It is my understanding that quite a few people who regularly fall to the floor in euphoric glossolalia over various harmonica players still never have heard Papa Lightfoot. Therefore, just a reminder. (I believe they come every now and then and pardon me if I´ve posted this recently, but couldn´t see anything in the search function.)
Subtlety is not his strong suit perhaps, but here on the second solo chorus he uses 6D in an efficient way on the I and IV chords -- not very frequent.
The general punkiness of this number is overwhelming, but can you hear what he sings on the first chorus?
Dr feelgood thought he was running and riding or riding and running but sounds like papa lightfoot was doing something else. He almost definitely wasnt both riding and running but he may have been doing either one of those things in conjunction with something else such as ripping but possibly something completely unlike ripping. That is to say, it's not entirely clear to me but of the options considered so far, my money is on I'm ripping and I'm running, still in misery.
Last Edited by SuperBee on Jul 25, 2017 6:42 AM
Thank you SuperB, that was my guess as well, but being from another language territory these things can be tough. And what you´re doing when you´re "rippin´and runnin´" is somewhat unclear to me, but that´s moot.
Lee Brilleaux certainly has it wrong -- and, more importantly, they don´t get to the heart of the tune with their version.
It does seem to be a recognised term, not in my experience but 'rip and run' turns up in searches, most commonly relating to ripping off drug dealers and splitting. Which is conceivably in context with the song, where the protagonist is lamenting his interactions with booze and women, 'ripping and running' and still in misery ... getting his stuff without paying $ and not satisfied, which makes sense to me...
Papa Lightfoot’s mastery of the harmonica is still heralded today, but he was unable to sustain a musical career and was remembered by many in Natchez as an ice cream peddler.
where I come from ( Miami) people use it to mean you are frantically busy--like i been rippin and running all day and havent had a chance to eat Crockett and Tubbs cleaned up the town so not a lotta drug dealers to steal from
