1939 Southern Recording Trip Fieldnotes
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Library of Congress 1939 Southern Recording Trip Fieldnotes SOUTHERN RECORDING TRIP by John A. Lomax and Ruby T. Lomax March 31 - June 14, 1939 AFS 2589 - 2728 Section I: Itinerary and Acknowledgments RECORDING TRIP For the Folk Song Archive of the Library of Congress March 31, 1939 - June 14, 1939John A. Lomax, assisted by Ruby Terrill Lomax (Mrs. John A.) Travel by automobile, 1939 Plymouth, owned by John A. Lomax Equipment- Presto recording machine and playback for AC current. Two sets batteries and converter. Total mileage 6502 miles States-Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, South Carolina-recordings made. Galax, Virginia-stop on Archive business, no recordings. Acknowledgment is made to the following for valuable assistance in locating musicians and arranging appointments: Sister Joan of Arc, Our Lady of the Lake College, San Antonio, Tex. Sister Mary Dolores, 2410 Anne. St., Houston, Texas John B. Jones, 1912 Kipling St, Houston J. L. Goree, 2908 Jackson St, Houston Miss Manuela Longorio(teacher), Brownsville, Texas J. K. Wells, Brownsville, Texas Judge Harbert Davenport, Brownsville, Texas Mrs. Edward Lasater, Falflurrias, Texas Frank Goodwyn. 1939 Southern Recording Trip Fieldnotes http://www.loc.gov/resource/afc1939001.afc1939001_fn0001 Library of Congress Falfurrias and Kingsville, Texas Prof. J. A. Rickard, A & I College, Kingsville, Tex. Mr. and Mrs. Wm. A. Moye, N. 7th st., Kingsville, Texas J. Marvin Hunter, Bandera, Tex. Mrs. Fletcher Layton, Medina, Texas Supt. Ellingson, State Prison, Huntsville, Texas Prof. and Mrs. William Longino, Teachers College, Huntsville, Tex. Captains at Ramsey and Clemens State Farms, and the Goree Farm Gonzalo Lopez, Sugar land, Texas H. R. Weaver, Merryville, La. Supt. Reed, Cummins State Farm, Varner, Ark. and Capts. Allen, Acklin and Martin Capt. Burt Clayton, Camp 9, State Farm, Arkansas City, Ark. Supt. Thames, State Farms, Parchman, Miss. Mrs. Ruby Pickens Tartt, Livingston, Alabama Supt. L. F. Chapman, Raiford, Florida (State Penitentiary) Recording-Lomax (J. A.)- 1839 Acknowledgmens cont'd- - Mrs. Genevieve W. Chandler, Murrells Inlet, South Carolina Ben Robertson, Clemson, S.C. C. F. Adams, Seneca, S.C. Number acetate double-faced records- - (12 in.) (6 in.) Number separate songs or items ITINERARY March 31, 1939 left Port Aransas, Texas April 1-4 Austin, Texas and environs April 4-14 Houston, Texas and environs April 15-17 West Columbia, Clemens Farm and environs April 18-23 Houston, Sugarland, Centra 1 Farm, Darrington Farm April 24-29 Brownsville, Texas and environs April 29-30 Falfurrias, Texas April 30-May 2 Kingsville, Texas May 3-May 7 Bandera and Medina, Texas May 8, 9 Comanche, Texas May 10 Taylor, Tex. May 11-14 Huntsville, Tex. May 15-19 Merryville, Louisiana and vicinity May 20-21 Cummins State Farm, Varner, Ark. May 22 Camp 9, State Farm, near Arkansas City, Ark. May 23-25 Parchman, Miss. State Penitentiary (farms) May 26-30 Livingston, Alabama May 31 En route June 1 Newberry, Florida. June 2-5 Raiford, Florida-State Penitentiary June 6 En route June 6-8 Murrells Inlet, S. C. June 9-12 Clemson, S. C. and Taccoa Falls, Ga. June 12 Enroute June 13 Galax, Va. June 14 Galax to Washington, D. C. Section 2: Port Aransas, Austin and Houston, Texas; March 31-April 14 1939 Southern Recording Trip Fieldnotes http://www.loc.gov/resource/afc1939001.afc1939001_fn0001 Library of Congress RECORDING TRIP March 31- June 14, 1939 John A. Lomax accompanied by Ruby Terrill Lomax (Mrs. John A.) We left Port Aransas, where we had spent the winter months, on March 31. At Aransas Pass, on the mainland, we unboxed and loaded into our Plymouth the fine almost-new recording machine, microphone, stand and converter, leaving the two heavy batteries to be shipped directly to Houston by express. Then we headed for Austin wheere we knew a mechanic who could check the machine to be sure all parts were there and working. On April 4 we arrived at Houston, which we made headquarters for the next two weeks. The engagement that set the date for this trip was a performance of a Sacred Drama, The Good Thief, about which Sister Joan of Arc of the Our Lady of the Lake College had written us. It was to be presented on Easter Sunday, April 9, at Guadalupe Church, Houston, by a group of Mexican Texans led by the Gozalo Lopez Family of Sugarland. With the help of Sister Mary Dolores an appointment to record the choral parts of this drama was arranged for the afternoon of April 9. Unfortunately after two of the choruses had been recorded something went wrong with the machine; there being no electrician at call on Sunday afternoon, the recording had to be postponed and a date was set for a meeting at the Sugarland home of the Lopez family. John B. Jones of 1912 Kipling St., Houston, and of Hollywood, California was a student of John A. Lomax at the Texas Agricultural and Mechanical College. He became interested in folk songs and was very helpful in bringing in folk materials. This interest he has kept. At his home in Houston on April 10 Mr. Lomax recorded old tunes with words, some texts incomplete, of songs that Mr. Jones had learned from various sources. His mother, Mrs. Kate W. Jones, who had come to Texas from Mississippi in 1868, also knew and recorded several fragments, mostly children's songs. See texts on following pages. 1939 Southern Recording Trip Fieldnotes http://www.loc.gov/resource/afc1939001.afc1939001_fn0001 Library of Congress 2589 RECORD- TEMPORARY DISC #1. A 1. Christopher Columbo Sung by John B. Jones, Houston, Texas and Hollywood, Calif. April 10, 1939 in his Houston home, 1912 Kipling St. Comment: "Have known it all my life. Hundreds of verses. Much of it lewd. Will send words". A 2. THE BRITISH KING Sung by John B. Jones (see above) Comment: "Learned tune in army. Words supposed to be Kipling's. Have heard that this song cost him the laureateship. Lewd. Song said to be popular at the University of Va." A 3. HOME BOYS HOME Sung by John B. Jones (see A 1) Comment: "Learned this ong in the army before 1910." A 4. BESSIE MOORE-fragment Sung by John B. Jones (see above). "They'll take me to Texas Where I'll be tried For the murder of poor Bessie Moore. I'll sail the wild seas no more; For they'll take me to Texas Where, etc." B 1. THE ARCHER'S SONG Sung by John B. Jones (see note A1) Comment: "English archers sang it in 14th century; sang it during discharge of seven arrows, the seventh of which was in the air before the first touched the ground." "Oh, we'll all pull together round the grey goose feather, For the land where the grey goose grows." B 2. The U.S. MARINE MARCH Played by Mrs. Kate W. Jones on piano Comment: "Learned it from my mother, who learned it about 1830." Date and place of recording as in A 1. Mrs. Jones is mother of John B. Jones; came with her family from Mississippi in 1868. She was Kate Giallard. B 3. Hunting Horn Calls John B. Jones (see A 1) blows hunting calls for dogs on old heifer's horn, scraped down by a Negro. Horn covered with squirrel skin where horn scraped too thin. Sound will carry two or three miles. Two calls blown: (1) Calling dogs together for hunt; (2) Calling dogs off after prey treed, etc. 1939 Southern Recording Trip Fieldnotes http://www.loc.gov/resource/afc1939001.afc1939001_fn0001 Library of Congress 2590 RECORD-TEMPORARY NO. 2 A 1. Dilly, Dilly (See revised text next page) Sung by Mrs. Kate W. Jones, Houston, Texas, 1912 Kipling St. April 10, 1939 Comment: Mrs. Jones learned this song from her mother, who herself must have known it by 1830. Mrs. Jones came to Texas from Miss. in 1868. First line: "Oh, what have you got for dinner, Mrs. Bond." Oh, what have you got for dinner, Mrs. Bond? I've beef in the larder and ducks in the pond. Call, "Dilly, Dilly, Dilly, Dilly, come and be killed, For you must ne stuffed and my customers filled." Mrs. Bond went down to the pond in a rage, With plenty of onions and plenty of sage; Calling, "Dilly, Dilly, Dilly, Dilly, come and be killed, For you must be stuffed and my customers filled." A 2. THERE WAS A LADY LOVED A SWINE Sung by Mrs. Kate W. Jones (see above, A 1) Comment: Learned from he mother. Three 4 stanzas were was all Mrs. Jones could recall. There was a lady loved a swine. "Honey," said she, "Pig, Hog, wilt thou be mine?" "Hunh!", said he. "I'll build thee a silver sty, Honey," said she; "And in it thou shalt lie." "Hunh!" said he. "I'LL pin it with a silver pin, Honey," said she, "That thou may'st go out and in." "Hunh!" said he. "Wilt thou have me now, Honey?" said she. "Speak or my heart will break." "Hunh!" said he. A 3. MISS LUCY LONG (For revised text, see next page Sung by Mrs. Kate W. Jones (see above A 1) Comment: This song used as lullaby by Mrs. Jones's Mammy in Miss. Miss Lucy she is handsome, Miss Lucy she is tall. The way she danced Paducah, She beat them niggers all. Oh, rock that cradle, Lucy; Oh, rock that cradle long; Oh, rock that cradle, Lucy, and keep that baby warm. Her head is like a cabbage, Her ears like sauer-kraut; Her mouth is like a fire-place, With the ashes taken out.