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78 RPM



78 RPM Record

Artist:Johnny Lee Wills And His Boys
Label:  Decca
Country:USA
Catalogue:5985
Date:Sep 1941
Format:10"
Collection:  I Own It     I Want It 
Community: 3 Own
Price Guide:Valuation Page
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TrackArtistTitleComposerRating
AJohnny Lee Wills And His BoysMemories Of You DearHarley HugginsRate
BJohnny Lee Wills And His BoysMilk Cow BluesKokomo ArnoldRate


Notes

A side wax: 93700A / 0
B side wax: 93702A / 0

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Comments and Reviews
 
LaurenceD SUBS
29th May 2018
 I had a little trouble finding this one due to the different name variation, so I modified his earlier releases with the "Johnny" spelling and linked them back together.
 
 
fixbutte
11th Jun 2015
 ... The way in which Thompson drags out his drawled enunciation on this verse is one of the highlights of his vocal performance. ...
Which leads back to my original observation:
Besides, there is a striking resemblance of the vocal here, by Guy "Cotton" Thompson who was also the band's fiddler, to Bob Dylan's timbre.
 
 
fixbutte
11th Jun 2015
 As it is so well-written, I presume to quote a longer passage about the lyrical changes of this version from the already linked case study The Many Faces of “Milk Cow Blues” by Jean A. Boyd and Patrick Kelly:

The “Milk Cow Blues” lyrics sung by Cotton Thompson in the Johnnie Lee Wills version use several key lines from Arnold’s original but with significant changes and additions.

First, Thompson deploys the signature milk-cow verse as the first stanza of the Wills recording, which helps catapult the song to Western-swing anthem status. This change places the comical element of the story—the milk-cow image—up front for the listeners, before any hint of double entendre is introduced.

Second, the Wills version reclaims the religious imagery of Arnold’s original. However, both the Bible reference and the call for the wayward lover to “quit your sinnin’” are left out. Thompson replaces these omissions with a plea for the woman simply to treat the main character right “day by day.” This change retains some of the religious flavor of Arnold’s original lyric without Arnold’s ambivalent tone, thus creating a more sympathetic atmosphere for the male subject.

Third, the three-line verse beginning with “Well, good evenin’” that follows the piano solo seems to have been an original addition by singer Thompson. This is not to say that he or some other members of the band had not heard this couplet elsewhere. However, it is interesting to note that the “new” verse follows the same rhyme scheme as Arnold’s original fifth stanza. The way in which Thompson drags out his drawled enunciation on this verse is one of the highlights of his vocal performance. The “don’t your bed look lonesome” answering phrase is only a mild sexual reference in comparison to the types of coded allusions found in milk-cow-type songs from the black blues tradition and in this case again reinforces a sympathetic tone for the lonely subject.

Finally, there is the extended last verse that also seems to be a Thompson creation—or that of one of his fellow band members. Structurally, this verse has precedence among the milk-cow song family in the similarly extended first verse of Sleepy John Estes’s “Milk Cow Blues.” ... Johnnie Lee Wills and his singer, Cotton Thompson, employed these techniques of adaptation and alteration to design a tune that suited the cultural scene and meshed with the identity of the white Southwesterners who constituted the Western-swing audience.
 
 
fixbutte
11th Jun 2015
 It seems that I haven't appreciated this arrangement of "Milk Cow Blues" enough. In fact, it was not the first C&W (Western swing) version of the song (that was already made in Feb 1937 by Cliff Bruner's Texas Wanderers, on Decca 5334), but it was the first version that replaced three original verses with two new verses that made the song less ambiguous and more accessible for the audience in the American Southwest. The song was subsequently covered like this by many artists, Elvis Presley among them, and from 1960 on, starting with Ricky Nelson's frantic reworking of the song, the new verses were the only lyrics left in most cover versions.

“Milk Cow Blues” No. 1 (Arnold’s First Recording)
Verse 1
All in good morning, I said, “Blues, how do you do?”
All in good morning, I said, “Blues, how do you do?”
You’re mighty rare this mornin’, can’t get along with you.
Verse 2
I cannot do right, baby, when you won’t do right yourself.
I cannot do right, baby, when you won’t do right yourself.
Lord, if my good gal quits me, Lord, don’t want nobody else.
Verse 3
Now you can read out your hymnbook, preach out your Bible,
Fall on your knees and pray, the good Lord will help you.
Cause you gonna need, gonna need my help someday.
Mama, if you can’t quit your sinnin’, please quit your low-down ways.
Verse 4
Yes, I woke up this mornin’ and I looked out a door,
Still I know my family’s milk cow, pretty mama, by the way she lows.
Lord, if you see my milk cow, buddy, I say please drive her home.
Said, I ain’t had no milk and butter, mama, since my milk cow been gone.
Verse 5
Said, my blues fell this mornin’ and my love come fallin’ down.
Said, my blues fell this mornin’ and my love come fallin’ down.
Said, I feel, Lord, I’m a dog, mommy, please don’t dog me ’round.
Verse 6
Takes a rockin’ chair to rock, mommy, a rubber ball to roll,
Takes a tall cheesin’ black, pretty mommy, to pacify my soul.
Lord, I don’t feel welcome, please, no place I go,
Oh that woman that I love, mommy, have done drove me from her door.

Johnnie Lee Wills’ Recording
Verse 1 [= Arnold's verse 4]
Well, I woke up this mornin’ looked outdoors,
I can tell my milk cow, I can tell by the way she lows.
If you see my milk cow, please, drive her on home,
’Cause ain’t had no milk and butter, woo, since my cow’s been gone.
Verse 2 [= Arnold's verse 3]
Well, you’ve got to treat me right, day by day,
Get out your little prayer book, get down on your knees and pray,
’Cause you’re gonna need, you’re gonna need my help someday.
Yes, you’re going to be sorry, woo, you treat me this way.
Verse 3
Piano Solo chorus
Verse 4 [new]
Well, good evenin’, don’t that sun look good going down?
Well, good evenin’, don’t that sun look good going down?
Now, don’t your bed look lonesome when your lover ain’t around.
Verse 5 [new]
I’ve tried everything to get along with you,
And now I’m going to tell you what I’m gonna do.
I’m going to stop cryin’ and leave you alone.
If you don’t believe I’m leavin’, you can count the days I’m gone.
’Cause you won’t see, you won’t see my sweet face no more.
Yeah, you’ll just be wonderin’, baby, where in this world I’m gone.

Lyrics taken from The Many Faces of “Milk Cow Blues”: A Case Study with a lot of more information about the different "Milk Cow Blues" versions.
 
 
fixbutte
9th Jun 2015
 This first C&W (or rather Western swing) version of Kokomo Arnold's original blues is said to be the direct source of Elvis Presley's "Milkcow Blues Boogie" from Dec 1954 (Sun 215), which seems to be true although Elvis accelerates the pace considerably. Besides, there is a striking resemblance of the vocal here, by Guy "Cotton" Thompson who was also the band's fiddler, to Bob Dylan's timbre.
 
 
BigBadBluesMan
28th Feb 2015
 
 

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See Also

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Johnny Lee Wills And His Boys - Together Forever / Keep A Light In Your Window Tonight - Decca - USA - 6014 (1942)
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