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 57 - Ponies and Heifers

These songs are all from men singing about women, specifically young women. And more specifically songs where those young women show up in metaphors about horses and cows. There’s no better place to start than with Charley Patton who recorded several songs with this type of comparison. Here’s the earliest, from 1929, Pony Blues:

Hitch up my pony, saddle up my black mare
Hitch up my pony, saddle up my black mare
I'm gonna find a rider, baby, in the world somewhere
Hello central, what’s the matter with your line?
Hello central, matter, Lord, with your line?
Come a storm last night and tore the wire down
Got a brand new Shetland, man, already trained
Brand new Shetland, baby, already trained
Just get in the saddle, tighten up on your reins
Ain’t a brownskin woman like something fit to eat?
Brownskin woman like something fit to eat
But a jet black woman, don't put your hands on me
Took my baby to meet the morning train
Took baby to meet that morning train
And the blues come down, baby, like showers of rain
I got something to tell you when I get the chance
Something to tell you when I get a chance
I don't wanna marry, just wanna be your man

Big Joe Williams borrowed some of Patton’s ideas when he recorded My Grey Pony in 1935. Interestingly, his song starts with the same pony already trained, but she gets old and gray by the end of the song.

I got me a pony Lord and she already trained
I got me a pony Lord and she already trained
When I get in my bed mama, baby tighten up on your reins
Well I got something to tell you, mama when I get a chance
Mama, I got something to tell you, mama when I get a chance
Well I don't want to marry, baby just want to be your man
I got a brownskin woman, she don't pay me no mind
I got a brownskin woman, she don't pay me no mind
And I know you going to miss me, baby when I leave this town
And I know my woman, she going to scream and cry
Lord, I know my woman, she going to scream and cry
When she gets that letter, baby Lord I pass my ? by
I got me a gray pony down in my pasture somewhere
I got me a gray pony down in my pasture somewhere
I'm going to find my woman baby in this world somewhere

Fare you well, maybe tomorrow or today
Fare you well, mama, maybe tomorrow or today
I want you to know, babe I didn't come here to stay
I ain't got nobody to talk baby talk to me
Well, I ain't got nobody, mama, to talk baby talk to me
Said my mama's getting old, Lord her hair done got grey
Lord my mama she got older now and her hair done got grey
Well well if I break her heart you know, Lord treat her this way
Fare you well, maybe tomorrow or today

Sonny Boy Nelson recorded Pony Blues in 1936

I’m gonna get my pony, put my hands all in its main
I’m gonna let my pony lead me, I’ll defend my vain(?)
When I had my money, friends for miles around
When I had my money, friends for miles around
Since I spent all of my money, none of them can be found
I was born in Texas, but I was raised out on the sandy(?) field
I was born in Texas, but I was raised out on the sandy field
And you know about that baby, can’t make no fat mouth out of me

There are probably even more songs about young cows or heifers than there are about ponies. Charley Patton recorded one of these too. Jersey Bull Blues:

If you’ve got a good bullcow, you ought to keep your bull at home
If you’ve got a good bullcow, you ought to keep your bullcow at home
There may come along a young heifer and just tow your bull from home
Oh my bull's in the pasture babe, Lord where there's no grass
Oh my bull's in the pasture babe, Lord where there's no grass
I swear every minute it seems like it's going to be my last
And my bull got a horn, long as my arm
And my bull got a horn, baby, long as my arm
And my bull got a horn long as my arm
I've an old five pound ax and I'll cut two different ways
I've an old five pound ax and I'll cut two different ways
And I cut my little women both night and day
I've an old five pound ax and I just dropped in your town
I've got an old five pound ax and I just dropped in your town
I got weight enough behind me just drive that old ax on down
And I remember one morning between midnight and day
And I remember one morning between midnight and day
I was way upstairs throwing myself away

Tommy Griffin  recorded young heifer, 1936 for the Bluebird label, singing about that young cow he wants to raise for himself without any interference from the old cows or the bulls:

I got a real young heifer, I’m gonna raise her for myself
I got a real young heifer, raising her for myself
Gonna teach her to love me, not to love nobody else
She’s a mule-headed heifer, I mean she ain’t got no home
She’s a mule-headed heifer, mean she ain’t got no home
Don’t want to catch no milkcow trying t o lead my heifer wrong
Going to build me a pasture, keep her from running around
Going to build me a pasture, keep her from running around
If she gets with a bull, he got to tear my pasture down
When I build my pasture, going to build it well
When I build my pasture, going to build it well
If a bull tears it down, people he’s going to catch some hell
Going to keep her in the pasture, keep her all alone
Going to keep her in the pasture, keep her all alone
So I won’t have so much trouble teaching my heifer right from wrong
Gonna tell all you bulls something, everyone that’s around
Gonna tell all you bulls something, everyone that’s around
If I catch you with my heifer, I’m gonna tear your playhouse down

Mose Andrews also recorded a Young Heifer Blues. He emphasized the importance of feeding her:

If you gotta young heifer, you better feed her good at home
If you gotta young heifer, you better feed her good at home
If you don’t, some bull will pull her away from home
My heifer is strong, I feed her three times a day
My heifer is strong, I feed her three times a day
I believe to my soul, some bull is going my way
If you got a young heifer, you better keep her under your command
If you got a young heifer, you better keep her under your command
If you don’t, some bull will make her understand
I swear before god, you oughta be ashamed of yourself
I swear before god, you oughta be ashamed of yourself
God, I swear, you better hold her by yourself

My heifer young, she won’t let a mule come down
My heifer young, she won’t let a mule come down
If she bares a leg, she will overflow the town

Kokomo Arnold recorded a series of blues about milk cows. Milk Cow Blues No. 4 describes some trouble with a young heifer:

I can't get my milk in the morning, I can't get my cream no more
I can't get my milk in the morning, I can't get my cream no more
And I want somebody to come here, help me get this bull from my door
Says I went out to my barn this morning, he didn't have one word to say
Says I went out to my barn this morning, he didn't have one word to say
He was laying down by my heifer's side, please on a pile of hay
Then I walked away and I hung my head and cried
Said I walked away and I hung my head and cried
Says I feel so lonesome, I ain't got my heifer by my side
Now there's nothing that I could do for that old bull has troubled me
Now there's nothing that I could do for that old bull has troubled me
When I get myself another heifer, I'm going to move back to Tennessee
Says I'm still in love with my milkcow, I just can't stand the way she do
Says I'm still in love with my milkcow, I just can't stand the way she do
I don't mind her drinking her whiskey, but please don't ballyhoo

Black Ace from Dallas, Texas sang about the sweet sounds he heard from his Lowing Heifer:

I’ve been a mighty good bullcow, oh lord, but I’ve gotta go
I’ve been a mighty good bullcow, oh lord, but I’ve gotta go
I found me a pigmeat heifer, I can tell by the way she lows
She lows all night long, you can hear it for a solid mile
She lows all night long, you can hear it for a solid mile
I can’t stand it here alone, I cry just like a child
Oh babe, your bullcow got to go
Oh babe, your bullcow got to go
I can’t stay here no longer, she calls me when she lows
Mama, I’m gone with a horn long as your right arm
Mama, I’m gone with a horn long as your right arm
And when I get to hooking, I’ll have me a brand new happy home
Goodbye, goodbye if I don’t see you no more
Goodbye, mama, if I don’t see you no more
Just remember me at night when you hear that mamlish heifer low

There are countless songs comparing men and women to animals. Most of these singers had backgrounds in the rural South. They would have grown up around ponies, heifers, and admiring at least some aspects of the life of the bull with the long horn, knowing when to keep other bulls away and seeing that the young heifer learn from the old cows. It’s only natural to sing about it. And of course, it’s funny.

Songs:
Pony Blues - Charley Patton
My Grey Pony - Big Joe Williams
Pony Blues - Sonny Boy Nelson
Jersey Bull Blues - Charley Patton
Young Heifer - Tommy Griffin
Young Heifer Blues - Mose Andrews
Milk Cow Blues No. 4 - Kokomo Arnold
Lowing Heifer - Black Ace

Show 56 - Delivery Man Blues

In the pre-war period, people were dependent on delivery men coming to their doors with the necessities of life: coal to keep warm, ice to keep food fresh, and that food itself was often delivered. There were also plumbers and other repairmen showing up at your home. These men were necessary, but the way a lot of blues singers saw it they were trouble. A man showing up at your house when your woman is home alone couldn’t do any good. Washboard Sam recorded a song about it that became a classic - We Gonna Move:

When I get you mama, we going to move on the outskirts of town
When I get you mama, we going to move on the outskirts of town
Because I don't want nobody always hanging around

Well the reason mama, I don't want you to stay here
I don't need no iceman, I'm going to get me a frigidaire
That's why I'm going to move on the outskirts of town
Because sweet baby, I don't want no iceman hanging around

Well I'm going to heat with gas mama and not with coal
I don't need no coalman stopping and hauling coal
That's why we going to move on the outskirts of town
Because I don't want no coalman always hanging around

Well I'm going to bring my groceries mama myself every day
That’s going to keep that grocery boy, I know, away
That's what I'm going to do when we move on the outskirts of town
Because I don't want no delivery boy always hanging around

Well it may be funny mama, as funny as can be
If we have any babies, I want them all to look like me
That's why I'm going to move on the outskirts of town
Because I don't want nobody always hanging around

Blind Boy Fuller recorded the same song a few months after Washboard Sam. His version was titled I'm Going to Move (To the Edge of Town):

I‘m gonna take my baby and move on to the edge of town
Yes, I‘m gonna take my baby, gonna move on out of your town
‘Cause I don't want nobody always hanging around

Now the reason why, now baby, I don't want you to stay here
I don't need no iceman, I'm going to get me a Frigidaire
That’s what I’m gonna do mama, when I move on out of your town
Yes, I don’t want nobody always hanging around

Then I’m going to heat with gas mama and not with coal
I ain’t gonna have no coalman stopping and hauling coal
That’s why mama, I’m gonna move on out of this town
Cause I don’t want nobody, always hanging around

Well I'm going to bring my groceries baby, myself every day
That’s going to keep that grocery boy, I know, away
That’s why I’m gonna do when I move on out of your town
Cause I don’t want no grocery boy always hanging around

I may be funny mama, funny as daddy can be
If we raise any babies, I want them all to look like me
That’s why I’m gonna do when I move on out of your town
Cause I don’t want nobody, always hanging around

Papa Charlie Jackson took a different perspective with Coal Man Blues in 1927. His song was about the coal man on the road whose woman was at home alone:

I get up early in the morning, sweet mama and I comb and curry my horse
I get up early in the morning, sweet mama and I comb and curry my horse
Because I don't want nobody not to see my pa

Then I go up to the coal pile, get me a thing of ? coal
Then I go up to the coal pile, get me a thing of ? coal
Then I get on my wagon, then I'm a coal‑traveling soul

I ought to tell ‘em how much for coal: thirty‑five cents a bag
I ought to tell ‘em how much for coal: thirty‑five cents a bag
And if you want to know my name, just look around on my sack

I got on my wagon, trying my best to sell my coal
I got on my wagon, trying my best to sell my coal
My baby's back home serving my jellyroll

Now a lot of you women, some of you ought to be put in jail
Now a lot of you women, some of you all ought to be put in jail
Some standing on the corner trying to get themselves in jail

I’ve got coal
I’m selling coal
I’m selling coal
I’m delivering coal

Baby, baby, baby can’t you see your papa’s got coal?

Peg Leg Howell recorded Coal Man Blues about a tragedy involving a coalman on the road:

Woke up this morning 'bout 5 o'clock
Got me some eggs and a nice pork chop, cheap cigar and a magazine
Had to run pretty fast to catch the 5:15

Let me tell you something that I seen
Coal man got run over by the 5:15
Cut off his arms and it crushed his ribs, did the poor man die? No, the poor man lived

Let me tell you something that I know
Coal man got run over by the 5:44
Cut off his arms and it crushed his head, did the poor man die? No, the poor man lived

Hard coal, stovewood, man
Hard coal and the stovewood man
I ain't got but a little bit left, if you don't come get it, gonna burn it myself

Just the wood in the stove and the match in your hand
Get the wood in the stove and the match in your hand
Wood in the stove and the match in your hand
You run to the door and stop to tell the coal man

Sell it to the rich and I sell it to the poor
Sell it to the rich and I sell it to the poor
Sell it to the rich and I sell it to the poor
I sell it to the nice brown standing in the door

Furnish your wood, furnish your coal
Furnish your wood and I furnish your coal
Furnish your wood and I furnish your coal
Make you love me, doggone your soul

I've got your water, got your gas
Got your water and got your gas
Got your water and I've got your gas
You treat me mama, then that’s your last

Let me tell you, mama, what's the matter now
Let me tell you, mama, what's the matter now
Let me tell you, mama, what's the matter now
You don't want me, take me anyhow

Sweet mama, sweet mama, what's on your mind?
Mama, sweet mama, what's on your mind?
Mama, sweet mama, what's on your mind?
Says, "You can't quit me, no need of trying”

I'm going up the country, don't you want to go?
Going up the country, don't you want to go?
Going up the country, don't you want to go?
Leaving here, ain't coming back no more

Me and my rider and two or three more
Me and my rider and two or three more
Me and my rider and two or three more
We're going up the country don't you want to go?

Went down the road, feeling bad
Went down the road, mama, feeling bad
Went down the road, mama, feeling bad
I feel so worried as I ever had

Me and my
Me and my mama and two or three more
Me and my brown, two or three more
Going up the country don't you want to go?

Going away and it won't be long
Going away and it won't be long
Going away and it won't be long
Don't believe I'm leaving, count the days I'm gone

Sonny Boy Williamson sang about wanting to be a coalman or an iceman who can visit women in their homes. Coal and Iceman Blues:

Lord, I would love to be your iceman, but I would like to be your coalman too
I said, I would love to be your iceman, but then, and I would wanna be your coalman too
Now, you wouldn't be telling your coalman, you know what your iceman do

I'm going to give you my phone number, so you can call Sonny Boy up everyday
I'm going to give you my phone number, so you can call Sonny Boy up everyday
Now you need any ice or coal, you must let Sonny Boy know right away

Now, I believe you need some ice, baby, your ice has done gotten old
I believe you need some ice, baby, your ice has done gotten old
Now I won't disturb none of your people, baby, I'll ease it in through your back door

Now tell me what the matter with your basement? I don't believe you use Sonny Boy's coal no more
Oh, tell me what the matter with your basement? I don't believe you use Sonny Boy's coal no more
Well, I always been nice to you, I would bring it in through your back door

Sonny Boy was offering ice and coal to get into that woman’s house as often as he could. In a similar vein, Bo Carter offered absolutely any service that you could possible need. It’s one of Bo Carter’s classic example of that sexual innuendo that can barely be considered innuendo, All-Around Man from 1936:

Now I ain't no butcher, no butcher's son
I can do your cutting 'til the butcher man comes
'Cause I'm a all-around man, oh I'm an all-around man
I'm mean I’m an all-around man, I can do most anything that comes to hand

Now I ain't no plumber, no plumber's son
I can do your screwing ‘til the plumber man comes
'Cause I'm an all-around man, oh I'm an all-around man
I mean I'm an all-around man, I can do most anything that comes to hand

Now I ain't no miller, no miller's son
I can do your grinding ‘til the miller man comes
'Cause I'm an all-around man, oh I'm an all-around man
I mean I’m an all-around man, I can do most anything that comes to hand

Now I ain't no milkman, no milkman's son
I can pull your titties 'til the milkman comes
'Cause I'm an all-around man, oh I'm an all-around man
I mean I'm an all-around man, I can do most anything that comes to hand

Now I ain't no spring man, no spring man's son,
I can bounce your springs 'til the spring man comes
'Cause I'm an all-around man, oh I'm an all-around man
I mean I'm an all-around man, I can do most anything that comes to hand

Now I ain't no auger man, no auger man's son
I can blow your hole 'til the auger man comes
'Cause I'm an all-around man, oh I'm an all-around man
I mean I'm an all-around man, I can do most anything that comes to hand

Bluesmen both feared delivery and service men coming to their house and wanted to be those men. Having your woman cheat on you is the ultimate blues situation and these are some great songs about being on . You can try and avoid the ice man with new technology like the frigidaire, but in the world of the blues a man with the woman home alone means trouble and it seem to be unavoidable.


Songs:
We Gonna Move - Washboard Sam
I'm Gonna Move (to the Edge of Town) - Blind Boy Fuller
Coal Man Blues - Papa Charlie Jackson
Coal Man Blues - Peg Leg Howell
Coal and Ice Man Blues - Sonny Boy Williamson
All Around Man - Bo Carter

Show 55 - News of the World

Most blues songs tend to focus on the local. Songs often address issues at home. But like everyone else, blues singers live in the world and are aware of the world beyond their hometowns. So I thought we’d take a look at some songs that talk about what’s going on overseas and news from around the world.

Maybe the best song of this type is Minnie Wallace’s The Cockeyed World. Recorded in 1935, the song’s about the Italian invasion of Ethiopia. The bravery of the Ethiopian soldiers fighting against an army with vastly superior weapons became a point of pride for African-Americans. Newspapers like the Chicago Defender reported on the war frequently and Minnie Wallace recorded this song just nine days after the invasion of October 3rd:

I woke up this morning feeling mighty sadI woke up this morning feeling mighty sadWas the worst old feeling that I ever had

It's war on Ethiopia and mama's feeling blue
It's war on Ethiopia and mama's feeling blue
I tell the cockeyed world I don't know what to do

They say that Ethiopia is a long ways from here
They say that Ethiopia is a long ways from here
They trying to steal my man and hurry him over there

I love my man, tell the cockeyed world I do
I love my man, tell the cockeyed world I do
It's coming the time that he'll sure love me too

This old cockeyed world will make your good man treat you mean
This old cockeyed world will make your good man treat you mean
He will treat you just like a poor girl he never seen

It's war on Ethiopia and my man won't behave
It's war on Ethiopia and my man won't behave
I tell the cockeyed world I'll spit in my baby's face

It's war on Ethiopia baby please please behave
It's war on Ethiopia please please behave
I tell the cockeyed world I'll follow you to your grave

Wallace sees the war in Ethiopia as an example of screwed up nature of the world. It’s the same thing that makes her man mistreat her at home. Several years later, Georgia’s Frank Edwards also looked at war with an eye towards how it affected things at home. He recorded We Got to Get Together in May of 1941, seven months before he U.S. would enter the war, but he was already seeing the effect of the War in Europe on the men at home that Uncle Sam would soon need:

Hitler cutting the world gotten disturbed
Uncle Sam better decide and gotten blood in his eye

You got to get together, you got to get together
Got to closen up together, join one hand in hand

Mussolini jumped back up in the sack
Hitler kicked him out so he couldn't get back
We got to get together
We got to get together
Got to closen up together, join one hand in hand

Uncle Sam called the men down name by name
He ain't together but they ready just the same
You got to get together
We got to get together
Got to closen up together, join one hand in hand

Uncle Sam need a champ, he rang the bell
A well trained man when you leave Camp Shelby

We got to get together
We got to get together
Got to closen up together, join one hand in hand

Say I left my woman standing in the door
Crying Lord have mercy they mustn't let him, please don't go
We got to get together
We got to get together
Got to closen up together, join one hand in hand

When King Edward VIII chose to give up the throne for the love of a divorced American woman in 1936, he became  a symbol of love for romantics all over the world. That included Blind Willie McTell who recorded King Edward Blues in 1940.

Tell me honey, now tell me please
Is my lover now hard to please?
I’m getting groggy in my knees
Baby and it must be love

A funny feeling reaches up my spine
My head like cherry wine
Makes me think the world’s allmine
Baby and it must be love

I hear church bell ringing, I see visions clear
I hear the birdies singing
I know darn well that no bird is there

I don’t like your shirts and ties, they don’t seem to harmonize
They don’t match those big brown eyes
Baby and it must be love

Can be a rich man, a poor man, a beggar man king
It will make you give up everything
Every time you feel that sting, honey, it must be love

Make a preacher lay his bible down
Made a rabbit hug a hound
Made King Edward give up his crown
Baby and it must be love

I hear church bell ringing, I see visions clear
I hear the birdies singing
I know darn well that no bird is there

I don’t like your shirts and ties, they don’t seem to harmonize
They don’t match those big brown eyes
Mama and it must be love
Baby and it must be love

We know Kokomo Arnold traveled a lot across the United States, from the descriptive storytelling in Big Ship Blues he may have made a trans-Atlantic voyage as well:

Now this big ship is rocking and my body's filled with aches and pains
Now this big ship is rocking and my body's filled with aches and pains
Now if I get across the Atlantic Ocean, good people I will not live to Spain

Now the big tide is rising, you better lower your anchors down
Now the big tide is rising, you better lower your anchors down
Now if we don't make the circle, we never will get back to New York town

Now why don't you people quit laughing? I feel mighty sad in my mind
Now why don't you people quit laughing? I feel mighty sad in my mind
Said this big fog gone to rising and a cyclone is right behind

Now I feel bad, nobody seems to want to go my way
Now I feel bad, nobody seems to want to go my way
Said this big ship going to leaking, right between midnight and day

Now I see something shining, daylight is breaking all around
Now I see something shining, daylight is breaking all around
Soon as we make a few more notches, I will be right back in New York town

Arnold’s story brings to mind the many great songs telling the story of the sinking of the Titanic including Rabbit Brown’s amazing Sinking of the Titanic from 1928:

It was on the 10th of April on a sunny afternoon
The Titanic left Southampton, each one as happy as bride and groom
No one thought of danger or what their fate may be
Until a gruesome iceberg caused 1500 to perish in the sea

It was early Monday morning, just about the break of day
Captain said call for help from the Carpathia and it was many miles away
Everyone was calm and silent, asked each other what the trouble may be
Not thinking that death was lurking there upon that northern sea

The Carpathia received the wireless SOS redistress
Come at once, we are sinking, make no delay and do your best
Get the lifeboats all in readiness 'cause we're going down very fast
We have saved the women and the children and tried to hold out to the last

Now at last they called out all the passengers, told them to hurry to the deck
Then they realized that the mighty Titanic was about to be a wreck
They lowered the lifeboats one by one, taking women and children from the start
The poor men were left to care for themselves but they sure played a hero's part 

You know they stood out on that sinking deck and they was all in great despair
You know accidents may happen most anytime and we know not when and where
The music played as they went down on that dark blue sea
And you could hear the sound of that familiar hymn, singing 'Nearer my God to Thee'

Nearer my God to thee
Nearer my God to thee
Nearer my God to thee
Nearer to thee

Though like a wanderer as the sun goes down
Darkness be over me just when the Titanic went down

Rabbit Brown recorded that in 1928 and the Titanic sunk in 1912, so Brown was retelling a legend more than commenting on the news.  When the Memphis Jug Band recorded Lindberg Hop that same year they were talking about more recent news, Charles Lindbergh’s transatlantic flight of the year before:

I know they’re gonna write to me
When they get across the sea, every chance when that Washington lands in France

How you say it, for now, sugar baby

Now mama, don’t you weep and moan,
Uncle Sam’s got your man and gone,
Now he’s doing that Lindbergh across the sea.

Now mama how can it be, you went way across the sea,
Just to keep from doing that Lindybird with me
Oh babe now I done told you
If I had my uniform on, I could live it — just as sure as you born
Then I’ll do that Lindbergh across the sea

She asked me for a bottle of Kaye Ola
I said, “Mama, let me play it on your Victrola,
Then I’ll do that Lindybird with you. ”
How you say it, for now, sugar baby?

I asked her for a piece of banana
She said, “Jab, play the blues on your piano,
Then I’ll do that Lindybird with you."

Songs:

The Cockeyed World - Minnie Wallace

We Got to Get Together - Frank Edwards

Kings Edward Blues - Blind Willie McTell

Big Ship Blues - Kokomo Arnold

Sinking of the Titanic - Rabbit Brown

Lindberg Hop - Memphis Jug Band