Brownie McGhee was born in Knoxville, Tennessee and grew up in Kingsport, Tennessee. As a child he had polio, which incapacitated his leg. His brother Granville "Sticks" or "Stick" McGhee was nicknamed for pushing young Brownie around in a cart. His father, George McGhee, was a factory worker known around University Avenue for playing guitar and singing. Brownie's uncle made him a guitar from a tin marshmallow box and a piece of board.[4] McGhee spent much of his youth immersed in music, singing with local harmony group the Golden Voices Gospel Quartet and teaching himself to play guitar. A March of Dimes-funded leg operation enabled McGhee to walk.
At age 22, Brownie McGhee became a traveling musician, working in the Rabbit Foot Minstrels and befriending Blind Boy Fuller, whose guitar playing influenced him greatly. After Fuller's death in 1941, J. B. Long of Columbia Records had McGhee adopt his mentor's name, branding him "Blind Boy Fuller No. 2." By that time, McGhee was recording for Columbia's subsidiary Okeh Records in Chicago, but his real success came after he moved to New York in 1942, when he teamed up with Sonny Terry, whom he had known since 1939 when Sonny was Blind Boy Fuller's harmonica player. The pairing was an overnight success; as well as recording, they toured together until around 1980. As a duo, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee did most of their work from 1958 until 1980, spending 11 months of each year touring, and recording dozens of albums.
Despite their later fame as "pure" folk artists playing for white audiences, in the 1940s Terry and McGhee also attempted to be successful black recording performers, fronting a jump blues combo with honking saxophone and rolling piano, variously calling themselves "Brownie McGhee and his Jook House Rockers" or "Sonny Terry and his Buckshot Five," often with Champion Jack Dupree and Big Chief Ellis. They also appeared in the original Broadway productions of Finian's Rainbow and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
During the blues revival of the 1960s, Terry and McGhee were very popular on the concert and music festival circuits, occasionally adding new material but usually remaining faithful to their roots and their audience. With Sonny Terry, he appeared in the 1979 Steve Martin comedy The Jerk. In 1987, McGhee gave a small but memorable performance as ill-fated blues singer Toots Sweet in the supernatural thriller movie, Angel Heart. He appeared in a 1988 episode of "Family Ties" titled "The Blues Brother" in which he played fictional blues musician Eddie Dupre, as well as a 1989 episode of Matlock entitled "The Blues Singer."
Happy Traum, a former guitar student of Brownie's, edited a blues guitar instruction guide and songbook for him. Using a tape recorder, Traum had McGhee instruct and, between lessons, talk about his life and the blues. Guitar Styles of Brownie McGhee was published in New York in 1971. The autobiographical section features Brownie talking about growing up, his musical beginnings, and a history of the early blues period (1930s onward).
One of McGhee's final concert appearances was at the 1995 Chicago Blues Festival.
McGhee died from stomach cancer in February 1996 in Oakland, California at age 80; he missed his planned return trip to Australia.
Double Trouble #1
Brownie McGhee Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
What am I gonna do now?
Want to leave here
Well you had trouble, I've got troubles too
Got double trouble, what am I gonna do?
I believe I'll leave here
I don't feel good no more
Don't love me no more
I was goin' down the street
Didn't have one dime
The woman I been lovin'
Didn't pay me no mind
I believe I'll leave here
I don't feel good no more
Ah the woman I been lovin'
Drove me from her door
Play it for me boys!
My father told me
When I was only a kid
What you gonna do son
Things happen like this
I believe I'll leave here
I don't feel good no more
Yeah the woman I been lovin'
Drove me from her door
Well must I had now
Your heart in my hand
I would teach you little woman
How to treat a man
I believe I'll leave here
I don't feel good no more
I'm blamin' you woman
Drove me from your door
Play it for me boys! Yeah double trouble!
The lyrics to Brownie McGhee's "Double Trouble #1" speak to the feelings of distress and confusion that come with dealing with multiple problems at once. The singer acknowledges that they are not the only one dealing with issues; they have "double trouble," but they do not know what to do about it. The woman the singer has been loving no longer loves them, and they have no money; they feel like they must leave where they are and start fresh.
Line by Line Meaning
Yes I got double trouble
I am experiencing more than one problem at the moment.
What am I gonna do now?
I am unsure of how to proceed in this situation.
Want to leave here
I desire to depart from this place because of my troubles.
Well you had trouble, I've got troubles too
Your problems were difficult, but now I have multiple issues to deal with.
Got double trouble, what am I gonna do?
I am facing two serious problems and don't know how to handle them both.
I believe I'll leave here
I think it's best for me to depart from this place due to my problems.
I don't feel good no more
My emotional and physical state has deteriorated due to my problems.
Well the woman I been lovin'
The female I have affection for
Don't love me no more
Does not return the feelings towards me anymore
I was goin' down the street
I was traveling along on the street
Didn't have one dime
I didn't have any money at all
Didn't pay me no mind
She was ignoring me completely
Ah the woman I been lovin'
Ah, the female I have affection for
Drove me from her door
Made me leave and stay away from her place of residence
My father told me
The male who raised me told me
When I was only a kid
When I was still very young
What you gonna do son
What are you going to do, my child
Things happen like this
Situations occur in this way sometimes
Well must I had now
If I had control over the situation
Your heart in my hand
If I had power over your emotions
I would teach you little woman
I would provide guidance to you, female
How to treat a man
The proper way to treat a male
I'm blamin' you woman
I am holding you accountable for what happened, female
Drove me from your door
Made me depart from your place of residence
Play it for me boys!
Perform the music for my enjoyment!
Yeah double trouble!
Yes, I have two major problems at once!
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ALLEN COLLINS, RONNIE VAN ZANT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
hm333333
Great lesson. "Trouble in Mind" has been that song in my head that I can't quite shake. Just subscribed, looking forward to seeing what your other lessons are about.
peter baxter
Thanks for this. Your teaching style is perfect for those of us who have a basic understanding. I've never learned songs so quickly as I have from this and your other videos. By the way, who makes that guitar of yours ? It seems to have a lot of punch.
Old School Blues Guitar
Thanks! I'm glad to hear you are enjoying the videos. That's why I'm making them. So many of the instructional videos get lost in all the music jargon and theory instead of just showing us how to play. The guitar is a Tacoma (model #?) - I got it from a friend who sells guitars. I didn't have to sell any body parts to get it either.
Brad Eggum
Really appreciate your work here 👍 sharing your knowledge helps keep this MJHs approach alive.
Albert Harrison
Fantastic. Thank you for sharing your skill and knowledge , I'm stuck at work and I just want to go home now and start practising
A Rothgery
That's a Tacoma guitar you're playing! Love their guitars! Would you mind sharing which model guitar that is? Are you a member of the tacomaguitarforum by any chance? I posted your video over there on a thread called "Is This Any of You Teaching a Lightnin' Song?" A couple forum members guessed you're playing a Koa parlor, but I am curious about the model. Sounds great. Love this song you're teaching and you play like Lightning, to my ear. Thanks for sharing!
xFanGame23
thats awesome man !! thanks a lot. Lightnin hopkins lessons are very rare out there and this one is worth it
Gaius Agrippa
Can't get sic of this song. Been playing in my mind recently like trouble! And now I find it here and learn how to play it! Thank you for the lesson! Long live Lightnin'!
Stephen Gargan
Love this, great lesson, cheers!
Lauren Johnson
Thanks for you lesson. Makes me want to dig out my old LH records -- except no record player. Question: is that a pick of some kind of on your first finger or tape? Thanks