Lyr Add: I Got Mine (Pink Anderson)

Subject: Lyr Add: I GOT MINE (Pink Anderson)
From: ddw
Date: 17 Dec 02 - 09:50 PM

I Got Mine
By Pink Anderson

I went down to a big crap game, they say it was against my will.
I lost every doggone nickle I had but a greenback dollar bill
There was a forty-dollar bet laying on the floor and my buddy's point was nine
When the po-lice came they caught all of us, but —— I got mine
Yes, I got mine, lemme tell ya, I got mine
I grabbed that money, out the back door I went flyin'
Every since that big crap game I been livin' on chicken and wine
I'm a leader of high society, folks —— I got mine.

I went down to a turkey feed and that dinner was certainly fine
Fifteen minutes before the table was set all the jitterbugs fell in line
When them brought them gobblers in, how them Jodies' eyes did shine
Talk about a rascal a-grabbin' —— I got mine
Yes, I got mine, lemme tell ya, I got mine
I grabbed that turkey by the wing, out the window I went flyin'
I tried to make it to a hidin' place, but I didn't get there in time
A hungry rascal grabbed me by the coat, but —— I got mine

I know a barber shop, it's over in town. It's over on North Fourth Street
It's the onliest place on a Saturday night we gamblers care to meet
Some comes in for a haircut while others come for a scrap
When you seem me and my buddy up there we mean to shoot some crap
Hollerin' seven, eleven, won't you come, come come?
If you don't seven-eleven, dice, I'm done, done, done
If I see the po-lice 'fore he sees me I'm gonna run, run, run
But I'm a leader of high society, folks —— I got mine
Yes, I got mine — what was it? — I got mine
I got it offa all them sports who'd been playin' all the time
Some of the boys got eighteen months and some of the boys got nine
When they brought them stripes in the next mornin' —— I got mine

I went to my best gal's house last night, the hour was just about nine
I wasn't dressed up like Henry Ford, but I's feelin' just as fine
I caught her sittin' in another rascal's lap, I didn't like that sign
I told that Jodie what I thought about him and —— I got mine
Yes, I got mine, lemme tell you, I got mine
I grabbed my hat and out the back door I went flyin'
That Jodie grabbed a shotgun and he used it mighty fine
Talk about a rascal a-runnin', men —— I got mine

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: I Got Mine
From: GutBucketeer
Date: 18 Dec 02 - 07:37 AM

Fun Song DDW. Do you purchance have the chords?

JAB

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: I Got Mine
From: Stewie
Date: 18 Dec 02 - 06:58 PM

The original 'I Got Mine' was a 'coon song' from 1901. It was written by a white writer from New Orleans, a travelling show entertainer by the name of John Queen, and the music was by Charles Cartwell. Ironically, 'coon songs' were sung by both whites and blacks, and blacks even chose to record them for the Race market. This one became a great favourite among blacks. Before 1910, Howard Odum described 'a version of a once popular song "I Got Mine" [which] has been adapted by the Negro and is sung with hilarity'. It must have entered the tradition fairly quickly - Newman White published several examples: collected in Choctaw Co, Alabama, from 'a Negro guitar picker'; in Campbell Co, Georgia, 'as sung by an old Negro cook (male)'; in northern Alabama as 'sung on a road working camp' between 1915 and 1916; and in Durham, NC, in 1919 from 'a Negro minstrel show'. The first black recorded version was in October 1926 by 'Big Boy' George Owens under the title 'The Coon Crap Game' (Gennett 6006).

Newman wrote in 1928 that it was 'a popular vaudeville song about 20 years ago, probably not a Negro song at all. But the Negroes have taken it up extensively'. As noted above, it was even earlier than that - 1901. Paul Oliver notes that most of the recorded versions kept fairly closely to Queen's lyrics, but 'they generally expanded the themes using the original framework'. A good example is Frank Stokes' August 1928 recording (Victor 38512).

Paul Oliver explains:

The point of most of the verses is that the singer wins, even if it is by beating a hasty exit, by cheating or by scooping up the stakes, or by making an undignified departure through the window; he looks after his own interests first. Retribution generaly follows at least once and 'I got mine' means a beating up or a sentence, dealt with humorously and ruefully. It was a song which used a familiar minstrel show situation but allowed for amusing variations, effective with both white and coloured audiences, who doubtless interpreted the shades of meaning rather differently. [Paul Oliver 'Songsters and Saints' Uni of Cambridge Press 1984, pp 88-89]

It was a great favourite of Pink Anderson who spent a lifetime in the medicine shows. However, 'I Got Mine' was not included among the handful of titles that Pink recorded with Simmie Dooley in 1928.

The song was recorded by numerous old-timey artists, including Fiddlin' John Carson who was first cab off the rank, even before 'Big Boy' Owens, with a recording for Okeh in March 1924 (OK 40119). Other recordings include ones by Ernest Thompson (under the title 'The Coon Crap Game'), Bill Chitwood & Bud Landress, Gid Tanner and the Skillet Lickers', John McGhee and Chris Bouchillon.

The above information came mostly from Paul Oliver 'Songsters and Saints' and Meade et alia 'Country Music Sources'.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: I Got Mine
From: Lanfranc
Date: 18 Dec 02 - 07:18 PM

Ry Cooder recorded it on his album "Chicken Skin Music" here

Researching a source of the chords and will revert if successful.

Alan

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: I Got Mine
From: ddw
Date: 18 Dec 02 - 07:50 PM

Stewie,

Great info -- thanks a bunch. A friend downloaded it from the Net onto a CD, so I had no background on it, but loved the song. Maybe Joe or a clone could correct the attribution line if this is going into the digitrad.

JAB,

The chords I use are just E, E7, A, F# and B7. Each place there is a long dash had a slide up on the 6th string to the 7th fret, then resolve into a B7 chord and back to E. I'm not sure how to put that into the system so it would show up where I make the changes.

cheers,

david

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: I Got Mine
From: CraigS
Date: 18 Dec 02 - 08:01 PM

I've got a version somewhere by Roy Bookbinder. I don't recall what key he plays it in, but from memory I'd say he uses what would be a G# in addition to the chords above. Amplifier's broken, so I can't check just now.

Subject: Lyr Add: I GOT MINE (Queen, Chartwell, 1901)
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 18 Dec 02 - 08:24 PM

From the sheet music at Indiana University:

I GOT MINE
Words by John Queen, music by Charlie Cartwell, ©1901.
"Sung with Immense Success by Miss Ella Shields"

1. I went out a to a nigger crap game; it was against my will.
The coons took all my money except one greenback dollar bill.
There was a hundred-dollar bet upon the table; the nigger's point was nine.
Just then the coppers stepped through the door but I got mine.

CHORUS: I got mine, boys; I got mine.
I grabbed that hundred-dollar bill; through the window I did climb.
Ever since then, I've worn good clothes, living on chicken and wine.
I'm the leader of society since I got mine.

2. I went out a to a turkey feast; the eatables were fine.
Half-hour before that table was set, the coons all formed in line.
When they brought that buzzard in, their eyes began to shine.
They wouldn't wait but started to grab, and I got mine.

CHORUS: I got mine, boys; I got mine.
Getting to that piece of fowl I had one terrible time.
One coon grabbed that eagle by the neck; I snatched on behind.
The coon in front thought he had the whole thing, but I got mine.

3. I went out for to visit my gal—the hour it was about nine—
Dressed up like one millionaire and feeling right in line.
I caught her sitting on another nigger's lap; now, that ain't a very good sign.
I told her what I thought of him, then I got mine.

CHORUS: I got mine, boys; I got mine.
That nigger pulled his shotgun out and used it mighty fine.
I tried to get through the window but I couldn't get through in time.
I eat my meals from a mantel piece since I got mine.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: I Got Mine
From: GutBucketeer
Date: 19 Dec 02 - 12:16 AM

Thanks Everyone!

Stewie, the depth of your knowledge continues to amaze me. I wish I could get you, M.Ted, Jim Dixon, Roger the Skiffler and some others together and just absorb!

JAB

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: I Got Mine
From: Peter K (Fionn)
Date: 19 Dec 02 - 11:31 PM

CraigS, I've heard a Bookbinder version that's memorable for some utterly sublime finger-picking.