Hey Lawdy Mama (blues song)

"Oh Lordy Mama"
Single by Buddy Moss
B-side	"Misery Man Blues"
Released	1934 (1934)
Format	10-inch 78 rpm record
Recorded	New York, August 8, 1934
Genre	Blues
Length	02:42
Label	Melotone (no. 13234)
Buddy Moss singles chronology
"When the Hearse Rolls Me from My Door"/ "Insane Blues" (1934) "Oh Lordy Mama" (1934) "Stinging Bull Nettle"/ "Love Me Baby" (1934)

"Hey Lawdy Mama" (or "Oh Lordy Mama") is a Piedmont blues song recorded by Buddy Moss in 1934.^[1] The song became popular among jazz musicians with early recordings by Count Basie and Louis Armstrong. In 1943, a version recorded by Andy Kirk and His Twelve Clouds of Joy, with vocals by June Richmond, was a hit, reaching number four on the Billboard R&B chart.^[2] Since then, a variety of artists have recorded their interpretations of "Hey Lawdy Mama".

Early songs

Buddy Moss' "Oh Lordy Mama" is an uptempo twelve-bar blues with distinct vocal phrasing:

Meet me down at the river, you can bring me my shoes and clothes
Oh Lordy mama, great God almighty
Said meet me down at the river, bring me my shoes and clothes
Says I ain't got so many, but I got so far to go

The song was performed as a solo piece, with Moss providing the vocal and guitar accompaniment.

After Moss' single, similar versions followed: "Oh Lawdy Mama" by Curley Weaver (Decca 7664, April 23, 1935)^[3] and "Hey Lawdy Mama" by Bumble Bee Slim (Decca 7126, August 7, 1935). These were released before Billboard magazine or a similar service began tracking such releases, so it is difficult to gauge which of these versions was the most popular, although Bumble Bee Slim's title is the one most commonly used on later versions (and often credited to Slim, also known as Amos Easton). Moss recorded a sequel "Oh Lordy Mama No. 2" (ARC 6-04-56, August 21, 1935).

Meet Me in the Bottom

In 1936, Bumble Bee Slim re-recorded "Hey Lawdy Mama" with some new lyrics as "Meet Me in the Bottom" (Decca 7170, February 7, 1936).

Meet me in the bottom, bring my boots and shoes
Oh Lawdy mama, great God almighty
Meet me in the bottom, bring my boots and shoes
I've got to leave this town I, got no time to lose

Earlier recorded versions of the song are not identified,^[4] although Pink Anderson, who recorded a version of "Meet Me in the Bottom" in 1961 (which closely follows Slim's song), remembered the song "from just after the first World War".^[5] Slim's "Meet Me in the Bottom" set the pattern for later versions by other artists, which would include elements of "Hey Lawdy Mama" and "Meet Me in the Bottom" as well as new lyrics.

In 1961, Howlin' Wolf recorded "Down in the Bottom" (also called "Meet Me in the Bottom"), a song credited to Willie Dixon (Chess 1793, May 1961). Although "Down in the Bottom" is different musically and it does not have the "hey Lawdy mama, great God almighty" refrain, Bumble Bee Slim's "Hey Lawdy Mama" has been identified as "the song that Willie Dixon transformed into the classic "Meet Me in the Bottom" for Howlin' Wolf".^[6] The opening lines are reminiscent of Slim's "Meet Me in the Bottom":

Well now meet me in the bottom, bring me my running shoes
Well now meet me in the bottom, bring me my running shoes
Well I'll come out the window I, won't have time to lose

June Richmond renditions

In 1942, jazz singer June Richmond recorded the first of several versions of "Hey Lawdy Mama" during her career. Given the big band treatment by bandleader Andy Kirk and HIs Twelve Clouds of Joy, the song was performed as an uptempo swing-blues with a full horn section and vocals by Richmond (Decca 4405, July 14, 1942). The song reached #4 in the Billboard R&B chart during a stay of eight weeks in 1943. In 1944 and 1945 she recorded two more versions with Kirk (Hindsight HSR227, 1944; Swing House SWH 130, 1945). Richmond appeared in a "soundie" (an early music video) in 1944 singing "Hey Lawdy Mama" backed by Roy Milton's Solid Senders. She recorded another version of the song in 1945 with the Sonny Thompson Sextet (Mercury 2011, November 1945). Although Richmond's songs were called "Hey Lawdy Mama", they used the opening verses from "Meet Me in the Bottom".

Junior Wells and Cream adaptations

In 1965, Junior Wells with Buddy Guy recorded their interpretation of "Hey Lawdy Mama" for the influential Hoodoo Man Blues album. The song was performed in the style of a Chicago blues, with Wells (vocal and harmonica), Guy (guitar), Jack Myers (bass) and Billy Warren (drums). Wells added new lyrics to the song:

You wanna go out babe, too late at night
Lawdy Mama, hey hey
You wanna go out babe, too late at night
I got a real funny feeling, you don't want to treat your daddy right

In December 1966, British rock band Cream recorded a version of Well's "Hey Lawdy Mama" for the BBC (released on 2003's BBC Sessions). When preparing material for their second album, Cream recorded another version of Wells' song (released in 1997 as "Version 1" on Those Were the Days). Later they recorded a version using Wells lyrics, but with a different backing arrangement (released in 1970 on Live Cream and as "Version 2" on Those Were the Days). Wells' lyrics and melody were subsequently replaced, creating "Strange Brew", a song which bore little resemblance to their earlier BBC performance or the Junior Wells song.^[7]

Recordings by other artists

"Hey Lawdy Mama" has been recorded by numerous artists, often with variations in the title and without the common "Oh Lawdy mama, great God almighty" refrain (all titled "Hey Lawdy Mama", except as noted):^[8][9]

• 1936 – Bumble Bee Slim as "Meet Me at the Landing" and "I'll Meet You at the Bottom" (Vocalion 3384, April 11, 1936).
• 1937 – Blind Boy Fuller as "Boots And Shoes"
• 1938 – Count Basie small combo instrumental (Decca 2722, September 11, 1938).
• 1939 – Sonny Boy Williamson (John Lee Williamson) as "Tell Me Baby"
• 1940 – Sam Price's Texas Blusicians (Decca 7811, September 26, 1940).
• 1940 – Oscar Woods as "Look Here Baby, One Thing I Got To Say"
• 1941 – Big Joe Williams as "Meet Me Around The Corner"
• 1941 – Josh White as "She's A Married Woman"
• 1941 – Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven (Decca 3756, April 11, 1941).
• 1943 – Noble Sissle and His Orchestra with Edna Williams (vocal and trumpet) from The Jubilee Shows.^[10]
• 1944 – June Cole's Orchestra with Miss Rhapsody (Savoy 5511, July 6, 1944)
• 1949 – Big Joe Williams as "She's A Married Woman"
• 1959 – Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee as "Meet Me Down The Bottom"
• 1960 – Mance Lipscomb as "Foggy Bottom Blues"
• 1961 – Jack McDuff on On With It! - released 1971
• 1961 – Freddie King as "See See Baby" (Federal 12428, 1961), which reached #21 in the R&B chart
• 1962 – Brownie McGhee as "Bottom Blues"
• 1962 – Big Joe Williams as "Meet Me At The Bottom" (Bluesville BV 1056)
• 1964 – The Rolling Stones as "Meet Me in the Bottom" (outtake)
• 1965 – Shirley Griffith as "Meet Me in the Bottom" (Prestige/Bluesville BV1087, 1965)
• 1969 – Mississippi Fred McDowell as "Meet Me In The Froggy Bottom" from "This Ain't No Rock 'n' Roll"
• 1971 – John Lee Hooker and Canned Heat as "Meet Me in the Bottom" from Hooker 'n Heat
• 1984 – Lowell Fulson as "Meet Me in the Bottom" from Think Twice Before You Speak of Me

References