Title: Bottle up and Go
Size: 6.5" x 26"
Mixed Media, Acrylic on wood
Art inspired by the classic blues song Bottle Up and Go. The folk blues art piece (top left) is one of a kind and handmade. I have also have a version of the design adapted for print on demand products like t shirts (pictured bottom left) for sale on the online store Zazzle. You can see more of my mixed media art here.
Bottle up and go song history
John Lee Hooker did the best know version of this song. It was written and recorded by Tommy Mclennan in 1939. Other recordings of it were done by Leadbelly, The Memphis Jug Band and Sonny Boy Williamson to name a few. Blind Boy Fuller did a version of the song and changed the chorus to Step it up and go.
Below are Leadbelly's lyrics to Bottle Up and Go
You got to bottle it up and go
Well, you got to bottle it up and go
Yes, them high-powered women
Sure got to bottle it up and go
Well, mama killed a chicken
She thought it was a duck
She put him on the table
With his legs stickin' up
You got to bottle it up and go
Well, you got to bottle it up and go
Yes, them high-powered women
Sure got to bottle it up and go
Now, a nickel is a nickel
A dime is a dime
I need no girl
If she won't wind
You got to bottle it up and go
Well, you got to bottle it up and go
Yes, them high-powered women
Sure got to bottle it up and go
Now she may look old
Ninety years
She ain't too old
To make you shed tears
