Kansas City Papa
Kansas City Papa - Leadbelly
24 January 1935 NYC
ARC 16697-2 unissued
Transcribed from Leadbelly King of the 12-String Guitar, Columbia Roots 'N' Blues 467893
12 string in standard down three whole steps to B flat and played in E position so actual pitch is B flat
[Intro, two instrumental lines]
...Kansas City, ain't it a pity
Kansas City, b'lieve 'm 'bout to low' my line [1]
When I get to Kansas City I'm gonna blow my line [2]
I get to Kansas City I'll be hard to find
In Kansas City, ain't it a pity
Kansas City, believe 'm bout to low' my line
[spoken] Two women was jivin' with one another one day:
"You keep on talkin' til you make me think
Your daddy was a bulldog and your mammy was a man"
In Kansas City, wadn't it a pity
Kansas City, b'lieve 'm 'bout to low' my line
"You keep on talkin' til you make me mad
I tell you 'bout the puppies that your sister had"
In Kansas City, wadn't that a pity
Kansas City, b'lieve 'm 'bout to low' my line
[Instrumental verse]
Women in Tennessee Lord, doin' the Turkey Trot
The women in Louisiana doing the Eagle Rock
In Kansas City, wadn't it a pity
Kansas City, b'lieve 'm bout to low' my line
The funniest thing that I ever seen
A tom cat stitchin' on a sewin' machine[3]
In Kansas City, wadn't it a pity
Kansas City, b'lieve 'm bout to low' my line
The funniest thing that I ever did see
S'a polecat climbin' up a 'simmon tree
In Kansas City, wadn't it a pity
Kansas City, b'lieve 'm 'bout to low' my line
[Instrumental verse]
[Instrumental verse outro]
Notes
- ↑ Clearly he says "low" which we believe is a contraction of "lower" and a fishing reference, he's casting his line out for the Kansas City women
- ↑ At variance with the tag lines, he clearly says "blow my line". Cab Calloway reports "line" means money in the Hepster's Dictionary
- ↑ See also Kokomo Arnold's The Twelves: Says I went out yonder New Orleans // The wildcat jumped on the sewing machine // The sewing machine sewed so fast // Sewed ninety-nine stitches up his yas yas yas
