'Corrine Corrina'

Big Joe Turner's 1956 R&B version on Atlantic records is the one I first heard, and still seems to me the "Corrine Corrina." All the rest, to me, are pale imitations. Even if they predate this one. As many do. Turner's lyrics are available on line, and you can even see the old 45rpm Atlantic label on the YouTube clip.


A very nice bluesy version at an easygoing tempo by TamboGnola Sconnection, a "band on the roots" of Pavia, in Italy - also a very nice live http://www.myspace.com/tambognolasconnection audio version on their MySpace page.



It's also a western swing standard. On YouTube:

• Bob Willis recorded with still pix.
  
• Merle Haggard live in 1970 ... also a set of chords and lyrics in D!

Haggard's has been tabbed out for guitar (in D! yay!) beginning:

[D] I love Corrina; tell the world I do ... [D7]
I love Cor-[G] rina; tell the world I [D] do
Just a little more [A7] lovin'; Let your heart beat [D] true.

[D] Corrine, Corrina; Where've you been so long? ... [D7]
Corrine, Cor-[G] rina; Where've you been so [D] long?
Ain't had no [A7] lovin'; Since you've been [D] gone.

Bob Dylan's cover doesn't really follow either the tune or the lyrics (it sounds almost like "Girl from the North Country" to me), but it has a kind of nice walking rhythm that's worth studying a little. YouTube has an audio clip, and the lyrics are also available on line, including a verse that goes:

I got a bird that whistles
I got a bird that sings
I got a bird that whistles
I got a bird that sings
But I ain't a-got Corrina
Life don't mean a thing.