The Folkways album from which one version of the song is from writes that this song comes from a theatrical piece by Roark Bradford and Jacques Wolfe titled John Henry from 1939, where Josh worked as a "leading role" as a character named "Nigger Named Sam" (though eventually changed to "Man Named Sam" at Josh's insistence). The first verse comes from that play, while the rest come from traditional material (source).

A derivative of this song (or possibly vice versa) is called "Whatcha Gonna Do When Your Licker Runs Out" which you can read some discussion on here, at Mudcat. They briefly mention Josh White's version in the thread.

The Folkways version disagrees slightly with the version printed on the liner notes of the original, so I'll put both here. First, the Folkways one:

Transcribed by ear from here.

Whatcha Gonna Do (Sometime)

Whatcha gonna do when ya meat gives out, my baby?
Whatcha gonna do when ya meat gives out, my honey?
When the meat gives out, gonna quit the street
Take my chair an' put a fan at my feet
Sometime

Whatcha gonna do when ya shoes give out, my baby?
Whatcha gonna do when ya shoes give out, my honey?
When my shoes get thin I'm gonna quit the street
Take my chair an' put a fan at my feet
Sometime

Whatcha gonna do when ya chair gives out, my baby?
Whatcha gonna do when ya chair gives out, my honey?
When I got no chair, no meat, no shoes
Lay 'cross the bed, head in the blues
Sometime

Slats in the bed go blamm-t'-blam in the mornin'
Slats in the bed go blamm-t'-blam in the evenin'
Slats in the bed go blamm-t'-blam
But I'll keep on sleeping like I don't give a damn
Sometime

Whatcha gonna do when ya man gives out, my baby?
Whatcha gonna do when ya man gives out, my honey?
First I'll grab my money, 'n' kick him off the place
Then I'll use the other man I had around just in case
For sometime




Now, the liner notes on the album you mentioned, "The Josh White Stories, Vol. 1" - from this eBay ad. The only real difference is instead of repeating the chair and fan line, he instead uses a line about a mouth in a roast the first time.

Whatcha Gonna Do?

What you gonna do when your meat gives out, my baby?
What you gonna do when your meat gives out, my honey?
What you gonna do when your meat gives out
Stand 'round the corner
Mouth in a roast
For sometimes

What you gonna do when your shoes give out, my baby?
What you gonna do when your shoes give out, my honey?
My shoes get thin, I'm gonna quit the street
Take my chair and put a fan at my feet
For sometimes

What you gonna do when your chair gives out, my baby?
What you gonna do when your chair gives out, my honey?
When I got no chair, no meat, no shoes
Gonna lay 'cross the bed, head in the blues
For sometime

Slats in the bed go blammety-blam in the mornin'
Slats in the bed go blammety-blam in the evenin'
Slats in the bed go blammety-blam, but I'll keep on sleeping
Like I don't give a damn
For sometimes

What you gonna do when your man gives out, my baby?
What you gonna do when your man gives out, my honey?
First I'll grab my money, kick him off the place
Then I'll use the other man I had around--just in case
For sometime