Hello everyone, I'm working hard trying to transcribe track number 8 of the CD Angola Prisoners' Blues, titled 'Angola Bound', sung by 'A Cappella Group' - name of performers unknown. The entire CD can be easily found online on Youtube (track 8 starts around 29:18) or, for a better quality, on Spotify. The Spotify version has a very clean sound, but the more I struggle to catch some crucial words, the less I understand them. Here's where I got so far. I added verse numbers every 5 to help you refer to a certain line, the sign [..] where I'm clearly missing something, and words in (round parentheses) where I'm not so sure if I got it right. ANGOLA BOUND Oh so many mornings I got to wake up soon Oh I got to eat my breakfast by the light of the moon Oh by the light of the moon Oh so many morning by the ding dong ding 5 Oh I go to the mass hall buddy I get the same old thing Oh well the same old thing Lord the sun is shining well the clouds’ gone gray Boss Charlie hollering coming 'bout my way Oh coming 'bout my way 10 Oh captain captain do not call my name Woh I got a brother down in Georgia with a ball and chain With a ball and chain Oh Lord I’ll [be] coming when the plow get [..] So many years laying water [..] just rolling hard 15 Oh just rolling hard Give my woman so many [..] dollars she broke an apron string Christmas and for [..] she never send me a doggone thing Oh not a doggone thing People on the levee building mountains hollering gee woh gee 20 All this drivers down on this [..] trying to kill poor me Oh trying to kill poor me Marley and Sally lay sitting in the shade Wondering how many days I’ve made Oh how many days I’ve made 25 Oh the jurors must have found me guilty while you wrote it down Soon in the morning you’re Angola bound Oh Angola bound Go alhead mother don’t worry over me Pray to the good Lord mother that your son goes free 30 Oh that your son go free Oh [..] trouble day when they gave me my time Oh well I come to the [..] and I hit that big long line Oh hit that big long line Oh oh well (Boe?) left Memphis with a hundred men 35 Oh when she got to Angola she didn’t have but ten Well she didn’t have but ten Go alhead young man don’t follow me You got a year son and I got H.B.C. Oh I got H.B.C. // (could they answer A.B.C. instead? Angola Bound Convict?) 40 Oh I’m trying to [get] pardon, boy, last summer, was a governor deal Oh he denied one of the good lil’ kid[s] One of the good lil’ kid[s] [Sun going down, let’s pick em up, let’s go.] Thank you very much for any insight you could share on the missing words, or corrections that you may suggest. Also, anybody has any idea about what H.B.C. or A.B.C. could stand for in this context? As an italian, most american acronyms mean literally nothing to me, and as you can imagine, searching HBC online does not help at all. Thank you again, Lorenzo V
"Angola Bound," from the Arhoolie CD titled Angola Prisoner's Blues: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYRndZTb6Lo
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