Lyr Add: Kassie Jones / Casey Jones (Furry Lewis)

Subject: furry lewis and
From: clifton
Date: 29 Jul 98 - 10:30 AM

I'm tellin you folks, Smith's anthology has changed the way I hear music. one tune I like to listen to again and again is "kasey jones". the guitar part just knocks me flat, its like I hear two guitars, but my mind tells me it's just one. I'd sure love to learn that part. anybody who might share it with me would have my thanks.

Subject: RE: furry lewis and
From:
Date: 29 Jul 98 - 08:40 PM

It is a great song!

I am pretty sure there is only one guitar--and the whole thing is in E except for the guitar break which is in A.

If you like the Anthology, there was a book put out around it in the early 70s. It is called the "Anthology of American Folk Music", edited by Josh Dunson and Ethel Raim, and published by Oak Publications.

It has the lyrics and chording for Kassie Jones and about 40 odd other pieces from the Anthology recording plus a few that were supposed to be in volume IV.

Also Document Records has a collection of Lewis's complete recorded works from 1927--1929 (DOCD-5004) which includes Kassie Jones and another of my favorites "Billy Lyons and Stack O'Lee".

I will keep my eye on this thread to see if someone gives a better answer to your actual question :)

Murray

Murray

Subject: RE: furry lewis and
From: clifton
Date: 30 Jul 98 - 10:40 PM

hey murray

thanks for the tip on the book. will check it out. again muchos gracias

Subject: Lyrics to 'Kassie Jones'
From: tomtom
Date: 19 Apr 99 - 08:53 AM

Does anyone out there have the lyrics to Furry Lewis's Kassie Jones (parts 1 and 2)? Would be greatly appreciated. thanks, tomtom

Subject: Lyr Add: KASSIE JONES (Furry Lewis)
From: Brian Hoskin
Date: 21 Apr 99 - 03:31 AM

Furry Lewis - Kassie Jones- Pt 1

I woke up this mornin', four o'clock.
Mister Kassie told his fireman, get his boiler hot.
Put on your water, put on your coal.
Put your head out of the window, see my driver's roll.
See my driver roll.
Put your head out of the window, see my driver roll.

Lord, some people say that Mister Kassie couldn't run.
Let me just tell you what Mister Kassie has done.
He left Memphis, it was quarter to nine.
Got to Newport News, it was dinnertime.
It was dinnertime.
Got to Newport News, it was dinnertime.

I've sold my gin, I've sold it straight.
Police run me to my woman's gate.
She comes to the door, she nod her head.
She made me welcome to the foldin' bed.
To the foldin' bed.
Made me welcome to the foldin' bed.

Lord, the people said to Kassie "You're runnin' over time."
"You'll have another loser with the one-o-nine."
Kassie said, "This ain't in mind.
I'll run it in close just to make my time."
Said to all the passengers, "Better keep yourself hid.
Naturally gonna shake it like Chainey did."

Mister Kassie run his engine within a mile of the place.
Number four stared him in the face.
The depot told Kassie "Well, you must leave town."
"Believe to my soul I'm Alabama bound."
"Alabama bound."
"Believe to my soul I'm Alabama bound."

Missus Kassie said she dreamt a dream.
The night she bought her sewin' machine.
The needle got broke, she could not sew.
She loved Mister Kassie, 'cause she told me so.
Told me so.
Loved Mister Kassie, 'cause she told me so.

Furry Lewis Kassie Jones - Pt 2.

Kassie looked at his watch, water was low.
Looked at his watch, his watch was slow.

On the road again.
Natural born Eastman on the road again.

Lord, there's people tell by the throttle moan,
The man at the fire's Mister Kassie Jones.
Mister Kassie Jones.

Mister Kassie said, before he died.
One more road that he wants to ride.
People tells Kassie, "Which road is he?"
"The Southern Pacific and the Santa Fe.
Santa Fe."

This mornin' I heard someone was dyin'.
Missus Kassie's children on the doorstep cryin'.
Mama, mama, I can't keep from cryin'.
Papa got killed on the Southern line.
On the Southern line.
Papa got killed on the Southern line.

"Mama, mama, how can it be.
Killed my father and you weren't the first to grieve?"
"Children, children want you to hold your breath.
Draw another pension from your father's death.
From your father's death."

On the road again.
I'm a natural born Eastman on the road again.

Tueday mornin', it looked like rain.
Around the curve came a passenger train.
Under the boiler lay Mister Kassie Jones.
Good old engineer, but he's dead and gone.
Dead and gone.

On the road again.
I'm a natural born Eastman on the road again.

I left Memphis to spread the news.
Memphis women don't where no shoes.
Had it written in the back of my shirt.
Natural born Eastmen don't have to work.
Don't have to work.
I'm a natural born Eastman, don't have to work.

Subject: RE: Lyrics to 'Kassie Jones'
From: tomtom
Date: 21 Apr 99 - 01:55 PM

Thank you, Brian. I really appreciate it.

There's one stanza about Alice Fry that you left out, though:

"There was a woman named Ms. Alice Fry / ??????????????? / I ain't good looking but I take my time / A rambling woman with a rambling mind."

Do you know what the ???????????????? are? Also, does an "Eastman" refer to someone from the northeast, presumably a rich SOB making $$$ on the backs of rural laborers?

Again, thanks a million.

tomtom

Subject: RE: Lyrics to 'Kassie Jones'
From: rich r
Date: 22 Apr 99 - 12:56 AM

There was a woman name Miss Alice Fry
Said, "I'm gonna ride with Mister Kassie or die"
I ain't good looking but I take my time,
A rambling woman with a rambling mind;
Got a rambling mind.

minor correction: Kassie looked at his WATER, his water was low

Norm Cohen in "Long Steel Rail" relates that Furry Lewis made a number of recordings of the song, with some of the later versions containing additional verses from those cited above. Many of the verses of "Casey Jones" variants have nothing to do with John Luther Jones' infamous train wreck or even railroads in general. ONe other little bit of trivia. The couplet appearing in many versions of how folks could tell by the whistle (throttle moan etc) who the engineer was has an historical basis. Many railroads at the time allowed their better engineers to install their own custom steam whistle, the sound of which became their personal calling card.

rich r

Subject: RE: Lyrics to 'Kassie Jones'
From:
Date: 22 Apr 99 - 02:08 AM

Actually it's "easeman" a man who lives easy offa his women

Subject: RE: Lyrics to 'Kassie Jones'
From: Brian Hoskin
Date: 22 Apr 99 - 03:17 AM

Rich r, quite right about the water / watch - that was just a typo.

Yes, 'easeman' makes more sense than 'eastman', but it's difficult to tell with Lewis - he actually sings 'eas'man'

Sorry about that final verse to part one; I scribble the verses down onto paper before typing them up - the last verse was on the other side of the paper, and I missed it!

Brian

Subject: RE: Lyrics to 'Kassie Jones'
From: tomtom
Date: 22 Apr 99 - 05:13 PM

Thanks everybody for all the info and lyrics, especially Brian. It must have been a pain in the neck to write out all those lyrics. Thanks a million.

Does anyone know the Memphis Jug Band tune "On the Road Again." It also contains the line "Natural-born Eas?man on the road again." It's difficult to hear what they're singing, too.

Subject: RE: Lyrics to 'Kassie Jones'
From: GUEST,Gail Zinberg
Date: 16 Apr 00 - 11:13 PM

Thanks too for the lyrics. Actually, Rory Block does a great version of this tune.

Subject: RE: Lyrics to 'Kassie Jones'
From: Stewie
Date: 17 Apr 00 - 07:02 PM

Brian, thanks for the lyrics - you certainly cleared up some indistinct phrases for me.

Rich r, in that Alice Fry verse, could he be singing 'I'm gonna ride with Mr Kassie 'fore I die'? Seems to be too many syllables there to be 'or die'.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Lyrics to 'Kassie Jones'
From: Brian Hoskin
Date: 18 Apr 00 - 08:28 AM

Stewie, I with you on the Alice Fry verse; I think he could be singing 'till I die' (but it might be 'fore I die').

Brian

Subject: Lyr Add: EASTMAN (from Howard Odum)
From: Brian Hoskin
Date: 10 Jan 03 - 07:14 AM

I'm resuurecting this thread because I've just found more information about the term 'eastman'. In a 1911 paper in Journal of American Fok-Lore, 'Negro Folk-Song and Folk-Poetry' Howard Odum writes about a song entitled 'Eastman':

"The negroes have appropriate names for many of their typical characters, the meaning of which is difficult to eplain. "Eastman," "rounder," "creeper," and other characters, have their own peculiar characteristics. THe "rounder" is more than the idle character. He becomes the meddler in the home. The "Eastman" is kept fat by the women among whom he is universally a favorite. The "creeper" watches his chance to get admittance into a home, unknown to the husband. The "Natu'al-bohn Eastman" gives a view of his opinion of himself, with adopted forms of burlesque.

I went down to New Orleans
To buy my wife a sewin'-machine,
The needle broke and she couldn't sew,
I'm a natu'al-ohn Eastman, for she tole me so.

I'm a Eastman, how do you know?
I'm a natu'al-bohn Eastman, for she tole me so.

Well, they call me a Eastman if I walk around,
They call me a Eastman if I leave the town,
I got it writ on the tail o' my shirt,
I'm a natu'al-bohn Eastman, don't have to work.

Oh, I'm a Eastman on the road again,
For I'm an Eastman on the road again.

Wake-up, ole rounder, it's time to go,
I think I heard dat whistle blow,
You step out, let work-ox step in,
You're a natu'al-bohn Eastman, you k'n come agin.

Carry me down to the station-house do',
Find nuther Eastman an' let me know.

Wake-up, ole rounder, you sleep too late,
Money-makin' man done pass yo' gate,
You step out, let money-makin' man step in,
You a natu'al-bohn Eastman, you can come agin."

Subject: RE: Lyrics to 'Kassie Jones'
From: Charley Noble
Date: 10 Jan 03 - 07:28 PM

Nice catch, Brian!

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kassie Jones
From: GUEST,Eastman from Memphis
Date: 27 Dec 07 - 06:26 PM

My father was the Eastman in the song.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kassie Jones (Furry Lewis)
From: GUEST,laserbyrne
Date: 09 Jun 08 - 04:40 PM

I'm in a band with a lawyer, who thinks that 'Easeman" comes from "easment," a term that describes the right of way a public or private road, or a railroad has over another's property. He believes it's a metaphor for a man who had right of way to another man's woman. With said woman might come corn bread, chicken, dumplings, biscuits, gravy, and all manner of good things.
Growing up in Woodhaven, NY, we had our backyard cut short by a tiny road, four yards long, to our next door neighbor's garage. That structure was ancient. If it had ever collapsed, we were then permitted to extend our fence, and cut off his access across our property. But so long as the garage was functional, we couldn't do it.
Every time there ws a big storm, my father would look out the back window, hoping to see that ricety old pile fall to pieces. Sadly for him, it never happened while he lived.
That was one of his experiences of having the blues, I guess. He'd got them mean, old, no-garage-collapsing blues.

Subject: RE: furry lewis and
From: GUEST,lonnyguitar
Date: 07 Mar 11 - 03:07 PM

I recently bought the anthology. I can't stop listening to Kassie Jones. Can't get all the words tho.

---

Furry Lewis, Kassie Jones: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utammENmG18

Subject: RE: ADD: Kassie Jones (Furry Lewis)-about Casey Jones
From: GUEST,Joseph Scott
Date: 26 Sep 17 - 09:32 PM

"Had it written in the back of my shirt.
Natural born Eastmen don't have to work."

https://iiif.lib.harvard.edu/manifests/view/drs:22924545$34i

Subject: RE: ADD: Kassie Jones (Furry Lewis)-about Casey Jones
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 27 Sep 17 - 08:45 AM

I llike the recording by the Australian band, the Ten Cent Shooters.

Subject: Lyr Add: KASSIE JONES (Furry Lewis)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 27 Oct 17 - 02:59 PM

Furry Lewis must have recorded this song more than once, because I found (via Spotify) a recording that definitely doesn't match the lyrics already posted in this thread.


KASSIE JONES (CASEY JONES)
As recorded by Furry Lewis on "Furry Lewis" (Folkways Records, 1960; Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, 2004)*

Mrs. Kassie said she dreamt a dream
The night she bought her sewin' machine.
Her needle got broke; she could not sew.
She loved Mister Kassie 'cause she told me so,
Told me so.
She loved Mister Kassie 'cause she told me so.

When Mister Kassie walked out to Nelson Lane,
There were two policemen want to learn his name.
They taken Mister Kassie to the station house.
He's a natural born rounder and they turned him out,
Turned him out.
He's a natural born rounder and they--

I sold my gin; I sold it straight.
The pòlice run me to my woman's gate.
She come to the door; she nod her head.
She said: "Furry, you're welcome to my foldin' bed,
My foldin' bed.
Well, you welcome to my foldin' bed."

Lord, people say: "Kassie, you runnin' overtime.
You gon' have ano'er collusion** with that One-Oh-Nine."
Kassie said this ain't in his mind.
"I will run it in glory 'less I make my time."
Told all the pass'gers: "Better keep y'self hid,
'Cause we gon' shake it like Chaney did,
Like Chaney did.
Lord, we gon' shake it like Chaney did."

When the conductor he holler: "Hello,"
The fireman he holler: "All aboa'd!"
The people tell by the th'ottle moan
The man at the th'ottle Mister Kassie Jones,
Lord, Kassie Jones.

When Kassie come one mornin' 'round the rail,
He said to the people: "I never see you fail.
I'm goin' down 'on' hit this trail,
'Cause I'm eight hours late with this big black trail.
I'm on the road again,
Lord, eight hours late with this big black trail."

On the road again.


* It is also on "Classic Railroad Songs from Smithsonian Folkways" (2006).
** No doubt he meant "collision" but his pronunciation sounds like "collusion."
By the way, although spelling in the title is given as "Kassie," he consistently pronounces it "Casey."