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Down on Me
Traditional Spiritual and Gospel;
ARTIST: Collected by Guy and Candie Carawan from Mrs Mary Pinckney, Johns Island SC. Guy and Candie Carawan 'Ain't you got a right to the tree of life' Simon and Schuster NY 1966, p 155.
SHEET MUSIC:
YOUTUBE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RMg0anuc04
CATEGORY: Traditional and Public Domain Gospel
DATE: early 1900s; 1930 recording Eddie Head and His Family
RECORDING INFO: Down on Me
Work, John W. / American Negro Songs and Spirituals, Dover, Bk (1998/1940), p115b
Odetta. My Eyes Have Seen, Vanguard VRS-9059, LP (1960), trk# B.02
Pinckney, Mary. Carawan, Guy & Candie / Sing for Freedom, Sing Out, sof (1990), p235 [1965]
Pinckney, Mary. Carawan, Guy & Candie (eds.) / Ain't You Got A Right to the Tree of Life, Univ. of Georgia, Sof (1989/1966), p137 [1963-65]
Von Schmidt, Eric. Folk Blues of Eric Von Schmidt, Prestige 7717, LP (1963), trk# B.06
OTHER NAMES: French Blues
RELATED TO: Keep Your Hand on the Plow, Hold On; French Blues
SOURCES: Folk Index; Mudcat; Songsters and Saints: Vocal traditions on Race Records, Volume 2 By Paul Oliver
NOTES: "Down on Me" is a traditional spiritual. This version was collected by Guy and Candie Carawan from Mrs Mary Pinckney, Johns Island SC. Guy and Candie Carawan 'Ain't you got a right to the tree of life' Simon and Schuster NY 1966, p 155. Perhaps the best known version was recorded by Janis Joplin. There is a 1930 recording of 'Down on Me', (vocal, guitar and tambourine) by obscure gospel group, Eddie Head and His Family, on the wonderful compilation CD: 'American Primitive Vol 1: Raw Pre-war Gospel' Revenant 206, the late John Fahey's label.
Another field recording (sung by Mary Pickney and Janie Hunter) is on Been in the Storm So Long: A Collection of Spirituals, Folk Tales and Children's Games from Johns Island, SC (Smithsonian Folkways 40031); the transcription of words & music is in Sing for Freedom (p. 235). Other sound recordings are by the Golden Harps (on V.A., Soul of Chicago)and Edna G. Cooke. Variants are also in Work, American Negro Songs (p. 115); Solomon, Honey in the Rock (Mercer University Press, p. 112); and Peters, Lyrics of the Afro-American Spiritual (p. 10).
Down on Me is also sung by Dock Reed at Livingston, Alabama, 1940 on Various Artists, Negro Religious Songs and Services (Rounder CD 1514). The "down on me" stanza was also used in "French Blues," performed by Frank Evans, recorded by John A. Lomax at Parchman Penitentiary, 1936 (on Various Artists, Deep River of Song: Mississippi Saints & Sinners, Rounder CD 11661-1824-2).
DOWN ON ME- Collected by Guy and Candie Carawan from Mrs Mary Pinckney, Johns Island, SC. Guy and Candie Carawan 'Ain't you got a right to the tree of life' Simon and Schuster NY 1966, p 155.
Chorus: Down on me, Lord, down on me
Oh, well, my Lord, seem like everybody in this whole wide world
Is down on me
Wonder what Satan is growlin' about
Chained in hell and he can't get out
Seem like everybody in this whole wide world
Is down on me
I been buked and I been scorned
I been talked about sure as you're born
Seem like everybody in this whole wide world
Is down on me
When I get to heaven going to sing and shout
Nobody there going to put me out
Seem like everybody in this whole wide world
Is down on me
You can talk about me just as you please
The more you talk, the more I'll bend my knees
Seem like everybody in this whole wide world
Is down on me
One of these days and it won't be long
You go look for me and I'll be gone
Seem like everybody in this whole wide world
Is down on me
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