Tony Joe White + J J Cale

¤ Tony Joe White [1943-2018] a.k.a. the Swamp Fox

Some people talk just to hear their lips rattle

Got to high positions – Same old ship but with a different paddler

Told me that I had to get commercialized

if I was gonna fit in with the show, no
Don’t want no one telling me I got to I move in my own time

Play this guitar anyway I want to – I own it and the amplifier

Everybody is getting tired of pushing buttons on their radio

Where was it wrote down – They got to cram it down our throats

I don’t give a damn about the hook lines – They make me feel like a fish, hook this

Wear my hair long down to my hip bone if that’s the way I feel
Wear my sunshades even in the night time – Ride my woman in a Coupe de Ville
I might want to rock – play the blues all night long
I’m in this thing for life – I didn’t come here for just one song

They can’t put the music in a small bag – It’s got to stay as free as I feel

Don’t want no one telling me I got to
I move in my own time – play this guitar any way I want to
Lightinin’ Hopkins is a friend of mine

Don’t want no one telling me I got to
I move in my own time – play this music any way I want to
I must keep it alive – Just check it up

◊→ ‘Polk Salad Annie‘ ⇓

(. . . Recitation)

If some of ya’ll never been down South too much…

I’m gonna tell you a little bit about this, so that you’ll understand what I’m talking about

Down there we have a plant that grows out in the woods and the fields,

looks somethin’ like a turnip green – Everybody calls it Polk salad – Polk salad.

Used to know a girl that lived down there and she’d go out in the evenings and pick a mess of it…

Carry it home and cook it for supper, ‘cause that’s about all they had to eat,

But they did all right.

Down in Louisiana where the alligators grow so mean

There lived a girl that I swear to the world made the alligators look tame

Polk salad Annie – polk salad Annie

Everybody said it was a shame ‘cause her mama was working on the chain-gang

(a mean, vicious woman)

Everyday ‘fore supper time she’d go down by the truck patch

And pick her a mess o’ Polk salad and carry it home in a tote sack

Polk salad Annie -the ‘gators got you granny

Everybody said it was a shame ‘cause her mama was aworkin’ on the chain-gang

(a wretched, spiteful, straight-razor totin’ woman, Lord have mercy. Pick a mess of it)

Her daddy was lazy and no count – Claimed he had a bad back

All her brothers were fit for was stealin’ watermelons out of my truck patch

Polk salad Annie, the gators got your granny

Everybody said it was a shame ‘cause her mama was a working’ on the chain gang

(Sock a little polk salad to me, you know I need a mess of it)

◊→ ‘Even Trolls Love Rock & Roll’ ⇐

Now one time I had this little ol’ band back home

A rock and roll band

And we was going to play this job one night

And it weren’t too far away so we was walking

But we came upon a long dark stretch of woods

Had an old river running through it

And an old wooden bridge across the river

Well just as I was about to step upon the bridge

Out stepped the troll – A whole mighty troll

And he said: ‘Hey looks like you all are going to play somewhere’

And I said: ‘Yes sir’

Cause you always wanna say yes sir to a troll

He said: ‘I hate to mess up your boys job

But I sure could dig hearing ya’all play a little bit’

I said: ‘Man we can’t just plug up

And play it right here upon the bridge’

He said: ‘Why?’

And I go: ‘Cause …’

But the troll said: ‘Play!’

That’s what we did …

Well the wind was howling at the night

And the moon was covered up with clouds

I was walking cross a bridge on a dirt road

When I heard a troll growl

He said don’t you go walking cross my bridge

I am gonna make it tough on you

I am gonna give you swamp fever

You’ll be wondering if you’re you

Yeah you know you got to pay the toll

Cause even trolls love rock and roll

Uh it will keep you up all night

Drinking and carrying on

Getting it to the swamp music

Get it on – Get it on

Yeah you know you got to pay my toll

Cause even trolls love rock and roll

Yeah

But the troll said: Hey!

He said you boys just ain’t getting it

He said would you mind if I borrowed that old guitar?

And showed you all a lick

Since we never heard a troll play we let him have it

And he goes like this …

I said: Damn troll!

Yeah you know you got to pay the toll

Cause even trolls love rock and roll

Wow

Would you mind if I had my guitar back?

And the troll said: Why?

♦→ ‘Ain’t Goin’ Down This Time’ ⇓

I’ve been laying low – Living in the shadows
Spending time alone – Conversations with the wall

Hanging on – I’m just trying to matter
And I remain trying to make some sense of it all

I’ve been here before I’m familiar with the pain
But I ain’t running no more there’s one thing changed
Ain’t going down this time – This time I ain’t going down

Like an undertow – I feel the promise of the nighttime
But I’ve been down that road and my search came to an end

I hit the motherload – Enough blues for a lifetime
Now I’m digging deep inside – Trying to find my way back again

You know you’ve entered the danger zone
When you look in the eyes and there’s no one home
Ain’t going down this time – This time I ain’t going down

Deep in the night I miss a woman’s touch
The fire burns strong and I’m drawn to the flame

But I pay the price when I get caught up in the heartbeat
And passion flows unrestrained

No one left to blame I’m faced with the truth
And it’s all too plain when there’s nothing left to lose
Ain’t going down this time – This time I ain’t goin’

•→ ‘Undercover Agent for the Blues’⇔ [lyrics]

◊ ‘ I’ve Got A Thing About You Baby’ ⇓

I got something to tell you that I think you ought to know 

that my eyes are on you baby since a long time ago 

And now I finally got the nerve and I’m gonna make my move 

Now don’t you try to turn me off ‘cos it’s gonna be hard to do 

I got a thing about you baby, ain’t nothing I can do 

I got a thing about you baby, a thing about loving you  

There ain’t no two ways about it baby your love was meant for me 

I know that I can’t do without it, it fits me to a T 

Ooh there’s something about you baby, can’t get you off my mind 

I know that I can’t live without you, I think about you all the time 

I got a thing about you baby, ain’t nothing I can do 

I got a thing about you baby, a thing about loving you  

Ain’t it just like a woman when she knows she’s got a man 

She’ll wring you out and turn you ‘bout in the palm of her hand 

And then she starts to thinkin’ that maybe she’ll put you in a bind 

She’ll give you just a little lovin’ it’ll drive you out of your mind 

But I got a thing about you baby, ain’t nothing I can do 

I got a thing about you baby, a thing about lovin’ you 

Oh yeah . . . 

I got a thing about you baby, a thing about you baby,

I got a thing about you baby . . .

•→’You’re Gonna Look Good In Blues’⇐

I was thinking about parking the other night ↑ We was out on a back road

Me and my woman was just gettin’ right – All systems on overload

The radio blasting in the front seat – Turning out the music fine

We was snuggled up in the back seat – Making up for lost time

Steamy windows — zero visibility

Steamy windows — coming from the body heat

You can wine and dine with a woman all night with good intent

But there’s something about a confrontation on a back road – Breaks down the defense

Steamy windows — ain’t nobody can see

Steamy windows — coming from the body heat

There’s a sound outside the front door – I know it’s just the wind

But it makes her snuggle up just a little bit closer and it starts things happening again

Steamy windows . . .

∞ w/ Lucinda Williams ⇒’Closing In On The Fire’ ⇔ [lyrics]

∇ ‘Swamp Rap’ ⇓

Ungr, now I don’t move too fast and my talk is kind o’ slow
I’m from the swamps and I like to stomp to the Cotton-Eyed-Joe

Now I work hard all week – When it comes Saturday night
I go downtown and cruise around in my four wheel drive that’s right – With mud flaps

Sometimes I like to slow dance and I hold my woman tight
‘Cause you can’t get nothing done if you stand apart and sling your arms and all

Now I see a lot of people and they’re thinking they’re where it’s at
But you know that times are a-changing when soul brothers wear cowboy hats – That’s right

But there’s still a lot of cowboys who don’t mind biting the dust
They ride Brahman-bulls and bucking broncs and they don’t want no fuss

But now they’re everywhere you look and though it may sound strange
They ride Coupe De Villes done too cutter Bill’s and overnight they can ride the ranche – I heard that

I was down in the swamps one night, singing to the moon
When an alligator crawled up to me and said, «Hey, I like your tune»

He started to twist and shake his tail thought he was having a fit
And my fingers was starting to hurt like hell but he wouldn’t let me quit

He said, «Keep on» Yeah but it’s a long time since I wanted to dance – Would you please give me some more
A one two three four you can’t alligator till you get down on the floor – That’s right … That’s right!

Yeah, I met a long-legged woman and I loved the way she moved
She was hard to trap like [ . . . ?] Texas woman.

≈

•→TJW & Mark Knopfler_’Not One Bad Thought’ ⇔ lyrics⇐

•→ TJW & Eric Clapton_’Did Somebody Make A Fool Out Of You‘⇐

∇ ‘Tunica Motel’ ⇓

Monday looked like a downer
Tuesday looked like rain
A bad altitude – I knew I needed a change

Head out on the highway
Cruising way down south
I knew a little place where I might could work it all out

I’m so tired of fighting with myself
Gonna spend a little time at the Tunica Motel

Just outside of Memphis,
Highway 61
Sleepy little town down by the Mississippi River

I’m gonna lay out on a houseboat
Until my hide turns brown
I ain’t gonna move ‘till the evening sun goes down

Fried chicken to go and they got live bait for sale
Anything you need at the Tunica Motel

I find myself at midnight
Moving to the back porch blues
The guitar cries, telling me about the hard times

Something moves in the shadows
Giving me a little chill
I thought I saw Robert Johnson walking out across the field

There ain’t hardly anybody left who even knows the tale
Gimme the blues at the Tunica Motel

÷ ÷ ÷ ÷ ÷ ÷

¤ J J Cale [1938-2013]

◊ → ‘They call me the breeze’ ↓

They call me the breeze, I keep blowin’ down the road…

I ain’t got me nobody, I ain’t carry no load

(There) Ain’t no change in the weather, ain’t no changes in me …

And I ain’t hidin’ from nobody, nobody’s hidin’ from me

I got that green light, baby, I got to keep movin’ on …

I might go out to California, might go down to Georgia, I don’t know

First time I seen you, I knew
You had come undone for someone mistreated you

The ringing in your ears, the salt in your tears
Yes, I know I would feel sick at a dirty deal, yes I do

Some bright morning, the sun will shine again
Some bright morning, start all over again
Hold on, you’ve got to hold on
If nothing is real, I know how it feels, yes I do

Hold on, when everything is gone
I know how it feels to get a dirty deal, I do

∇ ‘Stay Around’ ⇓ [2019]

Stay around – Stay around girl
And let’s make love one more time
Stay around – Stay around girl
Ain’t nothing like you – You’re so fine

Let’s slip away, away into the night
Let’s make love ‘til it feels just right

Stay around – Stay around girl
And let’s make love one more time
Ain’t nowhere else you’ve got to go – And neither do I
Ain’t nobody else I want to know – I don’t even try

Let’s put it on – Let it cook for a bit
Let’s try it out and see if it fits.
Stay around – Stay around girl
And let’s make love one more time

∇ ‘Friday’ ⇓

Monday morning comes too early – Work my back to the bone
All day Monday I keep thinking – «Weekend’s coming, gonna go home»

Tuesday I hate, oh Tuesday – Ain’t no girls on the streets
Tuesday it ain’t good for nothing – Drinking beer and watching TV

Friday, Friday evening – Come on Friday, it’s been too long
Friday, Friday evening – Come on Friday, I wanna go home

Wednesday’s hump day, hump day’s Wednesday
Over the hump, the week’s half-gone
If I had my pay on Wednesday I’d hang out,
the hump day’s gone

Thursday, you know I feel better – I can see the end in sight
Think I’ll write myself a letter – Help myself through the night

Friday, Friday evening . . .

∇ ‘Passion’ ⇓

Travelin’ light, is the only way to fly
Travelin’ light, just you and I
One-way ticket to ecstasy – Way on down, follow me
Travelin’ light, we can go beyond

Travelin’ light, we can catch the wind ⇒
Travelin’ light, let your mind pretend
We can go to paradise – Maybe once, maybe twice
Travelin’ light, is the only way to fly

◊→ ‘Days Go By’ ⇓

When you light that funny cigarette, would you pass it back to me?
I’m feeling a little down and out and it’ll keep me company
I’m just a long lost sinner, living life here on the line
I’ll give it right back to you, I know it’s not really mine
Now don’t put it out, not right yet – It’s burning pretty good
Maybe I’ll have one more toke – D’you think I should?

OO-oo, days go by
I just sit around and get real high
OO-oo, what a glow
I just hang out, they come and go

Hey, the walls are starting to move – The floor is way down there
What a buzz it is – There’s electricity in the air
Boy, I’m feeling really gone, I’m feeling really cool
I think I’ll have another one – I’m just another fool
You know they say it’s illegal but what isn’t these days?
No matter what you do there’ll be somebody on your case

OO-oo, days go by
It just seems like I sit around and get high
OO-oo, shame on me
They’re going to put me in a penitentiary

I must not be together – Look at the shape I’m in
I just know people are saying, «He’s looking awful thin!»
I guess I can count my blessings though I’ve always been this way
I guess I’ll quit tomorrow – Maybe another day

OO-oo, days go by
I guess I’ll sit around and get real high

You know time has no absolute – It’s a just seems like it’s spent
Everything has a tendency to be so warped and bent
While looking here and there, I’m surprised to see
Everybody’s gone here – Everybody’s gone but me

OO-oo, days go by
I just sit around and get real high
OO-oo, what a glow
I just hang out, they come and go

∇ ‘Devil In Disguise’ ⇓

From the California shore to New York City the beat don’t never stop
You can hear it on the radio anywhere you go – It’s steady as the rhythm of a clock
It cuts through the noise of the city life – It won’t seem to go away
It’s the devil in disguise, I tell you no lies – My fingers do the walking everyday

Yonder comes a young girl she wants to take a whirl – She thinks it’s all a dream
She got rock and roll way down in her soul – She wants to know where’s the limousine
Get up honey let your mama sit down – You’re too young anyway
It’s the devil in disguise give her the prize – Then you can carry her away

When the road I travel starts to unravel every which way it goes
The beat starts to press on my bullet proof vest and my high turns out to be low
Give me my guitar I’m going to go far – Let me see it let me hold it in my hand
It’s the devil in disguise, I tell you no lies – I’m playing in a rock ‘n roll band

∇ ‘Strange Days’ ⇓

Strange days that’s coming on us
Strange ways – This time of ours
There is no meaning for this to happen
Strange days – It seems so far
Used to be – Everything was falling
Right in place where it all would be
Something change – I sometimes wonder
Could I get back where we used to be
Strange days that’s coming for us
Strange ways – This time of ours

There is no meaning for this to happen

Strange days – It seems so far . . .

Whippoorwill’s singing – Soft summer breeze
Makes me think of my baby
I left down in New Orleans – I left down in New Orleans
Magnolia, you sweet thing – You’re driving me mad
Got to get back to you, babe
You’re the best I ever had – You’re the best I ever had
You whisper «Good morning» so gently in my ear
I’m coming home to you, babe
I’ll soon be there – I’ll soon be there

∞ with Leon Russell _ 1979 ↓ ‘Sensitive Kind’

Don’t take her for granted, she has a hard time – Don’t misunderstand her or play with her mind
Treat her so gently, it will pay you in time – You’ve got to know she’s the sensitive kind

Tell her you love her, each and every night, and you will discover she will treat you right
If you believe, I know you will find there ain’t nothing like the sensitive kind

She gets lonely waiting for you – You are the only thing to help her through
Don’t take her for granted, she has a hard time – You’ve got to know she’s the sensitive kind…

¤ ‘To Tulsa And Back’ ↓ ‘On tour with JJ Cale’

[clips from divx by Jörg Bundschuh]

For the first time, Cale agreed to have a film made about his career. He had always avoided fame, since he thought, correctly, that fame gets in the way of freedom and friendship. The documentary follows him through six American states on his 2004 ‘To Tulsa and Back Tour’.

If you’re ever in Oklahoma you better move around at night
‘Cause they don’t like no transportation slipping by in-and-out of sight
Now they don’t care about Dallas, Texas, and they don’t care about Wichita
But if you’re ever in Oklahoma you better move around the law

∇ Drifter’s Wife ⇓

Had me a woman down in Tennessee – Boy she used to love me
Free fever got me and I had to go – I never seen that woman no more
New York City is a place I’ve been – I was there one time with a travellin’ band
Young girl there wanted me to stay – I think she wanted me to pay

Roll it out, roll it in – Here we go down the road again
Drifters life is a drifters wife – Don’t say I didn’t tell you so

Travellin’ man now he don’t know – Only what he hears on the radio
Politics and money don’t bother him – Only good lookin’ women and a bottle of gin

Portland, Oregon, to the Mexican line – Boy let me tell you the women are fine
If you don’t hang around there very long, they’ll never ever know you’re gone

Roll it out, roll it in – Here we go down the road again
Drifters life is a drifters wife – Don’t say I didn’t tell you so