peoples, that's everybody what I mean retaining the motif of sinner's confession with The Good lord Sets You Free" in American _ they all of 'em got music. his own funeral prescription - include ''The Ballads and Folk Songs. Bad Girl's lament", "One Morning In May," The first publication as a recitatiVe was You see the fact of it is when they go to "Wrap In My Tarpaulin Jacket," and "St. "Jest Talking" in Richardson's American express what they be feeling or what James Infirmary." Many of these retain the Mountain Songs (reprinted in Spaeth's Weep they be thinking, they liable to produce anachronistic description of a military funeral. Some More, My lady.) W. J. Jackson of Dibo!J, Three Versions were published in Cowboy Texas, a former cornetist with minstrel shows music out of it. Compiled by MACK McCQRM1CK Songs, irocluding one from James (Ironhead) recalls hearing these same verses in a number And that's what it is here. It's all different Baker which combines elements of several called the "Jailhouse Song", a comic mono­ .. A panorama of the traditions kinds of the music put down on record of the American variants. A version of "Streets logue used by Black Patties Mi nstrels after of Laredo" or "The Cowboy's lament" is in­ the first World War. found in Houston - the city and so's you can hear and know 'bout the cluded in almost every general anthology with Probably the earliest recording of "Talking things going on. You listen and you know, an extensive comparative study in Belden's Blues" was made in 1928 by Chris Bouchillon its neighboring bayous, beaches, It's sounding out to give you an under­ Ballads and Songs. "The Talking Comedian Of The South". A standing. - LICHTIN' HOPKINS Recordings include Johnny Prude's "Streets South Carolina singer with a dry wit, his ver­ prisons, plantations, plains, and of laredo" issued by the library of Congress, sion of "Talking Blues" on Columbia 15120-0 piney woods. LP #28; Dick Devail's "Tom Sherman's is close to that of the present singer. Barroom", Timely Tunes 1563; Harry Mc· Jimmy Womack learned the piece from a THE STREETS OF LAREOO Clintock's "Cowboy's l ament", Victor 21761 neighbor in Shreveport in the early 1920's. and Buell Kazee's "Toll the Bells", Brunswick BALLADS • BLUES • MONOLOGUES • 351. HARRY STEPHENS THE JEALOUS LOVER COWBOY SONGS. WASHBOARD BAND Harry Stephens has been a vital source of TALKING BLUES • PRISON WORK SONGS cowboy lore to two generations of collectors . JlMMY WOMACK The first encounter is documented in a foot­ JIMMY WOMACK A large part of Jimmy Womack's lore comes note by John Lomax, Sr.: "One morning in from his mother who was anxious for him to the spring of 1909, Harry leaned over the Jimmy Womack is a country boy who came make these recordings to give permanency to Notes by MACK McCQRM1CK gate of my home on the campus of the to the big city _ bringing with him an im­ songs handed down in her family. Contrary Copyright, 1960, by Mack McCorm!ck Ag ricultural and Mechanical College of Texas mense stock of traditional lore and an ir­ to the notion of "oral tradition", it is the habit Note : International copyright protection has beero and called to me: 'Professor, I've come to secured for the ero tire contents of these record· repressible song-making impulse. Born in of many families to have a song book in which ines. Each selection is lrodividua!1y protected and say good-by. Grass is a·rising and I've got Missouri, raised around Shreveport, Louisiana harod written texts of ballads are kept. Such any adaptioro or arran eemerot blSed on original to move on.' Though afterwards he has often and now a part-time auto mechanic in Hous­ song books are, like the family Bible with its material corotained oro these recordings will con· written to me, I have never seen him since." ton, he represents the full range of the white birth and marriage records, handed down stitute Infrirogemerot. Fortunately, he tUrned up again in 1951 in co untry tradition; from the cloying senti­ from generation to generation. Unfortunately, Houston singing more songs in a voice that mentalism of ''The Letter Edged In Black", to at the time of this recording, the Womack _ wherever you hear it - sounds mingled the pro-lynching ballad "little Mary Phagan", song book had been destroyed in a fire, but COLLECTED BY with the chilly winds of an open prairie. In to the Negro derived "Crawdad Song." Mrs. Womack and her son we re busy writing Harold Belikoff • Ed Badeaux • Pete Seeger the 40 year interim, he'd wrangled cattle on Now if you weron a let to heaven, let me out from memory a new one to be passed • Chester Bower _ John lomax, Jr, _ Mack big ranches thru the west, trail-herded from tell you how to do it. along to "the six Womack children . Texas to Idaho, spent a while doing rope tricks Just grease your feet iro a little muttoro suet, McCormick Oowro, dowro by the weepirog willow, on the vaudeville stage, built up a permanent Just slip rIght over into th e devil's harods, SPONSORED BY Slide rillht oro to the promised land. Where the violets gently bloom, hostility to Indians, and finally settled down There lies my owro dear f lora, Oowro iro tile hero·house, on my knees, Aloroe there in her tomb. The Houston Folklore Group to live in Denison, Texas. I thought I heard an old chlckero sroeeze, The Texas Folklore Society It was only the rooster awey upstairs. But she died not brokenhearted, All of his songs are about the life he's A-helpiro' th e chiekeros a· say,ro· their prayers. Nor a sickroess caused her death, lived - a night herd's stampede in "Little It was all lor the Jealous Lover, A shortage oro the eggs . .. get mOre tomorrow. Who robbed her of her health. VOLUME ONE Joe the Wrangler" or an Apache attack in Now, down iro the woods, just a siltiro' on a log, aroe rlight in last September, Traditional Music and Song "Billy Venero" - and he sings them with a With my linger on the trigger end my Whero the moon was shiroing bright, eye oro the hoe, serose of close, personal identification. As he Up stepped th is Jealous Lover. Side A I pulled the t,llIer and the gun went flip, To her owro little cabin light. puts it, "All these songs is copied from some Arod I I,ebbed that hog with al! my grip. The Streets of Laredo Harry Stephens Said, "Flora, my owro dear Flora, true thirog that'd happen and they'd make up Lo~e chittlins . .. hog..eyes . .. crackliros, too. Come, let us take a walk, Talkinl Blu es p. Jimmy Womack something about it ... " Wel! there airo't rlo rl eed 0 m~ workJro' so h"d, Flora, my own dear Flora, Th e Jealous Lover . Jimmy Womack Ceuse I got a wife in the white folks' yard, Of our weddirog day we'U talk." Yellow Gal . Harald Burton and Group As I rode out in the streets of Laredo, She kills a chickero arod nves me the head, "0 Edward, I'm so weary, As I rode out iro Laredo one day, Arod brirols it home where I'm layiro' iro ~. And I do root care to roam. K.C . Aln't Nothinl But A Ra&: Andrew EvereU I nw a hard sigh!. ·twas a lIarodsome yourol Dreaminll of women ... blondes ... brunettes Edward, I·m so weary, The Waitress and the Sai lor ...... Ed Ba dea ux cowboy, ~rod redheads. And I pray you take me home.'· All wrapped iro white linero 8$ cold as the day. Clffine, Corrina ...... Lilhtin' Hopkins COP,rllht secured In III orllln'l m,terl,1. Now, up stepped this Jealous Lover, 'Twas oroce lro the saddle I used to go dashlrog, Jimmy Womlck , yoc al and lultlr Arod he made one silent move. The Ballad of Davy Crockett Mrs. Melton 'Twas once in the saddle I used to go gay. R ~ ord e red by Mack McConnlek. April 1959, Houston Said, "No mortal hand shall save you, The Miller Bo y John Anderson First to the dram-house arod thero to the For you have met your doom." card·house, These stanzas go back to early plantation Cry;n ' Wan't Make Me Stay R. C. Forest and Got shot in the breast and I'm dyirog today. Oowro, down she kroelt her before him, songs of the Negro designed to tickle the Arod she humbly bened for her life, GOlY Kilpatrick o beat the drum lowly arod play the fife slowly, But into her sroow white bosom, Baby, Plea se Don't Go Dudley Alexander and Arod play the dead march as you carry me along, white masters. The talking form is an out­ He pluroged the daner kroife. Take me to the gree n valley and roll sod o'er me, growth of the "coon" songs popular in the last Washboard Band For I'm a wild cowboy arod I kroow I've doroe wronl_ "0 Edward, I'll forgive you, Copyrieht secured In all orlglnJI material. century on the minstrel stage where both As I draw my last breath, Side B o Edward, I'I! for, ive you," Harry Stephens, unaccompJnled v(I(;,I. white and Negro comics propagated the cari­ Arod she closed her eyes iro death. YDU Gonna ' Look Like A Monkey ...... Dennis Gainus Recorded by Ed Badeaux ,nd Harold BeU koff, Houston, 1951. cature of the shiftless, laughable Negro. At the But he sighed not as he press.ed her Bad Lee Brawn .... Jim Wilkie Tracing the song (and also explaining same time, the form and verses were associ­ To his yourog but cruel heart, Sand Mountain Blues ...... Ptte Rose where he went after leaving A&M Co llege), And he cried root ~s he kissed her, ated with religious songs such as "When The For he knew that they must pert. Soldier, Will You Marry Me7 Lirina Bell e HaW Harry commented: "J've heard that especially Good lord Sets You Free" and with the Now this youroe man's name was Edwerd, Goad Times Here, Better Down The Road Joel Hopkins on the XIT ranch in west Texas - I worked collegiate nonsense " Polly Wolly Doodle". His name was Edward Blaine, The Grey Goose ...... John Lomlt, Jr. Arod he was hung for the murder' there in the spring of 1909 at Channing - The earliest co llection of a related telct Of his sweetheart Flora Laroe. Hello, Central, Gimme 209 Andrew EVerett Great XIT ranch when it was in full glory, seems to be Fenner's Cabin and Plantation Copyright secured In aU origlnll matarlal. Blues In The Bottom ...... Edwin Plckens six-horse chuck wagons, six-mule salt wagons Songs by Hampton Students published in Jlmmy Womack. VOCJI and lullar. Shak, It, Mister Gator loseph Johnson, " 1877. Since then secular and religious texts, Record ed b, Mack McCormlck, April 1959, Houston R. G. Williams and Group Ultimately, the song goes back to a British and those on the borderline between the two, There is a vast series of American ballads Griuly BUr ... Graver Dickson and Group broadside in which a soldier is dying of have appeared as "Mona, You Shall Be Free" in which a young girl is invited for a stroll to syphi lis contracted from a camp follower: In Spaeth's Read Em And Weep, "Oh, discuss wedding plans and is, instead, brutally Mourner", collected from Miss.issippi Negroes Had she but told me when she disordered me, murdered. The motive, sometimes stated, usu­ The idea of it is that everybody 'round Had she but totd me of it iro time, in 1909, in Perrow's Songs and Rhymes From ally implied is that the girl is pregnant, al­ I mieht have got salts arod pills of white mercury, Th e South, JAFl, Vol. 28; "Oh, Mourner" and though folk prudery sometimes offers jealousy here plays music or makes songs or But now I'm cut down iro the height of my prime. other fragmentary texts in Scarborough's On as the cause. Such a pattern is followed by something. That's white peoples, colored It's native American outcroppings - usually The Trail Of Negro Folk-S ongs; "Poor Mourner" the ballads narrating the murders of Naomi peoples, that's them funny French talking associated with a particular profession and in Niles' Seven Negro Exhaltations; and ''When Wise, Pearl Bryan, Nell Cropsey, Polly WH- Hams, Rose Connoley, Laura Foster ("Tom Doctor" ... "Harold Burton" .. "Preston me two, three miles, but now I got the place She broue:ht him a c~ndle To liiht his wlY to bed Dooley"), Sarah Vai l, Lula Viers, and Grace Fisher" ... "Albert Lee House, bet!er known I ca n't hardly sing, can 't hardly do noth· She brouiht him a pillow Brown, nearly all of which can be traced to as Rough House" . "Itvin Lamb, better ing... " Everett's music is crude, individual­ To rest his weary he_d actual events. Typically, each of these ballads known as Football. istic and his tuning completely his own. It is Then this foolish wlitre ss Aeknowlede:inl no hlrm seems to take shape at the time of a sensa­ LUder: not for the casual listener but only for those Jumped rliht into bed t ional murder by fitting the new names and Aw my yellow who can listen as if with Everett's own ears, Just 10 keep Ihe sailor warm Aw my yecllow, my yellow dates to a pre-existing ballad of the type. As hearing the reflections of a life-t ime of freight Early ne~t morninl Aw my yellow, my yecl!ow Whe n the Hilor hlld arose the ballad spreads and assumes some in­ Group : car loading, lumbering, and track lining. He drew out _ live pound note A purty yellow I_I From the pecket of his clothes dividual character of its own, it becomes part A purty yellOW ill Andrew herett, lultar solo. Recordld by Maek McCOImick, Houston, 1959. Slyini, " Takl this of the cycle and may eventually become the A purty yellow ill My pretty one, Well I died, 10 to _ bout my basis for some new adaption coming hard on John and Alan Lomax have written of such FOf the harm Ihat I have done, Well I died, iO to _ bout my If it be a daulhter, if it be a son". the heels of newspaper headl ines. Yellow lal pieces : "A fiddler will pull his bow in a long, "Now If it be I daulhter, As An American Tragedy is the classic PUrty yellow lal minor moan across his top string and then Aw my yellow, my yellow Just bounce it on your knee, literary work following this motif, so ''The Aw my yellow, my yecllow start jerking it in quick, raspy strokes until If It be a son, Jealous Lover" is the classic murder ballad. A purty yellow ial you can close your eyes and hear a heavy Send the bastard out to sea." "With bell·bottom trOU5eI'5, A purty yellow lal freight train running down a steep grade. A Unlike the others, it is not linked to actual Aw my momm_ kilt my pappa about And eoat of navy blue, events, has no geographic references, and is Aw my momm_ kill my popp __ bout harmonica player will blowout the high, Let him do the nlvy, The wly thlt I did you." but a disl illation of the theme _ a balJad that A purty yecllow lal hollering notes of a fast passenger engine, A purty yecllow II1 "So Illher round my fa ir ones, might describe a murder that happened Well, my yellow, my yellow while the guitar player will make a rhythm And lislen to my plea, yesterday or one that happened a century Well, my yellow, my yellow on his bass strings like a train crossing a Never trust a sailor IlId A purty yellow ill An ineh lbove your knee" . ago. A purty yecllow lal trestle. Together they'll play in the rhythm of "For I did trust a sinlle one, It has been pointed out that the text has I'll die and iO to helven about car wheels clicking over sleepers ; as counter­ And he put out to su. I'll die Ind 10 to huven about rhythm, they'll whip out the rattling bounce Left me si ttin' _11 alone, certain parallels with a 19th century English A purty yellow ial A bastard on my knee." broadside, "The Murder of Betsy Smith", and A purty yellow lal of a caboose as it shakes and jounces along COP1rllhi secured In all orlglnJI materlJI. may have derived from that with an admixture Well, I'm loin' stone cruy about a rough roadbed. Then they'll throw back their fd B.duu" .Geal and banl" , Well, I'm loIn' stone erlzy about Reco lded by Mae k MeCorm ck, June 20, 1959. Hoy ston. of phrases from a sentimental song, "She A purty yellow III heads and holler - Never Blamed Him", which was popular during A purty yellow I_I "Lord, Lord, I hate to hear that lonesome Ed Badeaux learned this song from a Well. my bil·lei, heavy_hip the Civil War. Well, my knock-kneed slue·footed whistle blow." I Houston housewife who fai led to teach him, A version of the ballad collected in New Purty ye llow i_I Pieces of this kind have as many titles as or did not know, a verse which G. Legman Purty yecllow ill there are men to play and sing them. Most Hampsh ire in 1908 (published in JAFL, Vol. Aw my yellow, my yellow has described as "the rare verse of wonder­ 22) is very much like the present text. Numer­ Well, my yellow. my yecllcw often the tiUes will use the word "Casey" or fully graphic detail" which would have ous other versions _ some entitled "Florella" A purty yellow I_I "K.C," and one can seldom be certain which properly come between the fourth and fifth A purty yellow I_I or other such names - are to be found in Well, I'm loin' Slone crny about they mean for being mostly illiterate people verses sung here. Belden's Ballads and Songs, Rand olph's Ozark Yes, I'm loin' s tone erny _bout they use language as sound and flavor free Once an inhabitant of the English music Purty yellow lal FolksoniS, Vol. 11: Owens' Texas Folk Songs; Purly yellow lal of the rigidity of the written word. Some of the hall stage, two world wars have put this Brown's North Carol ina Folklore ; and Hudson's Well, my yellow, my yellow recorded examples - many of them using the ballad into world wide circulation and it is Well, my yellow, my ye llow same basic tune as does Andrew EvereU _ are Folksonis of Mississi ppi, representing those A purty yellow gll published in those books which make some collected in 16 states, Nova Scotia, New­ A purty yellow ial ''K.C. Moan" by the Memphis Jug Band, sincere, though weak attempt to document foundland and canada. Spaeth's Wee p Som e Oh, my yellow, my yecllow Victor 38558: "Casey's Whistle" by Lester the traditions of seamen and soldiers as Niles' Well, my yecllow, my yallow More, My Lady includes ve rs ions entitled A purty yellow ial McFarland, Vocalion 5126; ''K.C. Railroad Songs My Mother Never Tau ght Me, Shay's "Blue Eyed Ellen" and "Come, Emiry". A purty yecllow lal Blues" by Andrew and Jim Baxter, Victor Iron Men and Wooden Ships (which includes Recordings include Vernon Dalhart's "The CoPJ'fl,1It securei! In .11 erl,l,..1 mltui,1. 20962; "Katy Blues" by Blind Norris, Oecca a closely related version of " Home, Dearie, Jealous Lover of Lone Green Valley", Victor H,rold Burton and ,rOll9. unaccomPlnled .. oe.1. 7290: and " K.C. Railroad" by Lon Soleau. The Home"J, and Palmer's G.I. Songs. A corruption Recorded by Cllesle. BOWl!r, lOll" lom,.. Jr. and Pett 19951, as well as five ve rs ions in the Library Seeger, Ramsey St.t. farm, Otn, Teus, Mnch 17, 1951 va rious ra ilroads named in such pieces are popularized by tin pan alley in 1945 ent itled the Missouri-Kansas-Texas known as the " Bell Bottom Trousers" obscured the ballad's of Congress' files. Yellow gal songs go back to slavery times MKT. or the Katy, and the Kansas City Jimmy Womack is under the impression that and early minstrel types: intended cynicism. An analogous ballad, "The the ballad relates to an actual murder which Southern with its "Flying Crow" rou te from Trooper and the Maid" (Child 299), was an Yaller gal look IInd !fine 10 keep you overtime, # occurred during his childhood in Missouri. De bell done runl, overseer hallowing loud _ Port Arthur, Texas to Kansas City known earlier immigrant to America, collected in However, he felt some doubt that he had Oh. run, nigger, run _ simply as the K.C. line. Sharp's English Fol k- Songs from th e So uthern gotten the correct names of those involved. And as Leadbelly's lines on the subject I Folk Sonl U.S.A.. p. 244. Appa lachians. Although "Flora" and "Edward" are the most indicate, they are invariably characterized as commanly heard given names, it is unusual a source of trouble: THE WAITRESS ANO THE SAILOR CORRINE, CORRINA for the song to include last names as does A yllller womlln keeps YOU worried all the time, A yalle r woman makes a moon-eyed man iO blind. Womack's. Writing in the Journal of Am erican EO BAOEAUX lIGHTNIN' HOPKINS Although E. C. Perrow has published YaJler Folklore, D. K. Wilgus comments that "The Ed Badeaux has contributed to the making Gal verses from Mississippi and Dorothy Scar­ Sam Hopkins - the only major record ing belief of Jimmy Womack that the "Jealous of these recordings in more capacit ies than borough has collected a number of them in artist included in this set - is a celebrity who Lover" relates to an actual murder . might any other single person: he collected a num­ Texas, this particular song appears to be strangely re sists being the center of attention. possibly refer to the murder of Mallow Drew, ber of the selections used, financed some of pretty much the property of the Negro con­ There has always been some reluctance to Benlon County, Mississippi, 1930, which gave the raw tape and equipment used, and here victs in the Texas prison farms. James (Iron­ overcome in setting up his most recent re­ rise to an adaptat ion". makes his own personal contribution. head) Baker, an inmate at Central farm pro· cording sessions (those which produced the Ed's first contact with the music of his vided the version pubfished in Am erican "77" and Heritage LP's in England and the YELLOW GAL native region was, ironically, as a radio disc Ballads & Folk Sonls and Huddie (Lead Belly) Tradition LP's in the U.S.). By contrast, he is jockey assigned to the 5 a.m. "Bar Non e Ledbetter's reco rdings of it are in the library usually eager to help others to rec ord, often HAROLO BURTON and GROUP Ranch" over Hous ton's KXYZ. In the ten years of Congress' files and on Folkways LP 242 and lending himself as accompanist and giving since he has utterly rejected radio announcing In 1951, when Pete Seeger as one of the Stinson LP 19. The Lomax book comments, song ideas to other Singers. He has been and pursued his interest in American folklore, successful Singing group, The Weavers, was ''This is one of the few folk songs about re sponsible for his va rious proteges _ l. C. becoming an accomplished guitarist and 5- booked to appear at a Houston hotel ballroom, women on the lips of Negro men that have Williams, Luke Miles, Ruth Ames - making string banjoist, a featured performer at the he wrote John Lomax, Jr. suggesting that he any element of tenderness". their first records. In a sense, he is repaying ask permission for them to visit the nearby Houston Folklore Group's Hootenannies, and his own debt to the va ri ous blues Singers, prison farms with recording equipment. The busied himself singing, writing, photographing, notably Texas Alexander and Blind Lemon governor granted permission and the group, K. C. AIN 'T NOTHING BUT A RAG and recording contemporary folkways. His LP Jefferson, who gave lightnin' what he calls with Chester Bower providing the tape ma­ albums, the documentary se t "Sounds of "I he idea of it". chine and assisting, visited Ramsey and Re­ ANOREW EVEREn Camp" and "Songs of Camp", and his study When lightnin' learned of this recording chine and aSSisting, visited Ramsey and There's a huge knot of muscle beneath the of folk guitar styles "American Guitar" are project, he appointed himself talent scout and Retrieve farms on consecutive Sunday after­ deep-brown skin of Andrew Everett's forearm. released by Folkways reco rd s. over a period of many months, it was not noons. 11 quietly pulses with the rhythm as he picks Once there was a w~itr ess unusual 10 open the door and find someone Unfortunately a great deal more is known and thumbs his warped, paint-scrawled old In the Pr;nee Gecrle Hotel with a guitar or harmonica saying, "lightnin' He r mISter WIIS a line one about the recorders than about the men who Stella guitar, plentiful evidence of his hard­ And her mistre ss was I swell said come here and make some songs". sang. All that's known of them is their own scuffling life in turpentine camps, railroad Aloni elme a sailor lad His attitude is derived from the intense brief giving of names recorded prior to the gangs and sugar refineries. "Sometimes I be Fresh from the sel community song making spirit of lightnin's That was Ihe belinninl song: "John C. Smith, better known as Horse out in the woods singing - you could hear Of all her misery east Texas home where, as he puts it, "They all _ I mean everybody, big and little, black I guess you'd like to know where I'm concernlns, and chord on the mandolin, and then when There are recent recordings of it as "I'm and white and any other color - they all Wllere il WiilS I come from and wllere I sol he was a little older and his fingers longer, he Going Away" by Leroy Dallas, Siltin' In With my learning? make music." The world is m.de of mud and (out of) was expected to play the guitar. My father and 526; and as "Gonna Leave You Baby" by Roy the Mississippi River, older brother played the fiddle. As a conse· Milton. COrrlne, Co"ln8, where you been so lonl? The sun's a ball of fo~fire , you may discover. Co"ine, Cor.ina, where you been so lonlt quence, we played for numerous square Related tunes and texts, however, extend I ain't had no lovln' _ since you been aone. T.ke the 'adies oul at nlsht. They sh,ne so bri&ht. dances." back through the entire history of recorded I love Corrine _ tell the world I do, They shine .1 nlSht when the moon and collected blues: "Catfish" by K. C. Douglas, I love Corrine _ tell the world I do, don't shine. Happy was the miller boy, Lived by Ihe mill, Just. little more Iov;n' - let your love be true. So one day when I was soin' hunlin&. Cook LP 5002; "Mean Ole Frisco" by Big Boy Corrine, COr.in., won't you come on home, I mel Davy Crockell and he'l solns cooninS· The mill turned around by ,Is own free w i ll, Crudup, Bluebird 34·0704, "Sugaree" by Lazy Hind on lhe hooper, tile other on Ihe SIIck_ Co.,ine, Cotrinll, won't you come on home, Says t, "Whe,e's your run!" " HaV1!n 'l &01 none." Slim Jim, Savoy 868; "Down On My Bended I ain't had no IQvin' _ you been lone too Iona. "How you eoin' kill a coon? You haven't L.dies slep forward and sents step back. YUh ... sot a sun?" Hippy was the miller boy, Knee" by King Soloman Hill, Crown 3325. I love Cor.in. - tell Itt. world I do, Says he, " Pompcalf. just follOW .lter Davy, Lived by Ihe mill; Published relatives include "Blind lemon" I lo~ Corfin. - tell the world I do, He'll soon show y01.l how to s,in a coon cr• .tY". The mill lurned around by its own free will, Just. little mort! lovin', baby, let you, love be - I followed on a pil!ce and there sel • squirrel, Hand on Ihe hooper, the other on the sack - in Lomax' Nearo Folk Songs As Sung By Lea d Conine, Cor.inl, what I did 10 you? A~ttin ' on a 10& .nd a-ealin' sheep sorrel. Hold 10 y01.lr partners and turn risht back. Belly; " I'd Ruther Be Dead" in Odum & John­ Cor.ine, Couln., wh. t I did to you? And when he did see, he looked around al me, Happy was Ihe miller boy, son's Negro Work·a·Day Songs; and "I'm Goin' You don't Irn t me like you u$ed to. Says, "All I want is. brlce asin your knee." Lived by Ihe mill: Yes, I love Corrlne .•. There I braced a s reat biS sinne,. The milllurned around by ils own free will, Away, Baby, To Weary You Off My Mind" in And this i$ • Iona SiOf)' about her .•• He srinned si. l imu hlrd enouth to H. nd on the hooper, tile otller on Ihe SlIck - l ongin;'s Folk Songs of Chicago Negroes, She once ,.id she loved me but: get his dinne,. Ladies to tile cenl",r .nd the sentl fly Ihe Irack. JAFL, Vol. 52 (where it is shown to be part of Now she is aone! The squirrel on I log, and he didn't Copyrlllhl secured In .11 o.llIln.1 miterl,L Corrine, Co"ln_, plene come back 1I0me, seem 10 mind hi m, John "nderson, vocil and cullar. the same group as " Hello, Centra l, Give Me Corrine, Corrin', please come back 1I0me, He just kepi a settinS there and he Recorded November, 1959. Collece Sllllon, TeXIS. 209"). An early recording, "Crying Won't Make 11 )'ou come back, babe, I'll never do )'OU wrons, never lOOked behind him, "The Miller Boy" _ widely known square Corrine, Cor,inl _ Yea, Lordl And Ihen he said, "The crilter must be dead. Him Stay", by Grant and Wilson, Paramount I see Ihe bark a·flyln' aU around the criller's dance call - has been included in Rand olph's 12272, may be an antecedant. Copyrlllhl secured In I II orl,lnll mlle,I.I, he.d." S.m lI,hlnln' lIopklns vocII Ind lull,., Ozark Folksongs. Recorded by Mlck McCo"nlck, July 13, 1959, Houslon, I walks liP fa, the trlllh to discover, Drat! It was a pine knot so blS It m.de me shiver, John Anderson learned it in his community BABY PLEASE DON'T GO This is one of that elite group of songs Says I, "Colonel D,vld i s this whal you where some religious people had prejudices call a-<:oonins7" against dancing but permitted thei r children which is known on all levels of American Say he, "Pompcalf, don't you beSin to IIUSh, DUDLEY ALEXANDER AND WASHBOARD BAND culture, like "Careless l ove" and "The I'll pin back my ears and I'U bile you half in hllfl" to play "swinging games". Since musical in· The average middle class Houstonian I Ihrowed down my s un and all my ammunition, struments were not allowed, the music and seldom talks to his maid or delivery man Crawdad Song" it is sung by both white and Says I, "Colonel David, I can COOl your ambition!" Nego country people, is part of the jazzman's He throwed back his hud and he blowed rhythm for the play·parties was furnished by enough to learn that a huge part of the city's heritage, and a standard among professional like a ste'mer. one or two hand-clapping singers. Anderson population are French·speaking Negroes from Say he, "Pompcalf, I'm a Tennessee sc reamed" recalls having sung at such gatherings of ten entertainers, hillbilly bands, etc, We locked horns, we wallered in Ihe thorns, Louisiana. Coming here steadily since the mid Although it is known to the folk as one of I never had sucll a filhl since Ihe hour I was born. or so couples for several hours on end and 1930s in search of better jobs, these people their favorites, folklorists have yet to "dis­ we fouShl a day and nishl and Ihen asreed recalls this song as a favorite because it was have settled mostly in the northwest quadrant to drop it. cover" it. It is not published in any of the I was pretty badly whipped _ .nd so a "cheating" in which extra boys could of the city which is termed among themselves general anthologies and is not included in was Oavy Crocketl. attempt to get a girl away from her partner. Teche City. Along with other attributes of their I looked around and I found my head ' .missinl, records produced for the folk music public, He'd bit off my head Ind I'd swallowed his'n. rural culture, they've brought a sugar·flavored like several others included in this set - And thl!n we did agree to let elcll olher be; CRYIH' WON 'T MAKE ME STAY approach to the English language and a strong "Baby, Please Don't Go" and "Deep EIIum r was prelty hard for him .nd he was traditional dance music equally influenced by too hard for me. Blues" - it is still the property of the people Afro-American Negro forms and the Arcadian COp)'l"I'hI secured in ~II orl,l.11 .... t .. I.I. R. C. fOREST & CDZY KILPATRICK and not of the scholars, Mrs. Mellon, unaccompl~led vOC.I . country music of the bayou country. Recorded by Ed Badu", and IIlrold Blllkoff, JUI, KOUl ton Like many guitar players, C. Forest's The song is equally well known in different R. They call it Zydeco which is Gumbo French intent is to be the center of attention, to at· verse forms: Reminiscent of the encounter between for snapbean, derived from the French, les tract the suggestive glances of women, to Conine, Cor,inl, wllerl'd you 51.y '.51nisll!? Robin Hood and Little John in English tradi· haricots. They have AI·Jambles nightly along You come In tills mornlns just 1$ It was tion, this ballad occupies an equal position cadge tips to support his wine drinking. such streets as Lyons Avenue, West Dallas, S8111ns l iSlll, Except when he's in the City Hospital recov­ Clothes all rumpled, and you wasn't in American lore, concerning a figure whose and Setlegast Road. AI·Jamble being simply smellins Just risllt, legendary image, much of it helped along by ering from "the fevers and trembles", he the term which describes the occasion of a And: Col. Crockett's own writings, over·shadows his spends his time sleeping till mid·day, uses dance with Zydeco music - typically con· Corrine, Corrlnl, where'd you st.y I. st nlsht? actual deeds as frontiersman, Congres sman, his afternoons sprawled on his porch - just sisting of washboard, played with beer bottle Corrine, Corrin', where'd you stay last nlsh!? off thriving West Dallas Street - engaged in Come in this mornlns, your clothes and defender of the Alamo. openers rasped along it, fiddle, a~d wind· wasn't lilllns yOIl Just risllt. It has been published as "Pompey Smash small talk and romance with passersby, and in jammer (concertina or accordion). Two local The song may have grown up in company and Davy Crockett" in Cox's Folk.Sonas of the the evening prowls the neighborhood bars. groups, those of Clarence Garlow and Clifton with "See See Rider" as is suggested by the South and in Owens' Texas Folk Songs: and as I'm Soin', yeS, I'm goin' . Chenier, have achieved nationwide record singers frequently stitching together verses And your cryin' won't make me slay, "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" in Publications Cause Ihe more you, now, now, now, now, sales with their interpretations of Zydeco which float in and out of both songs. Probably of the Texa s Folklore Society, Vol. VI (reprinted The further I'm go,n' away. music. the earliest recording of the kind is Blind in American Ballads and Songs.) Yeah, my mama she done told me, The three musicians heard here frequently Lemon Jefferson's "Corrina Blues", Paramount And my papa told me too, Pompey Smash or Pompcalf is, like Old "Son, Ihat woman Ihat yoo 801, work together or with others of their kind. All 12367. Other fragments of the verses show Zip Coon, a favorite character in minstrel lore, Ain't no friend to you." came to Houston during World War 11. Dudley up in Bea Booze's "See See Rider Blues", dating from before the Civi l War. Mrs. Melton S~y, "She ain't no friend to you." Alexander, the voca list, was born in 1914 in Decca 8633; l eadbelly's "Black Girl (In The But I'm goin' b.ck home, is uncertain of whe re she learned the song. New Iberia, SI. Martinville Parish, Louisiana; Pines)", and in Brownie McGhee _ Sonny Fall down on my bended kneel. saying in general that she "learned em before Gonnl beS my mama and my paPII, Vincent Frank, born 1919, and Alex Robert, Terry's "Tel l Me Baby", Savoy LP 14016. I was grown, most of them. I Jived in Austin "Forsiv'" me if you ple.se." Jr., born 1916, both at Opelousas, Louisiana. A copyright version - that is, a specific Oh, Lord, a long time and I Jived in Houston." Yes, now Lord. I SIIY Le Zydeco adapt ion or arrangement of public domain C8Use r did wrong once in life, Le Zydeco Ihll means snapbeans in EnSlish material - bears the names So Chatman, an ForSiv'" me i' you please. But In F,ench _ on dit Zydeco THE MILLER BOY 'C.use IlIal means snapbean. early blues singer, and Mitchell Parish, the COPJflllht secured In all on,ln.1 mlterlal. lyricist of "Stardust". R, C. roresl. vocal and lIuiUr; Goty Kllpit,ld, harmonic •. A lIS comme French Town, you see JOHN Q. ANDERSON R~ord ed by Mack McCorm lc k, Mlfcb 1959, HOUlton. HouSlon loul te monde dit Zydeco lightnin' says of it, "That's an old song, John Anderson was born in 1916 in the older me twice. I sang it when I was young In the blues it is rash to speak of a par­ tn Enslish Ihal means only snapbean. and my daddy said he sang it when he was Texas panhandle. His parents had settled ticular song. It is only permissible when ce r· Wh ich 1I a common name Ihey use in Louisiana, there after leaving the Indian Territory - New Iberia, Louis,ana, round St. MsrtinvUie. young. May be older'n him twice!" tain phrases, theme, or a distinctiVe tune as­ Now I'm sonna p"y y'all 8 Zydeco in French. "The Nat ion" - that is now eastern Oklahoma. sociate themselves in a characteristic manner It was an isolated community of which he that con tinues being heard from va rious THE BALLAD Of DAVY CROCKETT says, " People there were ranchers, farmers, "Baby Please Don'l Go" singers. In addition to the presen t record ing, I'm 'I sing you "Baby Please Oon't Go" and cowboys. Social activities included square MRS. MELTON two other artists represented in this set, Now, I'm 'I l ell it to you in EnSlish dances, pie suppers, singing schools ... songs Dennis Gainus and Lightnin' Hopkins, have And Ihen I'm 'a sinc you the word i n FrenclI. But I'm 'a announce Ihe wo,d in, in Enslish Mrs. Melton is just wha t she sounds like - were passed down by word of mouth from the sung "Cryin' Won't Make Me Stay" in a com­ So you can know whal I'm lalkinS about. a little, old lady with a sharp temper and a older to the younger, no one thought of them parable fashion. Others have reported having B.by, please don'l so! as folksongs because no one knew what folk­ Je crols tu v. en ville ready wit to keep young upstarts in their heard the song from singers in Texas and in You sot me wly down here places. When asked to say something by way songs we re." Mississippi. It, therefore, seems to be a song Je erols tu v. en vUle of introduction to her song, she answered, "It was a tradition in my fami ly, in fa ct, branching off from the vast fami ly of leaving. Y bien , moo Ici ''Well, I didn't have anything to say about it that a child by the time he was eight or nine blues and obtaining some consistent in­ Y conn.is PIIS Qlloi lu fais except that I was just going to sing it. .." would be able to sit in with the family group dividuality of its own. Je c rois t u viens avec mol strings. They say he was the first man to be BAO LEE BROWN Negro Folk Songs, Substantial versions were Je c rois tu va la·bas, around playing such a guitar and he taught published as "Little Sadie" in Henry's Son gs We ll, I told t hat girl Sung in the Southern Appalachians; as "Bad She got me way here with a ball and chain it to a whole bunch of others, He come from JlM WILKIE An I don't want her to leave me. Me)(ico and he brought with him this guitar Man Ballad" in American Ba llads an d Folk Jim Wilkie began moving about very swiftly An I don't want her to go back down to and they say he brought the boil weevi l too. and as "Late One Night" in Wheeler's Steam· New Orleans after leaving the University of Texas. For a boatin' Days. He used to ma ke guitars and sell 'em to those ~use it's bad down there, time, he was writing technical manuals fo r Recordings in the Library of Congress files Toi tu vai, moi je vais wanted to learn, He made me my first guitar, RCA's outpost in the Philippine Islands, re' are from North and South Carolina, Florida, It was 12 strings and then later J got this turned briefly to the United States stopping Je suis iC;, et je resterai Arkansas, and - which supplied the Lomax Je vais pas aller la dedans one after I wore ou t the first." off in Houston to appear as best man at a text - Mississippi. Je bois du vin Id The book Th e Negro In Ame rican CultUre friend'S wedding and sing a few songs into a Jim Wilkie learned the song from a Texan is sta ted to be "a unique record of what tape recorder before heading fo r Mexico. He he met while serving in the Army. Pete Rose V,ens pour aller avec moi America has done to the Negroes - and what hesitated in Cuidad Victoria, changed his sings a similar version which he learned in Aller loin d'ici the Negroes have accomplished in and for mind and returned to Texas where for a time, Marathon, Texas. Listen here at me, say Ame rica." It fails rat her pitifully at character' he isolated himself on a ranch near Corpus Baby, please don't go. Christi and began work on a novel. Later word SANO MOUNTAIN BLUES Well that baby better not go izing the Negro people's own view of their Cause I'm gonoa tell it to you in French, from him came indirectly through letters post· part in Ame rica for the book makes no men, Pourquoi tu va d'lcl marked Washington, D. C" North Carolina, and PETE RO SE C'est pour venir avec moi tion of two adulated and heroic figures - other points over the country. Je vois bien ce qui se passe Jack Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson, Pete Rose is a 26 year old geologist for C'est pour risquer avec moi (arly one morning while I'm making my rounds, Shell Oil Company. His family presented him It is not simply a question of Johnson's Toi t'es une petite !ille Took a shot of cocaine and I shot my woman with strikingly handsome features and a strong Tu peU K pas t'en aller seven year reign as heavyweight champion or down. musical heritage, His father still plays jew's C'esl que tol avec mol Went straight home and I went to bed, Jefferson's stature as a blues singer, but St uck anolher forty·four beneath my head, harp and guitar at occasions around east T'as beua rester ici rather the symbol of achievement that each Yeh, he havin' t rouble wj' that girl Got up next morning and t grabbed that gun. Texas and his uncle, Travis Rose, was once But he say t hat girl golla stay around here, represents, These two we re among the first Took a shot of cocaine and away I run, featured as "The Planter's Peanut Boy" over Made a good rUn but I run too slow, T'as beua rester id to obtain the respect of the white world, th eir They overtook me down in Juarez, Mexico, a Shreveport radio station - probably KWKH Tu peuK pas t'en aller. deeds pioneering the idea that a Negro could SiWn' in a hop·joint a·rolling my pill which has since the early 1930s relied Copyr ight secured in all orl,inal material. be as good as anyone else without being the In walked the sheriff from Ihe Jericho hill, heavily on country music talent for its broad­ Dudl ey Alexilnder, vocal and concertlna: Alu Said, "willie Lee your name is not Jack Brown, casts which cover east Texas and the Missis· Robert, Jr" fiddl e: and Vincent F"nk, wnhboard. same as everyone else, Thei r successes were You're the dirty hop that shot your woman down," Recorded by Mad McCormlck, April 1959, Houston, based on two of the proudest attributes of the sippi valley, french transcripl aOd translation by Ai el Korner) "Yes, oh yes, my name is Willie Lee, race, physical power and the creation of You got a warranH Then read it to me, Pete's grandfather, a Scotsman, playecl at dances in west Texas unt il he became too music, and so it is these two figures - not Shot her cold cause she made me sore, This is another song unknown to folklorists, Said I was her daddy but she had five more." deaf, "One night," Pete says, "they say he the statesman or concert artist or poet - with widely known to the folk. It has been sung by When I was arrested I was dressed in black, couldn't get in tune with the others so he got most of the Negro artists represented in this whom the average southern Negro most com­ Put me on ;t train and they sent me back, Had no friend to go my b;til, disgusted, went off and sold his fiddle for a set _ Lightnin' Hopkins, Dennis Gainus, R. C. pletely identifies himself: the childhood idols Slapped my dried up carcass in that county jail. dollar." Forest, Gozy Kilpatrick, Joel Hopkins, and of the past fifty years, Woke uo next morning about a h;tlf·past nine, Pete was born and raised in Austin, Texas, Andrew Everett, and can be assumed to be Jack Johnson came from Ga Jveston and I seen that i ailer coming down the line. later attended the University of Texas there. I stand and called as he cleared his throat. equally familiar to singers in every hamlet Blind lemon Jefferson from Limestone County Said. "Come on you dirty bum down to that While at the University an older student, Don and village through the South. Moreover, its in east Texas, and so it is routine for Texas district court." Winston, tended to revive his interest in his tune is the same as that of the eloquent Negroes of 30 years or more to speak of per­ Down at the court house the trial began, native music and Pete began giving more "Another Man Done Gone" which probably sona! acquaintance or blood relationship with My case was handled by twelve honest men, serious attention to his heritage (although Just as t he jury started out, he'd been playing and singing since his goes back to slavery times. one or the other of these men, One can Saw that little judge commence to look about. fifteenth year), Another big influence was a The towns mentioned however, are usually conclude that most informants are lying or, Five minutes later i n walked the man, group of four brothers who had a string band in a more understanding fashion, one can He held that verdict in his right hand, four: New Orleans, St. Augustine (Texas or Ve rdict read murder in the first degree, at a place called Nightmare Annie's in Mara· Florida?), Parchman Farm, Mississippi, and conclude they are simply making legend, I hollered, "Lordy, Lordy, have mercy on me," thon, Texas. Baltimore _ places which for reason of in­ bringing themselves into the circle of the man Judge read the sentence and he read it with a grin. Standing by t he depot, dividual significance or flavor of the sound "who had a gift." "Ninety·nine years in the San Quentin pen." wailing for a train, are frequently heard mentioned in many blues. Dennis Gainus was born in 1905 and grew Ninety·nine years underneat h thal ground, I'm gonna catch that midnight train, t'lI ne'er forget the day I shot my woman down, Never come back again, The musicians here are uncertain as to up under the spell. He says, "My mother, she A lonesome feeling. , , when they first began playing this al though was first cousin to Jack Johnson - that was Come all ye hops and listen to me. Sand Mountain Blues Leave that whiskey alone, let that cocaine be, I went to the gypsy, they felt it was learned after they moved to the great prizefighting gentleman - and my COl>ydght secured In all orlc;oal material. Just to hear what she would say, Texas. mother, too, she was fi rst cousin to Bl ind J,m W,lkie , _ocal ,!Od guitil" She said thal gal don't love you, Recorded by Mack McCormlc~. May JI. 1958, Hou~lon, You better be on your way, l emon Jefferson - that was a man everybody You're gonna be sorry , loved, he was blind, but he went everywhere, The geography of this song is, in itself, f or breaking my heart YOU GONNA LOOK LIKE A MONKEY My mother, her name was JuJia Ann Smith fascinating, The Jericho Hill(s) is a section in I don't know where I'll go. Any old place will do, before she married, she was first cousin to the Texas panhandle and is mentioned con· I'm leavin' old Sand Mountain, OENNIS GAINUS them both," sistently in versions of the song dating back Just gettin' 'way from you, to 1893, The bad man is sometimes running lI's a lonesome feeling, Dennis Gainus is from Crockett, Texas. To from, sometimes running to Jericho, Some Sand Mountain Blues You gonna look like a monkey when you gel old, I could love another, the west of his home lies the black-soil cotton You gonna look like ~ monkey when you get old, ve rsions of the song mentioning running down I could love one Or two, lands and their huge tenant-system planta­ lieU you something you don't know, the track which suggest the Rock Island Line But when I saw you darling, You gonn .. look like a monkey when you ge t old. that passes through Jericho. Huntsville Peni­ It'd make me sad and blue. tions, and to the east is t he Davy Crockett You're gonna be sorry, I told you. you gonn .. like what -~ tentiary is mentioned in some instances, San National Forrest and the piney woods, saw· I can tell by your feet when you get old, For breaking my heart mills, and turpentine camps, In this region is I can tell by your feet when you get old, Quentin - though a Texas criminal would Raining on Sand Mountain, It's raining kinda slow, concentrated a musical heritage in which I can tell there's something going on wrong. hardly be sentenced to the California State You're been trying to tell me wrong. Prison _ in others. Yet neither prison fits the Whe" I le;tve t his town, "they all had to learn to play some thing. , ." You'll know I didn't wanl to go, You gonna look - a monkey when you get old. subtle descriptive line "Ninety·nine years lI's a lonesome feeling, .. Both early and recent "hillbi lly" artists - You gonna look li ke a monkey when you get old, underneath that ground" which most strongly Sand Mountain Btues Bob Wills, AI Dexter, and Moon Mu llican to You gonna look li ke a monkey when you get old. Standing by the depOt, I can tell something you don't do, suggests the old Federal Penitentiary at Wailing for the train, name only a tew - have come from the You can tell me something you done done, Leavenworth, Kansas which was built over a I'm gonna catch that midnight train, region in a steady stream, owing a great deal But listen here, coal mine where convicts ac tually worked Never come back again, to the Negro tradition in such recordings as You gonna look like a monkey when you get old. underneath ground, Although leasing convict It's a lonesome feeling, You doin' something, you .. in'l gonna do It no Sand Mountain Blues "New Milk Cow Blues", "Fan It", and "Trouble more, labor to mines was common in many locales, Copyright secured I" all or iginal materl.1. In Mind." Leavenworth is the stronger symbol since it Pete Rose. _aeal and guitar, Copyria"t secured In all original material. Reco rd ed by Mlck McCormick, Augu~t 12, 1959, Housaon , Dennis tells of street singers he's seen in oennls Galnos, _aeal aod guitar, was territorial prison in the days of the early the area, as Blind Willie Johnson in Madison· Recorded by Mlck McCOrm!ck, May I, 1959. west and became notorious among Negroes Pete Rose learned this song from a fellow student at the University of Texas who also vi lle, Blind Lemon Jefferson in Palestine, following the Houston riot during the Fi rst This song may derive from a Tin Pan Alley World War when many soldiers of the race indicated that Sand Mountain is in Georgia Texas Alexander in Crockett, and Lightnin' composition popular in 1930 - or that song convicted of armed rebellion were sent to which seems borne out by the fact that two Hopkins, "a young scamp who was all over may derive from a folk song. At any rate, Leavenworth. Atlanta artists, Gid Tanner, and Clayton the place with them older ones," But in the song is now in traditional circulation, Alex The earliest reported text is given in two McMichen, once recorded a dialogue on Oennis' memory there is an even more fas· Robert, one of the Zydeco band members, fragments collected in 1890 and 1893 pub· "Jeremiah Hopkins" store at Sand Mountain, cina ting figure, a Mexican known by the name says he still frequent ly plays it and hears it lished in Thomas' South Texas Negro Work· The motifs of visiting the gypsy - see "Been of Sevi lle: "He was there when I was born from others, Songs in Publications of the Texa s Fo lklore To the Gypsy" in Sca rborough 's On the Trail and he was old then. He came from Mexico Oennis Gainus learned the song in east Soc iety, Vol. 5, (1926). Another fragment ap­ of Negro Folk Songs _ and waiting at the and he brought wi th him a guitar with 12 Texas but can't recall the date. pea red in Scarborough's On the Tria l of station _ see "10,000 Mi les Away From Home" in Sandburg's The American Songbag - occur sounding as if they are being torn away and And he went to the big woods, a period when "the porch climber" worked flung at the listener. Yet his songs are not his Lawd, Lawd, Lawd, for the Lomax family - after his relea se from in dozens of songs. A recording of the song And he took along hiS hound dOl, by The Delmore Brothers is on King 849. composition but a potpurri of verses re­ Lawd, Lawd , Lawd, Central, and before being returned to Ramsey membered from the singing of Blind Lemon And he took along hi s zulu. 1 in 1941 as a habitual criminal. Iron Head, Jefferson, Lonnie Johnson, Texas Alex~nder, Lawd, Lawd, Lawd, a soft voiced singer wi th an immense song SOLOI ER , WILL YOU MARRY ME? Then the hound dog 'gin to whinini, and his older brother John Henry Hopkms. Lawd, Lawd, Lawd, lore that ranged from traditional British lINNA BEllE HAfTI Th is here is a aood-time hymn .. , better down Alona come the arey lOOSe, Ballads to "Ain't It Hard To Be A Ri ght Black the road. Lawd , Lawd , Lawd, Nigger?", said he learned all his songs from Belle Hafti is a young grandmother who It·s a good lime here but it', a better down the Up to the sho"lder, Lawd, LIWd, Lawd, a si ngle, older convict who had spent his delights the neighborhood children in the road, Lord. it's a good time here, bIIby, bul il'S better And he rammed Ihe hemmer way b.ck "natural rife" in the prison, early evening with songs recalled from her down the road, Lawd, Lawd, Lawd , own childhood in Cross City, Florida. It's a I'm aonna leava here walkin' CIUse runnln' most And the hammer _nt ctick-<;tack, HELLO , CENTRAL, GIMME 209 minor tradition for the children on the block, too slow, Lawd. Lawd, Lawd, Runnin' most too ,Iow, And the zu lu went boo-Ioo! the younger of her own three boys and ~er Lord, I'U leave here runnin' walkin' mOSl loo slow. Lawd, Lawd, Lawd, ANOREW EVERETT grandson, to gather around her porch and sing You Clln take it out of my eoffee. out it In my tea, Down he come a falling, Say you IlIke it out 01 my eoffee Ind put it in my Lawd, Lawd, Lawd, Andrew Everett was born at Silas, Alabama along in songs like "The Cuckoo" and "Once Took two days to lind him, There Were Three Fishermen." She married at tea. in the Tombigbee river valley in 1895. He Well, say, It's sweet enoulh 10' me. l , wd, Lewd, lawd, left there in his teens and he's been lea vi ng the age of 17 and shortly thereafte~ ca~e Th en on to the walon, Well, I lIin't lonna roll lor the bli,hat man no places and women ever since. to Houston - in 1936 - and has lIVed In Lawd, Lawd, Lawd, more, And we hauled him to the bia house, "Been married three or four times ... and the city since. Say, I ain't gonna rolllor the bil,hal mln no Wen your wile and my wile more. LIWd, Lawd, Lawd, r ain't got no wife yet, Every time I'd marry - "Soldier !;Oldier, will yOIl marry me, Mmmm-mmmm, for the bla,hal man no mOre. Decide I'd get a wife, I's gellin' a devil. Wllh yo~r mllsket, fife, and drllmr" Gonn e have a feather_piekinl, You never miss your water until your well went dry, Lawd, Lawd, Lawd, Couldn't stay together, .. But I can't get - "Oh no $weel m.ld, I c.nnol mllrry Ihee, Well, I never miss my baby IInlil ,he said loodbye. For 'I no shirllo pili on." Then we put him on 10 parboil, can't do without em right on. I've got to catch ha~e Oh, Lord, Oh, Lord ... Lord, Lordy, Lord, Lord. lawd, Lawd, Lawd, Then liP she wenlto her Irandlather's chesl, em and let em go. I'm old but yet and still And 101 him. stlirl 01 tha very, very best. Says I walk last nliht with my fOllr-forty·live In Took four days to parboil, my hand, Lawd, LIWd, lawd, I ain 't t oo old for to like em ..." 1 And the soldier put It on. I's tryin' to catch my bilby with soma old travelln' Then we put him in 10 bake him, 1 Quettd from [verett's contrlbu lion to a documentary LP "Soldier, soldier, will YOII marry me, man. Lawd, Lawd, Lawd, In pro, re u, Hurls My Ton,ue To Talk. With YOllr mll,kel, life, and drllm?" Cop)'flllht secured In all orlelnll malerl.l. Took eighl days to bake him, ;~~i ~~~!Wne:~:!I~o ~~~~~~,I, m.rry ttlea, Joel Hopklns. _DC,I and ,ult.r. Lawd, Lawd, Lawd, I wi sh I had never knowed your name, Recorded by Mack McCormlck, Jun. 12, 1959, Olcklnson, Then onto the table I wi sh I hed never knowed your name, Then liP she wenl 10 tier ifllndfather's chest Teus. Lawd, lawd, Lawd, I wouldn 't been worried and bothered with you And shalot him a coli 01 the very. very best. The slaves used to sing about "01 Massa" But the fork couldn't stiek him, th is way And the soldier pili it on. L. wd, Lawd, Lawd, Hello, Cen tral, Gimme 209, "Soldier, soldier, will you marry me, but as waves of people settling in Texas - Then we threw him in the hog pen, Hello, Cent,al, Please aimme 209, With YOllr mllsket, life, Ind drllm?" the Old South planters in the river bottoms, lawd, Lawd, Lawd, I jllst wlnna lalk to the one I left behind. "Oh, no, SWeJazz".) 5432, with the indestructible Goose, who, despite all and by Russ Pike issued by the Library of lore, a radical departure from the gathering The number most often called is 209, just of immigrant child baJlads to which his con­ that might be done to him, ends up flying Congress on #8 and LP #2. away with a string of youngsters behind him. as in train·blues it is most often the 219 that temporaries were limiting their efforts. The figures. Cop)'l"lChI _uftll In III ori,lnl! mlltrill. Known throughout the Texa s prison farms, U..., 8,11, H,ftl, lIMI:~ol1lJl&nl'd VDCI!. senior Lomax first amassed an enormous body R.~orded by Ma(k MeCo'miek, A~cusl IU'. Houston. of cowboy lore and then, realizing that slavery ve rsions in the library of Congress files are BLUES IN THE BOnOM time music and folkways were being per­ from lightnin' Washington at Darrington, AAFS GOOD TIMES HERE, BETTER OOWN THE ROAO petuated on southern prison farms, began an 182; Augustus (Track Horse) Haggerty at Huntsville AAFS 223; James (fron Head) EOWIN PICKENS equally extensive series of tours, collecting " Buster" Pickens calls himself one of the 10EL HOPKINS and recording at the southern prisons. Today, Baker at Central State Farm, issued by the Library of Congress on # 15 and LP #3 (and "old original barrel house piano players." In Joel Hopkins has earned two nicknames in the younger of his two sons, Alan Lomax is the early 19305 he worked along the Santa his lifetime: buck dancing in traveling tent the outstanding writer and collector on the transcribed in American Ballads and Folk Songs); and most recently from Grover Dick­ Fe spurs that cut in to the loblolly pine shows he was known as "Squatty" and later American folklore scene, being perhaps the country of east Texas and Louisiana, earning when the Texas Rangers raided a bootleg still only scholar who fully appreciates that the son on Retrieve who interpolated lines from "Grizzly Bear" to conclude his version: $12 a week, room and board at the barrel­ on some property where he was working he boundaries of folklore are only where the folk houses that clustered around those isolated, was dubbed "Extract". indicate them to be. Well, it I m;lhly 10Ulh grey loose Well, I'm loini down (on the) new 1I,0und company-town saw mill camps, "They was He's picked cotton in Arizona - "that cot­ ' NecfO Folk SOnlS as Sunl by Lull aelly, p, 95-97. Gonn a hunt that lrey goose tough places, call 'em barrel houses or some ton got thorns on it!" - and served time on But "Mister John A. Junior" is not of the Says, it ain't no use partner call 'em chockhouses cause they'd have barrel County Farm gangs - "they'd try to bust you To be hunting no lrey goose scholarly breed. Although he has worked with For you can't hold It of something called chock, something like open on that county farm!" - and drunk his his father and brother in co llecting projects, He'll fly across the ocean beer, and you'd dip it right out of the top share of wine - "wine made me do too many and engaged in those of his ow n, John's With a Iona SIring 01 fealhers. of the barrel. It cost 15(: a cup and yo u're not bad things!" - and wound up working on an interest is in the expression itself, a subjec­ Former inmate of the Imperial Farm (now going to drink more that 30(: worth of chock." estate in Dickinson, Texas - "I done got tive view and personal intensity which displays Central), Huddie Ledbetter has re corded "The During those years he knew most of the used to these white peoples down here!" itself not in the tracking down but in his own Grey Goose" on Victor 27267, Disc 726, Folk­ Texas pianists whose records are legend: Born in 1904 at Centerville, Texas, Joel is singing of what he has heard and made his ways LP 241, and for the Library of Congres s Black Boy Shine, Pinetop Burks, Son Becky, a remarkable contrast to his younger brother, own. files, AAFS 155 (all separate recordings), The Andy Boy, Joe Pullum, Rob Cooper, and Lightnin' Hopkins, He is quick in movement last mentioned is transcribed in Lomax' Nelro Moanin' Bernice Edwards. But Pickens never and speech, a manner that suggests energy Well, les mondey morninl, Lawd, Lawd, Lewd, Folk Songs as Sung by Lea d Belly. recorded himself until after the war when he continually in search of an outlet. His style My daddy went a·huntin·, John Lomax first heard the song from Lead played on some jump band sides and ac­ is harsh and rhythm-dominated, the Hnes Lawd, Lawd, Lawd, Belly, but learned it from Iron Head during companied Texas Alexander on the two sides old bosses look you over with their eyes half diverse songs as the co llegiate " Polly Wally Lea~lnat r ack5 In the bottom, like a that famed early blues artist made a few Well, I'm scered oflhal great big years before his death. closed, and snuff dried in the corners of their Doodle" and the Negro "Bottle Up and Go_" Yes, I'm scared oflhal great bill" Pickens was born in Hempstead, Texas in mouths. Hell starts for you if you are a Negro. Others, marked by the convicts' individual He hunlina Irleks i n the bottom like a Nearly all these 'demented' bosses on Ramsey kind of humor, are part of the prison tradition. Well, he's down in the thicket with a 1915 and has worked all his life as piano WilY down in the thicket with a player: for the migratory cotton pickers during Farm are from one community _ Madison­ Some of these appear in the "Godamighty With that Jil;reat bill" ualy the harvest in south Texas, at various "fast ville, Texas. And most of them are kinfolk - Drag" wh ich was collected from Augustus With that lrell big l.fgly houses" around the state ("the bar and piano'd either by marriage or blood. (Track Horse) Haggerty at Huntsville Peniten­ I lIlonn. sel e trllp for the tiary in and included in the Our Sinaina I'm aonnl set my tr~p l or Ihe always be about a block down the road from "Since the farm is only 25 miles from the 1934, I'm ,onna hunt him with a shotJil;l.f n where the girls stayed"), at various cabarets Gulf of Mexico, it never really gets cold for Country. I'm aonna hl.fnt him with a shotgl.fn around Houston, and just before this recording more than three days. The chief crops are With their keen study of animal life, the wen, he's III arellt bia ully corn, sugar cane, and cotton. They grow Negro's songs often make reference to the welt, he's a great bia ugly was made, he completed a couple of weeks Jack O'Oi .monds W:llS III areat big with a traveling medicine show, perhaps the enough corn to feed 400 convicts for four or alligators, always seeming to taste the sweet Jack O'Oilmoods was a great big last of its kind still active in the South. five months, to ship to the main unit in "gator tail" meat. He mede tracks in the bottom like Huntsville and to feed the 400 mules. By the When a aalor hollers He IlIid the tracks in the bottom l ike Slues ;1"1 the bottom, blues In the bottom, lot me Sip of rain, babe. sign of rllin. I'm aOllna hunl that areat big blue IS I e.n be, beginning of October, they are through picking Goon:ll hunt Ihet great bia Slues in the bottom, Just u blue IS I ean be, The first few bars of the tune are similar cotton. Then from November to February, to those of another Texas prison song, "The Ve s. my pap. told my mame boul • My !NIby', left me - my hurt is full of misery. they're cutting cane. to make hundreds of gal­ Ves, My papa lold my mame bol.ft I lost my cotton, los, my corn, lost everyl.hinli Midnight Special." Oh, bout lhe Ire:llt big ugly I had, lons of syrup and thousands of sacks of raw Bol.f! Ihe areat big ugly I lost my cotton, lost my cor". - 'thlnl I had, sugar in the Farm l!1i11s_ GRIZZLY BEAR Got his aun in the bottom after a Boys, you know - blues aot me 'eeUn ' $.1Id. " If you were unfortunate enough to be Got his aun in the boltom IIfter a I'm aonna l ind Ihll great big My baby left me, my ~by lelt me, handling a pair of mutes which got scared GROVER DICKSON and GROUP Gonnll lind thal IIreet bia left me all 'Ione, and bolted and knocked down some cane My baby lelt me, left me .11 lIone, The man who did most of the song leading I'm aonna shoot Ihlt areat big Lord, I love my baby, she aot me all wrona· shoots, you'd be in trouble ... Or if you I'm aonnl Shoot thet grellt big at Retrieve Farm introduced himself starkly: Gonne show ~ou how to skin Ihat I aot the bl ues, I aot Ihe blues, I aot the blues happen to leave some Johnson grass roots in Make e coat 01.111 the areal bia all around my head, "I am Grover Dickson, age 45, I'm serving a hoeing a field. First of all, you are made to Make coat OUtll Ihe great big I aot the blues, blues all around my heed, a term of twenty years, state penitentiary. Won't be no more trouble wilh the· It's hard saylna, the very bll.fes I $lIld. pluck up the grass, blade by blade, with your He sang 14 songs ranging over the best bare hands. Then when you return to "bar­ No m ore trouble in the bottom outa Blues In the bottom, blu.. In the bottom, eau!e known of those perpetuated in the Texas I'm aonna talk aboullhe great bia me to moan all nlaht, racks" after fifteen hours of work, you are prisons - such as "Long John" and "Go Down I'm aonne shOW you about the Blues In the bottom, cause me to moan III nilht, made to stand on a barrel or put "on the Aln't no harm to be no These blues keep on worrylna me, boys, at Hannah" and "Grey Goose" - and included cuffs". Aln't no harm to be no I'll have to take a fllaht. several of his own making like "I Don't Believe That's the end of the lreal bii Copyrl,hl secured In all orl!lnal malerlal. "This means you are placed on a narrow She'd Know Me" and startled everyone with That's Ihe end 01 the areal bil (dwln Plckens ~oc.1 and p .no. bench with your feet straight out and your a reworking of "John Henry" set in prison Thllt Ireat bia arizzly, that greal b'a be .. _ .. Recorded by Mlck McCormlek, .h,usl 17, 1960, Houslon. hands behind you. Handcuffs are then snapped terms: Copyrl.hl seeured In .11 grllln~1 materl~l. This simple, catchy tune is one of the on. Sometimes convicts' wrists swell so much Grlll'er Dlekso" and othrs, vocal. John Henry said to the CaptaIn, R'c()rded by/oh" tom •• , /r_ .nd Pel, Seeier, Mlrch 12, fUndamental blues. To the same melody, the they lose the use of their hands . _ . You have He'd be lookina erol.fnd over the ye.d, 19 51. Texas singer Blind Lemon Jefferson has sung: to get up and get just the same _ or else be "Ain'l I thina up and down this line, Relrleve Sllle hrm, Snil>e. Teus. Blue jumped the rabbit, BIl.fe Jl.fmped the rabbil, I mean, thllt·s l oo hard, bludgeoned to insensibility. They have a grave Oh, Lord, I meen, thai's loo h ..d." The ritual bear hunt is dramatized in man's Chased him for a solid mile, yard all of their own there, and it must be oldest portrait of himself, the paleolithk cave And his contemporary Barbecue Bob from Explaining the song " Here, Rattler, Here" running over with Negro bodies.'" he said, "We made that song up, beca use we paintings such as at Trois Fteres. In other, Atlanta has sung: In these circumstances, song is a way of even older caves, man once lived in some kind So alad I'm brownskln, so IIR I'm brownskin, have a dog man, who, if you escapes, he gets Chocolate to the bone, survival. after us_ The boys make up songs about him of a community re lationship with families of While the Kansas City bartender Joe \. Quoted from IIn Irtlcle by Jack Lee os told t o Our in the woods, working, and all like that. _ . bears and before he began ceremonial burying Turner has shouted: World maauine. of his own dead, he had begun burying the Allhouah Ihe musi<: heard here a"w up under the They run, off, some of em, and they catch Hey Llwdy M.ma, Hey Lawdy M.ma, meat shekina system described, in feimess to t he present prison dead of the bears, their bones carefully ar­ on your bones, em. And the others tell the others how they And a tin pan alley lyricist has set down administration it must be pointed 01.11 that the be caught, trapped_ And they make up songs ranged and betokened in their graves. level of brllt.llty hu Ilsslned In tII. pnt decld. Among the Alabama Indians of the United the words: accordina 10 recently released m en. On the Ol her about em, we does_" In reply to a question Up iumped Al.fnl Halar, up Jumped Al.fnl Haler, hand, p.ison .eform hOS llbolished Ihe humane about the escapee Riley mentioned in the States - whose survivors have been Federally And shouted out with all her miaht. practice of allowing conjugal visits on SundllY song, he said, "Riley, that was one that left deposed to a government reservation a few In Texas, oldsters recall one of the very afternoons (from which Ihe sona "Shorty George" miles north of Houston - a myth has it that derives.) off of Clemens, over there, a long time ago. first songs to be called a blues, one closely He's the one that gave me the information fire once belonged to the bears and on one Joseph Johnson, leader: related to Edwin Pickins' sharecropper's song on how it was. And I tried it but they caught occasion when they were away searching I wes down In the botlom, acorns, man state it and ever since fire has as: Upon a loa, me_" BIl.fes In the bottle, blues In the bottle, stopper t was whoopin' end hollerln', Elsewhere his comments pointed out the belonged to man. in my hind. Almina like a dog_ And runn lna throl.fah all 01 these is the elOquent cry: lengths of songs as they span the 11 hour In the contemporary art of Ingmar Berg­ Hey Everybody, hey E~erybody, now listen to Well, here eome the rider, days in the sunbaked fields: "We knows those man's film Sawdu st And Tinsel (The Naked this sonal Come a-ridina alona, Nilhtl the circus owner's re bellion against Sey, "Vou belter 10 to rolllna, verses. _ we made em up down here .. _ A song like that, I guess, would kee p on going circumstances ends wi th his killing of a bear SHAKE IT, MISTER GATOR If you Wlnt to make It bllck home." R. G. WillilmS, leader ; half an hour." that resembles himself_ JOSEPH JOHNSON, R. G. WILLlAMS AND GROUP Well, my momma and my POPPl', And finally he explained why the work song: In myths and fairy tales the bear is the Told me a dirty lie, " _ sing it out in the fields, working ... traditional totem of the evil mother. Along the last, winding 50 miles of the They gonnll get me III pardon, "Grizzly Bear" seems to contain parallels Abol.ft the fourth of July, cutting wood, or hoeing on the turnrows. Brazos River before it empties into the Gulf June, July IInd Al.faust, Something like that, where I got em all in a to atl these images, and yet on another level, of Mexico, there are seven prison farms - Done come and aone line, where we can all raise our tools at the is poking fun and innuendo at the homosexual Harlem, Central, Blue Ridge, Darrington, Well, they left me roUinlll, same time, let em fall. It's much more ex­ relationships of the convicts themselves_ Ramsey, Retrieve, and Clemens. These are But I lIin't lot lonl. Given this interpretation, it's merely another Why don't you shake il , Miste, Gator7 citing, then, when you can hear the tools gigantic plantations in the soggy, sand and Doa gone your sou l, fall with it.' term for the hairy, old homosexual, (called salt land of the Brazos bottoms, raising sugar Why don't you shake 11, Mister Gatorl • The limitations of equipment d id not permit re­ 'Wolf" by white convicts, "Bear" by Negroes), cane, cotton, a few vegetables and cattle. Till your money holes. cordina the m en al work and conseQl.fently III vilal of the dormitory. Since conjugal visits ha ve Mile after mile the exact, long-stretching rows Well, I went to the river, element is missina a/thouah it is suuested by the been forbidden the prisoners, there has, of And I <:ouldn't aet IICrOS!, easy. fll.fid, lona-precliced Pl'tlern of the sonp. march across the land, presenting a hypnotic Well, I jumped on a a.tor, The enl, available recordinls on which con~icls course, been no sudden celibacy but rather pattern to weekend fishermen who rush down And I thouaht he wos a loa_ at work are heard Is the compillltion from Parch­ a booming homosexuality in the prisons_ highway 288. (chorus) man Farm ; Ne,ro Prisen Sonn from th. Milli'­ But the Grizzly Bear never remains anyone sipp; St:llte Penitenli:llry, Tradition 1020. (Released There are two elements in the scene, the June, July, end Auausl, in Enllllnd under the litle Murd. r • • 'S Home). thing. In the three different versions of the land and tlie sky, both incredibly flat; monot­ Dane come and aone, song collected in 1951, he (or she) is: " .. _ a Well, they left me rolllna, It wu e Ireal bill" ugly ony broken only by an inviting stretch of Bl.ft I ain't aot tona. great big ugly ..." or " . .. he had big blue Grol.fp response : Grinly bear! greenery in the distance that marks the edge I didn't come here 10 hold em, eyes _ .." or "Jack O'Oiamonds was a great It was a great big ugly of the Brazos, and by a plain red brick build­ I come here 10 slIY, big Grizzly Bear" or "The captain is a great I'm loina down in the bottom, hl.fnl • ing, a huge dormitory dwarfed by the surround­ Come to do my time, big Grizzly Bear" or "He laid tracks in the And nol to run IIway. I'm loinl down in Ihe bottom, hl.fnt a ing flatness as if it were a pack of cigarettes 11 was I great big ugly bottom ..." or " He came a-WObbling and a­ tossed out on the floor of an empty warehouse. (chorus) It WIS • Ireat bill" l.flly squabbling _• ." Well, the Captlin and the So!leant, A-then who is thet greal b' l Except for a few incorrigibles kept in the Come a-riding along, Well, il I lell you, don ch. teU "'bout the The song has apparently never been col­ walls at Huntsville Penitentiary, the Negro SIlYS, "VOl.f better go to rollina, Well, if I tell ~Ol.f, donche tell about the lected before the 1951 visits to the prison - convicts are hastily shipped off to Ramsey, If you wanl to mllke it bllck home." Well, if I tell you, doncha teU about the though it was at that time widely known at I uys, the Captain is III great bill" Retrieve, Clemens, or one of the several units COpyrl,ht secured In III o.I,lna' maltrl.!. Oh, Ihe Cllptain i$ a greal bill" both Ramsey and Retrieve - though it seems 10seph 10hns.on, R. C. WillJlm$ Ind Group, un'ccom~nlld at Central. A murderer who served time on I'm goina down in lhe bottom, hunt a to have roots in an earlier work song sung in voca" the 17,000 acre Ramsey farm in 1945-48 has Recorded by Chesler Bower, 1011" tomn, Jr .. ,nd Ptt. I'm aoing down in Ihe bottom, hunt a the prisons: described it: "The moment a convict's off the See,er. Much 17, 1951, Ramsey Sill, rlrm, OIlY, TIIU. He made tracks in the bottom like a He made tracks in Ihe bottom like I Goorle went e-hunlin' 0 MOl.fnl Zlonl transfer truck on Ramsey State Farm, those One of these verses pops up in such widely He laid Irllcks in t he bottom like:ll He kill .n eaale 0 Mounl Zionl