Lyr Req: Louis Collins (Mississippi John Hurt)

Subject: 'Louis Collins' by miss. john hurt
From: GUEST,pen cap chew
Date: 11 Mar 02 - 12:04 PM

im looking to cover this song, but the only recording I have is really old and i cant make them out

thanks!

Subject: RE: 'Louis Collins' by miss. john hurt
From: Justa Picker
Date: 11 Mar 02 - 12:14 PM

Here.

Subject: RE: 'Louis Collins' by miss. john hurt
From: GUEST,aphasia knuckle
Date: 11 Mar 02 - 04:31 PM

if you are speaking of a song also known as "the angels laid him away" am suffering in a similar vein and can only make out one verse in its entirety

miss collins weep, miss collins moan to see her son louis leaving his home and the angels laid him away...

the angels laid him away laid him six feet under the clay the angels laid him away

at some point somebody shoots louis "through and through" but that's all i can make out. best o'luck

Subject: Lyr Add: LOUIS COLLINS (Mississippi John Hurt)
From: Pene Azul
Date: 11 Mar 02 - 04:46 PM

Here are the lyrics from Harry's Blues, which is often unavailable lately, as linked by J.P. above. Also, here's a TAB.

---

LOUIS COLLINS
by Mississippi John Hurt

Mrs. Collins weeped, Mrs. Collins moaned,
To see her son Louis leavin' home
The angels laid him away

The angels laid him away,
They laid him six feet under the clay
The angels laid him away

Mrs. Collins weeped, Mrs. Collins moaned,
To see her son Louis leavin' home
The angels laid him away

Oh, Bob shot once and Louis shot too,
Shot poor Collins, shot him through and through
The angels laid him away

Oh, kind friends, oh, ain't it hard?,
To see poor Louis in a new graveyard
The angels laid him away

The angels laid him away,
They laid him six feet under the clay
The angels laid him away

Oh, when they heard that Louis was dead
All the people they dressed in red
The angels laid him away

The angels laid him away,
They laid him six feet under the clay
The angels laid him away

Mrs. Collins weeped, Mrs. Collins moaned,
To see her son Louis leavin' home
The angels laid him away

The angels laid him away,
They laid him six feet under the clay
The angels laid him away

__________
Note: according to Hurt this song, his own composition, was based on a true episode

Subject: RE: 'Louis Collins' by miss. john hurt
From: michaelr
Date: 11 Mar 02 - 10:22 PM

Check out Jerry Garcia and David Grisman's version on "Shady Grove", an amazing CD (Acoustic Disc ACD-21, 1996).

Cheers,
Michael

Subject: RE: 'Louis Collins' by miss. john hurt
From: khandu
Date: 11 Mar 02 - 10:35 PM

IMO, this is one of the simplest Mississippi John songs to play, yet it sounds so damned good! And the music fits the story so well. Hurt's voice also fits the mood of the story very well. This song is one of the reasons that I regard him so highly.

khandu

Subject: RE: 'Louis Collins' by miss. john hurt
From: GUEST,glenB
Date: 08 Sep 03 - 04:13 PM

Louis Collins was shot by Bob Angels, so the verse has a double meaning. When I perform this song I usually sing "Angels laid him away" without "the"

Subject: RE: 'Louis Collins' by miss. john hurt
From: Nerd
Date: 08 Sep 03 - 04:43 PM

I had never heard that Bob Angels shot Louis Collins. Indeed, I'm pretty sure I remember reading that there were two shooters, one named Bob and the other Lewis or Louis (first names) who shot Louis Collins, which makes more sense of the line "Oh, Bob shot once and Louis shot too." I'll see if I can find the relevant liner notes/references at home.

glenB, do you remember the source for the Bob Angels information?

Subject: RE: 'Louis Collins' by miss. john hurt
From: Nerd
Date: 08 Sep 03 - 10:58 PM

The interview I remember has MJH clearly stating that two men, named Bob and Louis, shot Louis Collins. But no mention of Bob Angels...

Subject: RE: 'Louis Collins' by miss. john hurt
From: GUEST,Pete Peterson
Date: 09 Sep 03 - 08:49 AM

I have a friend who asserts that red was the color of mourning in that tradition, so the women "re-ragged" themselves in red clothing, hence:

When the people heard that Lewis was dead
All of the womenfolk, they re-ragged in red,
Angels laid him away.


I have also heard this verse in one of the variants of Ella Speed.

The verse about Bob and Lewis makes sense if we simply say that Lewis returned fire, but missed Bob: Bob shot one (time) and Lewis shot too

Subject: RE: 'Louis Collins' by miss. john hurt
From: wysiwyg
Date: 09 Sep 03 - 09:16 AM

Red for mourning: A little girl who lost her mother would wear a red rose in her hair to church.... signifying a number of things, ranging from "I hurt" to "I need a new mother and are there any volunteers" and "Daddy's a widower now." The child might not know the significance but the community of adults knew what was called for when they saw it.

~S~

Subject: RE: 'Louis Collins' by miss. john hurt
From: Nerd
Date: 09 Sep 03 - 10:57 AM

Pete,

true the verse can be read to make sense either way. But MJH, who wrote the song, meant to convey two men, Bob and Louis, gunning down Louis Collins, according to the 1965 interview (which is reprinted in the liner notes of Avalon Blues, the Columbia reissue of his 1928 sides).

None of this rules out the intriguing suggestion that Bob was Bob Angels. That way, it almost sounds like a mafia thing...like Frank Pentangeli from The Godfather II, known as Frankie Five Angels...

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Louis Collins (Mississippi John Hurt)
From: Guldhamstern
Date: 23 Jul 08 - 05:39 PM

This is the only MJH-song I learned to play so far.
MJH-is an underated mastermind. It feels like his voice and fingers and guitar is a perfect unit.

But I wonder about the vers: Bob shot once and Louis shot too.
Is it about a gunfight and both Louis and Bob shot and Bob killed Louis?
I have sung and listen to this song for a while now, not truely inderstanding the meaning of this verse.

I'm not dumbed, I am swedish.


/Markus

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Louis Collins (Mississippi John Hurt)
From: PoppaGator
Date: 23 Jul 08 - 05:52 PM

As noted above, two guys named Bob and Louis (or Lewis) both shot at Louis Collins ~ according to John Hurt himself in an interview.

The fact that one of these assailants had the same first name as the victim certainly makes things confusing. For years, until very recently (i.e. unti reading this thread), I always assumed that the "Louis" who "shot too" was the victim Mr. Collins.

I don't think I'll be singing it any differently now that I've learned something new about the story ;^)

There aren't a whole lot of lyrics to this song, are there? Just a very few rhyming couplets, a chorus, and a lot of repetition. It's such an effective song that one doesn't notice any such "shortcomings" at first listening, or even at hundredth. listening.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Louis Collins (Mississippi John Hurt)
From: Mr Happy
Date: 07 Jan 10 - 07:37 AM

I sang this in our sesh last night & had a good response from the audience enquiring origins.

I thought it Trad US, but have researched a bit more, maybe not orig written by MJH but adapted by him.

Nice version here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5v8Qob8Ylg

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Louis Collins (Mississippi John Hurt)
From: Mr Happy
Date: 07 Jan 10 - 08:44 AM

BTW, re: the 'shooting' line, I sing

Oh, Bob shot once and Louis shot two [not 'too']

Doesn't really matter,as both words sound identical, but that's my meaning

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Louis Collins (Mississippi John Hurt)
From: GLoux
Date: 07 Jan 10 - 01:20 PM

In Stefan Grossman's Finger Picking Guitar Techniques, he has the lyrics for the verse in question as:

Now, Barnes shot one, but Louis shot two,
But Barnes shot old Louis, shot him threw and threw.
Angels laid him away.