Alexis Korner - Lining Track lyrics

Ho, boys, is you right? I done got right All I hate about linin' track These ol' bars 'bout to bust my back Ho, boys, cancha line 'em track Ho, boys, cancha line 'em track Ho, boys, cancha line 'em track Let's see Eloise go linin' track Down in the holler below the field Angels are workin' on my chariot wheel Ho, boys, cancha line 'em track Ho, boys, cancha line 'em track Ho, boys, cancha line 'em track Mary and the baby were settin' in the shade Thinkin' of the money that I ain't made Ho, boys, cancha line 'em track Ho, boys, cancha line 'em track Ho, boys, cancha line 'em track Well, I bin on the river, nineteen and ten But I didn't have no women like the drivin' men Ho, boys, cancha line 'em track Ho, boys, cancha line 'em track Ho, boys, cancha line 'em track Moses stood on the Red Sea shore He was battin' at the waves with a two-by-four Ho, boys, cancha line 'em track Ho, boys, cancha line 'em track Ho, boys, cancha line 'em track Well if I could I surely would Stand on the rock where Moses stood Ho, boys, cancha line 'em track Ho, boys, cancha line 'em track Ho, boys, cancha line 'em track Mary, Marthy, Luke and John Well all them 'ciples now they're dead and gone Ho, boys, cancha line 'em track Ho, boys, cancha line 'em track Ho, boys, cancha line 'em track Well you keep talkin' 'bout the break ahead Ain't said nothin' 'bout my hog an' bread Ho, boys, cancha line 'em track Ho, boys, cancha line 'em track Ho, boys, cancha line 'em track Ho, boys, is you right? I done got right All I hate about linin' track These ol' bars 'bout to bust my back Ho, boys, cancha line 'em track Ho, boys, cancha line 'em track Ho, boys, cancha line 'em track Trivia: Source: Transcribed from Koerner, Ray and Glover 'Blues, Rags and Hollers' Red House RHR CD 76. Their source was a Leadbelly recording on Stinson Which 'was pa**ed around quite a while before settling' into above A version appears in John A. Lomax & Alan Lomax 'American Folk Ballads' Macmillan 23rd Printing 1972 at page 14 under the title 'Tie-shuffing Chant'. Th E gang leader sings first line of each verse. The Lomaxes provided the following Illuminating description of lining track: 'Tie shuffling' is the lining or straightening out of the railroad track. To Understand the work-rhythm that forms the chant it will be necessary to Describe Henry Trevelyan's section gang as it worked to the tune. Henry The foreman, stooped over and squinted off down the shining rail; then Stood up and bawled out directions to his gang in the impossibly technical Language of the railroad. They, with heavy bars Off down the track, jammed their lining bars down under the rail on the Inner side, and braced against them. One of their number, a handsome Yellow man, when he was sure they were ready to heave, threw back his Head and sang. On the first and next to last beat of every verse, each man Threw his weight against his bar; the refrain was repeated until Henry, who Had kept his eye on the rail meanwhile, shouted his directions about the Next 'johnnyhead'. At that signal, the song was broken off , the gang Stopped heaving, and the whole scene was repeated a few yards on down The track Sounds a bit more organised that Utah Phillips' description of 'gandy dancing' o N 'Irish banjos' The Lomaxes give other verses, some from Odum and Johnson's 'Negro Workaday Songs' Univ of NC Press. For example: I got a woman on Jennielee Square Ef you would die easy, lemme ketch you there The reason I stay wid my cap'n so long Ever' mornin' gimme biscuits to rear back on July de red bug, July de fly Ef Augus' ain' a hot month, lawdy, I pray to die Went up de mountain, to de tip-top See my baby do the eagle rock Lyrics licensed by LyricFind