Re: Geechie Wiley (Greatest female blues singer) (2 messages!)

Posted by Ethan on August 20, 2004, 8:39 pm, in reply to "Geechie Wiley (Greatest female blues singer) (2 messages!)"
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Greetings: This post of yours is 2 years old and I dont know if anyone cares anymore, but I think I solved the missing lyric in the 8th verse of "Last Kind Words Blues". Here's what I think it is: "If I don't bring you flour, I'll bring you 'hominy'." Since hominy was used to make grits in the south this seems to make sense, and it sounds right. Hope someone out there still cares. -- : OK, I've decided to help out anyone who needs : info on this artist. I've only been able : to locate two sources for info on Geechie, : alternatively spelled 'Geeshie'. The two : sources (well, three if you count the : document disc) are Yazoo's cd 'Mississippi : Masters' in which there is some info on : some songs and some biography, and : 'Chasin' That Devil Music' by Gayle Dean : Wardlow, in which Ishmon Bracey is quoted : as having met her. I will first give the : info from the book, then the cd liner : notes, and then I will present my own song : analyses, including lyrics and chords. I : will minimize material that would be : redundant: : Book: Bracey: 'She lived 'round there on John : Hart Street for a while. Charlie McCoy got : her for his old lady. She could play on : the guitar as good as on that record : [Eagles On A Half, Pm 13074]. She said she : was from Natchez; close by Natchez was her : home. She didn't stay here long, couple of : months and she done left.' : Bracey said he was not confusing Wiley with : Rosie Mae Moore. He said McCoy lived with : both of them at different times. He said : Wiley played guitar and accompanied : herself when she sang. [Her 'Last Kind : Words Blues' was prominently used by Terry : Zwigoff in his documentary film on Robert : Crumb.] : The four tunes (actually six) that Wiley : recorded solo and with Elvie Thomas for : Paramount in 1930 and 1931 establish her : as one of the greatest female blues : artists. According to Ishman Bracey, she : hailed from the vicinity of Natchez. In : the 1920s she spent three months in : Jackson as a resident of John Hart Street; : while there, she played in a medicine : show. 'She could play a guitar, but she : had a guitar player with her,' Bracey : said. 'She'd play a guitar, and a ukulele : too.' While in Jackson, she took up with : Charlie McCoy. : A woman matching the description of Elvie : Thomas was remembered as living near : Palmer's Crossing, a small community : outside of Hattiesburg. No other : information is available. : CD liner notes: Other than a report of Robert : Wilkins (and Bracey's recollections) : seeing her in eastern Mississippi around : 1930, her name elicited no further : response among her contemporaries. : She represents when black secular music was : coalescing into blues. Her repertoire : includes raggy pieces like Over To My : House and Pick Poor Robin Clean. Last Kind : Words probably predates WWI, but is : handled with a blues sensibility. Her : guitar technique is unusual: her use of an : A minor chord is rare. : Wiley apparently came up to record with Elvie : Thomas. Motherless Child Blues is in E. It : shows traces of a northern Mississippi : influence, but the B7th section is without : parallel in rural blues. A very similar : arrangement is used on Skinny Leg Blues. : Wiley's masterpiece, Last Kind Words Blues : is played in the key of E. The lyrics date : it to WWI, but it's bar structure is : probably older. The opening A minor chord : that leads directly into the same A riff : employed by Texas artists is unique, and : the thumb rolls in the B7th part echo : Patton Green River Blues. : OK, now for my analyses of her music. First, : unless it's already been mentioned, I will : give the chords to each song, then the : lyrics, then a bit about what the lyrics : might mean. Lyrics in parentheses could be : mistaken. I've tried to do as good a job : as I can. Enjoy. : : ?Last Kind Words Blues : by Geechie Wiley : (Guitar Intro) : The last kind word I heard my daddy say : Lord the last kind word I heard my daddy say : If I die, if I die in the German War : I want you to send my body, send it to my : mother-in-law : If I get killed, if I get killed, please : don’t bury my (soul) (sword) : I (p’fer) just leave me out, let the buzzards : eat me whole : When you see me comin’, look ‘cross the (rich : man’s) (Richland) field : If I don’t bring you flour, I’ll bring you : (?) : (Guitar Solo) : I went to the depot, I looked up at the sign : Cry some train don’t come, there’ll be some : walkin’ done : My momma told me, just before she died : Lord, (since the dawn, I thought you’d be so : wise) (I brought you a piece of ?) : The Mississippi River, you know it’s deep and : wide : I can stand right here, see my (babe) (face) : from the other side : What you do to me baby, it never gets out of : me : I mean I’ll see you, after I cross the deep : blue sea : Obviously, this song is about a guy that went : off to war in WWI. It's interesting that : he'd want his body sent to his : mother-in-law and eaten by buzzards. If : anybody knows more than I do about WWI, : maybe you could help fill in the blanks, : or give corrections? : : ?Skinny Leg Blues : by Geechie Wiley : (Guitar Intro) : And I’m a little bitty Mamma, baby and I : ain’t built for speed : Cryin’ I’m a little bitty Mamma, baby and I : ain’t built for speed : Ah, and I ain’t built for speed : I’ve got everything that a little bitty Mamma : need : I’ve got little bitty legs, (he puts his old : bull (nobble) ‘twine) : I’ve got little bitty legs, (he puts his old : bull (nobble) ‘twine) : Ah, (he puts his old bull (nobble) ‘twine) : I’ve got somethin’ that (a’needs jelly, works : like a bull won’t cry) : And when you see me comin’, pull down your : window blind : And when you see me comin’, pull down your : window blind : You see me comin’, pull down your window : blinds : So your next door neighbor, sure can hear you : whine : I’m gonna cut your throat baby, gon’ look : down in your face : I’m gonna cut your throat babe, gon’ look : down in your face : Ah, I’ll look down in your face : I’m gonna let some lonesome graveyard, be : your restin’ place : : This song is pretty brutal. Geechie seems to : be saying that I'm a cute little girl with : whom you can copulate, and then I'm going : to kill you. I say that because I think : the second verse is very sexual in nature; : however, it's possible that I'm missing : some metaphors there that could be more : threatening than I could hear. Help me out : on this one, would ya? : : :

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Responses: Re: Geechie Wiley (Greatest female blues singer) (2 messages!) - Cat October 11, 2006, 1:17 pm « Back to thread

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