Uncle Bud, you are fantastic!!!