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.
I Want to Do Something for You
Mance Lipscomb Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Well, I wanna do something for you
I'll do anything in the world I can
I want to do something for you,
If I can.
Well you can't do nothing for me,
Well you can't do nothing for me.
You can't do nothing for me.
You understand?
I'll buy you a strip of land,
I'll buy you a strip of land,
Yes, I'll buy you a strip of land,
I want to do something for you,
If I can.
I don't want a strip of land,
I don't want no strip of land.
Man, I don't want nothing in the world you got,
You can't do nothing for me.
Understand?
I'll buy you a house and home
I'll buy you a house and home
Yes I'll buy you a house and home
Want to do something for you
If I can
I don't want no house and home
I don't want no house and home
Man I don't want nothing in the world you got,
You can't do nothing for me,
You understand?
I'll buy you a diamond ring, etc.
I don't want no diamond ring, etc.
I'll buy you a chevrolet etc.
Don't want no chevrolet etc.
I'll buy you a sedan Ford etc.
Yes, I'll take a sedan Ford,
Yes, I'll take a Sedan Ford,
Thought I didn't want nothing in the world you had,
But I will take a sedan Ford
The song I Want to Do Something for You by Mance Lipscomb is a conversation between two people. The first person expresses the desire to do something good for the second person. He wants to buy him a strip of land or a house and a home, a diamond ring or a Chevrolet. He insists on this and says he will do anything for him. However, the second person seems disinterested in all these offerings. He repeatedly says that there is nothing the first person can do for him. It appears that whatever the first person has, it doesn't interest the second person.
This song can be interpreted as a commentary on the value of material possessions. The first person seems to be trying to impress the second person with his wealth and generosity, but the second person does not seem to be moved by worldly possessions. He values something else, which the first person is unable to provide. This could be seen as a message about the inherent limitations of money and material things in bringing happiness and fulfillment. The song suggests that there are more important things in life than possessions and that true connection and understanding between people cannot be bought.
Line by Line Meaning
Well, I want to do something for you,
I feel the need to do something to help you out in some way.
Well, I wanna do something for you
I really want to find a way to do something kind for you.
I'll do anything in the world I can
I am willing to use any means possible to make a positive difference for you.
I want to do something for you,
It is important to me to find something to improve your life or situation.
If I can.
I understand that there may be limitations or challenges that prevent me from being able to help, but I am willing to try.
Well you can't do nothing for me,
I appreciate the offer, but there is nothing that you have that I need or want at this time.
I don't care what ever you say,
My mind is made up and I am content with my current situation.
You can't do nothing for me.
I am not in need of anything from you right now, and that is okay.
You understand?
I hope that my message is clear and there are no hard feelings about my refusal of your offer.
I'll buy you a strip of land,
One way that I am willing to help you is by purchasing property on your behalf.
I don't want a strip of land,
Although I appreciate the offer, landownership is not a priority or desire for me right now.
Man, I don't want nothing in the world you got,
I don't need or want anything that you are offering or able to provide at this time.
I'll buy you a house and home
Another way that I would be willing to help is by buying and providing you with a home.
I don't want no house and home
Although it is a generous offer, I do not have a need or desire for a home at this time.
I'll buy you a diamond ring, etc.
I am willing to purchase expensive gifts like jewelry to show that I care about you and appreciate you.
Don't want no diamond ring, etc.
I am not interested in receiving material possessions, even if they are valuable or well-intentioned gifts.
I'll buy you a chevrolet etc.
In addition to land, a home, and jewelry, I am willing to buy you a car to help make your life easier or more enjoyable.
Don't want no chevrolet etc.
While I am grateful for the offer, I do not need a car or desire any large purchases from you right now.
Yes, I'll take a Sedan Ford,
Although I told you that I did not want any gifts, I have changed my mind and would love to accept a specific type of car as a gift.
Thought I didn't want nothing in the world you had,
Although I previously stated that I was content with my current situation and did not need any help or gifts, my feelings have changed.
But I will take a sedan Ford
I am grateful and appreciative that you are offering to give me a car, and I am interested in receiving this specific model that you mentioned.
Contributed by Riley R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.