Lyr Req: Got No Silver nor Gold Blues

Subject: Lyr Req: Got No Silver nor Gold Blues
From: GUEST,Eli
Date: 28 Jul 04 - 10:18 PM

I would apprecite any help with the words to the Uncle Dave Macon song "Got No Silver nor Gold Blues". Mike Seeger also did this on his "Southern Banjo Sounds" CD.

TIA

Eli

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Got No Silver nor Gold Blues
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 28 Jul 04 - 10:52 PM

I've got no silver and I've got no gold,
I'm almost naked and it done turned cold.

Lines from "All In and Down and Out Blues." It's in the DT.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Got No Silver nor Gold Blues
From: GUEST
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 12:46 AM

ALL IN AND DOWN AND OUT BLUES

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Got No Silver nor Gold Blues
From: GUEST
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 05:30 PM

Thanks Q - but this is not the same song that Seeger is singing. It does have that one verse, but the rest are different. I think I have figured it all out except the third verse. Anyone else want to take a shot?

Eli

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Got No Silver nor Gold Blues
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 30 Jul 04 - 10:24 PM

I found a sound sample of Mike Seeger's recording at allmusic, but I too found it hard to understand:

...Tennessee.
If you don't like my peaches, don't shake my tree.

Oh, that way ... it won't do.
See what ... has brought you to.

Subject: Lyr Add: GOT NO SILVER NOR GOLD BLUES
From: GUEST,Eli
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 12:45 PM

With y'alls help, here is what I have figured out so far:

Got no silver and I've got no gold
Almost naked and it's done turned cold.

My name is Uncle Jerry, I'm from Tennessee
Don't like my peaches, don't shake my tree.

Oh that'a way bullying it'a won't do
See what bullying has brought to you.

If you don't believe that old bully is dead
Look, at the hole in the bully's head.

There's one in his head and two in his side
Now you can see how that bully died.

That old graveyard is a devil of a place
Now you're on your back, I'll throw dirt in your face.

I laid my head upon the railroad track
I love my Donie so I pulled it back.

Got no silver and I've got no gold
Almost naked and it's done turned cold.

Subject: Lyr Req: GOT NO SILVER NOR NO GOLD BLUES (D Macon)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 25 Sep 14 - 07:23 PM

I find this recording interesting because it includes perhaps the earliest example I know of, of eephing. See the thread Eephing (type of vocal technique or 'mouth music'):


GOT NO SILVER NOR NO GOLD BLUES
As sung by Uncle Dave Macon, 1927.

Lord, I got no silver; Lord, I got no gold:
Almost nekkid and it done turned cold.

I laid my head upon the railroad track,
Thought of my doney and I pulled it back.

Well, that old graveyard's a terr'ble old place.
Lay you on your back and throw dirt in your face.

Oh, that-a-way a-bullyin', it won't do.
See what bullyin' has brought you to.

If you don't believe that bully is dead,
Look what a hole in the bully's head.

Oh, one in his head, Lord, two in his thigh:
That(?) is the way that bully died.

My name is Uncle Davey from Tennessee.
If you don't like my peaches, don't shake my tree.

Oh, you eat the beefsteak; I eat the liver.
... eats gizzard over ... River

Oh, come on [eephing]
Come on [eephing]

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Got No Silver nor Gold Blues
From: cnd
Date: 06 Oct 22 - 09:47 AM

A post I can no longer find in a FaceBook group dedicated to old time music brought this song to my attention the other day. They were asking about the origins of the song.

At the moment, the only way I can find to listen to the song is if you own a physical copy, or own one of the few compilation albums it was re-released on, except for the following link from "Boomplay." I've never heard of the site, but it seemed to work fine for me. See https://www.boomplay.com/songs/79071258. The song was at one point on Spotify, but has since been removed.

I don't disagree with any of Jim's lyrics above, including the "That is the way that bully died" which he was unsure about. The lines Jim couldn't get I believe go:

Oh, you eat the beefsteak; I eat the liver.
Come eat g[r]izzard o' [on] the Cumberland River

Macon recorded this song on May 10th, 1927 in New York, NY.

At first glance, it seems to me that, like many of Dave's songs, this was just a collection of floating verses he strung to a semi-cohesive tune, but some of the lines are hard to come by.

The first stanza is most well-known from another Dave Macon song referenced above, "All In and Down and Out Blues". That song was recorded in Charlotte in 1937 (Uncle Dave Macon: A Study in Repertoire by Michael Yates states the song was recorded in 1926, however this is a perpetuation of a typo on his source, Disc 4 of Classic Sides 1924-1938 - JSP Records JSP7729). I have struggled to find an earlier song or text the line could come from.

The next stanza is another one obfuscated by more popular songs which came out later. The earliest text I could find came Staunton, Virginia's Evening Leader of May 21st, 1927 (a couple of weeks after Macon's recording session), in a joke news section called The Latch String, where the author wrote: "The Latch String will publish your favorite poem if it does not exceed two lines. The one below is dedicated to J. Emmett Wilson: I laid my head on the railroad track, / Thought about my baby and I drug it back." (source)

The third stanza's lines about the graveyard have appeared in numerous songs (including a number of children's rhymes), but an earlier recording which contains it is Undertaker's Blues, recorded November 21st, 1924 by Rosa Henderson.

I'll leave the rest of the lines for later, or for someone else to chew on for a bit.