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2. |
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3. |
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4. |
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Poor boy, long ways from home (2)
Long ways from home and his mama's house
And he can't bum a freight back home.
Nine hundred miles from home (2)
Ain’t got no money, ain't got no friends
Ain't got no place to go.
Oh darling, sidetrack your man (2)
Sidetrack your man and go with me
Oh darling, sidetrack your man.
Oh darling, you don't love me (2)
You love some old rounder, but you don't love me
Poor boy that works so hard.
Oh darling, you told me a lie (2)
You told me more lies than diamonds in the skies
Oh darling, I'll never marry you.
Oh darling, count the days that I'm gone (2)
Count the days I'm gone for it may be long
Oh darling, count the days I'm gone.
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5. |
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Got up this morning, baby,
Blues all on my mind
Well, I heard that rooster crowing,
Lord, the blues was all on my mind.
Oh, if you stay out late tonight, baby,
Please carry your black dress along
If you stay out late tonight, baby,
You’d better carry that black dress along
'Cause the devil's going to be your man, honey,
Hell'll be your brand new home.
Well, I seen that hearse a-coming,
Six white horses all in a line
Six white horses all in a line
They gonna carry me away, baby,
To my burying ground.
Go dig my grave with a silver spade
Go dig my grave, baby, with a silver spade
And every ring you can call my name
'Cause I'm going to be gone, gone, baby,
A long, long time.
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6. |
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7. |
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In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun never shines
And shiver when the cold wind blows.
Little darling, little darling, don’t tell me no lies
Where did you stay last night?
I stayed in the pines where the sun never shines
And shivered when the cold wind blows.
The longest train I ever saw
Was down that Georgia line
The engine passed at eight o'clock
And the cab went by at nine.
In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun never shines
And shiver when the cold wind blows.
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8. |
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The longest train that ever I saw
Was leaving Joe Brown’s coal mine
That engine was pulling up that Reno Hill
Caboose had never left that town. (2)
If you say so, I’ll railroad no more
Lay down my hammer and come home
But the train’s off the track, can’t get it back
Fourteen hundred miles from home. (2)
Only gal ever I loved
Waiting back home for me.
[If] I get out of this old jailhouse
That’s where I’m going to be
On my way back home.
With that long steel rail and that short cross tie
I’m beating my way back home.
Oh, I’m beating my way back home. (2)
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9. |
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10. |
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Well, the boat's up the river, won't come down
Tell by the way that she's headed, Alabamy bound.
Oh, she’s Alabamy bound, boys, Alabamy bound
Tell by the way that she's headed, Alabamy bound.
Now there ain’t but one thing bothers my mind
It's my old Waterbury, she won’t keep time
No, she won't keep time, won't keep time
It's my old Waterbury, she won’t keep time.
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11. |
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Hate that train carried my gal from town
If I knowed her number, sure flagged her down.
Hate that train carried my gal from town.
Yonder come my gal, somebody brought her back
She’s got her hand in my money sack.
And hate that train carried my gal from town.
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12. |
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I’ve got the blues, I had the blues all day long (2)
I love the woman I’m loving, oh, she done caught that train and gone.
Well, it’s a mean old fireman, cruel old engineer (2)
Take that woman I love, oh, and carried her a long ways from here.
I mean that engineer blew the whistle, the fireman toned the bell (2)
Well, that woman looked out the window, oh, and did it, “Sam, fare
you well.”
Well, my mama said she’s reckless and my daddy told me she’s wild (2)
Well, it makes me no difference that woman my little angel child.
I said, baby, don’t put your love on me so strong (2)
‘Cause your love is like a faucet, woman, oh, you can cut if off and on.
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13. |
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Green corn, green corn, growing in the garden
Sookey pied, sookey pied, come and get your nubbin
Get away, calf, or [I’ll] give you a clubbin’
Green corn growing in the garden.
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14. |
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Well, upstairs, downstairs, out in the kitchen (3)
I met an old cook just a-raring and a-pitching, yes sir.
Chorus:
Hot corn, cold corn, bring along a demijohn (3)
Fare you well, my little gal, I’ll meet you in the morning, yes sir.
Preacher’s all a-coming, children all a-crying (3)
Chicken heads a-wringing and the toenails are flying, yes sir.
Children in the beehive, getting all the honey
Preacher in the pulpit, taking all the money
Aunt Susie shouting and singing for joy
Happiest lot of people that I ever saw, yes sir.
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15. |
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Don’t want to steal or rob
But I’m out of a job
And my Mandy keeps on nagging all the time, time, time
She just keeps on a-nagging all the time.
Honey, if you say so
I won’t work no more
I’ll just lay around your daddy’s all the time, time, time
I’ll lay around your daddy’s all the time.
Oh, these times are rough
Wish I had some snuff
And I’d keep my Mandy dipping all the time, time, time
I’d keep her brush a-dipping all the time.
Times is risky
Wish I had some whiskey,
And I’d keep my Mandy boozy all the time, time, time
I’d keep her good and boozy all the time.
For time’s is hard
And I’m out of lard
And Mandy keeps on nagging all the time, time, time
She just keeps on nagging all the time.
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16. |
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John Hardy married him a loving little wife
The dress she wore was blue
She threw her arms around Johnny's neck
Says, "Johnny, I'll be true to you, poor boy”
Says, "Johnny, I'll be true to you.”
John Hardy was a-standing in the barroom door
So drunk he could not see
When the police came and they took him by the arm
Says, "Johnny, come and go with me,” poor boy
Says, "Johnny, come and go with me.”
John Hardy's mother came to him
Says, "Johnny what have you done?"
"I've killed me a man in the poker game
And I'm standing on the barrel of my gun, Lord, Lord
I'm standing on the barrel of my gun."
"I've been to the east, I've been to the west,
I've been this wide world 'round;
I've been to the river and I've been baptized,
So take me to the hanging ground,” poor boy
"Oh, take me to the hanging ground."
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17. |
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18. |
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19. |
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Well, the ugliest man I've ever seen
Is a man called John from Bowling Green
No hat on his head, no shoes on his feet
Always looking for something to eat.
Chorus:
Lost John, they call him Lost John.
Well, he come by my grandpa's house one day
Told him that he wanted to stay
They asked him what he wanted to eat
He said, "Forty-nine biscuits and a ham of meat."
Lost John sittin’ on the railroad track
Waiting for a freight train [to] come along back.
Freight train come along, didn't make a stop
You oughta seen Lost John gettin’ on top.
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20. |
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21. |
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Early morning in the alley, it sounded like a bulldog bark
Must have been old Stackolee shootin’ in the dark
Refrain: Bad man, bad man Stackolee.
Billy Lyon’s in the barroom, talking to his friends
The door it opened, Stackolee walked in.
“Oh Stackolee, oh Stackolee, oh please don’t take my life
I’ve two lovin’ children and a lovin’ little wife.”
“Oh, God‘ll take care of your children and I’ll take care of your wife
Stole my John B. Stetson, gonna take your life.”
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22. |
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Look up, look down that lonesome road
Hang down your head and cry.
True love, true love, what have I done
That you should treat me so?
You’ve caused me to walk that lonesome road
That I never walked before.
The longest train I ever saw
Was on the Georgia line
The engine went down at six o'clock
And the cab went down at nine.
The prettiest girl in this wide world
Was a-standing on behind
The whistle blew and the bell did ring
The engine rolled ahead
The train did wreck in a mile of town
And killed my true love dead.
If I had wings like Noah's dove
I’d fly to my true love’s door
I'd walk the porch from post to post
Hang down my head and cry.
Look up, look down that lonesome road
Hang down your head and cry.
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23. |
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Said my honey gal went away last night
I don’t know what to do
‘Cause every time she goes away
She makes me feel so blue.
Refrain:
It’s all night long, babe, it’s all night long.
Said that yellow gal rides [in] an automobile
The brownskin do the same
Says the jet black woman gets a buryin’ wagon
But she riding just the same.
Said that yellow gal drinks her whiskey straight
The brownskin do the same
Said the jet black woman gets a dip of snuff
But she gittin’ drunk just the same.
I mean it’s all night long
Baby, all night long
It’s all night long
Baby, all night long
Said that yellow gal sleeps in a [feather] bed
The brownskin do the same
Said the jet black woman gets a pallet on the floor
But she loves you just the same.
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24. |
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25. |
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26. |
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27. |
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28. |
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Riley and Spencer’s burning down
Lord, there ain’t no liquor in town. (2)
What you going do to wet them lips
When this whole darn world goes dry? (2)
Now I’ve been all around this whole wide world
Lord, I’ve been down in Memphis, Tennessee. (2)
I’ve played cards with the king and the queen
Shot them dice with old Jesse James. (2)
I can eat more chicken than any girl can fry
Lord, I’m tellin’ no lowdown lies. (2)
Tell more lies than the stars in the skies
Now, baby, my time ain’t long. (2)
I never loved but one little gal
Lord, I’m sorry I ever loved her. (2)
She caused me to weep, she caused me to mourn
She took my liquor from me. (2)
Now I’d stomp down them flowers around my grave
But they’ll rise and bloom again. (2)
I’d pawn my shoes for a bottle of booze
Lord, I’d drink it, I’d lay down and die. (2)
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29. |
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It's nobody's business how my baby treats me
It's nobody's business but my own
It's nobody's business, nobody's business
It's nobody's business but my own.
My gal drives a Ford machine, but my money buys the gasoline
It's nobody's business but her own
It's nobody's business how my baby treats me
It's nobody's business but my own.
My gal drives a Cadillac, oh boy, she makes her jack
It's nobody's business but her own
It's nobody's business how my baby treats me
It's nobody's business but my own.
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30. |
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I thought I heard somebody say,
“Funky butt, funky butt, take it away.”
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31. |
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I went down to Joe’s barroom
On the corner of the square
A goodly crowd had gathered
And the drinks were a-flowing there.
I sat down by McKinney
His eyes were bloodshot red
He leaned to me and whispered
And this is what he said:
“I went down to the infirmary
And I looked in a window there
Saw my girl stretched out on a white bed
So cold, so pale, so fair.
“Sixteen coal black horses
Hitched to a rubber-tired hack
Took seven pretty girls to the graveyard
Only six of them came back.
“Six crap shooters for pall bearers
And a chorus girl to sing me a song
Put a jazz band on my hearse top
To sing as I roll along.
“Now my story is ended
Give me one more drink of booze
And I’ll be on my way, boys
For I’ve got those gambling blues.”
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32. |
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33. |
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It’s Frankie and Johnny was sweethearts
Oh, how they did love
They swore to be true to each other
Just as true as the stars above
He was her man, oh lord, but he done her wrong.
Frankie went down to the barroom
Just for a bucket of beer
She asked that barroom tender
“Has my loving Johnny been here?
He is my man, oh lord, but he done me wrong.”
“Frankie, you ought not ask me no questions
And I’ll tell you no lies
Your loving [man was here] about a half an hour ago
With a gal called Nelly Bly
He was your man, oh lord, but he done you wrong.
Frankie went down to the barroom
Had a little white apron on
And under that little white apron
She carried a forty-four smokeless gun
She’s looking for her man, lord, lord, he’d a-done her wrong.
And Frankie looked over the transom
And she saw to her surprise
It’s there on a cot sat Johnny
Making love to Nelly Bly
He was her man, lord, lord, but he done her wrong.
Frankie drew back her kimono
And she pulled a little forty-four
And rooti-toot-toot three times she shot
Right through that hardwood door
She shot her man, lord, lord, he’s a-done her wrong.
“It’s a-bring around a thousand policemen
You can bring them around today
You can lock me down in that dungeon cell
And throw that key away
‘Cause I shot my man, lord, lord, and he done me wrong.”
Frankie said to the warden
“What are they going to do?”
And the warden he said to Frankie
“There’s a ‘lectric chair for you
‘Cause you shot your man, lord, lord, for he done you wrong.”
This story has no moral
This story has no end
This story it just goes to show
That there ain’t no good in men
“‘Cause I shot my man, lord, lord, for he done me wrong.”
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34. |
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I'm going to California, where they sleep out every night
I'm going to California, where they sleep out every night
I'm leaving you woman, you know you don't treat me right.
Listen to me, woman, sing you my lonesome song
Listen to your daddy sing you this lonesome song
Got me wearied now but I won't be weary long
Chorus:
Got the California blues and I'm sure gonna leave you here
Got the California blues and I'm sure gonna leave you here
Gonna ride the blinds, ain't got no railroad fare.
Listen to me, woman, there’s some things that you don't know
Listen to your daddy, there’s things that you don't know
I'm a do-right papa, got a home everywhere I go.
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35. |
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Outside of the Preview volume (FRC800), the 15 volumes of this survey focus on specific themes within North American traditional music. The tracks are entirely drawn from the North American Traditions (NAT) collection, recorded between 1972 and 2008, primarily by myself, Lou Curtiss, John Harrod, Morgan MacQuarrie, Gordon McCann, and Gus Meade. Most of these recordings were made in connection with a series of commercial releases by Rounder Records, although much of the present survey has not been previously released in any form. The 16 FRC releases serve both as a guide to the full NAT Research Archive (which is now publicly accessible; see tinyurl[dot]com/NAT-Research-Archive) and as a vehicle for outlining what we have learned about these songs and their position within historical tradition. To this end, Norm Cohen, myself, and others have prepared extensive notes for each volume (see tinyurl[dot]com/NAT-volume-notes).
During the 19th century the modern American musical vernacular became forged through a complex and poorly understood set of interactions between Anglo and African-American subcultures. The North American Traditions group was especially interested in collecting information with respect to these undocumented exchanges, and some of our discoveries are illustrated in this volume.
— Mark Wilson
Extensive album notes are included with this download or may be found at tinyurl[dot]com/V4-NAT-notes.
