Banty Rooster Blues by Charley Patton

Charley Patton - Banty Rooster Blues; Paramount - 12792 (B), Record Company - The New York Recording Laboratories; Charley Patton, written-by, vocals, guitar. Recorded 14 June, 1929 in Richmond, IN at Gennett Studios. First advertised in the Chicago Defender on July 27, 1929.

I'm gonna buy me a banty, put him at my backdoor

I'm gonna buy me a banty, put him at my backdoor

So when he see a stranger a-comin', he'll flap his wings and crow

What you want with a rooster, he won't crow 'fore day

What you want with a rooster, he won't crow 'fore day

What you want with a man, when he won't do nothin' he say

What you want with a hen won't, cackle when she lays

What you want with a hen won't, cackle when she lays

What you want with a woman, when she won't do nothin' I say

Ah, take my picture, hang it up in Jackson wall

Ah, take my picture, hang it up in Jackson wall

Anybody asks you "What about it", tell 'em "That's all I saw"

My hook's in the water, and my cork's on top

My hook's in the water, and my cork's on top

How can I lose, Lord, with the help I got

I know my dog anywhere I hear him bark

I know my dog anywhere I hear him bark

I can tell my rider, if I feel her in the dark

Notes:

"Banty Rooster Blues" was recorded on June 14, 1929, in Richmond, Indiana. The song was recorded during the first of Charley Patton’s Paramount sessions, and it would be one out fourteen sides recorded that day. It was released in August of 1929 alongside the A-Side "Pony Blues". "Pony Blues" would become extremely successful, and the B-Side, "Banty Rooster Blues", was cited as being a good pairing. ~ C. William Lovings