Show 68 - Short-Haired Woman

Songs about the tight-haired woman, short-haired and bald-headed woman are a type of insult song. Many include one of the classic floating verses: "Babe you know I did more for you than the good Lord ever done. You know I bought you some hair because he sure didn't give you none."

Charley Jordan accompanied by Peetie Wheatstraw recorded Tight Haired Mama Blues in 1931.
   

Here come my tight‑haired woman, I can tell by the way she walks
Here come my tight‑haired woman, I can tell by the way she walks
But I know she be shaking that thing, because I can tell by the way she talks

I don't want no tight‑haired woman to cook no meat for me
I don't want no tight‑haired woman to cook no meat for me
Because she's so tight‑haired and evil, I'm scared she might poison poor me

Now your hair ain't curly, no your teeth ain't neither pearls
You know your hair ain't curly, you know your teeth ain't neither pearls
If the men were asking for hair, you would have a hard time in this world

Babe you know I did more for you than the good Lord ever done
Babe you know I did more for you than the good Lord ever done
You know I bought you some hair because he sure didn't give you none

Now if you got good hair, you want to keep it looking neat
If you got good hair, and you want to keep it looking neat
Just go down to the ten‑cent store, get you a nickel worth of white Vaseline

I will tell you girls one thing, you know it really is true
I will tell you girls one thing, and you know it really is true
Baby now you got good hair, but you bought this from the Jew

George Williams and Bessie Brown were a husband and wife duo who sang duets in a vaudeville blues style. Bald-Headed Mamma Blues from 1925 is about trading insults with George winning the battle when he calls her bald headed.

GW: Come Here Mama and take a look at me
BB: What I want to look at you for?
GW: Come Here Mama and take a look at me.
BB: I’ve been looking at you for the past twelve years
GW: Cause you’re papa’s happy as a man can be
BB: You was not happy when I first met you
GW: Happy as a lark, happy as a lark

BB: You was not happy when I first met you
Happy as a ? in a meat house?
Cause you was so hungry, you didn’t have two dollars worth of food
GW: Now you can’t kid me, cause you got me beat
BB:I always had you beat
GW: Now you can’t kid me, mama, cause you got me beat
You so dumb baby, you thought Birmingham was a piece of meat
BB: Now when I met you I had my diamonds on
GW: Yeah, you sure did

BB: When I met you I had my diamonds on
GW: If you fell down you’ve cut your head off
Now look at me George, everything I’ve got is gone
GW: Now I’ve done something that the lord ain’t never done
BB: What did you do?
GW: Now I’ve done something that the lord ain’t never done
BB: Just keep me in trouble all the time
GW: I gave you some hair Bessie, cause the Lord didn’t give you none, none, none none, none
You was bald-headed
You was bald-headed
You was bald-headed
You was bald-headed

Luke Jordan - Church Bell Blues from 1927 is another insult song about the bald-headed woman:

The Church Bells ringing
Secretary’s singing
The preachers preaching
Can't you hear the sisters shouting

Childrens in the pulpit
Mama's trying to learn my song
Now that low down dirty deacon
Done stole my gal and gone

Yeah my older brother had 'em
My sister had 'em
My auntie had 'em
My mother died with them
Woke up this morning
The family had the weary blues
Poked my head over in the corner
Poor grand mammy had em too

I did more for you woman
Way last winter
Laid in the forty
You know I scuffled through the summer
I did more for you woman then the the good lord had ever done
Came downtown and bought you good hair
The lord hadn't given you none
Hand me back that hat I bought you
That coat and waist
That shawl I bought you mama
Gotta bring shoes and all
If you don’t like your daddy
You got no right to care or stall
Hand me back that wig I bought you mama
Let you doggone head go bald

You know I can't be no bank boy
No superintendent
Can't clerk in no commissary
Ain't gonna work on no tipple
And I promised the good lord
Partner not to dig no coal
I'm gonna hang around the country
Try to find some jelly roll

Said my mammy got a hatchet
My papa’s got an axe
My sister's got a shepherd
My brother’s got some hounds
Some men crazy about yellow women
Some men like a teasing brown
I'm a stranger in town mama
Believe I'm going the whole way down

She wouldn't cook me no breakfast
She wouldn't get me no dinner
She squalled and brought me supper
And she kicked me outdoors
She had the nerve to ask me would a matchbox hold my clothes
Had a nerve to ask me would a matchbox hold my clothes

Memphis banjo player Gus Cannon recorded Heart Breakin' Blues in 1928 with Noah Lewis on harmonica: 

Well I'm going downtown baby won't be gone so long
Well I'm going downtown baby won't be gone so long
Say I'm tired and worried about to sing this song

And I stay at home baby, you don't treat me right
And I stay at home baby, you don't treat me right
The best time I have girl when you is out of my sight

Said give me back the wig I bought you, let your head go bald
Give me that wig I bought you, let your head go bald
But when I first met you girl, you didn't have no hair at all

Kid Stormy Weather was a New Orleans pianist who only released two records including Short Hair Blues:

That’s alright baby, Lord, that’s alright for you
That’s alright baby, Lord, that is alright for you
Now it’s alright, baby, Lord, about the way you do

Said blues came down my alley rolling up into my back door
Said blues came down my alley rolling up into my back door
I got the blues this morning, Lord, Lord, like I’ve never had before

Mama, remember the time, babe, I met, you liked it and how
Mama, do you remember the time, babe, I met, you liked it and how
But the thing you tried to do, babe, somebody doing it now

Go on old black gal, you know you can't make me shamed
Said go on old black gal, you know you can't make me shamed
But you’re hair is so short, I swear to God I can smell your brand

Way way down babe, way down in old Pollock town
Now way way down babe, way down in old Pollock town
Said the roaches and the chinches done tore my little gin house down

Kid Stormy Weather was an inspiration to Professor Longhair. In 1950, working under the name Roy Byrd, he recorded Bald Head:

Look there, she ain’t got no hair
My, look there, where’s that girl's hair?
Oh! look here, she ain’t got no hair
Ah look there, where’s that girl’s hair?

You know folks this girl I’m trying to tell you all about
Supposed to be a good friend of mine’s wife
But everyday on the job he’s always telling me the same old thing
He wished he had married her on some other night

Cause look there she didn’t have no hair
My, look there, where’s that girl's hair?
Oh! look here, she ain’t got no hair
Ah, look there, where’s that girl's hair?

And everyday on the job don’t you know she’s just begging
She’s just begging to take her out to a ball
But he got her straight you know he told her:
Said I can’t take chances
If I carry you girl, you got to stand out in the hall

Cause look there, you ain’t got no hair
Ah, look there, how come no hair?
Oh look there, she ain’t got no hair
Ah, look there, where’s that girl's hair?

She said if I get my fella a jug
He’d take me for a walk maybe down at Lee Circle’s park
Which he did, he got drunk and he wanted to make a little love
He put his arms around her neck and he knocked her wig off
Look there, she ain’t got no hair
My, look there, where’s that girl's hair?
Oh! look here, she ain’t got no hair

Bald Head is certainly funny. But, like the other songs from an earlier era, it’s kind of mean. It attacks women who don’t meet a certain standard of beauty. And these short haired, tight-haired and bald-headed women often would have been that way because the excessive use of beauty products caused their hair to break off. Standards of beauty can be complicated things and the often repeated lines where men who claim credit for buying wigs show a kind of male desire to be the one who determines what’s properly feminine.

Show 58 - Dirty Dozens

I recently finished reading Elijah Wald’s book called The Dozens: A History of Rap’s Mama. The dozens is a game of trading insult wordplay, sometimes it rhymes, sometimes it doesn’t, it often involves talking about your opponent’s mama. The book covers the pre-blues period to recent hip-hop and a lot of things beyond the world of music. But there are some prewar blues songs that are great examples of the game and at least one that really affected it’s evolution. So, we’ll start there with Speckled Red’s very funny hit from 1929, The Dirty Dozen.

Now, I want all you womenfolks to fall in line
Shake your shimmy like I’m shaking mine
You shake your shimmy and you shake it fast
You can’t shake your shimmy, shake your yes, yes, yes

Now you’s a dirty mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip you in the dozen, your pappy is your cousin
Your mama do the lordy-lord

Yonder go your mama going out across the field
Running and shaking like an automobile
I hollered at your mama and I told her to wait
She slipped away from me like a Cadillac Eight

Now she’s a running mistreater, robber and a cheater
Pappy is your cousin, slip you in the dozen
Your mama do the lordy-lord

I like your mama and like your sister too
I did like your daddy, but your daddy wouldn’t do
I met your daddy on the corner the other day
You know by that that he was funny that way

So now he’s a funny mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip you in the dozen, your papa is your cousin
Your mama do the lordy-lord

God made him an elephant and he made him stout
He wasn’t satisfied until he made him a snout
Made his snout just as long as a rail
He wasn’t satisfied until he made him a tail
He made his tail just to fan the flies
He wasn’t satisfied until he made some eyes
He made his eyes to look over the grass
Wasn’t satisfied until he made his yes, yes, yes
Made his yes, yes, yes and didn’t get it fixed
Wasn’t satisfied until it made him sick
It made him sick, Lord, it made him well
You know by that the elephant caught hell

Now he’s a dirty mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip you in the dozen, your pappy is your cousin
Your mama do the lordy-lord

Six months later Speckled Red still had more dozens verses to lay down when he recorded The Dirty Dozen Part Two.

Now, now boys, say you ain’t acting fair
You know by that you got real bad hair
Your face is all hid, now your back’s all bare
If you ain’t doing the bobo, what’s your head doing down there?

You’s a dirty mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip you in the dozen, now your papa is your cousin
And your mama do the lordy-lord

Now, your little sister, why she asked me to kiss her
I told her to wait until she got a little bigger
She got a little bigger, said now I did kiss her
You know by that, boy, I did miss her

Now she’s a dirty mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip you in the dozen, and your papa is your cousin
Your mama do the lordy-lord

Now the first three months said she did very well
Next three months she began to raise a little hell
Next three months said she got real rough
You know by that, that she was strutting her stuff

Now you’s a dirty mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip you in the dozen, now your papa is your cousin
And your mama do the lordy-lord

Now I like your mama, but she wouldn’t do this
I hit her cross the head with my great big fist
The clock’s on the shelf going tick tick tick
Your mama’s out on the street doing I don’t know which

Four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and ten
I like your mama but she got too many men
Ashes to ashes, now it’s sand to sand
Every time I see her, she’s got a brand new man

Now she’s a dirty mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip you in the dozen, now your papa is your cousin
And your mama do the lordy-lord

Speckled Red with two versions of the dirty dozen singing about your family, how your mama’s got too many men,implying he got your little sister pregnant, and your papa’s funny that way. Also, singing about how god made an elephant in what would become a widely imitated rhyme.
The recorded version of this song is clearly a cleaned-up version of what Red was singing in the bars and brothels where he played in the twenties. In the sixties he did end up recording a far dirtier version.

Kokomo arnold recorded his own version of Speckled Red’s hit featuring his own slide guitar  style. He called it The Twelves when he recorded it in 1935:

Says I want everybody, fall in line
Shake your shimmy like I'm shaking mine
You shake your shimmy, shake it fast
If you can't shake your shimmy shake your yas yas yas

Cause you a dirty mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip you in the dozen, your pappy is your cousin
Your mama do the lordy-lord

Says yonder gp your mama out across the field
Slipping and a‑sliding just like an automobile
I hollered at your mama I told her to wait
She slipped away from me just like a Cadillac Eight

Cause she’s a dirty mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip you in the dozen, your pappy is your cousin
Let your mama do the lordy-lord

Say I like your mama, sister too
I did like your papa, but your papa wouldn't do
I met your papa around the corner the other day
I soon found out that he was funny that a‑way

Cause he’s a dirty mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip you in the dozen, your pappy is your cousin
Let your mama do the lordy-lord

Says I went out yonder, New Orleans
The wildcat jumped on the sewing machine
The sewing machine sewed so fast
Sewed ninety‑nine stitches up his yes yes yes

Cause you a dirty mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip you in the dozen, your pappy is your cousin
Your mama do the lordy-lord

Says God made elephant, made him stout
He wasn't satisfied until he made him a snout
He made him a snout just as long as a rail
He wasn't satisfied until he made him a tail
He made him a tail just to fan the flies
He wasn't satisfied until he made him some eyes
He made him some eyes just to look on the grass
He wasn't satisfied then he made his yes yes yes
He made his yes yes yes and he didn’t get it fixed
He wasn't satisfied until he made him sick
He made him sick and then made him well
You know by that the big boy's coughing in hell

Luke Jordan’s Pick Poor Robin Clean ranges across a few subjects, but it’s got one great verse in classics dozens style where he tells his theoretical dozens opponent that if he comes after Jordan’s girls, he’s gonna have your ma, aunt, sister, and great granny:

You better pick poor robin clean, poor robin clean
I picked his head, I picked his feet
I picked his body, but it wasn't fit to eat

You'd better pick poor robin clean
Pick poor robin clean
But I'll be satisfied having your family

Get off my money and don't get funny
'Cause I'm a nigger, don't cut no figure
Gambling for Sadie, she is my lady
I'm a hustling coon that's just what I am

You better pick poor robin clean, poor robin clean
I picked his head, I picked his feet
I picked his body, but it wasn't fit to eat
I picked his head, I picked his feet
I picked his body, but it wasn't fit to eat
You'd better pick poor robin clean
Pick poor robin clean
But I'll be satisfied having your family
Well didn't that jaybird laugh
When he picked poor robin clean
Picked poor robin clean, poor robin clean
Didn't that jaybird laugh
When he picked poor robin clean
Well I'll be satisfied having your family

Well if you have that girl of mine
Gonna have your ma, your sister too
Your auntie three
If your great-grandmammy do the shivaree
I'm gonna have 'em all
I'll be satisfied keeping up your family

You better pick poor robin clean, poor robin clean
I picked his head, I picked his feet
I picked his body, but it wasn't fit to eat
I picked his head, I picked his feet
I picked his body, but it wasn't fit to eat

You'd better pick poor robin clean
Pick poor robin clean
But I'll be satisfied having your family
Well didn't that jaybird laugh
When he picked poor robin clean
Picked poor robin clean, poor robin clean

Didn't that jaybird laugh when he picked poor robin clean
Well I'll be satisfied having your family

You better pick poor robin clean, poor robin clean
I picked his head, I picked his feet
I picked his body, but it wasn't fit to eat

You'd better pick poor robin clean
Pick poor robin clean
But I'll be satisfied having your family

Well didn't that jaybird laugh
When he picked poor robin clean
Picked poor robin clean, poor robin clean, poor robin clean
Jaybird laughed..
When he picked poor robin clean
Well I'll be satisfied having your family

Charley Jordan recorded a song with some similarities to both Luke Jordan's and Speckled Red's songs in 1930. Keep it Clean:

I went to the river, I couldn't get across
I jumped on your papa because I thought he was a horse no
Rode him over, give him a coca-cola lemon soda, saucer of ice cream
takes soap and water for to keep it clean

Up she jumped, down she fell, her mouth flew open like a mussel shell
Now get him over, give him coca-cola lemon soda, saucer of ice cream
takes soap and water for to keep it clean

You sister was a tabby, your daddy was a bear
Put a muzzle on your mama, because she had bad hair
Got him over, give him coca-cola lemon soda, saucer of ice cream
takes soap and water for to keep it clean

If you want to hear that elephant laugh
Take him down to the river and wash his yes yes yes
Got him over, give him coca-cola lemon soda, saucer of ice cream
takes soap and water for to keep it clean

If you want to go to heaven when you D-I-E
You got to put on your collar and your T-I-E now
Got him over, give him coca-cola lemon soda, saucer of ice cream
takes soap and water for to keep it clean

If you want to get the rabbits out the L-O-G
You got to put on the stump like a D-O-G
Now ride him over, give him coca-cola lemon soda, saucer of ice cream
takes soap and water for to keep it clean

Run here doctor, run here fast
See what's the matter with his yes yes yes
Now ride him over, give him a coca-cola lemon soda, saucer of ice cream
soap and water for to keep it clean

Leroy carr recorded a whole series of "Papa" songs. Papa Wants to Knock a Jug is the most clearly in the dozens tradition from 1931, the lyrics are mostly about the mama:

I saw your mama in Kansas City
The way she was looking was a doggone pity

Feet on the ground, clothes wasn't clean
Dirtiest old stuff I’ve ever seen

Oh kind mama, Papa wants to knock a jug

Now I got a gal she is big as a bull
She never stops drinking till her belly gets full
Gets full of liquor and tries to sing
Tight like that and shake that thing
Oh kind mama, Papa wants to knock a jug

I ask her about it she said before long
Let's get together because your water's on
Let's get started, be long gone
Let's get together what you waiting on
Oh kind mama, Papa wants to knock a jug

I saw you mama way last spring, eyeballs shining like a diamond ring
Staggered down the street hollering and a‑fussing
I tried to stop her and I got a good cussing
Oh kind mama, Papa wants to knock a jug

I saw your mama, your papa too
What they was doing just won't do
I slipped up on them and took one look
What they was doing wasn't in the book
Oh kind mama, Papa wants to knock a jug

If you want some loving, you want it cheap
Go down on Ellsworth about the middle of the week
Show them girls a quarter, they won't let you go
It's four or five times and then some more
Oh kind mama, Papa wants to knock a jug

Ben Curry recorded New Dirty Dozen in 1932:

Emma went fishing, she went with Lou
Lou threw down her other shoe
Emma sit down up on the grass
Brother came and pushed on her yes yes yes

Now he’s a pushing mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip you in the dozen
Your father is your cousin
Mama doing the lordy lord

Papa killed a turkey, he thought he was a thief
Took him a long time to get a little peace
Brother tried to show her, she was so fast
Drove her all over from his yes yes yes

Now she’s a digging mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip you in the dozens
Father is your cousin
Mama doing the lordy lord

Bill and Oz were shooting dice the other night
Oz threw in the money and he started a fight
Bill tried to hit him a little too fast
took his knife and juked him on his yes yes yes

Now he’s a juking mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip them in the dozens
Father is your cousin
Mama doing the lordy lord

Charles and Zeke come to our town
Teaching everbody how to get it down
Old woman got down a little too fast
Caught the room and threw him on his yes yes yes

Now he’s a catching mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip them in the dozens
Father is your cousin
Mama doing the lordy lord

She was fishing forty years, she never broke a plate
She cooked forty years, she never burned a steak
We got her from the box, bottom to the top (?)
Cutting forty years said she should know her stuff

Now she’s a cutting mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip you in the dozens
Father is your cousin
Mama doing the lordy lord

Songs:

The Dirty Dozen - Speckled Red
The Dirty Dozen Part Two - Speckled Red
The Twelves - Kokomo Arnold
Pick Poor Robin Clean - Luke Jordan
Keep it Clean - Charley Jordan
Papa Wants to Knock a Jug - Leroy Carr
New Dirt Dozen - Ben Curry

Show 42 - Minstrel Songs in the Blues Era

Minstrel shows and music played a huge part in shaping American popular culture. Though most people immediately think of white performers in blackface, black minstrelsy performed by African-American entertainers was popular and influential. In the first few decades of the twentieth century black performers from the minstrel stage like Ernest Hogan and Bert Williams were huge stars. These men actually did put burnt cork on their face to darken their skin and perform in blackface. Classic blues stars like Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey shared these stages and developed their reputation with touring minstrel shows. We usually think of country blues (singers like Blind Lemon Jefferson or Charley Patton) as a departure from this kind of entertainment. But the influence of minstrelsy on country blues performers is clearly present. So I thought we'd take a look at some country blues performers looking back to the popular black music of their youth and some race records from the twenties and thirties of older minstrel songs.

Let's start with one of the deepest Mississippi country bluesmen. Son House recorded Am I Right or Wrong during his Library of Congress recording session in 1942. It's based on a song called There are Others Who Don't Think That Way by Shepard Edmonds, popular around the turn of the century when Edmonds was with the minstrel company called Isham's Octoroons. Here's what Son House did with it:
Am I right or wrong?

You may not think because I'm black
I'm gonna beg you to take me back
No baby, was I right or wrong

I'm going in the spring
I got a mess from shaking that thing
Now babe, was I right or wrong?

Up the heck, right down the pine
I lost my britches right behind
Now baby, was I right or wrong?

You may not think because you're brown
I'm gonna let you dog me around
Oh honey, was that right or wrong?

You may not think because you're yellow
I'm gonna give you my last poor dollar
No babe, was I right or wrong?

Look here honey what you want me to do
Done all I could to get along with you
Now honey, was I right or wrong?

You need not think because I'm black
I'm gonna beg you to take me back
No honey, was that right or wrong?

Now I'm going in the spring
I got a mess form shaking that thing
Now honey, was that right or wrong?

In 1909, The Florida Blossoms minstrel company was touring the South playing theaters or setting up shows under a big big tent. During that time, the group's singers were performing a song that had grown popular on the black minstrel circuit called I'm So Glad I'm Brown Skinned, Chocolate to the Bone. In 1928, Barbecue Bob recorded I'm so Glad I'm Brownskin for Columbia records.

So glad I'm brownskin, so glad I'm brownskin, chocolate to the bone
So glad I'm brownskin, chocolate to the bone
And I've got what it takes to make a monkey-man leave his home

Black man is evil, yellow is so lowdown
Black man is evil, yellow man is so lowdown
I walk into these houses just to see these black men frown

I'm just like Miss Lilliam, I'm just like Miss Lilliam, I mean Miss Lynn you see
I'm just like Miss Lilliam, I mean Miss Lynn you see
She said a brownskin man is just all right with me

So glad I'm brownskin, chocolate to the bone
So glad I'm brownskin, chocolate to the bone
And I've got what it takes to make a monkey-man leave his home

Yellow man won't quit, black man just won't hay
Yellow man won't quit, black man just won't hay
But a pigmeat mama crazy about brownskin baby ways

I got a yellow mama, I got a yellow mama, she always got a pleasant smile
I got a yellow mama, always got a pleasant smile
But that brownskin gal with those coal black dreamy eyes


So glad I'm brownskin, so glad I'm brownskin, I'm chocolate to the bone
So glad I'm brownskin, chocolate to the bone
And I've got what it takes to make a monkey-man leave his home

Hmmm, Hmmmm, Lord, Lord, Lord
And I've got what it takes to make a monkey-man leave his home

William Moore was a barber in Virginia and a bluesman. In 1928, he recorded the song Ragtime Millionaire that was written by Irving Jones, one of the most successful songwriters of his era. In 1902 and 1903 that song was a hit, being sung by black minstrel singers across the country. It's the kind of fantasy about being rich that was once popular and still appealed to Moore almost twenty-five years later.

I'm a rag, I'm a rag, I'm a rag, I'm a ragtime millionaire
All you little people take your hat off to me
Because I'm a ragtime millionaire

Mr. Henry's gonna send me a Ford, he must
Everybody else is gonna take my dust
Gonna put a little sign on: "In God We Trust"
I don't mean to have no fuss
All you little people take your hat off to me
Because I'm a ragtime millionaire

I'm a rag, I'm a rag, I'm a rag,
I'm a ragtime millionaire
All you little people take your hat off to me
Because I'm a ragtime millionaire

Some of the boys say that I'm gonna be late
No, if you please, I got a twenty-eight
Some boys say they gonna catch me at last
But all I got to do is just to step on the gas
All you little people take your hat off to me
Because I'm a ragtime millionaire

I'm a rag, I'm a rag, I'm a rag, I'm a ragtime millionaire
All you little people take your hat off to me
Because I'm a ragtime millionaire

Gonna take my sweetie to a ball tonight
Make those boys treat her right
Keep her out about half midnight
I don't mean to have no fight

All you little people take your hat off to me
Because I'm a ragtime millionaire

I'm a rag, I'm a rag, I'm a rag
I'm a ragtime millionaire
All you little people take your hat off to me
Because I'm a ragtime millionaire

Every tooth in my head is solid gold
Make those boys look icy cold
I brush my teeth with diamond dust
And I don't care if the bank would bust

All you little people take your hat off to me
Because I'm a ragtime millionaire

I'm a rag, I'm a rag, I'm a rag,
I'm a ragtime millionaire
All you little people take your hat off to me
Because I'm a ragtime millionaire

I'm a rag, I'm a rag, I'm a rag,
I'm a ragtime millionaire
All you little people take your hat off to me
Because I'm a ragtime millionaire

Banjo player Gus Cannon was one of the great jug band leaders in the twenties and thirties. He frequently looked back to minstrel songs for inspiration and like William Moore he recorded a wealth fantasy number that was a popular Irving Jones composition 25 years earlier. In 1927, he recorded My Money Never Runs Out. It took verses from Jones' song, My Money Never Gives Out as well as a song called I Don't Care If I Never Wake Up"written by Paul Knox. Gus Cannon's My Money Never Runs Out:

There's a certain yellow joker lives around this town
Just as lazy as lazy can be
Was long to shake, Says he hangs around
I love my hot belly

Early one morning come right away
Not a word was said
Boy I go back to bed, Man I give up my hand
I don't care if I never wake up

Man, I don't care if I never wake up
Til these boards get through with me
I'm coming back here with my big smoke
I'm gonna make them climb a tree

Nothing like living like a money king
Drink from a silver cup
She poured the pass straight out of my glass
I don't care if I never wake up.

Now if my money boy was stacked high
I believe it would go to touch the sky
I'd buy the people with a dime a dozen
Man I don't care if the banks do burst

Cause my money don't never run out
Rich folks, you're making me doubt
Now every good evening, we gonna post and shout

Said I'm living good all the time
I don't drink no cheap wine
When it's always thirst, good money don't never run out

My money don't never run out
Rich fools you're making me shout

It's notable that Gus Cannon took out all uses of the word coon from the original composition. Around the turn of the century, what are referred to as "coon songs" were an integral part of both black and white mistrelsy. Professional stage singers (even white ones) of a certain type were called coon shouters. The most famous song was black composer and singer Ernest Hogan's All Coons Look Alike to Me. It was a hit that remained popular for decades. The term coon is undeniably offensive to the modern listener amd it already was by the twenties when Gus Cannon removed the word from his song. Not all blues singers making race records did that though. Luke Jordan was one singer who went back and forth. He recorded an old song from the ragtime era called Traveling Coon in 1927. Note him going back and forth between calling the central character a coon and a man.

Folks let me tell you about a Traveling Coon
His home was down in Tennessee
He made his living stealing chickens
And everthing he sees

Policeman got straight behind this coon
And certainly made him take the road
There never was a passenger train run so fast
That Shine didn't get on board

He was a traveling man, he was a traveling man
The was the travelinest man, finest was in the land
He was a traveling man, finest was in the land
He was a traveling man, it's known for miles around
He never give up, no he wouldn't give up
Til the police shot him down

They sent the traveling coon to the spring one day
To fetch a pail of water
I think the distance from the house to the spring
Sixteen miles and a quarter
The coon went there and he got the water all right
Came back stubbed his toe and fell down
He ran back home, he got another pail
He caught the water, before it hit the ground

He was a traveling man...

By 1941, when Washboard Sam and his Washboard band (Simeon Henry, William Mitchell, and Big Bill Broonzy) told the story of that same Traveling Man, and references to coon are gone:

He's a traveling man, He's a traveling man
He's a traveling man, He's a traveling man
He's a most-traveling man, ever been in this land

And when the law got after him, he sure got on the road
And when the law got after him, he sure got on the road
And if a train passed, he sure would get on board

He's a traveling man, he was seen for miles around
He's a traveling man, he was seen for miles around
He never got caught, til the police shot him down

Police shot him with a rifle and the bullet went through his head
Police shot him with a rifle and the bullet went through his head
Peoples come from miles around just to see if he was dead

They sent down South for his mother, she was grieving down in jail
They sent down South for his mother, she was grieving down in jail
When she opened up that coffin, don't you know that fool had disappeared

Let's finish with one from Memphis singer Furry Lewis who was a veteran of later day minstrel shows. It's a version of a song that Bily Cheatham was singing around the turn of the century when Furry would have been 7 or 8 years old. Cheatham called it I'm Gonna Start Me a Graveyard of my Own, In 1928, Furry Lewis called it Furry's Blues. It's a fantasy about killing all the people that have wronged him:

I believe I'll buy me a graveyard of my own
Believe I'll buy me a graveyard of my own
I'm going to kill everybody that has done me wrong

If you want to go to Nashville, man's ain't got no fare
If you want to go to Nashville, man's ain't got no fare
Cut your good girl's throat and the judge will send you there

I'm going to get my pistol forty rounds of ball
Get my pistol forty rounds of ball
I'm going to shoot my woman just to see her fall

I'd rather hear the screws on my coffin sound
I'd rather hear the screws on my coffin sound
Than to hear my good girl say I'm jumping down

Get my pencil and paper, I'm going to sit right down
Get my pencil and paper, I'm going to sit right down
I'm going to write me a letter back to Youngstown

This ain't my home, I ain't got no right to stay
This ain't my home, I ain't got no right to stay
This ain't my home, must be my stopping place

When I left my home, you would not let me be
When I left my home, you would not let me be
Wouldn't rest contented til I come to Tennessee

It's tough to know how similar Furry's Blues is to the older Billy Cheatham song because so few black performers from the minstrel days were recorded. But taking at least themes and ideas from black minstrel music was an undeniable part of blues recordings from the 1920s and 30s. Some of the blatantly racist lyrics from the black face minstrelsy of the ragtime era made it through to the era of race records and blues recordings. Though there are relatively few recordings of black performers from the earlier era, the music they made was popular and revisited decades later by performers that we've heard who clearly recalled the pop music of their youth fondly.



Songs:
Am I Right or Wrong - Son House
I'm So Glad I'm Brownskin - Barbecue Bob
Ragtime Millionaire - William Moore
My Money Never Runs Out - Gus Cannon
Traveling Coon - Luke Jordan
Traveling Man - Washboard Sam
Furry's Blues - Furry Lewis

Further Reading: Ragged But Right by Lynn Abbott & Doug Seroff