Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post showcases Vera Hall's 1937 Blues song "Trouble So Hard".
Information about Vera Hall is also included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Vera Hall for her musical legacy. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post, and thanks to the publisher of this sound file and this song's lyrics.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT VERA HALL
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vera_Hall
Adell Hall Ward, better known as Vera Hall (April 6, 1902 – January 29, 1964)[1] was an American folk singer, born in Livingston, Alabama.[2] Best known for her 1937 song, "Trouble So Hard", she was inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame in 2005.[3]
Biography
Hall was born at Paynesville, Sumter County, Alabama,[1] near Livingston, and sang her entire life. Her mother and father, Agnes Efron and Zully Hall, taught her songs such as "I Got the Home", "In the Rock" and "When I'm Standing Wondering, Lord, Show Me the Way". Hall married Nash Riddle, a coal miner, in 1917 and gave birth to their daughter, Minnie Ada. Riddle was killed in 1920. In the late 1930s, Hall's singing gained national exposure.
John Avery Lomax, ethnomusicologist, met Hall in the 1930s and recorded her for the Library of Congress.[2] Lomax wrote that she had the loveliest voice he had ever recorded.[citation needed] The BBC played Hall's recording of "Another Man Done Gone" in 1943 as a sample of American folk music. Earlier, The Library of Congress played the song in commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1937. In 1945, Hall recorded with Byron Arnold. In 1984, the recordings were released as a collection of folk songs entitled Cornbread Crumbled in Gravy. According to recording artist and writer Stephen Wade, "'Another Man Done Gone' became Vera Hall's most celebrated performance. Carl Sandburg recalled listening to it more than a dozen consecutive times during a January 1944 visit to Lomax's Dallas home...."[4]
In 1948, with the help of Alan Lomax, Hall traveled to New York and performed on May 15 at the American Music Festival at Columbia University. During the course of this trip, Lomax interviewed Hall on several occasions, later stating "Her singing is like a deep-voiced shepherds flute, mellow and pure in tone, yet always with hints of the lips and the pleasure-loving flesh...The sound comes from deep within her when she sings, from a source of gold and light, otherwise hidden, and falls directly upon your ear like sunlight. It is a liquid, full contralto, rich in low overtones; but it can leap directly into falsetto and play there as effortlessly as a bird in the wind."
Hall died in January 1964 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.[2]
Today, her work still garners attention. Prized by scholars and folk song enthusiasts, Hall's recordings include examples of early blues and folk songs that are found nowhere else.[5]
Legacy
Lomax's son, Alan, also championed Vera Hall, bringing her to New York for a performance at Columbia University in 1948 and assembling Rainbow Sign, a book based on Hall's life and stories.
Moby's 2000 single "Natural Blues" is essentially an extended remix of the song "Trouble So Hard" recorded by Hall in 1937.[2]
A historical marker in Hall's honor was dedicated on April 21, 2007 in Livingston.
-snip-
Click for a sound file of Moby's "Natural Blues"
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SHOWCASE VIDEO & LYRICS - Vera Hall - Trouble So Hard (w/lyrics)
MyMoppet52, Published on Oct 26, 2014
Vera Hall singing "Trouble So Hard". It should sound a bit familiar. Moby had a huge hit with this in a mix he made in the 90's. This is from "Sounds of the South" released in 1993. Alan Lomax made many records & field recordings. This cd is a mix of his best. My video is made with all respect and love for past traditions. Enjoy!
Lyrics for Trouble So Hard as sung by Vera Hall. Lyrics courtesy of elyrics.net:
Ooh Lordy, troubles so hard
Ooh Lordy, troubles so hard
Don't nobody know my troubles but God
Don't nobody know my troubles but God
Went down the hill
Other day
My soul got happy
and stayed all day
Ooh Lordy, troubles so hard
Ooh Lordy, troubles so hard
Don't nobody know my troubles but God
Don't nobody know my troubles but God
Ooh Lordy, troubles so hard
Ooh Lordy, troubles so hard
Went in the room
Didn't stay long
Looked on the bed and,
Brother was dead
Ooh Lordy, troubles so hard
Ooh Lordy, troubles so hard
Don't nobody know my troubles but God
Don't nobody know my troubles but God
Ooh Lordy, troubles so hard
Ooh Lordy, troubles so hard
-snip-
Here are two comments from this sound file's discussion thread
charlie carpenter, 2015
"sooo goood song to be a song from moby...!!!!!....."
**
REPLY
MyMoppet52, 2016
"+charlie carpenter moby took it from her. She did it long ago. He paid no royalties to her estate either... It is a great song! Thanks for listening, Moppet"
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RELATED LINKS
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/11/vera-hall-black-woman-ahum-sound-file.html "Vera Hall - Black Woman (Wild Ox Moan) sound file & lyrics" and http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/09/vera-hall-another-man-done-gone-sound.html "Vera Hall - "Another Man Done Gone" (sound file, lyrics, & comments)" for two additional pancocojams post showcasing Vera Hall's singing.
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Visitor comments are welcome.
Showing posts with label Vera Hall. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vera Hall. Show all posts
Saturday, July 21, 2018
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Vera Hall - Black Woman (Wild Ox Moan) sound file & lyrics
Edited by Azizi Powell
This post showcases a sound file and lyrics of the Blues song "Black Woman" as sung by Vera Hall.
Note: I included the word "Ahum" to this title to distinguish it from other songs entitled "Black Woman".
Information about Vera Hall is also included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT VERA HALL
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vera_Hall
"Adell Hall Ward, better known as Vera Hall (April 6, 1902 – January 29, 1964)[1] was an American folk singer, born in Livingston, Alabama, United States.[2] She is best known for her song "Trouble So Hard" (1937). She was inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame in 2005.[3]
... John Avery Lomax, ethnomusicologist, met Hall in the 1930s and recorded her for the Library of Congress.[2] Lomax wrote that she had the loveliest voice [he] had ever recorded.[citation needed] The BBC played Hall's recording of "Another Man Done Gone" in 1943 as a sample of American folk music. The Library of Congress played the song the same year in commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. In 1945, Hall recorded with Byron Arnold. In 1984, the recordings were released as a collection of folk songs entitled "Cornbread Crumbled in Gravy"…
Lomax's son, Alan, also championed Vera Hall – bringing her to New York for a performance at Columbia University in 1948 and assembling Rainbow Sign, a book based on Hall's life and stories.
Today, her work still garners attention. Prized by scholars and folksong enthusiasts, Halls recordings include examples of early blues and folk songs that are found nowhere else.[4]
...Moby's 2000 single "Natural Blues" is essentially an extended remix of the song "Trouble So Hard" (1937).[2]
-snip-
Moby’s song “Running” (Original Mix) contains a repeated clip of Vera Hall singing “Woman” [with that word extended.]
Click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnAtkpFsRek.
****
SHOWCASE EXAMPLE: Black Woman (Wild Ox Moan)
Vera Hall - Topic, Published on Sep 23, 2014
Provided to YouTube by The Orchard Enterprises
Black Woman (Wild Ox Moan) · Vera Ward Hall
I'll Meet You On That Other Shore: Alan Lomax’s "Southern Journey," 1959–1960
℗ 2010 Odyssey Productions, Inc. For The Estate Of Alan Lomax
Released on: 2010-12-28
Producer: Alan Lomax
Music Publisher: GLOBAL JUKEBOX PUBLISHING
Auto-generated by YouTube.
-snip-
This sound file replaces a 2012 one that was previously showcased in this post and is no longer available. The summary for that sound file said "original version long before moby extracted the vocals and used it for he's song "running".
****
LYRICS: BLACK WOMAN*
(as sung by Vera Hall)
Ahum.
I’m gonna get an old Black woman
Ahum
And sit all day.
Ahum
Well, I got something to tell you pretty mama
Ahum
Don’t you holler, please.
Ahum
Well, I’m gone up the country
Ahum
Don’t you want to go
Ahum
Well, I’m gone out to Texas
Ahum
To hear that water moan
Ahum
If he don’t want to suit me Black woman
Ahum
I’m gonna try my best down home
Ahum
So don’t your kitchen feel lonesome
Ahum
When your biscuit roller gone
-snip-
*Transcription by Azizi Powell.
I tried to make a transcription of this song because I couldn't find the lyrics online. However, I wasn't sure about many of the lyrics. Words written in italics mean that I'm not sure about that transcription. Additions and corrections are welcome.
**
The lyrics to this song are from a man's perceptive [what a man would sing to a woman].
"Ahum" is an interjection that is used similarly to "Hum","Oh", or "Well".
"So don’t your kitchen feel lonesome/When your biscuit roller gone" = don't you [your "body"] feel lonely when your lover is gone.
****
Thanks to Vera Hall for her musical legacy. Thanks also to the publisher of this sound file on YouTube, and thanks to those who I quoted in this post.
Thank you for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
This post showcases a sound file and lyrics of the Blues song "Black Woman" as sung by Vera Hall.
Note: I included the word "Ahum" to this title to distinguish it from other songs entitled "Black Woman".
Information about Vera Hall is also included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT VERA HALL
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vera_Hall
"Adell Hall Ward, better known as Vera Hall (April 6, 1902 – January 29, 1964)[1] was an American folk singer, born in Livingston, Alabama, United States.[2] She is best known for her song "Trouble So Hard" (1937). She was inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame in 2005.[3]
... John Avery Lomax, ethnomusicologist, met Hall in the 1930s and recorded her for the Library of Congress.[2] Lomax wrote that she had the loveliest voice [he] had ever recorded.[citation needed] The BBC played Hall's recording of "Another Man Done Gone" in 1943 as a sample of American folk music. The Library of Congress played the song the same year in commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. In 1945, Hall recorded with Byron Arnold. In 1984, the recordings were released as a collection of folk songs entitled "Cornbread Crumbled in Gravy"…
Lomax's son, Alan, also championed Vera Hall – bringing her to New York for a performance at Columbia University in 1948 and assembling Rainbow Sign, a book based on Hall's life and stories.
Today, her work still garners attention. Prized by scholars and folksong enthusiasts, Halls recordings include examples of early blues and folk songs that are found nowhere else.[4]
...Moby's 2000 single "Natural Blues" is essentially an extended remix of the song "Trouble So Hard" (1937).[2]
-snip-
Moby’s song “Running” (Original Mix) contains a repeated clip of Vera Hall singing “Woman” [with that word extended.]
Click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnAtkpFsRek.
****
SHOWCASE EXAMPLE: Black Woman (Wild Ox Moan)
Vera Hall - Topic, Published on Sep 23, 2014
Provided to YouTube by The Orchard Enterprises
Black Woman (Wild Ox Moan) · Vera Ward Hall
I'll Meet You On That Other Shore: Alan Lomax’s "Southern Journey," 1959–1960
℗ 2010 Odyssey Productions, Inc. For The Estate Of Alan Lomax
Released on: 2010-12-28
Producer: Alan Lomax
Music Publisher: GLOBAL JUKEBOX PUBLISHING
Auto-generated by YouTube.
-snip-
This sound file replaces a 2012 one that was previously showcased in this post and is no longer available. The summary for that sound file said "original version long before moby extracted the vocals and used it for he's song "running".
****
LYRICS: BLACK WOMAN*
(as sung by Vera Hall)
Ahum.
I’m gonna get an old Black woman
Ahum
And sit all day.
Ahum
Well, I got something to tell you pretty mama
Ahum
Don’t you holler, please.
Ahum
Well, I’m gone up the country
Ahum
Don’t you want to go
Ahum
Well, I’m gone out to Texas
Ahum
To hear that water moan
Ahum
If he don’t want to suit me Black woman
Ahum
I’m gonna try my best down home
Ahum
So don’t your kitchen feel lonesome
Ahum
When your biscuit roller gone
-snip-
*Transcription by Azizi Powell.
I tried to make a transcription of this song because I couldn't find the lyrics online. However, I wasn't sure about many of the lyrics. Words written in italics mean that I'm not sure about that transcription. Additions and corrections are welcome.
**
The lyrics to this song are from a man's perceptive [what a man would sing to a woman].
"Ahum" is an interjection that is used similarly to "Hum","Oh", or "Well".
"So don’t your kitchen feel lonesome/When your biscuit roller gone" = don't you [your "body"] feel lonely when your lover is gone.
****
Thanks to Vera Hall for her musical legacy. Thanks also to the publisher of this sound file on YouTube, and thanks to those who I quoted in this post.
Thank you for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
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