Ain't Doin' No Good

Ain't Doin' No Good Lyrics
by Johnny Shines
in E♭ Blues.

Well I ain't doin' no good
Haven't even got a lousy dime
Well I ain't doin' no good
Haven't even got a lousy dime
And the woman I love is way down south
She's way down in the delta pines

Though she stayed out from me
From sundown until daybreak
Well she stayed out from me
From sundown until daybreak
Well she had done me wrong
Yes, wrong for goodness sake

Well I ain't gonna quit her
Oh boy what a wonderful break
Well I ain't gonna quit her
Oh boy what a wonderful break
I'm gonna give her a chance
To try and mend her mistake

She got real tiny eyes
Something like a Japanese
She got real tiny eyes
Something like a Japanese
Well she has something else
That'd make any fool out of me

Delta Pines

Delta Pines Lyrics
by Johnny Shines
in E♭ Blues.

I ain't doin' no good
Haven't even got a lousy dime
Baby I ain't doin' no good
Haven't even got a lousy dime
And the woman I love she's way down south
Way down in those delta pines

Though she stayed out from me
From sundown until daybreak
Well she stayed out from me
From sundown until daybreak
That woman, she had did me wrong
Yes, wrong for goodness sake

Well I'm not gonna quit her
Oh boy what a wonderful break
Well I'm not gonna quit her
Oh boy what a wonderful break
I'm gonna allow her a chance
try and mend her mistake

Well I'm not gonna quit her
Oh boy what a wonderful break
Well I'm not gonna quit her
Oh boy what a wonderful break
I'm gonna allow her a chance
try and mend her mistake

I Don't Know (Live in Europe 1975 Version)

I Don't Know (Live in Europe 1975 Version) Lyrics
by Johnny Shines
in D# / E♭ Blues.

Well I don't know, I don't know
Baby from here I really can't tell
Well I don't know, I don't know
Baby from here I really can't tell
But from where I stand, baby
I don't think you're doing so well

Well I'm going for the high road
up upon eastern side
Well I'm going for the high road
up upon eastern side
I'm gonna flag every passerby
'Til someone give me a ride

Then I'm going to Chicago
This is what I am going to do
I'm going to Chicago
This is what I am going to do
I'm gonna work and make a payday
Baby, send back here after you

When I'm gone if you get lonesome
and you think you wanna have some fun
When I'm gone if you get lonesome
and you think you wanna have some fun
Just go over West Memphis
that's where they barrelhouse all night long

---

Note: I owe a huge bit of help to this website for helping me complete the fourth verse. The last two lines of the fourth verse had me stuck for months. Other than mishearing "West Memphis" for "whistlin'", I was really thrown off by Shines using the word "barrelhouse" as a verb.

Being that these recordings are so old, the state of language and audio quality of the time can often make it a frustrating challenge for me to transcribe the lyrics. Sometimes it's just not obvious, to me, what Shines is saying, or my ears hear other words instead. To be honest, I'm not the best qualified person out there to be doing this kind of work. Nevertheless, I enjoy doing this. I want everyone to have a reliable resource to know what Johnny Shines was saying in his music.

Won't You Tell Me Mama

Won't You Tell Me Mama Lyrics
by Johnny Shines
in D# / E♭ Blues.

Won't you tell me mama
how you want your rollin' done
Won't you tell me mama
how you want your rollin' done
I'm gonna please you woman
if I have to roll from dusk til dawn

I'm gonna build me a mansion
out on some ole lonesome hill
I'm gonna build me a mansion
out on some ole lonesome hill
Well if one woman don't like it
it be 'bout a hundred and five that will

Well I was born down in Tennessee
down on a cotton farm
Well they called me a daddy's child
see I was his only son
Well he taught me how to write
and I swear to God it's a job well done

Well nobody gonna steal my woman
and it'd be too dangerous to try
Nobody gonna steal my woman
be too dangerous to try
Well if you do
you'd might as well to curse God and die