Johnny Copeland was born March 27, 1937, in Haynesville, LA, about 15 miles south of Magnolia, AR (formerly Texarkana, a hotbed of blues activity in the 1920s and '30s). The son of sharecroppers, his father died when he was very young, but Copeland was given his father's guitar. His first gig was with his friend Joe "Guitar" Hughes. Soon after, Hughes "took sick" for a week and the young Copeland discovered he could be a front man and deliver vocals as well as anyone else around Houston at that time.
His music, by his own reasoning, fell somewhere between the funky R&B of New Orleans and the swing and jump blues of Kansas City. After his family (sans his father) moved to Houston, Copeland was exposed, as a teen, to musicians from both cities. While he was becoming interested in music, he also pursued boxing, mostly as an avocation, and it is from his days as a boxer that he got his nickname "Clyde."
Copeland and Hughes fell under the spell of T-Bone Walker, whom Copeland first saw perform when he was 13 years old. As a teenager he played at locales such as Shady's Playhouse — Houston's leading blues club, host to most of the city's best bluesmen during the 1950s — and the Eldorado Ballroom. Copeland and Hughes subsequently formed The Dukes of Rhythm, which became the house band at the Shady's Playhouse. After that, he spent time playing on tour with Albert Collins (himself a fellow T-Bone Walker devotee) during the 1950s, and also played on stage with Sonny Boy Williamson II, Big Mama Thornton, and Freddie King. He began recording in 1958 with "Rock 'n' Roll Lily" for Mercury, and moved between various labels during the 1960s, including All Boy and Golden Eagle in Houston, where he had regional successes with "Please Let Me Know" and "Down on Bending Knees," and later for Wand and Atlantic in New York. In 1965, he displayed a surprising prescience in terms of the pop market by cutting a version of Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" for Wand.
After touring around the "Texas triangle" of Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas, he relocated to New York City in 1974, at the height of the disco boom. It seems moving to New York City was the best career move Copeland ever made, for he had easy access to clubs in Washington, D.C., New York, Philadelphia, New Jersey, and Boston, all of which still had a place for blues musicians like him. Meanwhile, back in Houston, the club scene was hurting, owing partly to the oil-related recession of the mid-'70s. Copeland took a day job at a Brew 'n' Burger restaurant in New York and played his blues at night, finding receptive audiences at clubs in Harlem and Greenwich Village.
Copeland recorded seven albums for Rounder Records, beginning in 1981 and including Copeland Special, Make My Home Where I Hang My Hat, Texas Twister, Bringing It All Back Home, When the Rain Starts a Fallin', Ain't Nothing But a Party (live, nominated for a Grammy) and Boom Boom; he also won a Grammy award in 1986 for his efforts on an Alligator album, Showdown! with Robert Cray and the late Albert Collins. Although Copeland had a booming, shouting voice and was a powerful guitarist and live performer, what most people don't realize is just how clever a songwriter he was. His latter-day releases for the PolyGram/Verve/Gitanes label, including Flyin' High (1992) and Catch Up with the Blues, provide ample evidence of this on "Life's Rainbow (Nature Song)" (from the latter album) and "Circumstances" (from the former album).
Because Copeland was only six months old when his parents split up and he only saw his father a few times before he passed away, Copeland never realized he had inherited a congenital heart defect from his father. He disovered this in the midst of another typically hectic tour in late 1994, when he had to go into the hospital in Colorado. After he was diagnosed with heart disease, he spent the next few years in and out of hospitals, undertaking a number of costly heart surgeries. Early in 1997, he was waiting for a heart transplant at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City. As he was waiting, he was put on the L-VAD, a recent innovation for patients suffering from congenital heart defects. In 1995, Copeland appeared on CNN and ABC-TV's Good Morning America, wearing his L-VAD, offering the invention valuable publicity.
Despite his health problems, Copeland continued to perform and his always spirited concerts did not diminished all that much. After living 20 months on the L-VAD — the longest anyone had lived on the device — he received a heart transplant on January 1, 1997 and for a few months, the heart worked fine and he continued to tour. However, the heart developed a defective valve, necessitating heart surgery in the summer. Copeland died of complications during heart surgery on July 3, 1997.
T-Bone Shuffle
Johnny Copeland Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Let your hair down, baby, let's have a natural ball
If you don't let your hair down, woman, we can't have no fun at all
Oh, and you can't take it wit' you, that's one thing for sure
Oh, and you can't take it wit' you, that's one thing for sure
There ain't nothin' in the world, that a T-Bone shuffle won't cure
Come here baby, sit down on your daddy's knee
I've got somethin' pretty baby, somethin' that's ailin' me
The Johnny Copeland classic, T-Bone Shuffle is a joyous song that is both playful and danceable. The lyrics portray a laid-back atmosphere where the singer is encouraging his love interest to loosen up and enjoy the moment by letting her hair down and having a natural ball. The repetition of the phrase “let your hair down” emphasizes the need for the woman to let loose and enjoy herself. The song highlights the importance of being in the moment and fully experiencing life as it is. The second verse of the song speaks to the transience of life, emphasizing that one can’t take anything with them after they die. The singer remarks that the cure for anything one may be ailing with is the T-Bone Shuffle, which can heal anything that ails them.
The lyrics of T-Bone Shuffle are a testament to the blues genre's spirit of enjoying life despite its hardships. The song is a perfect representation of the popular shuffle rhythm that is common in blues music. The lyrics are simple yet convey a powerful message of enjoying life while it lasts. The song is an excellent reminder that life is short and one should live it to the fullest.
Line by Line Meaning
Let your hair down, baby, let's have a natural ball
Hey lady, loosen up and let's have a good time. If you don't relax, we won't enjoy ourselves.
If you don't let your hair down, woman, we can't have no fun at all
I want you to feel free and let loose so we can have a great time together.
Oh, and you can't take it wit' you, that's one thing for sure
No one can take anything with them when they die, that's a fact.
There ain't nothin' in the world, that a T-Bone shuffle won't cure
No matter what is troubling you, a T-Bone shuffle will always make you feel better.
Come here baby, sit down on your daddy's knee
Hey honey, come sit with me and listen up.
I've got somethin' pretty baby, somethin' that's ailin' me
I have something on my mind that is bothering me, my sweet.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: T-BONE WALKER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@airtrafficmike2865
Best R&B ensemble ever!!!!!!!
@LZcool
I cannot see their faces or their bodies dancing enjoying what they are playing.
And yet, I can feel the emotion in the song, awesome!
@christianneoriente1577
I bought this CD when it first came out. Awesome!!! I'm 65 and still listening.cant sit still have 2 get up and dance!!! RIGHT HERE BABY SIT DOWN ON UR DADDY'S KNEE I GOT SOMETHIN PRETTY BABY SOMETHIN THATS AILING ME.....BRING IT HOME ALBERT....BEST CD EVER!!! RIP
@salspataro9389
Outstanding Blues by the Masters! RIP Albert and Johnny, much love to you and the special Robert Cray...
@johnwise7693
I played this cassette to death in the 80s
@terryomalley9669
@John Wise
Me too man!
@RTWest-kn5fr
Robertin, germano-estadounidense y ET híbrido 😎👽🎼🎶🎵🎸. A Blues morning. Waves are up. A day at the beach.
1985. 35 years young. My apartment. Pacific Beach, San Diego, California. Breakfast time. Saturday morning.
Circular table. 4 chairs. Eating 2 blueberry waffles buttered with maple syrup. 3 chairs empty, but these guys were there in spirit.
I wore this Showdown album CD out with so many plays. Not easy do to with a laser disc.
Morey Boogie board at the door. Surf suit and boogie boarder swim fins too. Bicycle with rack ready.
10 blocks to the beach. Cold water knocks Friday night's hangover out of you in less than 10 seconds. All the same old boyz will be there. Damn... did we know how to live?
Life was good! ...
Gracias por tu video BluesRockChannel ... y ... ¡Saludos a todos! RT sends, manda, Colonia Centro Histórico, Puebla, México...
@terryferan9028
I love this album. Great players and Robert Cray establishes himself. His licks on T-bone shuffle are legendary.
@vancouverterry9142
Omigod! Them's the blues -- a monument to T-Bone, done by the Masters. Standing ovation!
@rennardcotton2256
Alligator Records lost Albert Collins,Koko Taylor,Son Seals,Roy Buchanan,Katie Webster,Clarence Gatemouth Brown,Carey Brown,Fenton Robinson,Professor Longhair and Luther Allison. May you all rest in peace,R.I.P.