Ragged But Right
Steven Kraus
and it's a really fun song. My stringband
plays a version based on the Critton Hollow Stringband,
and I have a record of Gid Tanner with Riley Pucket singing it.
It is too short. I need more lyrics so we can make this
great song longer. A distant acquaintance says he has
3 more verses, but it will be summer before I see him again.
RAGGED BUT RIGHT
G G D D
Well I just come here to tell you people I'm rag-ged but right
D7 D7 G G7
Well I'm a thief and I'm a gam-bler, I get drunk every night
C C G G/F# E
I eat a Porterhouse steak three times a day for my board
A A D D
That's more than any loafer in this town can af-ford
G G D D
I've got a big 'lec-tric fan keeps me cool while I sleep
D D G G
Little baby girls play around with at my feet
C C G G/F# E
I'm a ram-b-lin' gambler, I get drunk ev-'ry night
A D G G
I tell you people I'm ragged but right
CHORUS:
G G G G
I go ev'ry-where__, I don't pay no fare,
G G A D
I can catch a freight train just an__-y__-where
G G7 C C
And if I win or lose, well I don't get no blues,
G D G G
Cause it's ram-blin and roa-min' for me
INTRUMENTAL SOLO
VERSE 2:
G G D D
Well I just come here to tell you people I'm rag-ged but right
D7 D7 G G7
Well I'm a thief and I'm a gam-bler, I get drunk every night
C C G G/F# E
I got a big stetson hat that sits on top of my head
A A D D
And a pretty little wife who keeps me clean and well fed
G G D D
I got an old__ la-zy houndog__ that brings me my shoes
D D G G
He sleeps at my feet, and we drink the same booze
C C G G/F# E
He's a ram-b-lin' gambler, he gets drunk ev-'ry night
A D G G
I tell you people I'm ragged but right
REPEAT CHORUS
Cleoma
verse too. But I can't remember it. I think it was pretty early, maybe from
the early 60's or even the 50's. JOhn Herald did a great version of this with
the Greenbriar Boys, as I remember.
Suzy T.
To reply to this posting, remove "nojunk" from my email address.
Paul
Steven Kraus <Steve...@compuserve.com> wrote in message
news:kgio0ugog60s8niun...@4ax.com...
> I have two renditions of Ragged But Right,
> and it's a really fun song. My stringband
> plays a version based on the Critton Hollow Stringband,
> and I have a record of Gid Tanner with Riley Pucket singing it.
>
> It is too short. I need more lyrics so we can make this
> great song longer. A distant acquaintance says he has
> 3 more verses, but it will be summer before I see him again.
>
The following is from a Grateful Dead lyrics site. It may be of some
interest to you -
http://www3.clearlight.com/~acsa/introjs.htm?/~acsa/songfile/RAGGEDBU.HTM
Ragged But Right
Lyrics: Traditional (arr George Jones)
Music: Traditional (arr George Jones)
Played by the Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band. Thanks to Graham Wardle for help
checking the lyrics.
Folks, I'm here to tell you that I'm ragged but I'm right
I'm a thief and a gambler, and I stay up late at night
Gonna have a steak three times a day for my board
More than any loafer in this big town can afford
A big electric fan to keep me cool while I sleep
A little baby boy plays around daddy's feet
I'm a ramblin' gambler and I leave every night
People, I tell you I'm ragged but I'm right
People, Im here to tell you that I'm ragged but I'm right
I'm a thief and a gambler, and I stay up late at night
Gonna have a steak three times a day for my board
More than any loafer in this big town can afford
A big electric fan to keep me cool while I sleep
A little baby girl plays around daddy's feet
I'm a ramblin' gambler and I leave every night
People I tell you I'm ragged but I'm right
Roots/Recording History
This was originally recorded in the early 1900s, by Riley Pucket among
others. George Jones subsequently partially rewrote and shortened it, and
his version has been covered by many others. The earlier versions go under
the title "Ragged But Right", but George Jones's version is often titled
"I'm Ragged But I'm Right"
Jerry Garcia follows the George Jones version, but sings only one of the
verses. George Jones himself recorded a number of variants, but this is
typical:
Well I've come here to tell you folks, I'm ragged but I'm right
I'm a tramp and a gambler, I stay out late at night
But a porterhouse steak three times a day for my board
That's more than any loafer in this big town can afford
Well, I got a electric fan to keep me cool when I sleep
A little baby boy playing round at my feet
I'm a rambler and a gambler, I've led a dirty life
Well I tell you folks, I'm ragged but I'm right
Well when I got married, I knew I'd settle down
And build a little love nest right here in my hometown
Now I've got a family, one that I'm proud of
I know that we'll be happy cause they're the ones I love
Got a big electric fan to keep me cool when I sleep
A little baby boy playing round daddy's feet
I'm a rambler and a gambler, I've led a dirty life
Well I tell you folks, I'm ragged but I'm right
I'm a rambler and a gambler, I've led a dirty life
But I tell you folks, I'm ragged but I'm right
Earlier version have additional verses that were dropped by George Jones:
I hopped on a freight train in North Caroline
Rode down to Atlanta and bought me some 'shine
Went into a card game with 39 cents
Came out with enough for another month's rent
Well you may think I'm bragging but don't get me wrong
I can't run for office while I'm singing this song
I'm a thief and a gambler and I'm drunk every night
I tell you boys I'm ragged but right
I left a pretty little gal layin' there on the floor
Gave her all my love, and who could ask me for more?
Gave her my last quarter just to buy her a drink
Showed her to the door, and then what do you think?
I said, "Go home to your mother, and tell her for me
I'm hittin' the road just 'cause I want to be free
'Cause I'm a ramblin' man, a gamblin' man, and Lord am I tight
I just called up to tell you that I'm ragged but right
These versions also show how later versions have toned down the original
lyrics - for example the line "A little baby boy playing round Daddy's feet"
seems originally to have been "I've got pretty little girls layin' 'round at
my feet.
Winifred has this about the background to the song:
The song Ragged But Right, is a song that came out of the 1900's. It was
originally a blues tune. As a child growing up, on the way to the mountains
my father and mother would always sing. And we would sing songs like these,
all in harmony. My father had originally heard the song when he was a kid,
while working as an assistant chef at a resort. I still can't find the name
of the original author, but I do know that George Jones has recorded the
song and even re-written the words a bit. In it's original version it was a
bit racist, so it has been slightly modified to simply be tongue-in-cheek.
Musically my version of it is really the traditional version/style.
Winifred's lyrics (modified also to be from the women's perspective) are
I got an electric fan to keep me cool while I eat
A big handsome man to keep me warm while I sleep
I ought to be serving steak three times a day for my boy
More than any ordinary girl can afford
Let's take a fifteen minute intermission in the V8
I'd like to stay out later but I never [lay date]
My mother has always been gone with the wind
So let's [breeze her] tonight
Just got up to tell you that you're ragged but right
We may be top [skin babies boys] but what do you care?
We got the fancy [chances] and the do-or-die air
We got the hips that sank the ships
And even friends in Peru
And if you like Napoleon, it's your Waterloo
A great big handsome man just left me flat on the floor
I loved him all my life, he couldn't ask me for more
He took my last dollar just to buy him a drink
And now he took me to the door and what do you think?
He said, run along home and kiss your mother for me
I'm hitting the road because I want to be free
You're just a friendly woman, a gamblin' man
And you're drunk every night
I just called to up tell you that you're ragged but right
I just called to up tell you that you're ragged but right
I just called to up tell you that you're ragged but right
After I had put Winifred's lyrics here, I got an email about another early
version:
I had no idea the Dead did a version of this song. How interesting! I first
learned this song as a teenager, having been taught it by my 80+ year old
neighbor. I have to say though, the lyrics she gave me were even more
"women-perspective" oriented than the Winifred lyrics on your site. The way
my neighbor sang it, it sounded like a ragtime tune, and the variations were
(I swear, I couldn't even make this up-- this is how she said the song went
back in her day!):
Just called up to tell you that I'm ragged but right
A gamblin' woman ramblin' woman, drunk every night
I fix a porterhouse steak every night for my boy
That's more than an ordinary whore can afford
...
[blues-y almost burlesque ending]
I'm just a gamblin' woman, ramblin' woman
And boy am I tight
Just called up to tell you that I'm ragged but right
Turn over Mabel
It's better on the other side
As you can see, she had quite a bit of spunk to her. Imagine singing that in
the 1930s... Unfortunately, she's since passed away, and I can't find the
artist that recorded this version.
Deanna
Cheers,
paulS.
Darwin, Australia.
Carl Baron
Paul wrote: Alot!
Let's hear it for Paul. Great post.
Carl
Paul
I wrote nothing. I merely pasted it from the Grateful Dead site because I
thought it might interest the bloke who was looking for more verses. It is
interesting stuff.
Cheers,
paulS.
Darwin
Carl Baron <cba...@mail.med.upenn.edu> wrote in message
news:3C0CD2D8...@mail.med.upenn.edu...
Steven Kraus
Thanks! This is exactly what I was looking for.
the bloke
alias Steve
P Blank
Included a bizarre lyric that I'm almost certainly misunderstanding as
"I'm green but living clean as a person that's white(?)" My apologies
for the mistranslation. You can find it on the Document Banjo Ikey
Robinson release which is well worth the bucks.
John Morton
western swing rendition.
John Morton
Steven Kraus
Could you give me the name of this album/CD/tape?
I'm not familiar with Moon Mullican or
Banjo Ikey Robinson
Thanks,
Steve
Jason Hill
on.me.berkeley.edu> writes
>My vote for favorite version goes to Moon Mullican's piano-driven
>western swing rendition.
>
>John Morton
Is the Moon Mullican version available on CD?
--
Jason Hill
Paul Mitchell
> I'm not familiar with Moon Mullican or
> Banjo Ikey Robinson
There seems to be a Banjo Ikey Robinson CD on amazon,com which includes a
version of Ragged But Right. I don't believe this is a Document recording.
Document has several CD's with his music on it, the best of which, IMHO,
appears to be:
Banjo Ikey Robinson 1929 - 1937 JPCD-1508-2
Which has Raggedy But Right. I remember seeing other Robinson issues in a
local store which were on Document (one of which included a version of
Saro Jane) but can't find them online.
The Document URL is:
http://www.document-records.co.uk
Paul
==============================================================================
Paul Mitchell
email: pmit...@email.unc.edu
phone: (919) 962-9778
office: I have an office, room 28, Phillips Hall
==============================================================================
John Morton
_Moon Mullican's 22 Greatest Hits_, on Deluxe. Sample at cdnow:
http://www.cdnow.com/cgi-bin/mserver/SID=1750860433/pagename=/RP/CDN/FIND/album.html/ArtistID=MULLICAN*MOON/ITEMID=24117
Jason Hill
J R recorded it after his stroke, so he's playing piano rather than
fiddle.
--
Jason Hill