Week 14: Ain’t Gonna Let No Woman



Guitar Gabriel (aka Nyles Jones)

The Man

Robert Lewis Jones was born on October 12, 1925 in Atlanta, Georgia, into a musical family. At the age of 5, seeking to leave the share cropper lifestyle for the advantages of a bigger town, the family moved to Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Bobby’s first musical education came when he was 6 or 7 from his grandfather, who played a real country ´blues style on a banjo and by blowing in jugs.

His love of the guitar came from his father, James Johnson, a guitarist who played in a three piece band. Bobby and his sister would sneak around to watch him play at clubs, fish fries and dances. After school, Bobby would play his father’s guitar despite frequent but useless ‘whippings’ from his mother, and would fall asleep clutching it to his chest. His father would jam in the backyard, playing Blind Boy Fuller tunes, and Bobby would try to play along. His father taught him a great deal, and the most important was the advice he gave the aspiring musician: “Son, I don’t care where you go, don’t copy behind nobody else. You can make your own stuff, that’s what makes you good. When you got your own shit, then nobody can steal it”.

In 1935 the family moved to Durham, North Carolina, and Bobby began to play on street corners, where he played with the famous Blind Boy Fuller. 1939, his father was recorded by Vocation under the name Jack Jones, accompanied by Sonny Terry and George ‘Oh Red’ Washington. Soon after, ‘Jack Jones’ left the family with a friend of his wife’s and moved out of Bobby’s life to Detroit. The next year, Bobby’s grandfather passed away and the 15 year old Bobby took to the road.

He first went to Atlanta to stay with his grandmother, and there he met a singer name Ben who introduced Bobby to a life of hoboing. The pair made money playing in bars and clubs and travelled top Baltimore then ended up in Texas. Bobby met another aspiring guitarist, Sam Lightning Hopkins and the pair performed in a band for about 6 months. Bobby took off for Tampa, Florida then onto Orlando where he played in Jimmy Strate’s Carnival – a Carnival on a train that toured the country and is still running to this day. “We would play whatever they could dance by — Dixieland, jazz, show tunes, blues. There was a thing called the Midnight Ramble. It was after midnight. All the kids were put out of the tent, the price would be raised, and the dancers showed more, and that is when we would throw down with the blues. . . we would tear down on a Saturday night.” A fellow band member gave him the name “Guitar Gabriel”.

He was drafted and served in the Army in the Second World War, then resumed his life on the road for the next 30 years. He played in minstrel shows and carnivals, never staying in any place for very long, and played with a who’s who of post war blues: he met Bo Diddley in a cafe in St Louis and played with him for a few nights; he went to Hawaii with Louis Jordan; played rhythm guitar for King Curtis; played with Chuck Berry in New York; met up with Lightning Hopkins in Newark; Jimmy Reed in California; T-Bone Walker and Big Boy Cruddup in Harlem; Muddy Waters in New Orleans; BB King in Alabama.

In 1970, Guitar Gabriel was in Pittsburgh , playing in bars were he was spotted by local talent scouts. They teamed him up with producer Bill Lawrence, and he recorded the highly acclaimed album “My South My Blues” which produced the successful single “Welfare Blues”. They were released under the name “Nyles Jones”, which the producer thought was a better name for a musician, and released under the Gemini label. Despite being moderately successful, the studio ripper Gabriel off and he didn’t see a single cent in royalties.

Disillusioned, he return to Winston-Salem and quit music for a year. A local news station did a story on him, which encouraged him to pick up the guitar again, performing solely in Winston-Salem.

In 1990, a student and guitarist by the name of Tim Duffy was working on his Masters in Folklore interviewing James “Guitar Slim” Stephens. Stephens advised Duffy to locate Guitar Gabriel, and after graduation Duffy moved to Winston-Salem and found the 66 year old Gabriel impoverished and living in a housing project. The two struck up a firm friendship, and recorded an album in Gabriel’s house titled “Toot Blues” under the name Guitar Gabriel and Brothers in the Kitchen. It was released on their own label, Karibu, on cassette in 1991.

Through Gabriel, Duffy made many field recordings of other unknown artists in the area, and in 1994 formed the not-for-profit Music Maker Relief Foundation to promote and preserve the music of late 19th century and early 20th century that was kept alive by these elderly and forgotten musicians. In 1995, a chance meeting in a bistro with Eric Clapton enabled Duffy to play him some of the field recordings of the music he was collecting, and Clapton not only invested but convinced other artists such as B.B. King, Pete Townshend, Bonnie Raitt, Ron Wood and Lou Redd to also donate to the foundation. In 1996 Duffy was invited into the studio for the recording of BB King’s ‘Deuces Wild’, where he met Taj Mahal, who became heavily involved with the foundations.

In the last 20 years, Music Maker Foundation has recorded over 300 artists, released 150 albums – including a few from Gabriel – and have organised tours for the artists in 40 states and 17 countries. They organised gigs for Guitar Gabriel at Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Centre, and organised several European tours for him.

Guitar Gabriel died on April 2, 1996, and is buried at the Evergreen Cemetery in Winston-Salem, with his guitar still clutched to his chest.



The Song

Guitar Gabriel played a style of blues he named “Toot Blues” that incorporates elements of Piedmont, Delta and Chicago blues among many others. His music features the strong independent thumb work of Piedmont guitar, and uses delta melodies. The bass lines when he is singing is pure Chicago style. As a result, his music is quite unique and quite difficult to play. There is a lot going on, even when it doesn’t sound like a lot is going on!

“Ain’t no woman” is a 12 bar in F# – he uses a capo on the second fret – and is played in standard tuning. All the tab is relevant to the capo – an open string is played at the second fret. It starts with a main riff which is repeated in all the non-singing E sections, and uses Chicago styled bass lines in the singing sections.

It’s fast, and very difficult to execute perfectly. The thumb moves on and off the beat to create that unique sound to the main riff, so I suggest practising it slowly and get comfortable to the syncopation of the bass before trying it at full speed. I’ve tabbed it out in 24 bars, because it’s a lot easier to see what he is doing and to get the timing right.

The Lyrics

F# I don't want no woman, no woman mess up my mind (no I don't) B F# Ain't gonna let no woman, no woman mess up my mind C# B F# I don't want no woman (hooo) to mess up my mind You can love me or leave me, any one you want to do (yes you can) You can love me or leave me, any one you want to do If as long as my heart is satisfied, woman I know I been good to you You can go alone, go it all on your own You can go a-lone, woman go ahead on your own Say now know that I love you, sometimes you make me leave my home (that's why I say this) I ain't gonna let no woman, no woman mess up my mind I ain't gonna let no woman, no woman mess up my mind I ain't gonna let no woman, (ow!) no woman mess up my mind (I'd be a fool to) (oooh) (Lord) (Don't go) (sniff)

The Intro

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The Progression