Topic: Leola B. Wilson Lyrics

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Leola B. Wilson recorded "Down The Country" at a session in Chicago in November of 1926, accompanied by Blind Blake, playing in Vestapol tuning. Blake's playing is wonderful here, certainly similar to his playing on "Police Dog Blues", but perhaps a little looser. Leola Wilson sounds a thorough professional. I'd very much appreciate help with the first two lines of the third verse--what I have approximates the sound, but doesn't make enough sense to make me think it's right. Here is "Down The Country":



INTRO

'D'you ever wake up, just 'bout the break of day
'D'you ever wake up, just 'bout the break of day,
With your arms around the pillow where Mr. So-And-So used to lay?

I'm goin' away, baby, won't be back until Fall
I'm goin' away, baby, won't be back until Fall
If I don't win no money, I won't be back at all

I heard this crackin', early this morn
I heard this crackin', early this morn
If you don't think I'm leavin', count the days that I'll be gone

If the river was liquor, and I was a duck
Mmm-mmm-mm, and I was a duck
I would go to the bottom, and I would never come up

I'm leavin' this town, got on my last pair of shoes
I'm leavin' this town, got on my last pair of shoes
Walkin' away from here with those down the country blues

CODA

Edited 5/30 to pick up corrections from MarkC, Stuart and Blues Vintage

All best,
Johnm

[MarkC]

John -
I’m hearing “our levee’s moan” as “early this morn’”.

[Johnm]

Re-listening, I heard it that way too, Mark. It sounds perfectly clear now. Thanks for the help, and I will make the change.

[Stuart]

Hi John:

Where you have, "If I don't get no money," I hear, "If I don't win no money."

I listened several time with headphones. I hear "early this morn" as well. I agree--It's some fine playing by Blind Blake.

[Johnm]

Thanks for the catch, Stuart. I have made the change.

[banjochris]

Worth mentioning here that Leola B. Wilson is also Coot Grant of Grant and Wilson, who recorded a bunch of titles including the classing "Lollypop" – she lived until 1970! I love her records with Blake, "Down the Country" most of all.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coot_Grant

[Blues Vintage]

I don't hear "just" in 3.3

If you don't think I'm leavin', just count the days that I'll be gone

[Johnm]

Right you are, Blues Vintage, thanks for the catch. I will make the change. Apropos of banjochris's biographical note on Leola Wilson I found earlier when I googled her it took me to the Coot Grant page.

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Leola Wilson recorded "Wilson Dam" at the same session at which she recorded "Down The Country" and was once again accompanied by Blind Blake, this time playing in G position in standard tuning. Blake's rhythmic imagination and execution are on full display here; the surety of what he played in what was almost certainly at least a semi-improvised context is amazing. I'm not at all sure of the end of the opening lines of the first verse and would appreciate help with that if any of you hear it better than I do. Here is "Wilson Dam":



INTRO

Come, seven-eleven, I hear my daddy cry
Come, seven-eleven, I hear my daddy cry
I need some money to buy some shoes for that baby of mine

Way down South, where I were a babe
Way down South, where I were a babe
Where them Saturday night payrolls always waited for me

House is on fire, blaze is getting thick
House is on fire, blaze is getting thick
Women on the dam, holl'in', "Daddy, save my wig!"

I'm moanin' and groanin', just like a morning dove
Mmmm, just like a morning dove
I ain't moanin' for money, just for that man I love

Train blowin' from Memphis, don't stop at Birmingham
Train blowin' from Memphis, don't stop at Birmingham
Keeps goin' straight through, down to Wilson Dam

Edited 5/30 to pick up corrections from Blues Vintage
Edited 5/31 to pick up corrections from banjochris

All best,
Johnm

[Blues Vintage]

I hear my daddy cry  for the first verse

[Blues Vintage]

I need some money to buy some shoes for that baby of mine

Could be "juice" instead of "shoes' and both make sense but can't decide....


My man's -Where there's a- Saturday night payroll is always waitin' for me

Possibly "houses" instead of "house" as multiple women are hollerin'.


It -Keeps- goin' straight through, down to Wilson Dam

[Johnm]

Thanks, Blues Vintage, that was fast! I'll make the change.

[Johnm]

Hi Blues Vintage,
I think it's definitely "shoes" in the first verse--it's a craps common usage: "Daddy needs a new pair of shoes."

I'm sticking with "my man's". There are not enough syllables for it to be "Where there's a" and the consonant sounds are wrong.

I made the change to "houses", and agree with "keeps" in the last verse. Thanks for all the help.

[banjochris]

Couple suggestions on Wilson Dam, another one of my all-time favorite Blake accompaniments.

I hear a few lines this way:

Way down South, where I were a babe,
Way down South, where I were a babe,
Where them Saturday night payrolls, always waited for me.

House is on fire, flames is getting thick,
House is on fire, flames is getting thick,
(I hear 3.3 same as you have – "flames" to me is lot clearer on the repeat)

Hard to hear as she trails off at the end of lines quite a bit.

[Johnm]

Thanks for the help, Chris. Re-listening, I took your hearing of the second verse intact. In verse three, I'm still hearing "blaze" rather than "flames". I'm finding Leola Wilson really tough to hear--don't know if it's the recording or her enunciation. If anyone else wants to take on "Backbiting Bee Blues", be my guest.

[David Kaatz]

I'll give it a go. Crowd sourcing lyrics is great.

Blake's playing sounds like his typical Drop D moves.



Leola Wilson, Back Biting Bee Blues

Early this morning heard somebody calling me
Early this morning heard somebody calling me
It wasn't my baby, that black, back biting bee

Gonna take my razor, cut my honeysuckle vine
Take my razor, cut my honeysuckle vine
Some black bee done stole that honey of mine

Rather have my head in alcohol, my body on the railroad track
Gonna have my head in alcohol, my body on some railroad track
Than to have that black bee, bitin' me in my back

solo
mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm
mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm

It's rainin' in my kitchen, lightnin' on my walls
It's rainin' in my kitchen, lightnin' on my walls
I know by that, some mule is kickin' in my stall

coda

Edited 5/31/23 to pick up suggestions from Blues Vintage and banjochris.

[Blues Vintage]

It wasn't my baby, that black, black -back- biting bee

rather Gonna have my head in that box -alcohol-, my body on the railroad tracks

Gonna -than to- have that black bee, bitin' me in my back

[Blues Vintage]

re-listening not sure 'bout "alcohol".

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Leola Wilson recorded "Ashley Street Blues" at an earlier session, accompanied by Blind Blake, playing in C position in standard tuning. Blake's playing is remarkable, even by his standards, and one can sense how liberating it was for him simply to play and not to have to worry about remembering lyrics and having to accompany himself. His solo is so loose; have you ever heard anybody else do what he did at 2:05--2:07? Me neither!  I feel like Leola Wilson is easier to hear and de-cipher on this cut, despite it being pretty whupped. That remains to be seen, I guess. Here is "Ashley Street Blues":



INTRO

I don't want none of you women, to be frettin' and cryin'
I don't want none of you women, to be frettin' and cryin'
If you ain't got no man, I'll give you one of mine

My mama told me, before I left home
My mama told me, before I left home
"You better let them Jacksonville men alone."

Some women want a yalla, and some women want brown
Some women want a yalla man, and some women want brown
I know a black man will beat you but he sure won't th'ow you down

SOLO

Please let me ride your train, I know you worry, too
Please let me ride your train, I know you worry, too
I'm a heartbroken woman, with the Ashley Street blues

CODA

Edited 5/31 to pick up correction from Blues Vintage

All best,
Johnm

[David Kaatz]

re-listening not sure 'bout "alcohol".

Thanks Blues Vintage, I have mostly taken your suggestions. It sure sounds like "alcohol" on the second line to me, now, so I put it on the first as well.

Dave

[Blues Vintage]

Please let me ride your train, I know you want it, too     I know you worry too ?

[Blues Vintage]

re-listening not sure 'bout "alcohol".

Thanks Blues Vintage, I have mostly taken your suggestions. It sure sounds like "alcohol" on the second line to me, now, so I put it on the first as well.

Dave

I'm quite sure on "rather", Dave, but not 100 %, it sure fit the context better.
A lot of blues have a similar line like that.  I'd rather be the devil....

[banjochris]

Here's how I hear those Back Biting Bee verses:

1.3 It WAS my baby, that black BACK biting bee
(pretty confident this is WAS with the M of baby stuck to it, not WASN'T)

2.1 and 2.2 I hear VINE both times

3.1 RATHER have my head in ALCOHOL, my body on SOME railroad TRACK
3.2 Gonna have my head in ALCOHOL, my body on some railroad TRACK
3.3 THAN to have...

(I hear RATHER only on the first time through, then "gonna" on the repeat – "alcohol" clear to me both times)

4.3 ...SOME mule is kickin' in my stall

Chris

[David Kaatz]

re-listening not sure 'bout "alcohol".

Thanks Blues Vintage, I have mostly taken your suggestions. It sure sounds like "alcohol" on the second line to me, now, so I put it on the first as well.

Dave

I'm quite sure on "rather", Dave, but not 100 %, it sure fit the context better.
A lot of blues have a similar line like that.  I'd rather be the devil....

Ahh, yeah, I get you. I missed that you said "rather". The way you edit existing posts here, you can't see the posts that came after it while editing, so I couldn't refer to your suggestions.

[banjochris]

Agree with Blues Vintage on "worry" for Ashley St. – that F lick really is something else. Interestingly his first verse is a little tribute to Sylvester Weaver, and then he's Blake for the whole rest of the piece!

[Blues Vintage]

OK, to get it more perfect, I hear "wall" not "walls" in that last verse.

[David Kaatz]

Here's how I hear those Back Biting Bee verses:

1.3 It WAS my baby, that black BACK biting bee
(pretty confident this is WAS with the M of baby stuck to it, not WASN'T)

2.1 and 2.2 I hear VINE both times

3.1 RATHER have my head in ALCOHOL, my body on SOME railroad TRACK
3.2 Gonna have my head in ALCOHOL, my body on some railroad TRACK
3.3 THAN to have...

(I hear RATHER only on the first time through, then "gonna" on the repeat – "alcohol" clear to me both times)

4.3 ...SOME mule is kickin' in my stall

Chris

Thanks Chris, but I'm sticking with "Wasn't". Otherwise it sounds like "was-mm my baby", with the "mm" very distinct from "my", which makes no sense to me. I think I incorporated the rest of your suggestions.

[Johnm]

Hi Blues Vintage and Chris,
I agree with "worry" in the final verse of "Ashley Street Blues", though the vowel sound is weird, more like "warry". I'll make the change. Thanks.

[Johnm]

In "Back Biting Bee Blues" I'm hearing "honeysuckle's" in the second verse, which makes more sense, metaphorically speaking, and is really grisly.

[banjochris]

In "Back Biting Bee Blues" I'm hearing "honeysuckle's" in the second verse, which makes more sense, metaphorically speaking, and is really grisly.

I can hear that too, John, and yeah that adds (or maybe subtracts) a whole new dimension!

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Leola Wilson recorded "Dying Blues" with Blind Blake at their first session together, in Chicago, in July of 1926. Blake accompanied the song out of C position in standard tuning. The song is in the Classic Blues mold, with an introductory verse followed by the main section. The verse does not make a great deal of musical sense, either in its melody, the way the lyrics scan or in the way that Blind Blake chose to harmonize it. I feel as though both Leola Wilson and Blind Blake were more comfortable in their subsequent collaborations. Blake understandably solos on a 12-bar blues form rather than the chorus's progression. I'd very much appreciate help with the bent bracketed word and anything else I have wrong. I'm not at all sure about "you do" in the next-to-last line of the chorus--it may be "to do". Here is "Dying Blues":



INTRO

VERSE:
Can't you see? Now can't you see, honey what you've done to poor me?
You see my tears? You see my tears? I've been lonesome for years
A little smile, a little smile, will last for a long, long while, my baby

CHORUS:
The doctor says I can't live long, and when I'm dead I'll be a long time gone
And when I die I'll go before the judgement bars, and you'd be 'cused of murder because you broke my heart
Now I'm not lyin', just because I'm dyin', I know that it's bad, bad news, babe,
But anybody should ask you, tell 'em just what you do, "That woman's got them dyin' blues, I say,
That woman's got them dyin' blues."

SOLO

CHORUS:
The doctor says I ca-han't live long, and when I'm dead I'll be a long time gone
And when I die I'll go before the judgement bars, and you'd be 'cused of murder because you broke my heart
Now I'm not lyin', just because I'm dyin', I know that it's bad, bad news, babe,
But anybody should ask you, tell 'em, just what you do, "That woman's got them dyin' blues, I say,
Boy, that woman's got them dying blues."

CODA

Edited 6/8 to pick up corrections from banjochris and David Kaatz

All best,
Johnm

 

[Blues Vintage]

I know it's bad english but the begining of the 2nd chorus sounds like

The doctor says I can't here live long


I'm guessing for the mystery word;
 
And when I die I'll go before the judgement fall or falls?

[Johnm]

Thanks for the help, Blues Vintage. I think that "judgement falls" is correct and will make the change. I think that what Leola Wilson sang in the beginning of the first line of the second chorus was:

   The doctor says I ca-han't live long

She aspirates the ending of "can't" after hitting the initial hard "c". You probably recall Larry Johnson doing the same thing several time on "Seaboard Train Blues". 

[Johnm]

I've been advised that "judgement bar" is a usage meaning a court. I'm going to change it back to "bars", which I had originally because I hear her ending it with an "s" both times.

[Blues Vintage]

I never heard of it. I seached for it too but couldn't find nothing.
Did some more digging and...


Judgment bar

https://glosbe.com/en/en/judgment%20bar

[Stuart]

On page 56 of Religious Folk-Songs Of The Southern Negroes by Howard W. Odum (1909) there are lyrics from the song, "Blow, Gable, Blow" that contain "judgment bar."

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/39078/39078-h/39078-h.htm

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Religious_Folk_songs_of_the_Southern_Neg/JBFFAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22judgment+bar%22&pg=PA56&printsec=frontcover

Also:

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Slave_Songs_of_the_Georgia_Sea_Islands/KxGu6nGBOJsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22judgment+bar%22&pg=PA88&printsec=frontcover

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Echoes_from_Three_Worlds/sxNUAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22judgment+bar%22&pg=PA76&printsec=frontcover

[banjochris]

Yeah that's definitely judgement bar(s) there, it's in quite a few religious songs – Gary Davis uses it in "Blow, Gabriel" – as Stuart mentioned here, and also "Running to the Judgement" on the Pure Religion & Bad Company album.

I would also suggest "I've been lonesome for YEARS" for the internal rhyme.
Chris

[Johnm]

Thanks for the catch on "years", Chris. I will make the change.

[David Kaatz]

On the first chorus, 4th line, the word just falls after 'em. Just like in the second chorus.

[Johnm]

Thanks for the catch, Dave. I have made the change.