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32-20
Jan 18, 2013 19:35:29 GMT
Post by garrysmith on Jan 18, 2013 19:35:29 GMT
My interpretation, in open G.....
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32-20
Jan 22, 2013 13:00:48 GMT
Post by 1928triolian on Jan 22, 2013 13:00:48 GMT
Sounds great !!!
I play it in standard, and I think the original was in standard, but your version sounds really right, too..... I will try it in spanish myself!
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32-20
Jan 22, 2013 13:52:40 GMT
Post by Michael Messer on Jan 22, 2013 13:52:40 GMT
I used to do it my set and always played it in Spanish tuning. It works just as well as standard.
I recently was asked by a German magazine to explain the lyrics. After listening to it with fresh and more experienced ears, I don't think I could ever sing it again. I don't think it is about guns.....
I sent for my baby, and she don't come I sent for my baby, man, and she don't come All the doctors in Hot Springs sure can't help her none
And if she gets unruly, thinks she don't want do If she gets unruly, and thinks she don't want do Take my 32-20, and cut her half in two
She got a thirty-eight special, but I believe it's most too light She got a thirty-eight special, but I believe it's most too light I got a 32-20, got to make the camps alright
If I send for my baby, man, and she don't come If I send for my baby, man, and she don't come All the doctors in Hot Springs sure can't help her none
I'm gonna shoot my pistol, gonna shoot my Gatlin' gun I'm gonna shoot my pistol, gonna shoot my Gatlin' gun You made me love you, now your man have come
Aw baby, where you stay last night? Ah baby, where you stay last night? You got your hair all tangled, and you ain't talkin' right
Got a thirty-eight special, boys, it do very well Got a thirty-eight special, boys, it do very well I Got a 32-20 now, and it's a burnin'.....
If I send for my baby, man and she don't come If I send for my baby, man and she don't come All the doctors in West Memphis sure can't help her none
Hey hey baby, where you stay last night Hey hey baby, where you stayed last night You didn't come home until the sun was shinin bright
Ah boys, I just can't take my rest Ah boys, I just can't take my rest With this 32-20 layin up and down my breast
Shine On Michael
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32-20
Jan 22, 2013 17:53:36 GMT
Post by pete1951 on Jan 22, 2013 17:53:36 GMT
It is about guns, but he`s shooting from the hip, (or maybe hips?) You don`t get singers of his caliber very often
PT
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32-20
Jan 22, 2013 20:19:14 GMT
Post by Michael Messer on Jan 22, 2013 20:19:14 GMT
It is not just a sexual boasting song using the obvious double entendres with guns. What I think he is saying, is by today's standards out of order and offensive. Rephrased in modern street talk it would be an edgy gangster rap.
Shine On Michael.
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32-20
Jan 22, 2013 21:52:10 GMT
Post by slide496 on Jan 22, 2013 21:52:10 GMT
@ Michael - I agree with you on the gangster rap.
Reread the lyrics you posted when you said that you didn't think you would sing the song again earlier and came to a similar conclusion.
Added Later - I can see other interpretations for it though.
Peace, Harriet
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32-20
Jan 23, 2013 8:29:19 GMT
Post by Michael Messer on Jan 23, 2013 8:29:19 GMT
Hi Harriet, I didn't make that comment about 32-20 Blues to have a go at anybody who does sing it. In fact I should have said earlier that Garry plays and sings it really well. But I do think this thread highlights the fact that lots of people sing blues songs without really taking a second look at what they are actually saying. I too can see other interpretations, which was the whole point of blues singers using double entendres in their lyrics. There are many lyrics in the music from decades ago that are of their time and place, and as brilliant and beautiful as they are (in their own way), they are no longer acceptable. I am sure that in the mid 1930s that attitude to women and how they should be treated was quite acceptable. I love every note and word of Robert Johnson's music. I have studied it and danced around the room to it for most of my adult life. His songwriting and use of imagery in his writing, whether it was original or borrowed from other songs, is superb. It stands out from the crowd and as we know his songs and performances have influenced generations of great songwriters and musicians. But there are certain lyrics in his repertoire that are (in my opinion) best left alone. That is what great songs are about; nobody listens to the content, they just sing along with it. Many a serious political and personal statement have been hidden in clever poetry and melodies. Enough of this serious stuff on a Wednesday morning......I wonder what strings he used... Shine On Michael
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32-20
Jan 23, 2013 10:16:06 GMT
Post by AlanB on Jan 23, 2013 10:16:06 GMT
Interesting and thought provoking discussion. My only contribution is to post Skip James's 22-20 recorded in 1931 which, back in the dark ages of 1960, Paul Oliver pointed out was possibly the model for RJ's 32-20 minus the Gattlin' Gun stanza
If I send for my baby and she don't come If I send for my baby and she don't come All the doctors in Wisconsin, they won't help her none
And if she gets unruly and gets so she don't wanna do My baby gets unruly and she don't wanna do I'll take my .32-20, I'll cut her half in two
You're talkin' about your .44-40, buddy, it'll do very well Talkin' about your .44-40, it'll do very well But my .22-20, Lord, it's a burnin' hell
I had a .38 Special, buddy, it's most too light Aw, that .38 Special, buddy, it's most too light But my .22-20 make the caps alright
Aw, if she gets unruly, thinks she don't wanna do She gets unruly and she don't wanna do I'll take my .22-20, I'll cut her half in two
I, I, I can't take my rest I, I, I can't take my rest And my .44 layin' up and down my breast
More food for thought? Let the debate continue.....
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32-20
Jan 23, 2013 11:38:08 GMT
Post by Michael Messer on Jan 23, 2013 11:38:08 GMT
Hi alanb,
RJ definitely got the song from Skip James, who probably got it from someone else.....and so on.
Apart from extremely edgy controversial gangster rap (it should be written as - Gangsta Rap) that deals with gang rapes, weapons and murders, I can't think of another genre of music that would or could deal with this subject.
Shine On Michael
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32-20
Jan 23, 2013 14:15:11 GMT
Post by 1928triolian on Jan 23, 2013 14:15:11 GMT
Yes, interesting debate.
I agree: those lyrics are offensive, hideous, stupid and violent. And I also agree that singing those lyrics today should be not acceptable.
But, what happens when you hear them sung by Skip James or Robert Johnson? As far as I can feel, there is a distance between the singer and the words, I mean: they are in a playing structure, they are not falling inside the words, but looking at the words from a distance. The impression is that they did not take things too seriously, and above all, they did not take themselves too seriously. What results from this, it's some kind of (hard) humour.
Differently, among many others, the Stones of Under My Thumb, the Stones with their Hell's Angels security service who were actually nazis and proved to be actual killers. And I am a big fan of Stones' music. A good part of the white 70's rock circus was really heavy and they took themselves so much seriously.
The early 76/77 punk has been, in my opinion, more honest and they were able to rescue some humour and self humour to the rock'n'roll.
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32-20
Jan 23, 2013 15:13:43 GMT
Post by Michael Messer on Jan 23, 2013 15:13:43 GMT
Hi 1928,
I understand what you are saying about RJ & SJ's performances being tongue in cheek, but in a way by today's standards, that makes it worse. I don't hear them as being removed from the lyric, I hear that as very personal song aimed at men in the audience.
In some cases those old fashioned lyrics can be wonderful as they tell like it is......no bull***t, just straight to the point. That for me is the beauty of so many blues songs, whether dealing with love, hate, death, murder, religion or sex, nobody can nail it like the classic blues and country singers did.
Shine On Michael
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32-20
Jan 23, 2013 15:54:19 GMT
Post by pete1951 on Jan 23, 2013 15:54:19 GMT
As a blues singer with no traceable African blood, I have tried not to play songs I shouldn`t sing. (Bourgeois Blues comes to mind) and maybe drop word like `fair brown` or `yellow gal` from otherwise powerful songs. 32.20 has always seemed `tongue in cheek` and sung (by RJ) without the emotion of most of his other songs (`4 till Late` I find has a similar humorous feel) Skip James feels as if meant every word, But I think RJ was singing semi-comic song of sexual boasting, I don`t sing it , but with the right intro. I think Garry could carry on. (unlike people at jams who keep playing Sweet Home Alabama, which seems to say how lovely it is to live there ,and there there is no discimination, whatever Neal Young may say)
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Posts: 0
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32-20
Jan 23, 2013 15:58:28 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2013 15:58:28 GMT
I do a version of 'stagger lee', and the one I draw from is RL Burnside's version, beefed up by the Samuel L Jackson (black snake moan) version. I've had a debate during a gig prior to singing it whether anyone objects to the use of the "n" word. My argument is that it is partly a story about about black man who shoots a (presumably) white man for calling him that word, before tackling Billy Lyons etc. To not use that word could perhaps fail to explain how using that word could turn a situation violent; and who am I to censor RLB or SLJ? Anyhoo, no-ones complained yet. Sorry to get off the subject a bit there, but great version Garry! TT
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32-20
Jan 24, 2013 12:19:44 GMT
Post by garrysmith on Jan 24, 2013 12:19:44 GMT
In fact on the rare occasions when I do the song live I usually preface it by pointing out that RJ was a product of the time and place in which he was raised where violence against women was, shall we say, less of an issue.
The whole topic of the subject matter of Blues can be bit of a thorny one. I recently saw a well known London blues artist get his, incidentally very talented, daughter up to sing. She started with a BB King song which suggested that her people had been brought across on boats and felt the lash of the whip on their backs. Personally, I wouldn't have touched that song with a barge pole.
In the dark days when I was playing covers, I contemplated doing "Brown Sugar"...until I looked at the lyrics. How did THAT sneak through the Radio 1 net?
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32-20
Jan 24, 2013 12:22:10 GMT
Post by garrysmith on Jan 24, 2013 12:22:10 GMT
Nice to have started a music row in Music Row
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