“Poor Boy Blues” by Ramblin’ Thomas

(recorded in Chicago, November 1928)

Download: 12-poor-boy-blues.mp3

Poor boy, poor boy.
Poor boy long ways from home.

I was down in Louisiana, Doing as I please.
Now I’m in Texas.
I got to work or leave.

Poor boy, poor boy.
Poor boy long ways from home.

If your home’s in Louisiana,
What you doing over here?
Say my home ain’t in Texas
And I sure don’t care.

Poor boy, poor boy.
Poor boy long ways from home.

I don’t care
If the boat don’t never land.
I’d like to stay on water
As long as any man.

Poor boy, poor boy.
Poor boy long ways from home.

Poor boy, poor boy.
Poor boy long ways from home.

And my boat come a rockin’,
Just like a drunken man,
And my home’s on the water
And I sure don’t like land.

Poor boy, poor boy.
Poor boy long ways from home

Ramblin Thomas biography by Eugene Chadbourne:

Some links of interest:

–An illustrated discography at Wirz’s website

–A nice post about “Poor Boy Blues” on the blog “Just a song”

–A great detailed review of all of Ramblin’ Thomas songs (including the lyrics) and guitar techniques by John Miller on the Weenie Campbell forum

-Listen here to Ramblin’ Thomas complete recordings:

Download: 08-back-gnawing-blues.mp3
Download: 13-good-time-blues.mp3
Download: 15-ground-hog-blues.mp3
Download: 10-hard-dallas-blues.mp3
Download: 02-hard-to-rule-woman-blues.mp3
Download: 09-jig-head-blues.mp3
Download: 03-lock-and-key-blues.mp3
Download: 14-new-way-of-living-blues.mp3
Download: 05-no-baby-blues.mp3
Download: 07-no-job-blues.mp3
Download: 12-poor-boy-blues.mp3
Download: 11-ramblin-man.mp3
Download: 06-ramblin-mind-blues.mp3
Download: 04-sawmill-moan.mp3
Download: 16-shake-it-gal.mp3
Download: 01-so-lonesome.mp3

1. Back Gnawing Blues
2. Good Time Blues
3. GroundHog Blues
4. Hard Dallas Blues
5. Hard to rule woman Blues
6. Jig Head Blues
7. Lock and Key Blues
8. New way of living Blues
9. No Baby Blues
10. No Job Blues
11. Poor Boy Blues
12. Ramblin’ Man
13. Ramblin’ mind Blues
14. Sawmill Moan
15. Shake it Gal
16. So lonesome

(All the tracks above are available on a Document cd called “Ramblin’ Thomas & The Dallas Blues Singers”)

The Poor Boy Variations

“Poor Boy Blues” is one of those Blues songs/lyrics that are so popular that most Blues players seemed to have a version of it. The poor boy, long ways from home, was more often than not, the rambling Blues musician himself. It was usually a piece played on the guitar out of an open-tuning called Vestapol (open D) and using a slide or bottleneck to play the melody on the high strings.

I’ve selected a few versions that I love, mostly from black Blues players but the Kentucky banjo player Buell Kazee and the ”American Primitive” guitar player John Fahey make an apparition as well.

Download: 03-i_m-a-poor-boy-a-long-ways-from-home-john-fahey.mp3
Download: 10-poor-boys-a-long-ways-from-home-barbecue-bob.mp3
Download: 02-poor-boy-long-ways-from-home-banjo-joe-gus-cannon.mp3
Download: 01-poor-boy-long-ways-from-home-mjh.mp3
Download: 17-poor-boy-long-ways-from-home-buell-kazee.mp3
Download: 01-poor-boy-a-long-long-way-from-home-cat-iron.mp3
Download: 10-poor-boy-long-way-from-home-bukka-white.mp3
Download: 16-poor-boy-r-l-burnside.mp3
Download: 10-poor-boy-blues-sam-butler.mp3
Download: 26-poor-boy-blues-blind-thomas.mp3
Download: 20-poor-boy-blues-willie-lofton.mp3
Download: 05-long-way-from-home-smoky-babe.mp3

• 1.John Fahey
• 2.Barbecue Bob
• 3.Banjo Joe (Gus Cannon)
• 4.Mississippi John Hurt
• 5.Buell Kazee
• 6.Cat Iron
• 7.Bukka White
• 8.R.L. Burnside
• 9.Sam Butler
• 10.Blind Thomas
• 11.Willie “Poor Boy” Lofton
• 12.Smoky Babe

Filed under: 71 Poor Boy Blues by Ramblin’ Thomas, Songs

“Expressman Blues”, recorded in Memphis, TN, on may 17, 1930

with Sleepy John Estes on guitar, Yank Rachell on vocal and mandolin and Jab Jones on piano.

Download: 09-expressman-blues.mp3

I said expressman, expressman, lord, 
You have parked your wagon wrong.
Lord, you have parked your wagon wrong.
You took and moved my good gal, 
When I was a long long way from home.

Don’t a woman make a man do things, 
And she know darn well that’s wrong.
Lord, she know darn well that’s wrong.
Lord that’s why you hear poor James,
Singin’ these lonesome song.

Babe if you never, 
You never hear me any more.
Lord, hear me any more.
Lord you can ‘member one morning baby, 
When I walked up on your porch.

Well I’ll sing this song. 
Jim ain’t gon’ sing no more.
Lord, ain’t gon’ sing no more.
I’m gonna put this mandolin under my arm, 
To the North Memphis Cafe I’ll go

The unique and exciting sound of “Expressman Blues”, with its mandolin/piano/guitar combo and plaintive vocals is the result of the meeting of three great Tennessee Blues musicians, “Sleepy” John Estes, Yank Rachell and Jab Jones (called themselves the “Three J’s”). John Estes had a long career as a Blues guitarist and singer, starting at the end of the 1920′s and kept on playing and performing until his death in 1977. (

The unique and exciting sound of “Expressman Blues”, with its mandolin/piano/guitar combo and plaintive vocals is the result of the meeting of three great Tennessee Blues musicians, “Sleepy” John Estes, Yank Rachell and Jab Jones (called themselves the “Three J’s”). John Estes had a long career as a Blues guitarist and singer, starting at the end of the 1920′s and kept on playing and performing until his death in 1977. (Full bio here). Yank Rachell (1910-1997) was one of the greatest mandolin Blues player and, like his friend John Estes, with whom he recorded a lot, had one of the longest career in the Blues world. (Go and read more on this tribute page). He was the singer on “Expressman Blues”. Jab Jones, piano and jug player for the Memphis Jug Band, played piano with them for a few recording sessions in 1929 and 1930.

-”Illustred Discographies” of “Sleepy” John Estes and Yank Rachell.

–A nice article about Sleepy John

Here are the early recordings of “Sleepy” John Estes and Yank Rachell, from 1929 and 1930. (You’ll find them and plenty of other great recordings on a 4cd box set from JPS records)

1. The Girl I Love, She Got Long Curly Hair
2. Broken-Hearted, Ragged And Dirty Too
3. Divin’ Duck Blues
4. Little Sarah
5. Black Mattie Blues
6. T-Bone Steak Blues
7. Milk Cow Blues
8. Street Car Blues
9. Expressman Blues
10. Watcha Doin?
11. Poor John Blues
12. Stack O’Dollars 
13. My Black Gal Blues
14. Sweet Mama

Click on Harry!

Filed under: Expressman Blues by Sleepy John Estes, Songs

There are three tracks from Blind Lemon Jefferson on the third volume of the Anthology and this is the first one. He was a very popular recording artist during his time and his success launched the standard of the male Blues singer with guitar. The blind Texas street singer remains a mythic and influential figure of the Blues, even if his style was so unique that it was rarely imitated by others during his time. With his high and expressive voice, his creative guitar style, full of licks up and down the neck, his music is one the most lyrical ever recorded in the Blues idiom. His recorded repertoire (I believe he had a much broader repertoire as a street singer than what was recorded) is made up of many Blues songs of his own creation, full of striking and poetic images, (Go here to read the lyrics of his songs), some more ragtime pieces and a few religious songs (recorded under the pseudonym of Deacon L.J. Bates).

To read more on Blind Lemon, go here and his complete discography is available through Document Records and Jsp Records. (More about Blind Lemon Jefferson on future posts)

Blind Lemon Jefferson “Rabbit Foot Blues” (recorded in Chicago, December 1926, issued on Paramount)

Download: 22-rabbit-foot-blues.mp3

Blues jumped a rabbit, run him one solid mile.
Blues jumped a rabbit, run him one solid mile.
That rabbit sat down, cried like a natural child.

Well, it seem like you hungry. Honey, come and lunch with me.
Seem like you hungry. Honey, come and lunch with me.
I wanna stop these nice looking women from worrying me.

I have Uneeda biscuits, gal, and a half a pint of gin.
Uneeda biscuits, gal, and a half a pint of gin.
The gin is mighty fine, but them biscuits are a little too thin.

Baby, tell me something about the meatless and wheatless days.
I want to know about those meatless and wheatless days
This not being my home, I don’t think that I should stay.

I cried for flour and meat, I declare, it was strong.
Well, I cried for flour and meat, I declare, it was strong.
Keep a feeding me cornbread, I just can’t stick around long.

Got an airplane, baby, now we’re gonna get a submarine.
An airplane, now we’re gonna get a submarine.
Gonna get that Kaiser and we’ll be seldom seen.

Mmmm, hitch me to your buggy, mama; drive me like a mule.
Hitch me to your buggy; drive me like a mule.
Reason I’m going home with you, sugar, I ain’t much hard to be fooled.

There’s no mention of a rabbit foot (a well-known talisman against bad luck) in “Rabbit Foot Blues” and except for the common Blues verse “Blues jumped the rabbit”, of no rabbit either. The text is full of double-entendre lines, some of sexual nature, that can be hard to understand out of context. The guitar is tuned in Spanish tuning (open G tuning) and feature, like always with Jefferson, some beautiful licks up and down the neck.

As I couldn’t find other interesting versions of “Rabbit Foot Blues”, I’ve compiled instead all the tunes recorded in his first years with Paramount in 1925 and 1926. Enjoy!

Click on Harry!

Filed under: Rabbit Foot Blues by Blind Lemon Jefferson, Songs

Recorded in New York on August 27, 1928, “Le vieux soulard et sa femme” is another side by the great cajun accordion player Joseph Falcon and his talented wife Cleoma Breaux on guitar. Their “Acadian One-Step”  appeared on the “social” set of the Anthology and is reviewed on a previous post (with 26 tracks by the duo included).

Download: 5-12-la-vieux-soulard-et-sa-femme-1.mp3

“Le Vieux Soulard et sa femme” is a cajun-french version of an old folk song usually known under the title “My good old man”. It’s an humorous dialog between a wife and his husband. The wife asks her husband a few questions and get some rude answers… Here are a set of lyrics in english:

My Good Old Man

Where are you going, my good old man?  Where are you going, my honey, lovey dove?  Where are you going, my good old man?  Best old man in the world         spoken:  Well, I'm going hunting.    What do you want for breakfast, my good old man?  (as above)         Eggs    How many do you want, my good old man         A bushel    A bushel will kill you, my good old man         I don't care    Where do you want to be buried, my good old man         Over there in the chimney corner    The ashes will fall on you, my good old man         I don't care    What'll you do then, my good old man?         I will haunt you    A haunt can't haunt a haunt, my good old man

Many versions omit the ghost reference at the end and the lyrics vary from performer to performer. Sometimes the husband answers are very short, just one word, which add some comic to the dialogue. In the cajun version, the husband is a drunkard who went to the “café”.

Here are the wrench-cajun lyrics and its translation:

You-c-que t’es parti?
Dis mon bon vieux mari,
Et you que t’es parti
Toi qui vieux fair ma mort?
Et you que t’es parti
Dis mon bon vieux mari
Qu’il est l’meilleur buveur du pays?

J’suis parti au cafe!

Quoi t’es parti faire?
Dis mon bon vieux mari,
Et quoi t’es parti faire
Toi qui vieux fair ma mort?
Et quoi t’es parti faire
Dis mon bon vieux mari
Qu’il est l’meilleur buveur du pays?

J’suis parti m’saouler!

Quand tu t’en reviens?
Dis mon bon vieux mari,
Et quand tu t’en reviens
Toi qui vieux fair ma mort?
Et quand tu t’en reviens
Dis mon bon vieux mari
Qu’il est l’meilleur buveur du pays?

Oh d’main ou aut’jour!

Quoi to veux j’fais cuire?
Dis mon bon vieux mari,
Et quoi to veux j’fais cuire
Toi qui vieux fair ma mort?
Et quoi to veux j’fais cuire
Dis mon bon vieux mari
Qu’il est l’meilleur buveur du pays?

Cuis moi cinq douzaines d’oeufs,
puis un gallon d’couscous!

Ca, ca va te tuer.
Dis mon bon vieux mari,
Ca, ca va te tuer
Toi qui vieux fair ma mort.
Ca, ca va te tuer
Dis mon bon vieux mari
Qu’il est l’meilleur buveur du pays.

Oh, c’est pas qu’j’veux mourir quand meme.

Et you qu’tu veux qu’j’enterre?
Dis mon bon vieux mari,
Et you qu’tu veux qu’j’enterre
Toi qui vieux fair ma mort?
Et you qu’tu veux qu’j’enterre
Dis mon bon vieux mari
Qu’il est l’meilleur buveur du pays?

Enterr’ mois dains l’coin d’la ch’minee;
tu l’eteins un peu avant, autrement, elle va
et’chaude!

Where are you going?
My good husband.
Where are you going,
You, who’ll be the death of me?
Where are you going, my good old man,
The biggest drunk in the countryside?

I’m going to the cafe!

What are you going to do there?
My good husband.
What are you going to do there,
You, who’ll be the death of me?
What are you going to do there, my good old man,
The biggest drunk in the countryside?

I’m gonna get drunk!

When will you come back?
My good husband.
When will you come back,
You, who’ll be the death of me?
When will you come back, my good old man,
The biggest drunk in the countryside?

Oh, tomorrow or another day!

What do you want me to cook for you?
My good husband.
What do you want me to cook for you,
You, who’ll be the death of me?
What do you want me to cook for you, my good old man,
The biggest drunk in the countryside?

Cook me five dozen eggs and a gallon
of couscous!

What, that’ll kill you!
My good husband.
What, that’ll kill you,
You, who’ll be the death of me!
What, that’ll kill you, my good old man,
The biggest drunk in the countryside!

Well, maybe I want to die anyway!

Then where do you want me to bury you?
My good husband.
Then where do you want me to bury you,
You, who’ll be the death of me? 
Then where do you want me to bury you, my good old man,
The biggest drunk in the countryside?

Bury me in the chimney corner, but put it out
a little before or it’ll be hot!

This song is a good follower to “Single Girl, married Girl” and the two Stoneman family duets and the uplifting Cajun rythm makes it one of the more joyful track on the Anthology.

I selected 18 versions of “My Good Old Man”, some from commercial recordings (mostly from the folk revival but also some contemporary ones), some from field recordings like The Max Hunter Folk song collection and many cajun versions (usually under the title “Mon bon vieux mari”) are included as well. Enjoy!

The Drunkard and his Wife Variations

• My Good Old Man Peggy, Penny & Barbara Seeger The Three Sisters
• My Lovin’ Old Husband Texas Gladden  Ballad Legacy (1941-1946)
• My Good Old Man Elizabeth Butters Sings Folk Blues for Appalachian Dulcimer and Guitar
• My Good Ole Man Mrs Laura McDonald and Reba Glaze Max Hunter Folk song collection
• My Good Old Man Hedy West Pretty Saro & Other Appalachian Ballads
• Mon bon vieux mari Richard Fontenot Cajun Country Guitar
• My Kind Ole Husband Charley W. Igenthron Max Hunter Folk song collection
• Mon bon vieux mari D.L. Menard, Dewey Balfa & Marc Savoy Under a Green Oak Tree
• My Dear Old Husband Odis Bird Max Hunter Folk song collection
• Mon Bon Vieux Mari Jambalaya Cajun Band Instrumental Collection
• Where Have You Been, My Good Old Man? Mike Seeger & Peggy Seeger Fly Down Little Bird
• My Good Old Man Joan Baez In Concert, Vol. 1
• Mon Bon Vieux Mari Renaissance Cadienne Mon Pere Aussi Ma Mere
• My Kind Old Husband Mrs Pearl Brewer Max Hunter Folk song collection
• Mon Bon Vieux Mari  Hackberry Ramblers Jolie Blonde
• My Good Old Man Jean Ritchie Courtin’ And Other Folk Songs Of So. Appalachians
• My Good Old Man Burl Ives Burl Ives Sings For Fun
• Mon Bon Vieux Mari Anna Laura Edminson Allons Boire un Coup

(on the pictures above: Elizabeth Butters, Mike and Peggy Seeger)

Click on Harry’s picture to go to the zip file

Filed under: Le Vieux Soulard Et Sa Femme by Cleoma and Joseph Falcon, Songs

The Carter Family recorded twice “Single Girl, Married Girl”, the first time at their very first recording session in 1927, in Bristol Tennessee, and the second time a few years later, in 1936, in New York City. It’s striking to hear the differences between the two versions. In 1927, Sara Carter, at age 29, still sings with the high voice of the mountain girl while Maybelle sets a fast tempo on her guitar, who almost sounds like a banjo played in the clawhammer style, playing the syncopated melody on the bass strings. Sara’s been married to A.P. Carter for 12 years now, is a mother (of the young Janette)  and she knows what she’s singing about but the song, while warning of the different lives of the single and the married girl, keep some of its mocking humor, like a little children’s ditty. By 1936, as Sara and A.P. Carter’s wedding is dissolving, the tempo has slowed down, Sara’s voice has evolved in a deeper and lower tone, and you can really feel the tiredness and the bitterness in her new rendition.

Here are the two versions:

Download: 5-11-single-girl-married-girl.mp3
Download: single-girl-married-girl.mp3

For more info and music of the Carter Family, see my other posts about “John Hardy”, “Engine 143″ and “Little Moses”.

The Single Girl (and boy) Variations

The theme of the single girl’s life versus the married girl’s life is an universal topic found in many folk songs traditions around the world, so much more relevant in the old days where the women were married at a young age and depended exclusively on their husband in order to survive. But men also sung about the joys of the bachelor’s life and the despairs of being married to a shrew…

I’ve selected some of my favorite renditions of “Single, Girl, Married Girl” with also a few versions of the similar song “I Wish I Was A Single Girl Again” coupled with other songs, some from the man’s point of view on unhappy marriage and the bachelor’s life.

• Come All You Virginia Girl Foghorn Stringband (Outshine the Sun)
• Single Girl Frank Proffitt (Essential Folk Masters)
• Bachelor’s Hall Fiddlin’ John Carson (Times Ain’t Like They Used To Be – Volume 4)
• Single Girl, Single Girl The Pearly Snaps (The Pearly Snaps)
• The Bald-Headed End of a Broom Smith Walter (Good For What Ails You)
• I Wish I Was A Single Girl, Again Cousin Emmy (Kentucky Moutain Ballads)
• Pleasure of a Single Life John M. Salyer  (Digital Library of Appalachia)
• Single Girl Roscoe Holcomb (An Untamed Sense of Control)
• Stern old bachelor Gladys Pace (I kind of believe it’s a gift:Traditional music from Kentucky)
• Single Girl Ruby Vass (Southern Journey vol.2- Ballads and Breakdowns)
• Single Life Roba Stanley (Women In Early Country Music 1923-1939)
• Single Girl The Spontaneous String Band (String Band Project on Elektra Records)
• Single Girl, Married Girl Jody Stecher & Kate Brislin (Songs Of The Carter Family)
• Single Girl Silver Thread Trio (Silver Thread Trio)
• Single Girl Married Girl Woolum Dave & Noah Crase (Bluegrass – Historic Cuts)
• The Man Who Wrote Home Sweet Home Never Was a Married Man  Parker & Woolbright (Good For What Ails You)
• Married Life Blues Roscoe Holcomb (The High Lonesome Sound)
• Single Girl, Married Girl (Orpheus Supertones Going to Town)

Click on Harry Smith to enjoy the music!

Filed under: Married Girl by The Carter Family, Songs

On the 19 and 20th of October, 1927, in Atlanta, Georgia, The Memphis Jug Band recorded six sides for the Victor company, including “Bob Lee Junior Blues”. Around Will Shade, leader of the band, on guitar and vocal, were Ben Ramey on Kazoo and Vocal, Will Weldon on guitar and vocal, Vol Stevens on banjo/mandolin and guitar, Jennie Clayton (Shade’s wife) on vocals and Charlie Pork on jug.

Download: 09-i-packed-my-suitcase-started-to-the-train.mp3
Download: 10-state-of-tennessee-blues.mp3
Download: 11-bob-lee-junior-blues.mp3
Download: 12-kansas-city-blues.mp3
Download: 13-beale-street-mess-around.mp3
Download: 14-ill-see-you-in-the-spring-when-the-birds-begin-to-sing.mp3

1. I Packed My Suitcase, Started to The Train
2. State of Tennessee Blues
3. Bob Lee Junior Blues
4. Kansas City Blues
5. Beale Street Mess Around
6. I’ll See You In The Spring, When The Birds Begin To Sing

“Kansas City Blues” was first recorded by Jim Jackson (see “Old Dog Blue”) nine days earlier and was his big hit song and one of the most popular Blues song to come out of the 1920′s.

“Kansas City Blues part 1 & 2″ by Jim Jackson (0ctober 10, 1927)

Download: 01-jim-jacksons-kansas-city-blues-pt-1.mp3
Download: 02-jim-jacksons-kansas-city-blues-pt-2.mp3

The chorus of “I’ll See You In The Spring, When The Birds Begin To Sing” is also know as “Fare Thee Honey” or “Fare Thee Well Blues”, a well-know Blues song as well.

“Fare Thee Well Blues” by Mississippi Joe Calicott  (February 20, 1930)

Download: 06-fare-thee-well-blues.mp3

On “Bob Lee Junior Blues”, Jennie Clayton takes the lead vocals and sing this woman’s Blues love lament with her shrilling voice while the banjo/mandolin, kazoo and guitar play the typical 12-bar Blues/Jug band accompaniement.

Lyrics to “Bob Lee Junior Blues”

(with a picture of Will Shade and Jennie Clayton in the 1960′s and The Bob Lee Junior steamboat)

I can’t sleep for dreamin’.
I can’t stay awake for tryin’.
I can’t sleep for dreamin’.
Can’t stay awake for tryin’.
That man I’m lovin’,
He’s trouble all the time.

Wish my man could holler
Like Bob Lee Junior does. Wish my man could holler
Like Bob Lee Junior does.
I would follow my daddy
Most everywhere he goes.

And I asked the conductor,
“Let me ride the blinds.”I asked the conductor,
“Let me ride your blinds.”
He said, “Buy you a ticket, This garbage (?) train ain’t mine.”

Oh, I hate the train 
That take my man away.
I hate the train
That take my man away.
But the same train carry him
Gonna bring him back someday.

The Bob Lee Junior referred in this song is in fact a famous river boat that used to plied the Mississippi river out of Memphis and had a loud and strong whistle.

The band concludes the song by an instrumental rendition of the Blues/Jazz standard “Careless Love”.

The Careless Love Variations

This true classic song of american popular and folk music have uncertain origins. the tune is basically “the sprig of thymes” and some verses are similar to old english folk songs like “died for love”.In the us, it was popularized  in the early 20th century mostly by new orleans jazz bands and blues singers but was also on the repertoire of many folk singers during the folk revival.

Since I couldn’t find any other versions of “Bob Lee Junior Blues” I compiled 20 variations of “Careless Love” for your listening pleasure.

1. Careless Love Sydney Bechet Blues In My Heart
2. Careless Love Dock Boggs His Folkways Years 1963-1968 (Disc 2)
3. Careless Love Lonnie Johnson A Life In Music Selected Sides 1925 – 1953
4. Careless Love Fred Cockerham Recordings From The Collection Of Ray Alden
5. Careless Love J.W Warren The George Mitchell Collection
6. Careless Love Lead Belly Lead Belly’s Last Sessions
7. Careless Love Big Bill Broonzy Recorded In Club Montmartre 1956 
8. Careless Lover Emry Arthur Old-Time Music From Southwest Virginia
9. Careless Love Ernest Stoneman and His Dixie Mountaineers Bluegrass Bonanza (Disc 1) 
10. Loveless Love King Oliver King Oliver’s Dixie Syncoptors
11. Careless Love Riley Puckett Country Music Pioneer
12. New Careless Love Sonny Terry Deep River Of Song – Black Appalachia
13. Careless Lover Snooks Eaglin New Orleans Street Singer
14. Loveless Love Billie Holiday Best Of Billie Holiday
15. Careless Love Lee Wiley Lee Wiley 1931-1940
16. Careless Love Tim Eriksen Every Sound Below
17. Careless Love Blind Boy Fuller Complete Recorded Works
18. Careless Love Joan Baez, Bill Wood Folksingers ’round Harvard Square 
19. Loveless Love Mills Brothers Chronological, Vol.1 (1931-1932)
20. Careless Love Dave Van Ronk The Folkways Years, 1959-1961

Click on Harry!

For more on The memphis Jug Band:

–Wikipedia article, Jugstore biography, The Memphis Jug Band and Cannon’s Jug Stompers Box set (4cd) on Jsp records

-In the 1970′s, Bengt Olsson issued this great book about the Memphis Blues (and Jug bands). It’s now out-of-print but worth looking for a used copy.

Filed under: Bob Lee Junior Blues by The Memphis Jug Band, Songs

Ernest Stoneman’s World

Ernest and Hattie Stoneman: “The Mountaineer’s Courtship” (recorded on May 12, 1927) & “The Spanish Merchant’s Daughter” (recorded on October 31, 1928, with Bolen Frost on banjo and Uncle Eck Dunford on fiddle)

Download: 5-08-mountaineers-courtship.mp3
Download: 1-06-the-spanish-merchants-daughter.mp3

It’s only justice that Harry Smith included two tracks by Ernest Stoneman on his Anthology of American Folk Music as he was certainly an important but somehow forgotten figure of the early days of country and old-timey music on records. He and his vast family recorded in various combinations more than 300 sides between 1925 and 1934, a vast repertory of old and new country songs, topical ballads, sentimental and religious numbers and old-time dance music.

Ernest Stoneman’s first recording was also his first (and only) hit, a version of the topical ballad about the sinking of the Titanic, sung with Autoharp and with a harmonica held on a rack, a novelty accompaniment for the time.

“The Titanic” (January 8, 1925)

Download: 1-05-the-titanic.mp3

In the summer of 1927, “Pop” Stoneman acted as a talent scout and helped Ralph Peer conduct the famous Bristol Sessions, where two of the most famous early country acts, Jimmie Rodgers and The Carter Family, were discovered. There, he recorded with his Dixie Mountaineers mostly religious songs.

“Sweeping Through The Gates” (July 25, 1927)

Download: 1-08-sweeping-through-the-gates.mp3

Originated from a rich musical area of the Appalachian mountains, the Galax area of Virginia and a carpenter by trade, Ernest Stoneman had to move with his large family (he and Hattie had 23 children but only 13 survived to adulthood) to Washington D.C in 1932 after losing his home and most of his possessions. In 1941, Stoneman bought a lot in Carmody Hills, Maryland, where he built a shack for the family and eventually obtained a more or less regular job at the Naval Gun Factory. In 1947, the Stoneman Family won a talent contest at Constitution Hall that gave them six months’ exposure on local television. In 1956, Pop won $10,000 on the NBC-TV quiz show The Big Surprise and sang on the show as well. That same year, the Blue Grass Champs, a group composed largely of his children, were winners on the CBS-TV program Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts, and Mike Seeger recorded Pop and Hattie for Folkways. (from Wikipedia) –Read here for a fuller biography of Ernest Stoneman and his family

In 1934, in the midst of The Depression years and struggling with poverty, Ernest Stoneman recorded again a song he already did in 1928.“All I Got’s Gone” (January 9, 1934, with Ben Stoneman on banjo)

Download: 2-23-all-i-gots-gone.mp3

Filed under: Songs, The Mountaineer’s Courtship by Mr and Mrs Ernest V. Stoneman, The Spanish Merchant’s Daughter by The Stoneman Family

Welcome to RetroRecorings WordPress Site

Part of reson for setting up Retro Recording was to help keep our musical past alive inspired by the US Llibary of Congress National Recording Preservation Board recordings. We decided to create a forum for people to comment on our musical past.

Download: 5-07-i-wish-i-was-a-mole-in-the-ground.mp3

Another classic Anthology song, in probably its best interpretation. Bascom Lamar Lunsford recorded the song many times during his career and it was a widespread tune in the south, sharing its simple melody with many other songs (New River Train, More pretty girls than one, Lay down my old guitar…) It was sung by many during the folk revival and is still popular today. Many sing it with the 5-string banjo played in the clawhammer style (Lunsford picked it in a index -lead picking style) and the pace varies from one version to another.

LYRICS:

I wish I was a mole in the ground.
Yes, I wish I was a mole in the ground.
‘F I’se a mole in the ground, I’d root that mountain down,
And I wish I was a mole in the ground.

Oh, Kimpy wants a nine-dollar shawl.
Yes, Kimpy wants a nine-dollar shawl.
When I come o’er the hill with a forty-dollar bill,
‘Tis, “Baby, where you been so long?”

I been in the Bend so long.
Yes, I been in the Bend so long.
I been in the Bend with the rough and rowdy men.
‘Tis, “Baby, where you been so long?”

I don’t like a railroad man.
No, I don’t like a railroad man.
‘Cause a railroad man, they’ll kill you when he can,
And drink up your blood like wine.

Oh, I wish I was a lizard in the spring.
Yes, I wish I was a lizard in the spring.
‘F I’se a lizard in the spring, I’d hear my darlin’ sing,
An’ I wish I was a lizard in the spring.

Come, Kimpy, let your hair roll down.
Kimpy let your hair roll down.
Let your hair roll down and your bangs curl around.
Oh, Kimpy, let your hair roll down.

I wish I was a mole in the ground.
Yes, I wish I was a mole in the ground.
‘F I’se a mole in the ground, I’d root that mountain down,
An’I wish I was a mole in the ground.

Some of the best reading I’ve found on the Anthology is in Robert Cantwell’s book/essay about the Folk Revival  ”When Were Good ». In his chapter on Harry Smith’s Anthology, here are some pages devoted to Lunsford’s “Mole in the Ground “:

I’ve compiled 22 versions of Mole In The Ground (or Tempie as many called the song ) reflecting my own personal favorites among the many versions you can find out there.

1. Mole In The Ground Dirk Powell & Tim O’Brien Songs From The Mountain
2. Tempie Tommy Jarrell The Legacy of Tommy Jarrell, Vol. 2: Rainbow Sign
3. Tempie Eddie Bond & Josh Ellis John Brown’s Dream
4. I Wish I Was A Mole In The Ground Green Bailey Kentucky Mountain Music
5. I Wish I Was A Mole In The Ground Bascom Lamar Lunsford Anthology Of American Folk Music 
6. I Wish I Were a Mole in the Ground Charlie Parr 1922
7. I Wish I Was A Mole In The Ground Eden & John’s East River String Band Drunken Barrel House Blues
8. I Wish I Was A Mole In The Ground Frank Fairfield I’ve Always Been A Rambler
9. Mole in the Ground Holy Modal Rounders Holy Modal Rounders
10. Kimbie Jackson C. Frank Jackson C. Frank 
11. Tempie Rafe Stefanini Ladies Fancy 
12. Mole In The Ground Karen Dalton 1966 
13. Tempie Pine Tree String Band Bluegrass Favorites
14. Mole In The Ground Doc Watson Songs for Little Pickers
15. Tempie roll down your bangs Tommy Jarrell Come And Go With Me
16. Songs Mole in the Ground Dave Fredrickson Songs of the West
17. I wish I was a mole in the ground The Chancey Brothers Black & White, Recorded in the field by Art Rosenbaum
18. Sally Let Your Bangs Hang Down Roan Mountain Hilltoppers The Roan Mountain Hilltoppers in Concert
19. Mole in the Ground Dan Zanes and Friends Rocket Ship Beach 
20. Kimbie Marianne Faithfull Easy Come, Easy Go
21. Mole In the Ground Elizabeth LaPrelle Lizard In the Spring
22. Mole In the Ground/Old Dan Tucker Larry Hanks Tying a Knot In the Devil’s Tail
23. Mole in the Ground Pete Seeger Birds, Beasts, Bugs and Fishes Little and Big

Filed under: Songs

Dock Boggs World

Dock Boggs (vocal & 5-String banjo) with Hub Mahaffey on guitar

“Sugar Baby ” & “Down South Blues”

Download: 5-06-sugar-baby.mp3
Download: 02-down-south-blues.mp3

Recorded in New York on March 9, 1927 and issued on 78rpm record (Brunswick 118)

A few artists from the Anthology were truly rescued from oblivion by the american folk revival of the 1960’s and experienced an unexpected new musical  career as they were entering their last decade. Men like Mississippi John Hurt, Furry Lewis, Clarence Ashley and Dock Boggs, thanks to the Anthology and a new generation of folk music lovers who searched out for them, had a second chance to play their down-home music in front of an appreciating audience (although a quite different one than 40 years before) and record again. In the case of Boggs, his rediscovery was single-handedly orchestrated by Mike Seeger, who found his home in Norton, Virginia, recorded his music on four lps’s for Folkways Records and put him on the stages of various universities and folk festivals.

From all these rediscovered performers, Mississippi John Hurt and Dock Boggs really stand out as the most important folk figures the Anthology helped to revive and the lives of this two men shared in fact, many similarities. They both spent most of their lives close to their home and worked hard jobs (coal mining for Boggs, farming for Hurt)  in a relatively isolated community (Avalon, Mississippi and Norton, Virginia), made a trip to New York City in the 1920’s to record for a commercial recording company before returning to their daily routine. In the case of Boggs, this unique chance to record made him believe he could escape working in the coal mines and he did tried for a few years to make his living as a musician but the Depression and family life stopped him to achieve this. Both men were contacted by W. E Meyers, a store-owner and aspiring songwriter from Richlands, Virginia to record for his Lonesome Ace record label in the 1930’s. Meyers would provide the lyrics and asked the musicians to put them into music. They were also very influenced by the « other » ethnic group music around them, old-time country music for Hurt and african-american Blues for Boggs. They both had two of their songs chosen by Harry Smith for his Anthology of AMerican Folk Music and enjoyed a second career in the 1960’s, both on records and on many folk festivals.

One of the lp Mike produced when he discovered Boggs in 1963 was “Excerpts  from interviews with Dock Boggs“. Let’s take a listen to this record, but be aware that the recording quality of these interviews are not great, especially on side one. Nevertheless it constitute a unique document and a great chance to hear a folk musician tell about his life and musical influences in his own words

Side 1:

Download: dock-boggs-interviews-1.mp3

Side 2:

Download: dock-boggs-interviews-2.mp3

Click here to read the transcriptions of the interviews in pdf format

Now let’s listen to a few songs (some of my favorites) he recorded for Mike Seeger in the 1960’s:

1. Wild Bill Jones
2. Oh Death
3. Bright Sunny South
4. Mistreated Mama Blues
5. Cuba

Download: 1-06-wild-bill-jones.mp3
Download: 1-09-oh-death.mp3
Download: 1-13-bright-sunny-south.mp3
Download: 1-14-mistreated-mama-blues.mp3
Download: 2-14-cuba.mp3

Dock’s repertoire was a mix of old and new folk ballads and songs typical of the Kentucky/Virginia region with some Blues numbers he adapted to the 5-String banjo, playing the instrument in his own unique way, which combines thumb and finger picking techniques with some strums with the back of the finger. He usually picked the melody while he sings and used some different banjo tunings to fit the modes of the tunes and songs he played. (We will discuss his special D tuning on a future post about his song “Country Blues “). His vocals had a lot of characters also, his raw delivering on the 1920’s recordings would mellow a bit with age but didn’t loose its intensity and honesty.

There are some nice biographies and essays on Dock Boggs that you can read on the web:

–Christopher Milne biography

–Barry O’Connell’s essay on the Smithsonian/Folkways website

I especially recommend reading O’Connell’s long in-depth writing as it reveals a lot of the context and complexity of Dock’s life.

Dock Boggs ’s recordings are available on two must-have compilations:

–“Country Blues” Complete Early Recordings (Revenant)

Wonderful artwork and package from the John Fahey label, it includes all of Dock Boggs early recordings, including alternate takes.

–“His Folkways Years “(Smithsonian/Folkways)

A 2-cd compilation of the 3 lps produced by Mike Seeger in the 1960’s

There are also two cds on the Field Recorder’s Collective label: A 1966 concert and some home recordings made by banjo player Reed Martin in 1967.

-Here’s a clip featuring Mike Seeger playing Dock’s Mastertone banjo and playing « Davenport ». it includes at the end some footages of Dock playing at his home.

The Sugar Baby/Red Rocking Chair Variations

“Sugar Babe” belongs to a family of “rounder” songs, cultivated especially by young men, carefree and assertive in spirit, often risqué and in the Appalachian South associated in the early part of the last century with the five-string banjo. Afro-american influences show up frequently in the “rounder” songs and it is possible that “Sugar Babe” itslef has afro-american connections

Liner  notes from  ”The Hammons Family » lp (Rounder/Library of Congress)

Sugar Baby or Red Rocking Chair is a widespread folk song, found in the repertoire of a lot banjo players in the South, and still very popular today with old-time and folk musicians. Its simple modal melody can be played on several open-tunings on the 5-string banjo and harmonized in different ways either using major or minor chords (or a combination of both) on a guitar. Its lyrics are easy to remember and can include as many floating verses as a performer can recall. One of its famous verse “Who’ll rock the cradle when I’m gone” is found in an old Scottish ballad ” The Lass of Roch Royal”.

Oh, I’ve got no sugar baby now.
All I can do for seek peace with you,
And I can’t get along this a-way.
Can’t get along this a-way.

All I can do, I’ve said all I can say.
I’ll send it to your mama next payday.
Send you to your mama next payday.

Got no use for the red rockin’ chair,
I’ve got no honey baby now.
Got no sugar baby now.

Who’ll rock the cradle, who’ll sing the song?
Who’ll rock the cradle when I’m gone?
Who’ll rock the cradle when I’m gone?

I’ll rock the cradle, I’ll sing the song.
I’ll rock the cradle when you gone.
I’ll rock the cradle when you gone.

It’s all I can do, said all I can say.
I will send you to your mama next payday.

Laid her in the shade, give her every dime I made.
What more could a poor boy do?
What more could a poor boy do?

Oh, I’ve got no honey baby now.
Got no sugar baby now.

Said all I can say, I’ve done all I can do,
And I can’t make a living with you.
Can’t make a living with you.

Here are 27 versions of the song that I’ve compiled for you, and you’ll hear a lot of different banjo variations, some Bluegrass numbers and some very nice and unique ways of singing and playing this quintessential american folk song. Enjoy!

1. Sugar Baby Dock Boggs Close to Home (Old Time Music from Mike Seeger’s Collection 1952-1967)
2. Red Rocking Chair Big Medicine Pine to Pine
3. Red Rocking Chair The Country Gentlemen Country Gentlemen Sing and Play Folk Songs and Bluegrass
4. Got No Sugar Baby Now Frank Proffitt Essential Folk Masters
5. Sugar Babe Jo-Ann Kelly Do It And More
6. Sugar Baby Morgan Sexton Shady Grove
7. Sugar Baby New Lost City Ramblers There Ain’t No Way Out
8. Red Rocking Chair Dan Gellert  Forked Deer
9. Red Rocking Chair Dana Robinson Native Soil
10. Sugar Babe (version 1) Burl Hammons  The Hammons Family
11. Sugar Babe (version 2) Burl Hammons  The Hammons Family
12. Sugar Babe Paul Brown Red Clay Country
13. Sugar Babe Norman Edmonds Norman Edmonds & The Old Timers, Vol.2
14. Sugar Babe Down Trodden String Band Land of the Sky
15. I Ain’t Got No Sugar Baby Now Roscoe Holcomb An Untamed Sense Of Control
16. Sugar Babe John Renbourn Another Monday
17. Sugar Babe Scott Ainslie Banjo Gathering
18. Red Rocking Chair Uncle Sinner Ballads and Mental Breakdowns
19. Red Rocking Chair Bob Webb Full Circle: The Solo Banjo Sessions
20. Red Rocking Chair Jody Stecher & Kate Brislin A Song That Will Linger
21. Red Rocking Chair Doc & Merle Watson Red Rocking Chair
22. Red Apple Juice Dick Rosmini Feuding Banjos – Bluegrass Banjo Of The Southern Mountains
23. Got No Honey Babe Now Aunt Jenny Wilson Field Recording
24. Red Rocking Chair Lily May Ledford Gems
25. Red Apple Juice Spider John Koerner Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Been
26. Red Rocking Chair Charlie Monroe & His Kentucky Pardners Recordings
27. Honey Babe Blues Clarence Ashley  Original Folkways Recordings 

Filed under: Songs, Sugar Baby by Dock Boggs