The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #37548   Message #684310
Posted By: toadfrog
06-Apr-02 - 12:41 AM
Thread Name: What is a Shanty
Subject: RE: What is a Shanty
Chanteyranger: Some of the chanteys also found their way into bluegrass or old-time music. The NLCR did one called "Old Johnny Booker," of which another version can be found on Forum. It seems to combine two chanteys, one of them being Johnny Boker and the other being Dead Horse. The Ramblers' version starts out:

There was an young man and he went to school
And he made his living by drivin' a mule,

And a what, Johnny Booker, won't you do, do, do,
And a what, Johnny Booker won't you do?


A poor old man come ridin' by,
And he says, "Young man, your mule's a gonna die,

And a what, Johnny Booker, won't you do, do, do,
And a what, Johnny Booker won't you do?


Etc. The other one I had noticed is "Hold the Woodpile Down." That one has already got a thread of its very own, so I'll say no more.