Origins: Baby work me, till I work no more

Subject: Origins: Baby work me, till I work no more
From: GUEST,nogirlisagoddess
Date: 18 Jun 08 - 07:19 PM

I have a copy of this guitar-heavy, drumless blues song, and the lyrics are "baby work me, till I work no more.....we'll get together baby, make everything alriiiiight" and I am dying to know who sings it. Can anybody help me?

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I will be forever grateful.

Subject: RE: Origins: Baby work me, till I work no more
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 18 Jun 08 - 09:52 PM

"Work Me, Baby," Junior Kimbrough and his guitar. I didn't check too far, but there are download sites. I'm pretty sure that this is the one.

Also see lyrics to "Bad Girl," by Usher, lyrics on line. It seems to be based on the Kimbrough song.

Subject: RE: Origins: Baby work me, till I work no more
From: PoppaGator
Date: 19 Jun 08 - 04:31 PM

Junior Kimbrough, huh? That's some real funky down-home current-day Mississippi Delta blues, for sure.

This kind of electrified music is so homespun and so personal that it flatly disproves any argument that electric-guitar playing is ipso facto disqualified from consideration as "folk music." It may not be part of your favorite folk tradition, but it is absolutely undeniable that is does belong to one of the world's preeminent folk music traditions, and a living one at that, the Delta Blues.

Subject: RE: Origins: Baby work me, till I work no more
From: Goose Gander
Date: 19 Jun 08 - 04:37 PM

Fat Possum has brought a lot of these artists to a wider audience, and they aren't even considered a 'folk' label.

Subject: RE: Origins: Baby work me, till I work no more
From: PoppaGator
Date: 19 Jun 08 - 05:02 PM

Well, Fat Possum is definitely a blues label, and they have good reason not to promote themselves as "folk." Whether you consider the blues to be "folk" or not is up to you and the people you associate with, and either position could be anaethema to one group or another.

That is, some blues lovers hate what they perceive to be "folk music" and don't want to be associated with it. And some other folks who love folk music including the blues have the exact opposite opinion.

The Fat Possum artists are all pretty forthright and unpolished. For my money, that makes 'em folk-blues, which is about the highest compliment from me.

Subject: RE: Origins: Baby work me, till I work no more
From: Azizi
Date: 19 Jun 08 - 05:07 PM

The first song that I thought of when I heard that title was the religious song "Feed me till I want no more".

There may be no connection between these two lines, let alone those two songs. But then again, maybe in the time honored folk tradition, Junior Kimbrough heard that church song, and "borrowed" that line for his Blues song.

Hey, if it works, it works.

Subject: RE: Origins: Baby work me, till I work no more
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 19 Jun 08 - 05:31 PM

Released 1992. Album "All Night Long." The bass guitar is played by Garry Burnside.

Subject: RE: Origins: Baby work me, till I work no more
From: PoppaGator
Date: 19 Jun 08 - 05:37 PM

Azizi: Wouldn't be the first time!

Most blues musicians, like soul singers, have roots in the black church and are thoroughly familiar with plenty of religious songs. There have often been controversies when a former gospel singer "goes secular" and re-adapts a hymn in this manner.

Sam Cook(e)'s* "Wonderful" is a good example, recorded when his changeover from lead singer of the Soul Stirrers to solo pop recording artists was still pretty recent. He took the spiritual song "My Lord is Wonderful" and make the simplest of changes ~ repalcing "Lord" with "love" ~ thereby infuriating a relatively small number of former fans while charming a whole multitude of new ones.

* His last name was "Cook" until he left the Soul Stirrers; then he changed it to "Cooke."

Subject: RE: Origins: Baby work me, till I work no more
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 19 Jun 08 - 07:45 PM

Never did hear back from no girls. Guest could have been after the Usher song, "Bad Girl," which is about pimping.
Somehow I don't think that one came from a religious source.

Subject: RE: Origins: Baby work me, till I work no more
From: Azizi
Date: 19 Jun 08 - 08:31 PM

...Usher song, "Bad Girl," which is about pimping.
Somehow I don't think that one came from a religious source.

Well, Usher's song could be a take off of the Blues song, and some lines from the Blues song could be from that religious song...

Therefore the pimping song could be said to based on a religious song-at least in part...

Of course, you can say anything. That doesn't mean it's true.

Subject: RE: Origins: Baby work me, till I work no more
From: Azizi
Date: 19 Jun 08 - 08:32 PM

That "you" is the general "you", of course.

Not the "private" you.

Snark Snark.

Subject: RE: Origins: Baby work me, till I work no more
From: Azizi
Date: 19 Jun 08 - 08:54 PM

I suppose I don't need to say that "Snark" meant Yuk Yuk which in this context means "laugh."

And I suppose everybody knows that the "Baby" in the title of that song isn't a child under the age of one.

And I also suppose everybody knows what "work me till I work no more" means.

Hint-it doesn't mean doing physical labor for money.

But then again, it could mean that...

Subject: RE: Origins: Baby work me, till I work no more
From: Azizi
Date: 19 Jun 08 - 09:01 PM

I just read the name of the Guest who asked about this song.

Maybe no girl is a goddess, but plenty of women are.
Which could take us right back to that song title...

Nuff said.

Subject: RE: Origins: Baby work me, till I work no more
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 19 Jun 08 - 10:23 PM

I remember snark hunts from camp days. Newbies would be gulled into going out to hunt the snark. When they were sufficiently far from camp and after going in circles that they were 'lost,' we would sneak away. Sometimes called a snipe hunt. Great fun!

Also, a snarky person is one that that snaps at an inquirer or takes offence easily.

Never heard that snark has anything to do with a laugh. Urbanspeak?

To older people, a girl is any female under 50. Only Ava Gardner was a goddess.

Subject: RE: Origins: Baby work me, till I work no more
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 19 Jun 08 - 10:28 PM

Hmmm, now what was the subject of this thread-

Subject: RE: Origins: Baby work me, till I work no more
From: Azizi
Date: 20 Jun 08 - 01:16 AM

Ha!

As to "snark snark" being urban speak for "laugh laugh", maybe it is depending on which urban location one is speaking about {or is that from?}. But it's not where I come from-at least among the people I know.

On some Internet blog, people write the word snark after something they wrote to indicate that it isn't to be taken seriously.
"Snark" mean "sarcastic", though. It doesn't mean "humorous".

However, my use of "snark snark" at the end of that post did mean laugh laugh. I was trying to recall the laugh that one [or all?] of the Three Stooges made. But I couldn't remember it, so I went with "Snark Snark" instead.

I'm aware that none of this has anything whatsoever to do with the topic of this thread. Except that in it's own way, it's been fun {perhaps more "wholesome" than the fun implied in that song, but be that as it may or may not be}...

But while I'm here, Q, let take this opportunity to say that I like your camp story.

And what I just said isn't at all snark, though your hunting snark story did make me laugh.

As to your statement that only Ava Gardner was a goddess, I'm sure that some people I know would disagree.

LOL!

Subject: RE: Origins: Baby work me, till I work no more
From: Azizi
Date: 20 Jun 08 - 01:17 AM

Hmmm, now what was the subject of this thread?

Double LOL!

Subject: RE: Origins: Baby work me, till I work no more
From: Azizi
Date: 20 Jun 08 - 01:38 AM

In case anyone doesn't know, "LOL" means "laugh out loud".

**

Sorry I went off subject a lot on this thread. I was in a playful mood and since that doesn't happen that often, I thought I'd better enjoy it while I could.

Thanks,GUEST,nogirlisagoddess, for asking the original question. Thanks also to Q for posting the answer to her questionm, for sharing that snark story, and for posting other lighthearted comments.

I appreciate it.

And also thanks PoppaGator for sharing that information about Sam Cook{e}, and the Fat Possum record label. I didn't know about that label before. Here's their blue clicky in case other people wanna check them out:

http://www.fatpossum.com/

Subject: RE: Origins: Baby work me, till I work no more
From: Azizi
Date: 20 Jun 08 - 01:42 AM

Sorry, Michael Morris. My "thank you" also include you! And it also includes other readers of this thread who, I hope, put up with my thread drifting without getting too annoyed.

Exit for me, stage left.

Best wishes!

Subject: RE: Origins: Baby work me, till I work no more
From: PoppaGator
Date: 20 Jun 08 - 11:28 AM

I believe that the standard spelling for the Three Stooges laugh is:

Nyuk Nyuk.

Your welcome, Azizi. I'm always glad to learn when someone appreciates the stuff I drag up from my deep cache of trial (mostly-useless) information.

Subject: RE: Origins: Baby work me, till I work no more
From: PoppaGator
Date: 20 Jun 08 - 11:31 AM

Ooops, make that "trivial," not "trial."

I almost always "preview" my postings, but thought I could get away without doing so for such a brief little note, with no html codes. Wrong!

I also almost always let it slide when I do let a typo slip by. But in this case, my typo was actually another word, and seemed like it might be confusing.

This time, I AM previewing first...

Subject: RE: Origins: Baby work me, till I work no more
From: Azizi
Date: 20 Jun 08 - 04:40 PM

Hey, PoppaGator!

Nyuk Nyuk.

Okay, that's all she wrote.

It's exit stage left again for me.