Lyr Req: Police Dog Blues -and- Statesboro Blues

Subject: lyric req: police dog /statesboro blues
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 14 Aug 04 - 04:07 PM

I know you guys will have these and that I SHOULD have these lyrics, and I probably have had these lyrics half a dozen times, but I want them now and I can't seem to lay my hands on them.

lyrics to Statesboro Blues - the Willy McTell /Taj Mahal song
lyrics to - Police Dog Blues - the Blind Blake song

Your patience with a complete idiot and your prayers to St Anthony for lost lyric sheets and other lost objects - much appreciated.

love

al

Subject: RE: lyric req: police dog /statesboro blues
From: Roberto
Date: 14 Aug 04 - 04:41 PM

Just for an emergency (I've had no time to check if the texts are all right, but they seem so). R


Blind Willie McTell – Statesboro Blues (1928)

Wake up mama, turn your lamp down low
Wake up mama, turn your lamp down low
Have you got the nerve to drive papa McTell from your door

My mother died and left me reckless, my daddy died and left me wild, wild, wild
Mother died and left me reckless, daddy died and left me wild, wild, wild
No, I'm not good lookin', I'm some sweet woman's angel child

You're a mighty mean woman, to do me this a-way
You're a mighty mean woman, to do me this a-way
Going to leave this town, pretty mama, going away to stay

I once loved a woman, better than I ever seen
I once loved a woman, better than I ever seen
Treat me like I was a king and she was a doggone queen

Sister, tell your Brother, Brother tell your Auntie, Auntie, tell your Uncle
Uncle tell my Cousin, Cousin tell my friend
Goin' up the country, Mama, don't you want to go?
May take me a fair brown, may take me one or two more

Big Eighty left Savannah, Lord, and did not stop
You ought to saw that colored fireman when he got that boiler hot
Reach over in the corner, hand me my travelin' shoes
You know by that, I got them Statesboro blues

Sister got 'em, daddy got 'em
Brother got 'em, mama got 'em
Woke up this morning, we had them Statesboro blues
I looked over in the corner,
Grandpa and grandma had 'em too



Police Dog Blues – Blind Blake (1929)

All my life I've been a travellin' man
All my life I've been a travellin' man
Staying alone and doing the best I can

I shipped my trunks down to Tennessee
I shipped my trunks down to Tennessee
Hard to tell about a man like me

I met a little gal couldn't get her off my mind
I met a little gal couldn't get her off my mind
She passed me up said she didn't like my kind

I'm scared to bother round her house at night
I'm scared to bother round her house at night
Got a police dog that's cravin' for a fight

His name is Ramblin', when he gets the chance
His name is Ramblin', when he gets the chance
He leaves his mark on everybody's pants

Guess I'll travel, guess I'll let her be
Guess I'll travel, guess I'll let her be
Before she sics her police dog on me

Subject: RE: lyric req: police dog /statesboro blues
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 14 Aug 04 - 06:29 PM

god bless and keep you Roberto - you are a paragon amongst mudcatters!

Subject: RE: lyric req: police dog /statesboro blues
From: Roberto
Date: 15 Aug 04 - 02:26 AM

I little better than the first-aid Statesboro Blues I've posted before, but it would need a complete check. I've seen that there are many transcriptions online that claim to be Blind Willie McTell's Statesboro Blues, but the words are often quite different from what he actually sang.

Blind Willie McTell – Statesboro Blues (1928)

Wake up mama, turn your lamp down low
Wake up mama, turn your lamp down low
Have you got the nerve to drive papa McTell from your door

My mother died and left me reckless, my daddy died and left me wild, wild, wild
Mother died and left me reckless, daddy died and left me wild, wild, wild
No, I'm not good lookin', but I'm some sweet woman's angel child

She's a mighty mean woman, do me this a-way
She's a mighty mean woman, do me this a-way
When I leave this time, pretty mama, I'm goin' away to stay

Once loved a woman, better than, I ever seen
I once loved a woman, better than, I ever seen
Treated me like I was a king and she was a doggone queen

Sister, tell your Brother, Brother tell your Auntie
Now Auntie, tell your Uncle, Uncle tell my Cousin,
Cousin tell my friend
Goin' up the country, Mama, don't you want to go?
May take me a fair brown, may take me one or two more

Big Eighty left Savannah, Lord, and did not stop
You ought to saw that colored fireman when he got that boiler hot
You can reach over in the corner, mama, and hand me my travelin' shoes
You know by that, I got them Statesboro blues

Mama, Sister got 'em, auntie got 'em
Brother got 'em, friend got 'em, I got 'em
Woke up this morning, we had them Statesboro blues
I looked over in the corner,
Grandpa and grandma had 'em too

Subject: RE: lyric req: police dog /statesboro blues
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 15 Aug 04 - 03:00 AM

Brilliant, do you sing these songs?
Thank you so much. this year i finally got my shit together and started playing slide and the thing I seem to have arrived at, I think would fit the Statesboro Blues. I am trying to put together an acoustic guitar act and the Police Dog is one I learned off the Stefan Grossmans How to Play Blues Guitar record over 30 years ago. i think they would both be interesting features.

Preditable perhaps for the old farts like myself, but a lot of young kids haven't heard this stuff.

Anyway that what I hope. thanks for your help

alan

Subject: RE: lyric req: police dog /statesboro blues
From: Roberto
Date: 15 Aug 04 - 03:12 AM

I can't play decently, I'm a listener. If you want tablature for Blind Willie McTell's Statesboro Blues, you can PM your e-mail and I'll send them to you. R

Subject: RE: lyric req: police dog /statesboro blues
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 15 Aug 04 - 03:42 AM

No its okay. I appreciate your offer though. I have a cd of blind willy but I haven't got it out in a long time. pm me your address and I'll send you a cd of my version when it exists it might be a while - or I could send you a cd of my stuff anyway. a small token of thanks.

all the best
alan

Subject: RE: lyric req: police dog /statesboro blues
From: BuckMulligan
Date: 15 Aug 04 - 11:28 PM

For what it's worth, the best contemporary version of Statesboro Blues I've heard is Chris Smither. As is usual with him, he stays true to the guts of the song while adding his own stuff. I believe it's on "Another Way To Find You" (live concert album), at least.

Subject: RE: lyric req: police dog /statesboro blues
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 16 Aug 04 - 06:59 PM

Chris Smither's version of Statesboro Blues is indeed a killer.

However, I have never heard a satisfactory version of "Police Dog Blues" other than the original by Blind Blake

Subject: RE: lyric req: police dog /statesboro blues
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 17 Aug 04 - 04:42 PM

I shouldn't count on me for satisfaction that being the case

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Police Dog Blues' and 'Statesboro Blues'
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 20 Aug 04 - 09:47 AM

POLICE DOG BLUES was posted in November 1997.

STATESBORO BLUES was been posted in July 1997 and again in November 2002.

Please learn to find songs in old threads and post links to them instead of posting additional copies—unless, of course, you have a version that is different from the previous ones in some significant and valuable way—and if that is the case, please point out the difference.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Police Dog Blues' and 'Statesboro Blues'
From: PoppaGator
Date: 21 Aug 04 - 02:12 AM

Ah, Jim, sometimes a little disorder is a good thing. I'm glad weelittledrummer started this thread rather than consulting the DT, because otherwise I would never had gotten scanned copies of good Oak Publicatins tablature from Roberto!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Police Dog Blues' and 'Statesboro Blues'
From: Terry Allan Hall
Date: 21 Aug 04 - 03:57 PM

Murray, Roy Bookbinder does a great version of "Police Dog Blues"...sorry, don't recall which album, though.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Police Dog Blues' and 'Statesboro Blues'
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 22 Aug 04 - 12:35 AM

PoppaGator: I wasn't addressing my remarks to people who ask questions. (There will always be requests from people who don't know how to search, or whose search got fouled up because of a misspelling or some such error.) I was addressing people who answer them by posting lyrics.

Anyway, you could have gotten your scanned tablature from Roberto just as easily if Roberto had only posted a link instead of the complete lyrics.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Police Dog Blues' and 'Statesboro Blues'
From: Roberto
Date: 22 Aug 04 - 03:19 AM

Jim Dixon, I don't understand why you seem to think that one should search the Mudcat database before answering to a request and not before asking. When I want to know something, I try to see if the question has already been dealt and search the Mudcat (and of course, sometimes I make mistakes and don't find what I'm looking for even if it is already available), but you can't expect I do the same work before answering to questions.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Police Dog Blues' and 'Statesboro Blues'
From: PoppaGator
Date: 23 Aug 04 - 01:45 AM

I've seen questions answered in five minutes or less - which is wonderful. I doubt that the good people who came through with those instant reponses took the time to do any research as to where else the answer may or may not be found. They knew the answer and immediately gave it up.

However, I do understand the distinction you're making, Jim, and if you take the time to make your responses as simple as possible, supplying links to the DT or whatever rather than fully-written-out lyrics, more power to you. You're probably doing the job more thoroughly than those other volunteers who move so quickly. Both types of responses work fine, insofar as they both provide the desired answers.

Subject: Posting Lyrics
From: Joe Offer
Date: 25 Aug 04 - 05:56 PM

Well, the original purpose of the Forum is to provide lyrics for the Digital Tradition. That being the case, it is very important to include the source of the lyrics with your post when you post lyrics. If you post lyrics from another source and it turns out we already have that version in the Forum or the Digital Tradition, that's one thing. It's nice if you can check to see if we have them already, but it's not the end of the world if you don't.
If you copy/paste lyrics from another thread or from the Digital Tradition or Yet Another Digital Tradition, that's useless redundancy - and it's really nasty if you copy them and don't attribute your source.
I think it's more important for people to search for lyrics here before they request them. It's also helpful if you ordinarily request only one song per thread, unless the songs are interrelated. I don't know whether to group this thread with other threads on "Statesboro Blues," or if it should be separate because of the second song. We have people who review all lyrics posted and process them for possible inclusion in the Digital Tradition. It's a real drag to spend time processing lyrics, only to find they came straight from the DT. You'll find DT lyrics all over the Internet - you can recognize them by the distinctive notation at the end of the lyrics, listing source, categories, filenames, and whatnot.
So, please identify sources when you post lyrics. If you transcribed by ear from such-and-such a recording, tell us. If you got it from the CD booklet or from a songbook or sheet music or whatnot, let us know.
Jim Dixon and I have spent a lot of time helping Dick and Susan harvest lyrics over the last couple years. If you can help us out, if would be appreciated.
Thanks.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Police Dog Blues' and 'Statesboro Blues'
From: PoppaGator
Date: 25 Aug 04 - 06:17 PM

Thanks for the explanation, Joe. I'm sure you have repeated this over and over; your patience is admirable.