SORROWFUL BLUES
(Bessie Smith / Irving Johns 1924)

Bessie Smith
recorded April 4th 1924 New York


If you catch me stealin' I don't mean no harm,
If you catch me stealin' I don't mean no harm,
It's the mark in my family, and it must be carried on!

I got nineteen men, and I won't want more,
I got nineteen men, and I won't want more,
If I get that one more, I'll let that nineteen go!

I'm gonna tell you, daddy, like the Solomon told the Jew,
I'm gonna tell you, daddy, like the Solomon told the Jew,
If you don't like-ee me, me sure don't like-ee you!

It's hard to love another woman's man,
It's hard to love another woman's man,
You can't get him when you want him, you've got to catch him when you can!

Have you ever seen peaches grow on sweet potato vine?
Have you ever seen peaches grow on sweet potato vine?
Just step in my back yard and take a peep at mine!





(Transcribed by Peter Akers - August 2013)