This page contains lyrics to the following song(s):
Tampa Red and Georgia Tom recorded this song on 25 April 1934 in New York City. It's on the Columbia Roots 'n' Blues CD "Tampa Red: the Guitar Wizard"
You Chicago women run hand in hand
You run around with one another's man
[chorus:] There's a dead cat on the line
There's a dead cat on the line
I ain't lyin', you're the cheatin' kind
There's a dead cat on the line
You come home at night talkin' out your head
You have to take a bath before you go to bed
[chorus]
You're in such a sniffer gettin' mighty strung
When you shake hands you got to hold it so long
[chorus]
She as standin' in church with her own man
I saw you when you tickled her in her hand
[chorus]
(Play it now!)
You're brownskin, your husband ain't fair
Your children all yellin' got curly hair
[chorus]
Early this mornin' 'bout half past four
I seen Bill Johnson comin' out your door
[chorus]
There's one thing I can't understand
You broke up your home and quit your reg'lar man
[chorus]
Yet another "hokum" hit for Tampa Red.
I know a gal by the name of Mae Lou She shook it so much she had the German flu (chorus:) No matter how she done it, No matter how she done it, No matter how she done it, She done it just the same The women don't like her, they call her Ida Mae But the way the men love her is a cryin' shame (chorus) I tell you people what she done She made a hit with Jack the Ripper, and the only one (chorus) You women don't have to worry 'bout your life She made Jack the Ripper throw away his knife (chorus) She shakes all over when she walks She made a blind man see, and a dumb man talk (chorus) The copper brought her in, she didn't need no bail She shook it for the judge, and put the cop in jail (chorus)
Another one of his popular duets with pianist Georgia Tom; from Yazoo L-1039. Recorded in 1929
Hmm... Mama bought a rooster, she thought it was a duck She brought him to the table with his legs straight up In came the children with a cup and a glass To catch the licker from the yas-yas-yas Babe oh babe, have you ever been to Spain These old voodoo wimmen shakin' their thing They got rings on their fingers, bells on their toes What they got, baby, nobody knows I'm goin' down, Market Street Where the men and wimmen all do meet That's where the men do the Georgia Rub The wimmen fall in line with a big white tub Me and my gal walkin' down the street She caught the rheumatism in her feet She stooped over to pick some grass And the same thing struck 'r in the yas-yas-yas You catch the train you call "Forty Nine" Carries you down to Caroline You catch the train you call "Forty Eight" Takes you right in to the Golden Gate You shake your shoulders, you shake 'em fast You can't shake your shoulders shake your yas-yas-yas Drink some rooster soup before goin' to bed Wake up in the mornin' find your own self dead Down on Morgan there's a good location Right there next to a gasoline station That's where you get your cars oiled and greased Wimmen cryin' "Honey won't you come in please" I'm goin' to sing this verse, ain't gonna sing no mo' Somebody's knockin' on my do' The people upstairs have gone to bed I better stop that noise 'fore they crash my head
Tampa Red, the "Guitar Wizard", recorded this song in Chicago on 7 May 1932 for Vocalion. It's on the CD "Legends of the Blues Vol. 2" (Columbia Roots 'n' Blues series).
The turpentine business that Tampa Red refers to, offered some of the worst working conditions and only the most underprivileged classes - mostly Black - were willing to take the jobs. As described in Paul Oliver's "Blues Fell This Morning": [...] the turpentine workers who "guttered" the slash pines with their knives, collected the resin and pressed and distilled the turpentine. Working often in unbearable heat and using material which was dangerous to health, they lived in camps under the crudest of conditions, fenced in by barbed wire and suffering miserable privations..
Turpentine's all right, provided that wages are good Turpentine's all right, provided that wages are good But I can make more money now, by somewhere choppin' hardwood Turpentine business ain't like it used to be Turpentine business ain't like it used to be I can't make enough money now, to even get on a spree I ain't gonna work no more, I tell you the reason why I ain't gonna work no more, tell you the reason why Because everybody wants to sell, and nobody wants to buy You can work in the field, you can work at the sawmill too You can work in the field, you can work at the sawmill too But you can't make no money, at nothin' you try to do So Lordy please tell me what we turpentine people are gonna do Lordy please tell me what we turpentine people gonna do We may work one week, but we got to lay off a month or two Turpentine is like dice, to shoot you up on the loose Turpentine is just like dice, to shoot you up on the loose That's the reason why, I've got those turpentine blues
Recorded 7 May 1932. On the CD "Tampa Red: the Guitar Wizard" (Roots 'n' Blues series)
If you lose your money, don't lose your mind If you lose your money, don't lose your mind And if you lose your sweet woman, well brother you better not mess with mine If you ever been down, I know you know just how I feel If you ever been down, you know just how I feel Why I feel just like a dyin' soldier, across the battlefield Baby I'm goin' out west, and don't wanna leave you behind I'm goin' out west, and I don't wanna leave you behind Because I'm afraid that when I return baby, I'm afraid that you won't be mine (spoken:) Aw shucks - you know what I'm talkin' about Then how do you think I feel to go away and come back And find you in another guy's arms I take a brickbat and break your neck And I don't mean maybe neither What's the use of walkin', for when there's a freight train goin' your way What's the use of walkin', and there's a freight train goin' your way (I heard the train blow) If my mind don't chage, I'm western bound today Put your arms around me baby, just like a circle around the sun Put your arms around me baby, like a circle around the sun That's the way baby, Papa Red wants his lovin' done (You hear me talkin', and I don't mean maybe, that's all)
Tampa Red (real name: Hudson Whittaker) recorded this with Georgia Tom (real name: Thomas A. Dorsey) in New York on Feb 4, 1932. From the CD: "The Slide Guitar (Bottles, Knives and Steel)" in the Columbia Roots 'n' Blues series
You know Bootleg Sally used to live across town The law went there and they closed 'r down Chorus: Now you can't get that stuff no more Now you can't get that stuff no more No matter how you try, you can't buy You can't get that stuff no more You know that place on Dago Hill The law took the gal and the liquor still (Chorus) Li'l Suzanne she used to sell her grease She got in trouble with the chief o' police (Chorus) There goes Joe with a great big knife Somebody been messin' round with his wife Now he can't get that stuff no more Now he can't get that stuff no more No matter how he try, he can't buy He can't get that stuff no more Play it! On State Street they used to give it away But now you can't it if you offer to pay (Chorus) All of the gals used to walk the street The law done run 'r off his beat (Chorus) Ah play it... You can't get that stuff no more You can't get that stuff no more No matter how you try, you can't buy You can't get that stuff no more
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