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Free by Dave van Bladel, from the study Screening The Blues, By Paul Oliver: Aspects Of The Blues Tradition.(Da Capo Press, 1968)
MA RAINEY (1924)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsEsjN8dGQg and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ka_3F0wfk70 Sometimes sung by women, "Sweet Patunia" with its reference to female genitalia, was primarily a man's song. "Shave 'Em Dry", on the other hand, seems to have been favored by women though a number of men also sang it on record. As a term "shave 'em dry" appears to have layers of meaning; at one level it refers to mean and aggressive action but as a sexual theme it refers to intercourse without preliminary love-making. Big Bill Broonzy put it succinctly: "Shave 'em dry is what you call makin' it with a woman; you ain't doin' nothin', just makin' it." [1] The implications of "shavin' 'em dry" were of pubic contact and therefore applicable to either sex. Gertrude Ma Rainey, the singer often termed the "Mother of the Blues", recorded the first version of the song. Though he made no reference to its meaning or content, Rudi Blesh commented upon its importance as an archaic eight-bar blues which was "complete, harmonically and poetically". Considering it as a blues rather than as a traditional blues song he added that "no matter how late in blues history it was recorded, this record is of great importance, since it indicates a very early stage of development." [2] It is likely that it not only preceded blues but had an independent life, one of the many songs much liked by blues singers and containing blues sentiments though not strictly blues in itself. Ma Rainey, as a minstrel and tent-show singer, drew from varied sources for her material and "Shave' Em Dry" was probably in her repertoire since her earliest professional years. With her relaxed, strong voice she sang the words and half-hollered the refrain line: There's one thing I don't understand, Why a good-Iookin' woman loves a workin' man, Eeh, hey, daddy won't you shave 'em dry? Goin' 'way to wear you off my mind, You keeps me broke and hungry, daddy all the time, Eeeh, hey, daddy let me shave 'em dry. Don't see how you hungry women can sleep, Shimmies all day without a bite to eat, Eeh, hey, daddy let me shave 'em dry. Goin' downtown to spread the news, State Street women wearing brogan shoes, Hey, hey, daddy let me shave 'em dry. If it wasn't for their powder and sto' bought hair, State Street gals couldn't go nowhere, Eeh, hey, daddy let me shave 'em dry. There's one thing I don't understand, Some women walkin' State Street like a man, Eeh, hey, hey, daddy let me shave 'em dry.
Went to the show the other night, Everybody on State Street tryin' to fight, Eeh, hey, daddy let me shave 'em dry. Ain't crazy 'bout my yeller, I ain't wild about my brown, Makes no difference when the sun goes down, Eeh, hey, daddy won't you shave 'em dry. When you see two women runnin' hand in han', You can bet your life they got the other one's man, Eeh, hey, hey, daddy let me shave 'em dry. Don't let that man come in my home, If his wife is here I don't mean no harm, Eeh, hey, daddy let me shave 'em dry. [3] Footnotes: [1]. Big Bill Broonzy, interview with Paul Oliver, spring 1955. [2]. Rudi Blesh, Shining Trumpets, Cassell 1949, p. 126. [3]. Ma Rainey, "Shave 'Em Dry", c. August 1924, Paramount 12222.
Now don't never let nobody tell you what my baby done to me, She done made me crazy 'bout her, now she done quit poor me, Sweet woman I ain't gonna stand no quittin', ain't gonna stand no jumpin' down, Before I let you quit me baby I'm gonna burn Chicago down, Oh now I holler sweet mama, your daddy gotta shave 'em dry. No use to callin' me baby when I'm way down in France, When you begin one of these you know I ain't a possible chance, You get your crowin' from a rooster, get your eggs from a wren, You get your feathers from a runner, you get your music from a wren, You know I holler sweet mama, your daddy gotta shave' em dry. Now mama, li'l mama what's on your runnin' mind? Every time you sell people tickets you know somebody's ridin' your blind, And it's mmm ... have mercy, Lord watch you when you run, You know if I keep on worryin' 'bout you baby, you know I can't last long, You know I'm gonna holler sweet mama, your daddy's gonna shave 'em dry. [5] Footnotes: [4]. Papa Charlie Jackson, "Shave 'Em Dry", February 1925, Paramount 12264. [5]. James Boodle-It Wiggins, "Gotta Shave 'Em Dry", January 1930, Paramount 12916.
the aggressive strength of Negro women features prominently in the blues and in blues songs. To a certain extent this reflects the dependence of the Negro family on the mother for its cohesion. Negro women are often depicted in the blues with Amazonian toughness and Junoesque build; their virtuosity in sexual practices, their capacity and prowess is extolled repeatedly. But many blues and blues songs which had a brothel circulation project the prostitute's image of herself with arrogant pride. Franklin Frazier quoted a monologue from a woman in Harlem whose narration of her own history and character corresponds with that projected in the blues songs: "I don't go in for everything like most of these frowsies. I'm a straight broad. If they can't be natural I don't play no tricks. None of that freak stuff for me. I don't play the streets -- I mean I don't lay every pair of pants that comes along. I look 'em over first. I'm strictly a Packard broad. I only grab a drunk if he looks like his pockets are loaded with dough. If they get rough my man [pimp] kicks 'em out. When they're drunk they shoot the works. I've gotten over two hundred dollars, so help me, the bastard didn't even touch me. He got happy just looking at me. Boy! This shape of mine gets 'em every time. ..." [7] Footnotes: [6]. Lil Johnson, "New Shave 'Em Dry", 19 November 1936, Vocalion 13428, CBS (M) 63288. [7]. E. Franklin Frazier, The Negro Family In The United States, Dryden Press New York, 1951, pp. 221-2.
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cr6xjWEYGSs and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6zMjIZwbBk Her pianist, Walter Roland, provided a walking bass to her song which commenced with a warning: All you keg women, you better put on the wall, 'Cause I'm gonna get drunk and do my dirty talk, The monkey and the baboon playin' in the grass, Well the monkey got mad and whipped his yas, yas, yas, Talkin' 'bout shave 'em, mama's gonna shave 'em dry, And if you don't know, mama's gonna learn you how. You know a elephant he's big and stout, He would be all right if it weren't for his snout, Talkin' 'bout shave 'em, mama's gonna shave 'em dry, And if you don't know, mama's gonna learn you how. I ain't rough, I ain't tough,. I'm just a stomp-down roller and I like to strut my stuff, Talkin' 'bout shave 'em etc. I met a man lived down the way, He had so much money until I had to stay, Talkin' 'bout shave 'em etc. If you meet your man an' he tell you a lie, Just pull out your razor and shave him dry, Talkin' 'bout shave 'em, mama's gonna shave him dry, 'Cause I don't want no man to tell me no dirty lie. [8] On commercially issued recordings these are probably the closest one is likely to come to the song of a "stomp-down roller" and they give only a faint impression of the unbowdlerized "Shave' Em
Dry". A test pressing of another recording of the song by Lucille Bogan, again with Walter Roland accompanying and calling out words of encouragement, alters the picture considerably. Here is a woman who really does let fly with her "dirty talk'"; who whoops and hollers, brags and swaggers her way through a whorehouse song, even expresses her contempt of the recording studio in the process: I got nipples on my titties big as the end of my thumb, I got somethin' 'tween my legs 'll make a dead man come, Oooh daddy-baby, won't you shave 'em dry, oooh! Won't you grind me baby, grind me till I cry. Say I fucked all night and all the night before, baby, And I feel just like I want to fuck some more, Ooh, babe, goddamn daddy, grind me honey, shave 'em dry, And when you hear me yowl baby, want you to shave 'em dry. I got nipples on my titties big as the end of my thumb, And daddy you can have 'em any time you want and you can make 'em come. Oooh daddy, shave 'em dry, And I can give you some baby, swear it'll make you cry. I will turn back my mattress and let you oil my springs, I want you to grind me daddy till the bells do ring, Ooh daddy, want you to shave 'em dry., Oh pray God daddy, shave 'em baby, won't you try? Now fuckin's one thing that'll take me to Hell, I'll be fuckin' in the studio just to fuck that to leather, Oooh, daddy, daddy shave 'em dry, I would fuck you baby, honey I would make you cry. Now your nuts hangs down like a damn bell-clapper, And your stick stands up like a steeple, Your goddamn asshole's open like a church door, And the crabs walks in like the people, Oooh baby, won't you shave 'em dry. ... A big sow gets fat from eatin' corn, And the pig gets fat from suckin', Reason this whore got like, I am, Great God I got fat from fuckin', Whee ... tell 'em about me! Fuck it! My back is made of whalebone and my cock is made of brass, And my fuckin's made for workin' men, two dollars round to fit my ass, Oooh daddy, shave 'em dry. [9] Footnotes: [8]. Lucille Bogan, "Shave 'Em Dry", 5 March 1935, Perfect 0332. [9]. Lucille Bogan, "Shave 'Em Dry", probably same or near date as above, unissued test pressing, CBS (M) 63288. On You Tube there are a number of later versions. Among them the instrumental pianoversion Jimmy Yancey - Shave 'Em Dry http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4uDbQmHRUY and also "Shave 'Em Dry" from the Asylum Street Spankers; November 15 2009 @ the High Noon Saloon, Madison Wisconsin "Salvation and Sin Tour": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5JoDfi2KFk