Betty Smith, on her Folk-Legacy cassette (C-53), has a very nice rendition of Lizzie Roberts' version of "Black is the Color". Cecil Sharp collected Roberts' version in Madison County, North Carolina. Today, another ballad singer (seventh generation!) from Madison County carries on this tradition. Her name is Sheila Kay Adams. I heard her sing "Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair" at the Swannanoa Gathering a few weeks ago, and it was powerful! Sheila is the grand-niece of Dellie Norton, whose version I posted earlier. While Sheila learned many of her songs from her "Granny Dell", she learned "Black is the Color" from Evelyn Ramsey. You can hear Sheila sing this song on her first recording "Loving Forward, Loving Back". And you can see/hear her sing part of it (as Sheila Barnhill) on Alan Lomax's "Appalachian Journey" video. Find out more about Sheila and her music on her website Sheila Kay Adams. Here are the lyrics to her version:
BLACK IS THE COLOR OF MY TRUE LOVE'S HAIR
Black is the color of my true love's hair.
His face is like some rosy fair,
With the prettiest face and the neatest hands,
I love the ground whereon he stands.
I love my love and well he knows,
I love the ground whereon he goes.
If you no more on earth I see,
I can't serve you as you have me.
The winter's past and the leaves are green.
The time is past that we have seen.
Still I hope the day will come,
When you and I shall be as one.
I go to the Clyde for to mourn and weep.
But satisfied I never could sleep.
I'll write for you a few short lines,
And I'd suffer death ten thousand times.
So fare thee well, my own true love.
The time has passed, but I wish you well.
Still I hope the day will come,
When you and I shall be as one.
I love my love and well he knows,
I love the ground whereon he goes.
If you no more on earth I see,
I can't serve you as you have me.
Another traditional ballad singer, from Lenoir, North Carolina, is Bobby McMillon. He sings a very interesting version of "Black is the Color" on his recording "A Deeper Feeling" from Ivy Creek Recordings (ICR 401). Bobby learned a lot of his songs from his Maw Maw Phillips of Cosby, Tennessee. He was also influenced by all the folks over in Sodom, in Madison County, such as the Wallins and the Chandlers and Dellie Norton. Bobby is a close friend of Sheila Kay Adams. Here is his version:
DARK IS THE COLOR OF MY TRUE LOVE'S HAIR
Dark is the color of my true love's hair,
Her home is on some island fair.
The sweetest face and the neatest hands,
I love the ground whereon she stands.
It's I love my love and well she knows.
I love the ground whereon she goes.
If you no more on earth I see,
It's I wouldn't serve you like you have me.
The winter's past and the leaves are green.
The time has past that we have been,
But yet I hope the time will come,
When you and I shall be as one.
I go to cry, for to moan and weep,
But satisfied I never can sleep.
It you no more on earth I see,
It's I wouldn't serve you as you have me.
The pain of love no tongue can tell,
No heart can think no mind can sell.
But I'll tell you in a few short lines,
It's worse than death ten thousand times.
So fare you well, I'd rather make,
My home upon some icy lake,
Where the southern sun refused to shine,
Then trusting love as false as thine.
Bobby has some interesting variations with regard to lyrics, and his tune is a little different, too. He says "this song has two different tunes, one in a minor key and theother in a major key." Bobby is a ballad singer worth finding out about. Sheila says "he's the walking encyclopedia of all things Appalachian" and "he knows more than 800 of the old love songs (ballads)".