I Used To Be Your Sweet Mama (1928)

I heard this song on my pre-war blues Pandora channel (For you blues-lovers out there, I recommend doing this. Start a channel on Pandora with one of your classic favorites--Bessie, Victoria Spivey, Memphis Minnie, etc.--and then stubbornly thumbs-down anything they give you that was recorded after 1950. You'll wind up with a wonderful listening station, and you'll probably discover some great gems--I know I have!) and I was frustrated to find it wasn't on my computer. It's my new "favorite" Bessie Smith number.

Yes, I'm mad, and have a right to be
After what my daddy did to me
I lavished all my love on him
But I swear I'll never love again
All you women understand what it is to be
In love with a two-time man
The next time he calls me sweet mama in his lovin' way
This is what I'm going to say:

I used to be your sweet mama sweet papa
But now I'm just as sour as can be
So don't come stalling around my way
Expecting any love from me.

You had your chance, and proved unfaithful,
So now I'm gonna be real mean and hateful
I used to be your sweet mama sweet papa
But now I'm just as sour as can be

I ain't gonna let no man worry me sick
Or turn this hair of mine grey
Soon as I catch him at his no good trick
I'm gonna tell him to be on his way
To the world I scream, no man can treat me mean
And expect my love all the time
When he roams away, he'd better stay
If he comes back, he'll find...

You had your chance, and proved unfaithful,
So now I'm gonna be real mean and hateful
I used to be your sweet mama sweet papa
But now I'm just as sour as can be

Take It Right Back

Oh, sass in the extreme. Repetitive, but man, what a tune. I found these words in the comments of the YouTube video below; I must confess, I find them suspect. It just doesn't sound like she says "good enthused"; frankly, I'm not sure Bessie Smith would even know the word enthused. And I can't find anything that DBA would stand for. I've put the questionable lyrics in bold.

ETA: My mother, once again, to the rescue... She pointed out last night, after giving me some tips on chords, that "DBA" stands for "Doing Business As." Dur. She also suggests "good and through" to replace "good enthused," which I totally like.

You came home about half past three

| D | D7 |

Wakin' me up, papa, you was ballin' me

| G | GM7 |

Take it right back to the place where you got it

| D | D - B7 |

I don't want a bit of it left here

| E - A7 | D |

You just leapin' in rollin' drunk

Smellin' just like you been with any old skunk

Take it right back to the place where you got it

Mama don't want a bit of it left here

Please, let me understand

I don't want nothin' that is secondhand

Take it right back to the place where you got it

You can't leave a bit of it in here

When I tell you that I'm good and through,

There ain't nothin' that your mama wouldn't do

Take it right back to the place where you got it

You can't leave a bit of it in here

Been your cook, but I'm gettin' you told

You got the last of my jelly roll

Take it right back to the place where you got it

Child, you shan't leave a bit of it in here

You just like one of these old tomcats

Always chasin' these no good rats

Take it right back to the place where you got it

You can't leave a bit of it in here

Don't come shootin your no good sass

You ain't got nothin' that I must have

Take it right back to the place where you got it

You can't leave a bit of it in here

I ain't worried, I'm doing very fine

You keep yours, and I'll hold on to mine

Take it right back to the place where you got it

You can't leave a bit of it in here

If you think that I miss you, say

That's just simply your DBA

Take it right back to the place where you got it

I'm gonna pick up the broom and sweep it out of here!

You Gotta Give Me Some

I'll forgive any song its sexism with innuendoes like these. Bessie Smith sure knew how to say something incredibly dirty without saying anything dirty.

Lovin' is the thing I crave

For your love I'd be your slave

You gotta give me some

Yes, give me some

Can't you hear me pleading?

You gotta give me some.

Said Miss Jones to Old Butcher Pete

"I want a piece of your good old meat:

You gotta give me some

Oh, give me some,

I crave your round steak,

You gotta give me some."

Sweetest candy in the candy shop

It's just your sweet, sweet lollipop

You gotta give me some

Please, give me some

I love all these suckers

You gotta give me some

To the milkman I heard Mary scream

That she wanted lots of cream

You gotta give me some

Oh, give me some

Catch it when you come, sir

You gotta give me some.

Hear me cryin' on my bended knees

If you want to put my soul at ease

You gotta give me some

Please, give me some

Can't stand it any longer

You gotta give me some.

Zebra called the camel sugar lump

Said, "I'm goin' crazy about your hump:

You gotta give me some

Please, give me some

I can't wait eight days

You gotta give me some."

Jay bird said to the pecker wood

"I'll let you peck like a pecker should,

But give me some

Yes, give me some

I'm crazy bout them worms

You gotta give me some."

These Pinchbacks, Take Them Away

What is a pinchback? I'm not really sure. It might refer to P. B. S. Pinchback, or to a miser, or to someone who produces cheap and/or tawdry goods. Or possibly it simply refers to pinch-back suits, which were fashionable in the 19-teens. Bessie Smith cannot tell us, so we must speculate. I kind of prefer the title I thought up when I found this track unlabeled: Working Man.

I fell in love with a sweet man once

He said he loved me too

He said if I'd run away with him

What nice things he would do

I've traveled around from town to town

How happy I would feel

But don't you know he would not work

Girls, take this tip from me

Get a working man when you marry

And let all these sweet men be

Doll, it takes money to run a business

And with me I know you girls will agree

There's one thing about this married life

That these young girls have got to know

That if a sweet man enters your front gate

Turn out your lights and lock your door

Yes, get a working man when you marry

And let all these pinchbacks be

Doll, it takes money to run a business

And with me I know you girls will agree

And if this panic stays on much longer

I'll hear all these young girls say

That it's a long way to Oklahoma

But these little pinchbacks, take them away.

Mistreating Daddy

I got a friend to help me figure out the chords for this one; he had to listen to it about 10 times in a row and kept shouting things like, "Damn you, Bessie!" You see, no chord progression repeats without some variation. I love how saucy this song is, in spite of the beaten woman verse. I was really sold on the middle section; there are certainly times when I want to warn people that I could cut them all to pieces like I would a piece of meat. Bessie Smith sings it about a third higher.

Daddy, Mama's got the blues

| G - D | G - G7 |

The kind of blues that's hard to lose

| C | G |

'Cause you mistreatin' me

| G | D |

And drove me from your door.

| A7 | D |

Daddy, you ain't heard the news:

| G - D | G - G7 |

There's another papa in your shoes

| C | G |

You ain't even got a chance with me no more

| A7 | D |

So be on your p's and q's.

| A7 | D |

Mistreating daddy, mistreating Mama all the time

| D7 | D7 |

Just because she wouldn't let you

| D7 | D7 |

Mistreating daddy, Mama's drawn a danger line

| G | G |

If you cross it I'll get you.

| G | G |

If you see me sitting on another daddy's knee

| C | C |

Don't bother me, I'm as mean as can be

| G | G |

I'm like that butcher, right down the street:

| A7 | A7 |

I could cut you all to pieces like I would a piece of meat

| D -- | -- |

Mistreating daddy, you used to knock your mama down

| D7 | D7 |

Then you knew I fell for you

| D7 | D7 |

And be so nervous, I would start dogging

| G | G |

Round here every time I saw you

| C | C |

But now I've got you off of my mind

| C | D#º7 |

And found another daddy who's just my kind

| G | E7 |

Mistreating daddy, I've got another papa now.

| Am | D7 | G |

I've got a tip for people talking about

| C | C |

I will grab my daddy and turn him wrong side out

| G | E7 |

Mistreating daddy, I've got a good papa now.

| Am | D7 | G | G7 --