BLUES LYRICS and HOODOO:

SUPPLEMENTARY TRANSCRIPTIONS

from HOODOO IN THEORY AND PRACTICE
by catherine yronwode

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TITLE: Hoodoo Hoodoo
MATRIX NO.:
SINGER: John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson (I)
COMPOSER(S):
DATE OF REC.: August 6, 1946, Chicago, Illinois
ORIGINAL ISSUE(S):
REISSUE(S):
TRANSCRIPTION:

HOODOO HOODOO
by John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson

Lord, I wonder what's the matter this time,
            it seems like everything has changed
It seems like this woman that I've been lovin'
            have found some other man
I hold up my hand,
            I'm just trying to get my baby to understand
See, my baby don't love me no more,
            all because somebody hoodoo'd the hoodoo man

One night I'm goin' down into Louisiana
            and buy me another mojo hand
All because I got to break up my baby
            from lovin this other man
I hold up my hand,
            I'm just trying to make my baby to understand
Aw, my baby don't love me no more,
            she says somebody hoodoo'd the hoodoo man

I use to have a way with women,
            make plenty of money, and everything
But my woman don't love me no more,
            she says somebody hoodoo'd the hoodoo man
Now I just hold up my hand,
            I'm just trying to get my baby to understand
Aw, my baby don't love me no more,
            she says somebody hoodoo'd the hoodoo man

Well now, goodbye, baby,
            someday I will see you soon
I got something to tell you, baby,
            somebody else can have your room
And I just hold up my hand,
            I'm just trying to get my baby to understand
Well, my baby don't love me no more,
            she says somebody hoodoo'd the hoodoo man

TRANSCRIBED BY: Gary Joneson (gjones@qb.island.net) 1998

DISCOGRAPHY BY: Gary Joneson (gjones@qb.island.net) 1998

COMMENTS BY GARY JONESON: John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson (also known as Sonny Boy I, to distinguish him from Alec Rice Miller, "Sonny Boy Williamson II") was born in 1914 and died in 1948. Personnel for this session: John Lee Williamson - vocal & harmonica; Blind John Davis - Piano; Willie Lacey - Guitar; Ranson Knowling - Standup Bass.
RELATED LYRICS: For the refrain "somebody done hoodooÕd the hoodoo man" see
"Somebody Done Hoodoo'd the Hoodoo Man" by Louis Jordan 1939,
"Hoodoo Man Blues" by Junior Wells, 1953.
"Hoo Doo Blues" by Lightnin' Slim (Otis Hicks), 1957.

FURTHER INFORMATION: The following web pages can be consulted for more details about the topics referenced in this song:
V.1 hoodoo man (meaning a practitioner)
V.1 hoodoo (meaning to lay a trick)
V.2 mojo hand

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Individual acknowledgements for transcriptions and discographical data appear on each song-page, but i want to note that this Blues Lyrics and Hoodoo archive would never have been possible without the contributions of Gorgen Antonsson, who generously shared with me the format and content of his own personal lyrics archive, and Alan Balfour and Chris Smith, who have devoted a great deal of time to supplying me with tapes, transcribed lyrics, and detailed discographical information. Additionally, i wish to thank the kind members of the prewar blues e-list who have aided my research in innumerable ways. If you have missing data to supply, hear a substantially different take on a transcription, or want to let me know about a song that has been overlooked in these pages, please contact me through the prewar blues e-list: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/pre-war-blues.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Due to certain social, economic, and political paradigms in place at the time of their composition, many early blues songs were improperly copyrighted or not copyrighted at all. Many bore no composer credits. Many were ripped off by unethical music publishers who falsely claimed authorship and copyrighted them in their own names. Many that were once copyright-protected are now in the public domain due to publishers' or composers' failures to properly renew the copyrights. Many have since been ripped off by unethical performers or music publishers who have pretended to be the composers for the purpose of securing a belated copyright or who have claimed "arranger's" credits on songs they falsely swore were "traditional" when in fact the songs were composed by the people who originally performed them on record. It is my sincere belief that the song transcribed on this page bears the implied moral copyright of its composer, whoever that may be. If you believe that you control the copyright by virtue of authorship or legal legerdemain, you may contact me in a civil and polite manner and i will attempt in good faith to satisfy your needs in the matter of obtaining formal permission to quote the lyrics in this scholarly publication.

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