Drunkard's Special- Coley Jones (TX) 1929 REC
[From Columbia 14489D (W149558) recording, 12-6-29. The "Drunkard's Special" as performed by Coley Jones was similar to the old-time country music versions like "Three Nights Experience" by Earl Johnson or "Three Nights Drunk" by The Skillet Lickers. Jones' version is a "vocal solo with guitar" that was recorded in Dallas on December 6, 1929; original issue Columbia 14489D (W149558).
Coley Jones made seventeen recordings for Columbia Records between 1927 and 1929, both as a solo act and as a member of the Dallas String Band. We do know, however, that Jones, like the other members of the Dallas String Band, was African American and that he got his start in minstrel shows. Jones has the distinction of being the first African-American musician to appear on the Harry Smith's Anthology. Jones and the Dallas String Band can be heard on the Old Hat collection Good For What Ails You: Music of the Medicine Shows, 1926-1937 performing "The Hokum Blues," including a spoken introduction in which Jones tells a joke about losing his voice in jail ("I was always behind a few bars and couldn't get a key.")
R. Matteson 2013]
"Drunkard's Special"
First night when I went home
Drunk as I could be,
There's another mule in the stable
Where my mule oughta be.
Come here, honey,
Explain yourself to me.
How come another mule in the stable
Where my mule oughta be.
"O crazy, O silly
Can't you plainly see?
That's nothing but a milk cow
Where your mule oughta be."
I've traveled this world over
Million times or more.
Saddle on a milk cow's back
I've never seen before.
Second night when I got home
Drunk as I could be,
There's another coat on the coat rack
Where my coat oughta be.
Come here, honey,
Explain this thing to me.
How come another coat on the coat rack
where my coat oughta be?
"O crazy, O silly,
Can't you plainly see?
Nothing but a bed quilt
Where your coat oughta be."
I've traveled this world over
Million times or more.
Pockets in a bed quilt
I've never seen before.
Third night when I went home
Drunk as I could be,
There's another head on the pillow
Where my head oughta be.
"Come here, honey. C'mere,
Explain this thing to me.
How come another head on the pillow
Where my head oughta be?"
"O crazy, O silly,
Can't you plainly see?
That's nothing but a cabbage head
That your grandma sent to me."
"I've traveled this world over,
Million times or more.
Hair on a cabbage head
I've never seen before."