Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Limber Jim: History & Lyrics From: GUEST,Q Date: 19 Jan 03 - 09:12 PM "Black Them Boots" from Randolph, No. 550 in vol. 3. has been posted in this thread. Several other threads have the chorus or chorus plus one verse. The singer, Pauline Petty of Arkansas, in Randolph, couldn't remember the dance figure. A version from W. P. Detherow of Arkansas, recorded by J. Q. Wolf in 1952 and included in the Wolf Collection, with Audio, contains a description of the figure. Black Them Boots Lyr. Add: Black Them Boots Mr. Detherow " ...played considerable...but they don't know that it is a play song, a ring play song." Black them boots and make them shine; Goodbye and goodbye. Black them boots and make them shine; Go see, Liza Jane. Chorus: Oh, how I love her. Ain't that a shame? Oh, how I love her; Swing ol' Liza Jane. Oh, how I love her. Ain't that a shame? Oh, how I love her; Swing ol' Liza Jane. River's wide and the channel deep; Goodbye and goodbye. The girls are pretty and I know they're sweet; Goodbye, Liza Jane. Chorus Hawk got a chicken and it flew upstairs; Goodbye and goodbye. Hawk got a chicken and it flew upstairs; Goodbye, Liza Jane. Chorus Spoken comment by Mr. Detherow: "In this they ring up and they pass right and left through, square dance style, and when they meet they swing once and a half, and then they commence to singing. 'Oh, how I love her; swing ol' Liza Jane,' and this is repeated with diffeent couples." |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Limber Jim: History & Lyrics From: Stewie Date: 09 Apr 03 - 08:17 PM [WARNING: Explicit sexual references in the following post may offend some people.] Turtle Old Man In your posting of 28 June 2002 above, you quoted comments from Hearn that included:
I have recently obtained a copy of a fascinating book by Vance Randolph: 'Blow the Candle Out: "Unprintable" Ozark Folksongs and Folklore Volume II' (Ed G.Legman) Uni of Arkansas Press 1992. I was struck by the number of times the word 'limber' occurs in a sexual context. I quote the following to illustrate. In section D, 'Ribaldry at Ozark Dances', Randolph talks inter alia about ribald titles for fiddle tunes that were not announced by the fiddler but were well-known to the dancers at the frolics. At #8, p759, Randolph wrote (Legman's note follows in square brackets):
In section E, 'Bawdy Elements in Ozark Speech', Randolph has at #9, p 776:
In section F, 'Obscenity in Ozark Riddles', Randolph gives the following at Nos 13 and 14, p 826:
In section G, 'Folk Graffiti from the Ozarks, Randolph quotes from graffiti in a filling station run by a woman near Crane, Mo. This is #58, at p 857:
There may be other references and I have yet to receive a copy of Vol I 'Roll Me In Your Arms'. I hope the above may be of some use in your quest for the meaning of 'Limber Jim'. --Stewie. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Limber Jim: History & Lyrics From: John Minear Date: 09 Apr 03 - 10:05 PM Stewie, I just received my copy of Randolph's BLOW THE CANDLE OUT a week ago and I haven't had time to really sit down and look at it yet. I really appreciate your research and your references. I think you may have discovered a very important piece of this puzzle: "go limber, Jim, you can't go..." Ever since I first read Hearn's remark I suspected that there was a lot more to this particular tradition than we were turning up. It's like watching old WWII war movies about Marines in combat without a single cussword in the whole film! I wonder where Hearn's papers are and if there is any chance that he preserved more complete notes on his "Limber Jim". Sometimes it feels like we have little chips left from huge glaciers. I look forward to spending time with Randolph's book. I have looked rather extensively at his ROLL ME IN YOUR ARMS, and didn't come across anything that caught my attention, but I was looking for particular songs rather than phrases. It is certainly worth another look there as well. Again, thanks for this good work. - T.O.M. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Limber Jim: History & Lyrics From: GUEST,Q Date: 09 Apr 03 - 10:40 PM In Randolph, Roll Me in Your Arms, the tune "In the White Oak Timber," has the lines: Way down south in the white oak timber, Can't get a hard-on, stick it in limber, Look away, look away, Look away, in Dixie land. Nothing on "Limber Jim." |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Limber Jim: History & Lyrics From: GUEST,Q Date: 09 Apr 03 - 10:59 PM Verse from "OLd Dan Tucker" - also from Randolph, "Roll Me in Your Arms." Old Dan Tucker Old Dan Tucker was a fine old man, Washed his face in a fryin' pan, Combed his head with a hickory stick, Layed down to die with a limber prick. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Limber Jim: History & Lyrics From: masato sakurai Date: 10 Apr 03 - 01:08 AM I've heard that Tulane University has a Hearn collection. Recently, Penn State professor Simon J. Bronner published a book of Hearn's writings, Lafcadio Hearn's America: Ethnographic Sketches and Editorials (University of Kentucky Press, 2002), in which the "Levee Life" essay is contained. ~Masato |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Limber Jim: History & Lyrics From: John Minear Date: 10 Apr 03 - 11:09 AM Guest Q, Thanks for the two verses from ROLL ME IN YOUR ARMS. It definitely looks like we have another nuance on old Limber Jim. Masato, Next time I get to the library I'll see if they have this volume on Hearn. I haven't been in a while so this will give me an excuse to go. Thanks. T.O.M. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Limber Jim: History & Lyrics From: John Minear Date: 19 Aug 05 - 10:57 AM I'm a little late on this, but I just discovered this very important piece of information and I thought that it was only appropriate that it be posted here as well. Fletcher Collins was the the man who originally collected the only known version (so far) of "Limber Jim". T.O.M. ------------- Subject: Obit: Fletcher Collins, folklorist and scholar From: lamarca - PM Date: 10 May 05 - 12:09 PM I am sad to report the passing of Fletcher Collins, Jr. on May 6, 2005, at the age of 98. Dr. Collins was an eminent scholar, teacher, and collector of folksong and folklore, who had a long, rich life. Here is his obituary from the Mary Baldwin College website: http://www.mbc.edu/news/r_detail.asp?id=1665 |
Subject: RE: Origin: Limber Jim From: GUEST,Ira Date: 14 Apr 15 - 04:01 AM For what it's worth, I knew a white guy from Tennessee who used to sing the 7-Up verse in the 1980's, along with some other verses all intended to be as obscene and offensive as possible. No mention of Jim, and the refrain was "Get your finger out of it, get your finger out of it, get your finger out of it 'cause it don't belong to you." |
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