Crow Jane Skip James - Acoustic Guitar Forum

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Author	Topic: Crow Jane Skip James
Lenman11 unregistered	posted 08-06-2003 13:14 Just scanned the PBS thread by the resin 8er and watched Skip James doing Crow Jane. Awesome to me. Can anyone shed light on this song? Is it an original of his, or a previous recording? Is there any story in truth behind it? I sketched out the lyrics as I plan to learn it, here goes FYI Crow Jane Skip James Crow Jane Crow Jane, don’t you hold your head too high Someday, baby you know you got to die You got to lay down and. You got to die… You got to…. You know I wanna buy me a pistol, Want me 40 rounds of ball Shoot crow jane Just to see her fall She got to fall She go to She got to I wanna dig her grave With a silver spade I aint gonna let nobody take her place No, you can’t take her… No, you can”t take her place solo I never missed my water Till my well went dry Didn’t missed crow jane until she… Till the day she died, till the day she… There’s a reason I begged Crow Jane Not to hold her head too high Someday, baby, you know you got to die You got to lay down… And I dug that women’s grave 8 ft in the ground I didn’t feel sorry Until they let her down They had to let her down, let her… There’s a reason I begged Crow Jane Not to hold her head too high Someday, baby, you know you got to die Is that dude DARK or what? I love Skip James! IP: Logged
crossrdblue Member Posts: 1078 From: Denver, CO Registered: Feb 2001	posted 08-06-2003 15:33 Crow Jane is "traditional", I'm not sure anyone knows who wrote it (speak up, if someone knows), it is one of those songs that developed over time. Lots of old bluesmen do that song. The version I do is a very cool arrangement by Carl Martin, in standard tuning. I have never heard anyone do the arrangement I do, except that I sat with Howard Armstrong (Louie Bluey) one night and he did nearly the same arrangement as "Here come the Judge". Skip James does it in standard tuning, which is pretty rare for him. The tab can be found here: http://www.acguitar.com/lessons/crowjane/crowjane1.shtml I am surprised to see even Nick Cave and the Bad Seed do Crow Jane!! Brad. IP: Logged
Adrian Freed Member Posts: 2360 From: Berkeley, CA, USA Registered: Oct 2000	posted 08-07-2003 07:41 Thanks for the lyrics. This is one of the few Skip James songs for which there is good free tab on the web: IP: Logged
Adrian Freed Member Posts: 2360 From: Berkeley, CA, USA Registered: Oct 2000	posted 08-07-2003 07:47 Rev. Gary Davis covers it. Here is a curious CD with a version and many other Murder ballads IP: Logged
Craig Member Posts: 34 From: St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada Registered: May 2003	posted 08-07-2003 15:41 I found that lesson about a month ago,very helpful for a beginner like me. A more complex tab is in the Skip James tablature book which I have, but it doesn't say which album that version is from. Does anyone with that book know which album it comes from? I don't understand why it wouln't say but then again that book has a number of flaws. For some reason the lyrics printed to "Hard time killin floor" go: " if I ever get off this shit-ass floor..."!? Oh yeah,don't forget the other nice verse he sings: " I let her down with a golden chain, and with every link I would call my Crow Janes's name.. IP: Logged
hoodadoo Member Posts: 2011 From: Westport, Ct., Registered: Mar 2001	posted 08-07-2003 16:42 You can definitely find the song "Crow Jane" on track 5 of the Skip James, the Complete Bloomington, Indiana Concert, March 30, 1968, Part I of 3, on the Document records cd DOCD-5633. I believe the song is also on vinyl, and I'll have to double check my Skip James lps. IP: Logged
Adrian Freed Member Posts: 2360 From: Berkeley, CA, USA Registered: Oct 2000	posted 08-08-2003 02:42 According to my web site www.skipjames.info there is a version of Crow Jane on practiacally every postware CD. Document made a mistake and titled one of the versions "14. Someday You Gotta Die" IP: Logged
outfidel Member Posts: 1686 From: Ridgewood, NJ Registered: Jul 2001	posted 08-08-2003 06:53 Skip's version is also on Blues from the Delta. Here's a post by Wyatt Stephens on the Mudcat Cafe regarding Crow Jane: quote: In "Guitar Styles of Brownie McGhee" by Happy Traum(l97l0 Brownie says heheard his father sing this song first, and lists only one verse of it:"Crow Jane, Crow Jane, don't hold your head so high, Remember Crow Jane, you gotta lay down and die." In "The Blues Fakebook" by WoodyMann (l995) its said that the song was recorded by Big Bill Broonzy, Carl Martin and Skip James as well as Brownie, and to the vberse above are added these four others: I dug her grave with a silver spade, ain'd nobody gonna take my Crow Janes place. You know I let her down with a golden chain, and every link I would call my Crow Jane's name. I never Missed my water till my well run dryud dry, didn't miss Crow Jane until the day she died. repeat first verse. In Country Blues Songbook by Stefan Grossman et al, there is alonger version attributed to Skip James. On the audio tape that goes with this book, Stefan Grossman plays aan excellent instrumental version. IP: Logged
hoodadoo Member Posts: 2011 From: Westport, Ct., Registered: Mar 2001	posted 08-08-2003 09:23 Outfidel, I have the Grossman video, and it is appropriately titled "How to Play Blues Guitar." The music for Crow Jane is written out on page 46 of the pamphlet that comes with the video. IP: Logged
Adrian Freed Member Posts: 2360 From: Berkeley, CA, USA Registered: Oct 2000	posted 08-08-2003 10:35 Actually Skip James played quiet often in standard tuning. most of his gospel songs are. He played in the keys of E and A. Drunken Spree is a bluesy song in standard. SkipJames.info will have all the tunings and keys he played in eventually\, hopefully early next month. IP: Logged
Lenman11 unregistered	posted 08-08-2003 13:44 Adrian, that’s a great site! Slightly funny story. Anew client, who happens to write and play guitar music for movies and TV, came in to my office yesterday w his wife. Since I wanted to learn Crow Jane after hearing/seeing it, I asked him to sketch it out for me. I played the video clip off the PBS site for him, but if you’ve seen it subtitles are added to clarify the lyrics. His wife was also watching, and I could see her face turn from a smile as it started to puzzlement to WTF is this? I wasn’t thinking about the lyrics when I asked him. He whipped it out on paper and played it almost exact. I apologized about the lyrics to his wife and she laughed, saying it was part of being married to a musician. Anyways, as I look at them, boy, that’s some strong hate for a woman! First of all, she’s a dang Crow. Not bluebird Jane, or Robin Jane, but a Crow! Then of course, he’s threatening to kill her for what, being confident, cocky, not paying him enough attention? Then, he not only wants to get a pistol to kill her, he needs FORTY bullets! Not ten, not a few, but forty! Then he buries her by himself, and not the normal six feet, but eight! Like six isn’t enough? I don’t know if a Silver Spade is more insulting or what the significance of that is, but I‘d like to if anyone knows. Ends up by saying he BEGGED her not to hold her head so high! (I warned that gal!) When you watch the video clip, watch the look on his face as he ends the song and looks down. It’s as if he’s reliving a very painful past relationship that he relives when he performs this particular song. If that expression doesn’t sum up “the blues”, I don’t know what does. Heavy stuff, and very cool! Len IP: Logged
crossrdblue Member Posts: 1078 From: Denver, CO Registered: Feb 2001	posted 08-08-2003 14:27 Lenman: Hilarious! But I think "holding your head high" is a euphemism for cheating. Holding your head high means looking around, looking available, checking out the boys and, of course, consumating the short term relationship - I think he bagged her for cheating. Brad. IP: Logged
Lenman11 unregistered	posted 08-08-2003 15:00 Thanks Brad, that makes a lot more sense! Who can blame him then? (semi kidding!) IP: Logged
hoodadoo Member Posts: 2011 From: Westport, Ct., Registered: Mar 2001	posted 08-10-2003 03:28 Crow Jane is also on the Vanguard lp Skip James Today. And can also be found on the cd Skip James, Blues From the Delta, the Vangaurd Sessions. IP: Logged
335 Member Posts: 1 From: Registered: May 2004	posted 05-24-2004 12:57 Since Crow Jane possibly is a old traditional, isn´t it possible that "Crow Jane" is about the plantation owner rather than a woman. A lot of the old blues songs uses this anology, since the slaves would have been killed if they said it straight forward. The song makes more sense this way, I think. Great song this. IP: Logged
Sakpo Member Posts: 2 From: Registered: Jul 2004	posted 07-03-2004 01:27 Hey, Old thread to bump up, eh? It's way high up on google though, if you search for "crow jane skip james," so it's not as obscure as it's age might hint to forum users. I think the last post was onto something. Note how similiar "Crow Jane" is to "Jim Crow," the term used for the set of laws and customs that relegated African Americans in the American South to a lower caste without much social value or any political power, which could even be freely murdered by whites. I suspect there's an element of reference to that too. "Jim Crow" also originates in a traditional song too, popularized among whites by a racist vaudville blackface performer (check this for that version of the tune: http://www.berea.edu/faculty/browners/chesnutt/graphics/017.044a.001.mus.JPEG and http://www.berea.edu/faculty/browners/chesnutt/graphics/017.044a.002.mus.JPEG). Crow, of course, was written during the period following emancipation of the slaves, in which black Americans had been restripped of their rights, economically almost reenslaved, etc. It was common during slavery and afterward for slaves and freemen/freewomen to sing songs about their conditions/oppression in code, for instance, many songs about men running out on women are just as much about a slave escaping the slave labor camp ("plantation") or a sharecropper running out on his wrongly created debts as they are about a husband running out on his woman. Frequently, they literally were meant to be both about the obvious meaning (killing a lover, running away from a spouse) and the coded meaning (killing the slavemaster/land owner, running away from the plantation/rented land). Ignoring that aspect, in my opinion, is highly naive. It's level of tragic cynicism/despair for the future is heavily underlined when you think of the coded meaning and these words "Didn’t missed crow jane until she… Till the day she died, till the day she…" So, Jim Crow is done and over, and even then, are things getting worse, potentially? The end of Jim Crow means more turmoil purpose, an uncertain world, perhaps an even worse phase in history, much like "the nadir" that followed in the decades following emancipation, with epidemics of mass murder, lynching, mass rape, etc, of freed slaves and their children. Or it could be just missing what's bad for you. Or could just be added to add a morality white folk would approve of? Who knows? It confuses me, to be frank... but I'm sure the song is partially meant to be dealing with Jim Crow... even if it originates before "Jim Crow" was called that, the lyrics of such songs change with time, and even their meaning changes with new performers and audiences and events, and it couldn't have helped but absorb the "killing Jim Crow" meaning. Think about the time when Skip James recorded the standard tuning version, in the 60s... as Jim Crow was really crashing down to die... (not to say things are shiny and happy now in the South or America@Large). IP: Logged
becker New Member Posts: 1 From: portland Registered: Feb 2005	posted 02-14-2005 16:39 hmm interesting, check this out. duo out of s.f.,young lads at that, 23 i think, have an original titled "crow jane" as well. i would not doubt derived from the traditional? similar music maybe? i don't know. www.twogallants.com IP: Logged
Duke Member Posts: 534 From: fort wayne, IN Registered: Aug 2004	posted 02-14-2005 17:28 There is a slim possibility that he was writing about an American Indian woman from the Crow tribe. Something akin (albeit more sinister) to Furry Lewis' "Big Chief Blues"? [This message has been edited by Duke (edited 02-14-2005).] IP: Logged
NC Member Posts: 6 From: NY, NY Registered: Jan 2005	posted 02-15-2005 07:47 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From Acoustic Guitar Magazine: Crow Jane. Texas roots music wizard Steve James teaches his version of a classic country blues. http://www.acousticguitar.com/lessons/crowjane/crowjane1.shtml Pretty good version, with 6 verses of lyrics and audio clips. IP: Logged
goodolecaleb New Member Posts: 1 From: Surprise, Az, US Registered: Jul 2006	posted 07-08-2006 21:39 The comment above is correct. The reason he wants to kill her and put her in the ground and he told her she had to die is becausee she has oppressed his people for four hundred years. Why would he miss her? The life that negroes faced after crow jane was supposedly abolished was a life with concealed prejudice and discrimination that had deep roots. Boundaries were no longer clear. It was in many ways more dangerous then. IP: Logged
georgeguitar Member Posts: 761 From: Italy Registered: Jul 2006	posted 07-09-2006 05:23 hi, evreebody, just looking for some skip james lirics when i tripped on this forum. great! heard mr mann and mr brozman a few times live thru the years .just great. i'm just a long time skip james fan. i wrote a transcription of his cypress grove blues with a few extras, (tho it may need a legenda ...that's soon to came. meanwhile hopr u'll enjoy) in case check here http://mio.discoremoto.alice.it/allthatjazz george(giorgio) -- keeponpickin' IP: Logged
oldblackguy Member Posts: 16 From: Registered: Jun 2006	posted 07-09-2006 06:03 Skip James never recorded this song until the 60's. Any Skip James fan should check out his 1931 recordings (the album says they are 1930). The first recording I know of of Crow Jane is Sonny Terry and Brownie Mcghee but that's just off the top of my head, I really don't know when they recorded it. But I am pretty sure that this song originated in the southeast because of all the "piedmont" blues musician who have done this song and still do it to this day. Almost every old timers blues show I go to in NC they do Crow Jane. I can't think of any bluesmen outside of southeast who did the song before the 60's (if you know chime in). IP: Logged
John B Member Posts: 1387 From: Registered: May 2000	posted 07-09-2006 08:01 Carl Martin's version in 193? is very nice. IP: Logged
bcw Member Posts: 549 From: ky Registered: May 2004	posted 07-09-2006 14:56 carl martin`s crow jane was recorded in "chicago, saturday july 27 1935". IP: Logged
Cascade Slim Member Posts: 47 From: Portland OR 97202 Registered: Sep 2005	posted 07-09-2006 19:46 Musical cousins? -Charlie Patton- Jim Lee Blues -Mississippi John Hurt- Slidin' Delta IP: Logged
oldblackguy Member Posts: 16 From: Registered: Jun 2006	posted 07-10-2006 06:57 Ok that could possibly be the first recording of Crow Jane. I might ad Carl Martin was a piedmont/appalachia artist who migrated to chicago probably in the early 30's. If you like Martin there is a new kind of tribute band plays locally round here called the Carolina Chocolate Drops 3 young folks who consists of a mandolin,violin and guitar (I think). They may be touring with Taj Mahal. [This message has been edited by oldblackguy (edited 07-10-2006).] IP: Logged
D.E. Cottrell Member Posts: 93 From: Forest Knolls, CA, USA Registered: May 2005	posted 07-10-2006 19:07 Jim Lee and Crow Jane are both take-offs of the 8-bar blues form in E (the latter is more exactly a 9-bar, but who's counting?), so they are cousins in that respect. I can't speak for the MJH song (can't hear it in my head right now). IP: Logged
Tom Austin Member Posts: 3404 From: Occidental, CA, USA Registered: Nov 1999	posted 07-10-2006 20:37 great stuff. What do y'all think of the Derek Trucks Band version of it off "Songlines?" I love that song. Haven't played the CD in a couple of months, and the song just enters my head unbidden. IP: Logged
oldblackguy Member Posts: 16 From: Registered: Jun 2006	posted 07-11-2006 07:03 Tommy Johnson also has a song call "Slidin' Delta" but I can't make out much of what he's saying (recording and his singing although I like it is hard to understand) couldn't even say if it's related to John Hurt's song of the same title. IP: Logged
stinger Member Posts: 40 From: citizen of the world Registered: May 2006	posted 07-11-2006 09:57 In the Stefan Grossman MJH book "Avalon Blues" Sliding delta is taught and Stefan says on the cd that it's basically the same arrangement as Crow Jane. It has the same chords , however the melody is different. Stinger [This message has been edited by stinger (edited 07-11-2006).] IP: Logged
m-crisis Member Posts: 691 From: South California Registered: Jun 2005	posted 07-11-2006 10:02 quote: Originally posted by Tom Austin: great stuff. What do y'all think of the Derek Trucks Band version of it off "Songlines?" I love that song. Haven't played the CD in a couple of months, and the song just enters my head unbidden. Me too! It's in my car CD - my brother asked me if it was Prince singing when he heard it. Great slide. The Jim Crow connection makes a lot of sense. IP: Logged
Tom Austin Member Posts: 3404 From: Occidental, CA, USA Registered: Nov 1999	posted 07-11-2006 13:37 It's not Prince singing it, but it's not Derek either. He's got a new vocalist, a real winner I think. the whole CD is great. Derek has really come into his own. He used to wear his influences a little directly on his sleeve (not a terrible thing for a young player to do...). Not any more. He's a full grown man. IP: Logged
m-crisis Member Posts: 691 From: South California Registered: Jun 2005	posted 07-12-2006 12:13 Re: Derek Trucks/Crow Jane There's now a new DVD out. I just picked it up (on sale at Tower) - I haven't watched it yet, but it's live from this year. This is probably what was on YouTube before it got pulled. Phil IP: Logged
bdeivert Member Posts: 187 From: Karlstad, Sweden Registered: Aug 2004	posted 11-17-2006 01:27 Carl Martin's Crow Jane is fantastic. It is my favorite version, even though I am a great admirer of Skip James. I have a cd Martin recorded in the 60's where he plays it, and it is some of the greatest fingerpicking (though a bit rough at times) that I have heard. Have worked days to learn it now and have it down. I too wonder where the name comes from... Going to ask some blues academics about it... cheers BERT -- http://www.deivert.com/blues.html IP: Logged
twirlygirl Member Posts: 57 From: Grafton, WI USA Registered: Sep 2006	posted 01-01-2007 17:15 For more about Skip James and the record company that he recorded for, go to http://paramountshome.org/index.php He was just inducted into Grafton, WI Paramount Walk of Fame of which I was the chairperson for the voting committee. http://www.paramountshome.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=PagEd&file=index&topic_id=11&page_id=82 twirlygirl IP: Logged
Adrian Freed Member Posts: 2360 From: Berkeley, CA, USA Registered: Oct 2000	posted 04-09-2007 03:08 Whoops. Looks like Acoustic Guitar Magazine pulled Steve James' excellent tab and article on Crow Jane from their web site. IP: Logged
PoBoyLongWayFromHome Member Posts: 188 From: Chicago Registered: Mar 2007	posted 04-09-2007 07:16 they did. I emailed them a week ago and asked them to replace it as a matter of fact. Haven't heard back. IP: Logged
SteveMcBill Member Posts: 72 From: Runcorn, Cheshire, UK Registered: Sep 2004	posted 04-09-2007 08:03 Anyone got a copy of the Carl Martin tab version they could send me ?? Pretty please !! Cheers, thanks and keep on pluckin'. Steve steve.mcwilliam@btinternet.com www.stevemcwilliam.co.uk/guitar/tab.htm IP: Logged
sehrlangsam Member Posts: 15 From: Colorado Registered: May 2007	posted 06-26-2007 13:54 Greetings everyone, Excellent topic. I picked up Skip James' "Today" featuring a take of "Crow Jane" and was blown away. There is also an excellent video on YouTube. http://youtube.com/watch?v=ytVww5r4Nk0 What a performer! Anyway, I noticed that the URL for the lesson on this song is down, but (amazingly) accessible from archive.org. http://web.archive.org/web/20060208040733/http://acguitar.com/lessons/crowjane/crowjane1.shtml Truly amazing the archiver even got this page. I would bet the website moved URLs, because the tablature gifs rendered (suggesting the files still exist on the server, because I believe archiver doesn't archive images) [This message has been edited by sehrlangsam (edited 06-26-2007).] IP: Logged
Tim Mitchell Member Posts: 1605 From: Nyack,NY USA Registered: Nov 2000	posted 06-26-2007 21:32 IP: Logged

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