Lyr ADD: 'Old Jabo' Sonny Terry & Brownie McGee

Subject: Lyr Req: 'Old Jabo' Sonny Terry & Brownie McGee
From: GUEST,Guest: Gern
Date: 14 Nov 21 - 11:24 AM

Love this number but what the heck is he singing? Can't get through the reverb.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Old Jabo' Sonny Terry & Brownie McGee
From: GUEST,MVS
Date: 14 Nov 21 - 01:01 PM

Go to https://folkways.si.edu/brownie-mcghee-and-sonny-terry-sing. On the right side of the page, below the album info, is a tab marked "Download the liner notes." The lyrics are included. The download is free even if you don't buy the album. (All Folkways liner notes are available for free download at this site. Just find the album you want and click the tab.)

I see two errors in the transcription.

"Told Jabo let's straddle a stump" is certainly "Th[r]owed Jabo [right?] straddle a stump." There's a word I can't quite make out, but this verse is also found in "Old Dan Tucker." "Thowed" is much more common in black and white southern rural dialect than the more grammatical "threw." I'm a West Virginian and a native speaker of hillbilly.

"I know somethin' that I ain't goin' to hell" should be "I know somethin' that I ain't goin' to tell." This one is quite audible on the recording.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHlpmGZ9CL8

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Old Jabo' Sonny Terry & Brownie McGee
From: GUEST
Date: 14 Nov 21 - 01:03 PM

I think I cut and pasted the wrong link. Try this:
https://folkways.si.edu/brownie-mcghee-and-sonny-terry-sing

Looks like that worked.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Old Jabo' Sonny Terry & Brownie McGee
From: GUEST,Guest: Gern
Date: 14 Nov 21 - 07:38 PM

Great information source over the years, this Mudcat! Lyrics are shared with tunes like Old Dan Tucker and Raise a Ruckus Tonight.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Old Jabo' Sonny Terry & Brownie McGee
From: Charley Noble
Date: 15 Nov 21 - 08:34 PM

Thanks for the hot link!

"Jabo" was the nickname of a family friend who was an African American who grew up in a village in Florida of that name. I wonder if he knew of this song. Sadly, he is long gone.

Subject: ADD: Old Jabo (Sonny Terry)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 15 Nov 21 - 10:21 PM

OK, so here is the transcription from the Smithsonian Folkways liner notes:

OLD JABO

Old Jabo went across that ?eld,
Great big snake bit him on his heel.

He turned around to do his best.
Fell right back in the hornets‘ nest.

Up he jumped and away he ran,
Couldn't catch the fool in a aeroplane.

Old Jaho don‘t have no shoes,
That's why he got them running blues.

Me and Jabo were goin' to town,
Ride a gray horse and lead a hound.

The hound barked and the old horse jumped.
Told Jabo "Let's straddle a stump!”

Old Jabo he promised me,
Before he died he’d make a will for me.

Lived so long till his head got bald,
Got out of the notion of dyin' at all.

Old Jabo, fare thee well,
I know somethin‘ that I ain't goin' to hell.


Notes: This tune and the lyrics are both related to various older tunes, such as “Raise A Ruckus Tonight” (included in FA 2028). It is Brownie’s and Sonny's, as sung here, but probably has its roots
in old minstrel tunes and song-dance tunes of slavery days. Brownie has developed a beautiful solo style and on this uses response phrases, backed by chords.

Jaho has the rhythmic snap of a country dance.



https://folkways.si.edu/brownie-mcghee-and-sonny-terry-sing