Bob Dylan (Live 1961) - Fixin' To Die

Bob Dylan singing 'Fixin' To Die' at the Carnegie Recital Hall on November 4th 1961

Feeling funny in my mind, Lord,
I believe I'm fixing to die, fixing to die
Feeling funny in my mind, Lord
I believe I'm fixing to die
Well, I don't mind dying
But I hate to leave my children crying
Well, I look over yonder to that burying ground
Look over yonder to that burying ground
Sure seems lonesome, Lord, when the sun goes down

Feeling funny in my eyes, Lord,
I believe I'm fixing to die, fixing to die
Feeling funny in my eyes, Lord
I believe I'm fixing to die
Well, I don't mind dying but
I hate to leave my children crying
There's a black smoke rising, Lord
It's rising up above my head, up above my head
It's rising up above my head, up above my head
And tell Jesus make up my dying bed.

I'm walking kind of funny, Lord
I believe I'm fixing to die, fixing to die
Yes I'm walking kind of funny, Lord
I believe I'm fixing to die
Fixing to die, fixing to die
Well, I don't mind dying
But I hate to leave my children crying.

Willie Dixon: You Shook Me

You Shook Me 4:18 Trk 6
(Willie Dixon)
Willie Dixon
Album: 'Willie Dixon I Am The Blues'
Chess Records 1970, reissue
Originally produced by Abner - Spector
Columbia Legacy CK 53627 ('360 Sound')
Willie Dixon - vocal w/Chicago All-stars:
Johnny Shines - guitar, Walter 'Shakey' Horton - harmonica
Sunnyland Slim, Lafayette Leake - piano
and Clifton James - drums
Transcriber: Awcantor@aol.com



You know you shook me
You shook me all night long
(You wouldn't turn me loose)
Whoa, you shook me, pretty mama
You shook me all night long
(Couldn't rest a bit)
Whoa, you just crept on me, shakin' me, baby
Whoa-oh, you done messed up my happy home

You know, ya move me, baby
Just like a hurricaine
(Boy, an that's a strong wind)
Whoa, you move me, pretty mama
You know, you move me
Just like a hurricaine
(Didn't have a chance)
Ooh, you move me, pretty mama
Just like a earthquake can move the land
(Boy, she shook me all over)

(harmonica & instrumental)

'Have Mercy On Me!'

Sometimes I wonder-ooo
What's gonna happen
To my po' wife and child?
Lord, sometimes I wonder-ooo
What's gonna happen
To my po' wife and child?
Now baby, you done made me love you-ooo
Lord, I just can't be satisfied

You know ya shook me
You shook me all night long
You know you shook me, mama
(Wouldn't even stop)
You shook me all night long
You know you kept on shakin' me, darlin'
Lord, you done messed up my happy home.

Willie Dixon: I'm Nervous

When my b-b-baby calls me d-d-daddy
And she c-c-call me real slow-sh
I a-ask her what she want
And she says ' I-I don't kn-know'
I get nervous
M-m-man. I get nervous
I'm a n-n-nervous man
And I t-t-tremble all in my b-b-bones

A-when she take me in her arms
And she squeeze, squeeze me tight
Start to sh-shakin' in her voice
And she say, 'Ev'ry-th-thing's alright'
I get the n-nervous man
Man, I-I-I get nervous
I'm a n-n-nervous man
And I t-t-tremble all in my b-b-bones

(guitar & instrumental)

Now, a-when my b-b-baby
K-k-kiss me, f-f-f-feel like-a
L-l-l-lightnin' hit my b-b-brains
My heart b-b-beat like thunder
And she call me's baby names
I get-a n-n-n-nervous
M-man, I-I get nervous
I'm a n-n-nervous m-m-man
And I t-t-tremble all in my bones.

Howlin Wolf: Spoonful

It could be a
spoonful
of diamonds
Could be a spoonful of gold
Just a little spoon of your precious love
Satisfies my soul
Men lies about little
Some of them cries about little
Some of them dies about little
Everything fight about little spoonful
That spoon, that spoon, that spoonful
It could be a spoonful of coffee
Could be a spoonful of tea
But a little spoon of your precious love
Good enough for me
Men lies about that
Some of them dies about that
Some of them cries about that
But everything fight about that spoonful
That spoon, that spoon, that spoonful
It could be a spoonful of water
Saved from the deserts sand
But one spoon of them fortifies
Save you from another man
Men lies about that
Some of them cries about that
Some of them dies about that
Everybody fightin' about that spoonful
That spoon, that spoon, that spoonful

KOKO TAYLOR / IRMA THOMAS / RUTH BROWN / B.B.KING

Koko Taylor - Ernestine

Ernestine, you'd better leave my man alone, ernestine, because of you i can't go on,
I told you for the last time,
To find you a man of you own.

Ernestine,what you doing,you know it ain't right,
Ernestine,when you play,it make me wanna fight,
Girl you playin with danger,
And girl, this might take, it might.

Chorus
Riff/ i warned yo/u once
Riff/ girl without a/ doubt
Riff/ 2 strikes yo/u lose
Riff/ third strike you'/re out
Riff/ like a base/ball game
Riff/ you dancin wi/th a slugger
Riff/ i hit a grand/ slam,
Cause i'm a bad mmam duck

Ernestine, you'd better leave my man alone
I told you for the last time,
To find you a man of your own.

Solo (like vs)

Ernestine, you playin with fire, you know you'll burn
Ernestine,i know, where you come from
You refuse to listen,
But you ain't in the right school to learn.

Chorus

Ernestine,you'd better leave my man alone,
I told you for the last time, to find/ you a man of you own.

Koko Taylor: nothing take the place of you

I moved your pictures from my wall and I replaced them with large and small
And each new day finds me so blue nothing takes the place of you
I read your letters one by one and I still love you when it's all said and done
And oh my darling I'm so blue cause nothing oh nothing takes the place of you
Find More lyrics at www.sweetslyrics.com
As I write this letter it's raining on my window pane
And I feel the need of you cause without you nothing seems the same
So I'll wait till you're home again I love you but I'm all alone
And oh my darling I'm so blue cause nothing oh nothing takes the place of you
As I write this letter...

Koko Taylor & Willie Dixon - Insane Asylum

(Dixon, sp.:)
I went out to the insane asylum
And I found my baby out there
I said please come back to me darlin'
What in the world are you doin' here?
Then the little girl raised up her head
Tears was streamin' down from her eyes
And these are the things
That the little girl said

(sung:)
When your love has ceased to be (Lord, have mercy)
There's no other place for me (Mmmm)
If you don't hold me in your arms (Oh child oh child)
I'd rather be here from now on
Some people have an halfway fare
Without your love I ain't nowhere
Oh I can't eat and I can't sleep (oh child oh child)
Lord I can't even live in peace (Mmmm)
Please take me baby for your slave (Oooh)
And save me from that early grave
Some people have an halfway fare
Without your love I ain't nowhere

(Dixon, sp.:)
And then sorrow struck my heart
Tears began to stream down from my eyes
The only woman that I ever loved in whole my life
Out here in a place in a condition like this
And I began to thinkin' about what my mama told me when I was a little boy
She told me when I couldn't help myself, to get down on my knees and pray
Then I fell down on my knees
And these are the words that I said

(sung, both)
Save me save me save me babe,
Save me save me save me dear,
Whoa I don't know just how we made it
But I'm so glad our love is here
But I'm so glad our love is here
But I'm so glad our love is here...

Koko Taylor & Little Walter - Wang Dang Doodle

Wang Dang Doodle
Howlin' Wolf, Koko Taylor

Tell Automatic Slim , tell Razor Totin' Jim
Tell Butcher Knife Totin' Annie, tell Fast Talking Fanny
A we gonna pitch a ball, a down to that union hall
We gonna romp and tromp till midnight
We gonna fuss and fight till daylight
We gonna pitch a wang dang doodle all night long
All night long, All night long, All night long

Tell Kudu-Crawlin' Red, tell Abyssinian Ned
Tell ol' Pistol Pete, everybody gonna meet
Tonight we need no rest, we really gonna throw a mess
We gonna to break out all of the windows,
we gonna kick down all the doors
We gonna pitch a wang dang doodle all night long
All night long, All night long, All night long

Tell Fats and Washboard Sam, that everybody gonna to jam
Tell Shaky and Boxcar Joe, we got sawdust on the floor
Tell Peg and Caroline Dye, we gonna have a time
When the fish scent fill the air, there'll be snuff juice everywhere
We gonna pitch a wang dang doodle all night long
All night long, All night long etc.

by Willie Dixon

Howlin- Wolf - Little Red Rooster

The Red Rooster
Howling Wolf
I have a little red rooster, too lazy to crow for day
I have a little red rooster, too lazy to crow for day
Keep everything in the barnyard, upset in every way

Oh the dogs begin to bark,
and the hound begin to howl
Oh the dogs begin to bark, hound begin to howl
Ooh watch out strange kind people,
Cause little red rooster is on the prowl

If you see my little red rooster, please drag him home
If you see my little red rooster, please drag him home
There ain't no peace in the barnyard,
Since the little red rooster been gone

Willie Dixon

I Just Want To Make Love To You

I Just Want To Make Love To You
Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon
I don't want you to be no slave
I don't want you to work all day
I don't want you to be true
I just want to make love to you

I don't want you to wash my clothes
I don't want you to keep my home
I don't want your money too
I just want to make love to you

Well I can see by the way that you switch and walk
And I can tell by the way that you baby talk
And I know by the way that you treat your man
I wanna love you baby, it's a cryin' shame

I don't want you to bake my bread
I don't want you to make my bed
I don't want you cause I'm sad and blue
I just want to make love to you

by Willie Dixon

Buffy Sainte Marie - "The Big Ones Get Away"

Hey, Baby I just got back from town
Where the bribes are paid
Honey, they turned my offer down
They say the deal's already made
So now I gotta stand and watch
While it all comes down
And the buzzards and the hawks
And the judges and the mob
Circle round

Now if I were the queen of all the world
I would go in chains just to see you free
Of the ropes that bind you
And the role you play
And the pride that hooks you
While the big ones get away

Love junkies wanna change the world:
It quickly stays the same
Money junkies hire all the smart ones
Power junkies run the game

One step at a time
Polarity Hill
If the bad guys don't get you, baby
Then the good guys will
With angels on the take
And the gangsters in the yard
Hey don't the wars come easy
Hey don't the peace come hard

Now if I had a way to reach the sky
I'd grab that crescent moon
Wield it like a knife
Save you from the lies
From the ropes that bind you
And the role you play
And the game that hooks you
While the big ones get away

Buffy Sainte Marie: The Circle Game

Yesterday a child came out to wonder
Caught a dragonfly inside a jar
Fearful when the sky was full of thunder
And tearful at the falling of a star

Then the child moved ten times round the seasons
Skated over ten year frozen streams
Words like when youre older must appease him
And promises of someday make his dreams

And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
Were captive on the carousel of time
We cant return we can only look behind from where we came
And go round and round and round in the circle game

Sixteen springs and sixteen summers gone now
Cart wheels cross to car wheels through the town
And you tell him take your time it wont be long now
Till you drag your feet to slow those circles down

So the boy who dreamed tomorrow now is twenty
Though his dreams have lost some grandeur, coming true
Therell be new dreams maybe better dreams a plenty
Before the last revolving year is through

And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
Were captive on the carousel of time
We cant return we can only look behind from where we came
And go round and round and round in the circle again

Buffy Sainte-Marie - Men of the Fields

Buffy Sainte-Marie & Pete Seeger - Cindy

Buffy Sainte-Marie - Universal Soldier

He’s 5 foot 2 and he’s 6 feet 4
He fights with missiles and with spears
He’s all of 31 and he’s only 17.
He’s been a soldier for a thousand years

He’s a catholic, a Hindu, an atheist, a Jain
A Buddhist, and a Baptist and Jew.
And he knows he shouldn’t kill
And he knows he always will kill
You’ll for me my friend and me for you

And He’s fighting for Canada.
He’s fighting for France.
He’s fighting for the USA.
And he’s fighting for the Russians.
And he’s fighting for Japan
And he thinks we’ll put an end to war this way.

And He’s fighting for democracy,
He’s fighting for the reds
He says it’s for the peace of all.
He’s the one, who must decide,
who’s to live and who’s to die.
And he never sees the writing on the wall.

But without him,
how would Hitler have condemned him at Dachau?
Without him Caesar would have stood alone
He’s the one who gives his body
as a weapon of the war.
And without him all this killing can’t go on

He’s the universal soldier
And he really is the blame
His orders comes from
far away no more.

They come from him.
And you and me.
And brothers can’t you see.
This is not the way we put an end to war

BOB DYLAN & HELENA SPRINGS

If I Don't Be There By Morning
by Bob Dylan and Helena Springs

Blue sky upon the horizon,
Private eye is on my trail,
And if I don't be there by morning
You know that I must have spent the night in jail.


I've been running from Memphis to L. A.
Had an appointment set sometime for today,
And if I don't be there by morning
You know that I must have gone the other way.


Finding my way back to you girl,
Lonely and blue and mistreated too.
Sometimes I think of you girl,
Is it true that you think of me too?


I got a woman living in L. A.
I got a woman waiting for my pay,
And if I don't be there by morning,
Pack my clothes, get down on your knees and pray.


Chorus

I left my woman with a twenty dollar bill.
I left her waiting, I hope she's waiting for me still.
If I don't be there by morning
You know that I, I never will.

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WALK OUT IN THE RAIN - Eric Clapton
by Bob Dylan and Helena Springs

Walk out if it doesn't feel right,
I can tell you're only lying.
If you've got something better tonight
Then don't mess up my mind with your crying.

Just walk out in the rain,
Walk out with your dreams,
Walk out of my life if you don't feel right.
And catch the next train;
Oh, darling, walk out in the rain.

I have come from so far away
Just to put a ring on your finger.
If you've said all that you've got to say
Then please don't feel the need to linger.


Chorus

It's raining outside of the city;
My poor feet have walked till they're sore.
If you don't want my love, it's a pity.
I guess I can't see you no more.

Chorus

Out-take from "Street-Legal", recorded at Rundown Studios, Santa Monica, CA, 01 May 1978 - covered by Eric Clapton on his "Backless" (Uni/A&M, 1978) album along with IF I DON’T BE THERE BY MORNING (a picture of the album cover is on the "I" page). Lyrics on bobdylan.com A bluegrass version by Ronnie and Bob McCoury was released in 1995 on their album of the same name (Rounder Records CD-0353). The Groovie Ghoulies released a version in 1996 on their Lookout Records album "Born In The Basement" (this album also had a cover of Bob's film soundtrack song BAND OF THE HAND under the title HELL TIME! - see "Searching For A Gem", 1986). May 2001 saw two covers of this song released: a previously unreleased 1978 live recording by the Belgian singer Ann Christy on the BMG Germany release "May Your Song Always Be Sung Again: The Songs Of Bob Dylan Vol. 2", and a version by Kenny Neal on his Telarc album "One Step Closer".
Paul Cable reported in his book "Bob Dylan: His Unreleased Recordings" that a rough studio recording of Bob performing this song with Helena Springs was in circulation

-----------------------------------------------------

COMING FROM THE HEART
by Dylan and Helena Springs

We have got to come together
How long can we stay apart?
You may get it maybe never
But it's coming from the heart.

Your life is full of indecision
You can't make up your mind.
We must get it in position
And move it on down the line.

'Cause the road is long, it's a long hard climb
I been on that road too long of a time
Yes the road is long, and it winds and winds
When I think of the love that I left behind.

Make me up a bed of roses
And hang them down from the vine
Of all my loves you've been the closest
That's ever been on my mind.

Please don't talk about tomorrow
I'm really not one to care
This world is filled with too much sorrow
That nobody's heart should bear.

'Cause the road is long, it's a long hard climb
I been on that road too long of a time
Yes the road is long, and it winds and winds
When I think of the love that I left behind.

Please, please give me indication
Stop and talk to me
Like a river that is flowing
My love will never cease to be.

You will always be my honey
No one could take your part
Our love can't be bought with money
'Cause it's coming from the heart.

'Cause the road is long, it's a long hard climb
I been on that road too long of a time
Yes the road is long, and it winds and winds
When I think of the love that I left behind.

------------------------------------------------------------
RED HAIRED GIRL
Bob Dylan/Helena Springs, 1978

Otherwise unknown song title named by Helena Springs in an interview with Chris Cooper printed in "Wanted Man: In Search Of Bob Dylan" edited by John Bauldie (Black Spring Press, UK, 1990) - may be included on a demo tape by Helena Springs performing her joint compositions with Bob, no Dylan performance known
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
RESPONSIBILITY
Bob Dylan/Helena Springs, 1979

Recorded at Rundown Studios, Santa Monica, CA, October 1979, with vocal by Helena Springs

-----------------------------------------------------
PAIN AND LOVE
Bob Dylan/Helena Springs, 1978

Otherwise unknown song title named by Helena Springs in an interview with Chris Cooper printed in "Wanted Man: In Search Of Bob Dylan" edited by John Bauldie (Black Spring Press, UK, 1990) - may be included on a demo tape by Helena Springs performing her joint compositions with Bob, no Dylan performance known

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LOVE YOU TOO MUCH
Bob Dylan/Helena Springs, 1978

No known studio version - performed live on two occasions only, at Binghamton, NY, 24 Sep 1978, and at Madison Square Garden, New York, 29 Sep 1978. Also soundchecked but not performed at New Haven, CT, 17 Sep 1978. Greg Lake released a cover with amended lyrics on his 1981 UK "Greg" album, now available on CD on his compilation album "From The Beginning" (WEA/Atlantic/Rhino, USA, 1997). Another version by The Band is on their "High On The Hog" album (Pyramid/Rhino 72404, USA, 1996, reissued in 2006 as Titan/Pyramid 501042, USA). Lyrics of this song are in the book "Lyrics 1962-1985" although not on bobdylan.com. Also known as I MUST LOVE YOU TOO MUCH. Thanks to David Plentus and Jack from Canada for information and scans

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THE WANDERING KIND
Bob Dylan/Helena Springs, 1979

Recorded at Rundown Studios, Santa Monica, CA, October 1979, with vocal by Helena Springs - available officially as a cover by Paul Butterfield on his album "The Legendary Paul Butterfield Rides Again" (see top of this page), Amherst Records AMH 3305, 1986. Lyrics on bobdylan.com

Bob Dylan's Paintings On Exhibition

I HEAR THAT HE SINGS, TOO | November 8th 2007
Detail from "Train Tracks", Bob Dylan 2007, Black Buffalo Collection
A German art gallery in the town of Chemnitz mounts the first-ever exhibition of water-colour and gouache paintings by Bob Dylan. Cornelia Rudat throws the bums a dime, and goes to take a look ... Special to MORE INTELLIGENT LIFE
Chemnitz, of all places!

This little-known Saxon city, called Karl-Marx-Stadt in the communist era, has a miserable image as a poor, dilapidated, rustbelt town. Its population has shrunk from 330,000 to 240,000 since German unification. But in the arts world its fame is spreading. The beautiful KÜnig Albert Museum houses the Chemnitz City Art Gallery, where Ingrid MÜssinger, its clever director since 1996, has been very busy.

Since her arrival the gallery has had remarkable exhibitions of work by Pablo Picasso, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Edvard Munch and Henri Toulouse-Lautrec. The permanent collection includes 65,000 works of 20th-century art, including a large collection of paintings by Chemnitz-born Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, one of the founding members of the famous Brücke group, in 1905, which marked the beginning of German expressionism.

Last year MÜssinger came across Bob Dylan's 1965 album, "Bringing it All Back Home" (her first and--still--only Dylan album). She was touched, especially by the first song, "Subterranean Homesick Blues". "Someone who uses such metaphoric and abstract language might also be drawing", she explained to me. She searched for evidence in several Dylan biographies and was not at all surprised when she discovered "Drawn Blank", a book published by Random House in 1994, with 92 drawings and sketches Dylan made while on tour between 1989 and 1992. She finally got hold of a copy at the Morgan Library in New York.

Persuaded of Dylan's talent as a draftsman, MÜssinger wanted him to "eventually complete" his sketches--something he had indicated a desire to do in his book's preface. It took her a while to get hold of him, but once she did, she received a positive reply within two days. Dylan was inspired by her commitment. "I was fascinated to learn of Ingrid's interest in my work, and it gave me the impetus to realise the vision I had for these drawings many years ago. If not for this interest, I don't know if I even would have revisited them", the singer is quoted as saying in the museum's literature. Over eight months Dylan elaborated on his 322 works.

With the help of digital fine-art print, he enlarged 85 drawings and printed them on deckle-edged paper. He produced three or four variations of a single motif by adding water colours or gouache and sometimes repainted one or two details. MÜssinger chose 140 paintings (all titled and signed by the artist) for her show and 170 for the catalogue, available in German and English.


The exhibition's audio guide is available in German only. But even without a guide, the real Dylan fan is going to find songs (or lines from them) visualised in this or that painting. Take a long look at "Woman in Red Lion Pub", for instance, probably the show's highlight, and songs including "Visions of Johanna" and "Just Like a Woman" from "Blonde on Blonde" (1966) are bound to cross your mind. Or did Dylan think of "Sara" (from "Desire", 1976) when he painted this erotic woman?

Art critics have been quick to see the influence of German expressionists, especially Kirchner and Max Beckmann, in the bright colours and the bold, dark contours. Three variations of "Corner Flat" depict three different men of different ages in the same environment. They all look sad and introverted, and they don't seem to notice what's going on outside the (hotel?) room. Are they a metaphor for Dylan's "lonesome hobo" on "John Wesley Harding" (1967)?

The exhibition ends with three variations of "Train Tracks" (pictured at the top of this page), whichtrail away to the horizon, like the trains and journeys running through so many ofDylan's lyrics.


Overall, Dylan's portraits and nudes seem clear and calm, but his interiors and landscapes often radiate a certain chaos and restlessness. He's got the measure of other people, it's the universe that worries him. That fits with the musician whose most evocative lyric is still probably this one:

"How does it feel
To be without a home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?"


("The Drawn Blank Series" until March 24th 2008 at Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, Theaterplatz 1, 09111 Chemnitz. Tel.: +49-371-488 44 24.)

BOB DYLAN FINE & PERFORMING ARTS MUSEUM

----------------------------------------------------

Music legend Bob Dylan’s paintings are on exhibition at a museum in Chemnitz in eastern Germany.

This is the first time when as many as 170 watercolour and pastel drawings, made by Dylan in his spare time for years, are on display.

One of the highlights of the exhibition is a painting of a curvaceous woman viewed by Dylan from behind, while he was drinking in the Red Lion pub in Blackpool in 1992.

Just think how many people would really feel great if they could see a Picasso in their daily diner.

Dylan, who once put a childlike picture of his own on the cover of his appropriately named Self Portrait album of songs, was persuaded to mount his first show by Ingrid Mossinger, curator of the museum in the town that was known as Karl-Marx-Stadt when it was behind the iron curtain.

Mossinger saw pencil and charcoal drawings, made by Dylan for a book called Drawn Blank, during her visit to New York in the early Nineties. She approached him and asked him to finish the works.

Over the next eight months, Dylan made 320 artwork that included portraits, landscapes, and still lives.

Dylan took art classes in the Seventies with Norman Raeben, a teacher in New York city.

He, however, has not always been very keen on appearing in an exhibition.

"Great paintings should be where people hang out," Time Online quoted him as saying in the Sixtees.

"Just think how many people would really feel great if they could see a Picasso in their daily diner. It's not the bomb that has to go, man; it's the museums," he said.

Elmore James Records

Elmore James: Coming Home

Well now, look for me baby, you know I'm comin home.
Well now, look for me baby, because you know I'm comin home.
Well now, the reason why I left you down,
You know you'd done me wrong.

Well now, I'm comin home to you baby and I ain't gonna leave no more.
Yes, I'm comin home to you baby and I ain't gonna leave no more.
Yes, you know I done you wrong, darlin,
The last time I'm walkin out your door.

Well now, I'll tell you, baby, just before I leave this town.
Yes, I'm gonna tell you, baby, just before I leave this town.
Well, I'm comin home to you, baby,
And won't stand no pushin around.

Elmore James: Got to Move

You gotta move, you can't stay here no more
You gotta move, you can't stay here no more
You're my baby and I love you so, but,
still you gotta go, away from here
You gotta move away from here
You gotta move away from here

You're my baby and I love you so, but
still you gotta go, away from here
Well I rather be dead and in my grave,
than to have another man here and take my place
Ooh, you gotta move, yeah

You's my baby and I love you so, but,
still you gotta go, away from here
You gotta go, away from here
You gotta go, away from here

You wanna work no more
You won't cook, you won't sew
Ooh no, ooh no baby
You won't even scrub the floor
You's my baby and I love you so,
but still you gotta go, away from here

Elmore James: Rollin' And Tumblin'

I roll and I tumble, cried the whole night long
Yes I roll and I tumble, I cried the whole night long
I got up this morning, feeling that something going on wrong
Well now want you to love me baby, or please let me be
Yes love me baby, or please let me be
If you don't like my peaches please don't shake my tree
Well I want you to love me baby, and come on and say you'll be mine
I want you to love me baby, come and say you'll be mine
If you don't like my potatoes, please don't dig up my vine

Elmore James: Shake Your Money Maker

Shake your moneymaker
Shake your moneymaker
Shake your moneymaker
Shake your moneymaker
Shake your moneymaker
and then
Shake your moneymaker
Shake your moneymaker
Shake your moneymaker
Shake your moneymaker
Shake your moneymaker
and then
I got a girl who lives up on the hill
I got a girl who lives up on the hill
Says she gonna love me but I don't believe she will
You gotta shake your moneymaker
You gotta shake your moneymaker
You gotta shake your moneymaker
You gotta shake your moneymaker
You gotta shake your moneymaker
And then
I got a girl and she just won't be true
I got a girl and she just won't be true
She's locked to the bridge, she won't do a thing I tell her to do
She won't shake her moneymaker,
won't shake her moneymaker,
She wanna roll her activator,
She won't shake her moneymaker,
She won't shake her moneymaker,
She won't

King of the slide Guitar

Elmore James was destined to play the blues ... as a young man in Mississippi, he would play "slide guitar" with an instrument made of a lard can and broom handle. As a teenager, he performed in local juke joints with legends Robert Johnson and Howlin' Wolf. Forming his first band in the late-1930s, James toured with Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller) until the beginning of World War II. The guitarist spent three years with the Navy, stationed in Guam.

Discharged from the military, James landed in Memphis, often playing clubs with his cousin, guitarist Homesick James. A popular live performer, James achieved his unique tone by rebuilding his amplifiers for a louder, distorted sound. James continued his relationship with Williamson, frequently appearing as a guest on the harmonica player's popular King Biscuit Time radio program on KFFA in Helena, Arkansas.

Dust My Broom
James didn't show much interest in a recording career when fate stepped in and took control. Accompanying Williamson to a session in 1951, James performed what would become his signature song, "Dust My Broom," while Lillian McMurray of Trumpet Records was secretly recording the singer. Trumpet released the song and it became a hit, rising into the Top 10 on the R&B charts.

During the 1950s, James and his band the Broomdusters, made a splash on the Chicago blues scene. In demand as both a live performer and a recording artist, James would record singles for a number of labels, including Fire, Chess, and Meteor. Elmore James songs like "Madison Blues" and "The Sky Is Crying" would become blues standards. James would continue to move back and forth between Chicago and Mississippi until his untimely death from a heart attack in 1963.

Recommended Albums: The Sky Is Crying: The History of Elmore James features material James recorded circa 1951-1961 and includes guest performances from Sonny Boy Williamson, Big Joe Turner, and Willie Dixon.

Elmore James: One Way Out

Ain't but one way out baby,
Lord, I just can't go out the door
Ain't but one way out baby,
and Lord I just can't go out the door
'Cause there's a man down there,
might be your man I don't know
Lord, you got me trapped woman,
up on the second floor
If I get by this time,
I won't be trapped no more
So raise our window baby,
I can ease out soft and slow
And Lord, your neighbors, no they won't be,
talking that stuff that they don't know
Lord, I'm foolish to be here in the first place
I know some man gonna walk in and take my place
Ain't no way in the world,
I'm going out that front door
'Cause there's a man down there,
might be your man I don't know
'Cause there's a man down there,
might be your man I don't know
'Cause there's a man down there,
Lord, it just might happen to be your man
Lord, it just a might be your man
Lord, it just a might be your man
Oh baby, I just don't know

Elmore James: Everyday I have the blues

Everyday, everyday I have the blues
Everyday, everyday, everyday I have the blues
Speaking of bad luck and trouble, now, it's you I hate
to lose

Nobody love me, nobody seem to care
Baby, nobody love me, nobody seem to care
Speaking of bad luck and trouble, now, you know I've
had my share

Everyday, everyday, everyday, everyday,
everyday, everyday, everyday, everyday I have the
blues

I'm gonna pack my suitcase and, move on down the line
I'm gonna pack my suitcase and, move on down the line
Because there ain't nobody worried, and ain't nobody
crying

Everyday, everyday, everyday, everyday,
everyday, everyday, everyday, everyday I have the
blues
Everyday, everyday, everyday, everyday,
everyday, everyday, everyday, everyday I have the
blues

Elmore James: the Sky is Crying

by Barbara Flaska

Sometime in 1928 in Canton, Mississippi, ten-year-old Elmore James began playing his first instrument, a homemade guitar called a "diddly-bow" that he had made himself from an old broom handle and lard can. By the time he was a teenager, he was playing in local juke joints with his distant cousin Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller) and the man who would become his major influence, Robert Johnson. These facts alone are enough to make any sane person want to invent a time-travel machine.

The next best thing to hearing such music live is revisiting James's historic blues recordings. This retrospective offers the music James set down between 1959 and 1963, among the very last recordings he made shortly before his death. Because Elmore James was recognized as a musician of immense stature in the blues world while he breathed, over 400 blues lions crowded into his wake. Elmore James's fierce, passionate guitar work and his strong, distressed singing were what he had. Put them together and this was his two-fisted approach to a personal, highly emotional expression. In his art, he never held back and gave every song his all.

Elmore James was really pushed around by large forces, and as a result his life and music career sometimes changed direction as a reflection of his circumstances. World War II erupted and James postponed his career to enter service as did other bluesmen. While Howling Wolf served in Washington state with the Army Signal Corps, Elmore James spent three years stationed in Guam with the Navy.

Upon discharge, James picked up where he had left off. He reformed his band, played as a guest on radio shows, and soon found his way into the post-World War II migration up to Chicago. In 1951, he recorded "Dust My Broom" which became a major R&B hit for him. A lot has been written about James's signature guitar work in this piece, because this one song made an indelible mark on electric urban blues. When James took Robert Johnson's "I Believe I'll Dust My Broom" and revised it to "Dust My Broom", James played large with his own signature. The chops he came up with for this song, a way of sliding that also hammers out a stomping rhythm, were amplified and have made their way into nearly every rock and blues guitarist's bag of tricks. This one song by Elmore James has had an enduring influence on electric guitarists; it became even more popular because not only, after hearing James, did guitarists want to play the song but, because of the structure, they could. If his music was the magnet, then this song was like his lucky lodestone, and James went on to record slightly different versions of it for a few labels. Throughout his career, James recorded it about 100 times. Some companies couldn't be bothered to get his name straight. A few times he was credited as either "Elmer" or "Elmo".

This CD should be in every blues collection as essential Elmore James. In particular, the release collects the incendiary sessions that James released on Fire, one of the labels owned by N.Y. entrepreneur Bobby Robinson. Robinson also sold records out of his Happy House record store (with attached shoe-shine parlor), located just one block from the Apollo Theater. Even though this is not the original 1951 recording, it's fitting that "Dust My Broom" is placed first on this disc. In 1959, Robinson was searching up talent in Chicago for his record company when he saw a cardboard sign on a club announcing "Elmore James Here Tonight". Robinson went in to ask if this were the Elmore James and even asked James to play "Dust My Broom" to prove his identity.

The song was a good luck charm again for James, because Robinson wanted to record him. The following day, James and his band met to rehearse in a band member's apartment. Robinson remembered that the landlady was cooking in the back while outside the rain was pouring down in buckets. Robinson was there when James spontaneously wrote "The Sky Is Crying". Robinson was so impressed that he called around for a studio and the song was recorded that very night. Placed as the second song here, "The Sky Is Crying" climbed the R&B charts and James was back in the running.

James was onstage again with his group "The Broomdusters" and holding his own in the clubs on the circuit. This disc captures some of the material that must have electrified the audiences back then: Elmore James accompanied by Johnnie Jones on piano, the sound enhanced even more by the bleating tenor saxophone of J.T. Brown and occasionally expanded by a second low-down sax on a spine-chilling cover of "Anna Lee". The great Sammy Myers on harmonica adds a lift to "Look On Yonder Wall", the original inspiration for the later crossover version by the Butterfield Band. Yet, it's his slow blues masterpieces "Bleeding Heart" and "It Hurts Me Too" that best illustrate Elmore James. Easy to imagine people becoming overwhelmed by this music, if not shouting, then banging their heads on the table tops, or stunned into momentary immobility before being shot into the stratosphere.

What is ultimately so great about Elmore James is that there really is no defining his greatness, and thousands have tried. What might help is settling down for a good long listen to this CD. Taken with Whose Muddy Shoes, this is an Elmore James must-have.

Elmore James: It hurts me too

You said you was hurtin, you almost lost your mind.
Now, the man you love, he hurt you all the time.
But, when things go wrong, oh, wrong with you,
It hurts me too.

You'll love him more when you should love him less.
Why lick up behind him and take his mess?
But, when things go wrong, whoa, wrong with you,
It hurts me too.

He love another woman, yes, I love you,
But, you love him and stick to him like glue.
When things go wrong, oh, wrong with you,
It hurts me too.

Now, he better leave you or you better put him down.
No, I won't stand to see you pushed around.
But, when things go wrong, oh, wrong with you,
It hurts me too.

Dust My Broom: Elmore James

On November 23, 1936 Robert Johnson was in San Antonio Texas for his debut recordings. The first song he did was "Kind Hearted Woman Blues" in two versions, his second song was "I Believe I'll Dust My Broom" and his third was "Sweet Home Chicago." Though Johnson is usually credited with writing all three songs, there are clear antecedents for each. As far as "Broom" is concerned you would need to look back just over 4 years to a 1932 session in Atlanta Georgia by Aaron Sparks and his brother Milton (real names Aaron and Marion Gant) - as with Johnson, it was their first time in the studio. For the Victor label they cut one of their own compositions "I Believe I'll Make A Change"; it was issued using the pseudonym Pinetop and Lindberg on Victor 78 record. Aaron played piano and Milton played spoons and provided vocals. Leroy Carr and Josh White both did versions of the song in 1934 before Johnson did his interpretation.

Around 1948, Elmore James met up with Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup and Sonny Boy Williamson (who was the second artist using that name, his real name was Aleck "Rice Miller" Ford). Together they played gigs in Arkansas. In 1949, Crudup did a version of "Dust My Broom" and it seems likely that this is how Elmore got to know the song.

Elmore James' recording of "Dust My Broom" is discussed in Steve Franz' book Amazing Secret History of Elmore James. All the versions Elmore did are given in Steve's book. His first go was on August 5th, 1951 for Lillian McMurry's Trumpet label when he was in the studio recording some tracks with Sonny Boy Williamson. Urban legend has it that Elmore was tricked into recording the song by McMurry, though Franz' research gives a somewhat different account of the events that date - Lillian was adamant that Elmore was complicit in the recording. In any case, it was the first title issued with him as leader and it came out on a Trumpet 78 on the flip side of Bobo Thomas' "Catfish Blues." Fortunately for Elmore, Ms. McMurry knew nothing of the earlier versions of "Broom" by Johnson and Crudup because her policy was not to record unoriginal material. By some quirk of fate, Crudup went on to issue a record on Trumpet in 1952 using the not-dissimilar name, Elmer James.

The "Dust My Broom" motif was central to Elmore James recorded output, not only did he return to it on several occasions, the theme was well mined in his other songs. As well as that Trumpet side, James did a version in January 1952 that came out on Modern, in January 1953 for Checker as well as a version in the summer of 1955 for Flair. However, the more commonly known versions are the ones he did for Bobby Robinson in November 1959 and twice in February 1963 shortly before his death. Robinson, a New York record store owner, founded the Fire and Fury stable of imprints. He also knew how to record loud, a skill that allowed Elmore's fierce playing to come to the fore. These later versions by Elmore are very different from the earlier ones, his slide guitar is front and center compared with ensemble playing of harp or sax on the previous attempts.

Artists who have covered this song include Robert Jr. Lockwood, John Littlejohn, Hound Dog Taylor, Homesick James and Frank Zappa.

On September 10, 1934 Kokomo Arnold was in the studio in Chicago. He cut "Sagefield Woman Blues" at the session, which contains (probably) the first mention of the phrase "Dust My Broom" in the lyrics. (Thanks, Gary - Thetford, England, for all above. Gary is host of the Bluesman radio show. Check out his website at http://www.garybluesman.co.uk)

North American Ghost Music [LIVE]

About the Artist
Shannon McNally is a soulful singer and an entrancing songwriter. Drawing on the defiant spirits of outlaws and visionaries such as Jesse James, Susan B. Anthony, and Little Richard, she takes her listeners on a timeless and haunting journey through her self-coined North American Ghost Music. Armed with a spine tingling voice, easy inner beauty, and songs that linger, McNally’s soul-wrenching vocals and uncanny songwriting sensibilities have cast a spell on audiences around the country.
For the first time, McNally offers us the chance to savor her live performances on NORTH AMERICAN GHOST MUSIC LIVE. The album, released on Back Porch Records, features an eclectic mix of fan-favorite originals such as Geronimo alongside wistful takes on My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys (Willie Nelson) and The Last Lonely Eagle (The New Riders of the Purple Sage).

The New Orleans denizen’s literate songs inhabit a range of characters, many downtrodden and disaffected. "I write in the folk tradition," she says, "like Woody Guthrie, ballads and things that are universal in style." She also references the work of Bruce Springsteen, Gordon Lightfoot, Neil Young, and John Steinbeck. The fearless songwriter is not afraid to use words like "castigate" and "perpetual" when they fit the songs. Remarkably, Shannon never hides her influences, but she never sounds exactly like them either.

Conceived to working class Irish American parents on the 4th of July, 1972, McNally was born on Long Island, New York on St. Patrick's Day March of 1973. Citing early influences such as Jim Henson, Uncle Remus, The Yellow Submarine, and Star Wars, McNally's sensibilities were definitely shaped by the events and imaginations of the day. She graduated from the same high school in Freeport, NY on Long Island that produced such folk heroes as Lenny Bruce, Lou Reed, and Run DMC. After high school she went on to earn a Bachelor's Degree in Social Anthropology at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

In 2005, Shannon released her Back Porch Records debut, GERONIMO. Produced by Charlie Sexton, mixed by Grammy® award-winning engineer Trina Shoemaker, and featuring stellar musicians like bassists Tony Garnier and Tony Hall, multi-instrumentalist Greg Liesz, drummer Raymond Weber, keyboard legend Ian McLagan, and Sexton himself, GERONIMO is a chapbook of stories, a collection of gritty blues, country, roots, and rock. The seasoned musicians in these sessions inspired Shannon. She called the band "magic," going on to say, "The band provided a sense of timelessness to the songs."

Her debut album released in January of 2002, JUKEBOX SPARROWS (Capitol Records), garnered rave reviews and revealed itself as a surprisingly confident musical and lyrical debut for such a young songwriter and inspired Rolling Stone to liken her to "a young Mick Jagger" giving it 3 1/2 stars. It also spawned the AAA radio hit "Now That I Know," which also appeared on the Sweet Home Alabama soundtrack. McNally has toured with Willie Nelson, Stevie Nicks, John Mellencamp, Ryan Adams, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, and Rufus Wainwright. She has appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.





Product Description
Project profile: Drawing on the defiant spirits of outlaws and visionaries, Shannon McNally takes her listeners on a timeless and haunting journey through her self-coined North American Ghost Music.Armed with a spine tingling voice, easy inner beauty, and songs that linger, McNally’s soul-wrenching vocals and uncanny songwriting sensibilities have cast a spell on audiences around the country.

Southside Sessions [EP]

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
This acoustic one-off from Back Porch labelmates Charlie Sexton and Shannon McNally was conceived after a short joint tour where they shared the stage for part of the set. Their label's name is an ideal description of this casual meeting of the minds--it seems like microphones were set up in a country yard on a gray Sunday morning as the two musicians discarded their stage personas and modest star trappings to revel in the love of making music. The songs are a mix of originals from each artist, along with a few similarly themed covers from others such as Townes Van Zandt ("No Place to Fall") and Jesse Winchester ("Biloxi" works as a perfect post-Katrina lament from ex-New Orleans resident McNally). Echoes of Gram Parsons's classic work with Emmylou Harris abound, but the Southside Sessions sound is more somber, sorrowful, and folksy, with touches of gospel-styled passion. The peaceful yet emotionally charged vibe is aided by solemn piano and barely-there percussion to help flesh out these naked performances. Sexton's flinty voice meshes surprisingly well with McNally's more classic husky country twang to produce a short but bittersweet half-hour of songs that linger long after the last note fades. --Hal Horowitz

Geronimo

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Geronimo, the follow-up to Shannon McNally's intoxicating 2002 debut, Jukebox Sparrows, follows the same rootsy pop/R&B/folk/alt-country path, yet goes the distance to prove that the transplanted New Yorker, now living in New Orleans and soaking up the bayou blues, is more than just a Sheryl Crow/Bonnie Raitt clone. Her songwriting--deft, atmospheric, and loaded with memorable lines ("Listening for the sound of my last hope hitting the ground")--settles mainly on the searing emotional pain of romantic dissolution, yet always offers enough irony and universal touchstones (e.g., running into an old lover by chance) to win over even the most casual listener. She hits her stride on the title cut, which uses the sad, shameful defeat of the Native Americans as the subtheme to a well-fought battle of love. As on her debut, McNally rarely veers out of a mid-tempo groove, and producer Charlie Sexton, who keeps things spare but interesting (like steel drum accents on "Lovin' in My Baby's Eyes"), is right to encourage only the one overt rocker, "The Hard Way," and to simply let the artist be herself. McNally is so irresistibly winsome, sexy, seductive, and vulnerable that, chances are, you'll be ready to move in by the end of the opening track. --Alanna Nash

Jukebox Sparrows

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
The southern aura of Shannon McNally's full-length debut belies more than her own geographic origins on Long Island's South Shore. Indeed, McNally seems to have absorbed a generation or three of classic American blues, folk, and country influences with nary an ounce of self-consciousness or strained irony. Coupled with "Now That I Know"'s easy, emblematic pop sense and her natural phrasing, McNally's viewpoints range from cynically clear-eyed modern romanticism ("Down and Dirty," "Bolder Than Paradise") to the chilling rape-themed narrative "It Could've Been Me" to the surprising, jazzy impressionism of "Colorado." Comparisons to Sheryl Crow and Bonnie Raitt come naturally, but McNally's musical ambitions are distinctly broader, especially for a singer so early in her career. If the album's midtempo groove occasionally simmers too long, the spare sheen of Ron Aniello's production and stellar session work from the likes of Jim Keltner, James Gadson, Benmont Tench, and Greg Leisz impart a mature, accomplished sensibility. And just when you might think you've got McNally pegged, along comes her most promising delight, a playfully experimental title track rife with ambient samples, a rap-blues inflected telephone-voice narrative, murky rhythms, and bop-inspired instrumental flourishes. A VH1-ready visage has gained her some press, but don't let that distract you. Just trust your ears. --Jerry McCulley

Charlie Sexton & Shannon McNally

Charlie Sexton & Shannon McNally
Southside Sessions (Back Porch)

For a recording that falls on the alt.country side of roots-rock, Southside Sessions cuts close to the bone without bleeding. Inspired by the successful 2005 tour by Charlie Sexton and Shannon McNally, who traded appearances on each other's acclaimed albums last year (Sexton produced hers), the two repeat their onstage duets on this seven-song EP (both "Burn" and "I'd Do the Same for You" appeared on Sexton's Cruel and Gentle Things). The results are a tight, canny collection of songs, sometimes languorous and understated ("Nothing Mysterious"), but more often transcendently beautiful ("No Place to Fall"). That it shapes four of Sexton's and one of McNally's original compositions with Townes Van Zandt and Jesse Winchester chestnuts makes it all the more alluring. The latter's "Biloxi" is the disc's most sublime moment, wistful but never fey, a stunning and gorgeous lament that evokes the devastated New Orleans in the most poetic of lyrics. McNally is a relative newcomer, recording less than 10 years, compared with Sexton's baptism by rock & roll fire in Austin nightclubs when he was a baby. Yet both have struck a common chord with each other, a union of luminous joy and emotional strength married in music. (Saturday, 5:15pm, Austin Ventures stage)

Shannon McNally Bio, commentary, etc

Shannon McNally was born in Hempstead, on Long Island. While studying anthropology in college, McNally began singing and playing guitar in clubs, and after graduating honed her skills on the streets of Paris as a busker. The willowy, graceful McNally secured a deal with Capitol in 1997. While the label was interested in marketing her as a second-wave Alanis Morissette, McNally herself was intent on making an acoustic record. Eventually, she won the execs over and entered the studio with a talented bunch of studio pros who included Jim Keltner, Benmont Tench, and Greg Leisz. The result was Jukebox Sparrows, a soulful, countrified affair that mixed the well-crafted professionalism of Sheryl Crow with more disparate '70s influences like the Band and Little Feat. Despite the album's promise, it was shelved indefinitely amidst power struggles at Capitol.

In the interim, McNally opened for Stevie Nicks and Ryan Adams, and was part of the 1999 Girl's Room tour with Tara MacLean, Kendall Payne, and Amy Correia. She also modeled for Urban Decay cosmetics. In 2000, McNally issued the holdover EP Bolder Than Paradise. When Capitol finally issued Jukebox Sparrows in January 2002, it did so into a market that had already embraced such roots-flavored material as Ryan Adams and the O Brother, Where Art Thou phenomenon. McNally embarked on an extensive press tour, and spent the summer of that year supporting John Mellencamp. In late 2002, she released the Ran on Pure Lightning EP. A casual, easygoing recording, the project was a collaboration with songwriter Neal Casal.

In 2005, McNally returned with the ambitious country, blues, and soul influences of Geronimo. The album's June release was accompanied by a summer's worth of live dates. Early 2006 saw the release of McNally's third album, North American Ghost Music. Tour dates with Son Volt also coincided its release. Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide

Shannon McNally pix