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Saturday, August 15, 2026

Sam Chatmon- Can't Get The Saddle On The Old Gray Mule" (lyrics and comments) Part IV

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part IV of a four part pancocojams series about the 19th century African American originated dance song "Whoa Mule (Can't Get The Saddle On)". 

This post showcases a YouTube video of guitarist/singer Sam Chatmon* singing "Can't Get The Saddle On The Old Gray Mule". That title is another referent for the song "Whoa Mule. Can't Get The Saddle On." 

This post also presents information about Sam Chatmon and presents lyrics for two versions of that song that Sam Chatmon sung.

Some of Sam Chatmon's memories of this song are also included in that post.   

*Sam Chatmon's last name is sometimes erroneously given as "Chatman".      

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/07/blog-post.html for Part I of this pancocojams series. That post presents a general overview of this song. 

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/03/whoa-mule-cant-get-saddle-on-lyrics_17.html for Part II of this series. Part II continues the presentation of information about the history and early examples of the songs "Whoa Mule" and the African American song "Peep Squirrel".

Click
https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/07/sound-file-lyrics-auto-generated.html for Part III of this pancocojams series. Part III showcases a 1950 sound file of Celina Lewis singing "Whoa Mule (Can't Get The Saddle On"). That post also includes the lyrics for that rendition and Celina Lewis' comments about that song. In addition, that post includes my re-wording into standard English of Celina Lewis' comments.

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The content of this post is presented for historical, folkloric, socio-cultural, and recreational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the unknown composers of this song. Thanks to Sam Chatmon, Celina Lewis,  Bessie Jones, and others whose renditions and comments about this song are documented offline and online. Thanks also to the folklorists who collected & recorded this song.

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INFORMATION ABOUT SAM CHATMON
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Chatmon
"
Vivian "Sam" Chatmon (January 10, 1897 – February 2, 1983)[1] was an American Delta blues guitarist and singer who was a member of the Mississippi Sheiks.

Life and career

Chatmon was born in Bolton, Mississippi.[1] His family was well known in Mississippi for their musical talents; he was a member of the family's string band when he was young. He may have been Charley Patton's half-brother.[2] In an interview he stated that he started playing the guitar at the age of three, laying it flat on the floor and crawling under it.[3] A year older and he recalled singing a song including the lyrics "Run down to the river thought I'd jump an' drown / I thought about the woman I lovin' and I turn around".[4] He regularly performed for white audiences in the 1900s.[5]

The Chatmon band played rags, ballads, and popular dance tunes. Two of Sam's brothers, the fiddler Lonnie Chatmon and the guitarist Bo Carter, performed with the guitarist Walter Vinson as the Mississippi Sheiks.[1]

Chatmon played the banjo, mandolin and harmonica in addition to the guitar. He performed at parties and on street corners throughout Mississippi for small pay and tips. In the 1930s, he recorded with the Sheiks and also with his brother Lonnie as the Chatman Brothers.[1]

Chatmon moved to Hollandale, Mississippi in the early 1940s and worked on plantations there.[6] He was rediscovered in 1960 and started a new chapter of his career as a folk-blues artist.[1] In the same year he recorded for Arhoolie Records. He toured extensively during the 1960s and 1970s. While in California in 1970, he made several recordings with Sue Draheim, Kenny Hall, Ed Littlefield, Lou Curtiss, Kathy Hall, Will Scarlett and others at Sweet's Mill Music Camp, forming a group he called "The California Sheiks".[7] He played many of the largest and best-known folk festivals, including the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C., in 1972, the Mariposa Folk Festival in Toronto in 1974, and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in 1976."...

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EXCERPT FROM FOLKSTREAM FILM TRANSCRIPT

Pancocojams Editor's Notes:
The YouTube video that is given at the top of this pancocojams post is from this Alan Lomax film.

The name "Alan" in this transcript refers to (White American) folklorist Alan Lomax.

The name "Sam" in this transcript refers to (African American) guitarist/singer Sam Chatmon. (Sam Chatmon's last name is sometimes given as "Chatman".)  

I added the words given in italics as explanations.

From https://www.folkstreams.net/contexts/dreams-of-the-noble-old-transcript,1991

Dreams of the Noble Old [film transcript

"[Alan] “America has a patchwork culture of the dreams and songs of all its people This is Alan Lomax. Come with me now on an adventure in our marvelous patchwork culture. Folklorists like myself spent a great deal of time with old people, people of the early generation. What we're looking for though is not the old things, but basically the roots of the culture. We're looking for the keel of the culture so that we can, in them we find the things, the values, the forms, the shapes, the songs, the ceremonies, which go back as far as the living memory can take us into the past and we establish therefore the actual baseline keel of the cultures.

[…]

- This is the heart of the Delta. Hollandale, Mississippi, and we're at the home of a member of one of the royal families of the blues, Sam Chatman. The Chatman family was here when the blues began, almost a 100 years ago. They helped to make them and popularize them, and when you think about it, it was almost a miracle that occurred then, deep in the heart of the Delta.

[…]


- [Alan] Do you remember how the tunes he played to you? [“He” refers to-Sam Chatman’s father]


[Sam]- Yeah, I remember practically all of 'em, all of 'em is just old things about can't get the saddle on the old gray mule, Little Liza Jane.

Whoa, mule

 

Whoa, mule

 

Whoa, mule

 

Can't get the saddle on the old gray mule

 

Can't get the saddle on the old gray mule

 

Chicken in the bread pan

 

Pickin' up dough

 

Everybody time for more

 

Can't get the saddle on the old gray mule

 

Can't get the saddle on the old gray mule

 

Can get the saddle on the old gray mule

 

Whoa, mule

 

Whoa, mule

 

Can't get the saddle on the old gray mule

[…]

[Alan]- In Chatman, we meet a real professional, and that was characteristic of the blues very early. It was a chance for the talented Black musicians of the Deep South to become professional and in doing so, they made a transform of folk music into something that could live and grow in an urban setting, and the Chatman family was very important in all this, as he'll tell us.


[Chatman]- Peter Chatman up here in Memphis, they called him Memphis Slim, that's one of my sister's boys. And if you ever heard of Charlie Patton? Well, Charlie Patton's my brother.

- [Alan] Charlie Patton and others in the Chatman connection were among the first to record the blues. "Sugar Blues" was one of the early commercial ones.”…

-snip-
This concludes the reference to Sam Chatmon in this article except for the lyrics to the song “Sugar Blues”.

Sam Chatmon's mention of "Little Liza Jane" near the beginning of this transcript was probably because some versions of "Little Liza Jane" includes floating verses from "Can't Get The Saddle On The Old Gray Mule" (also known as "Whoa Mule. Can't Get The Saddle On"). 

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LYRICS FOR "CAN'T GET THE SADDLE ON THE OLD GRAY MULE"*

This comments preface this rendition of that song. Words given in italics are my addition to this transcription for explanatory purposes. 

”Square dance. Calling figures, stealing partner.

 [Music]

[Sam Chatmon] Yeah, my daddy used to play them. So, we’d be in the house. We’d be in the house playing. We’d make like a made like a mistake, playing them. So he’d tell us “Play me [Bring me] that fiddle boy.  You didn’t play that right”. So he could [would] play it for us. We tried to get him to play, and we couldn’t get him. “I don’t feel like playing.”

We going out the next night and come and make mistakes. He’d say “That ain’t right.”

So, Branch, let me show you how to play it. He could play it too.”
-snip-
I don't know who "Branch" was. (I think that it was a referent for Alan Lomax.)

The sentence “He could play it too” means “He was really skillful in the way he played that song.
-snip
This song begins around .45 in this video. The words in italic are my guess about what he sung.

LYRICS:

“Chicken in the bread pan, pickin up dough
[How he got there.] I didn’t know.
Can’t get the saddle on
Hold that mule.

Can’t get the saddle on

Hold that mule.
Whoa mule!
Whoa, mule!
Can’t get the saddle on.
Whoa, mule!
Hold that mule.
Whoa mule
Can’t get the saddle on
Hold that mule.
Can’t get the saddle on.


See that gal with the red dress on
???
If you get there before I do
Just tell ??? I’m comin to

Can’t get the saddle on
Hold that mule.
Can’t get the saddle on.
Hold that mule
Can’t get the saddle on.
Whoa mule
Whoa mule
Can’t get the saddle on
Hold that mule.
Can’t get the saddle on.

Hold that mule.
Can’t get the saddle on.

Chicken in the bread pan
Pickin up dough
Everybody time for more
Whoa mule
Can’t get the saddle on
Hold that mule.
Can’t get the saddle on.
Hold that mule.
Hold that mule
Can’t get the saddle on.
Hold that mule.
-snip-
*Part of this transcript is from the auto-generated transcription of the YouTube video that is given at the top of this pancocojams post and part of this transcript is what I believe I heard Sam Chatmon speaking and singing.

(?) means that I was unable to decipher what was being sung.

Additions and corrections are welcome.

****
This concludes Part IV of this pancocojams series.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.

Friday, August 14, 2026

"Good Foot (Superbad)" & Four Other YouTube Videos Of African American (Soul) Line Dances That Were Choreographed For Music That Wasn't Recorded For Line Dancing (Part III))

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part III of a three part pancocojams series that showcases some YouTube video examples of African American (Soul) line dances that were choreographed for music that wasn't recorded for line dancing.

The videos in this pancocojams series focus on the line dance routines more than on the record itself.

Most of these showcased line dances have multiple YouTube video examples. 

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/08/five-examples-of-youtube-video-examples.html for Part I of this pancocojams series.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/08/follow-me-four-other-youtube-videos-of.html for Part II of this pancocojams series.

The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the recording artists and to all other who are featured in these videos. Thanks also to the producers and the publishers of these videos on YouTube. 
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/08/the-five-most-watched-youtube-videos-of.html for Part I of a three part pancocojams series that lists the African American (Soul) line dance videos that were #1-#5 on August 11, 2026
based on the total views of their official YouTube music video.  

That post also include links to Part II and Part III of that pancocojams series. Those posts list the African American (Soul) line dance videos that were #6-#15 on August 13, 2026
based on the total views of their official YouTube music video. 

These examples were recorded specifically for line dancing (i.e. at least part of their lyrics consists of instructions about how to perform that line dance). 
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SOME EXAMPLES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN (SOUL) LINE DANCES THAT WERE CHOREOGRAPHED FOR MUSIC THAT WASN'T RECORDED FOR LINE DANCING

These examples are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.

Editor's Note: August 14, 2026. I plan to add additional information to this post ASAP.  
: .


SHOWCASE VIDEO #1 - 
GOOD FOOT (SUPERBAD) Line Dance



Jero Green, May 17, 2022

I do not one the rights to this Music Getting on the Foot foot Line Dance Choreographed by Ray Boyd & Kenny’s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUPJpNAwcRU

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SHOWCASE VIDEO # 2 -
OOH WEE LINE DANCE



Jero Green, 
Apr 24, 2026

Ooh Wee A line Dance

Choreographed by Jero KOLD Green

Artist MS YANNI

Song OOH WEE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2Qonox8M_8

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #3 -
Down South Party Line Dance 


473,634 views  Feb 19, 2012

Wild Bill's 2nd annual animal house line dance party, having fun doing the down south party line dance, music by Special, featuring Big Robb. Friday 2-17-12,  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HM9SULwjh0

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #4 - Finna Get Loose Line Dance - 704 Soul Line Dance | Charlotte, NC - 12.19.2025



704 Soul Line DanceDec 20, 2025  CHARLOTTE

If your line dance parties don't look like this, what are you doing? Come check us out the next time your are in Charlotte.

704 Soul Line Dance - Classes in Charlotte, NC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-yXORDCmgM

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #5 - Sugaa Shack Line Dance.. 🥰



Lady Snapshot, Dec 30, 2022

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jk3fESWBPlA

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This concludes Part III of this multi-part pancocojams series.


Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitors comments are welcome.

"Follow Me" & Four Other YouTube Videos Of African American (Soul) Line Dances That Were Choreographed For Music That Wasn't Recorded For Line Dancing (Part II)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part II of a three part pancocojams series that showcases some YouTube video examples of African American (Soul) line dances that were choreographed for music that wasn't recorded for line dancing.

The videos in this pancocojams series focus on the line dance routine more than on the record itself.

Most of these showcased line dances have multiple YouTube video examples. 

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/08/five-examples-of-youtube-video-examples.html for Part I of this pancocojams series.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/08/good-foot-superbad-four-other-youtube.html for Part III of this pancocojams series.

The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the recording artists and to all other who are featured in these videos. Thanks also to the producers and the publishers of these videos on YouTube. 
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/08/the-five-most-watched-youtube-videos-of.html for Part I of a three part pancocojams series that lists the African American (Soul) line dance videos that were #1-#5 on August 11, 2026
based on the total views of their official YouTube music video.  

That post also include links to Part II and Part III of that pancocojams series. Those posts list the African American (Soul) line dance videos that were #6-#15 on August 13, 2026
based on the total views of their official YouTube music video. 

These examples were recorded specifically for line dancing (i.e. at least part of their lyrics consists of instructions about how to perform that line dance). 
****
SOME EXAMPLES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN (SOUL) LINE DANCES THAT WERE CHOREOGRAPHED FOR MUSIC THAT WASN'T RECORDED FOR LINE DANCING

These examples are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.

Editor's Note: August 13, 2026. I plan to add additional information to this post ASAP.  
: .

SHOWCASE VIDEO #1 - Follow Me



Yaya Rodriguz, 
Nov 18, 2024

Steppas dancing to the song “Follow Me” by Aly-us

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABwedTa3D7g&t=1s
-snip-
This video is a 2024 African American trail ride version of a "Follow Me" line dance. 

Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB5-rUP9zVQ&t=47s  for a 2012 African American urban version of that line dance.
 
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SHOWCASE VIDEO #2 - 
Dance: Trail Ride Sailing



Memphis Finest 901 Line Dance Krewe, 
Jul 11, 2024

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwAIoNY8Dzs&t=11s

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #3 - 
Chuck Baby Line Dance



It's The Dance For Me, Jan 15, 2011

Purple Charlotte Steppers doing Chuck Baby Line Dance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CjC5I-5Q_w
-snip-
Here's some information about the record "Chuck Baby"
from AI Overview:
" "
Chuck Baby" is a hit song and title track by the Godfather of Go-Go, Chuck Brown, released in 2007 on his album We're About the Business via Raw Venture Records & Tapes. Featuring artist KK, the track is a defining anthem of the Washington, D.C. go-go music style."

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #4 - Before I let go Line Dance by Beyonce


Line Dancing with Tisa, Dec 28, 2021

The Bad Chics made quite an entrance to the Sneakers Ball!!!

. Walkthrough by Myles Yachts

. NOLA Before I let Go by Beyonce

We do not own the rights to this music. Posted for entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringement intended!

Nola before I let go

Line Dance Choreographer: Linda Simms

"The Bad Chics"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8aq1G0mARI

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #5 - Work It Line Dance by West Love.😍


Lady Snapshot, Jun 7, 2024  TAMPA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tLLewdgN6E&t=248s

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This concludes Part II of this multi-part pancocojams series.


Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitors comments are welcome.

Thursday, August 13, 2026

"Set It Off" And Four Other YouTube Videos Of African American (Soul) Line Dances That Were Choreographed For Music That Wasn't Recorded For Line Dancing (Part I)

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest revision - August 14, 2026

This is Part I of a three part pancocojams series that showcases some YouTube video examples of African American (Soul) line dances that were choreographed for music that wasn't recorded for line dancing. .

The videos in this pancocojams series focus on the line dance routine more than on the record itself.

Most of these showcased line dances have multiple YouTube video examples. 

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/08/follow-me-four-other-youtube-videos-of.html for Part II of this pancocojams series.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/08/good-foot-superbad-four-other-youtube.html for Part III of this pancocojams series.

The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the recording artists and to all other who are featured in these videos. Thanks also to the producers and the publishers of these videos on YouTube. 
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/08/the-five-most-watched-youtube-videos-of.html for Part I of a three part pancocojams series that lists the African American (Soul) line dance videos that were #1-#5 on August 11, 2026 
based on the total views of their official YouTube music video.  

That post also include links to Part II and Part III of that pancocojams series. Those posts list the African American (Soul) line dance videos that were #6-#15 on August 13, 2026 
based on the total views of their official YouTube music video. 

These examples were recorded specifically for line dancing (i.e. at least part of their lyrics consists of instructions about how to perform that line dance). 
****
SOME EXAMPLES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN (SOUL) LINE DANCES THAT WERE CHOREOGRAPHED FOR MUSIC THAT WASN'T RECORDED FOR LINE DANCING

These examples are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.

Editor's Note: August 13, 2026. I plan to add additional information to this post ASAP.  
: .

SHOWCASE VIDEO #1 -
Set It Off Line Dance

Line Dancing With Terressa, Oct 18, 2019

Song: Set It Off

Artist: Strafe 

Choreographer:

Class Information:
Monday and Thursday 730-9 PM
815 Willie Pitts Jr. Rd.. Albany, Ga.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oF7Dtvrn0Fw&t=224s
-snip-
"Set It Off" is a now classic 1984 electro-funk and post-disco anthem by Strafe (Steve Standard)

Among other uses, "Set It Off" is the music that members of the historically Black Greek letter sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha, Inc use for one of their strolls. Here's a link to a YouTube video short of that stroll: https://youtube.com/shorts/pI1-35-CI0M?si=225Bsy7nb2vWr1vO @everlastingdecisions, FAMU [Florida A&M University chapter of  AKA (Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. - Set It Off

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SHOWCASE  VIDEO #2 - 
Marcia Griffiths - Electric Boogie (The Electric Slide) (Official Video)



MarciaGriffiths,
Apr 8, 2018

Copyright: (C) 1990 The Island Def Jam Music Group

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vF84LABHm0

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #3 - The Best Man Electric Slide Scene( Candy- Cameo) Dance



RockKG973, May 8, 2013

One of my favorite movie scenes ever!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w2Anvecs6s
-snip-
Here's some information about Cameo's record "Candy" being used for line dancing routine that is the same as "The Electric Slide":

AI Overview
" Cameo’s 1986 funk song "Candy" gained widespread mainstream and cultural popularity as an accompaniment to the Electric Slide following its prominent feature in the 1999 film [The Best Man] (imdb.com), though opinions on social media and music forums are mixed, with some clubgoers recalling the pairing in local scenes earlier in the 1990s.

Origins and Rise
The Original Dance: The Electric Slide line dance was created in 1976 and traditionally performed to tracks like Marcia Griffiths' 1983 recording of "Electric Boogie".

The 1999 Milestone: The pairing with Cameo's "Candy" was cemented into pop culture when the cast performed the routine to the song in [The Best Man] (imdb.com), turning it into a staple at weddings and social gatherings often referred to as the "Candy Dance".

Early Adoption: On platforms like Mobile DJ Network, opinions are mixed; some users remember dancers matching the Electric Slide to Cameo's track in underground or regional clubs prior to the movie's release.Watch this clip highlighting the famous scene from The Best Man that popularized dancing to Candy"

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #4 - Tamia Line Dance Can't Get Enough

IcedPink,Oct 28, 2022

BEST TAMIA LINE DANCE VIDEO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9HRyzdlQCk

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #5 - 
R. Kelly - Step in the name of love is 

thearchiebexperience, Jan 5, 2013

Dance:" STEP IN THE NAME OF LOVE" LINE DANCE CREATED BY CHRIS OF US DJ NETWORK

Song: STEP IN THE NAME OF LOVE (REMIX) BY R. KELLY

[...]

Join us at The Archie B. Experience Line Dancing if you want to meet people, exercise mind & body, and just have fun learning soul line dances in a "NO ONE LEFT BEHIND ATMOSPHERE". We meet every Tuesday, 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM( line dance w/ instruction), then 7:30 PM- 9:00 PM (non-stop line dancing) at UPTOWN 78 LOUNGE, 8280 FM 78, Converse, TX, 78109

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pom1Kp5UNiU&t=125s

****
This concludes Part I of this multi-part pancocojams series.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitors comments are welcome.