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Subject: do I have to hesitate.. From: Rob-IL Date: 04 May 00 - 10:30 AM I am looking for the name, chords etc... of this song with the chorus: Baby how long do I have to wait, Can I get you now, Or must I hesitate any help would be greatly appreciated.. thanks Rob |
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: do I have to hesitate.. From: GUEST,Steve Latimer Date: 04 May 00 - 10:37 AM The song is Hesitation Blues, It's a Reverend Gary Davis song, I think I alos heard that Dave Van Ronk did it. I can't help you with the lyrics or chords, hopefully this helps your search though. |
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Subject: Lyr Add: HESITATION BLUES From: GMT Date: 04 May 00 - 10:50 AM Hesitation Blues ?
A nickel is a nickel and a dime is a dime
Well, the eagle on the dollar says "in God we trust"
Rob-IL, I have a tab version of this (with chords) as a word .doc. Send me a private message with your email addy and I'll send it to you as an attachment. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: do I have to hesitate.. From: Rob-IL Date: 04 May 00 - 11:01 AM Thanks.. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: do I have to hesitate.. From: Amos Date: 04 May 00 - 11:25 AM The Holy Modal Rounders did it as well. Hilarious jugband version. Or was it the Fugs? |
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: do I have to hesitate.. From: marshman Date: 04 May 00 - 12:23 PM My favorite version is by Jessie Colin Young, from the "Song for Julie" album. He calls it "Miss Hesitation" and has some fun with the lyrics. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: do I have to hesitate.. From: Easy Rider Date: 04 May 00 - 01:05 PM I think Dave Van Ronk sings: "A nickel is a nickel a dime is a dime. Got a house full of children, not one of them mine. Tell me how long do I have to wait? Well can I get you now, or must I hesitate? Well, the eagle on the dollar says "in God we trust" Woman says she loves you, wants to see a dollar first. Tell me ... (Chorus)" Does anybody have TAB for this great song? Either the RGD or DVR version will do. ( [=O=)===={:::} |
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Subject: Lyr Add: HESITATION BLUES (Reverend Gary Davis) From: GUEST,Steve Latimer Date: 04 May 00 - 01:16 PM The Reverend Gary version that I have has as much innuendo as any song I've ever heard. It's 11 minutes long, so I don't remember all of the verses, but some are:
I ain't no wine presser, no wine pressers son,
I ain't no chauffeur, no chauffer' son,
I ain't no backbreaker, no backbrekers son, Ah, all this from a man of the cloth. Another great innuendo song is Mississippi John Hurt's Candy Man |
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Subject: Lyr Add: HESITATION BLUES (Roy Book Binder) From: GUEST,DWDitty Date: 04 May 00 - 04:04 PM More: I ain't no baker, ain't no baker man's son, but I'll keep your biscuits warm til you baker man comes. I ain't no doctor, ain't no doctor's son, but I'll be on you case til your doctor man comes. or (My Dad was an architect) I ain't no architect, but I'm an architect's son. Got a design on you baby that'll make Frank Lloyd Wright run. I got hesitation shoes and hesitation stockings, I got a hesitation mama does my hesitation rocking. and on and on and on... I learned this song off a Roy Book Binder video (Homespuntapes.com). Roy started taking lessons from the Reverend in the 60's and then became his driver. A lot of the story is on his CD "Don't start me talkin'" DW |
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: do I have to hesitate.. From: Melbert Date: 04 May 00 - 04:43 PM Ralph McTell's also recorded this.... it's on a number of his albums |
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: do I have to hesitate.. From: GUEST,art Date: 04 May 00 - 07:03 PM can recomend Bo carter or search hokum blues |
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: do I have to hesitate.. From: ddw Date: 04 May 00 - 11:55 PM Hot Tuna (Jorma Kokounan — SP?) also did a version of this with some great guitar work. Chords are fairly simple — Am, E, Am, E, Am, C7, F, C, G, C, C7, C and repeat for each verse. Sorry, I don't know how to do Tab on this thing. The only tricky part is going from the third Am to the C7. It requires a run up the first string (E, F, F#, G), then C# and B on the B string (2nd) and an A# on the G string as you fall into the C7 position. Has to be done in one fluid motion for it to sound right. Haven't quite mastered it myself, but it's coming along. cheers, david |
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: do I have to hesitate.. From: GMT Date: 05 May 00 - 03:31 AM Easy Rider, I have a tabbed version (not done by me) in word format. Private message me your email and I'll send it as an attachment. Gary |
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: do I have to hesitate.. From: GUEST,Mrr Date: 05 May 00 - 01:01 PM Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers did a great version too, but don't trust me to get you the lyrics, I'm the one who thought they were singing Far Far when it was really Fire Fire... |
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: do I have to hesitate.. From: Stewie Date: 05 May 00 - 10:04 PM The Charlie Poole version went under the title 'If the river was whiskey'. Arkansas oldtime group Reaves White County Ramblers recorded a version under the 'Hesitation Blues' title with the delightful couplet:
I went down to the river to jump in an' drown --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: do I have to hesitate.. From: Rick Fielding Date: 06 May 00 - 01:01 AM "Ain't never bin to Heaven, but I bin told, Elvis taught the Angels how to do the rock and roll". My fav non-trad verse. Rick |
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: do I have to hesitate.. From: simon-pierre Date: 06 May 00 - 01:14 AM haha! Good one Rick! I'll always sing it... like all other verses here; so it will last about twenty minutes... the hesitating saga... SP |
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: do I have to hesitate.. From: Dale Rose Date: 06 May 00 - 02:09 AM Oh, but Charlie WAS singing FAR, FAR! How else would you say it?
It is amazing and encouraging to me that regional dialects are still surviving in this day of plain vanilla television and radio homogenization of language. Even here in North Central Arkansas, one cannot hear the language of the people on television, except in the home made commercials, but step out into the streets and schools, and the language is little changed from what it was before the outside influences began to encroach. What they are talking ABOUT may have changed, but the way they say the words and the localisms are still hanging on. Just this evening (last evening, now) I was discussing this very subject with a couple of high school(pronounce that hahh school)students. One of the students was, as the locals say, from off, meaning they spoke the language differently where they had lived before. That meant, of course, that some local expressions would not be immediately clear to them. I realize that I am getting off topic here, but I think that somewhere down the line we really ought to explore this subject more fully. Transcribing lyrics is made all the more difficult when a person from one area tries to figure out what someone from another area is saying. It may as well be a foreign language sometimes. (pronounce that one sometahms) I know that Stewie and I have talked about this very thing, while discussing lyrics of the Carter Family.
One last thing ~~ up in Illinois, where I lived before, a student would likely respond to a favor by a school secretary with a "Thanks, Donna." whereas here the phrase is almost invariably, "Thenk yeeouu, Miss Donna." regardless of whether Donna is married or not. (note that you is never pronounced as a single syllable, it's more like three or four ~~ trying to describe it is virtually impossible, but you'd know it if you heard it) |
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: do I have to hesitate.. From: GUEST,Steve Latimer Date: 06 May 00 - 05:15 PM Rick, Who did the Elvis verse? In the Rev. Gary version that I have he sings Never been to Heaven, but I been told St. Peter taught the angels how to Jelly Roll |
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Hesitation Blues From: Rusty Dobro Date: 17 Apr 11 - 08:01 AM Doc Cox sings (carefully): I'm not a pheasant plucker, I'm a pheasant plucker's son, And I'm only plucking pheasants till the pheasant plucker comes. |
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Subject: Lyr Add: HESITATION BLUES (Cas Wallin) From: GUEST,Mike Yates Date: 17 Apr 11 - 08:47 AM The late Cas Wallin of Madison County, NC, gave me the following verses. He was somewhat reluctant to sing them to me at first, possibly because of the "Shuck my corn" verse, one that I have never come across elsewhere. HESITATION BLUES I went down to the river Had a notion to drown, Spied a red-headed woman And I couldn't go down. CHORUS: Tell me how long? Can I get you now? Must I hesitate? Will I have to wait? It's rocks in the mountain And the fish in the sea. Well, woman if you love me Throw your arms around me. There ain't one thing That I cain't understand, Why a bow-legged woman Likes a pigeon-toed man. Well, I was born in Cincinnati, In a rattlesnake's den. My daily occupation, Taking women away from men. Well, if you don't believe I will shuck your corn, Slip to my house When my man's gone. Now there's another thing That I cain't understand, Why the world's full of women And none of them mine. |
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Subject: Lyr Add: HESITATION BLUES (Mitch Greenwood) From: Joe_F Date: 17 Apr 11 - 06:03 PM The Coffee House Songbook (collected by Jay Edwards, Oak Publ., 1966; OOP, like many good things) has the following, attributed to one Mitch Greenman (the dashes are in the book): HESITATION BLUES Well, standing on the corner with a dollar in my hand, Lookin' for a woman who's looking for a man, Tell me how long, do I have to wait, Can I get you now, or must I hesitate? Well, the eagle on the dollar say, "In God we trust," Woman wants a man, she wants to see a dollar first, Tell me... Well, pussy ain't nothin' but meat on the bone, You can ---- it you can ---- it you can leave it alone, Tell me... Well, you hesitate by one, and you hesitate by two, Angels up in heaven singing hesitatin' blues, Tell me... |
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Subject: Origins: Hesitation Blues From: Joe Offer Date: 19 Oct 14 - 04:13 AM Looks like there's a whole lot more to learn about this song, although I don't know that we'll beat the lyrics Mike Yates posted above from Cas Wallin. For a start, here's the entry from the Traditional Ballad Index: Hesitation BluesDESCRIPTION: "Well, standing on the corner with a dollar in my hand, Lookin' for a woman who's lookin' for a man, Tell me, how long do I have to wait...?" The women want to see the money before they become friendly. The singer grumbles about sexAUTHOR: unknown EARLIEST DATE: 1923 (recording, Esther Bigeou) KEYWORDS: sex whore money FOUND IN: US(SE) REFERENCES (3 citations): BrownIII 507, "I Got de Hezotation Stockings and de Hezotation Shoes" (1 short text, with a verse and chorus from "Hesitation Blues" and a verse from "Wanderin'") Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 276-277, (no title) (1 text, beginning "Ships in de ocean, rocks in de sea, Blond-headed woman Mak a fool out of me" but with chorus "Tell me how long I'll have to wait! Oh, tell me, honey, don't hesitate!") Silber-FSWB, p. 75, "Hesitation Blues" (1 text) Roud #11765 RECORDINGS: Allen Brothers, "Can I Get You Now" (Vocalion 02890, 1935) Jesse Ashlock w. Bill Boyd & his Cowboy Ramblers, "Must I Hesitate?" (Bluebird B-6351, 1936) Esther Bigeou, "Hesitating Blues" (OKeh 8065, 1923) Milton Brown & his Musical Brownies, "The Hesitation Blues" (Decca 5266, 1936) (Columbia 15240-D, 1928; Velvet Tone 2496-V/Clarion 5436-C [both as Clayton & Parker], 1932; rec. 1927; on KMM) Sam Collins, "Hesitation Blues" (Gennett 6379, 1927; Champion 15472, 1928; Bell 1173/Supertone 350/Silvertone 5181?, all n.d.; rec. 1927) Walter "Buddy Boy" Hawkins, "Voice Throwing Blues" (Paramount 12802, 1929; on TimesAint01) Jim Jackson, "Hesitation Blues (Oh! Baby, Must I Hesitate?)" (Vocalion 1477, 1930) Sara Martin (& Eva Taylor), "Hesitation Blues" (OKeh 8082, 1923) Wingy Manone & his orchestra, "Hesitation Blues (Oh! Baby Must I Hesitate)" (Bluebird B-6394, 1936) Reaves White County Ramblers, "Hesitation Blues" (Vocalion 5217, 1928) Arthur Smith Trio, "Hesitating Blues" (Bluebird B-8101, 1939) cf. Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, "If the River Was Whiskey" (with verses from this song and "Rye Whiskey"; Columbia 15545-D, 1930; on CPoole02) NOTES: W. C. Handy produced a song, "The Hesitating Blues" (copyright 1915; see Handy/Silverman-Blues, pp. 100-103) which uses this key line, but it is much more elaborate and with a different plot; I suspect they are separate songs, with one inspiring the other. Though the Brown text shows how mutable such blues can be. - RBW The Esther Bigeou recording gives the writing credit to Handy; the Sara Martin (note the different title) attributes the song to Billy Smythe & Scott Middletonn. Is it the same song? Are they variants? We need to hear the actual records to sort all this out. - PJS Last updated in version 3.6 File: FSWB075 Go to the Ballad Search form Go to the Ballad Index Instructions The Ballad Index Copyright 2016 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Hesitation Blues From: Big Al Whittle Date: 19 Oct 14 - 05:46 AM a version of this song is sung in the Jimmy Cagney 1930 film Public Enemy. a saloon singer called Putty Nose sings it. he was the man who corrupted Cagney. during his final rendition of the song, Cagney shhots him. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Hesitation Blues From: Will Fly Date: 19 Oct 14 - 06:14 AM From the Library of Congress's "National Jukebox" database: Recording Title: Hesitation blues Musical group: Victor Military Band Composer: Billy Smythe Conductor: Edward T. King Genre(s): Ragtime, jazz, and more, Blues Category: Instrumental Description: Band Label Name/Number: Victor 18163 Matrix Number/Take Number: B-18339/3 Recording Date: 1916-09-15 Place of Recording: Camden, New Jersey Size: 10" Duration: 03:02 Notes: Victor ledgers note: 15 extra men. I've played the recording and the main theme is very clearly the original of the "Hesitation Blues" song. It seems to me that this composition is the original tune and, like others before it, it's passed into blues folklore. The Victor Military Band was composed of black musicians, which may or may not have been a factor in the tune being adopted by the early blues men. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Hesitation Blues From: Will Fly Date: 19 Oct 14 - 06:17 AM A footnote. It's possible, I suppose, that composer Billy Smythe took his theme from an even earlier folk or blues tunes... |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Hesitation Blues From: Lighter Date: 19 Oct 14 - 10:29 AM Parodies existed in the U.S. army in 1917-19. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Hesitation Blues From: Will Fly Date: 19 Oct 14 - 10:38 AM Parodies existed in the U.S. army in 1917-19. That would tie in with the date of the release of the Victor recording. Interestingly, this recording has been included in a recent CD of 100 songs popular during the 1914-1918 war. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Hesitation Blues From: Betsy Date: 19 Oct 14 - 08:20 PM Couple of oldtime buskers in Amsterdam used to sing ...... I've never been so scared in all of my life since ******* nearly caught me ......his wife |
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Subject: ADD Version: Hesitation Blues (Van Ronk) From: Joe Offer Date: 19 Oct 14 - 10:05 PM Here's the full Dave Van Ronk version, which is the recording I first heard this song on. HESITATION BLUES Lord, I'm standing on the corner with a dollar in my hand, I'm Lookin' for a woman who's looking for a man, Tell me how long, do I have to wait, Can I get you now, or must I hesitate? Well, the eagle on the dollar says, "In God we trust," Woman says she wants a man, but wants to see a dollar first, Tell me… Ain't never been to heaven, but I've been told St. Peter taught the angels how to jelly roll, Tell me.... Well, a nickel is a nickel & a dime is a dime, I got a house full of children, not one of them mine, Tell me.... Lord, I'm standing on the corner with a dollar in my hand, I'm Lookin' for a woman who's looking for a man, Tell me... |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Hesitation Blues From: GUEST,Rahere Date: 20 Oct 14 - 09:09 AM Rusty Dobro Date: 17 Apr 11 - 08:01 AM Let's get that one right I'm not a pheasant plucker, I'm a pheasant plucker's mate And I'm only plucking pheasants 'Cos the pheasant plucker's late... The mouth shape makes that one tougher to get right. No prizes for why. As supplied by my cousin who was a game factor in Arlesford/Romsey...we have pleasant phuckers in the family... |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Hesitation Blues From: Mark-o Date: 20 Oct 14 - 04:51 PM There's a bit more to this song than meets the eye, or ear. Here's what the ever-evolving Wikipedia has to say: "Hesitation Blues" is a popular song adapted from a traditional tune. One version was published by Billy Smythe, Scott Middleton, and Art Gillham. Another was published by W.C. Handy as "Hesitating Blues". Because the tune is traditional, many artists have taken credit as writer, frequently adapting the lyrics of one of the two published versions." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hesitation_Blues And there is a terrific post over at Weenie Campbell with lyrics, sample sheet music and links to recordings: http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=10228.0 Lastly, Jesse Fuller sings an interesting version on the video from his final concert in 1971: https://diva.sfsu.edu/collections/sfbatv/bundles/191357 Onward! |
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Subject: Lyr Add: CURLY HEADED WOMAN (Burnett & Rutherford) From: Jim Dixon Date: 10 Nov 15 - 03:07 PM CURLY HEADED WOMAN As recorded by [Richard] Burnett & [Leonard] Rutherford, 1927. 1. Raise up high your window and open wide your door. I've got another feller; I don't want you no more. CHORUS: Tell me how long will I have to wait? Can I get you now, [or] must I hesitate? 2. There are rocks in the mountains; there are fish in the sea. That curly-headed woman made a fool out o' me. 3. Hesitatin' stockin's and a-hesitatin' shoes, I'm a-lookin' for the woman got the hesitatin' blues. 4. They put me in the jail with my face towards the wall. That curly-headed woman was the cause of it all. 5. Borned in Virginny in a rattlesnake den, My daily occupation: takin' women 'way from men. 6. I would rather be in Cuby a-settin' on a log Than to be over in France and be treated like a dog. Also recorded by The Red State Ramblers on "Commonwealth" (2008) and The Little Brothers on "Walked All the Way Back Home" (2010). |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Hesitation Blues From: GUEST,Joseph Scott Date: 15 Dec 15 - 01:02 PM Handy told Abbe Niles that his version -- as was so common with Handy -- was based on a number he'd heard someone else do. The same was likely the case with Smythe's version. Lynn Abbott and Doug Seroff have pointed out that the "How Long Must I Wait" that George and Nana Coleman were performing in 1913 may have been a version of the same song. The structure of the lyrics, with all those syllables crammed into the first line, is apparently more consistent with blues generally as of about 1913 than blues generally as of about 1910. And also apparently more consistent with pro blues than with folk blues (suggesting that perhaps the Colemans' claim that they wrote "How Long Must I Wait," whatever it was exactly, was true). |
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Subject: Ashes to ashes and dust to dust... From: GUEST,Joseph Scott Date: 14 Jul 16 - 12:19 AM Art Gillham was a friend of Billy Smythe (William Peter Schmitt) and J. Scott Middleton's who helped them make up the lyrics for the "Hesitation Blues" that Smythe and Middleton published under their own names in 1915. The three friends were passing time in a train at the time, that day in about 1914. (They were using as a starting point a song that was going around that W.C. Handy, he admitted, also had heard somewhere, and also published his own, somewhat different version of in 1915.) Gillham's role was eventually officially acknowledged with his name added to the credits by about 1925. Interestingly, Gillham told a friend of his, George Blau, that the following lyrics were not from folk tradition, Art made them up himself that day: "If the river was whiskey and I was a duck, I'd swim to the bottom and never come up" "Ashes to ashes and dust to dust, show me a woman/man a man/woman can trust"
-Joe Offer, Mudcat Music Editor- |
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Subject: Lyr Add: HESITATION BLUES (Rev. Gary Davis) From: Jim Dixon Date: 19 May 17 - 06:54 PM There is a lot of patter in this 11.4-minute recording which I have omitted. Also, Davis varies the chorus a lot, mainly by omitting some sung words and inserting spoken patter. Davis made other recordings, HESITATION BLUES As recorded by Rev. Gary Davis on "Blues & Ragtime" (Shanachie, 2005) You know, I woke up this mornin' just about a half-past four. Hesitatin' blues was knockin' on my door. CHORUS: Tell me how long do I have to wait? Can I get you now, honey? Do I have to hesitate? Ain't no use in me workin' so hard. I got me two good women workin' in the rich folks' yard. I ain't your good man, neither your good man's son, But I can get in the place o' your good man till your good man come. Well, I ain't no miller, ain't no miller's son, But I can grind a little corn for you till the miller come. Well, I ain't no wine-presser, neither no wine-presser's son, But I can press out a little juice for you till the wine-presser come. I ain't no grocer-man, you know, grocer-man's son, But I can buy you a little grocery till the grocery-man come. Well, I ain't to cradle-rocker; neither no cradle-rocker's son, But I can do a little rockin' for you till your cradle man comes. Well, I ain't no doctor, ain't no doctor's son, But I can cure a few cases.... Eagle on the dollar say: "In God We Trust." Woman swear she wants a man but I 'clare she wants a dollar first. I ain't no bookeeper, neither no bookkeeper's son, But I can keep the … books for you till the bookkeeper comes. Well, I ain't no milkman, neither no milkman's son, But I can keep you supplied till your milkman comes. Well, he said, I ain't no chauffeur, neither no chauffeur's son, But I can do a little drivin' till your chauffeur comes. Well, I ain't no back-breaker, you know, back-breaker's son, But I can stretch out my back for you till your back-breaker comes. Said, I ain't got no woman and I ain't got no kids. I ain't got nobody's daughter to be bothered with. Well, I ain't no rent-payer, neither no rent-payer's son. I can scrape a few rents for you till your payer comes. Well, I ain't been to heaven, but I've been told, They said Saint Peter learnt the angels how to do the jelly roll. Me an' my buddy and two-three mo', We get good women anywhere we go. Well, I hitched up the mule and the mule wouldn't pull. Took the harness off the mule and put the harness on the bull. Blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice. I'd be a fool if I quit the woman I got 'cause it ain't no use. Well, I got a hesitatin' stockin', hesitatin' shoes. I got a hestitatin' woman singin' me the hesitatin' blues. If my good gal quit me, I ain't gonna wear no black. I always got somthin' to make her come a-runnin' back. Men in the country hollerin' "Wha-haw-gee!"(?) Women in the city flyin' aroun' askin' the question: "Who wants me?" Ashes to ashes and dust to dust. Just show me a woman that a man can trust. You know, my mama tol' me when I was just six years ol': "You gonna be a good woman-getter, son, God bless your soul." |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Hesitation Blues From: Stanron Date: 19 May 17 - 07:40 PM Then there's this one Medication Blues Doctor told me, hope it's a lie You'll never get better till the day you die. CHORUS Tell me how long do I have to wait? Should I rattle them pills (Am I all right now) or should I medicate? I pop two in the morning, Three at night, Another calms me down in case I don't get it right, A capsule is a capsule, a pill is a pill If complacency don't get me then anxiety will I don't like the red ones, I don't like the blue (Double take at the audience) I'm not so sure I like the look of you I'm standing on the corner, I'm just not sure, Am I looking for a lover, a dealer or a cure? Friends come round, so they say Just wanna get high on my Nitro spray The Altzeimer verse (apologies for any offense) Standing in the kitchen (Parlour, Rest room, Diner, stair well, bar room, etc) looking at the floor, Just can't remember what I came here for. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Hesitation Blues From: GUEST Date: 20 May 17 - 12:14 PM I've been doing a pre-1923 arrangement of Handy's "Hesitating Blues" (published 1915) for a public domain/original material only gig. The band recorded in 1918 included King Oliver and a young Louis Armstrong. (Might be one of Kid Ory's bands; I need to do better at documentation.) Am finding I actually like the old approach better than the Rev Gary Davis & Hot Tuna versions I learned on guitar in my teens. The dynamic & the structure are very similar except the pivotal chords at the beginning of each verse are Cdim to C insteada Am to E7; that classic riff that climbs up from the 3rd note of the scale (in this case E) and down to the 7 (Bb) is note-for-note exactly what Jorma played circa 1969-70. But in the 1918 version a few horns get together to pop that riff out front during each verse. For the lyrics I did a mix of verses drawn from Handy's* version and the Smythe/Middleton/Gillham version, also published in 1915. *Handy openly shared that he got the kernel of Hesitating Blues from an older traditional song. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Hesitation Blues From: GUEST,Joseph Scott Date: 28 Nov 17 - 04:54 PM Gillham placed an ad in the February 27, 1916 issue of the St. Louis _Post-Dispatch_ offering to singers a hundred verses of lyrics for "Hesitation Blues" he had thought up. He claimed to researcher George Blau (who talked with both W.C. Handy and him and is still alive) that he was the person who thought up "Ashes to ashes and dust to dust, show me a woman a man can trust" and "If the river was whiskey and I was a duck, I’d swim to the bottom and never come up," and judging from what we _don't_ find in e.g. Howard Odum 1911 or the 1915 article about Floyd Canada or Lasses White's 1912 song, etc., I think he may have been telling the truth. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Hesitation Blues From: GUEST,Joseph Scott Date: 01 Feb 18 - 06:31 AM This, printed in a 1920 North Dakota newspaper, is similar to part of "Curly Headed Woman": "I'm in the county jail--leanin' 'gainst the wall And an ice cream soda was the cause of it all Oh tell me how long...." |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Hesitation Blues From: Lighter Date: 01 Feb 18 - 08:43 AM A variant of the "ocean was whiskey" couplet appeared in a post-Civil War song in John Lomax's "Cowboy Songs" (1910). Maybe Gillham added it to "Hesitation Blues," but he didn't invent it. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Hesitation Blues From: GUEST Date: 01 Aug 18 - 03:20 PM See https://archive.org/details/ArtGillham2818 pages 9-15 for origins of Hesitation Blues. The Smythe-Middleton-Gillham version had over 50 verses. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Hesitation Blues From: cnd Date: 07 May 21 - 02:17 PM Has anyone ever listened to Hylo Brown's "Tell Me How Long"? It seems pretty clearly related to this song to me, though I will admit that many of the lines are floating verse. Despite that, the rhythm seems very reminiscent to me, especially the chorus and how he pauses for emphasis between "how long" and "have to wait." It could just be that it's a common blues beat and structure, but then again, it's pretty close to my ear. As sung by Hylo Bronw on Hylo Brown Sings The Blues, Rural Rhythm Records RRHB 200, 1968. (listen) TELL ME HOW LONG Well, ashes to ashes and dust to dust Show me a woman that a man can trust Tell me how long will I have to wait? Can I get you now or will I have you to take? I jumped in the river and I thought I would drown Seen my red-headed woman and I couldn't go down Tell me how long will I have to wait? Can I get you now or will I have you to take? [instrumental break] Well, rocks in the mountain and fishies in the sea A red-headed woman made a fool out of me Tell me how long will I have to wait? Can I get you now or will I have you to take? My red-headed woman, she's six feet tall Sleeps in the kitchen with her feet in the hall Tell me how long will I have to wait? Can I get you now or will I have you to take? |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Hesitation Blues From: GUEST,Joseph Scott Date: 07 May 21 - 06:05 PM The Hylo Brown song is quite in the mainstream of versions of "Hesitation Blues." E.g. compare “Ashes to ashes, and dust to dust If the booze don't get you—-well, the women must Will you tell me how long do I have to wait Do I get it now, or must I hesitate” in _The Stranger's Banquet_ by Donn Byrne, 1919 “Jumped in the river with intention to drown/Saw a red-headed woman and I couldn't go down” "Tom Watson Special" by Fiddlin' John Carson 1923 "Rocks in the mountain just as big as the sea, that Galax girl made a fool out of me” “Yodeling Blues” Buck Mt. Band "I got a woman, she's long and tall Sits in her kitchen with her feet in the hall” in “Hesitation Blues,” Dorothy Scarborough's 1923 article, sung “some years ago” by a black maid |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Hesitation Blues From: cnd Date: 10 May 21 - 03:13 PM Thanks for helping confirm my suspicions, Joseph. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Hesitation Blues From: and e Date: 17 Feb 25 - 03:14 PM Hesitation Blues From Ed Cray's unpublished The Erotic Muse, 3rd Ed. See here: https://archive.org/details/ed-cray-collection-aka-erotic-muses-iii/page/n95/mode/2up?q=hesitation |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Hesitation Blues From: Mark Ross Date: 17 Feb 25 - 05:30 PM I remember hearing Van Ronk sing, "Pussy ain't nothin' but meat on a bone, You can fuck it, you can suck it, You can leave it alone. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Hesitation Blues From: Pappy Fiddle Date: 18 Feb 25 - 09:12 PM The words about the Duck & the whiskey are in Sprout Wings and Fly / Drunkard's Hiccups Somebody recorded Tommy Jarrell performing it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDJPnG3RDxU Some of the many lyrics: If the ocean was whiskey, and I was a duck I'd dive to the bottom, oh Lord, and never come up. Now the ocean ain't whiskey, and I ain't no duck Just play these drunk hiccups, and trust to my luck. Corn whiskey and purty women they've been my downfall They beat me and a-bang me but I love them for all. My shoes is all tore up, my toes a-stickin out If I don't get some corn whiskey, I'm goin' up the spout. Gonna eat when I'm hungry, gonna drink when I'm dry, If I get to feeling much better, I'm a-gonna sprout wings and fly. Jack of diamonds, jack of diamonds, I've known you from old You've robbed my poor pockets of silver and gold. I've played cards in England, I've gambled in Spain Goin back to Carolina, gonna play my last game Gonna take down my fiddle, gonna rosin up the bow Gonna make myself welcome, wherever I go Gonna drink, gonna gamble, all my money is my own Them that don't like me, can leave me alone Gonna beat on the counter, gonna make the glass ring More brandy, more brandy, more brandy to bring. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Hesitation Blues From: GUEST Date: 23 Feb 25 - 11:15 AM I'd have to dig out my old Lead Belly records, but I think he did it like: Leadbelly Woke up this morning Half past four Hesitation blues Knocking on my door Tell me how long, Do I have to wait? Can I get you now or do I have to wait I ain’t your good man Nor your good man’s son But I can get in the place of your good man Till’ your good man comes Tell me how long, Do I have to wait? Can I get you now or must I hesitate Ain’t been to heaven but, I’ve been told Saint peter taught the angels how to Jelly roll Tell me how long, Do I have to wait? Can I get you now dear or must I hesitate Got hesitation stockings Hesitation shoes Lord knows i’ve got them, Hesitation blues Tell me how long, Do I have to wait? Can I get you now dear or must I hesitate Ashes to ashes Dust to dust Just show me a woman this man can trust Tell me how long, Do I have to wait? Can I get you now or do I have to hesitate |
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