Lipscomb was born April 9, 1895 to an ex-slave father from Alabama and a half Native American (Choctaw) mother. Lipscomb spent most of his life working as a tenant farmer in Texas and was "discovered" and recorded by Mack McCormick and Chris Strachwitz in 1960 during the country blues revival. He released many albums of blues, ragtime, Tin Pan Alley and folk music (most of them on Strachwitz' Arhoolie label), singing and accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. He had a "dead-thumb" finger-picking guitar technique, and an expressive voice. Lipscomb often honed his skills by playing in nearby Brenham, Texas, with a blind musician, Sam Rogers. His debut release was Texas Songster (1960). Lipscomb performed old songs like "Sugar Babe," the first song he ever learned, to pop numbers like "Shine On, Harvest Moon" and "It's a Long Way to Tipperary".[4]
Trouble in Mind was recorded in 1961, and released on a major label, Reprise. In May 1963, Lipscomb appeared at the first Monterey Folk Festival in California.
Unlike many of his contemporaries, he did not record in the early blues era, but his life is well documented thanks to his autobiography, I Say Me for a Parable: The Oral Autobiography of Mance Lipscomb, Texas Bluesman, narrated to Glen Alyn, which was published posthumously, and also a short 1971 documentary by Les Blank, A Well Spent Life.
He began playing guitar early on and played regularly for years at local gatherings, mostly what he called "Saturday Night Suppers" hosted by someone in the area. These gatherings were hosted regularly for a while by himself and his wife. The majority of his musical activity took place within what he called his "precinct", meaning the local area around Navasota, until around 1960.
Following his "discovery" by McCormick and Strachwitz, Lipscomb became an important figure in the folk music revival of the 1960s. He was a regular performer at folk festivals and folk-blues clubs around the United States, notably the Ash Grove in Los Angeles, CA.
He died in his hometown of Navasota in 1976, two years after suffering a stroke.
A Well Spent Life (1971). Documentary directed by Les Blank and Skip Gerson. El Cerrito, California: Flower Films. Released on video in 1979. ISBN 0-933621-09-4.
He also appeared in Blank's The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins (1970)
An annual Navasota Blues Festival is held in his honor, and on August 12, 2011, a bronze sculpture of him was unveiled in Mance Lipscomb Park in Navasota. The statue was sculpted by artist Sid Henderson of California and weighs almost 300 pounds. It portrays Lipscomb playing his guitar whilst seated on a bench, with room for fans to sit beside him and play their own guitars "with" him.
Mance Lipscomb (1895-1976), guitarist and songster, was born to Charles and Jane Lipscomb on April 9, 1895, in the Brazos bottoms near Navasota, Texas, where he lived most of his life as a tenant farmer.
Lipscomb represented one of the last remnants of the nineteenth-century songster tradition, which predated the development of the blues.
Though songsters might incorporate blues into their repertoires, as did Lipscomb, they performed a wide variety of material in diverse styles, much of it common to both black and white traditions in the South, including ballads, rags, dance pieces (breakdowns, waltzes, one and two steps, slow drags, reels, ballin' the jack, the buzzard lope, hop scop, buck and wing, heel and toe polka), and popular, sacred, and secular songs. Lipscomb himself insisted that he was a songster, not a guitarist or "blues singer," since he played "all kinds of music." His eclectic repertoire has been reported to have contained 350 pieces spanning two centuries. (He likewise took exception when he was labeled a "sharecropper" instead of a "farmer."
Between 1905 and 1956 he lived in an atmosphere of exploitation, farming as a tenant for a number of landlords in and around Grimes County, including the notorious Tom Moore, subject of a local topical ballad. He left Moore's employ abruptly and went into hiding after he struck a foreman for abusing his mother and wife. Lipscomb's own rendition of "Tom Moore's Farm" was taped at his first session in 1960 but released anonymously (Arhoolie LP 1017, Texas Blues, Volume 2), presumably to protect the singer. Between 1956 and 1958 Lipscomb lived in Houston, working for a lumber company during the day and playing at night in bars where he vied for audiences with Texas blues great Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins,qv whom Lipscomb had first met in Galveston in 1938. With compensation from an on-the-job accident, he returned to Navasota and was finally able to buy some land and build a house of his own. He was working as foreman of a highway-mowing crew in Grimes County when blues researchers Chris Strachwitz of Arhoolie Records and Mack McCormick of Houston found and recorded him in 1960.
Arhoolie Records (El Cerrito, California) has released seven albums of material by Lipscomb: Mance Lipscomb: Texas Songster and Sharecropper (Arhoolie 1001); Mance Lipscomb Volume 2 (Arhoolie 1023); Mance Lipscomb Volume 3: Texas Songster in a Live Performance (Arhoolie 1026); Mance Lipscomb Volumes 4, 5, and 6 (Arhoolie 1033, 1049, and 1069); and You'll Never Find Another Man Like Mance (Arhoolie 1077). Trouble in Mind was released by Reprise (R-2012). Individual pieces are included in other anthologies.
Freddie
Mance Lipscomb Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
She had never done before
She was in the bed with another man
Made Freddie's pallet on the floor
He got mad, he got bad
Come with his gun in his hand.
Freddie's woman saw him coming
I can hear her cryin' now: "Freddie
Spare my life if you please
I know you're mad, you got bad
And with a gun in your hand!'
Freddie meets the policeman
With his big gun in his hand
"Fred, I heard you done killed your woman."
He said: "Yes, I'm looking for that man
He made me mad, I got bad
With my gun in my hand"
Freddie said: "Look-a-here ]udge
Judge wouldn't you have got mad
You'd a-come home and found your woman
With another man in your bed
You'd got mad, You'd got bad
Took your gun in your hand."
Freddie say: "Now Mama
Mama you have to let me go
Cause the woman's mistreated me
And I had to shoot her so
You'd got mad, I got bad
With my gun in my hand."
Now Freddie say he laid down
Tried not to pay no mind
But a while befo' day
Freddie was woke, heard some stranger
He got mad, he got bad
He put his gun in his hand.
"Freddie!" Papa told Freddie
"Son, here where you done wrong
When you saw that that woman wasn't treatin' you
Son, why didn't you let her alone?
You got mad, you got bad
With your gun in your hand."
Freddie said: "Look-a-here Papa
Papa, wouldn't you got mad
You'da come home and found Mama
With another man in your bed
You'd got mad, you'd got bad
With your gun in your hand!'
Freddie's Papa said: "Yes,
Son, I'm gonna tell you what I'm gonna do
If the judge give you forty years
I'll have em pardon you
For being bad, mad
With your gun."
The song "Freddie" by Mance Lipscomb tells the story of a man named Freddie and his woman who cheated on him. Freddie is portrayed as a violent man who seeks revenge for the betrayal by shooting both his woman and her lover. However, Freddie's father confronts him and questions why he didn't just walk away from the situation instead of resorting to violence. The song highlights the destructive power of jealousy and the devastating consequences it can have.
The lyrics paint a vivid picture of the scene, with Freddie's woman being in bed with another man and Freddie finding her there. The lyrics convey the anger and betrayal Freddie feels towards his woman as he sees her in bed with another man. His violent reaction and his willingness to use the gun show the intensity of his emotions.
The song also explores themes such as forgiveness and the role of family. Freddie's father tries to reason with him and offers to help him if he ends up going to jail. This highlights the importance of family and their willingness to help and support each other even in difficult situations.
Overall, "Freddie" is a powerful ballad that explores themes of betrayal, jealousy, and the destructive consequences of violence.
Line by Line Meaning
Now Freddie's woman she done something
Freddie's woman did something that she had never done before.
She had never done before
Freddie's woman did something new and unexpected.
She was in the bed with another man
Freddie's woman was having an affair.
Made Freddie's pallet on the floor
The other man slept in Freddie's bed while Freddie slept on the floor.
He got mad, he got bad
Freddie became angry and violent.
Come with his gun in his hand.
Freddie came to confront his woman and her lover with a gun.
Freddie's woman saw him coming
Freddie's woman saw him approaching.
Went and fell down on her knees
Freddie's woman kneeled to plead for mercy.
I can hear her cryin' now: "Freddie
Freddie's woman cried out to him.
Spare my life if you please
She begged for her life.
I know you're mad, you got bad
She recognized his anger and violence.
And with a gun in your hand!'
She acknowledged that he had brought a gun to the confrontation.
Freddie meets the policeman
Freddie encountered a police officer.
With his big gun in his hand
The police officer was carrying a large weapon.
"Fred, I heard you done killed your woman."
The police officer accused Freddie of killing his woman.
He said: "Yes, I'm looking for that man
Freddie admitted to killing his woman's lover.
He made me mad, I got bad
Freddie blamed the other man for his violent response.
With my gun in my hand"
He acknowledged again that he had brought a gun to the confrontation.
Freddie said: "Look-a-here ]udge
Freddie addressed the judge in his trial.
Judge wouldn't you have got mad
Freddie asked the judge if he would have reacted with anger in a similar situation.
You'd a-come home and found your woman
Freddie imagined the judge in the same position he had been in.
With another man in your bed
Freddie imagined the judge's wife having an affair.
You'd got mad, You'd got bad
Freddie theorized that the judge would have reacted with violence.
Took your gun in your hand."
Freddie imagined the judge bringing a gun to the confrontation.
Freddie say: "Now Mama
Freddie addressed his mother.
Mama you have to let me go
Freddie asked his mother to forgive him.
Cause the woman's mistreated me
Freddie blamed his actions on his woman's mistreatment.
And I had to shoot her so
Freddie claimed he had to kill his woman.
You'd got mad, I got bad
Freddie reiterated that his violence was a result of his emotions.
With my gun in my hand."
Freddie mentioned again that he brought a gun to the confrontation.
Now Freddie say he laid down
Freddie claimed he tried to get some rest.
Tried not to pay no mind
He attempted to ignore the world around him.
But a while befo' day
However, before daybreak...
Freddie was woke, heard some stranger
Freddie was awakened by a stranger's presence.
He got mad, he got bad
Freddie again became emotional and violent.
He put his gun in his hand.
Freddie reached for his weapon.
"Freddie!" Papa told Freddie
Freddie's father addressed him.
"Son, here where you done wrong
He criticized Freddie for his action.
When you saw that that woman wasn't treatin' you
He emphasized Freddie's woman's mistreatment of him.
Son, why didn't you let her alone?
Freddie's father questioned his son's actions.
You got mad, you got bad
He repeated that Freddie's violence was a result of his emotions.
With your gun in your hand."
He emphasized again that Freddie had brought a gun to the confrontation.
Freddie said: "Look-a-here Papa
Freddie responded to his father.
Papa, wouldn't you got mad
Freddie asked his father another rhetorical question.
You'da come home and found Mama
He imagined his mother having an affair as well.
With another man in your bed
Freddie pictured his father encountering his mother's lover.
You'd got mad, you'd got bad
He thought his father also would have become emotional and violent.
With your gun in your hand!'
He predicted that his father would have brought a gun to the confrontation.
Freddie's Papa said: "Yes,
Freddie's father responded.
Son, I'm gonna tell you what I'm gonna do
He promised to take action.
If the judge give you forty years
He referred to Freddie's upcoming trial and a potential sentence.
I'll have em pardon you
He promised to secure a pardon for Freddie.
For being bad, mad
He reiterated that Freddie's violence was a result of his emotions.
With your gun.
He mentioned Freddie's weapon one last time.
Contributed by London Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.