Edited by Azizi Powell
This post showcases Hambone Willie Newbern's 1929 Blues song "She Could Toodle-oo". Lyrics for this song are included in this post. Information about Hambone Willie Newbern is also included in this post.
The Addendum to this post features two novelty songs that I think sound somewhat like "She Could Toodle-oo". I'd love to know if you agree.
The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic reasons.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Hambone Willie Newbern for his musical legacy. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post, and thanks to the publisher of this song on YouTube.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT HAMBONE WILLIE NEWBERN
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hambone_Willie_Newbern
"Hambone Willie Newbern (1899–1947)[1] was an American guitar-playing country blues musician.[2] His home community was in the Brownsville, Tennessee area along Tennessee State Route 19.[3] He was reported to have played with Yank Rachell and Sleepy John Estes (from whom most of our knowledge of Hambone was gained) in the 1920s and 1930s.[1] He recorded one of the earliest known versions of the blues standard "Rollin' and Tumblin'" in 1929. He only recorded six tracks in total, which also included, "She Could Toodle-Oo" and "Hambone Willie's Dreamy-Eyed Woman's Blues."[1]
Newbern was a hot-tempered man who eventually was beaten to death in a prison brawl, around 1947."
****
SHOWCASE EXAMPLE: Hambone Willie Newbern, She coul toodle-oo
Edith de Ronde. Published on Apr 25, 2013
****
LYRICS- SHE COULD TOOTLE OO
(Hambone Willie Newbern)
I once knew a little girl.
She wore a hole in her britches
Come walkin right down the street.
Every time she go she go toodley oodley.
She goes to everybody she meets.
I was walkin down the street the other day.
I seen the same ole girl myself/
And I give that girl a tote no nickel short.
"A toodle oo" said that gal.
Aw, she could toodle oodle.
Aw she toodle oodle.
That’s all the poor girl do.
Aw, she could toodle oodle.
Yes she toodle oodle.
That’s all she could do.
Her mama phoned the doctor
Says come here quick
Cause I believe I got to have my daughter check‑a‑check.
Yes she toodle oodle.
Yes she toodle oodle.
Toodle oodle oodle oo.
Aw, she could toodle oodle.
Boy she toodle oodle.
Toodle oodle oodle oo.
Aw, she could toodle oodle oo.
Yes she toodle oodle oo.
Toodle oo oo oo
Well the doctor came
Says "I never seen such.
Your daughter got the fever.
She toodle‑oo too much.
She could toodle oodle.
Yes, she toodle oodle.
Toodle oodle oodle oo.
[instrumental]
Yes she toodle oo.
Aw, she can toodle.
Boy, she can toodle oo.
Aw, she could toodle oodle oo.
Toodle‑oo in the summer, in the fall.
Got so cold she couldn't toodle‑oo at all.
Aw, she could toodle oodle.
Yes she toodle oodle.
That’s all the poor girl do.
Her mama's in the kitchen cooking in a stew
Me around the house just a toodle‑oodle‑oo
[instrumental]
Aw she toodle oo.
Yes she toodle oo.
toodle oodle oodle oo.
Aw she toodle oo.
Boy, she can toodle oo.
That’s all the poor girl do
Well she went to leave me.
Went and stumped her shoe.
Fell down and broke her little toodle oodle oo.
She can toodle oo.
She can toodle oo.
Toodle oodle oo.
-snip-
Transcription from the sound file. Additions and corrections are welcome.
****
NOTES ABOUT THIS SONG
This song is about a female street walker (a prostitute).
The word "toodle oo" usually means "good bye" and sometimes it means "hello". However, in most of the song "She Could Toodle-oo", that word is a society acceptable substitute for the curse word that means "engaging in sexual intercourse".
In the sentence "broke her little toodle oodle oo", "toodle oodle oo" means her butt.
****
ADDENDUM
Here's an American Rock 'n Roll novelty song that reminds me of "She Could Toodle-oo". Do you think they are similar?
The Marathons - Peanut Butter (1961, Arvee Records)
Huggy1959, Uploaded on Jan 24, 2009
-snip-
The 1960 novelty Rock 'n Roll song "Alley Oop" also reminds me a little of "She Could Toodle-oo". What do you think?
Alley Oop - The Hollywood Argyles
DayGloClam, Uploaded on Nov 21, 2009
Hit song for The Hollywood Argles from 1960.
****
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Visitor comments are welcome.
Showing posts with label African American call the doctor songs and rhymes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label African American call the doctor songs and rhymes. Show all posts
Saturday, March 14, 2015
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Partial List Of African American "Call The Doctor" Songs & Rhymes
Edited by Azizi Powell
[Revised May 8, 2017]
This post lists the titles of from a number of African American songs & rhymes that includes lines that include or allude to having sent for or called for a doctor because of malnutrition, or because of a stomach ache not related to malnutrition, or because of an accident or an injury. These examples are given in those specific sub-categories along with excerpts of their verses and the publication date of that particular example.
Enter the song name in the pancocojams search engine to find the specific pancocojams post or posts about a particular song or rhyme in this list or click the tags underneath this post for additional pancocojams posts about this subject.
For the most part, I've retained the dialectic English that was used in some of these examples, although I strongly believe that those songs or rhymes shouldn't be sung that way now. However, I've substituted "the n word" for the referent for Black people that was fully spelled out in some of those examples.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric and cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to those unknown people who composed these songs. Thanks also to the collectors of this song, and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
DISCLAIMER: This doesn't purport to be a complete listing of all the songs in this category. Please suggest other titles in the comment section of this post.
By "African American" songs and rhymes, I mean those compositions that are particularly known to have been sung or chanted by African Americans, although non-African Americans may also have sung or chanted them.
I don't claim that all of the songs and rhymes in this list were originally composed by African Americans, or that all of the later versions of those songs and rhymes were composed by African Americans. To be clear, I recognize that some of the songs and rhymes that are featured in the 1922 book Negro Folk Rhymes by the African American collector Thomas W. Talley and the 1925 book On The Trail Of Negro Folk Rhymes by Anglo-American collector Dorothy Scarborough were originally composed by White people. Both of those collections document songs and rhymes that were sung or chanted by African Americans in their original form or in slightly or heavily revised forms. However, the source songs for those particular songs & rhymes may have been composed by Anglo-Americans. In the case of many 19th century black-faced minstrel songs, although those songs are credited to one or more White composers, it's sometimes difficult to tell if those named composers had originally lifted portions of those songs from Black persons, on or off the plantation.
***
SUB-CATEGORY #1: "CALL THE DOCTOR" BECAUSE OF MALNUTRITION
These examples are presented in chronological order based on their publication dates, with the earliest known examples given first.
Example #1: Shortnin Bread
"Three lil [the n word plural]
lyin in bed
Two wus sick
An t'other 'most dead
Sent fo' de doctor
An' de doctor said
"Give dem [the n word plural]
Some short'nin' bread!"
Source of excerpt: Dorothy Scarborough, editor, On The Trail Of Negro Folk Songs, originally published in 1925
****
Example #2: Pork Chop Blues
"I went to the doctor, the doctor said, “Boy, what’s the matter with you?
That doctor looked around at me: I said “Doctor, what I need?”
The doctor shook his head and said
“You need the pork chop poultice an’ the stew an’
veg. in’ your stomach three times a day."
Source of excerpt: Sam Collins - "Pork Chop Blues" record, 1927
****
Example #3: Pork Chop Blues
"Doctor Haigh came into the front of my bus, an' set down on my wheel*
An' just about the time when mother walked in, this is what he said.
You need some pork chop poultice an' some pork n' beans, good greasy [in your] stomach three times a day"
Source of excerpt: The Two Charlies- "Pork Chop Blues" record, 1936
****
SUB-CATEGORY #2: "CALL THE DOCTOR" BECAUSE OF A STOMACH ACHE AND/OR OTHER BODY PAIN/S NOT RELATED TO MALNUTRITION
Example #1:
"Grandma Grandma sick in bed
Called the doctor and the doctor said
Get up Grandma! You ain't sick
All you need is a hickory stick"
Source: floating verse in various playground rhymes
-snip-
In this rhyme the grandmother is being accused of faking her illness. Branches from hickory trees were often used to beat people. (From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switch_(corporal_punishment) "Switches are most efficient (i.e., painful and durable) if made of a strong but flexible type of wood, such as hazel (also used for a very severe birch) or hickory; as the use of their names for disciplinary implements.")
Later versions of this rhyme substitute "peppermint stick" for "hickory stick".
This example may also belong in the List #1 (Malnutrition) category.
**
Example #2:
"Mama mama, I'm so sick
Call the doctor quick quick quick
Doctor, doctor will I die?
Count to five and you'll be alive
I said, a-one, a-two, a-three, a-four, a-five
I'm alive!
Source: playground rhyme: "I Met My Boyfriend At The Candy Store"
-snip-
I disagree with those who think that this rhyme means or implies that the girl was pregnant. Instead, I believe that the girl stomach hurt because she ate too much candy and other sweets.
**
My mother called the doctor, the doctor said .
Oo, ouch. I got a pain in my side. -
Oo, ouch. I got a pain in my head- -
ouch. I got a pain in my stomach. -
To the front, to the back to the see-saw side
Source: singing game "Zoodio" http://www.schools.utah.gov/curr/FineArt/Elementary/Songbook/Music/Zoodeo.aspx
Note: Not all versions of "Here We Go Zoodio" (also known as "Zudie-o", "Zudio", "Zodiac") contain a "call the doctor" or "ooh ah I got a pain in my side etc." verse. And some other examples of "Zoodio" have the doctor complaining about his (or her) body pains. It seems to me that it would the person who called the doctor-in this case-"mama" who would be complaining to the doctor about her pains and not the doctor describing his pains.
****
SUB-CATEGORY #3: "CALL THE DOCTOR" BECAUSE OF AN ACCIDENT, AN INJURY, OR DISEASE
Example #1:
Dey sent fer de Doctah
An' de Doctah he come.
He come in a hurry,
He come in a run.
He come wid his instriments
Right in his han',
To progue an' find
Dat forty-fō', Man!
Source of excerpt: Song entitled "Forty Four" in Thomas W. Talley's Negro Folk Rhymes originally published in 1922.
****
Example #2:
"Miss Lucy called the doctor.
Miss Lucy called the nurse.
Miss Lucy called the lady
with the alligator purse."
Source: playground rhyme "Miss Lucy* Had A Baby"
*(or some other female name)
-snip-
I believe that "Miss Lucy Had A Baby" rhymes refer to the formal and informal health care people sought to to treat Diptheria (i.e. note the reference in many of those rhymes to "bubble in his throat".) Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/10/wikepedias-article-about-miss-lucy-had.html for my comments about that theory.
However, since the doctor was ostensibly called because the baby tried to eat the bathtub, this example could also be placed in sub-category #3.
****
Example #2:
"Mama mama, I'm so sick
Call the doctor quick quick quick
Doctor, doctor will I die?
Count to five and you'll be alive
I said, a-one, a-two, a-three, a-four, a-five
I'm alive!
Source: playground rhyme: "I Met My Boyfriend At The Candy Store" [The girl ate too much candy]
-snip-
I disagree with those who think that this rhyme means or implies that the girl was pregnant. Instead, I believe that the girl stomach hurt because she ate too much candy and other sweets.
****
Editorial Comment:
The children's chant "Five Little Monkeys" (jumping on the bed) might be included in Category #3 as the doctor was called because the monkeys fell off the bed. However, I don't believe that "Five Little Monkeys" is particularly known to be sung or performed by African Americans. But early versions of the chant that is now known as "Five Little Monkeys" used the "n word" plural or "darkies" as referents for Black people instead of the word "monkey". And "monkey" itself is a word which has also been used in the past and the present as an offensive referent for Black people.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-racist-roots-of-five-little-monkeys.html for a post on "The Racist Roots Of "Five Little Monkeys Jumping On The Bed".
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitors' comments are welcome.
[Revised May 8, 2017]
This post lists the titles of from a number of African American songs & rhymes that includes lines that include or allude to having sent for or called for a doctor because of malnutrition, or because of a stomach ache not related to malnutrition, or because of an accident or an injury. These examples are given in those specific sub-categories along with excerpts of their verses and the publication date of that particular example.
Enter the song name in the pancocojams search engine to find the specific pancocojams post or posts about a particular song or rhyme in this list or click the tags underneath this post for additional pancocojams posts about this subject.
For the most part, I've retained the dialectic English that was used in some of these examples, although I strongly believe that those songs or rhymes shouldn't be sung that way now. However, I've substituted "the n word" for the referent for Black people that was fully spelled out in some of those examples.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric and cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to those unknown people who composed these songs. Thanks also to the collectors of this song, and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
DISCLAIMER: This doesn't purport to be a complete listing of all the songs in this category. Please suggest other titles in the comment section of this post.
By "African American" songs and rhymes, I mean those compositions that are particularly known to have been sung or chanted by African Americans, although non-African Americans may also have sung or chanted them.
I don't claim that all of the songs and rhymes in this list were originally composed by African Americans, or that all of the later versions of those songs and rhymes were composed by African Americans. To be clear, I recognize that some of the songs and rhymes that are featured in the 1922 book Negro Folk Rhymes by the African American collector Thomas W. Talley and the 1925 book On The Trail Of Negro Folk Rhymes by Anglo-American collector Dorothy Scarborough were originally composed by White people. Both of those collections document songs and rhymes that were sung or chanted by African Americans in their original form or in slightly or heavily revised forms. However, the source songs for those particular songs & rhymes may have been composed by Anglo-Americans. In the case of many 19th century black-faced minstrel songs, although those songs are credited to one or more White composers, it's sometimes difficult to tell if those named composers had originally lifted portions of those songs from Black persons, on or off the plantation.
***
SUB-CATEGORY #1: "CALL THE DOCTOR" BECAUSE OF MALNUTRITION
These examples are presented in chronological order based on their publication dates, with the earliest known examples given first.
Example #1: Shortnin Bread
"Three lil [the n word plural]
lyin in bed
Two wus sick
An t'other 'most dead
Sent fo' de doctor
An' de doctor said
"Give dem [the n word plural]
Some short'nin' bread!"
Source of excerpt: Dorothy Scarborough, editor, On The Trail Of Negro Folk Songs, originally published in 1925
****
Example #2: Pork Chop Blues
"I went to the doctor, the doctor said, “Boy, what’s the matter with you?
That doctor looked around at me: I said “Doctor, what I need?”
The doctor shook his head and said
“You need the pork chop poultice an’ the stew an’
veg. in’ your stomach three times a day."
Source of excerpt: Sam Collins - "Pork Chop Blues" record, 1927
****
Example #3: Pork Chop Blues
"Doctor Haigh came into the front of my bus, an' set down on my wheel*
An' just about the time when mother walked in, this is what he said.
You need some pork chop poultice an' some pork n' beans, good greasy [in your] stomach three times a day"
Source of excerpt: The Two Charlies- "Pork Chop Blues" record, 1936
****
SUB-CATEGORY #2: "CALL THE DOCTOR" BECAUSE OF A STOMACH ACHE AND/OR OTHER BODY PAIN/S NOT RELATED TO MALNUTRITION
Example #1:
"Grandma Grandma sick in bed
Called the doctor and the doctor said
Get up Grandma! You ain't sick
All you need is a hickory stick"
Source: floating verse in various playground rhymes
-snip-
In this rhyme the grandmother is being accused of faking her illness. Branches from hickory trees were often used to beat people. (From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switch_(corporal_punishment) "Switches are most efficient (i.e., painful and durable) if made of a strong but flexible type of wood, such as hazel (also used for a very severe birch) or hickory; as the use of their names for disciplinary implements.")
Later versions of this rhyme substitute "peppermint stick" for "hickory stick".
This example may also belong in the List #1 (Malnutrition) category.
**
Example #2:
"Mama mama, I'm so sick
Call the doctor quick quick quick
Doctor, doctor will I die?
Count to five and you'll be alive
I said, a-one, a-two, a-three, a-four, a-five
I'm alive!
Source: playground rhyme: "I Met My Boyfriend At The Candy Store"
-snip-
I disagree with those who think that this rhyme means or implies that the girl was pregnant. Instead, I believe that the girl stomach hurt because she ate too much candy and other sweets.
**
My mother called the doctor, the doctor said .
Oo, ouch. I got a pain in my side. -
Oo, ouch. I got a pain in my head- -
ouch. I got a pain in my stomach. -
To the front, to the back to the see-saw side
Source: singing game "Zoodio" http://www.schools.utah.gov/curr/FineArt/Elementary/Songbook/Music/Zoodeo.aspx
Note: Not all versions of "Here We Go Zoodio" (also known as "Zudie-o", "Zudio", "Zodiac") contain a "call the doctor" or "ooh ah I got a pain in my side etc." verse. And some other examples of "Zoodio" have the doctor complaining about his (or her) body pains. It seems to me that it would the person who called the doctor-in this case-"mama" who would be complaining to the doctor about her pains and not the doctor describing his pains.
****
SUB-CATEGORY #3: "CALL THE DOCTOR" BECAUSE OF AN ACCIDENT, AN INJURY, OR DISEASE
Example #1:
Dey sent fer de Doctah
An' de Doctah he come.
He come in a hurry,
He come in a run.
He come wid his instriments
Right in his han',
To progue an' find
Dat forty-fō', Man!
Source of excerpt: Song entitled "Forty Four" in Thomas W. Talley's Negro Folk Rhymes originally published in 1922.
****
Example #2:
"Miss Lucy called the doctor.
Miss Lucy called the nurse.
Miss Lucy called the lady
with the alligator purse."
Source: playground rhyme "Miss Lucy* Had A Baby"
*(or some other female name)
-snip-
I believe that "Miss Lucy Had A Baby" rhymes refer to the formal and informal health care people sought to to treat Diptheria (i.e. note the reference in many of those rhymes to "bubble in his throat".) Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/10/wikepedias-article-about-miss-lucy-had.html for my comments about that theory.
However, since the doctor was ostensibly called because the baby tried to eat the bathtub, this example could also be placed in sub-category #3.
****
Example #2:
"Mama mama, I'm so sick
Call the doctor quick quick quick
Doctor, doctor will I die?
Count to five and you'll be alive
I said, a-one, a-two, a-three, a-four, a-five
I'm alive!
Source: playground rhyme: "I Met My Boyfriend At The Candy Store" [The girl ate too much candy]
-snip-
I disagree with those who think that this rhyme means or implies that the girl was pregnant. Instead, I believe that the girl stomach hurt because she ate too much candy and other sweets.
****
Editorial Comment:
The children's chant "Five Little Monkeys" (jumping on the bed) might be included in Category #3 as the doctor was called because the monkeys fell off the bed. However, I don't believe that "Five Little Monkeys" is particularly known to be sung or performed by African Americans. But early versions of the chant that is now known as "Five Little Monkeys" used the "n word" plural or "darkies" as referents for Black people instead of the word "monkey". And "monkey" itself is a word which has also been used in the past and the present as an offensive referent for Black people.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-racist-roots-of-five-little-monkeys.html for a post on "The Racist Roots Of "Five Little Monkeys Jumping On The Bed".
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitors' comments are welcome.
Sunday, July 20, 2014
The Two Charlies - Pork Chop Blues (comments, example, lyrics)
Edited by Azizi Powell
This post is Part II of a three part series that focuses on comedic Blues songs about Black people and pork chops. This post showcases the 1936 version of this song by “The Two Charlies".
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/07/sam-collins-pork-chop-blues-comments.html for Part I of this series. Part I showcases the 1927 song "Pork Chop Blues' by Sam Collins. Information about Sam Collins is also given in this post.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/07/jim-jackson-i-heard-voice-of-pork-chop.html for Part III of this series. Part III showcases the 1928 song "I Heard The Voice Of A Pork Chop Say" by Jim Jackson.
Information about those songs is included in these posts along with information about other Blues songs that mention pork chops.
This post is also part of a pancocojams series on African American songs and rhymes about "Calling the doctor". Click that tag for other posts in that series.
The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to The Two Charlies for recording this song. Thanks also to Max Haymes and all others who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this sound file on YouTube.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT COMEDIC BLUES RECORDS ABOUT PORK CHOPS
http://www.earlyblues.com/Essay%20-%20I%20Heard%20The%20Voice%20of%20a%20Pork%20Chop.htm "I Heard The Voice Of A Pork Chop" by Max Haymes, converted to web format from the original typescript by Alan White
Note: This is a summation of portions of this essay with my comments in brackets. The lyrics to Sam Collins and The Two Charlies "Pork Chop Blues" songs which are found below in this post are also from this essay.
Max Haymes describes the Jim Jackson song about pork chops and other songs about pork chops as "comedic blues", and gives the recording dates of 1890-1943 for those songs. Although he doesn't provide any definition for this sub-genre of Blues, it appears from his comments that Haymes meant that "comedic blues" are country Blues songs that either have comedic lyrics, although sometimes those comedic lyrics may hide or allude to a more serious subject or subjects. It occurs to me that like other Blues songs, some of those comedic record titles and their lyrics may also be double entendres (a word or expression that can be understood in two different ways with one way usually referring to sex).
Max Haymes writes that there were five songs that were titled "Pork Chop Blues". The earliest of these songs is a slow Blues "by Bessie Brown "with fine tenor sax playing by a young Coleman Hawkins, aptly backed by up by Fletcher Henderson on piano. {Two verses of this song are quoted].
The essayist indicates that Bessie Brown song may have sparked the idea for the record entitled "You Can Dip Your Bread In My Gravy, Put You Can't Have Any Of My Chops", which was recorded in 1925 by Virginia Liston. That Bessie Brown song may have also inspired the Sam Collins song "Pork Chop Blues" (1927) and the Jim Jackson song "I Heard The Voice Of A Pork Chop Say" (1928). Haymes wrote that Sam Collins' 'Pork Chop Blues' "has a definite medicine show-cum minstrel feel about it."
A version of "Pork Chop Blues" was also recorded in 1936 by "The Two Charlies". This record was issued on a Charlie Jordan CD [Charley (Charlie) Jordan was an early Blues singer who "had some moderate success in his own right as a recording artist during his own time, in the 1930s, but he's probably better known among casual blues listeners [today]" http://www.allmusic.com/artist/charley-jordan-mn0000168660]. However, "THE" Charlie Jordan wasn't featured on that "Pork Chop Blues" record.
Max Haymes also mentions another entirely different song entitled "Pork chop Blues" by pianist Lee Green, who also went by the names "Pork chop", "Pork Chop Jackson, "Pork Chop Johnson", and Pork Chop Green/e". Haymes suggested that Lee Green, who recorded many sessions in Chicago between 1927-1935, could have taken his name from the name of an Illinois Central freight train (mea train) meat train called "Pork Chop" that traveled from Iowa through Chicago.
Regrettably, a 1935 unissued master of a record by "Funny Paper" Smith that was entitled "Pork Chop Blues" was destroyed along with other songs from that long session.
Mex Haymes also wrote that in the early part of the 19th century it was common for hogs to be run down streets to livestock yards in many American towns (including New York City). Some hogs were also run down streets to livestock yards in many small towns up to the 1920s. Some of that livestock ran into the woods, became feral, and were hunted by poor people to help supplement their meager diets.
****
SHOWCASE SONG
Ragtime Guitar (CHARLEY JORDAN) 'Pork Chop Blues'
RagtimeDorianHenry Uploaded on Mar 10, 2009
CHARLEY JORDAN (1890-1954)
-snip-
As a reminder, this song was recorded by "The Two Charlies", and it appears that neither of "the two Charlies" were Charley Jordan.
****
LYRICS: PORK CHOP BLUES
(The Two Charlies)
1. Folks you oughta to know, three weeks ago, I was sick an' was about to die;
I has a stomach trouble from missin' my meals, and I was sore in my side.
2. Doctor Haigh came into the front of my bus, an' set down on my wheel*
An' just about the time when mother walked in, this is what he said.
You need some pork chop poultice an' some pork n' beans, good greasy [in your] stomach three times a day
3. If you had-a been doin' three weeks ago;
the boy been well today.
4. Well, a man is sick an' about to die
Just mix 'im up some of that potato pie.
Hear the voice of the pork chop say, 'Come unto me an' rest'
(Spoken) 'Yeah' (6)
Repeat- 1-4
*Steering wheel
Source: http://www.earlyblues.com/Essay%20-%20I%20Heard%20The%20Voice%20of%20a%20Pork%20Chop.htm
-snip-
Sam Collins "Pork Chop Blues" (1927) and The Two Charlies' "Pork Chop Blues" are examples of country Blues and so-called comic blues songs which were performed at Black medicine shows. Click http://www.folkstreams.net/context,124http://www.folkstreams.net/context,124 for information about African Americans performers in black-faced minstrel shows and in traveling medicine shows.
****
COMMENTS ABOUT SOME OF THESE LYRICS
1."Doctor Haigh came into the front of my bus" - In his essay, Max Haymes wrote that the lyrics of the song indicates that the singer was living in a bus.
I think the last name for the doctor purposely sounded like the word "high", which added comedic effect and alluded to being "high" off of liquor and/or illegal drugs - things that may also still be used by poor people whose stomachs hurt because they are hungry.
2. "An' just about the time when mother walked in" - "Mother" here is probably the singer's wife or woman.
3. "an' some pork n' beans, good greasy" - The pork and beans should be good and greasy, meaning the pork shouldn't be lean but contain a lot of animal fat (as that has a lot of protein).
4. If you had-a been doin' three weeks ago;
the boy been well today. = If you had been doing that (eating sufficient food) three weeks ago, you [that man who was sick] would be well today.
5. "Just mix 'im up some of that potato pie." = just bake him a sweet potato pie.
6. "Hear the voice of the pork chop say, 'Come unto me an' rest'" - This line references the 1928 Jim Jackson song "I Hear The Voice Of A Pork Chop Say".
That song is featured in Part III of this pancocojams series.
**
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitors' comments are welcome.
This post is Part II of a three part series that focuses on comedic Blues songs about Black people and pork chops. This post showcases the 1936 version of this song by “The Two Charlies".
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/07/sam-collins-pork-chop-blues-comments.html for Part I of this series. Part I showcases the 1927 song "Pork Chop Blues' by Sam Collins. Information about Sam Collins is also given in this post.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/07/jim-jackson-i-heard-voice-of-pork-chop.html for Part III of this series. Part III showcases the 1928 song "I Heard The Voice Of A Pork Chop Say" by Jim Jackson.
Information about those songs is included in these posts along with information about other Blues songs that mention pork chops.
This post is also part of a pancocojams series on African American songs and rhymes about "Calling the doctor". Click that tag for other posts in that series.
The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to The Two Charlies for recording this song. Thanks also to Max Haymes and all others who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this sound file on YouTube.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT COMEDIC BLUES RECORDS ABOUT PORK CHOPS
http://www.earlyblues.com/Essay%20-%20I%20Heard%20The%20Voice%20of%20a%20Pork%20Chop.htm "I Heard The Voice Of A Pork Chop" by Max Haymes, converted to web format from the original typescript by Alan White
Note: This is a summation of portions of this essay with my comments in brackets. The lyrics to Sam Collins and The Two Charlies "Pork Chop Blues" songs which are found below in this post are also from this essay.
Max Haymes describes the Jim Jackson song about pork chops and other songs about pork chops as "comedic blues", and gives the recording dates of 1890-1943 for those songs. Although he doesn't provide any definition for this sub-genre of Blues, it appears from his comments that Haymes meant that "comedic blues" are country Blues songs that either have comedic lyrics, although sometimes those comedic lyrics may hide or allude to a more serious subject or subjects. It occurs to me that like other Blues songs, some of those comedic record titles and their lyrics may also be double entendres (a word or expression that can be understood in two different ways with one way usually referring to sex).
Max Haymes writes that there were five songs that were titled "Pork Chop Blues". The earliest of these songs is a slow Blues "by Bessie Brown "with fine tenor sax playing by a young Coleman Hawkins, aptly backed by up by Fletcher Henderson on piano. {Two verses of this song are quoted].
The essayist indicates that Bessie Brown song may have sparked the idea for the record entitled "You Can Dip Your Bread In My Gravy, Put You Can't Have Any Of My Chops", which was recorded in 1925 by Virginia Liston. That Bessie Brown song may have also inspired the Sam Collins song "Pork Chop Blues" (1927) and the Jim Jackson song "I Heard The Voice Of A Pork Chop Say" (1928). Haymes wrote that Sam Collins' 'Pork Chop Blues' "has a definite medicine show-cum minstrel feel about it."
A version of "Pork Chop Blues" was also recorded in 1936 by "The Two Charlies". This record was issued on a Charlie Jordan CD [Charley (Charlie) Jordan was an early Blues singer who "had some moderate success in his own right as a recording artist during his own time, in the 1930s, but he's probably better known among casual blues listeners [today]" http://www.allmusic.com/artist/charley-jordan-mn0000168660]. However, "THE" Charlie Jordan wasn't featured on that "Pork Chop Blues" record.
Max Haymes also mentions another entirely different song entitled "Pork chop Blues" by pianist Lee Green, who also went by the names "Pork chop", "Pork Chop Jackson, "Pork Chop Johnson", and Pork Chop Green/e". Haymes suggested that Lee Green, who recorded many sessions in Chicago between 1927-1935, could have taken his name from the name of an Illinois Central freight train (mea train) meat train called "Pork Chop" that traveled from Iowa through Chicago.
Regrettably, a 1935 unissued master of a record by "Funny Paper" Smith that was entitled "Pork Chop Blues" was destroyed along with other songs from that long session.
Mex Haymes also wrote that in the early part of the 19th century it was common for hogs to be run down streets to livestock yards in many American towns (including New York City). Some hogs were also run down streets to livestock yards in many small towns up to the 1920s. Some of that livestock ran into the woods, became feral, and were hunted by poor people to help supplement their meager diets.
****
SHOWCASE SONG
Ragtime Guitar (CHARLEY JORDAN) 'Pork Chop Blues'
RagtimeDorianHenry Uploaded on Mar 10, 2009
CHARLEY JORDAN (1890-1954)
-snip-
As a reminder, this song was recorded by "The Two Charlies", and it appears that neither of "the two Charlies" were Charley Jordan.
****
LYRICS: PORK CHOP BLUES
(The Two Charlies)
1. Folks you oughta to know, three weeks ago, I was sick an' was about to die;
I has a stomach trouble from missin' my meals, and I was sore in my side.
2. Doctor Haigh came into the front of my bus, an' set down on my wheel*
An' just about the time when mother walked in, this is what he said.
You need some pork chop poultice an' some pork n' beans, good greasy [in your] stomach three times a day
3. If you had-a been doin' three weeks ago;
the boy been well today.
4. Well, a man is sick an' about to die
Just mix 'im up some of that potato pie.
Hear the voice of the pork chop say, 'Come unto me an' rest'
(Spoken) 'Yeah' (6)
Repeat- 1-4
*Steering wheel
Source: http://www.earlyblues.com/Essay%20-%20I%20Heard%20The%20Voice%20of%20a%20Pork%20Chop.htm
-snip-
Sam Collins "Pork Chop Blues" (1927) and The Two Charlies' "Pork Chop Blues" are examples of country Blues and so-called comic blues songs which were performed at Black medicine shows. Click http://www.folkstreams.net/context,124http://www.folkstreams.net/context,124 for information about African Americans performers in black-faced minstrel shows and in traveling medicine shows.
****
COMMENTS ABOUT SOME OF THESE LYRICS
1."Doctor Haigh came into the front of my bus" - In his essay, Max Haymes wrote that the lyrics of the song indicates that the singer was living in a bus.
I think the last name for the doctor purposely sounded like the word "high", which added comedic effect and alluded to being "high" off of liquor and/or illegal drugs - things that may also still be used by poor people whose stomachs hurt because they are hungry.
2. "An' just about the time when mother walked in" - "Mother" here is probably the singer's wife or woman.
3. "an' some pork n' beans, good greasy" - The pork and beans should be good and greasy, meaning the pork shouldn't be lean but contain a lot of animal fat (as that has a lot of protein).
4. If you had-a been doin' three weeks ago;
the boy been well today. = If you had been doing that (eating sufficient food) three weeks ago, you [that man who was sick] would be well today.
5. "Just mix 'im up some of that potato pie." = just bake him a sweet potato pie.
6. "Hear the voice of the pork chop say, 'Come unto me an' rest'" - This line references the 1928 Jim Jackson song "I Hear The Voice Of A Pork Chop Say".
That song is featured in Part III of this pancocojams series.
**
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitors' comments are welcome.
Sam Collins - "Pork Chop Blues" (comments, example, lyrics)
Edited by Azizi Powell
This post is Part I of a three part series that focuses on comedic Blues songs about Black people and pork chops. This post showcases the 1927 song "Pork Chop Blues' by Sam Collins. Information about Sam Collins is also given in this post.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-two-charlies-pork-chop-blues.html for Part II of this series. Part II showcases the 1936 version of this song by “The Two Charlies".
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/07/jim-jackson-i-heard-voice-of-pork-chop.html for Part III of this series. Part III showcases the 1928 song "I Heard The Voice Of A Pork Chop Say" by Jim Jackson.
Information about those songs is included in these posts along with information about other Blues songs that mention pork chops.
This post is also part of a pancocojams series on African American songs and rhymes about "Calling the doctor". Click that tag for other posts in that series.
The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Sam Collins for his musical legacy. Thanks also to Max Haymes and all others who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this sound file on YouTube.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT SAM COLLINS
From ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Collins_(musician)
"Sam Collins (August 11, 1887 – October 20, 1949)[1] who was sometimes known as Crying Sam Collins and also, according to one authoritative website,[2] as Jim Foster, Jelly Roll Hunter, Big Boy Woods, Bunny Carter, and Salty Dog Sam, was an early American blues singer and guitarist.[1]
Biography
He was born in Louisiana, United States,[1] and grew up just across the state border in McComb, Mississippi. By 1924 he was performing in local barrelhouses, often with King Solomon Hill with whom he shared the use of falsetto singing and slide guitar. He was first recorded by Gennett Records, on "Yellow Dog Blues", in 1927, and recorded again in 1931, some of his later recordings appearing under different pseudonyms. His rural bottleneck guitar pieces were among the first to be compiled on LP. His best known recording was "The Jail House Blues".[1]
He relocated to Chicago, Illinois, in the late 1930s, and died there from the effects of heart disease in October 1949, at the age of 62.[1]"
****
INFORMATION ABOUT COMEDIC BLUES RECORDS ABOUT PORK CHOPS
http://www.earlyblues.com/Essay%20-%20I%20Heard%20The%20Voice%20of%20a%20Pork%20Chop.htm "I Heard The Voice Of A Pork Chop" by Max Haymes, converted to web format from the original typescript by Alan White
Note: This is a summation of portions of this essay with my comments in brackets. The lyrics to Sam Collins and The Two Charlies "Pork Chop Blues" songs which are found below in this post are also from this essay.
Max Haymes describes the Jim Jackson song about pork chops and other songs about pork chops as "comedic blues", and gives the recording dates of 1890-1943 for those songs. Although he doesn't provide any definition for this sub-genre of Blues, it appears from his comments that Haymes meant that "comedic blues" are country Blues songs that either have comedic lyrics, although sometimes those comedic lyrics may hide or allude to a more serious subject or subjects. It occurs to me that like other Blues songs, some of those comedic record titles and their lyrics may also be double entendres (a word or expression that can be understood in two different ways with one way usually referring to sex).
Max Haymes writes that there were five songs that were titled "Pork Chop Blues". The earliest of these songs is a slow Blues "by Bessie Brown "with fine tenor sax playing by a young Coleman Hawkins, aptly backed by up by Fletcher Henderson on piano. {Two verses of this song are quoted].
The essayist indicates that Bessie Brown song may have sparked the idea for the record entitled "You Can Dip Your Bread In My Gravy, Put You Can't Have Any Of My Chops", which was recorded in 1925 by Virginia Liston. That Bessie Brown song may have also inspired the Sam Collins song "Pork Chop Blues" (1927) and the Jim Jackson song "I Heard The Voice Of A Pork Chop Say" (1928). Haymes wrote that Sam Collins' 'Pork Chop Blues' "has a definite medicine show-cum minstrel feel about it."
A version of "Pork Chop Blues" was also recorded in 1936 by "The Two Charlies". This record was issued on a Charlie Jordan CD [Charley (Charlie) Jordan was an early Blues singer who "had some moderate success in his own right as a recording artist during his own time, in the 1930s, but he's probably better known among casual blues listeners [today]" http://www.allmusic.com/artist/charley-jordan-mn0000168660]. However, "THE" Charlie Jordan wasn't featured on that "Pork Chop Blues" record.
Max Haymes also mentions another entirely different song entitled "Pork chop Blues" by pianist Lee Green, who also went by the names "Pork chop", "Pork Chop Jackson, "Pork Chop Johnson", and Pork Chop Green/e". Haymes suggested that Lee Green, who recorded many sessions in Chicago between 1927-1935, could have taken his name from the name of an Illinois Central freight train (mea train) meat train called "Pork Chop" that traveled from Iowa through Chicago.
Regrettably, a 1935 unissued master of a record by "Funny Paper" Smith that was entitled "Pork Chop Blues" was destroyed along with other songs from that long session.
Mex Haymes also wrote that in the early part of the 19th century it was common for hogs to be run down streets to livestock yards in many American towns (including New York City). Some hogs were also run down streets to livestock yards in many small towns up to the 1920s. Some of that livestock ran into the woods, became feral, and were hunted by poor people to help supplement their meager diets.
****
SHOWCASE SONG
'Pork Chop Blues' SAM COLLINS, Delta Blues Guitar Legend
RagtimeDorianHenry, Uploaded on Mar 19, 2009
" Pork Chop Blues "
Early country Blues...
-snip-
LYRICS: PORK CHOP BLUES
(Sam Collins)
1. I went out west about a year ago. I taken sick an’ I like to die.
Had the rheumatism all in my chest, tuberculosis all in my side.
2. I went to the doctor, the doctor said, “Boy, what’s the matter with you?
That doctor looked around at me: I said “Doctor, what I need?”
3. The doctor shook his head and said
“You need the pork chop poultice an’ the stew an’
veg. in’ your stomach three times a day.
4. If you had been doin all the time
You’d-a been a healthy child today
5. When a man get sick and die
Stop in a swell café and get a chocolate pie
Pork chop poultice, stew an’ beans in your stomach three times a day
6. Some say that preachers won’t steal
I caught two in my cornfield
One had a bushel and the other had a bag
They both had crocus sacks around their neck
Pork chop poultice, stew an’ beans in your stomach three times a day.
7. Need a pork chop poultice, stew an’ beans in your stomach three times a day.
Do you know last time winter when the time was tough?
Pork an’ beans in the kitchen was a struttin ‘is stuff
Pork chop poultice, stew an’ beans in your stomach three times a day [5]
Source: http://www.earlyblues.com/Essay%20-%20I%20Heard%20The%20Voice%20of%20a%20Pork%20Chop.htm The essayist includes the comments that Jim Jackson may have gotten the idea for his song about pork chops from "contemporary songster and bluesman Sam Collins. Born in Louisiana in 1887 (3 years younger than Jackson) Collins recorded quite extensively in 1927 and 1931. At one of his earlier sessions he cut Pork Chop Blues (Gennett 6260) which had a definite medicine show-cum minstrel feel about it."
-snip-
Click http://www.folkstreams.net/context,124http://www.folkstreams.net/context,124 for information about African Americans performers in black-faced minstrel shows and in traveling medicine shows.
****
MY COMMENTS ABOUT SOME OF THESE LYRICS
I've assigned numberrs to these comments for referencing purposes. Those comments are given in the order that the words or phrases are found in the song, but the numbers aren't necessarily the same as the line numbers.
1."I like to die" = It was like I was dying ; I almost died
2. "the pork chop poultice" - There probably wasn't an actual poultice made up of pork chops. That was made up for the purpose of this song.
3."veg." = vegetables
4."If you had been doin all the time" = If you had been doing that all the time [i.e. eating enough food]
5. "Some say that preachers won’t steal/I caught two in my cornfield" - This is a floating verse that is found in a number of African American plantation songs/early Blues, including a example in the now classic 1922 collection entitled Negro Folk Rhymes: Wise And Other Wise which was edited by Thomas W. Talley. The version in Talley's collection uses what is now known as "the n word" instead of the word "preacher".
6. "One had a bushel and the other had a bag" - In the Max Haymes article that line is given as question marks. This is my transcription of that line which is given as question marks in the Max Haymes article. Click http://www.texasbasket.com/new/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_2 for information about and photographs of fruit and vegetables bushels (baskets).
7. "struttin like it was king" - strutting (walking with a proud, erect gait) because it was the food that many poor people ate because it was relatively low cost
***
UPDATE: July 20/2014 8:20 AM: Read the comment below about the meaning of "crocus sacks" and about the real meaning of this song.
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitors' comments are welcome.
This post is Part I of a three part series that focuses on comedic Blues songs about Black people and pork chops. This post showcases the 1927 song "Pork Chop Blues' by Sam Collins. Information about Sam Collins is also given in this post.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-two-charlies-pork-chop-blues.html for Part II of this series. Part II showcases the 1936 version of this song by “The Two Charlies".
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/07/jim-jackson-i-heard-voice-of-pork-chop.html for Part III of this series. Part III showcases the 1928 song "I Heard The Voice Of A Pork Chop Say" by Jim Jackson.
Information about those songs is included in these posts along with information about other Blues songs that mention pork chops.
This post is also part of a pancocojams series on African American songs and rhymes about "Calling the doctor". Click that tag for other posts in that series.
The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Sam Collins for his musical legacy. Thanks also to Max Haymes and all others who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this sound file on YouTube.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT SAM COLLINS
From ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Collins_(musician)
"Sam Collins (August 11, 1887 – October 20, 1949)[1] who was sometimes known as Crying Sam Collins and also, according to one authoritative website,[2] as Jim Foster, Jelly Roll Hunter, Big Boy Woods, Bunny Carter, and Salty Dog Sam, was an early American blues singer and guitarist.[1]
Biography
He was born in Louisiana, United States,[1] and grew up just across the state border in McComb, Mississippi. By 1924 he was performing in local barrelhouses, often with King Solomon Hill with whom he shared the use of falsetto singing and slide guitar. He was first recorded by Gennett Records, on "Yellow Dog Blues", in 1927, and recorded again in 1931, some of his later recordings appearing under different pseudonyms. His rural bottleneck guitar pieces were among the first to be compiled on LP. His best known recording was "The Jail House Blues".[1]
He relocated to Chicago, Illinois, in the late 1930s, and died there from the effects of heart disease in October 1949, at the age of 62.[1]"
****
INFORMATION ABOUT COMEDIC BLUES RECORDS ABOUT PORK CHOPS
http://www.earlyblues.com/Essay%20-%20I%20Heard%20The%20Voice%20of%20a%20Pork%20Chop.htm "I Heard The Voice Of A Pork Chop" by Max Haymes, converted to web format from the original typescript by Alan White
Note: This is a summation of portions of this essay with my comments in brackets. The lyrics to Sam Collins and The Two Charlies "Pork Chop Blues" songs which are found below in this post are also from this essay.
Max Haymes describes the Jim Jackson song about pork chops and other songs about pork chops as "comedic blues", and gives the recording dates of 1890-1943 for those songs. Although he doesn't provide any definition for this sub-genre of Blues, it appears from his comments that Haymes meant that "comedic blues" are country Blues songs that either have comedic lyrics, although sometimes those comedic lyrics may hide or allude to a more serious subject or subjects. It occurs to me that like other Blues songs, some of those comedic record titles and their lyrics may also be double entendres (a word or expression that can be understood in two different ways with one way usually referring to sex).
Max Haymes writes that there were five songs that were titled "Pork Chop Blues". The earliest of these songs is a slow Blues "by Bessie Brown "with fine tenor sax playing by a young Coleman Hawkins, aptly backed by up by Fletcher Henderson on piano. {Two verses of this song are quoted].
The essayist indicates that Bessie Brown song may have sparked the idea for the record entitled "You Can Dip Your Bread In My Gravy, Put You Can't Have Any Of My Chops", which was recorded in 1925 by Virginia Liston. That Bessie Brown song may have also inspired the Sam Collins song "Pork Chop Blues" (1927) and the Jim Jackson song "I Heard The Voice Of A Pork Chop Say" (1928). Haymes wrote that Sam Collins' 'Pork Chop Blues' "has a definite medicine show-cum minstrel feel about it."
A version of "Pork Chop Blues" was also recorded in 1936 by "The Two Charlies". This record was issued on a Charlie Jordan CD [Charley (Charlie) Jordan was an early Blues singer who "had some moderate success in his own right as a recording artist during his own time, in the 1930s, but he's probably better known among casual blues listeners [today]" http://www.allmusic.com/artist/charley-jordan-mn0000168660]. However, "THE" Charlie Jordan wasn't featured on that "Pork Chop Blues" record.
Max Haymes also mentions another entirely different song entitled "Pork chop Blues" by pianist Lee Green, who also went by the names "Pork chop", "Pork Chop Jackson, "Pork Chop Johnson", and Pork Chop Green/e". Haymes suggested that Lee Green, who recorded many sessions in Chicago between 1927-1935, could have taken his name from the name of an Illinois Central freight train (mea train) meat train called "Pork Chop" that traveled from Iowa through Chicago.
Regrettably, a 1935 unissued master of a record by "Funny Paper" Smith that was entitled "Pork Chop Blues" was destroyed along with other songs from that long session.
Mex Haymes also wrote that in the early part of the 19th century it was common for hogs to be run down streets to livestock yards in many American towns (including New York City). Some hogs were also run down streets to livestock yards in many small towns up to the 1920s. Some of that livestock ran into the woods, became feral, and were hunted by poor people to help supplement their meager diets.
****
SHOWCASE SONG
'Pork Chop Blues' SAM COLLINS, Delta Blues Guitar Legend
RagtimeDorianHenry, Uploaded on Mar 19, 2009
" Pork Chop Blues "
Early country Blues...
-snip-
LYRICS: PORK CHOP BLUES
(Sam Collins)
1. I went out west about a year ago. I taken sick an’ I like to die.
Had the rheumatism all in my chest, tuberculosis all in my side.
2. I went to the doctor, the doctor said, “Boy, what’s the matter with you?
That doctor looked around at me: I said “Doctor, what I need?”
3. The doctor shook his head and said
“You need the pork chop poultice an’ the stew an’
veg. in’ your stomach three times a day.
4. If you had been doin all the time
You’d-a been a healthy child today
5. When a man get sick and die
Stop in a swell café and get a chocolate pie
Pork chop poultice, stew an’ beans in your stomach three times a day
6. Some say that preachers won’t steal
I caught two in my cornfield
One had a bushel and the other had a bag
They both had crocus sacks around their neck
Pork chop poultice, stew an’ beans in your stomach three times a day.
7. Need a pork chop poultice, stew an’ beans in your stomach three times a day.
Do you know last time winter when the time was tough?
Pork an’ beans in the kitchen was a struttin ‘is stuff
Pork chop poultice, stew an’ beans in your stomach three times a day [5]
Source: http://www.earlyblues.com/Essay%20-%20I%20Heard%20The%20Voice%20of%20a%20Pork%20Chop.htm The essayist includes the comments that Jim Jackson may have gotten the idea for his song about pork chops from "contemporary songster and bluesman Sam Collins. Born in Louisiana in 1887 (3 years younger than Jackson) Collins recorded quite extensively in 1927 and 1931. At one of his earlier sessions he cut Pork Chop Blues (Gennett 6260) which had a definite medicine show-cum minstrel feel about it."
-snip-
Click http://www.folkstreams.net/context,124http://www.folkstreams.net/context,124 for information about African Americans performers in black-faced minstrel shows and in traveling medicine shows.
****
MY COMMENTS ABOUT SOME OF THESE LYRICS
I've assigned numberrs to these comments for referencing purposes. Those comments are given in the order that the words or phrases are found in the song, but the numbers aren't necessarily the same as the line numbers.
1."I like to die" = It was like I was dying ; I almost died
2. "the pork chop poultice" - There probably wasn't an actual poultice made up of pork chops. That was made up for the purpose of this song.
3."veg." = vegetables
4."If you had been doin all the time" = If you had been doing that all the time [i.e. eating enough food]
5. "Some say that preachers won’t steal/I caught two in my cornfield" - This is a floating verse that is found in a number of African American plantation songs/early Blues, including a example in the now classic 1922 collection entitled Negro Folk Rhymes: Wise And Other Wise which was edited by Thomas W. Talley. The version in Talley's collection uses what is now known as "the n word" instead of the word "preacher".
6. "One had a bushel and the other had a bag" - In the Max Haymes article that line is given as question marks. This is my transcription of that line which is given as question marks in the Max Haymes article. Click http://www.texasbasket.com/new/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_2 for information about and photographs of fruit and vegetables bushels (baskets).
7. "struttin like it was king" - strutting (walking with a proud, erect gait) because it was the food that many poor people ate because it was relatively low cost
***
UPDATE: July 20/2014 8:20 AM: Read the comment below about the meaning of "crocus sacks" and about the real meaning of this song.
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitors' comments are welcome.
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