Ajay Kalra

Fellow:
Ajay Kalra, MBBS, PhD
Instructor, World Music
Department of Folk Studies and Anthropology
Western Kentucky University

Project report
Lomax Kentucky Recordings
Berea College Appalachian Sound Archives Fellowship, Summer 2016

This project has been undertaken to help make preliminary sense of the more than 1300 field recordings
of Kentucky musicians that Alan Lomax made in the late 1930s and that are now, for the first time,
available all together in one place. An initiated and dedicated researcher does not need much assistance
and would likely find some of the same resources that I have. My aim here has been to help the less well
initiated researcher interested in this music navigate the substantive collection to gain a quicker
overview of the music contained herein and of the senses that have been made previously of some
sections of it.

Among the major publications, in print or sound or both, through which some of this music has reached
the world are the following. If you have heard this music or popular contemporary renditions of some of
these songs and instrumentals, you might want to explore these as possible sources through which that
specific music was leaked into the larger universe (a world-famous Aaron Copland piece and some
Grateful Dead songs jump to mind here).

I have addressed the first (OSC) in detail at the outset while references to the others appear under the
annotations to individual recordings.

1. Book: Lomax, John and Alan. Our Singing Country: A Second Volume of American Ballads and
Folk Songs. (New York: MacMillan, 1941)
2. Recordings: AFS or AAFS L1-L63 Long Play (LP) records
3. Recordings: Music of Kentucky: Early American Rural Classics 1927-1937 (2 CDs, Yazoo,
1995)
4. Recordings: Kentucky Mountain Music: Classic Recordings of the 1920s & 1930s (7 CDs,
Yazoo, 2003)

The references to Child, Roud, and Laws numbers for ballads and lyric folk songs refer to:

Child, Francis James. 1898. The English and Scottish Ballads.

Laws, G. Malcolm. 1957. American Balladry from British Broadsides.

Roud. Steve. See below.

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Major online indexes referenced herein and recommended for any scholar undertaking further research:

Waltz, Robert B. and David Engle. The Traditional Ballad Index.

www.csufresno.edu/folkore/BalladSearch.html
http://www.fresnostate.edu/folklore/BalladSearch.HTML

Roud Folksong and Broadside Indexes. Vaughan William Memorial Library.

http://www.vwml.org/search/search-roud-indexes

A more extensive list of folk song and recording resources can be found at:

Keefer, Jane. Folk Music Index. http://www.ibiblio.org/keefer/webbib.htm

OSC (Our Singing Country)

Anyone seeking to dig deeper into the Lomax Kentucky Collection should be familiar with Our Singing
Country (OSC). It was the first significant publication that the Lomaxes released following the 1934
compendium American Ballads and Folk Songs and the subsequent field trips that resulted in most of
these recordings. Within Southern folk music, the regard in which the Lomaxes held Kentucky should
become apparent after considering the prominent place accorded these recordings in this classic book.
Including the widely influential version of Bonapartes Retreat (Bonyparte) by William Stepp, I have
identified twenty-eight recordings from these 1930s field trips that were transcribed and published in
OSC. My own annotations and commentary to these appears below.

In addition, there were at least another fourteen musical pieces published in that volume, variants of
which (in some cases multiple versions) were also recorded in KentuckyI provide commentary on
these next.

Third, across its pages OSC also sprinkled transcriptions of historical contexts offered in the interviews
(which often precede or follow a performance) by the Kentucky musicians in the recordings in this
collection.

List of the recordings from this collection included, transcribed, and annotated in Our Singing
Country (OSC) (Lomax and Lomax, 1941). I supply brief descriptions and analyses here:

Bonyparte (Bonapartes Retreat): William Stepp (2 other versions are also included in this
collection).
o Stepps version and Ruth Seegers transcription from OSC became the basis of
Hoedown in Aaron Coplands ballet Rodeo and later English progressive rock band
Emerson, Lake, and Palmers Rodeo.

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Callahan (The Last of Callahan): Luther Strong (6 other versions of the piece included):
o Very popular fiddle tune. Strongs version also included in Titons Old-Time Kentucky
Fiddle Tunes, albeit with a different annotation than in OSC. Strong (and Lomaxs
annotation) linked the tune to local KY history, while Titon traces it back to the Old
World.
o Pete Steele learnt about Callahan from his father and Lomax queries him about the
particulars of the story, about which he turns out to be not very clear.

Lynchburg Town: James Mullins (2 other versions included: Pete Steele, George Roark)
o Banjo tune, with melody somewhat similar to Bile Them Cabbage Down. The lyrics
revolve around a master and slave; so African American connections of the tune might be
worth exploring. Tunearch.org traces it back at least to minstrelsy in 1848, when Frank
Spencer, a writer for the Christy Minstrels, copyrighted The Original Lynchburg Town.

Jinny Git Around: J.M. Mullins (Song with banjo accompaniment)

o No historical source annotations available.

The Marrowbone Itch: Mike Brock

o Included in OSC under whoppers sub-category of social songs.

Once (Wunst) I Had an Old Gray Mare: Ella Sibert

o Included in OSC under whoppers.
o Other versions available in Berea archives:
Dave Couch, Harlan County, 1952, a capella. Audio.
Phillip Kazee, Magoffin County, Concert at Berea College, 1972. Banjo and
Vocal. Video.

Uncle Hardy Lige Morgans Hog Song (Identified as Hog Rogues on the Harricane in OSC):
Theophilus Hoskins.
o Hoskins description of the context at the end of this recording is transcribed in OSC.

Tom Boleyn (Tom Bolyn, Brian OLynn): Eliza Pace

o Roud #294
o Earliest publishing date, 1849
o Possibly related to Tam Lin (Child 39)
o Both related to fiddle tunes and other lyrics in Ireland.
o Further details: fresnostate.edu

Katy Dorey: Aunt Molly Jackson (AFS 3341 B)

o (Note: LomaxKy also has a second recording by Jackson titled Katy Dorey, AFS
0828B2, although that contains Wild Bill Jones and the first verse of John Henry)
o OSC category: Courting Song
o Roud 674, Laws N24
o Alternate titles: Katy Morey, Kittie Morey, The Shrewd Maiden

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o Possibly related to The Baffled Knight (Child 112)

o A version titled Katie Morey was also recorded by Doc Watson with banjo
accompaniment on the Vanguard label.
o Further details: fresnostate.edu

Johnny McCardner: Hazel Hudson

o OSC category: Courting Song
o Alternate titles/related songs: Hard Times, Last Saturday Night I Entered a House, and
The Widows Old Broom.
o The Journal of American Folklore in 1939 identified this under Kentucky Folksongs
sung in Northern Wisconsin.
o A version exists under the Last Saturday title in the University of Wisconsins
Stratman-Thomas Collection.
o Further details: digicoll.library.wisc.edu

Lolly Too-Dum: Abner Boggs (2 other recordings in this collection: Nell Hampton and Pine
Mountain Settlement School students)
o OSC category: Courting Song
o Further annotations: see under COMIC SONGS

Where Have You Been My Good Old Man: Hazel Hudson (Another version also included in this
collection: Nancy Stacy)
o OSC category: Courting Song
o Alternate titles/related songs: My Good Old Man, The Best Old Feller in the World
o Roud 240
o Earliest publication: 1885
o Popular versions include an a capella one by Peggy and Mike Seeger, recorded just
before Mikes death, and featured on an album of songs (Fly Down Little Bird, 2008)
they had learnt from their mother, Ruth Crawford Seeger. Ruth has been the transcriber
for OSC.

Ive Rambled this Country both Early and Late: J.M. Mullins
o Roud 1795
o Alternate titles/related songs: Last Friday Evening, Pretty Polly (not the famous
murder ballad), Green Grow the Laurels, I Waited My Hours
o Perhaps a native American narrative song with floating lyrics shared with Green grow
the Laurels/Lilacs and other songs of betrayal by a wife.
o Earliest recording: 1904, Belden, Missouri. Related songs also collected by Cecil Sharpe
and in Nova Scotia.
o Lomax KY Collection also has another version by Eliza Pace.
o Lomax KY also has another recording by Ella D. Sibert titled When I first come to this
country, which is a variant of this song.

East Virginia: Walter Williams (An outstanding banjo player! And a classic mountain singer!)
o Other versions included in this collection: Dorothy and Ellen Wilson (2 voices with
guitar accompaniment)

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The Mermaid: Eliza Pace

o Lomax transcribes Aunt Lize Paces description of her encounter with Cecil J. Sharp a
couple decades earlier and also her life on government dole in her later years.

The Lady of Carlisle: Basil May (Key: C major; transcription key: G major)
o Vocal with guitar accompaniment
o Roud 396, Laws O25
o Old English Ballad, not included in Child
o Alternate titles/related songs: The Lions Den, The Fan, The Ladys Fan, The Glove,
Two Brothers in the Army
o Earliest publication: 1807, broadside, National Library of Ireland
o Further information: fresnostate.edu
o Lomax KY also has an a capella version by Clay Walters (Key: C major, sounds slightly
flat on the recording)
o This particular recording was included on AAFS L1 and on Yazoos The Music of
Kentucky, CD 2. Kentucky fiddle music aficionado Guthrie Meades liner notes mention
that according to his wife Ethel May, Basil Mays shyness might have been the reason
that despite his singing talent, he made only one recording for Lomax.

John Riley: Lucy Nicholson Garrison

o A capella
o Roud 267, Laws N37
o Alternate title: George Reilly
o Recorded by: Pete Seeger, Peggy Seeger
o To be distinguished from another, perhaps contemporarily more popular, song of that title
recorded by Joan Baez, which also goes by Pretty Little Maid in the Garden.
o Peggy Seeger learned her version from this very recording. Her recording and liner notes
distinguishing the various (at least three) Riley Ballads can be found at:
https://peggyseeger.bandcamp.com/track/john-riley

Pretty Polly: Aunt Molly Jackson

o OSC provides a transcription of this version and a little spoken snippet from Jacksons
recording.
o The song was very popular in Appalachia and had been recorded commercially by
Kentuckys B.F. Shelton in 1927.
o The Lomax KY collection features additional a capella versions by the following (tonal
center indicated within parentheses as the song often features a modal sound with a
minor seventh and a third that flirts with major and minor intervals):
Hulda Roberts
Eliza Pace
Lilian Napier
Chad Caldwell (E) (four years old child, who had been earlier featured at the
National Folk Song Festival and the Rockefeller Center)
Mrs. M.A. Harris (F) (a fiddler provides the tuning note before the a capella
singing starts)

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Pine Mountain Girls Octet (Eb) (an arranged choral version)

J.M. Mullins recording of the song with the title Pretty Polly is an a capella
rendition of Ive Rambled this Country Both Early and Late, which does allude
to Pretty Polly in the lyric.
o A vocal with banjo version by Pete Steele (A)
o Instrumental renditions on the fiddle by:
Lee Skeens
Luther Strong
Boyd Asher
Theophilus J. Hoskins.

Texas Rangers:
o A song (may be considered a native American ballad) from after the Civil War. The LP
record AFS L28 with liner notes by Duncan Emrich featured a version from 1942 from
Alpine, Texas, collected by John Lomax. Emrich describes it as presumably written
during or immediately after the Civil War by a fifteen-year old soldier in the Arizona
brigade. The liner notes are also available here:
https://www.loc.gov/folklife/LP/CowboySongs_opt.pdf
o Lomax KY Collection features two versions: Aunt Molly Jackson singing a capella and a
vocal trio with guitar featuring Pauline Fannin, Gladys Wilder, and Dawn Leda Lewis.
OSC features the latters transcription (Key: C major, which is also the sounded
key on the recording) with the spelling Pauline Ferris.

Roll On, Babe: J.M. Mullins, vocal with banjo self-accompaniment.

o Key: C major
o OSC muses on the African American work song origins of this song and its relation to
John Henry, some floating verses from which make their way into Mullinss rendition.

As I Went Out for a Ramble

o Hazel Hudson, a capella (Key: B major) (OSC transcription in C major)
o Roud 4163
o It appears to be a rare, almost unique, version as both Waltz and Roud cite Hudsons
recording as the only version. OSC does not provide any additional information either.

Pay Day at Coal Creek: Pete Steele

o Vocals with banjo self-accompaniment.
o The key on the recording is A major, with I, IV, and V chords. The meter is 4/4.
o OSC transcription is in G major in time.
o Recording features Steele talking about the Coal Creek, TN, mining disaster, and part of
his account is transcribed in OSC.

The Coal Miners Child: Aunt Molly Jackson

o Alternate Title: The Orphan Girl, which is the main title used in Lomax KY collection.
o Jackson recounts the real life story that inspired her to write the song, which borrows
from the older song, The Orphan Girl. This account is transcribed in OSC, which used
the title The Coal Miners Child.

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o Key: G major

Pass Around the Bottle: 2 versions

o Roud 7858
o Walter Williams: Vocal with banjo. Key D#. The up-tempo banjo playing displays
exceptional prowess.
Transcribed in OSC in G major/E minor, featuring both the flat and natural
versions of the third and seventh intervals.
This recording was included on Yazoos Kentucky Mountain Music. Lomax wrote
of Williams (included in the liner notes to the Yazoo collection by Charles
Wolfe), Last Saturday Night I found the most delightful old time banjo player I
have yet met. At 71 he thumps away at his instrument and sings about Liza Jane
and all the rest with more than the enthusiasm of youth.
A modal tune, related to the melody of Pretty Polly.
Waltz et al trace this back only to Gid Tanner and the Skillet Lickers 1926
commercial hillbilly recording, which is in G major and set to the major melody
of John Browns Body. Williams version is distinctly modal sounding and
closer to Pretty Pollys melody without clear progression through I, IV, and V
chords as in Tanners and other subsequent versions.
This might be studied as an example of an innovative tradition of adapting and
mixing of tunes, lyrics, and playing styles of different proveniences, with the final
product being viewed as some manner of folk music.
o Jim Garland: Vocal with guitar (link to recording absent).

Three Nights Drunk

o See Our Goodman.

Darling Corey/Cora
o Roud 5723
o Famous Appalachian song first collected and published by Cecil Sharp in 1918 in NC and
first released commercially in 1927 by Kentuckians Buell Kazee and B.F. Shelton, the
latter as part of the famous Bristol Sessions.
o OSC features a transcription ascribed to Aunt Molly Jackson, but the recording featured
on Lomax KY collection under that title is another song, sung in A major. From the
discernible lyrics, I am unable to place that song. Its melody invokes a major key version
of Reubens Train/ Train 45.
o Lomax KY also features 4 other versions:
Maynard Britton (Gb): Vocal with guitar accompaniment.
Clay Begley (Gb): A capella.
Bill Atkins (Db): Vocal with chorus (unidentified singers) and guitar.
Pete Steele (Db): Vocal with banjo.
o A version by Pleaz Mobley of Manchester, KY, recorded at Renfro Valley, KY, appeared
on AAS L14 LP, and the liner notes by Duncan Emrich call it a white blues of the
hills, a genre in which considerable study remains to be done. Mobley clarifies that
the pronunciation is cory and not cora.

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The Vance Song: Branch Higgins.

o A transcription of the historical context appears before the music and lyric transcription.

As I Sat Down to Play Tin Can: Howard Horne

o OSC title uses the spelling set down
o OSC headnotes claim that this song is usually titled the Boston Burglar or Po Boy
o While Hornes song does share at least a floating stanza (about a judge and the
penitentiary) from The Boston Burglar, a quite popular tune since late 19th century,
most of the lyrics are different. Waltz et al include this version under The Coon Can
Game (Roud 3263, Laws I4) and distinguish it from The Boston Burglar (Roud 261,
Laws L16), confirming that some floating lyrics are shared.

List of the pieces included, transcribed, and annotated in Our Singing Country (Lomax and
Lomax, 1941) versions of which Lomax et al also recorded from informants in KY in the 1930s
(and now included in this collection). (The versions in this collection might be compared those
largely contemporaneous versions collected from elsewhere by Lomax et al.)

The Romish Lady (Composer and source: William Walker, The Southern Harmony) (Artist: Mrs.
Minnie Floyd, SC, 1937)
o The two versions in Lomax KY collection are by Boyd Hoskins and Monroe Gevedon.
The piece should perhaps be (cross)-listed under Religious Songs.

Cotton-Eyed Joe (Artist: Margaret Valiant, TN)

o McKinley Asher contributes a banjo instrumental version identified by that title, although
the melody sounds quite different.

Old Shoes and Leggins (Artist: Alex Dunsford, Galax, VA, 1937, and Angie Clark, Mullins, SC)
o The KY collections includes versions by May Feltner, Nancy Boggs, and Aunt Molly
Jackson. OSC transcribes Jacksons discussion of the song from the recording included
here.

Devilish Mary (Artist: Jesse Staffod, Crowley, LA, 1934, and Mrs. S.P. Griffin, Newberry, FL)
o The Lomax KY Collection includes a version by George Roark, accompanying himself
on banjo.
o OSC includes transcription of Aunt Molly Jackson explaining a specific domestic fight
context of the song in coal mining Kentucky (the recorded source of which is not clear,
nor is the exact relation to this lyric).
o A version by Paul Rogers of Paint Lick, KY, recorded in 1946 at Renfro Valley Folk
Festival, appeared on the AFS L14 LP Anglo-American Songs and Ballads. The liner
notes explain the domestic spat context.
o Clearly a very popular song in early hillbilly (Skillet Lickers) and folk and old-time
revival (Burl Ives, Pete Seeger, Odetta, Cisco Houston, Bob Dylan, Highwoods String
Band, Grandpa Jones) circles.

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My Old True Love (Artists: Mrs. Gladys Helen Davis and Mrs. Flossie Ellen Evans, Galax, VA,
1937) and Fare Ye Well, My Darlin (Artist: Mrs. Minne Floyd, Murrells Inlet, SC, 1937)
o The Lomax KY Collection includes a version by J.M. Mullins under the title, Fare You
Well, My Own True Love.
o The lyric here is somewhat related to songs later popularized by Bob Dylan as Farewell
and Tony Rice as Fare Thee Well.

Ive Rambled this Country Both Earlye and Late (Artist: James Mullins, Morgan County, KY,
1939)
o The Lomax KY collection does not seem to include this 1939 recording but features a
1937 a capella recording by Eliza Pace.

Long Lonesome Road (Artist: Fields Ward, Galax, VA, 1937)

o One of the most popular of the old time songs in commercial hillbilly, folk revival, and
bluegrass circles.
o Lomax KY collection features an a capella version by Aunt Molly Jackson

Tee Roo
o A song related to The Farmers Curst Wife (Child 278, Roud 160) sung on Lomax KY
by Aunt Molly. OSC added to the transcription of Tee Roo a transcription of Jackson
describing the context of farmer scaring his wife that is featured at the end of this
particular recording of The Farmers Curst Wife.
o Further notes: fresnostate.edu.

I Came to this Country in 1865

o OSCs transcription takes the first four verses from Jimmy Morris of Hazard, KY,
although the year of the recording is not mentioned.
o Jimmy Morris is included in this collection singing two other songs, but not this.
o OSC locates the origin of this song to the Green Mountains of Vermont and its spread to
Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan, and Eastern Kentucky.
o Lomax KY Collection features two renditions in minor keys (mostly pentatonic): Walt
Gibson (A) and Maynard Britton (B min, with guitar accompaniment)
o OSCs transcription is in D minor.

John Henry (Note: needs to be identified across all versions as blues ballad and African
American ballad, irrespective of whether it is played as a fiddle tune or banjo tune or guitar
instrumental. Originally, it was also not a lyric song, as we have identified on many
versions, but a narrative folk song or ballad. In some versions, however, the linearity of the
narrative might be altered.)
o OSC featured a transcription of Leadbellys talk about John Henry as a double-jointed
man. It next features a distinct Western variant of the African American ballad sung by
Arthur Blunt of Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
o Lomax KY Collection features a slide guitar version (without vocals) by famous banjoist
Pete Steele, recorded in Ohio. The sounding key is F# or Gb, likely in an open chordal
tuning with the melody played on the highest string.

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o J.F. Collett also sings a version accompanied on slide guitar in the key of E, the more
common key for the song.
o Theophilus G. Hoskins plays a fiddle version (Key: F)
o Winnie Pratter offers a banjo instrumental version (Key: E)
o J.M. Mullins sings a version self-accompanied on banjo. (Key: Bb)
o Bill Atkins sings a version self-accompanied on the guitar (Key: Ab)
o George Roark sings a version self-accompanied on the banjo (Key: Ab)
o One version by Aunt Molly Jackson (AFS0828A3), in fact, is a rendition of Rye
Whiskey

The Crawdad Song

o OSC includes this under the subsuming title Sweet Thing, commenting that it had
become popular on the radio over the preceding decade as The Crawdad Song. Lomax
transcribes the lyrics to the latter from a version from Knott County, KY, although that
recording does not appear in Lomax KY collection (at least under that title).
o Lomax KY includes a vocal version with guitar accompaniment by Mary Davis of Clay
County.

Rowan County Crew, The (Rowan County Troubles/Rowan County Feud)

o Roud 465
o A topical song written by James W. Day of Rowan County, KY. Berea Quarterly in 1915
ascribed it to the Blind Day Brothers.
o The song is related to other later songs included in Folk Songs of the South, edited by
John Harrington Cox, including one localized to Lincoln County, WV.
o The piece should be additionally classified as topical song and topical ballad.
o OSC has transcription of a version collected in Grand Saline, TX.
o Lomax KY has these versions. The melody in all seems to cleave closely to that of
Texas Rangers. Cassitys version, however, features a different melody and a distant
key:
James W. Day (aka Jilson Setters) (Key G): Vocal with fiddle.
Nell Hampton (Key: A): a capella.
Clay Walters (Key: Ab): a capella.
Boyd and Mrs. Boyd Hoskins (Key: Gb): a capella.
Findlay Donaldson (Key: G): a capella.
Uncle Rube Cassity (Key: D): a capella.

Harvey Logan:
o (note: This is credited to Walt Gibson on the website. On the copy of the original LOC
card, the same number AFS 1548A2 credits the singer as Jimmie Morris, which seems to
be the accurate ascription.)
o A native American outlaw ballad about a Western outlaw associated with both Jesse
James and Butch Cassidy.
o There are many interesting aspects to the recording, the topic, and its relationship to KY.
o Not enough information about Harvey Logan was available before the recent publication
of a monograph by Mark T. Smokov, He Rode with Butch and Sundance: The Story of
Harvey Kid Curry Logan (University of North Texas Press, 2012).

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o The Lomax recording of Jimmie Morris in Hazard, KY, in Oct 1937 could be the first
recording of this song.
o It was popular during the folk revival and Paul Clayton and a rediscovered Dock Boggs
recorded versions.
o It is worth noting that both the a capella version here (likely Morriss and not Gibsons)
and the instrumentally accompanied folk revival versions feature the I-vi-II-V chord
progressionin this recording the chords are implied by the melody, and it is not very
usual to have such a ragtime-associated progression to feature in folk field recordings.
Its appearance on an a capella vocal evidences the influence of popular music and
African American music on rural Kentucky music.
o Note: this is the chord progression most famously associated in white rural Southern
music with the song Salty Dog (Blues), which also has a ragtime and early jazz
provenance through Papa Charlie Jackson (1924) and Clara Smith (1926).

Po Lazus
o The song transcribed in OSC was sung as a work song, including by (presumably African
American) prison gangs at the Tucker Farm in Little Rock, Arkansas. It is neither the
latterly famous version featured in O Brother! Where Art Thou? nor is it the version of
Dives and Lazarus (Child 56) that appears in the present Lomax Kentucky Collection, as
sung by Aunt Molly Jackson.
o The connections between the three might be further explored.

The Music of Kentucky: Early American Rural Classics 1927-1937 (2CDs, Yazoo, 1995)

Includes (from the Lomax KY Collection):

Volume 1

3. W.M. Stepp: Ways of the World

8. W.M. Stepp: Bonapartes Retreat (Titled Bonyparte in OSC)
13. W.M. Stepp: Callahan
17. W.M. Stepp and Mae Puckett: The Old Hen She Cackled (Titled Cacklin Hen in LKC)
21. W.M. Stepp and Walter Williams: Mud Fence
25. W.M. Stepp: Silver Strand

Volume 2

3. Luther Strong: Glory in the Meeting House

4. Basil May: The Lady of Carlisle
6. Luther Strong: The Hog Eyed Man
11. Luther Strong: The Last of Sizemore
13. Monroe Gevedon: The Romish Lady
14. Luther Strong: The Hog Went through the Fence Yoke and All
17. Luther Strong: Bonapartes Retreat
19. Monroe Gevedon: Two Italians/Red Bird
21. Luther Strong: Hickory Jack

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22. Monroe Gevedon: The Two Soldiers

25. Luther Strong: Nig Inch Along

Kentucky Mountain Music: Classic Recordings of the 1920s and 1930s. Yazoo, 2003.

Includes:

CD 1

4. Shortbuckle Roark & Family: I Truly Understand You Love Another Man (Commercial version
from 1928)
8. Robert L. Day (J.W.s brother): The Rowan County Crew
17. J.W. Day: Grand Hornpipe
18. Walter Williams: East Virginia
20. Pete Steele: Pretty Polly
21. Justus Begley: Run Banjo

CD 2

13. Daw Henson: The Moonshiner

14. J.W. Day: Forked Deer
16. Walter Williams: Mississippi Sawyer
19. Theophilus Hoskins: Ellen Smith
21. Pete Steele: Payday at Coal Creek
22. Justus Begley: Golden Willow Tree

CD 3

1. J.W. Day: Way Up on Clinch Mountain

9. Daw Henson: Lady Margaret and Sweet William
11. Walter Williams: Pass Around the Bottle
13. Pete Steele: Johnny O Johnny
15. Justus Begley: Ive Been All Around this World
17. Clay Walters: Come All You Roving Cowboys
19. Maynard Britton: I Came to this Country
22. Bill Stepp and Walter Williams: Wild Horse
23. Boyd Asher: Old Christmas

CD 4

3. J.W. Day: The Wild Wagoner

10. Justus Begley: The Roving Boy
12. Pete Steele: Lack Fol Diddle I Day (Three Little Devils)
18. Daw Henson: Wallins Creek Girls

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20. Walter Williams: John Hardy

22. Boyd Asher: Hickory Jack
23. J.M. Mullins: Workings Too Hard

CD 5

12. Daw Henson: Swafford Branch Stills

22. Pete Steele: Little Birdie
23. Theophilus Hoskins: Hog Eyed Man
24. Walter Williams: (fragment)

CD 6

16. Pete Steele: Rambling Hobo

18. Bill Bundy: Poison in a Glass of Wine

CD 7

4. George Roark: I Aint a Bit Drunk

7. J.W. Day: Little Boy Working on the Road
18. Shortbuckle Roark: My Mothers Hands

Selected Annotations by Genre

(as identified on Lomax KY website)

BANJO

Mud FenceSee FIDDLE

Wild HorseSee FIDDLE

Unidentified Banjo TuneWilliams, Walter (Bill Stepps playing partner)

Mississippi SawyerWilliams, Walter (Bill Stepps playing partner)

A very up-tempo frailing banjo rendition. The emphasis seems to be on rhythmic drive with the
melody discernible as the one associated with Mississippi Sawyer only upon listening closely
and comparing with other versions.
There are three samples included here. The first runs from 0:00 to 0:10. The second appears to be
the main performance, sounding like Mississippi Sawyer in C major. The third is an addendum
in C major related to the main tune.
The tune is more often performed in D major, which might be the intended performance key.

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Ida RedMullins, J.M.

Banjo and vocals.
Sounds in Bb major.
Overall impressions of J.M Mullinss music (based on the 14 recordings here): Many of the tunes
are in Bb or Eb major. On The Girl I left Behind Me, the open strings are sounded at the end of
the tune and reveal a Bb major open chordal tuning. Others are in D major and G major. Most
tunes are very up-tempo, with driving rhythm, and rousing high-pitched vocals. The melodic
range of the banjo part is narrow, and typically narrower than that of the vocal melody. Mullinss
style focuses more on rhythmic drive than on melodic elaboration. Some of the tunes use familiar
titles but feature simpler melodies unrelated to the more familiar pieces with those titles (such as
The Girl I Left Behind Me). The tunes are also not in the commoner keys for those tunes
(typically D or G major; see below).

Shortenin BreadMullins, J.M.

Banjo and vocals.
Sounds in Bb major.

Lost Indian #2Mullins, J.M.

Banjo instrumental.
Sounds in Bb major.
Limited melodic range; does not move to the 6th note and vi chord as the common melody does.
Commoner key for the piece: D major

Lost Indian #1Mullins, J.M.

Banjo instrumental.
Sounds in Bb major.
Narrow melodic range; does not move to the 6th note and vi chord as the common melody does.
Commoner key for the piece: D major
Recording quality is better than on version #2.

Way Down the MountainMullins, J.M.

Banjo and vocals
Dont you hear my banjo roar, way down the mountain.
Sounds in Bb major
Melodic range of the banjo melody is quite narrow, as in other examples of J.M. Mullinss
playing in this collection.
All of the tunes also sound in Bb major of Eb major, two whole tones lower than the commoner
respective keysD and G majorof these and related tunes

Trouble on my MindMullins, J.M.

Banjo and vocal
Sounds in Eb major

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Up and Down the LaneMullins, J.M.

Alternate title: Little Liza Jane
Banjo and vocal
Sounds in Eb major

Little Bobby (Part 1)Mullins, J.M.

Banjo and vocal
Sounds in Eb major

Backin to my ShackMullins, J.M.

Banjo and vocal
Sounds in Eb major

Jack WilsonMullins, J.M.

Banjo and vocal
Sounds in Eb major

The Girl I Left Behind MeMullins, J.M.

Banjo and vocal

Sounds in Bb major
Definitely different from the famous tune in G major that bears that title.
Tuning: Toward the end, when engaging in conversation, Mullins plays the strings individually.
The pitches sounded are from high to low the major third, octave, fifth, and root note in Bb
major and are likely the pitches of the open strings.

Old Coon DogMullins, J.M.

Banjo and vocal
Sounds in Bb major
Lyrics different from commoner versions of song with that title.

Got a Little Home in GeorgiaMullins, J.M.

Banjo and vocal
Sounds in Bb major
Banjo part sounds quite close to the one on Old Coon Dog.

AlabamMullins, J.M.
Banjo and vocal
Sounds in Eb major

Hounds on My TrackPrater, Winnie

Banjo instrumental.
Key: D major. Largely using the major pentatonic scale.

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John Henry (Part 1)Prater, Winnie

Banjo instrumental
Key: E.
E major pentatonic scale plus slides from flat to natural third. Differs from some African
American guitar versions in using natural sixth rather than flatted seventh in the melody.

John Henry (Part 2)Prater, Winnie

Banjo instrumental
Key: E.
E major pentatonic scale plus slides from flat to natural third. Differs from some African
American guitar versions in using natural sixth rather than flatted seventh in the melody.

CallahanPrater, Winnie
Banjo instrumental
Key: Sounds between G# and A major
Tune bears resemblance to McKinley Ashers recording of the same title in collection, albeit
Praters version proceeds to higher notes.

Tennessee (Parts 1 and 2)Mullins, J.M.

Vocal with banjo accompaniment (sounds to be in a frailing style).
Key: D major.
Refrain: Shoe lady shoe, shoe lady shine. Possibly improvised lyrics with many floating
verses.

Jenny Get Around (Parts 1 and 2)Mullins, J.M.

Vocals with banjo accompaniment.
Key: A major
Jeff Titon includes it in his book and provides transcription of John Salyers fiddle version (from
Lomax and Lomaxs Our Singing Country) in AEae tuning.
He describes it as a vocal number with banjo accompaniment, identifies two versions in the 1915
Berea tune lists, and finds commonalities with Liza Jane and Sugar Hill families of tunes.

Old Joe Clark (Parts 1 and 2)Mullins, J.M.

Vocals with banjo accompaniment.
Key: A. Myxolydian mode.
As with other performances, Mullins banjo interludes are marked by rhythmic emphasis without
complete delineation of the vocal melody.
This very popular piece might be compared with other versions to appreciate the significant
degree to which Mullinss lyrics deviate from other versions.

DinahMullins, J.M.
Vocal with banjo accompaniment
Key: D major.

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Shady Grove"Mullins, J.M.

Vocal with banjo accompaniment
In D major tonality, with only I (D) and V (A) chords implied, the latter by its major third (C#)
in the turnaround phrase.
Incorporates floating verses from songs with similar melodies, "Fly Around my Pretty Little
Miss" and "Pig in a Pen."
Shady Grove is a lyric song that has descended from the English ballad "Matty Groves." It is
among a number of ballads that lost their specific linear narrative over their historical and
geographical oral transmission. Shady Grove, like contemporary versions of Matty Groves,
(popularized for rock audiences by the English folk rock group Fairport Convention) commonly
features a D minor melody, in both a basic pentatonic version and an elaborated heptatonic
version with additional chords. Mullinss version, like Doc Watsons, is in D major. It might be
noted that other Appalachian songs also exist in major and minor versions, such as "House of the
Rising Sun."

Rocky IslandMullins, J.M.

Alternate titles: Up and Down the Lane, (Little) Liza Jane
Similar performance and number also appears under the aforementioned titles in this collection
Key: Sounds between D and Eb major

Fair You Well My Blue Eyed GirlBegley, Justus

Alternate title (already included): Fly Around, My Pretty Little Miss
Vocal with banjo instrumental
Key: D major (sounds slightly flatter)

Hook and LineBegley, Justus

Vocal with banjo
Key: D minor
Tempo: brisk
Banjo line focuses on root, flat 3rd, and 5th degrees, vocal melody descends from root to flat 7th
and 5th degrees.
Other recordings feature brisk tempo music in different major keysfor instance Roscoe
Holcombs recording is in C major (claimed to be in double C tuning).
Three of Begleys recordings were included on the 2CD Yazoo anthology Kentucky Mountain
Music.
Begleys style was mentioned twice in Ralph Rinzlers liner notes to Dock Boggs: Legndary
Singer and Banjo Player (Folkways, 1964). He noted that Begleys technique resembled Pete
Steeles in that while their style was overall like frailing styles, they up-picked melody notes if
they fell on the beat.

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Sally GoodinBegley, Justus

Banjo instrumental
Key: D major
This recording was included on AAFS L9 LP. Benjamin Botkins liner notes placed it alongside
recordings of Old Sally Brown and Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss (both from other
locations) under frolicking songs of the hoedown class.

Betty JaneBegley, Justus

Banjo instrumental
Key: B major

Run, BanjoBegley, Justus

Banjo instrumental
Key: G# major
Recording also included on the Yazoo 2CD compilation Kentucky Mountain Music, Vol. 1 and
on the 7 CD compilation Kentucky Mountain Music: Classic Recordings of the 1920s and 1930s.
Yazoo, 2003.

HornpipeBegley, Justus
Banjo instrumental
Key: C# major
A distinctive tune with a melody that, in the A part, descends diatonically from the fifth degree
on the high strings and guides the chord progression.

Cripple CreekAsher, Mckinley

Roud 3434
Alternate titles/related tunes: Buck Creek Girls
Banjo instrumental
Key: F major
Among the commonest dance tunes in Appalachia, played as a fiddle tune, a banjo tune, or a
string band number, often accompanied by singing and dancing.
First printed in The Journal of American Folklore in 1913 and collected by Cecil J. Sharp in
1917
A version collected in California in 1941 was released on AAFS L20. The liner notes by Duncan
Emrich aver that it is among tunes that have originated in the South and spread throughout the
states.

High Chicken RoostAsher, McKinley

Banjo instrumental
Key: C major

Shortenin BreadAsher, McKinley

Banjo instrumental
Key: C major

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Hook and Line/I Wish to the Lord Id Never Been BornAsher, McKinley
Banjo instrumental(s)
Key: A# major
Compare with other instrumental titled Hook and Line in D minor by Justus Begley in this
collection.

Buck Creek GirlsAsher, McKinley

Banjo instrumental

CallahanAsher, McKinley
Banjo instrumental
Key: G# major
Compare with Winnie Praters recording with same title in this collection.

"Hand Me Down My Old White Hat"Asher, McKinley.

Key: C major.
Banjo instrumental.
Different from the A minor song of same title that Alan Lomax recorded at Newport Folk
Festival 1966 by Kentuckian banjoist/singer Lilly May Ledford. Ledford's song shares the
floating verse "I wish to the lord I'd never been born, or died when I was young" with songs such
as "I Truly Understand" and "All the Good Times are Past and Gone." Ledford's recording is
available here: http://research.culturalequity.org/get-audio-detailed-
recording.do?recordingId=27812.

Cotton-Eyed JoeAsher, McKinley

Banjo Instrumental
Key: D major
Bears little, if any, resemblance to the popular melody associated with this title

Rocky IslandAsher, McKinley

Predominantly banjo instrumental with some humming.
Key: D major

Wagoner (#2)Hoskins, Theophilus

Fiddle tune
Key: A major
Banjo tune designation needs to be deletedthere is no banjo

Cripple CreekHoskins, Theophilus

Banjo with vocals
Key: G# major

Ida RedHoskins, Theophilus

Banjo with vocals
Key: G# major

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Hook and LineHoskins, Theophilus

Banjo with vocals
Key: C# major

Devilish MaryRoark, George Shortbuckle

See under OSC

The Girl I Left Behind MeRoark, George

Key: C# major
Vocal and banjo
The actual song is a mix of Fly Along My Pretty Little Girl/Shady Grove and has nothing in
the lyric or melody suggestive on the famous song The Girl I Left Behind Me

I Love Somebody (fragment)Roark, George

Key: C# major
Vocal and banjo
Melody inspired by Soldiers Joy

Rabbits in the LowlandsRoark, George

Key: C# major
Vocal and banjo
Similar melody to Crawdad Song and number of other songs with similar chord progressions.

Old Coon DogRoark, George

Alternate title: Whoa Mule
Key: C# major
Vocal and banjo

Ida Red (2 parts)Roark, George

Vocal with banjo
Key: G# major
Popular American fiddle tune of uncertain origins, famously rearranged in Western Swing
(1938) and Hillbilly Boogie (1948) styles by Bob Wills, which inspired Chuck Berry
Maybelline.

Hook and LineRoark, George

Vocal with banjo
Key: C# major

Black-Eyed SusieRoark, George

Alternate titles: Pretty Little Black Eyed Susie
Vocal with banjo
Key: C# major (D major seems to be common key)

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Very popular number since 1800s. In some versions, it seems related in melody and lyrical
motifs to Dan Emmetts Old Dan Tucker, a minstrelsy song from 1848.
The Dictionary of African American Slavery (Miller and Smith: 255) mentions this among tunes,
including Old Dan Tucker, which African American slave musicianers used to play.
In recent years, covered by Ralph Stanley, Ricky Skaggs, and the Old Crow Medicine Show.

ReubenRoark, George
Vocal with banjo
Key: D# major
Archie Green edited and furnished liner notes for AFS recording (AFS L61, 1968) Railroad
Songs and Ballads.
Green confirms the relationship, lyrically and melodically, between Reubens Train, Train
45, and Reuben.
A number of commercial recordings in early hillbilly music might have added to the numbers
popularity. These include recordings by Fiddlin John Carson (Im Nine Hundred Miles Away
from Home), Wade Mainer (Old Reuben)
Roark calls the song Crazy (train) while the mentioned AFS collection featured a field
recording from VA titled The Train is Off the Track.

Sourwood MountainSteele, Pete

Banjo instrumental
Key: G#

Old Joe ClarkSteele, Pete

Banjo instrumental
Key: A# (Sounds slightly lower than that; traditional key is Amixolydian mode)

Cripple CreekSteele, Pete

Banjo instrumental
Key: A

CallahanSteele, Pete
Banjo instrumental
Key: A major
See notes under OSC

Spanish FandangoSteele, Pete

Banjo instrumental
Key: D major
Famously, Spanish Fandango is one of the two most famous and long-lived of parlor guitar
tunes from mid-19th century. The other was The Siege of Sebastopol. Both were copyrighted
by Henry Worrall on June 29, 1860. Each is associated on the guitar with a specific open chord
tuning and the corresponding key. In fact, both tunes were common in early 20th century African
American acoustic guitar repertoire and the common open tunings still used in blues and folk
guitar continue to bear these tunes names, or a modification thereof. The Vestapol tuning is an

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open D major tuning and follows from the The Siege of Sebastopol. The Open G major tuning
is called the Spanish tuning and is descended from its use in the sheet music for Spanish
Fandango. Thus, on the guitar it is largely played in G major. It is also commonly in time and
played at a much slower tempo.
Nonetheless, Steeles melody and playing is beautiful.

Train A-Pullin the Crooked HillSteele, Pete

Alternate title: Heavy-loaded Freight Train
Banjo instrumental
Key: A# major
Steele introduces the tune, which goes through tempo changes reflecting the topic/title
The tune was also included n AAFS L21 LP under the title Heavy-loaded Freight Train.

HoedownSteele, Pete
Banjo instrumental
Key: G# major
Discussion at 2:23

Coal Creek MarchSteele, Pete

Banjo instrumental
Key: E major (a little sharper, as heard)
Discussion at 2:55, about the Coal Creek, TN, mine explosion. Lomax enquires about keys
Steele uses. He admits to playing in different keys but does not know the one in which this tune
was pitched.

Payday at Coal CreekSteele, Pete

Vocal with banjo
Key: E major (a little sharper, as heard)
Discussion at 3:10, about the Coal Creek, TN, mine explosion. Lomax enquires about keys
Steele uses. He admits to playing in different keys but does not know the one in which this tune
was pitched.

BAWDY SONGS

"Hard Time Jazzin' Blues"Bundy, Bill.

Key: C major.
Bass-strum guitar style popular in oldtime country music.
Not a blues or a jazz-influenced song. Borrows the melody and some of the lyrics from "Blue
Ridge Mountain Blues."

"Drive it on"Sibert, Roy

A capella song.
Key: D major.

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Melody and functional harmony close to a number of hillbilly 16-bar blues-related songs such as
"Crawdad Song," "New River Train," "Lay Down this Old Guitar," and "Going Down the Road
Feeling Bad."

The Cowboys DaughterSibert, Boyd

Verse: Solo a capella male voice. Chorus: A capella, with a second male voice.
Key: D major.
Melody and the Come a tie Yai Yippee Yay chorus borrowed from the cowboy song The Od
Chisholm Trail

Come On, Come on, My Pretty Little MissSibert, Boyd

Performance notes: Solo a capella male voice. Chorus: A capella, with a second male voice.
Key: D Major
Melody and lyrical lines seem inspired by the more common song Fly around My Pretty Little
Miss. Sung gently, at lower volume, and in a lower octave than is usual for Fly around

Rang Dang DooSibert, Boyd

Performance notes: Solo a capella male voice. Chorus: A capella, with a second male voice.
Key: B Major.
Melody cleaves closely to that of This Old Man (Roud 3556)

Thatll Do NowBegley, Clay

Performance notes: Solo a capella male voice.
Key: C Major
.
"C.C.C. Blues"Begley, Clay
A capella song.
Key: C minor.
Melody and functional harmony closely follows Jimmie Rodgers' "Gambling Bar Room Blues,"
itself influenced by "St. James' Infirmary/Gambler's Blues."

Hinky Dinky Parlez-vouzMcDuff, Sgt. Robert J.

Performance notes: Solo male voice, a capella.
Key: B Major
Melody based on a very popular older tune (could not place it).

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BLUES

"Georgia Blues"Hale, Wade

Key: E major.
Straight-eighths rhythm.
Call and response between voice and guitar. Guitar's responsorial phrases close to African
American styles with blues dyads and triads on the higher strings.
Includes floating verse "The longest train I ever did see" but with a different rejoinder compared
to the one used in the more familiar song "In the Pines/The Longest Train I ever did see."

"K.C. Blues"Hale, Wade

Slide Guitar Blues with Vocal.
Key: E major.
Consistent alternating thumb picking out low E and its octave, both ringing freely. Suggests
Open E major tuning and lap-style playing.
AAB structure, with varying number of measures in each of the three vocal phrases and
instrumental responses.
May be compared with another steel guitar blues in this collection: "T.B. Blues" by Pete Steele,
in F# major

"Married Life Blues"Hunter, Ed and Georgia Turner

Should identify Hunter as harmonica player and Turner as vocalist.
Not a blues in any sense. A number of actual blues were, however, recorded under this title.
Features the popular floating verse "Hand me down my walking shoes."
1950s' recordings of the song include those by Ralph Stanley and Roscoe Holcomb. Intended
key appears to have been G major, but sounds closer to F# major on the recording.
Functional harmony implies tonic G and the dominant D, the latter at the end of first phrase. The
melody closely resembles "Don't You Hear Jerusalem Moan," recorded by a number of artists in
the previous decade, including by Gid Tanner and the Skillet Lickers in 1926.

"If I Die in the State of Arkansas"Garland, Jim

Not a blues in structure
Vocal timbre and style, however, do seem to bear African American influence. Sounds closer to
an unaccompanied field holler.

COMIC SONG

Hobo Mac/Casey JonesJackson, Aunt Molly

Starts with Jackson talking about the person she called Mac who sang the song. Halfway
through, Lomax reminds Jackson of another song that inspired her version and then she attempts
to sing that song (Ballad of Casey Jones).
A capella
Key: G major. Pentatonic scale with descending melody starting on octave G. Melody is
different from common versions of Casey Jones.

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I Married Me a WifeJackson, Aunt Molly

Starts with Jackson reminiscing.
Song starts at 0:40
A capella.
Key: G major. Pentatonic. Melody overlaps with Jacksons Hobo Mac/Casey James in this
collection.

The Farmers Curst Wife (The Devil and the Farmers Wife)Jackson, Aunt Molly
A capella
Key: G# major.
3:00: Lomax asks, Molly, who sung that song, man or woman? Jackson responds.

My Brother JohnJackson, Aunt Molly

Jackson talks for first 0:41
A capella
time
Key: G major.

Charming BillyJackson, Aunt Molly

Key: G major.
Melody and implied chord progression (G, D, and C) similar to Crawdad Song.

Old Shoe Boots and LegginsJackson, Aunt Molly

A capella
Key: D# major
Related songs date back to the 1700s in the Old World, perhaps Scotland, and include Old Man
Came Over the Moor, Old Man Come Over the Sea.
The song An Old Man Came Courtin Me has been described as a related song. Nevertheless,
in most versions, musically and lyrically, it sounds like a part of another group of related texts
and melodies.
For further examples and recordings, see Waltz and Engles Traditional Ballad Index hosted by
csufresno.edu

Our GoodmanFannin, Pauline and Gladys Wilder

Child # 271.
Should be cross-referenced under BALLADS.
Key: C major. Accompanied on strummed guitar. One lead female voice, joined by the second
(although not precisely at the chorus).
The ballad is widespread across Europe, including in Ireland, Germany, and Russia.
Additional alternate titles and related songs: Seven Drunken Nights Three Nights Drunk,
Four Nights Drunk, Five Nights Drunk, Drunken Cowboy, and The Blind Fool.
A transcription appears in Lomaxs Our Singing Country (1941)
Many contemporary popular versions exist, including Dr. Johns Cabbage Head,

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Arkansas TravelerGevedon, Monroe and Bert

Key: C#. Likely intended in D major, the usual key for the piece.
Should be listed as a fiddle tune also, although this version does feature the interspersed comic
banter.

The State of ArkansasTheophilus G. Hoskins

A capella
Key: C major/A minor
The song shares the melody with Diamond Joe and Buffalo Skinners/Hills of Mexico (both
of which are older).
Not a comic song. Could be classified as ballad (native American) or topical song. The John
Quincy Wolfe Collection at Lyon College (we.lyon.edu/wolfcollection) has lyrics and liner notes
that identify Sanford Barnes of Buffalo, Missouri, as the author, c. late 1800s. The Buffalo
town reference is also featured in the lyrics in this version collected in 1937 in KY.
The song has enjoyed wide popularity since, including in versions by the Almanac Singers (Sod
Buster Ballads, 1941). has even been interpreted in contemporary Irish traditional music by the
House Devils.

The State of Arkansas (Part 2)Theophilus G. Hoskins

Part 2 features only one verse (24 second long clip). This verse is the one that features a comic
lyric, and is not a standard part of the song.

Spruce Pine Hog Song (#2)Hoskins, Theophilus G.

A capella
Key: Bb major

Uncle Hardy Lige Morgans Hog SongHoskins, Theophilus G.

A capella
Key: C# major

I Wonder Where My True Love IsPace, Eliza

A capella
Key: Bb major
Form and implied harmony standard to many Appalachian and Southern songs such as Crawdad
Song and Mama Dont Allow, although the subdominant chord (IV) is not strongly implied.

Hard Time Jazzin Bluessee under BAWDY SONGS

Arkansas TravelerGarrison, Lucy Nicholson

A capella version
Key: D major
Performer performs both parts of the verbal exchange between the traveler and the Arkansas
farmer.
She also sings the whole A part of the fiddle tune, syllabically.

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2:47: Whistles a semblance of the B part of the tune.

Additional categories could include: WHISTLING

No Sir NoGarrison, Lucy Nicholson

A capella.
Key: E major
The vocal is pitched lower than the accompanied version.
The song has an entry under No, John, No in the Traditional Ballad Index at fresnostate.edu
Topic: Courting
The song was released commercially by the Stoneman Family (although the version here does
not seem influenced by the Stonemans) as The Spanish Merchants Daughter (Victor, 1928)

No Sir NoGarrison, Lucy Nicholson and George C. Nicholson

Vocal with fiddle accompaniment.
Key: Db major
Vocal is pitched higher than the a capella version.

Drive it onsee BAWDY SONGS

The Cowboys Daughtersee BAWDY SONGS

Rang Dang Doosee BAWDY SONGS

Whoa MuleMartin, Bert

Vocal with guitar accompaniment. Guitar-basic bass-strum style
Key: Gb major. Likely intended key: G major
Features a version of lyrics that contains repeated use of a racial slur against African Americans,
which might be considered common for the period but is usually expunged today.

Old Gum Boots and LegginsFeltner, May

A Capella
Key: C major
Rhythm/Time signature: Sung to a 6/8 jig rhythm. See note under Tom Boleyn.
Compare with Old Shoe Boots and Leggins by Aunt Molly Jackson in this collection. Further
notes can be found under that entry.

Its Nobodys Business if I DoHoskins, Theophilus G.

The song was published in 1922 by African American musician Porter Grainger, born in
Bowling Green, KY. It was co-written by Everett Robbins, a Muskogee, Oklahoma, born pianist.
Both were members of Mamie Smith (the first African American to record a blues) and Her Jazz
Hounds.
It was one of the most popular songs of the era and became a standard, with versions by African
American (Sara Martin, Alberta Hunter, Bessie Smith, Frank Stokes, Mississippi John Hurt, and
later Jimmy Witherspoon, Billy Holiday, and Otis Spann) and white performers (Earl Scruggs,
Don Reno & Bill Harrell) in many genres.

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Vocal with banjo

Key: D Major

Thatll Do NowBegley, Clay (See under BAWDY SONGS)

Tom Boleyn (Brian OLynn)Pace, Eliza

Roud 294
A capella
Key: G major
Sung to a 6/8 (jig) rhythm
This version is transcribed in Our Singing Country, in the key of C major. Both the key and the
transcription seem inaccurate. The melody in the recording goes up in the sequence d-e-g-b-b-g-
e-d (scale degrees 5,6,1, and 3 over an implied G major chord)
The song perhaps dates back to the 1500s, and has inspired at least one fiddle tune of the same
name (a double jig; played, among others, by Planxty)
Further information may be found at The Traditional Ballad Index hosted at
csufresnostate.edu, which also contemplates connections with the Scottish ballad Tam Lin
(Child 39, Roud 35).
An interesting tack to explore might be the points at which the lyric became associated with a
dance (jig) rhythm and a fiddle tune to accompany it. It seems other older folk songs, later sung a
capella in 6/8 (jig) or other dance rhythms, might have experienced similar historical
developments. May Feltners version of Old Gum Boots and Leggins in this collection is sung
a capella in similar rhythm while Molly Jacksons is not.

Marrowbone ItchBrock, Mike and J.F. Collett

Key: E major.
Song lyrics and melody transcribed in Our Singing Country (1941) in F major.
Mike Brockvocals and Collettguitar (roles specified in Our Singing Country).
Title corresponds with Marrowbone Creek, the town where it was recorded
Vocal accompanied by guitar (not very clearly recorded) and some improvised percussion
instrument (perhaps foot tapping)

The Nursesunidentified students

Lolly Toodumunidentified students

Key: G Major.
The melody seems related to other popular old melodies.
A version of this song appears in Lomaxs Our Singing Country (1941) and is identified as
falling under a category of answer-back songs.
The version transcribed in that volume is gleaned from recordings of Abner Boggs, Harlan Co.,
Ky, 1937, and Emma Dusenbrry, Mena, Ark.)
The song in different versions remained popular during later urban folk revivals and was
included in Burl Ives Sing Along Songbook, which accompanied a 6-LP album.
The Ballad Index at fresnostate lists it under the title Lolly-Too-Dum
Other recordings include those by Pete Seeger, The Clancy Brothers, Tommy Makem

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Other recordings in LKC include those by Abner Boggs (mentioned above) and Nell Hampton
A version titled Rolly Trudum collected from Mrs. May K. Springfield at Springfield,
Missouri, in 1941, was included on AAFS L12, and the brief liner notes refer the reader to: H.M.
Belden, Ballads and Songs Collected by the Missouri Folk-Lore Society, University of Missouri
Studies, vol. xv, no. 1, 1940.

Old Ragged BootsBoggs, Nancy

Alternate titles in this collection:
o Old Shoe Boots and LegginsAunt Molly Jackson
o Old Gum Boots and LegginsMay Feltner
Key: C major
An exceptionally dulcet voice, one might note.

Our Goodman (Part 1)Harris, Mrs. M.A.

Also see other version by Pauline Fannin
Key: C major

Our Goodman (Part 2)Harris, Mrs. M.A.

Key: C major

Yes or No (I)Harris, Mrs. M.A.

Related to No Sir No by Lucy Nicholson Garrison. See notes under that entry.

Yes or No (II)Harris, Mrs. M.A.

Related to No Sir No by Lucy Nicholson Garrison. See notes under that entry.

Soldier, Soldier, Would You Marry Me?Baker, Arlie

Key: F major
Topic: courting, marriage
Alternate titles: Soldier, Soldier, Marry Me, Soldier, Soldier, The Gallant Soldier
Included in the Traditional Ballad Index at fresnostate.edu as Soldier, Soldier, Will You Marry
Me
The song has had an extended popularity with recordings by Gid Tanner and the Skillet Lickers
(who recorded in G major using the melody of The Girl I Left Behind Me), Jimmy Rogers (the
1950s country singer), and the New Lost City Ramblers.
AFS L2 included a version titled Soldier, Wont You Marry Me, collected from Russ Pike in
California in 1941. Lomaxs notes note England as the country of origin and found it widespread
in the US. He refers readers for another version and background material on this song to Cecil
J. Sharp, English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, Vol II, Oxford University Press,
1932.
Another version in the Lomax KY Collection comes from Eva and Gladys Begley, featuring an
interesting interaction between two voices.

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Candy ManHale, Wade

Key: C major
Proper categories: Hillbilly blues, blues guitar, ragtime guitar
Lyrics and guitar style different from the African American songs of the same title popularized
through the versions by Mississippi John Hurt and the Rev. Gary Davis. Yet the chord
progression and some aspects of guitar style are redolent of the ragtime guitar styles popular in
the first decades of the century and later in the folk revival.

State of ArkansasMinyard, Elizabeth

A capella
Key: A#
Melody is more straightforward with no implied minor chord as in the commoner version that
shares the melody and implied harmony with Diamond Joe
See further notes under the version by Theophilus C. Hoskins

Mandy from Big SandyGarland, Jack and Walter

Voice and guitar accompaniment
Key: A#
Recording is very tinny. The voice sounds like it might be a young boys.

The Burglar and the Old MaidGarland, Jack and Walter

Roud 658, Laws H23
Alternate titles: The Old Maid and the Burglar
Voice and guitar accompaniment
Key: A#
Better recording. The singer is very likely a young boy.
The song was popular in early hillbilly music and was recorded by Ernest Stoneman, Fiddlin
John Carson, Riley Puckett, Henry Whitter, and Frank Hutchison.
Further information: The Traditional Ballad Index at fresnostate.edu, under Old Maid and the
Burglar, The.

A Rich Old MiserWilson, Addina Palmore and Effie

Roud 1004, Laws Q7
Voice and fretted dulcimer accompaniment
Key: C major (sounds slightly sharper)
Topic: marriage, marital discord, domestic violence
Alternate titles: The Ladle Song, The Battle and the Ladle
Significant features: Sing-along vocable refrain.

Everybody Works But FatherGarland, Jack

Roud 4782
Popular song
Published 1905. Composer: Jean Havez.
Key: G#
The two verses sung here do not seem to have been part of the original by Havez.

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The song was popular and inspired sequels and answer songs: Uncle Quit Work Too and
Fathers got a Job.
In country music, it was recorded by Riley Puckett in 1926.
Covered later by comedian Groucho Marx.
Also covered in other countries and languages.

The Preacher and the BearGarland, Jim

Roud 4967
Solo vocal and guitar (bass-strum style)
Key: C # major
The song was popularized in the first decade of the 20th century, with The King of Ragtime
Singers Arthur Collinss version being perhaps the first.
The idea/theme is traced in both directions by Waltz and Engle in the Traditional Ballad Index
available at fresnostate.edu

True Blue BillRoark, George Shortbuckle

Solo vocal and banjo accompaniment.
Key: G major
Humorous tall tale songdistinct mountain theme, rather than a cowboy/Western one as one
might expect from the later connections (see below).
Written by Gene Autry, Frank Marvin, and George Rainey. First recorded by Marvin in 1931.
Also appeared on the soundtrack of the 1936 Autry starrer The Singing Cowboy, a year before
this recording.
Later recordings include a bluegrass version by Ralph Stanley.

Hard Times in Foxridge MinesGarland, Jim

A capella
Key: G major
Singer states, This is an Old Mountain song. Its been sung in the coal mines. Who composed it,
nobody knows.
Alternate titles and related songs: Hard Times in Colemans Mines (shares lyrics in Garlands
half-sister Aunt Molly Jacksons version).
Proper category: Protest song, Mining song, topical song (already included)

I Wish I was Single Again (Part 1)Steele, Pete

Roud 437
Vocal with banjo
Key: A# major
Rhythm: Triple meter
This song, which Waltz dates at least to 1867, was very popular in the decade preceding this
recording. Hillbilly recordings were released by Henry Whitter, Arthur Tanner, Vernon Dalhart,
and Wilf Carter
Chord progression: I-V-I-IV-V-I progression common in many early country songs such as
Crawdad Song and New River Train, and later Lay Down my Old Guitar
(Delmore/Delmore). The difference here is the triple meter.

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Further information: at fresnostate.edu

Rye WhiskeyKirkheart, Sgt. Alexander, et al

Vocal with banjo accompaniment and fiddle interludes
Key: A# major
Rhythm: Triple meter
Alternate Title: Drunken Hiccups (the song is performed here with simulated hiccups)
Related pieces: Jack Of Diamonds (Floating verses also common to versions of Moonshiner)

Hinky Dinky Parlez-vouzMcDuff, Sgt. Robert J. (see under BAWDY SONGS)

The Alimony BluesRoop, Sgt. Herbert E.

Vocal with guitar accompaniment
Key: F# major
Worth noting: Performance on vocal and guitar and the recording quality match the best
commercial country recordings of the era.

I Was Born about Four Thousand Years Ago (or Ten Thousand)Jackson, Aunt Molly
A capella vocal
Key: D major
Popular song, sung to a melody similar to that of Shell be coming round the Mountain.
Song has appeared in other folk song collections (for instance Carl Sandburgs The American
Songbag) and field recordings (Max Hunter Collection at Missouri State University) while also
being popular in commercial music (recorded by Elvis Presley and Tommy Makem, the latter
titling it The Liar.)
Humorous tall tale song

GUITAR INSTRUMENTAL (1 item)

T.B. BluesSteele, Pete

Key F#
Slide guitar
Melody played mostly on highest string very likely in an open major chord tuning
The companion piece to this is John Henry, which is categorized under Instrumental.
Instrumental should be retitled Instrumental (Other) (the other 9 recordings under that are
either Appalachian Dulcimer or Dingle Bow performances)
Pete Steele also recorded John Henry back to back with this piece in the same style. Both
should be put under the category Blues, as anyone seeking guitar recordings, especially in a
blues influenced vein, would likely search for them there.
Wade Hales K.C. Blues in this collection, classified under Blues, is a stylistically similar
performance.

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INSTRUMENTAL

5 recordings by Ambrose Deaton on the Appalachian dulcimer: Wreck of the Old 97, Red Wing,
Goo Goo Eyes, Casey Jones, The Girl I Left Behind
o All in the Key of F majorlikely the open tuning of the dulcimer
o The last tune is titled unidentified dulcimer tune, but was originally identified on AFS
card as The Girl I Left Behind. It does have elements of that melody and we should
restore the title with a cautionary note.

Two versions of one tune, I Love Somebody, by Effie Wilson

o Dingle Bow instrumental
o The (likely single) string is tuned to F.
o Editors notes mention provenance as does the artist profile
o Editors notes speculate on the manner of playing. It appears, to my ears, to be amplified
by using the oral cavity as with other mouth bows.

Two Appalachian dulcimer tunes by Effie Wilson

I Love Somebody (Gb major) and The Little Mohee (Gb minor)
Together suggest a tuning to Gb with no third
The resonance, bass response, and sustain on Wilsons instrument is remarkable
The second tune is probably related to a ballad of that title (Roud 275, Laws H8)

John Henry: Guitar instrumental by Pete Steele.

o Belongs with T.B. Blues, and both should be moved under Blues.

POPULAR SONG (3 items)

I Aint Got Nobody (and Nobody Cares About Me)Hale, Wade

Composed by Spencer Williams with lyrics by Roger Graham. Published 1915.

Im Alone Because I Love YouHale, Wade

Composed by Joe Young and John Siras and published in 1930. Likely first recorded by
Broadway and film actress and singer Belle Baker.
The song remained popular in Kentucky and other country music circles, being recorded later by
the Everly Brothers and Jim Reeves

The Preacher and the BearGarland, Jim

See under COMIC SONGS

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POPULAR COUNTRY SONG

Down in Tennessee ValleyLewis, Henrietta and Roberta

Girls aged 11 and 12
See Editors notes on origins of song in Kentucky-born country singer Emry Arthurs recording
on 1928.
time
Key: C major
Two voices all along, with guitar accompaniment.

The Railroad BoomerBrewer, Martha and Margaret

Composed by cowboy singer Carson Robinson in 1929.
One among many railroad hoboing songs of the day.
The song was quite popular in the 1930s and stayed popular in later eras also inspiring Ry
Cooders Boomers Story.
Kay: G# major
A capella
A female lead and harmony voice throughouta sweet, polished sound!

Wabash CannonballBundy, Bill

Roud 4228
Vocal with strummed guitar with strong bass notes.
Key: G major
Song is strongly identified with the Carter Family, who recorded it in 1929, and were an
inspiration for later country and folk revival hits.
The song, however, dates to The Great Rock Island Route (1882) and The Wabash Cannon
Ball (1904). For details check Waltz et al at csufresnostate.edu.

I Want a Girl with a Pair of Big Blue EyesDavis, Mary

Vocal with strummed guitar accompaniment
Key: Bb
Modeled after Jimmie Rodgerss blue yodels, although no record of this specific lyric is
locatable.

Mother, the Queen of my HeartNapier, Lilian

A capella vocal
Key: D major (same as Rodgers original)
Famous Jimmie Rodgers hit from 1932

I Wish I Had Never Seen SunshineLewis, Carl

This was a B side of the Jimmie Davis 78 rpm record In My Cabin Tonight, released in 1936.
The composition on the record is credited to Johnny Roberts.
Twin vocalsmale and femalethroughout
Key: B major (likely played in open C major position)

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Rattlesnake DaddyGarland, Jim

Check link to audio.
1933 hit written by Bill Carlisle
A blue yodel

The Girl I Loved in Sunny TennesseeAtkins, Bill

Alternate title: Girl I Left in Sunny Tennessee
Original hit c.1899 by Albert Campbell (Composed and copyrighted by Harry Baisted and
Stanley Carter, 1899)
In commercial country music, it was first a hit for Charlie Poole in 1925, followed by Ernest
Stoneman and Fiddlin John Carson.
Key: G# major
Vocal with guitar accompaniment, with strong bass notes and movement.

Nobodys Darling but MineGarland, Pauline

Check link to audio
Jimmie Davis composition and hit from 1935.

Waiting for a TrainAtkins, Bill

Jimmie Rodgers hit
Blue yodel
Vocal with guitar accompaniment. A second male voice joins toward the end.
Key: Eb major

PLAY SONGS (Selected)

Poor Robin is DeadCooper, Eula

A number of references can be located on the Internet, although specific historic sources are not
specified.
Seems to be a British song
Fuson, Ballads of Kentucky Highlands, might have more information, and is referenced in Neely
and Spargo, Tales and Songs of Southern Illinois.
A capella

My Son Johnny-OCooper, Eula

Appears to be a Scottish song. Earliest reference is to a publication in Edinburgh in 1776 in
Catalogue of the Printed Books in the Library of the British Museum, Volume 25.
A capella
Stephen Wade includes a footnote mentioning that Cooper was the very high class wife of a
well-to-do lawyer.

Fare You Well, My Pretty Little MissMcFarland, Roscoe

A capella

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Key: A
Also see another version categorized under BANJO: Fair You Well My Blue Eyed Girl
Begley, Justus

Old Coon DogLewis, Henrietta and Roberta

Alternate title: Whoa Mule
Also see: another version by J.M. Mullins categorized under BANJO
Vocal with harmony vocal and guitar accompaniment
Key: C Major

Froggie Went a CourtingWilder, Gladys

Vocal with guitar
Key: C Major
Roud 16
Lomax KY Collection also includes additional versions by Nancy Stacy (Key: E major, a
capella), Hazel Hudson (Key D# major, a capella), Lilian Napier (Key: B major, a capella)
A 1943 field recording by Kentuckian Pleaz Mobley was included on AAFS L12 LP album and
included liner notes by the editor Duncan Emrich.
o The song is traced back by Emrich to Edward White who published it in 1580 as A
Moste Strange Weddinge of the Frogge and the Mouse.
Waltz et al at fresnostate trace the story further back to 1549 (Wedderburns Complaynt of
Scotland). The earliest musical setting of the White lyric, however, was in 1611 in Thomas
Ravenscrofts Melismata. The transcription and midi files to that are available at:
pbm.com/~lindahl/ravenscroft/melismata; the music appears in triple meter and features a
melody distinct from the familiar contemporary one.
The melody used in the US in the 20th century seems to have been relatively consistent and is
essentially the same as that used for Crawdad Song, both among the commonest lyric songs in
the oral tradition in America. Singing unaccompanied, some singers such as Nancy Stacy skip
the movement to the dominant chord at the end of the second line; others dont. The musical
aspects of the song (and of the cultural traditions in which such songs evolved over time), while
simple, may not have been studied as much as the lyrical side has been,
A songs popularity and notability justifies the substantive Wikipedia entry, which provides
leads to many resources listed in a long bibliography.

Kitty AloneWilson, Mrs. A.P.

Vocal with Appalachian dulcimer
Key: B major
A descendant or variant of Froggie Went a Courting

Shout LulaSteele, Pete

Alternate title: Shout, Little Lulu
Released on AAFS L21 LP as Shout, Little Lulu
Key: D# major
Roud 4204
Emphasis on banjo performance, so should also be listed under the genre rubric BANJO

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SENTIMENTAL SONGS

Shadows Gather Round Me, DarlingMullins, J.M.

A capella
Words by R.J. Childress and music by W.G. Farrar. Published in 1875. Held at LOC in the
Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music, Ca. 1870 to 1885.
Not clear what a recorded source might have been that inspired Mullins.

Come All You Friends and Dear RelationsHiggins, Branch H.

A capella
Likely a composed hymn or an agglomeration of lyrics from more than one

Sweet, Sunny SouthHampton, Nell

A capella
Roud 772
First collected in the field by Cecil Sharp in 1918.
The song, however, dates to Civil War or earlier. It is among many songs during the early years
of minstrelsy and sentimental parlor song that projected the South with fondness from the
perspective of a slave who had somehow secured freedom and moved North.
A number of popular and hillbilly recordings were released c. 1927 to 1929.
Further information: Waltz et al at fresnostate.edu

I Have No Mother NowTrusty, E.L.

A capella
Appeared in more than one hymnal in the 19th century.
Also appeared in the Freemasons Monthly Magazine, No. 24, 1865.

I Loved You in the Days of JoyPace, Eliza

A capella.
Appears in one other folk collection and published in The Alabama Folk Lyric: A Study in
Origins and Media of Dissemination by Ray Broadus Browne.
The lyric cleaves quite close to the Stoneman Family hit Midnight on the Stormy Deep.

Since My Mother is Dead and GoneSibert, Ella D.

A capella
It appears that the song appeared in some hymnals in early 1900s, perhaps Baptist.
Henry J. Wehman, 1880, is cited as the copyrighted composer by traditionalmusic.co.uk
Roscoe Holcomb and Ralph Stanley were among the prominent musicians to record this song
later

I Have no Mother NowSkeens, Lee

A capella
See notes to E.L. Trustys version

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Drowned in the Deep Blue SeaNapier, Lilian

Alternate titles: Deep Blue Sea, I have No One to Love Me (But the Sailor on the Deep Blue
Sea)
A capella
Recorded by the Carter Family in 1928, with authorship credited to (A.P.) Carter
Known best for a cover by Flatt & Scruggs in 1963 (featured on the album Hard Travelin),
credited to A.P. Carter/Louise Certain/Gladys Stacey
Needs to be differentiated from other songs titled Deep Blue Sea, especially one popularized in
the folk revival by the Weavers

Bring Back to Me My Wandering BoyDonaldson, Findlay

Roud 4227
Vaughan Williams Memorial Library, which maintains the Roud Index, cites Syllabus of
Kentucky Folk Songs by Shearin and Combs (1911) as an early publication.
Carter Family recorded this at the Bristol Sessions.
Other early recordings by the Kentucky Thoroughbreds (1927) and Emry Arthur (1928)
Sheryl Crow has released a version

The Blind GirlWilliams, Arthur

Alternate title: The Blind Childs Prayer
Earliest collection: Henry M. Belden in Missouri, 1906.
A number of commercial hillbilly recordings appeared in the late 1920s: Harvey Irwin (1925),
Lester McFarland and Robert Gardner (1927), McMichen String Band (1928), and Bradley
Kincaid (as Dan Hughey) (1930).
Addressed in JAF: Bill Ellis, "'The Blind Girl' and the Rhetoric of Sentimental Heroism,'" article
published 1978 in the Journal of American Folklore

LYRIC SONG (All sung a capella and solo, unless specified)

A Poor Orphan Left AloneJackson, Aunt Molly

Alternate Titles: The Orphan, The Orphan Left Alone, The Orphan Girl
Roud 4193
Earliest collection: Henry M. Belden in Missouri, 1909.
Sung at funeral services to a mother.
Likely appeared in a hymnal or few in 19th century.

Bring Me Back My Wandering BoyJackson, Aunt Molly

See notes to Findlay Donaldsons version

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Ten Thousand MilesJackson, Aunt Molly

Jackson comments on her immediate source
The song has some, but limited, overlaps with an 18th century English song titled Ten Thousand
Miles/Fare Thee Well, which has been quite popular since the folk revival
The recording was included on AFS L2, and LP released in 1942. Lomaxs notes talk of the
popularity of lyric songs, alongside ballads and fiddle tunes and says this of Jacksons
performance, Aunt Mollys performance of this song, which tells of the parting of two lovers as
the young man goes to the wars, is an American re-creation of various fragments of the British
lyric tradition. Her performance is in pure style of the Kentucky mountain folk singing.

The Farmers Curst WifeJackson, Aunt Molly

Alternate title: The Devil and the Farmers Wife
See under COMIC SONGS
Also see Tee Roo under OSC

Dont Believe in a Woman, Youre Lost if You DoJackson, Aunt Molly

Jackson explains that the song was composed by a lumberjack at a saw mill on the Clinch River
in Tennessee.
The lyrics to the story appear location and version specific. The refrain, however, also appears in
at least another song titled Twenty One Years that has not been officially published. It appears
to only have appeared in a handwritten notebook (Old Tyme Songs) of songs from 1928,
bequeathed by Frances Jackson, of Wingham, Ontario, the contents of which are available on a
website with scans of the cover and some other pages.
The refrain from Jacksons song might be compared with the one from that song is: Now all
you young fellows, with hearts brave and true, wont believe in a woman, youll grieve if you do,
dont trust any woman, no matter how kind, for twenty one years, is a mighty long time

The White PilgrimJackson, Aunt Molly

See under BALLADS

Way Down in CairoJackson, Aunt Molly

Jackson calls it one of her fathers favorite songs
Different from the Stephen Foster song of the same title

The Death of Ed HawkinsJackson, Aunt Molly

Better classification: Ballad; Event Song
Theme: Robbery, outlaw, wagoner
Jackson says Hawkins composed it
No other versions traceable

I Got Up this Morning, Put My Clothes on WrongJackson, Aunt Molly

See Editors Notes

Nothing Goes Hard With MeJackson, Aunt Molly

Same melody and functional harmony as I Got up This Morning

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Both blues-influenced
Key: F

Charming BetsyJackson, Aunt Molly

Key: C# major
Conversation at the end. Jackson says she learned all her material in the hills, and from no other
source.
The song has a long history and many versions.
Waltz et al list is as Coming Around the Mountain (II-Charming Betsy) (Roud 7052).
The opening line with Betsy and Cora Lee appears in many a version, but other verses seem
variable and floating widely.
The Mudcat Caf features a long discussion.

Come All You Fair and Tender LadiesJackson, Aunt Molly

Alternate titles: Come All You Fair Maidens, Fair and Tender Ladies, Little Sparrow, Willow
Tree (Roscoe Holcombs version)
Roud 451
Key: Gb major
One of the most widely sung American folk songs.
Discussion at 1:54 in Part 2

Forty-One Dollars in DebtJackson, Aunt Molly

The initial exposition of the context by Jackson was transcribed in OSC (Lomax, 1941: 136)
preceding the transcription of Devilish Mary.

Commentary on BluesJackson, Aunt Molly

1:25 minutes long
Talks about composition by working people and also her own blues compositions

Roll On, BuddyJackson, Aunt Molly

Continuation of Commentary on Blues, mostly about white working-class peoples
compositions, including railroad songs.
Song starts at 1:25
Conversation at the end at 4:02. Talks of song being composed by white mountaineers on the
L&N Railroad.
This recording was included on AFS 061 LP, released in 1968, edited by Archie Green. Green, in
his liner notes, talks about this railroad folksong type, calling them hammer songs, and
relating them to John Henry and the later Take this Hammer and Nine Pound Hammer.
Green notes the earliest two commercial recordings as Roll on Buddy (Columbia) by Charlie
Bowman and his Brothers and Nine Pound Hammer by Al Hopkins and his Buckle Busters
(Brunswick, 1926). The authorship of the commercial versions is sometimes ascribed to Charlie
Bowman, who was part of both those recordings.

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Charming BillyJackson, Aunt Molly

The song is popular enough to have a substantive Wikipedia entry.
Alternate titles: Billy Boy
Roud 326
Earliest date: 1776.
Also appeared earlier in these collections: Glen, Early Scottish Melodies (1990) and Shearin and
Combs, Syllabus of Kentucky Folk-Songs (1911), Treasure Chest of Cowboy Songs (1935)

Cumberland Gap/ Little BirdieCollett, J.F.

Vocal, with banjo accompaniment by Brock
Volume is low, with high noise level
The song performed is actually a version of Little Birdie (Roud 5742), which is still
significantly different in lyrics and melody from commercial versions
Little Birdie has been collected from 1909. Earliest commercial versions date from early days
of recorded commercial hillbilly musicAl Craver (pseudonym of Vernon Dalhart) (1925).

East VirginiaWilliams, Walter

See under banjo

Pass Around the BottleWilliams, Walter

See under OSC

John HardyWilliams, Walter

Needs to be classified as Ballad, African American ballad, Blues Ballad
Vocal with banjo
Key: G#

Shadows Gather Round Me DarlingJ.M. Mullins

See under SENTIMENTAL SONG

Way Down the MountainJ.M. Mullins

See under BANJO

Trouble on My MindJ.M. Mullins

See under BANJO

Up and Down the LaneJ.M. Mullins

See under BANJO

Little BobbyJ.M. Mullins

See under BANJO

Way Down the River, BoysJ.M. Mullins

Banjo with vocals
Key: D# major

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Backin to My ShackJ.M. Mullins

See under BANJO

The Roving GamblerJ.M. Mullins

An interesting folk musician, Mullins seems to play most songs pretty much the same.

John HenryMullins, J.M.

Key: A# major
Vocal with banjo

AlabamMullins, J.M.
Key: D# major
Vocal with banjo

Ive Been in the Bend So LongMullins, J.M.

Key: A# major
Vocal with banjo
See extant Editors Note

Trouble on My MindHiggins, Branch

A capella

The Vance SongHiggins, Branch

Link broken

Pretty SaroMullins, J.M.

Link broken

Fare You Well, My Own True LoveMullins, J.M.

Link broken

TennesseeMullins, J.M.
See under BANJO

Jenny Get AroundMullins, J.M.

Key: A major
As with most Mullinss performances the banjo playing is largely rhythmic and not melodically
oriented.
Melodies, as sung, are also not very distinctive between different pieces

The Girl I Left Behind MeMullins, J.M.

Key: A# major
Vocal with banjo

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Song unrelated to the famous song and tune with that title
Mullins seems extremely prolific at inventing song titles and lyrics and weaving them in with
floating lyrics while playing a rhythm-oriented banjo style that would serve almost any melody.
His vocal melodies, in any case, have much fewer variations than one would expect from such a
vast repertoire of songs. A curiosity, at the very least.

Old Joe ClarkMullins, J.M.

See under BANJO

The Wife Wrapt in Wethers SkinWalters, Clay

Needs to be re-classified as BALLAD
Child 277, Roud 117
Alternate titles: As the Dew Flies Over the Green Valley (already mentioned), Gentle Fair Jenny
(in Jean Ritchies version)
A capella
A distinctive melody
Key: F major

The Dirty ShirtWalters, Clay

An exceptional singer
A subtly humorous song with some morals for youngstersthe specific song or lyrics do not
seem to be documented anywhere
Key: B major

The Boys Wont Do to TrustHampton, Nell

Roud 6495
Related titles: The Girls Wont Do to Trust
First collected in 1927 by Vance Randolph and published in Ozark Folk Songs (which has
another version too, and a version with reversed genders).
Widely sung and also included in other collections prior to 1937for details see Vaughan
Williams Memorial Library website.

Julie Ann JohnsonHiggins, Branch

Alternate title: Julianne Johnson
Roud 11604
Different from, but not unrelated to, Leadbellys famous version published by the Lomaxes in
1934. The earliest African American version appears in Dorothy Scarboroughs On the Trail of
the Negro Folk-Songs (Harvard, 1925)
A white string band instrumental of the same title also is played and, in the slower versions on
banjo, features a distinctly related melody, likely derived from the song.
Lomax also recorded a version by Capt. Pearl R. Nye in Akron, OH, in 1937.

Cold Mountain Hills are Falling Around MeHampton, Nell

Although verses hint at other floating verses, no other rendition of this particular song is
traceable

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Im Going to Join the ArmyMullins, J.M.

Vocal with banjo
All of Mullinss recording should perhaps be put under the primary category of BANJO (this and
some others are under LYRIC SONG)almost all qualify as Lyric songs with banjo
accompaniment. They are best lined up together.

I Have No Mother NowTrusty, E.M.

See under SENTIMENTAL SONGS

Down in Tennessee ValleyLewis, Henrietta and Roberta (Girls aged 11 and 12)
See POPULAR COUNTRY SONGS

Black is the Color of My True Loves HairCassity, Uncle Rube

Roud 3103
Alternate titles: My Dear Sweetheart/Dark is the Color of my Sweethearts Hair (Collected in
1929 in Gatlinburg, TN)
Kentuckys John Jacob Niles claimed authorship of this song and popularized it; the floating
verses comprising it, however, are widely dispersed.

Lonesome Scenes of WinterPorter, Harvey

Roud 443, Laws H12
Alternate titles: Lonesome Stormy Scenes of Winter, Dark Scenes of Winter, Gonesome Scenes
of Winter, Stormy Winds of Winter, I Went to See My Sweetheart (Lewis McDaniel, VA, 1931)
The melody that Texas Gladden uses in a Lomax recording of Dark Scenes of Winter is
different.
Earliest publication: 1904, Belden
Widely spread, including in Kentucky. Included in Shearin and Combs, Syllabus of Kentucky
Folk Songs (1911) and Cecil Sharp (collected in Hazard, KY, from _ Nappier), Folk Tunes
(1917).

Lula WallNapier, E.H.

Vocal with banjo
Roud 3338
The song is associated with the Carter Familys recording of 1929, which ascribed authorship to
A.P. Carter
At least two commercial recordings were made earlierWalter Morris (Lula Walsh; Columbia
1927) and Bascom Lamar Lunsford (Brunswick/Vocalion, 1928)
Matteson, Bluegrass Pickers Tune Book, cites Wehmans Collection of Songs, Jan 1888, as the
first publication.

The Drunkards DaughterNapier, E.H.

A daughters plea, O father dear, father.
Temperance song. Not documented as such anywhere, it seems.

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Cold Penitentiary BluesBrewer, Ted

Popularized by the 1927 Bristol Sessions recording by Kentucky banjoist and singer B.F. Shelton

The Green Morris SongStacy, Nancy

See extant EDITORS NOTE

As I Sat Down to Play Tin CanHorne, Howard

See OSC

The Railroad BoomerBrewer, Martha and Margaret

See POPULAR COUNTRY SONG

The Roving BoyBegley, Justus

Vocal with banjo
Exceptional banjo playingrolling and rousing
Genre listing should include: BANJO

Ive Been All Around This WorldBegley, Justus

Alternate title: Hang Me, Oh Hang Me
Vocal and banjo; second voice on chorus
Key: B major, 6/8 time
Composition credited by Begley to himself
The famous common verses appear later in this version (Blue ridge mountains, hang me,
little sister make three)the famous contemporary versions are by Grateful Dead and Jerry
Garcias various outfits.
This recording was included on CD3 of Yazoos Kentucky Mountain Music. Charles Wolfes
liner notes say this of this recording, The latter was made into a hit record in 1944 by Grandpa
Jones, and has since become a favorite with newer generations. This seems to suggest that this
prominent Grateful Dead-associated roots music number might have come from Begley and first
recorded by Lomax in Hazard, KY, in 1937.
Roud 3416
Floating verses shared with: The Gambler, The Roving Gambler

East Virginia BluesWilson, Dorothy and Ellen

Roud 3396
Earliest collection: Cecil Sharp, 1917
Among the most popular songs in Appalachia
Vocals with guitar accompaniment (autoharp is also mentioned but not heard very clearly)
Second voice in varying relationshipharmony to antiphony (call and response)
Key: G major

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I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow (2 parts AFS 1522B1 and B2; not specifically identified as #1 and 2
in the title)Britton, Maynard
Roud 499
Key: B major (likely intended in C major)
Vocal with guitar
Sung in a relaxed baritone voice, reminiscent more of cowboy songs than hillbilly
Now the most widely recognized mountain song across the world, after the success of Dan
Tyminskis version with the Union Station featured on the soundtrack of O Brother! Where Art
Thou? Also one of the most famous songs to mention Kentucky in the lyrics. The most popular
bluegrass arrangement, and the one that inspired the contemporary one, was the Stanley
Brothers.
Earliest publication dates from 1913 in Richard Burnetts songbook; earliest recording from
Emry Arthur in 1928.

Rocky IslandBritton, Maynard

The melody and lyrical motifs seem influenced by a number of songs, yet this specific song is
not traceable

White House BluesBritton, Maynard

Roud 787
Vocal with guitar
Key: Bb major
First recorded in 1926 by Charlie Poole
Alternate titles: Mister McKinley
The song also influenced the Carter Familys Cannonball Blues (1930) and Kilby Snows
Cannonball

Ill Never Believe What Another Woman SaysBritton, Maynard

Vocal with guitar
Key: B major
See extant Editors Note

DinahHoskins, Theophilus
Vocal with banjo
Key: Bb major
Major genre designation should match the one used for J.M. Mullinss version (BANJO) in this
collection.

Going Down the Road Feeling BadHoskins, Theophilus

Roud 4958
Alternate titles: Lonesome Road Blues
Fiddle instrumental with some vocals (just half a sentence)
Key: F major
Earliest recording by Henry Whitter 1923 (Lonesome Road Blues on OKeh) is also the earliest
known version

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The song has a 16-bar blues form common to a number of early hillbilly songs, including
Worried (Man) Blues, New River Train, and Lay Down My Old Guitar

Times is Getting HardHoskins, Theophilus and McKinley Asher

Short clip
Vocal with banjo

I Wonder Where My True Love IsPace, Eliza

Vocal
Key: Bb major
time
The implied chord progression as well as the melody are common to many early Southern songs.
A number of floating verses and motifs also appear (turtle dove, Dig my grave both wide and
deep, etc.)

I Loved You in the Days of JoyPace, Eliza

See SENTIMENTAL SONGS

Drunken DriversJarvis, Clyde

Vocal with guitar
Key: B major (Likely intended in C major)
The guitar accompaniment is strong and features an interesting syncopation, somewhat like
Jimmie Rodgers used
The lyrics are somewhat obscured in part by the volume of the guitar
A later song, The Drunken Driver (Roud 6982), has been more influential (it is more of an
event-based song with a narrative)it was covered by Molly ODay, Dillard Chandler, and the
New Lost City Ramblers.

Wabash CannonballBundy, Bill

See POPULAR COUNTRY SONG

Everybody Loves SomebodyHenson, Dawson

Vocal with guitar
Key: C major
A 12-bar hill blues inspired by Jimmie Rodgers blue yodels without the yodel tag.

The Rising Sun BluesHenson, Dawson

Alternate titles: House of the Rising Sun
Roud 6393
Vocal with guitar
Key: F major
Also see versions by Georgia Turner (Key: C major, a capella) and Bert Martin (Key: D major,
with guitar)

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Among the most legendary songs collected in Appalachia from white Americans, while redolent
of African American tradition. I am not sure, if any African American source has been
specifically nailed, although much has been written about this song.
The earliest recording in white tradition is Clarence Ashleys from 1933. Other early recordings
include: The Callahan Brothers Rounders Luck (1935)
Appalachian versions, into the folk revival with Doc Watson, would continue to be in major
keys. (Ashleys was an 8- or 16-bar blues variant in E major, with a I-V-I-I blue yodel-like tag,
albeit without a sung yodel. The Callahans was in F major.)
Texas Alexanders 1928 recording Rising Sun is an unrelated 12-bar blues; Darby and
Tarltons 1931 recording Rising Sun Blues is a 12-bar blues with a yodel tag a la Jimmie
Rodgerss blue yodels, but is not related to Ashleys song.
Paul J Stamler at fresnostate states that Ashley learned his version from his grandmother
(original source unspecified).

Pretty SaroMyers, Mary

Roud 417
Vocal with a second (unidentified) voice
Key: Gb major
Alternate titles/related songs: I First Came to this Country, At the Foot of Yonder Mountain
Earliest dates uncertain
Cecil Sharp collected one version in 1917 from Sevier Co., TN. In a movie inspired by Olive
Dame Campbell and Sharp, Songcatcher famously features Iris Dement singing this song for the
folklorists.
Two versions collected in 1930 appeared in Dorothy Scarborough, A Songcatcher in the
Southern Mountains: American Folk Songs of British Ancestry (1937), alongside an informants
suggestion that the song might date to 1749, which is mentioned in some versions and which
aligns with the dates of the greater migrations from the British Isles. (Mudcat.org features a
thread on this song.)

Sourwood MountainGarrison, Lucy Nicholson

Roud 754
Vocal
Key: D major
One of the most widely performed American folk music pieces, often as a fiddle or banjo tune
Earliest records date at least from Olive Dave Campbells collection work in 1913
Widely recorded in early commercial hillbilly music.

Old Mr. MooreGarrison, Lucy Nicholson

Very likely a minstrelsy song or inspired by minstrelsy
The long tail blue coat mentioned in the lyrics was a fancy coat, perhaps typical of the Yankee,
but worn by the Dandy caricature in minstrelsy. G.W. Dixon, the author of Zip Coon in
1834, in the same year also published My Long Tail Blue, with a dandy figure in the said coat
on the cover. The dandy caricature itself might actually predate the first noted minstrel
publication of Jim Crow by Thomas Dartmouth Rice. A broadside of a composition titled
Long Tailed Blue by a circus performer Mr. T.B. Nathans, featuring an African American

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dandy cartoon, was published by Ashbel Stoddard publishers in 1827 in Hudson, NY, and is
available online through the Duke University Library.
o For further scholarly consideration, please check: Barbara Lewis, Daddy Blue: The
Evolution of the Dark Daddy, in Inside the Minstrel Mask: Readings in Nineteenth-
Century Minstrelsy, ed. Annemarie Bean, James V. Hatch, and Brooks McNamara
(Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 1996), 257.
Garrisons whistling also suggests a popular novelty genre source

Im Crazy Over YouHenson, Dawson

Key: A# myxolydian
Remarkable guitar accompaniment style with bass melody
Sung to the tune of Reuben or 900 Miles
Also see George Roarks version of Reuben and notes to Darling Cora under OSC.

Wallins Creek GirlsHenson, Dawson

Key: B major
Vocal with guitar
The song was included in the Yazoo compilation Kentucky Mountain Music, Disc 4

Fare You Well, My Little Annie DarlingHenson, Dawson

Key: (slightly sharper than) F major (artist is heard playing individual strings at the very end, and
the bass note sounds close to F#)
Song composed by the singer
Melody based on My Homes Across the Blue Ridge Mountains, as is the tag line I never
expect to see you anymore.
Exceptional guitar style with bass runs and hammer-ons in the bass

The MoonshinerHenson, Dawson

Key: C major
Roud 4307
Vocal with guitar
The song was included in the Yazoo compilation Kentucky Mountain Music, Disc 2
Some observers (see Waltz et al at fresnostate) have suggested that Bob Dylans version from
1962, itself the most influential contemporary version, might have been influenced by Hensons
recording. Dylans version is distinctive but the guitar accompaniment on both have a
mesmerizing quality. I am not certain if Hensons version also appeared on an AFS LP release
that might have been Dylans sourceif it was not released before 1962, clearly he could not
have heard Hensons version directly.

A Poor Orphan Left AloneHoskins, Boyd and Mr. Boyd

Alternate Titles: The Orphan, The Orphan Left Alone, The Orphan Girl
Roud 4193
Earliest collection: Henry M. Belden in Missouri, 1909.
Sung at funeral services to a mother.
Likely appeared in a hymnal or more in 19th century.

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Also see versions by Aunt Molly Jackson and Abner Boggs.

Different lyrics and melodies under the title The Orphan Child also appears in this collection
(Vergie Bailey) as do under the title The Orphan Girl (Roud 457) (Susan Shepherd)
Fresnostate (Waltz et al) and VWML (Roud) are the best resources for the many recordings of
each of these and other songs about orphans, the relationships between which, if any, may be
worth teasing out

Lonesome Jailhouse BluesDavis, Mary

Vocal with guitar
The song was released in 1935 by the Delmore Brothers on Bluebird and is the likely source,
although Davis seems to have claimed authorship
Should also be categorized as POPULAR COUNTRY SONG

They Say Its Simple to FlirtDavis, Mary and Cora

Alternate titles: Sinful to Flirt, The White Rose, Willie, Willie Down by the Pond,
Roud 421, Laws G19
Vocal with harmony and guitar
A fairly popular commercial hillbilly music number recorded among others by Riley Puckett
(1925), Ernest Stoneman (1925), and the Delmore Brothers (1937)
Tom Watsons 1926 recording used the title Its Simple to Flirt
Earliest date of collection: 1923, Frank C. Brown (Published in 1952 in North Carolina Folklore
2)
The Journal of American Folklore 42 (1929) published a version from 1925

The Crawdad SongDavis, Mary

Also see under OSC
Roud 4853
Vocal with guitar
Key: A major
Related songs: Sugar Babe, Sweet Thing

Once I had an Old Gray MareSibert, Ella

Also see under OSC
Roud 3442
Earliest recordings date at least from 1925 (Bascom Lamar Lunsford recorded by Robert
Winslow Gordon)
Other field recorded versions include Mrs. Mary Tucker (GA, 1930) and Maude Thacker (GA;
released on AFSs Folk Visions and Voices: Traditional Music & Song in Northern Georgia)
Unclear whether there were any commercial recordings made in that period
For a popular contemporary version, see Norman Blake.
There is also another popular song called Old Gray Mare (Roud 751)

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StagoleeMartin, Bert
Vocal with guitar
Key: B major
Laws I15, Roud 4183
Features a I-VI-II-V chord progression typical of ragtime influenced music (especially guitar
music) of the 1910s through 1930s. It might be worthwhile to investigate which (if any)
commercial version first set the song to this chord progression and might be the proximate
influence here.
The song is among the best known blues ballads from the turn of the century, alongside John
Hardy and Frankie and Johnny and the older John Henry. The event that inspired the lyric
is from 1895 and Waltz et al put the earliest publication in 1903. It was first recorded as an
instrumental by (proto-jazz) orchestras in 1923 and 1924 including Fred Warings
Pennsylvanians, Frank Westphal and his Orchestra, and Herb Weidoefts Cinderella Orchestra.
Ma Raineys 1925 version might be the first vocal recording
Sol Hoopii recorded a Hawaiian version in 1926
The rural blues and hillbilly versions were recorded later.
o Frank Hutchisons (recorded Sep 28, 1926) and David Millers 1927 record releases are
among the first hillbilly pressings.
o A number of African American rural blues/jug band versions were recorded from 1927
starting with Furry Lewis, Clive Reed
It might be noted that while John Hardy features a 16-bar blues structure and Frankie and
Johnny features a 12-bar blues structure, both predating the popularity of blues in popular
music, Staggerlee has been recorded with varying structure and chord progressions. A slightly
modified I-IV-V 12-bar blues chord progression is still the commonest.
For other recordings in this collection with a popular, ragtime-influenced chord progression, see
Harvey Logan and Candy Man
A better categorization would be: blues ballad, African American ballad, popular song (not lyric
song)
A monograph by Cecil Brown, Stagolee Shot Billy (Harvard University Press, 2003), delves
deeper. Among other aspects, it examines the fascination of white rural musicians with badman
figures of African American blues ballads. Robert Gordon, a UC Berkley English professor (and
later founder of Archive of American Folk Song at LOC), was so taken with this fascination that
he specifically called out to readers of the cowboy Western magazine, Adventure, to collect
versions of Stagolee in the West.

Come All You Fair and Tender LadiesSibert, Ella

Alternate titles: Come All You Fair Maidens, Fair and Tender Ladies, Little Sparrow, Willow
Tree (Roscoe Holcombs version)
Roud 451
Key: G major
The melody used here is almost the same as that of Man of Constant Sorrow
Compare with other versions that use the more song-specific melody

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Come All You Fair and Tender LadiesRoberts, Hulda

Alternate titles: Come All You Fair Maidens, Fair and Tender Ladies, Little Sparrow, Willow
Tree (Roscoe Holcombs version)
Roud 451
Key: G major
Compare with Aunt Molly Jacksons version
The melody used here is almost the same as that of Man of Constant Sorrow

Old Gum Boots and LegginsFeltner, May

See COMIC SONGS

My Dearest DearKeen, W.M. (followed by second version by May Feltner)

Alternate Title: (Fare Thee Well) My Dearest Dear
Both songs appear to be versions of Roud 1035, a song about a male lover leaving for distant
shores and his female lover following him. See Waltz et al at fresnostate.
Earliest collection date: 1904, by Ralph Vaughan Williams in Sussex, England.

The Blind Mans SongKeen, W.M.

Key: D major
No specific roots of the lyric traceable, although the melody is redolent of a number of songs
including Texas Rangers

Her Age I Did Not KnowKeen, W.M.

Key: E major
No specific roots of the lyric traceable

The Moon is Shining BrightKeen, W.M.

Key: F# major
Interview at the end: Learned from a woman in Clay Co.

Only FlirtingPace, Eliza

Key: C# major
A very interesting lyric. Does not sound particularly from an Appalachian tradition.

Clear WatersPace, Eliza

Key: C# major
See extant Editors Note

Old Rosin the BeauPace, Eliza

Alternate titles: Old Rosin, the Beau, Rosin the Bow
Related songs/tunes (borrowed melody): Acres of Clams, Lincoln and Liberty
Roud 1192
Key: B major
In triple meter

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The song has long been very popular and has inspired not only many versions but also many
other songs, including songs for three US presidential campaigns.
Earliest publication dates to 1838 in P
The meter suggests British Isles, perhaps Irish, origin

I Truly Understand That You Love another ManRoark, George

Alternate title: I Truly Understand
Vocal with banjo accompaniment
Key: G# (mixolydian mode). The melody of the verse climbs up from 5th to 6th to the flatted 7th
degree, much like in Part A of Old Joe Clark (and in some famous rock riffs, especially the
Rolling Stones (I Cant get no) Satisfaction and Neil Youngs Mr. Soul).
The song was first recorded in 1928 by Shortbuckle Roark & Family and released
commercially by Victor. The chorus on that recording featured additional voices, unlike this solo
field recording made by Mary E. Barnicle in 1938.
The song achieved significant popularity in the folk revival and has been recorded by the New
Lost City Ramblers, Jerry Garcia and David Grisman, Bruce Molsky, Todd Phillips/Scott
NyGaard/Stuart Duncan/Tim OBrien, and the Carolina Chocolate Drops (a contemporary
African American string band), among others.
Lyle Lofgrens Inside Bluegrass article addresses the songs two recordings and some ideas
about the first persons emergence in ballads and lyric songs in the US. (The web link is
available under bibliography).

TOPICAL SONGS (all a capella unless specified otherwise)

Crossbones SkullyJackson, Aunt Molly

Seems like a song composed by Jackson
Woody Guthrie and Alan Lomaxs Hard Hitting Songs for Hard Hit People might have been the
first to publish it.

Coal Creek DisasterJackson, Aunt Molly

Key: C major
Jackson talks at 2:40 about how she read in the newspaper about the explosion at the Fraterville
mine in Coal Creek Valley, TN, in nineteen and five (1905) (actual date was 1911) and
composed the song herself.
There are other topical songs about this disaster (e.g. Shut Up in the Mines of Coal Creek, first
recorded by Kentuckian Green Bailey in 1929) and about another mine explosion in Briceville,
TN (another coal mining town in the Coal Creek watershed area) in 1911 (which inspired
Explosion in the Cross Mountain Minean event from 1911)
There are additional mining songs (topical songs, protest music) about the Coal Creek Wars or
Rebellion of 1891, including Jilson Setters Coal Creek Troubles and Pete Steeles banjo tune
Coal Creek March (rather than protest music, one might view it as commemorative music).
More than one song seems to appear under Roud 844

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It might be noted that Coal Creek later became Lake City and is now Rocky Top, TN.

I Love Coal Miners, I DoJackson, Aunt Molly

Key: D# major
At 2:45, Jackson talks about becoming a delegate for Kentucky in 1931, leaving the state, and
becoming homesick, at which point she composed her ode to coal miners.

Hungry Disgusted BluesJackson, Aunt Molly

See extant Editor Note
Key: C major
Topic: Coal Mining, working for WPA as artist and educator

Christmas Eve on the East SideJackson, Aunt Molly

Key: C# major

FIDDLE (Select recordings)

The Mud FenceStepp, William Hamilton (fiddle) and Walter Williams (banjo)
Key: Major. Sounds slightly higher than C major on the recording. Might have been played in
the intended key of D. Possibly in an altered (or cross) tuning.
Alternate titles and related tunes: Drunken Billy Goat, Rocky Mountain Goat, Cricket on
the Hearth, Railroad Through the Rocky Mountains, Ride the Goat Over the Mountain,
Marmadukes Horpipe.

Wild HorseStepp, William Hamilton (fiddle) and Walter Williams (banjo)

Key: G flat major. Likely intended key: G major, played out of G major and E minor positions.
Alternative titles and related tunes: Stoney Point, Wild Horse of Stoney Point

Sally GoodinStepp, William Hamilton

Key: F# major. Likely intended key: G or A major
Solo fiddle instrumental

Gilder BoyStepp, William H.

Key: Major. Close to A.
The tune could be related to Guilderoy, Gilderoy, Indian ate a Woodchuck, Nellie on the
Shore.
Note: Red Haired Boy or Little Beggarmana different and well-known A myxolydian tune
also goes by Gilderoy as dos another familiar

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Soldiers JoyStrong, Luther

Key: D major (the traditional key for the tune)
Up-tempo version
Perhaps the commonest single fiddle tune across the British Isles and North America
AFS L62 LP included a version collected in Wisconsin under the title French Four. Alan
Jabbours liner notes feature a significant history and a long list of important recordings.

FIDDLE (Overview)

I am not a fiddle player, although for two decades I have been attempting to play what were originally
American fiddle tunes transposed to the guitar, mandolin, and dobro. What I have attempted here is to
help a fiddle tune researcher to make quicker sense of what all treasures might await their more focused
and better informed scrutiny.

List of Fiddle Tunes or rather of recordings classified or cross-listed under the rubric Fiddle Tunes.
The order is the same as the one in which they appear in the search results under Genre: Fiddle.:

The Mud Fence

Wild Horse
Sally Goodin
Gilder Boy
Rebels Raid
Drunken Hiccups
Welcome Table
Cacklin Hen
Pretty Little Widow
Run, Nigger, Run
The Ways of the World
Piney Ridge
Callahan
Dolly
Bonapartes Retreat
Silver Strand
Red Bird
Two Italians
Martha Cambell (#1 and 2)
Over the River to Charlie
Old Coon Dog
Wagoner
Cripple Creek
Liza Jane
Cumberland Gap

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Lost Girl
Bonapartes Retreat
Pretty Polly
Flop Eared Mule (and #1)
Waynesborough
Sourwood Mountain
The Last of Sizemore
The Last of Callahan
Ricketts Hornpipe
Leather Breeches
Billy in the Low Ground
Jack of Diamonds
Wagoner
Glory in the Meeting House (X2)
The Ways of the World
Cacklin Hen
Soldiers Joy
The Old Hen Cackled
The Hog Wet through the Fence, Yoke and all
The Hog-Eyed Man
Black-eyed Susie
Give the Fiddler a Dram
Hickory Jack
Roll on Buddy
Arkansas Traveler
Slidin Jenny
Adeline
Nig Inch Along
Old Joe Clark
Sally Goodin
Leather Breeches
Hog-Eyed Man
Pretty Polly
Bonapartes Retreat
Billy in the Low Ground
Glory in the Meeting House
Hickory Jack
Cacklin Hen
Leather Breeches
Sally Goodin
Billy in the Low Ground
I Love Somebody
Callahan
Leather Breeches

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Nigger Inch Along

Old Joe Clark
Sourwood Mountain
Youve Got to Walk that Lonesome Valley
Old Christmas
The Last of Sizemore
Give the Fiddler a Dram
Sally Goodin (#2 and #1)
Cripple Creek
Natchez Under the Hill
Unidentified Fiddle Tune
Going Down the Road Feeling Bad
John Henry
Pretty Polly
Nigger Inch Along
Lost Girl
Wagoner (_ and #1)
Fly Around My Blue Eyed Girl
Sourwood Mountain
I Wonder Where My True Love is
Arkansas Traveler
Prettiest Little Girl in the Country-O
Sourwood Mountain
Sourwood Mountain
Old Mr. Moore
Callahan
Old Christmas
Old Mr. Moore
No Sir No
Sally Goodin
Blue Bonnet
Old Joe Clark
Bonapartes Retreat
The Little Stream of Whiskey
Cluck Old Hen
Dance All Night with a Bottle in Your Hand
Rye Whiskey
Pretty Polly
The Cherry Tree Carol
Sourwood Mountain
Glory in the Meeting House
Arkansas Traveler (Part 1 and 2)
Cumberland Gap/Buck Creek Girls
Charming Betsy

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Cumberland Gap
Groundhog
The Hog-eyed Man
The Niggers Wedding
Dr. Humphreys Jig
No Corn on Tygarts
Sweet Susan
The Devils Dream
Hell and Scissors
Billy in the Low Ground
Cindy
Old Joe Clark
Sourwood Mountain

The above list of Fiddle Tunes, with artist (largely retaining the order in which they appear on the
website with a few minor adjustments where two listed primary artists appear alternatingly in the above
list):

Stepp, William Hamilton

The Mud Fence

Wild Horse
Sally Goodin
Gilder Boy
Rebels Raid
Drunken Hiccups
Welcome Table
Cacklin Hen
Pretty Little Widow
Run, Nigger, Run
The Ways of the World
Piney Ridge
Callahan
Dolly
Bonapartes Retreat
Silver Strand

Gevedon, Monroe (and family band)

Red Bird
Two Italians
Martha Campbell (#1 and 2)
Over the River to Charlie

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Old Coon Dog

Wagoner

Strong, Luther
Cripple Creek
Liza Jane
Cumberland Gap
Lost Girl
Bonapartes Retreat
Pretty Polly

Baker, Bev
Flop Eared Mule (and #1)
Waynesborough

Strong, Luther
Sourwood Mountain
The Last of Sizemore
The Last of Callahan
Ricketts Hornpipe
Leather Breeches
Billy in the Low Ground

Baker, Bev
Jack of Diamonds
Wagoner
Glory in the Meeting House

Strong, Luther
Glory in the Meeting House
The Ways of the World
Cacklin Hen
Soldiers Joy
The Old Hen Cackled
The Hog Wet through the Fence, Yoke and all
The Hog-Eyed Man
Black-eyed Susie
Give the Fiddler a Dram
Hickory Jack
Roll on Buddy
Arkansas Traveler
Slidin Jenny
Adeline
Nig Inch Along

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Old Joe Clark

Sally Goodin

Asher, Boyd
Leather Breeches
Hog-Eyed Man
Pretty Polly
Bonapartes Retreat
Billy in the Low Ground
Glory in the Meeting House
Hickory Jack
Cacklin Hen
Leather Breeches

Hammock, Jimmie
Sally Goodin
Billy in the Low Ground
I Love Somebody

Asher, Boyd
Callahan
Leather Breeches
Nigger Inch Along
Old Joe Clark
Sourwood Mountain
Youve Got to Walk that Lonesome Valley
Old Christmas
The Last of Sizemore
Give the Fiddler a Dram
Sally Goodin (#2 and #1)

Asher, McKinley
Cripple Creek

Hoskins, Theophilus G.
Natchez Under the Hill
Unidentified Fiddle Tune
Going Down the Road Feeling Bad
John Henry
Pretty Polly
Nigger Inch Along
Lost Girl
Wagoner (_ and #1)
Fly Around My Blue Eyed Girl

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Sourwood Mountain

Pace, Eliza
I Wonder Where My True Love is

Garrison, Lucy Nicholson

Arkansas Traveler
Sourwood Mountain
Old Mr. Moore
No Sir No

Nicholson, George C.
Prettiest Little Girl in the Country-O
Sourwood Mountain
Callahan
Old Christmas
Old Mr. Moore
Sally Goodin
Blue Bonnet
Old Joe Clark

Nicholson, George N.
Bonapartes Retreat

Skeens, Ray
The Little Stream of Whiskey

Skeens, Lee
Cluck Old Hen
Dance All Night with a Bottle in Your Hand (Give the Fiddler a Dram)
Rye Whiskey (Drunken Hiccups/Way Up on Cinch Mountain)
Pretty Polly
The Cherry Tree Carol

Hoskins, Theophilus G.
Sourwood Mountain
Glory in the Meeting House
Arkansas Traveler (Part 1 and 2)
Cumberland Gap/Buck Creek Girls
Charming Betsy
Cumberland Gap
Groundhog
The Hog-eyed Man

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Setters, Jilson (J.W. Day)

The Niggers Wedding
Dr. Humphreys Jig
No Corn on Tygarts
Sweet Susan
The Devils Dream
Hell and Scissors
Billy in the Low Ground

Howard, James (Blind Jim Howard)

Cindy
Old Joe Clark
Sourwood Mountain

FREQUENCY: Among the 133 recordings listed under fiddle tunes (a few would actually be better
described as lyric songs or ballads with fiddle accompaniment), the following appear with greatest
frequency. Most of these are widely known titles:

Sourwood Mountain: 6 versions (Strong, B. Asher, Hoskins, L.N. Garrison, G.C. Nicholson,
Howard)
Sally Goodin: 5 (Stepp, Strong, Hammock, B. Asher, G.C. Nicholson)
Billy in the Low Ground: 4 (Strong, B. Asher, Hammock, Setters)
Bonapartes Retreat: 4 (Stepp, Strong, B. Asher, G.N. Nicholson)
Old Joe Clark: 4 (Strong, B. Asher, G.C. Nicholson, Howard)
(The Last of) Callahan: 4 (Stepp, Strong, B. Asher, G.C. Nicholson)
Pretty Polly: 4 (Strong, B. Asher, Hoskins, L.Skeens)
Glory in the Meeting House: 4 (Baker, Strong, B. Asher, Hoskins)
Drunken Hiccups/Rye Whiskey/Jack of Diamonds: 3
Arkansas Traveler: 3 (Strong, L N Garrison, Hoskins)
Give the Fiddler a Dram: 3 (Strong, B. Asher, L. Skeens)
Cacklin Hen: 3 (Stepp, Strong, B. Asher)
Hog-eyed Man: 3 (Strong, B. Asher, Hoskins)
Nigger Inch Along: 3 (Strong, B. Asher, Hoskins)
The Ways of the World: 2 (Stepp, Strong)
Cripple Creek: 2 (Strong, M. Asher)
Cumberland Gap: 2 (Strong, Hoskins)
Leather Breeches: 2 (Strong, B. Asher)
Wagoner: 2 (Baker, Hoskins)
Hickory Jack: 2 (Strong, B. Asher)
The Last of Sizemore: 2 (Strong, B. Asher)

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A number of other popular titles, at least now widely known, appear once, including:

Wild Horse: Stepp

Run, Nigger, Run: Stepp
Martha Campbell: Gevedon
Old Coon Dog: Gevedon
Liza Jane: Strong
Flop Eared Mule: Baker
Ricketts Hornpipe: Strong
Soldiers Joy: Strong
The Old Hen Cackled: Strong (Strong also recorded Cacklin Hen for Lomax)
Cluck Old Hen: L. Skeens (See above. Titon and some fiddlers distinguish between the poultry
related tunes from the early-twentieth century old-time repertoire. See Titon, 144.)
The Hog went through the Fence: Strong
Black-eyed Susie: Strong
Roll on Buddy (Lyric Song): Strong
Going Down the Road Feeling Bad (Lyric Song): Hoskins
John Henry (African American/Blues Ballad): Hoskins
Fly Around My Blue-eyed Girl/My Pretty Little Miss: Hoskins
Prettiest Little Girl in the Country: G.C. Nicholson
Blue Bonnet: G.C. Nicholson
The Little Stream of Whiskey: L Skeens
The Cherry Tree Carol: L Skeens
Groundhog: Hoskins
The Devils Dream: Setters
Cindy: Howard

Jeff Titons aforementioned book, Old-Time Kentucky Fiddle Tunes, is the best existing treatment of
Kentucky fiddle tunes and features transcriptions and historical plus analytical annotations of the
following tunes from this very collection. I have added here some observations to some of the titles,
based on my preliminary listening and research on these tunes:

Black-eyed Susie: Strong (Key: D major)

Bonyparte (Bonapartes Retreat): Stepp (Key: D major) (The best known of this whole batch
of recordings as Stepps performance was deemed stellar, transcribed by Ruth Seeger and
included in the Lomaxes Our Singing Country, picked up by Aaron Copland as the melodic
basis of his Hoedown in the famous ballet Rodeo. The tune was later also used by the British
progressive rock band Emerson, Lake, and Palmer in their tune Hoedown and used a number
of time on TV commercials. Interestingly, this very popular tune is also played by three other
fiddlers in this collection, each sounding like the familiar versions of this famous melody, even if
sped up by two of the other fiddlersStrong and Asherto a tempo similar to Stepps. The
distinctiveness of Stepps interpretation is most remarkable in the two different interpretations of
the B part, especially in the second go around where he plays the melody an octave higher
against lower string drones, emulating the sound of highland bagpipes. The high melody in that

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part, in Stepps recording, is redolent of the B part melody of Soldiers Joy. It might be noted
that while the tune is often played in D major, this is not the key in which it sounds in these
recordings, where the sounding key in different versions is thusStepp: C major, Strong: D#
major, Asher: Db major; Nicholson: G# major) (Just his one relatively well-scrutinized tune from
this collection suggests there is much more to be gained by digging in deeper.)

Dolly: Stepp (Key: E major) (Interestingly, Titon describes and transcribes it in G major, from
this very recording.)

Glory in the Meeting House: Strong (Key: E major) (Titon describes this as a local tune from
the Kentucky River basin. He describes and transcribes this version in D major.) (The three other
recordings of this title in this collection are: Boyd Asher: Db major; Bev Baker: E major. Titon
mentions that the tune was played in 1919 by Bev Baker at the Berea College fiddle contest.)

Hickory Jack: Strong (Key: E Dorian) (Titon identifies it as a local tune from southeastern KY
coal fields, closely related to another Appalachian tune, The Route)

Hog-Eyed Man: Strong

The Hog Went Through the Fence, Yoke and All: Strong

The Last of Callahan: Strong

The Last of Sizemore: Strong

Piney Ridge: Stepp

Pretty Little Widow: Stepp

Rebels Raid: Stepp

Sweet Susan: Day

Ways of the World: Stepp

Titons notes on some other tunes (transcribed in his book from versions from other recorded
collections) that do also appear in this collection are also useful. These include

Billy in the Low Ground

Cumberland Gap
Leather Breeches
Liza Jane
Martha Campbell
Napoleons Charge (cf. Piney Ridge by W.M. Stepp)
Old Christmas

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Old Hen Cackled

Old Liza Jane
Old Time Billy in the Lowground
Prettiest Little Girl in the County-O
Sally Goodin
Sally in the Garden (Related to Hog-eyed Man)
Sourwood Mountain
Wagoner
Waynesburgh
Wild Horse

Titon also gives brief biographies of three of the fiddlers included here:
Day, James W.
Stepp, William
Strong, Luther

Any researcher interested in local and rarer fiddle tunes and titles may further investigate the remaining
titles in this collection.

BALLAD

Ballads are the best known of Appalachian traditional music genres as well as being historically the
most sought by collectors. Not surprisingly, the ballad rubric subsumes the greatest number of
recordings in the Lomax Collection398 recordings in all.

Following is a list of all the recordings in the order they appear on the website under Browse by Genre:
Ballads. The initial ones by Aunt Molly Jackson feature annotations here that supply some ideas for
perhaps a more elaborate future project focusing on ballads in Depression-era Kentucky.

Katy DoreyAunt Molly Jackson

o See under OSC entries

Omie Wise (2 parts)Aunt Molly Jackson

o Roud 447
o Very popular native American murder ballad
o A version collected from Mrs. Lilian Short was included on AAFS 12. The liner notes by
Duncan Emrich quote Bascam Lamar Lunsford as placing the murder in 1808, in Deep
River, NC.
o Recorded commercially as Naomi Wise by Vernon Dalhart in 1925 and G.B. Grayson
in 1927.

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Archie D. (2 parts)Aunt Molly Jackson

o Alternate title: Lord Saltoun and Auchanachie (Child 239, Roud 102). A Scottish ballad.
o Jacksons version and the variant title and pratagonists name has not been acknowledged
by Waltz and other folk song recording indexes.

The Brisk Young FarmerAunt Molly

o Roud 60, Laws P25
o England, Ireland

The Merchants Son and the Parsons DaughterAunt Molly

o Mountain songaccording to Jackson, who learnt it within her family.
o Narrative and lyrics might be interesting to investigate for overlap with older ballads of
broader circulation.

Lady Nancy (2 parts)Aunt Molly

o Variant of Lady Diamond (Child 269). A number of names have been used for the
protagonist in different versions, including Lady Daisy, Dysie, and Diamond, but Nancy
may not have been common among recognized versions.

The Rich Irish Lady (2 parts)Aunt Molly

o Roud 180, Laws P9
o Alternate titles and related songs: The Fair Damsel from London, Pretty Sally of London,
Sally and Billy
o Possibly related to (but not a variant of) The Brown Girl (Child 295)

The Easter BalladAunt Molly Jackson.

o No further history traceable.

The Ballad of Lazarus (2 parts)Aunt Molly Jackson

o Variant of ballads collected by Child (Dives ad Lazarus, Child 56) and Cecil Sharpe
(Lazarus)
o The lyrics and tunes of a number of related ballads and field recordings appear in The
Traditional Tunes of Child Ballads.

Joseph and MaryAunt Molly Jackson

o Alternate title: The Cherry Tree Carol (Child 54)
o AAFS L14 LP album, with editing and liner notes by Duncam Emrich, featured a version
by Mrs. Maud Long of NC and features a history of the variant lyrics and refers readers
to two sources, Arthur Kyle Daviss Traditional Ballads of Virginia (Harvard University
Press, 1929) and Cecil J. Sharp, Engish Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians
(Oxford University Press, 1932)

Lady Gay (2 parts)Aunt Molly Jackson

o Alternate tittles and related songs: Three Little Babes, The Wife of Ushers Well, mary
Hebrew, The Wife of the Free, The Lady from the North Country
o Child 79

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o Other versions in this collection: Hulda Roberts, Arthur Williams, Mrs. Cottongim/Bill
Bundy, Nancy Boggs, and Alan Lomax himself.
o Inside Bluegrass, October 1997, published a history by Lyle Lofgren, available online at:
http://www.lizlyle.lofgrens.org/RmOlSngs/RTOS-ThreeBabes.html
o Other field recorded versions can be found online at Missouri State Universitys Max
Hunter Collection.

The White Pilgrim (#2)Aunt Molly Jackson

o Alternate title: The Lone Pilgrim
o Roud 2841
o Song appeared in The Sacred Harp. Author: Rev. Jonathan Ellis, music B.F. White
(borrowing melody from Lily Dale). Further details: Waltz at csufresno.edu.
o Jackson calls it her grandfathers and fathers favorite song, sung for long in her family.
At the end, Jackson relates the tale of the lone pilgrims death of a contagion.

Lonesome DoveAunt Molly Jackson

o Alternate title: The Little Dove
o Earliest publication: The Social Harp (1855).
o Jackson talks after the song about the origins in the mountains and offers that it was
never sung in church.
o Lomax included it on the AFS L2 LP in 1942, and wrote this in his liner notes, Due to
this prohibition against ballads and love songs (by the church), the church fol created
narrative and lyric songs for themselves, using many of the old secular tunes, but
developing texts of proper religious content. Aunt Mollys Little Dove belongs to this
class of songs. It is a love song which could be and was sung before the fireplaces of
respectable religious families.
o Also collected by Alan Lomax in 1959 from Almeda Riddle.

Jimmy Randall (2 parts)Aunt Molly Jackson

o Ballad about a shooting accident
o Jackson recounts that her father said the song was meant as warning to young people
handling guns.
o The famous Child Ballad Lord Randall (Child 12) also goes by Jimmy Randall and is
a different song (it is famous for inspiring Bob Dylans Hard Rain).

The Orphan Girl (2 parts)Aunt Molly Jackson

o Addressed with songs included in OSC, where it appears as The Coal Miners Child

Dog and Gun (2 parts; with commentary on ballads in the mountains)Aunt Molly Jackson
o Alternate titles and related songs: The Golden Glove
o Roud 141; Laws N20
o Lomax asks about why mountain singers sang about lords and ladies, and Jackson talks
about a preference for local lyrics. She also talks about English themes and Old World
texts.

Farewell, Sweet JaneAunt Molly Jackson

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Sweet Irene (2 parts)Aunt Molly Jackson

The Brisk Young SoldierAunt Molly Jackson
Lady Margaret and Sweet William (2 parts)Aunt Molly Jackson

The Soldier and the Lady (2 parts)

Kentucky Soldier
The Texas Rangers (part 1)
Flora Dean
Wild Bill Jones
The Dishonest Miller
The Brisk Young Farmer
Old Shoe Boots and Leggins
Lady Claire (2 parts)
Coal Creek Disaster
The Death of Harry Simms
Lord Lovel
The Lady of Carlisle
Rowan County Crew
Rowan County Trouble (2 parts)
Fair Charlotte (# 1 and 2)
The Two Brothers
The House Carpenter (3 parts)
Johnny Just from the Sea (2 parts)
Early, Early in the Spring (#1 and 2)
The Lady of Carlisle (#1 and 2)
When the Works All Done this Fall (#1 and 2)
William and Nancy
On the Banks of Sweet Dundee (2 parts)
Come All You Roving Cowboys
As I Was Walking One May, May Morn
The Lightning Express
The Butchers Boy (2 parts)
I Once was a Rich and Gambling Boy
Pearl Bryant
The House Carpenter
The Lakes of Pontchartrain
Texas Rangers
Rowan County Trouble
Erins Green Shore
The Ballad of Old Hustlecap
The Girl I Left Behind (2 parts)
The Romish Lady
The Two Soldiers (2 parts)
Barbara Allen

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Lord Bateman
Golden Glove (#1 and 2)
Since you have Disdained me, Ill Cross the Briny Sea
Lord Bateman (2 parts)
Loving Henry (2 parts)
The Cherry Tree Carol
The Butchers Boy
I First came to this Country in 1865
Harvey Logan
The Brown Girl
Fair Florella
The Weeping Willow Tree (2 parts)
The Murder of Virgil Gibson
The Butchers Boy (2 parts)
Hiram Hubbard
Fair Florella
Hiram Hubbard (#1 and 2)
Lady Gay
John McCardner
As I Went Out for a Ramble
The Knoxville Girl
Barbara Allen
Henry of Knoxville
The Bailiffs Daughter of Islington
The Wreck on the Somerset Road (2 parts)
The Golden Willow Tree (2 parts)
The Harlan County Blues
Jake Leg Blues
Darling Cora (2 parts)
The Gambling Man
The J.B. Marcum Song (#1 and 2)
When I First Came to this Country in 1865
The Wife Wrapt in Wethers Skin
Lovely Nancy
Spruce Pine Hog Song
Uncle Hardy Lige Morgans Hog Song
The Wife Wrapt in Wehters Skin
Ive Rambled this Country Both Early and Late
The Brown Girl
Johnnys on the Sea (2 parts) (#1 and 2) (Total=3)
Sweet Islands Hill (2 parts)
Lady Margaret and Sweet William (2 parts)
The Blind Child
Lady Gay

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Loving Henry
Poison in a Glass of Wine
The Brisk Young Soldier
Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor
The Two Sisters
The Two Sisters (2 parts)
John Reilly
Lady Margaret and Sweet William
The Murder of George Thompson
Swafford Branch Stills
The Peanut Farm
The Death of Mary Jane Martin
Six Kings Daughters
Rowan County Trouble
The Romish Lady
The Knoxville Girl (2 parts)
Barbara Allen (2 parts)
The Little Mohee (2 parts)
Poison in a Glass of Wine
Omie Wise
Charming Beauty Bright
Loving Henry
The Cruel Mother (2 parts)
The Lady Leroy (2 fragments)
Poison in a Glass of Wine
Pretty Polly
The Cowgirl
The Wreck of Old Number Nine
Bert Martin, Moonshiner
The Little Mohee
The Silver Dagger
Im Going Out to the City
Poor Little Joe
Pearl Bryant
Lady Gay
When I First Came to this Country
Lady Margaret and Sweet Williams (3 parts)
Lord Daniel (2 parts)
Pretty Fair Maid in the Garden
The Wife Wrapt in Wehthers Skin
Pretty Saro
Lady Margaret and Sweet William
Green Grows the Laurel
Loving Nancy (2 parts)

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The Cruel Brothers

John Reilly
Loving Nancy/Pretty Saro
On Springfield Mountain
The Cherry Tree Carol
John Hardy
Sam Bass
Wild and Wreckless Hobo
The Wild and Wreckless Motorman
Texas Rangers
Loving Henry
Lula Viers
Willie Moore (2 parts)
Lord Daniel
Pretty Fair Maid in the Garden
Letcher County Burglar
Blue Denim Blues
The Adkins Song
The J.B. Marcum Song
The Blind Child
John Hardy (2 parts)
Little Son Hugh
The Death of Dewey Lee
Lord Daniel (2 parts)
Barbara Allen
The Orphan Child
The Butchers Boy
Pretty Polly
Lock and Bolts (2 parts)
The Driver Boy
I am a Poor Stranger
I am a Man of Pleasure
Once I Courted a Fair Beauty Bright
Most Fair Beauty Bright
I am a Wild and Wicked Youth
The Girl I Left Behind
Erins Green Shore
The Lily of the West
Lord Bateman
The Hanging of Ed Helkins
Joe Bowers
The Mermaid
The Drunkards Dream
The Miners Death

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The Death of Junior Ray (2 parts)

The Kentucky Flood (2 parts)
The Orphan Girl
The Death of Grandma Ray
The Loss of Lindberghs Son
Little Musgrave
The Knoxville Girl
The Butchers Boy
Wedding Bells (3 parts)
Little Sir Hugh
Pretty Polly (2 parts)
Lady Isabel and the Elfin Knight
Little Margaret and Sweet William
Little Sir Hugh
Lady Gay (2 parts)
Will the Weaver
Lady Margaret and Sweet William (2 parts)
Pretty Polly
The Titanic
The Golden Vanity
East Bound Train
Little Mary Phagin
Lady Isabel and the Elfin Knight
Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor
Pretty Polly
Barbara Allen
Two Orphans
Little Bessie (2 parts)
Knoxville Girl
Omie Wise (2 parts)
The Hanging of Buford Overton
The Murder of the Peddler and his Wife
Lovers Warning
Wild Bill Jones
Rose Connelly
John De Troy
The Niagara Falls
The Wild and Wreckless Motorman
Knoxville Girl
Jack was a Lonesome Cowboy
Knoxville Girl
State of Arkansas
The Lindbergh Baby
The F.F.V.

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Henry Lee
Floyd Frazier
The Burglar and the Old Maid
George Collins
The Maid Freed from the Gallows (2 parts)
True and Faithful Brakeman
Scott Jackson and Pearl Bryant
Jackie Frazier
The False Young Man (2 parts)
Barbara Allen
John Reilly
Sweetheart in the Army
Barbara Allen
Mary on the Wild Moor
The Quakers Courtship
Pretty Fair Miss All in Her Garden
Omie Wise
The Dying Cowboy
Fair Lander
The Little Pig
Jimmy Randall
Sidney Allen
Kenny Wagners Surrender
John de Troy
The Little Mohee
Wild Bill Jones
Silver Dagger
Bobby Shaftoe
The Ship that Never Returned
The Dying Cowboy
Two Little Orphans
Dream of the Miners Child
Barbara Allen
Waiting for a Train
Wild and Reckless Hobo (2 parts)
Rowan County Crew
The California Earthquake
The Drunken Driver
Lady Gay
The White Slave
One More Trip, Said the Sleepy-headed Driver
The Ballad of John Catchings (2 parts)
The Death of Harry Simms
East Ohio Miners Strike

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The Kentucky Miners Dreadful Fate

The House Carpenter
The Knoxville Girl
The House Carpenter
Poor Ellen Smith
Pearl Bryant
The Lightening Express
The Death of Mrs. Broughton
The Boston Burglar
Pretty Polly (#1 and 2)
Naomi Wise
The Soldiers Sweetheart
Pearl Bryant
The Knoxville Girl
The Widows Daughter (#1 and 2)
Sweet Betsy from Pike
The Butchers Boy
The Titanic
Pretty Polly
The Wounded Soldier
Coal Creek Troubles
Pearl Bryant
The Rowan County Troubles
The Assassination of Governor Goebel
Joseph and Mary
Katy Dorey
Lady Margaret and Sweet William
John Henry
Will Bill Jones
The Butchers Boy
Come All You Fair and Handsome Girls
Joe Bowers
The Little Mohee
The State of Arkansas
The Boston Burglar
The Beauty Bright
The Blind Girl
The Orphan Girl
The Outlandish Knight
The Brown Girl
Omie Wise
Barbara Allen
Pretty Polly
Poor Ellen Smith

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Lord Bateman (2 parts)

The House Carpenter
One Morning in May

Additional Berea College Sound Archives Resources:

Long Playing Records:

Folk Music of the United States. A multi-record anthology from the Archive of Folk Song at the Library
of Congress, compiled from various field recordings and issued by genre. The following LPs available at
Berea College feature recordings from the 1930s Lomax recordings in Kentucky.

AAFS L1. Folk Music of the United States: Anglo-American Ballads from the Archive of American Folk
Song. Edited by Alan Lomax. Includes The Lady of Carlisle by Basil May from the Lomax KY
Collection. It features extensive liner notes on the origins of the ballad, adapted from the writing of
folklorists H.G. Shearing and G.L. Kittredge. The notes also feature a brief discussion of the effect of
the introduction of the guitar and of basic tonal harmony on the previously unaccompanied ballads. I
also had found this effect one of the most striking elements, even of the a capella singing in this
collectionvocal melodies largely align with guiding chordal harmony, even when no instrument is
present.

AAFS L2. Anglo American Shanties, Lyric Songs, Dance Tunes and Spirituals, From the Archive of
Folk Song. Edited by Alan Lomax. Includes Pay Day at Coal Creek and Coal Creek March by Pete
Steele, both part of the Lomax KY Collection. Also from LKC, includes Little Dove and Ten
Thousand Miles by Aunt Molly Jackson and three fiddle tunes by Luther StrongThe Last of
Callahan, The Ways of the World, and Glory in the Meeting House.

AAFS L12. Folk Music of the United States: Anglo-American Songs and Ballads from the Archive of
American Folk Song. Edited by Duncan B.M. Emrich. Includes later versions of some songs also
included in LKC. These include Lord Bateman, Naomi Wise, Froggie Went A-Courtin, Rolly
Trudum, Sourwood Mountain, and Our Goodman.

AFS L57. Folk Music of the United States: Child Ballads Traditional in the United States (I) from the
Archive of Folk Song. Edited by Bertrand H. Bronson. Includes Bangum and the Boar (Child No. 18)
sung by G.D. Vowell; Lord Bateman (Child No. 53) and (The Ballad of) Lazarus sung by Aunt
Molly Jackson; and The Cherry Tree Carol (Child No. 54) sung by Mrs. Lee Skeens. (Note: The
Lomaxky.omeka website has a fiddle instrumental under that title, date, and performer. Perhaps an
erroneous annotation?) LP comes with liner notes booklet with lyrics and commentary on each ballad
included.

AFS L58. Folk Music of the United States: Child Ballads Traditional in the United States (II) from the
Archive of Folk Song. Edited by Bertrand H. Bronson. Includes The Ship Carpenter (Child No 243)
(the title of the same recording on Lomaxky website is The House Carpenter) by Clay Walters and
The Golden Willow Tree (Child No. 286) by Jimmy Morris.

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AFS L62. Folk Music of the United States: American Fiddle Tunes from the Archive of Folk Song.
Edited by Alan Jabbour. Includes W. M. Stepps Bonapartes Retreat, The Drunken Hiccups, Run,
Nigger, Run, and The Ways of the World; and Luther Strongs The Hog-Eyed Man, Ricketts
Hornpipe, and Cumberland Gap. LP does not include a booklet of liner notes.

Some other resources:

Harrod, John. Kentucky Muse: Where the Fiddle Reigns Supreme. One Music Lovers Perspective on
the Mountain Music Gatherin. Available at www.ket.org/muse/mountainmusic/music.htm.
Fiddler and Rhodes scholar Herrods brief essay on Kentucky Fiddling and Old Time music
revival, specifically in relation to the J.P Fraley Family Mountain Music Festival, held since early 1970s
in Carter Caves State Park in Northeastern KY. The page also provides a short list of renowned KY old-
time musicians.

Other Resources:

CHECKLIST OF RECORDED SONGS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN THE

ARCHIVE OF AMERICAN FOLK SONG TO JULY, 1940. Available as pdf at:

http://traildriver.com/web%20content/projects/folklore/loc%201940%20checklists/kentucky%20checkli
st.pdf

Keefer, Jane. Folk Music: An Index to Recorded and Print Resources.

http://www.ibiblio.org/folkindex : A good number of folk and country music based commercial
recordings of folk music.

APPENDIX

Abbreviations:

AFS: Archive of Folk Song (at the Library of Congress)

LKC: Lomax Kentucky Collection

LOC: The Library of Congress

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