Lil Green and her band, photographed in Houston, Texas, 1941: left to right: Simeon Henry, piano; Big Bill Broonzy, guitar; Lil Green; Ransom Knowling, bass. Frank Driggs collection. Photo by Teal Studio.
To continue from my last post:
Sometime between 1936 and 1940, McCoy wrote another set of lyrics for blues singer Lil Green (though if you read Mercado’s essay, this point is also up for debate) and she recorded it in 1941 for Victor’s Bluebird records as “Why Don’t You Do Right? (Get Me Some Money, Too).” McCoy rewrote the original lyrics to fit into what Mercado describes as a “traditional woman blues genre,” whatever that means, though he’s probably referring to the kind of songs being sung by Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Memphis Minnie (who was married to and sang duets with Joe McCoy like the song “Crazy Crying Blues” released in 1931), and others, particularly during the 1930s. Here are the reworked lyrics to the new song title (transcription from Mercado):
You had plenty money in 1922
But you let other women make a fool of you
Why don’t you do right like some other men do
Get out of here and get me some money too.
You’re sittin’ down wonderin’ what it’s all about
You ain’t got no money, they’re going to put you out
Why don’t you do right, like some other men do
Get out of here and get me some money too.
If you had prepared twenty years ago
You wouldn’t have been drifting from door to door
Why don’t you do right, like some other men do
Get out of here and get me some money too.
I fell for your jive and I took you in
Now all you got to offer me is a drink of gin
Why don’t you do right, like some other men do
Get out of here and get me some money too.
You can see the tenor of McCoy’s lyrics have shifted from the social, economic commentary of his “Weed” lyrics to a more common subject of “women’s blues”: the trap of falling in with deadbeat husbands/boyfriends. Female voices interpreting the blues are traditionally strong voices, both in terms of the literal and poetic voices. The speaker in the song is a woman who is clearly not standing for her man’s “jive” anymore. Female figures in women’s blues are independent women when they need be, free of what Angela Davis the “domestic orthodoxy of the prevailing representations of womanhood through which female subjects of the era were constructed.” The era that Davis is specifically referring to are the twenties and thirties, best represented by the blues lyrics of Bessie Smith. Often Smith’s songs come off as narratives of bitter lessons learned from being stuck in a relationships with a shiftless man. Her rendition of W.C. Handy’s “St. Louis Blues” is particularly evocative of this theme: “Ma man’s got a heart like a rock cast in de sea.” Yet, the women in these blues songs are impossibly strong despite physical and mental abuse from their men. The dilemma the woman in the McCoy song faces is falling for a man who is out of work, is an alcoholic, has no sense of responsibility, and is completely without ambition. Bessie Smith’s advice to women in “Pinchback Blues” is to find a “workin’ man” and stay away from those “sweet men”:
Girls, take this tip from me
Get a workin’ man when you marry, and let all these sweet men be.
“Why Don’t You Do Right” represents an unusual progression from McCoy’s “Weed Smoker’s Dream” where the song’s narrator is a man out of work (apart from selling weed and prostitution) longing for the easy buck to a narrator whose voice is that of a strong, independent woman. Lil Green perfectly interprets the song vocally. She is accompanied by Simeon Henry on piano, Big Bill Broonzy on guitar, and Ransom Knowling on bass:
Call and Response
“Kansas” Joe McCoy and His “Weed Smoker’s Dream” Part II
Posted in Jazz, Jazz History, Jazz Playlists, Music, Social Commentary, tagged Angela Davis, Bessie Smith, Kansas Joe McCoy, Lil Green, Pinchback Blues, Women's Blues on June 9, 2015| Leave a Comment »
Lil Green and her band, photographed in Houston, Texas, 1941: left to right: Simeon Henry, piano; Big Bill Broonzy, guitar; Lil Green; Ransom Knowling, bass. Frank Driggs collection. Photo by Teal Studio.
To continue from my last post:
Sometime between 1936 and 1940, McCoy wrote another set of lyrics for blues singer Lil Green (though if you read Mercado’s essay, this point is also up for debate) and she recorded it in 1941 for Victor’s Bluebird records as “Why Don’t You Do Right? (Get Me Some Money, Too).” McCoy rewrote the original lyrics to fit into what Mercado describes as a “traditional woman blues genre,” whatever that means, though he’s probably referring to the kind of songs being sung by Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Memphis Minnie (who was married to and sang duets with Joe McCoy like the song “Crazy Crying Blues” released in 1931), and others, particularly during the 1930s. Here are the reworked lyrics to the new song title (transcription from Mercado):
You had plenty money in 1922
But you let other women make a fool of you
Why don’t you do right like some other men do
Get out of here and get me some money too.
You’re sittin’ down wonderin’ what it’s all about
You ain’t got no money, they’re going to put you out
Why don’t you do right, like some other men do
Get out of here and get me some money too.
If you had prepared twenty years ago
You wouldn’t have been drifting from door to door
Why don’t you do right, like some other men do
Get out of here and get me some money too.
I fell for your jive and I took you in
Now all you got to offer me is a drink of gin
Why don’t you do right, like some other men do
Get out of here and get me some money too.
You can see the tenor of McCoy’s lyrics have shifted from the social, economic commentary of his “Weed” lyrics to a more common subject of “women’s blues”: the trap of falling in with deadbeat husbands/boyfriends. Female voices interpreting the blues are traditionally strong voices, both in terms of the literal and poetic voices. The speaker in the song is a woman who is clearly not standing for her man’s “jive” anymore. Female figures in women’s blues are independent women when they need be, free of what Angela Davis the “domestic orthodoxy of the prevailing representations of womanhood through which female subjects of the era were constructed.” The era that Davis is specifically referring to are the twenties and thirties, best represented by the blues lyrics of Bessie Smith. Often Smith’s songs come off as narratives of bitter lessons learned from being stuck in a relationships with a shiftless man. Her rendition of W.C. Handy’s “St. Louis Blues” is particularly evocative of this theme: “Ma man’s got a heart like a rock cast in de sea.” Yet, the women in these blues songs are impossibly strong despite physical and mental abuse from their men. The dilemma the woman in the McCoy song faces is falling for a man who is out of work, is an alcoholic, has no sense of responsibility, and is completely without ambition. Bessie Smith’s advice to women in “Pinchback Blues” is to find a “workin’ man” and stay away from those “sweet men”:
Girls, take this tip from me
Get a workin’ man when you marry, and let all these sweet men be.
“Why Don’t You Do Right” represents an unusual progression from McCoy’s “Weed Smoker’s Dream” where the song’s narrator is a man out of work (apart from selling weed and prostitution) longing for the easy buck to a narrator whose voice is that of a strong, independent woman. Lil Green perfectly interprets the song vocally. She is accompanied by Simeon Henry on piano, Big Bill Broonzy on guitar, and Ransom Knowling on bass:
Read Full Post »