Origins: San Francisco Bay Blues (J Fuller)

Subject: San Francisco Blues
From: GUEST,VG
Date: 13 Aug 00 - 01:06 AM

Anybody familiar with this song?

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: San Francisco Blues
From: celticblues5
Date: 13 Aug 00 - 01:23 AM

Just remember part -

I got the blues from my baby, walkin' by the San Francisco Bay
Ocean liner comin', she's goin' so far away
Didn't mean to treat her so bad
She was the best gal I ever have had
Said goodbye, like to made me cry
I wanna lay down & die
Haven't got a nickel, I haven't got a lousy dime
That gal don't come back to me, I think I'm gonna lose my mind
Ever come back to stay, I'll spend another brand new day
Walkin' with my baby down by the San Francisco Bay

Sorry, don't know the chords offhand.

Subject: Lyr/Chords Add: SAN FRANCISCO BAY BLUES (J Fuller)
From: GUEST,Mal in Australia
Date: 13 Aug 00 - 10:52 AM

In G, this is what I play

G///C///G///G///
C///C///B7///B7///
C///C///G///E7///
A7///A7///D7///D7///

G///C///G///G///
C///C///B7///B7///
C///C#dim///G///E7///
A7///D7///G///G///

The C#dim is optional (i.e. if I remember!) - a C will fit here also.

Lyrics I sing:

I get the blues about my baby, walkin' by the San Francisco Bay
Ocean liner takin' her so far away
I didn't mean to treat her so bad
She was the best gal I ever have had
She made me sigh, she made me cry
She made me wanna lay down & die

I ain't got a nickel, I ain't got a lousy dime
And if she never come back, I think I'm gonna lose my mind
But if she ever come back to stay, it's gonna be a brand new day
When I'm walkin' with my baby down by the San Francisco Bay

I don't know if there are any other lyrics; I just sing it all the way through once, then there's an instrumental break (or not) and I sing it through again.

Enjoy

Mal

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: San Francisco Blues
From: BanjoRay
Date: 13 Aug 00 - 12:10 PM

The lyrics are in the database - a search for BLUES BABY BAY will find them. Jesse Fuller wrote the song, He used to play it on a one man band setup - 12 string guitar, harmonica and kazoo on a neck mount, and a Fotdella - his own foot operated bass. No-one else has ever got such an effective sound for this song (imho).
Cheers
Ray

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: San Francisco Blues
From: Art Thieme
Date: 15 Aug 00 - 12:15 AM

Jim Kweskin did the best solo vocal & guitar version of this I ever heard--1960. I've still got the tape of that and other songs he did on Ella Jenkins' radio show on WSBC-FM in Chicago--1960. Mark Silber was doing a fine finger-picked version in 1961 sittng around Ida Noyes Hall at the University of Chicago.
And Jack Elliott opened most of his shows in the early sixties with "San Fransisco Bay Blues". I got in that habit too.

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: San Francisco Blues
From: late 'n short
Date: 15 Aug 00 - 10:13 AM

Guest VG, Eric Clapton has great unplugged(...that might even be the name of the album...) version out there somewhere that inlcudes the kazoo on the break. It'll defintely keep you awake if you're on the road late at night.

Dan

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: San Francisco Blues
From: GUEST,Gern
Date: 16 Aug 00 - 09:10 AM

Aren't there more words to this song? Clapton sings a middle portion, which begins with something like "sitting here on my back porch/wondering which way to go..." Peter,Paul and Mary skipped this segment, but does anyone know if it belongs there what what these words are?

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: San Francisco Blues
From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler
Date: 16 Aug 00 - 09:32 AM

Gern,f
rom my (admittedly dodgy) memory I think Clapton followed Jesse Fuller closely (but found the kazoo solo difficult!). I can't find the lyrics on any of the blues lyrics sites I usually use, I think there is a full set of lyrics to "From the Cradle" and "Unplugged" on one of the Clapton sites out there if you do a Google or Ixquick search.(I have them but at home, not here at work)
RtS

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: San Francisco Blues
From: GUEST
Date: 16 Aug 00 - 09:35 AM

Sitting on my back porch, wondering which way to go.
THinkin' about the woman I love & she don't love me know more.
Think I'll take a freight train, 'cause I'm feelin' kind a blue,
Ride it to the end of the line, thinkin' only of you

Meanwhile in another city, just about to go insane
Think I hear somebody callin' me, the way she used to call my name.
If she ever comes back to stay, it'll be another brand new day
walkin' with my baby down by the san francisco baby

Subject: San Francisco Bay
From:
Date: 09 Mar 01 - 05:06 AM

I'm having difficulty sourcing some of the traditional blues tunes - I'm especially interested in words and chords for Walkin' with my baby down by the San Francisco Bay?

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: San Francisco Bay
From: Wolfgang
Date: 09 Mar 01 - 05:37 AM

the words are here

Wolfgang

Subject: Lyr/Chords Add: SAN FRANCISCO BAY BLUES (J Fuller)
From: late 'n short 2
Date: 09 Mar 01 - 10:46 AM

SAN FRANCISCO BAY BLUES by Jesse Fuller

with the chords Clapton uses (and if they're not in exactly the same places, well blues ain't perfect!)

(C)I got the blues from my baby left me(F)by the San Francisco (C)Bay, (C7)

The(F)ocean liner's gone so far a(C)way.(C7)

(F)Didn't mean to treat her so bad, she was the(C)best girl I ever have(A7)had,

She (D7)said goodbye, I can take a cry, (G7)I want to lay down and die.

(C)I ain't got a nickel and (F)I ain't got a lousy(C)dime.(C7)

(F)She don't come back, think I'm going to lose my(C) mind.(C7)

(F)If she ever gets back to stay, it's going to be(C) another brand new (A7)day,

(D7)Walking with my baby down (G7)by the San Francisco (C)Bay

(C)Sitting down (F)looking from my (C)back door,

Wondering which(F)way to(C)go,

(F)The woman I'm so crazy about, she don't love me no(C)more.

(F)Think I'll catch me a freight train, (C)'cause I'm feeling (A7)blue,

(D7)And ride all the way to the end of the line,(G7)thinking only of you

(C)Meanwhile, (F)in another (C)city,

Just about to(F) go in(C)sane,

(F)Thought I heard my baby, Lord, the way she used to call my (C)name.

(D7)If I ever get her back to stay, it's (C)going to be another brand new (A7)day

(D7)Walking with my baby down by(G7) the San Francisco (C)Bay,(A7)

(D7)Walking with my baby down by(G7)the San Francisco(C) Bay,(A7)

(D7)Walking with my baby down by(G7)the San Francisco(C) Bay.(C7)

Dan

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: San Francisco Bay
From: GUEST,Steve N.
Date: 09 Mar 01 - 02:08 PM

Dan, Jesse Fuller and everyone up to Eric Clapton use an E chord at "she don't love me any more". It's the most distinctive thing about this melody.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: San Francisco Bay
From: late 'n short 2
Date: 10 Mar 01 - 11:05 AM

Thanks,Steve. The music I have shows it as a C but does have an E at "...think I'm gonna lose my mind" (which I messed up!)

Dan

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: San Francisco Bay
From: Francy
Date: 10 Mar 01 - 02:15 PM

I use an Ab in the line that goes: (F) Didn't meam to treat her so (Ab)bad . she was the (C)best girl I ever (A7) had.....

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: San Francisco Bay
From: Amos
Date: 10 Mar 01 - 06:19 PM

Yeah, Francy, I use one of them augmented things in that spot myself. And the F-to-E transition on "...(F)don't come back, I believe I'm gonna lose my (E) mind" is absolutely essential for this one.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: San Francisco Bay
From: GUEST,MarkS
Date: 10 Mar 01 - 07:19 PM

Try going to F sharp (F#) "bad", and then walk your bass down the A string from C to A, when you turnaround back to the C chord. (C)ever (B)had (A)had, on your way to the A7. Another neat trick is to play a D major in place of the D7, drop the entire chord down one fret and slide back into the D somewhere in the "Said goodbye, made me cry" phrase. Tom Rush does this song really well and incorporates some Travis picking around the "Want to lay right down and die" phrase. Give it a listen!
MarkS

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: San Francisco Bay
From: GUEST,pmharty
Date: 11 Mar 01 - 01:33 AM

Hi Jesse Fuller had a real "strummy" style on this song, not Travis picking. Give him a listen if you can.

Jesse had an interesting life, he was friends with movie star Douglas Fairbanks, who lent him noney for a business in San Diego before the 1929 stock market crash. After that he moved to San Fransciso and wrote those SF Blues.

Does anyone out there know what his "Fotdella" (foot powered bass instrument) was and how it worked? I've seen pictures on an old album, it looks like a cut-up piano.

Paul

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: San Francisco Bay
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 11 Mar 01 - 02:05 PM

The chord on "bad" ? I have always used a diminished chord here, but I can see the merit of an A flat as well. I don't think an augmented chord works, and I also don't see an F# working too well, Mark, as the actual note you are singing is E flat, which doesn't form part of an F# chord. I like your other suggestions, though.

Murray

Subject: RE: Origins: San Francisco Bay Blues (J Fuller)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 27 Jul 16 - 08:53 PM

Wikipedia says this song was probably written by Jesse Fuller, who recorded the song in 1954. I would have thought the song to be much older. Here's a 1968 recording of Fuller singing the song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBME_J0pf3o

The Traditional Ballad Index has no listing for this song.

Subject: RE: Origins: San Francisco Bay Blues (J Fuller)
From: GUEST,Joseph Scott
Date: 29 Jul 16 - 10:32 PM

Jesse Fuller wrote it. If it sounds "old," well he was older than Blind Boy Fuller.

Subject: RE: Origins: San Francisco Bay Blues (J Fuller)
From: Leadfingers
Date: 30 Jul 16 - 08:03 AM

'Collected' this in the late sixties - haven't sung it since last night !

Subject: RE: Origins: San Francisco Bay Blues (J Fuller)
From: Will Fly
Date: 31 Jul 16 - 04:00 AM

I still have my Jesse Fuller LP from the 1960s with this song on it - and my mate Stu still sings it when we do pub gigs together. Seems like all the folks know it, young or old.

And I also play a diminished chord on the "bad" line...

Subject: RE: Origins: San Francisco Bay Blues (J Fuller)
From: gillymor
Date: 31 Jul 16 - 10:49 AM

I put together my arrangement based on the one by the late Richie Havens which is a bit jazzier than most with Maj7's and m7's and other altered chords and play it in G with a Cm7 on "bad". Unlike RH I play it in standard tuning.

Subject: RE: Origins: San Francisco Bay Blues (J Fuller)
From: GUEST,DTM
Date: 31 Jul 16 - 03:17 PM

I use ...
Didn't mean (F) to treat her so bad (F#dim)

Subject: RE: Origins: San Francisco Bay Blues (J Fuller)
From: RTim
Date: 31 Jul 16 - 05:20 PM

I can remember hearing Jesse Fuller years ago when I was young on the BBC radio programme - Saturday Club. He was talking about when he first decided to be a One Man Band.
HIs wife said to hm - "Jesse, how you going to become a One Man band?'

and he replied,

"Just watch my smoke!"

Tim Radford

Subject: RE: Origins: San Francisco Bay Blues (J Fuller)
From: tritoneman
Date: 31 Jul 16 - 06:24 PM

I used to have that Jesse Fuller LP with San Francisco Bay on it in the 1960s. Jack Elliot's version was my particular favourite and I spent lots of time trying to copy it.....