I notice Bukka’s voice a little higher in these early recordings, first time I saw Bukka was 1967 at the Ashgrove in Hollywood a small club , he was still going strong sometimes appearing with washboard Sam , Bukka’s energy was intense . Thanks for playing this recording for us !
I'm lookin' funny in my eyes, believe I'm fixin' to die, believe I'm fixin' to die. I'm lookin' funny in my eyes, believe I'm fixin' to die. I know I was born to die, but I hate to leave my children cryin’. . Just as sure as we live today, sure we's born to die, sure we's born to die. Just as sure as we live, sure we's born to die. I know I was born to die, but I hate to leave my children cryin’. Your mother treated me, children, like I was her baby child, was her baby child. Your mother treated me, like I was her baby child. That's why I tried, tried so hard to come back home to die. So many nights at the fireside, how my children's mother would cry, how my children's mother would cry. So many nights at the fireside, how my children's mother would cry. ‘Cause I ain’t told their mother I had to say good-bye. Look over yonder, on the buryin' ground, on the buryin' ground. Look over yonder, on the buryin' ground. Yonder stand ten thousand, standin' still to let me down. Mother, take my children back, before they let me down, before they let me down. Mother, take my children back, ‘fore they let me down. Ain't no need of them screamin' an’ cryin’, on the graveyard ground.
The last two verses were swapped from the original... the song seems to flow better that way. Also in the original Tommy adds a fair amount of talking during guitar breaks that are a bit distracting... some of that talking was removed in this edit. Sorry Tommy.
This replaced Robert Johnson's 'Stop Breakin' Down'. Although it was recorded a few months earlier that this, it is my thinking that Johnson's song is a copy of 'Shake 'Em On Down'. There is a lot of discussion about why Johnson recordings sound like he was pitched up. I suspect that he was a fan of Bukka White, and he uses a falsetto when singing the blues. I wonder if Robert Johnson asked to have his recordings pitched up to make him sound more like Bukka White.... in fact it made him sound like a chipmunk, (which Johnson couldn't have known back in 1937). I switched the 1st and 3rd verses... because the new 1st verse is clearly understandable, while the new 3rd verse is hard to understand.
This is one of the earliest recordings of the musical genre of boogie, aka barrelhouse or honky-tonk. This piano form originated in Texas following the Civil War and developed in the logging camps throughout the South. Originally considered low brow, (as opposed to high brow Ragtime), boogie piano was mostly played in saloons and at rent parties. Playlist: ru-vid.com/group/PLcKh5uvyw3hYxlnht2vlagu7XX8o2lLia
I challenge all comers to accurately produce sheet music that denotes the appropriate changes in the number of beats per bar for this wonderful piece of music Fortunes must have been won and lost by betting on the possibility or impossibility of successfully accomplishing the completion of such a daunting task !
I challenge all comers to produce sheet music that ACCURATELY, with no margin for error, reproduces this work with the appropriate changes in the number of beats per bar. Fortunes must have been won and lost on bets that this was either possible or impossible. But this music does flow beautifully and seamlessly nonetheless Well done indeed !
Yes, I tend to use 'featuring' to point out influential artists that were in a band, not necessarily those featured on a particular recording. However, your point is well taken, and Bigard should be listed above Whetsel and Hodges. If I get around to it, I'll re-upload a revised version. Thanks.
