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

Posted by julien on May 2, 2005, 12:00 pm, in reply to "Geechie Wiley (Greatest female blues singer) (2 messages!)"
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hello jon W., Since i've heard that song (last kind words) in the Crumb film it's been haunting my head. I wish I could hear the other songs too! I have the album Rough guide to Delta Blues where there is some liner notes on her in the sleeve. If you would like, contact me and I will send them to you. For the lyrics, i am french canadian so I dont think I can improve them in any way. Sorry! Julien --Previous Message-- : 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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