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User Name	Thread Name	Subject	Posted
GUEST,John Bari	Origins: You Got to Walk That Lonesome Valley (28)	RE: Origins: You Got to Walk That Lonesome Valley	09 Oct 21
I've been reading that the first published version of the song was “I Must Walk My Lonesome Valley,” appearing in Folk Song of the American Negro by John Wesley Work, 1907. First recording was sung by The Jenkins Family on Okeh Records, 1925. Apparently, Pete Seeger and the Guthries got their more well known version from - (or from a similar source as) - Mississippi John Hurt. But Hurt did not do one of the early recordings of the song. Rather he appeared on an episode of Pete Seeger's short-lived but influential television series in 1965 and laid it down then. The many versions of the song all seem to be fairly similar, but with minor changes of pronouns, etc., and slightly different degrees of emphasis or de-emphasis of Christian imagery. Reproduction of the 1907 book is here - https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b11858da2772cf01402ee6e/t/5babcec4eef1a1d9fb910bd3/1537986255103/Fisk-FolkSongoftheAmericanNegro-1915.pdf Enlightening discussion is here - http://jopiepopie.blogspot.com/2014/01/that-lonesome-valley-1925-cant-you-hear.html

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