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* additions of June 2000

Table Of Content (10 songs,7 soundclips)

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* Black Dog Blues * Detroit Bound Blues Diddie Wa Diddie Georgia Bound * Hard Road Blues	Lonesome Christmas Blues * Playing Policy Blues * Poker Woman Blues Police Dog Blues You Gonna Quit Me Baby

Black Dog Blues

soundclip

by Blind Arthur Blake
recording of probably 1926-1932
from Ragtime Guitar's Foremost Fingerpicker (Yazoo 1068), copyright notice

Let me tell you, mama, what that black dog done done to me
Let me tell you, mama, what that black dog done done to me
He cheated me from my regular, now he's after my used-to-be

Black dog, black dog, you caused me to weep and moan
Black dog, black dog, you caused me to weep and moan
You cause me to leave my, sweet old happy home

Black dog, black dog, you forever on my mind
Black dog, black dog, you forever on my mind
If you only let me see my baby one more time

So long black dog, I'm quittin' your hard luck line
So long black dog, I'm quittin' your hard luck line
'Cause you got me so blue, keep 'bout to love her sometime

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Detroit Bound Blues

by Blind Arthur Blake
recording of May 1928
from Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 2 (1927-1928) (Document DOCD5025), copyright notice

I'm goin' to Detroit, get myself a good job
I'm goin' to Detroit, get myself a good job
Tried to stay around here with the starvation mob

I'm goin' to get a job, up there in Mr. Ford's place
I'm goin' to get a job, up there in Mr. Ford's place
Stop these eatless days from starin' me in the face

When I start to makin' money, she don't need to come around
When I start to makin' money, she don't need to come around
'Cause I don't want her now, Lord. I'm Detroit bound

Because they got wild women in Detroit, that's all I want to see
Because they got wild women in Detroit, that's all I want to see
Wild women and bad whisky would make a fool out of me

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Diddie Wa Diddie

soundclip

by Blind Arthur Blake
recording of probably 1926-1932
from Ragtime Guitar's Foremost Fingerpicker (Yazoo 1068), copyright notice

There's a great big mystery, and it sure is worrying me
This Diddie Wa Diddie
Mister Diddie Wa Diddie
I wish somebody would tell me what Diddie Wa Diddie means

The little girl about four feet four, come on papa and give me some more,
of your Diddie Wa Diddie, your Diddie Wa Diddie
I wish somebody would tell me what Diddie Wa Diddie means

I went around and walked around, somebody yelled, said, "Look who's in town"
Mister Diddie Wa Diddie
Mister Diddie Wa Diddie
I wish somebody would tell me what Diddie Wa Diddie means

Went to church, put my hand on the seat, lady sat on it said, "Daddy, you sure is sweet"
Mister Diddie Wa Diddie
Mister Diddie Wa Diddie
I wish somebody would tell me what Diddie Wa Diddie means

I said, "Sister, I'll soon be gone, just gimme that thing you sitting on"
Mister Diddie Wa Diddie
Mister Diddie Wa Diddie
I wish somebody would tell me what Diddie Wa Diddie means

Then I got put out of church, 'cause I talk about Diddie Wa Diddie too much
Mister Diddie Wa Diddie
Mister Diddie Wa Diddie
I wish somebody would tell me what Diddie Wa Diddie means

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Georgia Bound

by Blind Arthur Blake
recording of probably 1926-1932
from Ragtime Guitar's Foremost Fingerpicker (Yazoo 1068), copyright notice

Packing up my duffel¹, gonna leave this town
Packing up my duffel, gonna leave this town
And I'm gonna hustle to catch that train southbound

Got the Georgia blues for the plow and hoe²
Got the Georgia blues for the plow and hoe
Walked out my shoes over this ice and snow

Tune up the fiddle, dust off the bow
Tune up the fiddle, dust off the bow
Put on the griddle³, and open up the cabin door

I thought I was going to the north land to stay
I thought I was going to the north land to stay
South is on my mind, my blues won't go away

Potatoes in the ashes, possum⁴ on the stove
Potatoes in the ashes, possum on the stove
You can have the hash⁵, but leave it on the clove⁶

Chicken on the roof, babe, watermelons on the vine⁷
Chicken on the roof, babe, watermelons on the vine
I'll be glad to get back, to that Georgia gal of mine

__________
Note 1: duffel, a large cylindrical fabric bag for personal belongings;
Note 2: hoe, an implement with a thin flat blade on a long handle used especially for cultivating, weeding, or loosening the earth around plants;
Note 3: griddle, a flat metal surface or pan on which food is cooked by dry heat;
Note 4: possum or opossum (drawing), the word originates from the Algonquian Indians of Virginia, and means literally white animal. In general any of a family of American marsupials that usually have a pointed snout and a tail adapted for seizing or grasping especially by wrapping around. More specific, a common omnivorous largely nocturnal and mammal, that lives solely or often in trees. They have grayish to blackish fur with white on the cheeks.
Note 5: hash, chopped food, specifically, chopped meat mixed with potatoes and browned;
Note 6: clove, have found several meanings but none seems fitting. 1. - one of the small bulbs (as in garlic) developed in the axils of the scales of a large bulb; 2 - the dried flower bud of a tropical tree of the myrtle family that is used as a spice and is the source of an oil;
Note 7: vine, stem of a plant that requires support and which climbs by tendrils or twining or creeps along the ground (as in the case of watermelons).

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Hard Road Blues

by Blind Arthur Blake
recording of 1927, Chicago, Illinois
from Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 1 (1926-1927) (Document DOCD 5024-50), copyright notice

Keep on walkin' and walkin', talkin' to myself
Keep on walkin' and walkin', talkin' to myself
Gal I love's with somebody else

I got the hard road blues, walkin' on down the line
I got the hard road blues, walkin' on down the line
Maybe some day my gal will change her mind

It's a hard, hard road when your baby done throwed you down
It's a hard, hard road when your baby done throwed you down
Goin' keep on walkin' from town to town

I'm goin' find my baby, don't think she can be found
I'm goin' find my baby, don't think she can be found
Goin' walk this hard road till my moustache drag the ground

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Lonesome Christmas Blues

soundclip

by Blind Arthur Blake
recording of probably 1929-1932
from Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 4 (1929-1932) (Document DOCD5027), copyright notice

This is December, the last month of the year
This is December, the last month of the year
Twenty-fourth day and Christmas is almost here

Last Christmas mornin' I was standin' in the jailhouse cell
Last Christmas mornin' I was standin' in the jailhouse cell
And this Christmas I'm sick and can't get well

I'm lying in my bed watching the snow-flakes fall
I'm lying in my bed watching the snow-flakes fall
Worried in mind 'cause I ain't got no baby at all

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Playing Policy Blues

soundclip

by Blind Arthur Blake
recording of December 1930, Crafton, Wisconsin
from Ragtime Guitar's Foremost Fingerpicker (Yazoo 1068) & Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 4 (1929-1932) (Document DOCD5027), copyright notice

I dreamed last night the woman I love was dead
I dreamed last night the woman I love was dead
If I had played the "Dead Roll" I would-a come out ahead

I act like a fool and played 3-6-9
I act like a fool and played 3-6-9
Lost my money and that girl of mine

I begged my baby, let me in her door
I begged my baby, let me in her door
Wanted to put 25-50-75 in her 7-17-24

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Poker Woman Blues

soundclip

by Blind Arthur Blake
recording of July 1929, Richmond, Virginia
from Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 3 (1928-1929) (Document DOCD5026), copyright notice

I love to gamble, gamblin's all I do
I love to gamble, gamblin's all I do
And when I lose, it never makes me blue

I gambled away my money, I gambled away my shack
I gambled away my money, I gambled away my shack
Same way I lost it, same way I get it back

I won a woman in a poker game
I won a woman in a poker game
I lost her too, win another just the same

Sometimes I'm rich, sometimes I ain't got a cent
Sometimes I'm rich, sometimes I ain't got a cent
But I've had a good time, every way I went

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Police Dog Blues

soundclip

by Blind Arthur Blake
recording of probably 1926-1932
from Ragtime Guitar's Foremost Fingerpicker (Yazoo 1068), copyright notice

All my life I've been a travelin' man
All my life I've been a travelin' man
Stayin' alone and doin' the best I can

I shipped my trunk down to Tennessee
I shipped my trunk down to Tennessee
Hard to tell about a man like me

I met a gal, I couldn't get her off my mind
I met a gal, I couldn't get her off my mind
She passed me up, said she didn't like my kind

I'm scared to bother around her house at night
I'm scared to bother around her house at night
She got a police dog cravin' for a fight

His name is Rambler, when he gets a chance
His name is Rambler, when he gets a chance
He leaves his mark on everybody's pants

Guess I'll travel, I guess I'll let her be
Guess I'll travel, I guess I'll let her be
Before she sicks¹ her police dog on me

__________
Note 1: sicks or sic, alteration of seek. Chase or attack, usually used as a command especially to a dog "sic 'em!".

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You Gonna Quit Me Baby

soundclip

by Blind Arthur Blake
recording of probably 1926-1932
from Ragtime Guitar's Foremost Fingerpicker (Yazoo 1068), copyright notice

You gonna quit me, baby, good as I been to you
Good as I been to you, Lord, Lord,
Good as I been to you

Give you my money, honey, buy your shoes and clothes, Lord, Lord
Buy your shoes and clothes, Lord, Lord
Buy your shoes and clothes

You're gonna quit me baby, put me out of doors
Put me out of doors, Lord, Lord
Put me out of doors

Six months on the chain gang, b'lieve me ain't no fun
B'lieve me ain't no fun, Lord, Lord
B'lieve me ain't no fun

Jail house ain't no plaything, b'lieve me, 'tain't no lie
B'lieve me, 'tain't no lie, Lord, Lord
B'lieve me, 'tain't no lie

Day you quit me, baby, that's the day you die, Lord, Lord
That's the day you die, Lord, Lord
That's the day you die

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Created by:
Bluesman Harry
Page last updated on:
June 2 2000