Dupree's birth date is disputed, given as July 4, July 10, and July 23, in the years 1908, 1909, or 1910. He died January 21, 1992, in Hanover, Germany. Dupree's playing is almost all straight blues and boogie woogie, with no ballads or pop songs, not even blues ballads. He was not a sophisticated musician or singer, but he had a wry and clever way with words: "Mama, move your false teeth, papa wanna scratch your gums." He sometimes sang as if he had a cleft palate and even recorded under the name Harelip Jack Dupree. This was an artistic conceit, as Dupree had excellent clear articulation, particularly for a blues singer.
He sang about life as he found it, singing about jail, drinking, drug addiction, although he himself was a light drinker and did not use other drugs. His "Junker's Blues" is still sung in New Orleans, and was also transmogrified by Fats Domino into his first hit "The Fat Man". Dupree's songs included not only gloomy topics, such as "TB Blues" and "Angola Blues" (about the infamous Louisiana prison farm), but also cheerful subjects like the "Dupree Shake Dance": "Come on, mama, on your hands and knees, do that shake dance as you please".
On his best known LP, 1958's "Blues from the Gutter" for Atlantic, he was accompanied on guitar by Larry Dale, whose playing on that LP inspired Brian Jones (of Rolling Stones fame) ("Yeah! I have to play this… what a sound").
Dupree was a New Orleans blues and boogie-woogie pianist, a barrelhouse "professor". His father was from the Belgian Congo and his mother was part African American and Cherokee. His birth date has been given as July 4, July 10, and July 23, 1908, 1909, or 1910; the researchers Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc give July 4, 1910.
He was orphaned at the age of eight and was sent to the Colored Waifs Home in New Orleans, an institution for orphaned or delinquent boys (about the same time, Louis Armstrong was also sent there as a child, after being arrested as a "dangerous and suspicious character". Dupree taught himself to play the piano there and later apprenticed with Tuts Washington and Willie Hall, whom he called his father and from whom he learned "Junker's Blues". He was also a "spy boy" for the Yellow Pocahontas tribe of the Mardi Gras Indians. He soon began playing in barrelhouses and other drinking establishments.
He began a life of travelling, living in Chicago, where he worked with Georgia Tom, and in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he met Scrapper Blackwell and Leroy Carr. He also worked as a cook. In Detroit, after Joe Louis encouraged him to become a boxer, he fought 107 bouts, winning Golden Gloves and other championships and picking up the nickname Champion Jack, which he used the rest of his life.
He returned to Chicago at the age of 30 and joined a circle of recording artists, including Big Bill Broonzy and Tampa Red, who introduced him to the record producer Lester Melrose. Many of Dupree's songs were later credited to Melrose as composer, and Melrose claimed publishing rights to them.
Dupree's career was interrupted by military service in World War II. He was a cook in the United States Navy and was held by the Japanese for two years as a prisoner of war.
After the war, his biggest commercial success was "Walkin' the Blues", which he recorded as a duet with Teddy McRae. This led to several national tours and eventually a European tour. In 1959 he played an unofficial (and unpaid) duo gig with Alexis Korner at the London School of Economics.
Dupree moved to Europe in 1960, settling first in Switzerland and then Denmark, England, Sweden and, finally, Germany. On June 17, 1971, he played at the Montreux Jazz Festival, in the Casino Kursaal, with King Curtis, backed by Cornell Dupree on guitar, Jerry Jemmott on bass and Oliver Jackson on drums. The recording of the concert was released in 1973 as the album King Curtis & Champion Jack Dupree: Blues at Montreux on the Atlantic label.
During the 1970s and 1980s he lived at Ovenden in Halifax, England. A piano he used was later discovered at Calderdale College in Halifax. He continued to record in Europe with the Kenn Lending Band, Louisiana Red and Axel Zwingenberger and made many live appearances. He also worked again as a cook, specializing in New Orleans cuisine. He returned to the United States from time to time and performed at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
It seemed that Dupree could not escape from the prejudice and racism anywhere he settled in the United States. Finally in late 1958, he decided to move to Europe. Over the next 32 years, he lived in a number of locales in Switzerland, France, England, Denmark and Germany. He also recorded a multitude of wonderful albums during this time for a long list of European labels. Among these is the outstanding live recording, "Blues at Montreux" on Atco that also featured sax great, King Curtis.
He died from complications of cancer on January 21, 1992 in Hanover. As one of the most prolific recording Bluesmen of all time, he left a large catalog of material. Champion Jack Dupree was posthumously honored by the Blues Foundation, receiving election into their Hall of Fame, along with "Blues From The Gutter" being selected as an entry as a "Classic of Blues" recording (Albums).
Ain't That a Shame
Champion Jack Dupree Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Ain't that a shame
Ain't that a shame
Ain't that a shame
Well, the way my woman do
Ain't that a shame
Ain't that a shame
Everything'll be alright
All I want you to hug me
Baby and hold me tight
Ain't that a shame
Ain't that a shame
Ain't that a shame
Ain't that a shame
I wanna walk along with you
I wanna hold your hand
Although you don't love me
I know you got another man
Ain't that a shame
Ain't that a shame
Ain't that a shame
Ain't that a shame
I want you to tell me
Everything'll be alright
I want you to hug and kiss me
Babe and squeeze me tight
Ain't that a shame
Ain't that a shame
Ain't that a shame
Ain't that a shame, alright then
I'm going away and leave you
Leave you by yourself
'Cause I know you don't love me baby
You got someone else
Ain't that a shame
Ain't that a shame
Ain't that a shame
Ain't that a shame
Baby if I leave you
Ain't no use to cry
All you do is wave at me
And say baby bye bye
Ain't that a shame
Ain't that a shame
Ain't that a shame
Ain't that a shame, alright
Ain't that a shame
Ain't that a shame
Ain't that a shame
Ain't that a shame
Ain't that a shame
You say I'm the blame
The song Ain't That A Shame by Champion Jack Dupree is a classic example of the blues genre, which is known for its emotional and heartbreaking lyrics. The song talks about a man's love for his woman who he believes does not love him back. The repeated phrase "Ain't that a shame" emphasizes the singer's disbelief and frustration with his situation.
Throughout the song, the singer pleads with his woman to love him back, to hug him, kiss him, and hold him tight. He wants to walk along with her and hold her hand, but he knows she has another man. He is torn between leaving her and staying with her despite her infidelity.
The song's lyrics encapsulate the pain and struggle of a man who loves a woman who does not love him back. Although he knows he should leave her, he is unable to do so because of his love for her. The song's melancholic melody and slow rhythm amplify the emotions expressed in the lyrics and make it a relatable and popular hit.
Line by Line Meaning
Ain't that a shame
Expressing disappointment or disapproval
Ain't that a shame
Reinforcing the singer's disappointment or disapproval
Ain't that a shame
Continuing to express the same feeling of disappointment or disapproval
Ain't that a shame
Reinforcing the artist's previous expressions of disappointment or disapproval
Well, the way my woman do
The artist is shifting to talking about his relationship with his woman
Ain't that a shame
Expressing disappointment or disapproval about the singer's woman and his relationship with her
Ain't that a shame
Reinforcing the singer's disappointment or disapproval about his woman and their relationship
You know baby that I love you
The artist is expressing his love for his woman
Everything'll be alright
The artist is assuring his woman that everything will be alright
All I want you to hug me
The artist is asking his woman to hug him
Baby and hold me tight
The singer desires his woman to hold him tight
I wanna walk along with you
The artist would like to walk alongside his woman
I wanna hold your hand
The singer would like to hold his woman's hand
Although you don't love me
The singer acknowledges that his woman does not love him like he loves her
I know you got another man
The singer believes his woman is with someone else
I want you to tell me
The artist desires his woman to communicate with him
Everything'll be alright
The artist is reassuring his woman that everything will be alright
I want you to hug and kiss me
The singer desires his woman to hug and kiss him
Babe and squeeze me tight
The singer desires his woman to squeeze him tightly
I'm going away and leave you
The artist is announcing his departure from his woman
Leave you by yourself
The artist is letting his woman know that he will leave her alone
'Cause I know you don't love me baby
The artist's reason for leaving is that he knows his woman does not love him
You got someone else
The singer believes his woman is with someone else besides him
Baby if I leave you
The artist is addressing his woman directly
Ain't no use to cry
The singer is telling his woman that it's useless to cry
All you do is wave at me
The singer says his woman will only wave goodbye to him
And say baby bye bye
The singer is quoting his woman's goodbye to him
Ain't that a shame
Reinforcing the artist's disappointment or disapproval about his woman and their relationship
Ain't that a shame
Reinforcing the artist's disappointment or disapproval about his woman and their relationship
Ain't that a shame
Reinforcing the singer's disappointment or disapproval about his woman and their relationship
Ain't that a shame
Reinforcing the singer's disappointment or disapproval about his woman and their relationship
Ain't that a shame
Reinforcing the artist's disappointment or disapproval about his woman and their relationship
You say I'm the blame
The artist is quoting someone who says he is to blame for the problems in his relationship with his woman
Lyrics © ALPHA MUSIC, INC.
Written by: Champion Jack Dupree
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Jake Fantom
on She Cooks Me Cabbage
The only line that confuses me is "and she called them turnip greens." Anyone got an idea what Champion Jack is trying to convey here? Why would she cook him cabbage and call it turnip greens?