1. |
||||
|
Down In Mississippi (J. B. Lenoir)
Far back’s I can remember
Either had to plow or hoe
One of those long ol’ nine feet sacks
Standin’ at the old turn row.
Down in Mississippi. Down in Mississippi.
Down in Mississippi where I was born
Down in Mississippi where I come from…
They had a huntin’ season on a rabbit
If you shoot him you went to jail.
The season was always open on me:
Nobody needed no bail.
Nothing I got ‘gainst Mississippi,
It also was the home of my wife.
But I count myself a lucky man
Just to get away with my life.
|
||||
2. |
||||
|
Grinnin' In Your Face (Eddie Son House)
Don’t you mind people grinnin’ in your face.
Don’t mind people grinnin’ in your face, O Lord,
Just bear this in mind, a true friend is hard to find.
Don’t you mind people grinnin’ in your face.
They’ll jump you up and down.
They’ll carry you all around and ‘round.
Just as soon as your back is turned,
they’ll be tryin’ to cut you down.
But just bear this in mind, a true friend is hard to find.
Don’t you mind people grinnin’ in your face…
Your mother, she’ll talk about you.
Your brothers and your sisters, too.
Yes, don’t care how you’re trying to live,
They’ll talk about you still.
But just bear this in mind, a true friend is hard to find.
Don’t you mind people grinnin’ in your face….
|
||||
3. |
Oil In My Vessel (Trad.)
04:41
|
|||
|
Oil In My Vessel (Traditional)
Well, I got oil in my vessel
Keep your lamp trimmed and burning
Got to be ready when that bride groom comes.
Well, I got oil in my vessel,
Keep your lamp trimmed and burning
Gonna be ready when that bride groom comes.
A-mazing grace, how sweet that sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found.
Was blind, but now I see.
Must Jesus bear his cross alone
While all the world goes free?
No there is a cross for everyone,
And there’s a cross for me.
How happy are the saints above
Who once had struggled here,
Surrounded by the ones they love,
The love without the tears.
|
||||
4. |
||||
|
It's Gonna Rain (Scott Ainslie)
I met you down at Evangeline,
Wearing one of your pretty things.
I’ll never forget how you looked that day;
your eyes so bright as you walked my way.
But I’ve been lonely and I’ve been blue;
Feeling lost since I lost you.
And the wind’s pickin’ up on Lake Pontchartrain;
Any fool could see…
It’s gonna rain; well, gonna rain.
It’s gonna rain; yeah, gonna rain.
The sun’s peeking in underneath the blinds:
What makes you think you’re welcome here.
Go find yourself somewhere else to shine.
I gotta get outta here.
There’s beer bottles and broken Mardi Gras beads
Laying up between parked cars.
I got me a cold morning here in New Orleans and
No good idea, where you are.
It’s gonna rain….
And last night, from the vast cold vacuum of space,
by the light of that moon, I swear I could see your face:
Half-lit ‘neathe the cypress trees,
Where the cottonwoods whisper in the evening breeze,
I know you’ve gone; I know we’ve changed.
But I still get this feelin’ when I can smell the rain.
I never come down here to Bourbon Street.
Nobody in this crowd that I care to meet.
But, I’ll have one little whiskey in your name,
as they run for the doorways and it starts to rain.
It’s gonna rain.
|
||||
5. |
||||
|
If Anybody Asks About Me (Scott Ainslie)
If anybody asks you about me,
If anybody asks you about me,
If anybody asks you about me,
Tell them I’m travelin’ on.
Bossman yellin’ hurry all the time,
Bossman yellin’ hurry all the time,
Bossman ‘fraid he’ll lose his job,
I’m afraid I can’t lose mine.
So, meet me by the willow tree,
So, meet me by the willow tree,
So, meet me by the willow tree,
When the moon is dark.
And we’ll make our way to a better land.
We’ll make our way to a better land.
We’ll make our way to a brighter land
Where no one will know we’ve gone.
|
||||
6. |
||||
|
Another Man Done Gone (Trad./Vera Hall)
Another man done gone. [3x}
Down to New Orleans,
Another man done gone.
I didn’t know his name. [5x]
He had a long chain on. [5x]
He killed another man. [5x]
Another man done gone (reprise).
|
||||
7. |
||||
|
I Should Get Over This (Scott Ainslie)
I’ll take it, if my stuff’ll fit.
Or maybe, I’ll just get rid of it.
I need a place to call home;
A little place of my own.
I should get over this.
Can’t make the pieces fit.
I should get over this.
From this window, I see it’s just a game.
All the kids out playing stick ball in the rain.
And no one keeping score.
Who could ask for more?
Give me a minute, Give me an hour, Maybe a lifetime….
Give me a minute, Give me an hour, Maybe a lifetime and I’ll have the power.
It’s no use, the gods don’t listen to me.
We all break the rules, it’s just a matter of degree.
I want you back again.
Your name is written on my skin.
|
||||
8. |
||||
|
Little Trip To Heaven (Tom Waits)
Little trip to heaven on the wings of your love
and a moon shining in the sky.
Feel like I’m in heaven when you’re with me
Know that I’m in heaven when you smile.
While I’m stuck here on the ground
I’ve got something that I’ve found
And it’s you. It’s you.
I don’t have to take no trip to outer space.
All I have to do is look at your face and
before I know it I’m in orbit around you.
Thankin’ my lucky stars that I found you.
When I see you constellation, honey I know
you’re my inspiration and it’s you.
You’re my North Star when I’m lost and feeling blue.
The sun is breaking through those clouds
can’t you feel it, too?
Honey, all the other stars seem dim around you.
Thankin’ my lucky stars that I found you.
When I see your smiling face, Honey,
I know nothing’s ever gonna take your place
Cause it’s you. It’s you. It’s you.
|
||||
9. |
||||
|
Dust My Broom (Robert Johnson)
I’m gonna get up in the mornin’ – I believe I’ll dust my broom.
I’m gonna get up in the mornin’ – I believe I’ll dust my broom.
Girlfriend, that man you been lovin’, tell him he can have my room.
I’m gonna write a letter – telephone every town I know. [2x]
If she ain’t in West Helena – must be in East Monroe, I know.
I don’t want no woman – wants every downtown man she meets. [2x]
She’s a no good doney – they shouldn’t allow her out on the street.
I believe, – I believe I’ll go back home. [2x]
You can mistreat me here, babe – but you can’t when I am home.
I’m gonna call up China and see is my good girl over there. [2x]
If she ain’t in the Philippine Islands – – she must be in Ethiopia somewhere.
I believe, – I believe my time ain’t long. [2x]
You can mistreat me here, babe – but you can’t when I am gone.
And I’m gettin’ up in the mornin’ -I believe I’ll dust my broom. [2x]
Girlfriend, that man you been lovin’, tell him he can have my room.
|
||||
10. |
||||
|
Thunder's Mouth (Scott Ainslie)
When I lived down on Smokey Row,
I kept my dreams between the cotton rows.
Those fields my books, where I wrote with my hoe.
When I lived – when I lived – down on Smokey Row.
They sold my Mama; then my Pa.
Beat me reg’lar. I carry the scars.
You were the only pure thing in my heart.
That ground was dry; that ground was hard.
We made Nashville; walked all the way.
The sun beat us down, day after day.
The gun and the rope, they sure did have their say.
At every turn – every turn – I saw your face.
If my tongue were in Thunder’s Mouth,
I’d call a shout all across the South.
And the rain would wash our sins all out,
If my tongue – if my tongue – were in Thunder’s Mouth.
The world we dream is just as real,
as the scars we bear and the love we feel.
And someday, if we get to choose:
You take me – you take me–you take me
and I’ll take you
|
||||
Scott Ainslie Brattleboro, Vermont
A long history with older black blues and gospel players in the mid-South marks Ainslie's work deeply. He transcribed all of Robert Johnson's recorded songs for "Robert Johnson/At The Crossroads" (Hal Leonard, 1992) and has a teaching DVD on Johnson's music. A fine songwriter with a social conscience and a belief in the power of music to move and inspire, Ainslie's voice is a great force for good! ... more
If you like Scott Ainslie, you may also like:
Buffalo Nichols
by Buffalo Nichols
With virtuosic guitar-playing and evocative singing, Carl “Buffalo” Nichols returns Black stories to folk and blues.
go to album
Cerebral palsy curbed his ability to play guitar the conventional way, so Nagoda learned double slide, this is his debut LP.
go to album
Taste The Quiet Bone (Album) E.P.
by The Dirty Diary
featured on Bandcamp Radio Jan 7, 2014
go to album
Soul Provider
by Elizabeth King
New on Bible & Tire: The searing new Gospel record from Elizabeth King, the Queen of Sacred Soul.
go to album
The second album by French-Moroccan power quartet Bab L' Bluz is packed with dizzying melodies and rich instrumentation.
go to album
This collection of work is the final album from the late Memphis gospel singer.
go to album
The Canadian singer marries the sound of classic folk and jazz with a modern-day spin.
go to album
