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25 Nov 98 - 03:23 AM (#46735) Subject: Lyr Add: CHICKEN, YOU CAN ROOST BEHIND THE MOON^^ From: murray@mpce.mq.edu.au I am trying to figure out the lyrics for two Frank Stokes Songs. The first is called "Chicken You Can Roost Behind the Moon". It goes something like: (Says)Boy, did you ever do anything like steal a chicken? CHORUS I got to thinkin' about chicken late last night CHORUS (Half speaking) Oh, that chicken made me awful mad the other night, man CHO Now the Police arrest me last Friday night CH0 The other one is called "Thou Shall". I can't make enough out of it to give a skeleton like the last one. I would like to hear any corrections to the lyrics I have and see the xxxx's filled in Thanks, Murray |
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25 Nov 98 - 10:52 AM (#46759) Subject: Lyr Add: YOU SHALL^^ From: Earl Murray, I am a big Frank Stokes fan. "Chicken You Can Roost Behind the Moon" is a great song but it is hard to make out what he is saying. I have also been tying to ge the words. Here it is the way I hear it. Still some blanks though.
(Says)Boy, did you ever do anything like steal a chicken?
CHORUS
I got to thinkin' about chicken late the other night
CHORUS
(Half speaking) Oh, that chicken made me awful mad the other night, man
CHO
Now the Police arrest me last Friday night
CH0
I had better luck with "Thou Shall" (called "You Shall" on the recording I have.) You Shall
Well its our father who art in heaven
Now well some folks said that a preacher wouldn't steal
Well see that preacher layin behind a log
When I bust loose in Memphis, Tennessee
Hey Mona |
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25 Nov 98 - 09:05 PM (#46822) Subject: RE: Lyrics for two Frank Stokes Songs From: murray@mpce.mq.edu.au Thanks Earl.
I think Stokes is a real sleeper. I can see the influences in John Hurt's playing and (don't laugh) Chubby Checker's "Lets Twist Again Like We Did Last Summer". You have given me a good start. Your interpretation is much better than mine. I will listen again with that in mind and see if I can get anymore. By the way. Has anyone made transcriptions of his guitar accompaniment? I know Stefan Grossman has one for "It Won't Be Long Now", because I have a copy. Murray |
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28 Nov 98 - 12:39 AM (#47045) Subject: RE: Lyrics for two Frank Stokes Songs From: murray@mpce.mq.edu.au Earl, I might have filled in a few blanks. In the first verse below I just filled in a few words after "I once stole". The next one I think is now complete. Let me know what you think (Half speaking) Oh, that chicken made me awful mad the other night, man Now the Police arrest me last Friday night Murray |
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28 Nov 98 - 02:59 PM (#47091) Subject: RE: Lyrics for two Frank Stokes Songs From: Earl Murray, I think you have the last verse perfect. I have been listening too and I can add a little bit. Here is some more of line 5 of the first verse: "I grabbed a big xxxx stuck'em under my arm" Another idea for the second verse, line 7 is: "I won't steal meat and bread from out of xxxx" Still some missing nouns but not enough to keep me from singing the song. It may be time to apply the folk process. |
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28 Nov 98 - 08:37 PM (#47115) Subject: RE: Lyrics for two Frank Stokes Songs From: murray@mpce.mq.edu.au I will pick a little nit, Earl. I think the phrase in the last verse should be "L&N track" rather than "L&N line". Also in the earlier verse the line: Murray |
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16 Mar 02 - 11:47 AM (#670216) Subject: RE: Lyrics for two Frank Stokes Songs From: GUEST,Gene Have a recording of that by Grandpa Jones, if anybody wants to hear it...
PM GENE for MP3 or RealAudio--- |
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12 Sep 04 - 03:42 PM (#1270218) Subject: RE: Lyrics for two Frank Stokes Songs From: GLoux Grandpa Jones' Chicken Don't Roost Too High is not the same song as Frank Stokes' song. Has anyone else tried to decipher the words to the Frank Stokes' song? If so, please post 'em. What is above in this thread is good but those XXXXXXX's are hard to get through... -Greg |
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13 Sep 04 - 04:40 AM (#1270880) Subject: RE: Lyrics for two Frank Stokes Songs From: GUEST,Hootenanny Once again away from home and relying on my memory. I believe that Bill Williams of Greenup, Kentucky recorded a version of this on one of his two albums on the Blue Goose label. Diction and recording quality might be easier there but of course there's the old folk process which probably means the words are not identical anyway. Bill was another fingerstyle picker worth listening to if you are not already familiar with him. |
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13 Sep 04 - 02:23 PM (#1271311) Subject: RE: Lyrics for two Frank Stokes Songs From: GUEST I'm not familiar with Bill Williams, but will keep on the lookout for him, thanks. I have a recent recording of the song by a group from Virginia, Faster Than Walking. The CD is entitled Eighth of January. The recording project was to capture the essence of Gary Hawk's singing and playing with his string band friends after he was diagnosed with some life threatening disease (not specified). He has since passed away and the CD was released one year after the last time they all played together, the Eighth of January 2002. The first cut on the CD is "The Chicken Song" which is a upbeat, fun version of the Frank Stokes Chicken... song, and the words are not easy to decipher and I want to learn them. They are loosely based on the Frank Stokes' original, but there are lots of changes, and a whole new verse, so maybe the Bill Williams is quite relevant!!! I have asked Joe Mead, the fiddler of the group whom I see each year at Clifftop, if he could provide the words that Gary sang, and he said that he would try, but since then, I've found this wonderful thread, and the best help I've found yet. It sure would be nice to find an MP3 of the Bill Williams version... Thanks, -Greg |
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13 Sep 04 - 04:25 PM (#1271335) Subject: RE: Lyrics for two Frank Stokes Songs From: GUEST,GLoux That last post was me...I must recookify myself... -Greg |
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15 Sep 04 - 08:15 AM (#1272261) Subject: RE: Lyrics for two Frank Stokes Songs From: GLoux I googled and found a site with Bill William's version of the Chicken Roost song . He changed a lot of the words, and unfortunately it's no help in deciphering the Faster Than Walking version. I appreciate the pointer, though. -Greg |
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17 Sep 04 - 09:35 AM (#1274030) Subject: RE: Lyrics for two Frank Stokes Songs From: GLoux A non-Mudcat friend told me that she thinks the Red Mountain White Trash recorded a version of the Chicken Song. -Greg |
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24 Sep 04 - 09:57 AM (#1279939) Subject: RE: Lyrics for two Frank Stokes Songs From: GUEST,Phil Gary was great at filling in the gaps--no point in looking for his version of the words, they were his own. He was great. The Red Mountain White Trash tune is different. It is called They Don't Roost too High For Me (sometimes called "Chickens don't...) It is a fiddle tune from a 1920s 78 by Earl Johnson and His Dixie Entertainers--an unrelated tune. I have not heard the RMWT recording, but I know the Johnson Tune and I suspect that is what it is. Phil |
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22 Jul 10 - 10:58 PM (#2950343) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: two Frank Stokes Songs From: Jim Dixon You can hear Frank Stokes' recording of CHICKEN YOU CAN ROOST BEHIND THE MOON by going to this page and clicking on the song title. (It doesn't look like a link.) |
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25 Jul 10 - 11:54 PM (#2952215) Subject: Lyr Add: CHICKEN YOU CAN ROOST BEHIND THE MOON From: Jim Dixon I have listened to the recording several times, and read the previous comments, and this is my best attempt at a transcription. There are still several questionable words—see my notes at the end. In the chorus, the words in brackets are the ones he inserts sometimes, and omits sometimes. CHICKEN YOU CAN ROOST BEHIND THE MOON Frank Stokes/Beale Street Sheiks Boy, d'you ever do anything like stealin' chickens? CHORUS: Now [it's] chicken, chicken, oh, chicken, You may go up in a balloon. [Doggone ya!] Chicken, [chicken,] you may hide behind the moon. [Doggone ya!/Confound ya!] [Now] chicken, I never let a fowl be. Ten thousand dollar 'ward for the [or "furthest"?] fowl on earth, He don't roost too high for me. 1. I got to thinkin' 'bout chicken late the other night. Man, I couldn't hardly rest. I jumped out o' bed, grabbed up my own shoes, Thought o' where some chicken was at. I grabbed big -------, stuck 'im under my arm, Some'n' I never let fall. I don't think I robbed your hen house Till I get the roost', poor chicken an' all. CHORUS 2. Oh, that chicken made me awful mad the other night, man. That's some'n' I didn't like to take. I grabbed my little haversack down 'cross my back, Grabbed the chicken right by the neck. Said, I turned around, quick as I could, A chicken all way up there. I won't steal meat right out of confinement(?) I'll steal a chicken from anywhere. CHORUS 3. That police 'rest me last Friday night. You couldn't think of what 'twas about. I'm goin' down the alley where I lived at, A lot o' chicken tied in my house. Say, you may carr' me to pen'tent'ry wall. I'd go to work out my time. Just as quick as you put me on the L&N track, I'll have chickens on my mind. CHORUS * * * Chorus line 5: I think the word is "'ward" meaning "reward" Verse 1 line 5: I think he's referring to some kind of equipment he uses for stealing chickens, maybe something he would personify by giving it a nickname, as a man might call his gun "Old Bertha." But he wouldn't take a gun, would he? Verse 2 line 7: "Confinement" is just a guess; I still don't think it's right. |
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25 Aug 11 - 11:16 PM (#3212860) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: two Frank Stokes Songs From: GUEST,chicken? did anyone ever figure out the lyrics completely? |
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07 Apr 17 - 07:22 PM (#3849366) Subject: Lyr Add: CHICKEN DON'T ROOST TOO HIGH (Jones) From: Jim Dixon Here's the Grandpa Jones version. He recorded it at least twice, one of them in 1950. Of the two I listened to on Spotify, I'm not sure which is older, but it hardly matters; the lyrics are nearly identical. I enclosed in brackets the words that are omitted in one or the other recording. CHICKEN DON'T ROOST TOO HIGH As recorded by Grandpa Jones, 1950+? 1. [Well, I] done a little somethin' the other night that I never have done before. [I'm] gonna do it again tonight and the people they'll be sore. With a great big knapsack on my back, I'm a-goin' out to make a steal [or "kill"]. I'll get that sack full o' dandy chicks and you know just how I'll feel. CHORUS: [Oh,] chicken, [oh,] chicken, you [can] go up in a balloon. Chicken, oh, chicken, [well,] you roost behind the moon. Chicken, oh, chicken, I will never let you be. A hundred-dollar bill for the chicken that will roost too high for me. 2. Chicken, you call me a stealin' man; [well,] you know I don't like that. Pick up a stick an' knock him over, well, he wasn't very fat. Now he's got a older brother, one o' them old shanghais. I'll meet him on the chicken roost tomorrow night, case he don't roost too high. 3. [Now,] chicken, it won't do you no good to go up in a aeroplane, [And] sail around by the light o' the moon with your head tucked in your wing. You might as well stay on the ground, ['cause] I'll get you by and by. I'll have you in my sack by dawn if you're big enough to fry. |
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08 Apr 17 - 03:58 PM (#3849512) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: two Frank Stokes Songs From: GUEST,Frank Scott According to Bob McLeod's book of blues lyrics of songs from Yazoo 1021 through 1083 the lyric is as follows. I haven't checked it against the record myself but McLeod's books were compiled with the assistance of leading blues researchers so is probably pretty close. (Wise guys don't do anythin' like stealin' chickens . ) And now chicken, chicken, oh, chicken, you may go up in a balloon. But chicken, chlcken, you may hide behind the moon, doggone you , Now chicken, I never let a fowl be. Ten thousand dollars reward for the fowl on earth, He don't roost too high for me I got to thlnkln' about chicken late the other night, Man, I couldn't hardly rest. I jumped out of bed, grabbed up my old shoes Goln' to where those chickens was at. I grabbed the bird, boys, stuck him under my arm, Somethin' I'd never let fall, I don't think I'll rob your henhouse, Till I get your roost full of chicken and all But now It's chicken, oh, chlcken, oh, you may go up in a balloon, doggone you, Chicken, oh, you may hide behind the moon, doggone you now, Chicken, I never let a fowl be. Ten thousand dollars reward forp the fowl on earth, He don't roost too high for me Why, that chlcken made me awful mad the other ntght, man, That's somethln' I didn't like to take. I grabbed my litt1e haversack, hung down 'cross my back, Grabbed' the chicken rlght by the neck. Sald I turned around, quick as I could, A chicken hauled away, do declare, I won't steal meat and bread out a coon's front door, Steal a chicken from anywhere And now It's chicken, now, chicken, go up In a balloon, doggone you, Chicken, Oh, you may hide behind the moon. Chicken, I never let a fowl be A ten thousand dollar reward for the fowl on earth, He don't roost too high for me. Ah, that pollce arrest me last Friday nlght, You couldn't think of what's it all about., I 'm goln' down the alley where I lived at, A lot of chickens tied in my house. Say you may carry me to the penitentiary wall, I'll go to work out my time. And just as qulck as you put me on the L & N track, I'll have chickens on my mind. Now It's chicken, says, chicken, oh, chicken, you may go up In a balloon, doggone you, Chlcken, you may hide behind the moon. Now, chicken, I never let a fowl be. Ten thousand dollars reward for the fowl on earth, He don't roost too high for me. |