|
|
by Memphis
Minnie
recording of 19
from Hot
Stuff (1930-1941) (Collector's Edition
1) & Complete
Recorded Works, Vol. 2 (1935-1941) (Document
BDCD-6009), copyright
notice
I got a big black cat1 who sits in my back
door
He catches every rat run across my floor
Now everybody wants to buy my kitty
Everybody wants to buy my kitty
Everybody wants to buy my kitty
I wouldn't sell that cat to save your soul
If it wasn't for that cat, I wouldn't know what I would
do
Rats cutting up all of my clothes and shoes2
Now everybody wants to buy my kitty
Everybody wants to buy my kitty
Everybody wants to buy my kitty
I wouldn't sell that cat to save your soul
I been had this old cat, now, for three, four years
Didn't nobody want him till I brought him here
Now everybody wants to buy my kitty
Everybody wants to buy my kitty
Everybody wants to buy my kitty
I wouldn't sell that cat to save your soul
(spoken: Catch a rat!)
Before I got that cat, rats had holes all in my walls
Since I brought her home you can't find no holes at all
Now everybody wants to buy my kitty
Everybody wants to buy my kitty
Everybody wants to buy my kitty
I wouldn't sell that cat to save your soul
You have seen a-lots of cats and you going to see a-lots
more
I got one I carries everywhere I go
Now everybody wants to buy my kitty
Everybody wants to buy my kitty
Everybody wants to buy my kitty
I wouldn't sell that cat to save your soul
(spoken: Aw, play it now
Catch a rat!)
__________
Note 1: although there are no direct references to voodoo,
luck or magic, for many listeners, then and now, black cats
meant bad luck as surely as did walking under a ladder or
breaking a mirror;
Note 2: there is a common folk belief that when rats or mice
gnaw your clothes, it is a sure sign you are going to move
or die. You must get someone outside the family to patch
such clothes, rather than do it yourself which would bring
even more bad luck.
Top
by Memphis
Minnie
recording of June 18 1929
from probably Bumble
Bee (Indigo 2005),
copyright
notice
Bumble bee1, bumble bee, please come back to
me
Bumble bee, bumble bee, please come back to me
He got the best old stinger2 any bumble bee that
I ever seen
He stung me this morning, I been looking for him all day
long
He stung me this morning, I been looking for him all day
long
Lord, it got me to the place, hate to see my bumble bee
leave home
Bumble bee, bumble bee, don't be gone so long
Bumble bee, bumble bee, don't be gone so long
You's my bumble bee and you're needed here at home
I can't stand to hear him buzz, buzz, buzz
Come in, bumble bee, want you to stop your fuss
You're my bumble bee and you know your stuff
Oh, sting me, bumble bee, until I get enough
Bumble bee, bumble bee, don't be gone so long
Bumble bee, bumble bee, don't be gone so long
You's my bumble bee and you're needed here at home
I don't mind you going, ain't going to stay so long
Don't mind you going, don't be gone so long
You's my bumble bee and you're needed here at home
I can't stand to hear him buzz, buzz, buzz
Come in, bumble bee, I want you to stop your fuss
You's my bumble bee and you know your stuff
Oh, sting me bumble bee, until I get enough
__________
Note: Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe made their first record
in the Columbia Studio in New York on Tuesday, June 18,
1929. One of the songs they recorded was this
soon-to-be-famous Bumble Bee. Eight months later, on
February 20 and 21, 1930, Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe
recorded 12 sides for Vocalion. Although the Columbia
version of Bumble Bee was the first version recorded,
Columbia did not issue it until after Vocalion had already
issued their versions of Bumble Bee, Bumble Bee No. 2 and
New Bumble Bee. Memphis Minnie recorded for Vocalion until
the label was phased out in 1940;
Note 1: bumble bee, an insect is is often seen, as in this
case, as an image of a male lover in blues lyrics. The
insect can also represent unwanted brothers and sisters;
Note 2: stinger, a metaphor for the male sexual organ.
Stinging therefore meaning having sex.
Top
by Memphis
Minnie
recording of 19
from probably Bumble
Bee (Indigo 2005),
copyright
notice
Bumble bee1, bumble bee, won't you please come
back to me
Bumble bee, bumble bee, won't you please come back to me
He got the best ol' stinger2 any bumble bee that
I ever seen
He stung me this morning, I been looking for him all day
long
He stung me this morning, I been looking for him all day
long
He had me to the place once, I hate to see my bumble bee
leave home
I can't stand to hear him buzz, buzz, buzz
Come in, bumble bee, I want you to stop your fuss
You're my bumble bee and you know your stuff
Oh, sting me, bumble bee, until I get enough
Hmmm, stinger long as my right arm
Hmmm, stinger long as my right arm
He stung me this morning, I been looking for him all day
long
Sometimes he makes me happy, then sometimes he makes me
cry
Sometimes he makes me happy, then sometimes he makes me
cry
He had me to the place once, I wish to God that I could
die
__________
Note: see Columbia
version;
Note 1: see Columbia
version;
Note 2: see Columbia
version.
Top
by Memphis
Minnie
recording of 19
from Complete
Recorded Works, Vol. 2 (1935-1941) (Document
BDCD-6009) & Blues
Masters, Vol. 12: Memphis Blues [93] (Rhino
R2-71129), copyright
notice
Bumble bee1, bumble bee, where you been so
long
Bumble bee, bumble bee, where you been so long
You stung2 me this morning, I been restless all
day long
I met my bumble bee this morning as he flying in the
door
I met my bumble bee this morning as he flying in the
door
And the way he stung me, he made me cry for more
Hmmmm, don't stay so long from me
Hmmmm, don't stay so long from me
You is my bumble bee, you got something that I really
need
I'm gonna build me a bungalow just for me and my bumble
bee
I'm gonna build me a bungalow just for me and my bumble
bee
Then I won't worry, I will have all the honey I need
He makes my honey, even now makes my comb
He makes my honey, even now makes my comb
It's all I want now my bumble bee just to stay at home
__________
Note: see Columbia
version;
Note 1: see Columbia
version;
Note 2: see Columbia
version.
Top
by Memphis
Minnie
recording of 19
from Complete
Recorded Works, Vol. 4 (1938-1939) (Document
BDCD-6011) & Queen
of the Blues (Sony 65212),
copyright
notice
I was talking to the people that lives in town
Y'ever had the shack and your clothes burn down?
So call the fire wagon
Call the fire wagon
Call the fire wagon
Ain't no fire wagon in town
Saved my baby and my wardrobe trunk
I lost everything else I had in front
So call the fire wagon
Call the fire wagon
Call the fire wagon
Ain't no fire wagon in town
Standing on the streets in my sleeping gown
Watching that shack and my clothes burn down
So call the fire wagon
Call the fire wagon
Call the fire wagon
Ain't no fire wagon in town
Fast asleep laying in my bed
Lord, this smoke is 'bout to kill me dead
So call the fire wagon
Call the fire wagon
Call the fire wagon
Ain't no fire wagon in town
(spoken: Play it till the fire wagon comes
Yeah)
This big city's all right but I'm so far from town
A shack catches fire, you know it's got to burn down
So call the fire wagon
Call the fire wagon
Call the fire wagon
Ain't no fire wagon in town
Well, the jinx
overtaken us, now, and carrying us down
Me and my baby got to leave this town
So call the fire wagon
Call the fire wagon
Call the fire wagon
Ain't no fire wagon in town
Top
|
Can
I Do It For You (Part 2)
|
|
by Memphis
Minnie
recording of 19
from Complete
Recorded Works, Vol. 1 (1929-1930) (Document
5028), copyright
notice
KJ:
I'll buy your wood and coal, buy your wood and coal
Buy your wood and coal, if I can do something to you
Hear me saying, I want to do something to you
MM:
I don't want no wood and coal, I don't want no wood and
coal
I don't want nothing in the world you got and you can't do
nothing for me
Hear me saying, you can't do nothing for me
KJ:
Buy your shoes and clothes, buy your shoes and clothes
Buy your shoes and clothes, if I can do something to you
Hear me saying, I want to do something to you
MM:
I don't want no shoes and clothes, I don't want no shoes and
clothes
I don't want nothing in the world you got, and can't do
nothing for me
Hear me saying, you can't do nothing for me
KJ:
I'll buy you a Chevrolet, I'll buy you a Chevrolet
Buy you a Chevrolet, if I can do something to you
Hear me saying, I want to do something to you
MM:
I don't want no Chevrolet, I don't want no Chevrolet
I don't want nothing in the world you got, and you can't do
nothing for me
Hear me saying, you can't do nothing for me
KJ:
Buy you a baby calf, buy you a baby calf
Buy you a baby calf if I can do something to you
Hear me saying, if I can do something to you
MM:
I don't want no baby calf, I don't want no baby calf
I don't want nothing in the world you got, and you can't do
nothing for me
Hear me saying, you can't do nothing for me
KJ:
Can I do something to you, can I do something to you?
Do anything in this world I can, if I can do something to
you
Hear me saying, if! can do something to you
MM:
Naw, you can't do nothing to me, naw, you can't do nothing
to me
I don't care what in the world you do, you can't do nothing
to me
Hear me saying, you can't do something to me
KJ:
Buy you a sedan Ford, buy you a sedan Ford
Buy you a sedan Ford, if I can do something to you
Hear me saying, if I can do something to you
MM:
I will take a sedan Ford, yes, I will take a sedan Ford
I don't want nothing in the world you got but I will take a
sedan Ford
Hear me saying, I'll take a sedan Ford
__________
Note: a duet of Memphis Minnie (MM) with Kansas Joe
(KJ).
Top
|
Chickasaw
Train Blues (Low Down Dirty Thing)
|
|
by Memphis
Minnie
recording of September 3 1934
from Complete
Recorded Works, Vol. 4 (1933-1934) Document
DOCD-5031), copyright
notice
I'm gon' tell everybody, what that Chickasaw1 has
done done for me
I'm gon' tell everybody, what that Chickasaw has done done
for me
She done stole my man away, and blow that doggone smoke on
me
She's a low down dirty dog
I ain't no woman, like to ride that Chickasaw
Ain't no woman, like to ride that Chickasaw
Because everywhere she stop, she's stealing some woman's
good man off
She's a low down dirty dog
I told the depot agent this mornin', I don't think he treats
me right
Told the depot agent this mornin', I don't think he treats
me right
He done sold my man a ticket, and I know that Chickasaw
leavin' town tonight
He's a low down dirty dog
I walk down the railroad track, that Chickasaw even wouldn't
let me ride
the blinds
I walk down the railroad track, that Chickasaw wouldn't even
let me ride the blinds
And she stop picking up men, all up and down the line
She's a low down dirty dog
Hmm-mmm, Chickasaw don't pay no woman no mind
Hmm-mmm, that Chickasaw don't pay no woman no mind
And she stops pickin' up men, all up
and down the line
__________
Note 1: Chickasaw, a member of an American Indian people of
Mississippi and Alabama.
Top
by Memphis
Minnie
recording of 19
from With
Kansas Joe (Blues Classics 13)
& Complete
Recorded Works, Vol. 3 (1931-1932) (Document
BDCD-6010) & Bumble
Bee (Indigo 2005),
copyright
notice
I been going crazy, I just can't help myself,
ahhhhuuuuhahhhh
I been going crazy, I just can't help myself,
ahhhhuuuuhahhhh
Because the man I'm loving, he's loving someone else
(spoken: You know I'm bound to cry)
Ahhhhaaahhhhuuuuhhuh
Ahhhhaaahhhhuuuuhhuh
Ahhhhaaahhhhuuuuhhuh
I was locked outdoors, sat on my steps all night long and
cried, ahhhhaaahhhuuuhhhaaah
I was locked outdoors, sat on my steps all night long and
cried, ahhhhaaahhhuuuhhhaaah
I'm going crazy, crazy as I can be
I got up this morning, I made a fire in my stove,
ahhhhaaahhhuuuhhhaaah
I got up this morning, I made a fire in my stove,
ahhhhaaahhhuuuhhhaaah
I made up my bread and sat my pan outdoors
I'm crazy, I'm crazy, just can't help myself,
ahhhhaaahhhuuuhhhaaah
I'm crazy, I'm crazy, just can't help myself,
ahhhhaaahhhuuuhhhaaah
I'm just as crazy, crazy as a poor girl can be
Ahhhhaaahhhhuuuuhhuh
Ahhhhaaahhhhuuuuhhuh
Ahhhhaaahhhhuuuuhhuh
Top
by Memphis
Minnie
recording of 19
from, copyright
notice
Come daybreak in the morning, I'm gonna take the dirt road
home
Woo, soon daybreak in the morning, I'm gonna take the dirt
road home
'Cause these Blue Monday1 blues is 'bout to kill
me, sure as you're born
Well, this man pitches a party, every first of the week
I can't cross the floor for other people's feet
Come daybreak in the morning, I'm gonna take the dirt road
home
Well, I went to my kitchen, intendin' to eat a bite
The table was crowded from morning till night
Come daybreak in the morning, I'm gonna take the dirt road
home
(spoken:
All right, Little Son Joe
Yes, I know, keep on playing
I'll come home)
Hey, now I turned around, aimed to go to bed
There's four at the foot and six at the head
Come daybreak in the morning, I'm gonna take the dirt road
home
__________
Note 1: Memphis Minnie used to host very popular parties, so
called Blue Monday parties, for Chicago blues singers.
Top
by Memphis
Minnie
recording of 19
from, copyright
notice
Everybody worrying me, want to know why I'm so crazy about
dirt dauber tea1
Everybody worrying me, want to know why I'm so crazy about
dirt dauber tea
Because when I was young, they built their nest on
me2
Now everybody tells me I need a doctor, I need someone to
stay here with me
But I don't need nothing but that dirt dauber tea
Because when I was young, they built their nest on me
Hmmmmm, hmmmmmmmm
Hmmmmm, hmmmmmmmm
Hmmmmm, hmmmmmmmm
And out of all that I crave, all that I seen
I don't want nothing but that dirt dauber tea
Because when I was young, they built their nest on me
When I was down sick in my bed, blind, couldn't hardly
see
That dirt dauber flew down in my bed and built his nest on
me
That's why I say, "I'm crazy about that dirt dauber tea"
Ahw, dirt dauber's a builder
Ahw, dirt dauber's a builder
Dirt dauber is a builder, he built his nest on me
That why I say, "I'm crazy about the dirt dauber tea"
__________
Note 1: dirt dauber (or mud dauber), any of various wasps
that construct mud cells in which the female places an egg
with spiders or insects paralyzed by a sting to serve as
food for the larva (jummy!).
Dirt daubers figure in a number of (folk medicine) beliefs
throughout the South. In Arkansas, the clay from the nests
of these wasps was worn to cure sprains, while in
Mississippi it was believed that when the wasps built their
nests close to the ground, it was going to be a dry year.
Most significant are the beliefs, found in Mississippi and
elsewhere, that a tea made from the nests will relieve or
hasten labor (giving birth to a child) and help expel
afterbirth, and that powdered dirt dauber nests will cure a
baby's navel that isn't healing properly;
Note 2: "built their nest on me" points specifically to the
navel and birth.
Top
by Memphis
Minnie
recording of 19
from Complete
Recorded Works, Vol. 1 (1935-1941) (Document
BDCD-6008) & Me
& My Chauffeur 1935-1946 (EPM Musique
158822) & Bumble
Bee (Indigo 2005),
copyright
notice
I ain't no doctor, but I'm the doctor's wife
You better come to me if you want to save your life
He's a dirty mother fuyer1, he don't mean no
good
He got drunk this morning, tore up the neighborhood
I want you to come here, baby, come here quick
He done give me something 'bout to make me sick
Awwww, dirty mother fuyer, he don't mean no good
He got drunk this morning, tore up the neighborhood
(spoken: Play it, Dennis)
I went down to the station, talked to the judge
He said, "Don't bring me none of that doggoned stuff you
heard"
Awwww, dirty mother fuyer, he don't mean no good
He got drunk this morning, tore up the neighborhood
I went down to the office(r), fell out on the floor
He done something to me, now, he won't do no more
Awwww, dirty mother fuyer, he don't mean no good
He got drunk this morning, tore up the neighborhood
(spoken: Play it, Dennis, play it, boy)
Won't you look here, baby, what you done done
You done squeezed
my lemon, now you done broke and run
Awwww, dirty mother fuyer, he don't mean no good
He got drunk this morning, tore up the neighborhood
__________
Note 1: mother fuyer?. You mean..., yes, you're absolutely
right!. Dirty mother for you and mother fuyer are variations
that attempt to take "dirty mother fucker" beyond the
censors of that time, successfully. Dirty Red recorded a
version called Mother Fuyer and Washboard Sam sang a
version with the same title as Minnie's. This is Minnie's
earliest known version.
Top
by Memphis
Minnie
recording of 19
from Complete
Recorded Works, Vol. 1 (1935-1941) (Document
BDCD-6008) & Me
& My Chauffeur 1935-1946 (EPM Musique
158822), copyright
notice
Doctor stopped me from drinking, boys, I can't smoke no
more
Doctor stopped me from drinking, boys, I can't smoke no
more
And I can't see no peace, seem like nowhere I go
Oh, doctor, doctor, you know I got a lot of faith in you
Oh, doctor, doctor, you know I got a lot of faith in you
I'd trust you everywhere
But it hurt me so bad, when you say if I took another drink,
nothing you could do
Oh, doctor, doctor, I ain't drinked in a great long time
Oh, doctor, doctor, I ain't drinked in a great long time
(spoken: Bring us half a pint1)
I'm gonna take a drink of this, if the good Lord don't
change my mind
Now, look-a here, doctor, don't you know my mama's done gone
blind?
Now, look-a here, doctor, don't you know my mama's done gone
blind?
(spoken: I know her trouble)
I was doing the best I could but she wouldn't pay the doctor
no mind
Oh, doctor, doctor, tell me what's my trouble now
Oh, doctor, doctor, tell me what's my trouble now
"If you take another drink, I bet they put you in the
ground!"
(spoken: Doctor, you all right with me anyhow)
__________
Note 1: pint, 0,476 liter
Top
by Memphis
Minnie
recording of 19
from Complete
Recorded Works, Vol. 1 (1935-1941) (Document
BDCD-6008), copyright
notice
I'm going back down in New Orleans
I'm going back down in New Orleans
Well, I'm going where I can get my rice and
beans1
We are the cooking'est Creoles2 in the world you
ever seen
We are the cooking'est Creoles in the world you ever
seen
And if you don't believe me, follow me back down to New
Orleans
Well, my man is a doctor and he lives off of rice and
beans
Well, my man is a doctor and he lives off of rice and
beans
That's why he done gone and left me back down in New
Orleans
I've got the cooking'est sister in the world you ever
seen
I've got the cooking'est sister in the world you ever
seen
But she can't cook nothing but them rice and beans
And you can't tell me nothing, baby, that I never seen
And you can't tell me nothing, baby, that I never seen
And if you don't believe me, follow me back to New
Orleans
__________
Note 1: rice and beans, though usually "red beans and rice"
is used by countless others as an evocation of "back
downhome";
Note 2: Creoles, French créole, from Spanish criollo,
from Portuguese crioulo, white person born in the colonies.
A person of European descent born especially in the West
Indies or Spanish America OR a white person descended from
early French or Spanish settlers of the U.S. Gulf states and
preserving their speech and culture OR a person of mixed
French or Spanish and black descent speaking a dialect of
French or Spanish.
Top
by Memphis
Minnie
recording of 19
from Complete
Recorded Works, Vol. 3 (1935-1941) (Document
BDCD-6010) & Hoodoo
Lady (1933-1937) (Columbia
CK-46775), copyright
notice
I met a man, asked me did I want to pally1
Yes, baby, let's go down in the alley
Take me down in the alley
Take me down in the alley
Take me down in the alley
I can get any business fixed all right
I met another man, asked me for a dollar
Might have heard that mother fuyer2 holler
Let's go down in the alley
Let's go down in the alley
Let's go down in the alley
You can get your business fixed all right
(spoken: Let's go)
When he got me in the alley, he called me a name
What I put on him was a crying shame
Down in this alley
Down in this alley
Down in this alley
Where I got my business fixed all right
You got me in the alley, but don't get rough
I ain't gonna put up with that doggone stuff
Way down in the alley
Way down in the alley
Way down in the alley
Lord, my business fixed all right
(spoken:
Woo, it's dark
Can't see no light
Got to feel my way out this alley
I'm gonna stop, boys, walking late at night)
You took me in the alley, you knocked me down
Now I'm gonna call every copper in this town
You got me down in the alley
You got me down in the alley
You got me down in the alley
Now you got your business fixed all right
(spoken: Boys, I'm sure gonna stop walking,
walking late at night)
__________
Note 1: pally, sharing the relationship of pals, in this
case getting intimate, have sex;
Note 2: mother fuyer?. You mean..., yes, you're absolutely
right!. Dirty mother for you and mother fuyer are variations
that attempt to take "dirty mother fucker" beyond the
censors of that time, successfully. Dirty Red recorded a
version called Mother Fuyer and Washboard Sam song a
version with the same title as Minnie's. This is Minnie's
earliest known version.
Top
|
Frankie
Jean (That Trottin' Fool)
|
|
by Memphis
Minnie
recording of 19
from With
Kansas Joe (Blues Classics 13)
& Bumble
Bee (Indigo 2005) &
Complete
Recorded Works, Vol. 2 (1930-1931) (Document
DOCD-5029), copyright
notice
(spoken:
One time my papa had a horse, his name was Frankie Jean
Man, that's the running'est horse the world I ever seen
And it just do me good to ride old Frankie Jean
And it do you good to sit and listen at him sometimes
When he's coming down that plank road, almost making his
feet talk
Man, that's the singlest-footing horse the world I ever
seen
Something kind of like this:
(Instrumental break)
Go on, Frankie Jean, go on
I had him out with me once and he got loose
I couldn't catch him to save my life
I called Frankie Jean and I called him
He didn't seem to pay me no mind
I went and told my papa, "How would you do if you want to
catch a horse?"
He said, "How did you do?"
I said, "I called mine; called Frankie Jean and called
him
He didn't seem to pay me no attention"
Said, "That's a horse, you can't, you didn't call him
right
You must whistle when you want your horse to come to you
Something like this:"
(Full verse whistled)
Then he come single-footing to me
So I took him out again; he got loose from me
I called him and called him
He didn't seem to pay me no attention
I thought about what papa said
You's a horse, I must whistle for you, something like
this:
(Full verse whistled)
Then he comes single-footing to me
I had him out on a race once
I had $5000 betting on Frankie Jean
Folks, I wasn't scared at all, 'cause I know he wasn't going
to let me lose
'Fore he let me lose, he'd run off all of his shoes
Something like this:
(Instrumental break)
Go on, Frankie Jean
Top
by Memphis
Minnie
recording of 19
from Before
the Blues, Vol. 3: The Early American Black Music Scene
(Yazoo 2017), copyright
notice
That old 'Frisco train makes a mile a minute
That old 'Frisco train makes a mile a minute
Well, in that old coach, I'm gonna sit right in it
I'm on my way, to 'Frisco town
You can toot your whistle, you can ring your bell
You can toot your whistle, you can ring your bell
But I know you been wanting it by the way you smell
I'm on my way to 'Frisco town
There's a boa constrictor and a lemon stick
There's a boa constrictor and a lemon stick
I don't mind being with you but my mama's sick
I'm on my way to 'Frisco town
I would tell you what's the matter, but I done got
scared
I would tell you what's the matter, but I done got
scared
You got to wait now, until we go to bed
I'm on my way to 'Frisco town
If you was sick, I wouldn't worry you
If you was sick, I wouldn't worry you
I wouldn't want you to do something that you couldn't do
I'm on my way to 'Frisco town
Well, if you want it, you can get it, and I ain't mad
Well, if you want it, you can get it, and I ain't mad
If you tell me this is something that you ain't never
had
I'm on my way to 'Frisco town
Look-a here, you get mad everytime I call your name
Look-a here, you get mad everytime I call your name
I ain't never told you that you couldn't get that thing
I'm on my way to 'Frisco town
I woke up this morning about half past five
I woke up this morning about half past five
My baby turned over, cried just like a child
I'm on my way to 'Frisco town
I got something to tell you, I don't want to make you
mad
I got something to tell you, I don't want to make you
mad
I got something for you, make you feel glad
I'm on my way to 'Frisco town
Look-a here, look-a here, what you want me to do
Look-a here, look-a here, what you want me to do
Give you my jelly,
then die for you
I'm on my way to 'Frisco town
I got something to tell you, gonna break your heart
I got something to tell you, gonna break your heart
We been together so far, we gotta get apart
I'm on my way to 'Frisco town
Top
by Memphis
Minnie
recording of 19
from Complete
Recorded Works, Vol. 2 (1930-1931) (Document
DOCD-5029), copyright
notice
My house's on fire, where's the fire wagon now?
My house's on fire, where's the fire wagon now?
Ain't but the one thing, I don't want my garage to burn
down
I got a Hudson Super Six, I gotta big old model Cadillac
8
I got a Hudson Super Six, I gotta big old model Cadillac
8
I woke up this morning, my Cadillac standing at my back
gate
Oh, boys, boys, I got the best chauffeur in town
Oh, boys, boys, I got the best chauffeur in town
He saved my Hudson Super Six, my Cadillac didn't get burned
down
Oh, lord, lord, wonder where is my chauffeur now?
Oh, lord, lord, wonder where is my chauffeur now?
'Cause my Cadillac 8 done Cadillac'd out of town
I tell the whole wide world, I ain't gonna walk no more
I tell the whole wide world, I ain't gonna walk no more
I got a Cadillac 8, take me anywhere I want to go
Top
by Memphis
Minnie
recording of 19
from Complete
Recorded Works, Vol. 2 (1930-1931) (Document
DOCD-5029) & Four
Women Blues: Victor/Bluebird Recordings (RCA
66719), copyright
notice
The reason I like the game, the game they call Georgia
Skin1
The reason I like the game, the game they call Georgia
Skin
Because when you fall, you can really take out again
When you lose your money, please don't lose your mind
When you lose your money, please don't lose your mind
Because each and every gambler gets in hard luck
sometime
I had a man, he gambles all the time
I had a man, he gambles all the time
He throw the dice so in vain until he like to lose his
mind
Hmmm, give me Georgia Skin
Hmmm, give me Georgia Skin
Because the women's can play, well, so as the men
(spoken:
Georgia Skin is the best game that I know
Georgia Skin is the game that I bet all of my money)
__________
Note: this song was derived in part from Walter Beasley's
song Georgia Skin. Gambling was and still is illegal
in many states and most of its forms. That didn't keep
people from playing a "friendly" game of cards or roll the
dices despite the risk of finding themselves in jail or on a
road gang for a week, month or year;
Note 1: Georgia skin, a swindling game or trick.
Top
by Memphis
Minnie
recording of 19
from Complete
Recorded Works, Vol. 4 (1938-1939) (Document
BDCD-6011) & Hoodoo
Lady (1933-1937) (Columbia
CK-46775), copyright
notice
Listen to my song, ladies, please take strictly
understand
Listen to my song, ladies, please take strictly
understand
Don't let no outside woman make no biscuits for your man
I'm going to give you all the lowdown, lowdown if I can
I'm going to give you all the lowdown, lowdown if I can
Why I'm a single woman today by letting other women feed my
man
So the next daddy I get, I'm going to take him to the
restaurant
So the next daddy I get, I'm going to take him to the
restaurant
Ain't gonna have him going around eating biscuits, whoo,
whoo, made up with your nasty hands
I just found out how come I can't keep a man
I just found out how come I can't keep a man
I don't get no one buddy, I have too many a-doggone
friends
You don't mean me no good, just a grin when I come in
You don't mean me no good, just a grin when I come in
But if I catch you feeding my man, whoo, whoo, Lord, I'm
going to the pen
__________
Note: in this song, as in many others, Minnie again uses
food as metaphor. It is presumed that the way to a man's
heart is through his stomach and that if you let another
woman feed your man, you're going to lose him
Top
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![[Memphis Minnie]](../photographs/memphis_minnie.jpg)
