Lyr: Sail Away Ladies (Don't You Rock Me, Daddy-o)

Subject: Sail Away Ladies/Dn't you rock me, daddy
From: Azizi
Date: 28 Jun 07 - 09:42 PM

The thread thread.cfm?threadid=78602&messages=36 "Review: Joe Brown: Don't You Rock me Daddio" prompted me to go looking for Mudcat threads & posts about the song "Sail Away Ladies" {with its chorus "Don't you rock me daddy-o"}.

By using the Lyrics & Knowledge Search box, I found some posts about "Sail Away Ladies". But I didn't find a thread that focused on that song.*

I'm starting this thread as an opportunity to post versions, information, memories, and other thoughts about or related to this song.

If you feel so inclined, please join in this discussion.


*If such a thread already exist, please post a link.

Also, I was unable to write the title that I felt would help folks more easily find a discussion about this song. The title that I wanted for this thread is Sail Away Ladies {Don't You Rock Me, Daddy-o}. Would a Mudcat moderator edit the title to so that all these words would fit?

Thanks!

Subject: RE: Sail Away Ladies/Dn't you rock me, daddy
From: Azizi
Date: 28 Jun 07 - 10:04 PM

To cite some of the Mudcat references to this song that I've found, the Digital Tradition example of Sail Away, Ladies can be found by clicking on @displaysong.cfm?SongID=5126

-snip-

In 1998 Wolfgang shared the lyrics he found to the song Sally Anne which includes the chorus Sail Away, Ladies : thread.cfm?threadid=10199#69057 Lyr Req: Sally Ann (tune: Sail Away Ladies).


A fragment of "Sail Away, Ladies, is found in this 30 Mar 01 - 07:52 PM post by CRANKY YANKEE thread.cfm?threadid=32569#429670 .

The pertinent excerpt of that post is "The chorus to "Sail away Ladies Sail Away" is, DON'T SHE ROCK, DADDY OH, DON;T SHE ROCK DADDY OH, DON;T SHE ROCK DADDY OH, DON'T SHE ROCK DADDY OH. The chanteyman sings, "Don't she Rock?" and the sailors respond with, "Daddy oh" It's one of my favorites."

And in 2003 Bee-dubya-ell posted another verse to that song in this thread: thread.cfm?threadid=64643#1061599 RE: Songs about INCEST. {though I'm not sure that that particular verse is actually about incest}...

Subject: RE: Sail Away Ladies (Don't You Rock Me, Daddy-o)
From: Azizi
Date: 28 Jun 07 - 10:43 PM

My first {or at least most influential} introduction to folk music-beyond children's rhymes and African American spirituals & gospel songs-was an Odetta album that my high school history teacher gave me around about 1964.

Even before I listened to that record, I was impressed by the photo on the album's cover of a brown skinned afro-wearing Black woman. Afros {wide or closely cropped "Black people's hair" worn without any chemical or heat treatment to straighten its tight curls} was a new style in those days. About three years later, I got up the nerve to have my shoulder length hair cut and wear it in an afro style. I've worn my hair in an afro style ever since {though I started out with an Angela Davis wide afro look, and now wear my hair short but not as short as I remember Odetta wearing her 'fro.}

One of the songs that I remember Odetta singing on that album my teacher gave me was "Sail, Away Ladies". I loved that song then. I love it still.

Odetta's version is quite similar but not exactly the same as the version found in Mudcat's Digital Tradition.

http://www.ibiblio.org/jimmy/folkden-wp/?m=199909 "McGuinn's Folk Den » 1999 » September" has an Mp3, the lyrics, and commentary about Odetta's performance of this song "in the mid '50s in the Gate of Horn, Chicago".

In Odetta's version {or at least in this one that McGuinn remembers, the chorus is "Don't you rock 'em die-de-o"

"Die-de-o" ist is probably a regional pronunciation for "daddy-o".

I checked out YouTube to see if anyone had posted a video of Odetta singing "Sail Away, Ladies". No such luck.

But YouTube had what I consider to be a VERY creative rendition of this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deU6sio56BQ

Added: January 26, 2007; From: risingappalachia
"live warehouse show at Ghost Town Studios in Swannanoa, North Carolina"

Subject: RE: Sail Away Ladies (Don't You Rock Me, Daddy-o)
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 28 Jun 07 - 10:51 PM

ANZZI!>p?

Consider teaching summer school -

Girl - Yo got too much thyme on yo hans.

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

Subject: RE: Sail Away Ladies (Don't You Rock Me, Daddy-o)
From: Azizi
Date: 28 Jun 07 - 11:46 PM

Thanks, Mudcat moderator for fixing the title. I appreciate it.

**

Somewhat off-topic:

Gargoyle, thanks for your suggestion. I'd love to teach for the summer {and fall, and winter, and spring}...But unfortunately, I'm not doing that at this time. Who knows what will happen in the future?

But as to spending time starting threads and posting comments on Mudcat, here's what I think :

"The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste
The United Negro College Fund used the slogan "Your Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste" for years. Because the slogan is used to solicit support for Historically Black Colleges or encourage a college education for African-Americans, many of us may fail to see the significance of the slogan in our daily lives.

Think for a minute, when was the last time you did something to stimulate or grow your mind. More often than not, we perform routine activities which do not require new knowledge nor engage our thought processes. Unfortunately, many of us will dream and will never go beyond dreaming. Few will enlarge their thinking....

Another way we waste our minds is not feeding it with new ideas. Example: failing to read a variety of books or conducting research on a familiar topic or hobby. You will be amazed at what you can learn by staying current on your hobby. We expect our doctors to stay up-to-date. The mind must be stimulated and trained to grow..."

Copyright © 2007 Badd Girl Training, Inc

http://www.submityourarticle.com/articles/Dorothy-Duncan-2183/self-improvement-16398.php


-snip-

Don't start me to lyin as to why it's called "Badd Girl Training".

:o)

But my point is that I spend time thinking about these topics not only because I wanna, and I can, but because it's something that I enjoy doing.

I'd love it if people here were interested in the threads I start and would join these discussion since that adds to the learning and the enjoyable experience. But if not, so be it.

Maybe some folks who aren't posting or lurking on Mudcat now will find this thread at some point in time. Perhaps they will add their comments to this thread, and/or find some resources mentioned in it of interest or helpful to them in some way.

If so {to paraphrase one of my favorite church songs} "then my posting will not be in vain".

But if nobody else but me finds this thread or threads such as this one that I start to be of interest to them, then that's life. I'm learning from it. I'm taking pleasure in the information that I find {and when I find wonderful video clips such as the one I posted above that's an extra added bonus}. And as long as I don't abuse Max's forum by starting multiple threads at one time, then I think I'm cool and the gang {as the Hip-Hoppers probably don't say but as I say}.

Subject: RE: Sail Away Ladies (Don't You Rock Me, Daddy-o)
From: Azizi
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 07:59 AM

Thanks also to Mudcat moderations for listing those other threads on this song, especially "Origin: Sail Away Ladies".

If I had found those threads through the Lyrics & Knowledge search engine or by looking through my previous posts {where I would have found the comments I made on the "Origin: Sail Away, Ladies" thread, I probably wouldn't have started this thread.

But I still believe that this title makes it easier for people who are familiar and unfamiliar with Mudcat to find discussion about this song.

Also, if I hadn't started this thread, I may not have found that YouTube version by the risingappalachia. So, I'm glad I leaped before I looked {though I did indeed look before I leaped}.

Subject: RE: Sail Away Ladies (Don't You Rock Me, Daddy-o)
From: Azizi
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 08:58 AM

Here's a 2005 post from Joe Offer about the song "Sail Away Ladies" that was published in The Traditional Ballad Index:

thread.cfm?threadid=84871#1569679 "RE: Lyr Req: Sail Away Ladies . . ."

Here's a brief excerpt:
"DESCRIPTION: Dance tune with floating verses: "Ever I get my new house done/Sail away, ladies, sail away/Give the old one to my son/Sail away...." "Don't you worry, don't you cry... You'll be angels by and by" Etc. "Chorus: "Don't'ye rock 'em, di-de-o (x3 or x4)".
AUTHOR: Words assembled by Uncle Dave Macon"

**

In the beginning post of the "Origins: Sail Away Ladies" thread on Dec 31, 2006, Richie notes that "It seems the first version of Sail Away Ladies is found in Talley's Negro Folk Rymes". Though Richie gave 1920 as that book's publication date, it was actually 1922.

In that same thread Ritchie shared the lyrics to a version of Sail Away Lady that was recorded by Van Morrison.

thread.cfm?threadid=97649#1923684

Ritchie indicated that he got those words from an online site.

I found that site {or another similar one}. Here's that link:

http://www.bluelyrics.net/v/van_morrison_lyrics/dont_you_rock_me_daddio_lyrics.html

I want to focus on Van Morrison's and others' indication that this song is "traditional".

I don't dispute the fact that this song is traditional. But "traditional to whom?" Or what kind of traditional?" If the citation was given that this is a traditional American {meaning UnitedStater} song, I would further ask, from which population or populations did this song come.

It seems to me that the origins of this "traditional" tune is likely to have been African Americans.

**
In one of those other threads listed above I saw some mention of this song coming from ministrel traditions. And in the description of a YouTube clip in which fiddlers played this tune, the writer describes "Sail Away, Ladies" as a bluegrass tune.

All of these descriptors can be correct at the same time. However, given the fact that there were Black "blackfaced" minstrels, and that White "blackfaced" ministrels lifted much of their material from Black people, and given the fact that bluegrass music owes a huge debt to 19th century Black secular dance music, it seems to me that failure to mention the probable Black roots of this song in folk music indexes and summaries is to do a great disservice to this song's creators.

I believe that Black folks have to do a better job of claiming and reclaiming our heritage.

Since the 1980s, the Ghanaian Akan adinkra symbol "Sankofa" has joined the Egyptian "ankh" and Akan "kente cloth" as a widely used pictograph that represents African American pride in African culture. Since the 1980s, "Sankofa" has also been used as the name for all kind of afrocentric African American cultural, community, and arts groups. Sankofa is a symbol of the importance of learning from the past. In one of its picture forms, Sankofa is shown as a bird who is facing forward but whose head is turned backwards. This is an illustration for the proverb that is often given as "It is never to late to go back and claim it". http://www.welltempered.net/adinkra/htmls/adinkra/sank.htm

-snip-

I take this charge seriously because I grew up in a time when all kind of folks denied that Black people created anything of value, or all kind of folks limited African Americans musical creative products during the centuries of slavery to spirituals.

Some people {who are non-Black and who are Black} still believe that to this day...

Subject: RE: Sail Away Ladies (Don't You Rock Me, Daddy-o)
From: GUEST,Pete Peterson
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 11:17 AM

Azizi, thanks for reminding me that the first time I heard this song was Odetta's singing. (Was that the LP "Odetta and Larry?" Joen Baez covered the Odettta arrangement exactly. It was some years later that I heard Uncle Dave's ur-text and years later that I found out that he had more or less put it together from floating rhymes that he had heard from blacks while growing up. I like whoever used that verb "Words ASSEMBLED by Uncle Dave"

Uncle Dave, David Harrison Macon. is an Interesting Character. Born 1870, son of a Confederate officer who ran a boardinghouse/hotel; he was one of the best banjo-playing entertainers of all time. His music so clearly shows the black influences that Jon Pankake quotes a story of an elderly black man in the 1940s (remember, the Opry is radio only!) on being told that DeFord Bailey was the only black on the Grand Ole Opry, said, indignantly, "What about Uncle Dave?" Since we have such fragmentary records of what black people were singing and playing in those years (and thanks to Talley for giving us all that he found!) much of what we know is filtered through Dave Macon.

Subject: RE: Sail Away Ladies (Don't You Rock Me, Daddy-o)
From: Greg B
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 11:33 AM

Kellett, Epstein, and Ciccone recorded a really cool version of
this song which, for some reason, made me think of the Andrews
Sisters (in a good way).

Subject: RE: Sail Away Ladies (Don't You Rock Me, Daddy-o)
From: Greg B
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 11:33 AM

That's Kallet, of course, as in 'Cindy'

Subject: RE: Sail Away Ladies (Don't You Rock Me, Daddy-o)
From: Stewie
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 10:21 PM

Here is the entry from Fiddler's Companion site:

SAIL AWAY LADIES [1A]. Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; Kentucky, Tennessee. G Major. Standard. ABB (Brody, Ford): AABB (Spandaro): AABBCC (Phillips). The tune is related to the numerous versions of "Sally Ann" played in the keys of A and G Major. According to Guthrie Meade (1980), the tune is identified with the south central Kentucky and middle Tennessee locals. The title also appears in a list of the standard tunes in the square dance fiddler's repertoire, according to A.B. Moore in his 1934 book "History of Alabama." Southern Kentucky fiddler Henry L. Bandy recorded the tune for Gennett in 1928, though it was unissued, however, the earlest recordings were Uncle Bunt Stevens (1926-without words) and Uncle Dave Macon (1927-with words). Paul Wells (Middle Tennessee State University) states that the song was collected around the turn of the 20th century and seems to have been common to both black and white traditions. Tom Paley (former New Lost City Ramblers member) believes the verses of "Sail Away Ladies" to be typical floating verses, and go:
***
If ever I get my new house done,
(I'll) give my old one to my son.
***
Children, don't you grieve and cry.
You'll be angels, bye and bye.
***
Come along, girls, and go with me.
We'll go back to Tennessee.
***
(I) got the news from Shallow (or "Charlotte") Town.
Big St. Louis is a-burning down.
***
I chew my tobacco and I spit my juice.
I love my own daughter but it ain't no use.
(Paul Mitchell and others believe the words in Macon's last line sometimes heard as own daughter is really Dona, pronounced Dough-nee in the American South, a Spanish/Italian word for a mature love object, a woman.).
***
Another version of this last couplet goes:
***
I chew my tobacker and I swaller my juice
Sail away, ladies, sail away.
I'd like to go to Heaven, but it ain't no use.
Sail away, ladies, sail away.
***
African-American collector Thomas Talley, writing in his book Negro Folk Rhymes (reprinted in 1991, edited by Charles Wolfe), printed a similar but different text:
***
Sail away, ladies! Sail away!
Sail away, ladies! Sail away!
Nev' min' what dem white folks say,
May de Mighty bless you. Sail away!
***
Nev' min' what you daddy say,
Shake yo liddle foot an' fly away,
Nev' min' if yo' mammy say:
"De Devil'll git you." Sail away!
***
Kentucky fiddler H.L. Bandy sang the following lyric to "Sail Away Ladies", usually associated with the tune "Old Miss Sally":
***
I asked that girl to be my beau
She hacked at me with a garden hoe
***
I asked that girl to be my wife,
She took at me with a butcher knife
***
Uncle Dave Macon also included a chorus which went, "Don't she rock, Die-Dee-Oh?" but Paley notes that other old recordings have variants like "Don't she rock, Darneo?" and even "Don't she rock 'em, Daddy-O?" (which seems to harken to the beatnik era). Some unknown "revival" wag re-interpreted Macon's lines as:
***
Don't sheetrock the patio (x3)
Sail away, ladies, sail away
***
Wolfe (1991) finds the song in several older collections: Brown (1:153), Brewer (165) and a 1903 collection by William W. Newell, Games and Songs of American Children (170). It also appears in a modern collection of African-American songs and games, Jones and Hawes's Step It Down (174, as "Horse and Buggy"). Sources for notated versions: Highwoods String Band (N.Y.) [Brody]: Uncle Bunt Stevens (Tenn.) [Phillips, Spandaro]. See Journal of the Society for Ethnomusicology, #1, 1968; Linda Burman - "The Technique of Variation in an American Fiddle Tune (Sail Away Lady)." Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 241. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 35. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 1, 1994; pg. 207. Spandaro (10 Cents a Dance), 1980; pg. 32. Columbia 15071-D (78 RPM), "Uncle Bunt Stevens" (Tenn.) {1926}. County 521, "Uncle Dave Macon: Original Recordings 1925-1935." Folkways FA 2395, New Lost City Ramblers- "Vol. 5." Folkways FA-2951, Uncle Bunt Stevens - "Anthology of American Folk Music, Vol. 2, Social Music" (1952). Gennet Records, Master #14361, Henry L. Bandy (1928. Not released). Kicking Mule 213, Susan Cahill- "Southern Clawhammer Banjo." Morning Star 45004, H.L. Bandy (southern Ky.) - "Wish I Had My Time Again." Rounder 0074, Highwoods String Band- "No. 3 Special" (1976. Learned from Uncle Dave Macon's recording). Rounder 0193, Rodney Miller - "Airplang" (1985). Vocalation 5155 (78 RPM), Uncle Dave Macon (1927).
T:Sail Away Ladies
L:1/8
M:4/4
K:G
g2ga g2d2 | e3d e4 | g2g2 edB2 | d6 d2 | e2ed B2G2 | A3G G4 | B2BE D2E2 | G3G G4 :|
|: B2BG A2G2 | B3A G4 | B2GE D2E2 | G3G G4 :|

SAIL AWAY LADIES [1B]. Old-Time, Bluegrass; Breakdown. USA. G Major. Standard. AAB (Phillips): AABB (Brody). See also the related tune "Sally Ann." Source for notated version: Kenny Baker [Brody, Phillips]. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 242. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 1, 1994; pg. 207. County 730, Kenny Baker- "Baker's Dozen." County 705, Otis Burris- "Virginia Breakdown" (Brody's version '1C').

SAIL AWAY LADIES [1C]. Old-Time, Breakdown. USA, Oklahoma. G Major. Standard. AAB. Source for notated version: W.S. Collins (Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma) [Thede]. Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; pg. 95.

SAIL AWAY LADIES [2]. Old-Time, Breakdown. USA, Kentucky. G Major. Standard. AABB. Little relation to "Sail Away Ladies" [1], the tune that usually goes by this title. Some have suggested that the tune may be related to Ed Haley's "Indian Ate a/the Woodchuck," but others do not hear the resemblance. Source for notated version: J.P. Fraley (Rush, Ky.), learned from his father, Richard Fraley, also a fiddler, who called the tune by the "Sail Away" title. According to Betty Vornbrock, Fraley remembers hearing Arthur Smith's version ("Sail Away Ladies" [1]) on the radio long after he learned his father's version [Brody, Phillips]. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 242. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 1, 1994; pg. 207. Rounder 0037, J.P. and Annadeene Fraley- "Wild Rose of the Mountain."

SAIL AWAY LADIES [3]. AKA and see "Chinquapin." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; Round Peak, North Carolina. E Minor/G Major. Standard. AA'B. This melody, almost entirely played over an E minor chord (with a G major cadence in the 'B' part) is unrelated to the "Sally Ann" tune family, unlike so many other tunes with the title "Sail Away Ladies." The source for the tune, Mt. Airy, North Carolina, fiddler Tommy Jarrell, learned this single tune from Round Peak fiddler Preston 'Pet'/'Pat' McKinney, whom he chanced to meet in the road when Jarrell was age sixteen and on his way to a dance with his fiddle. McKinney, on his way to get some whiskey, hailed him and noting the instrument said "They say you fiddle, son." Jarrell handed him the fiddle which was in ADAE tuning (the 'normal' tuning for Jarrell) and McKinney re-tuned it to standard tuning and played "Sail Away Ladies." Jarrell asked him the title and to play it again, and by the end had it fixed in his mind (see Peter Anick, "An Afternoon with Tommy Jarrell, 1982," Fiddler Magazine, Spring 1995, and notes on the tune appearing with Jarrell's recording on County 756). Source for notated version: Tommy Jarrell (Mt. Airy, N.C.) [Phillips]. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), 1994; pg. 207. County 756, Tommy Jarrell- "Sail Away Ladies" (1976). Heritage V, Roscoe Parish (Galax, Va., under the title "Chinquapin"). In the repertoire of Luther Davis, Galax, Va.

Meade's earliest printed citation in respect of this piece is to W.C. Handy's 'A Treasury of Blues' NYC, Simon & schuster Inc 1926, p44. His first recorded reference is to Uncle Dave Macon and Sid Harkreader's recording of 'Girl I Left Behing Me' Vocalion 15034, 1925. I can't understand this - it seems to bear no relationship to 'Sail Away Ladies'. His second recorded version is Uncle Bunt Stephens on 29 March 1926, issued as Columbia 15071-D in July 1926. Uncle Dave recorded it with his Fruit Jar Drinkers on 7 May 1927, issued as Vocalion 5155 in May 1928.

The paragraph on Uncle Bunt's version by the late Charles Wolfe in his 'A Good Riot: The Birth of the Grand Old Opry' at pp95-96 is also of interest:

Next to Texas fiddler Eck Robertson's classic solos of 'Leather Britches' and 'Sallie Gooden' dating from 1922 and 1923, Bunt Stephen's efforts are probably the finest examples of traditional American solo fiddling recorded. Students of fiddle music have described Uncle Bunt's masterpiece 'Sail Away Ladies' as probably similar to much American dance music in the period between the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, and ethnomusicologist Linda C. Burman-Hall, in a well-known study entitled 'The Technique of Variation in an American Fiddle Tune', spends over twenty pages transcribing and analysing the complex musical patterns of the piece. Uncle Bunt, whose neighbours described as 'that nice little feller that never amounted to much', would have been quietly amused.

Henry Bandy, cited in the first paragraph of the Fiddler's Companion entry above, was born in 1876 and was taught 'Sail Away Ladies' by his father who was a farmer and blacksmith. Bandy was a direct link to nineteenth century display fiddlers and was much more important to the Grand Ole Opry that his slender recorded legacy suggests. [Info from Wolfe].

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Sail Away Ladies (Don't You Rock Me, Daddy-o)
From: Stewie
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 10:25 PM

The reference to Dr Wolfe's book on the Grand Ole Opry in my above post should read 'A Good-Natured Riot', not 'A Good Riot'.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Sail Away Ladies (Don't You Rock Me, Daddy-o)
From: Azizi
Date: 30 Jun 07 - 07:36 AM

Thanks to all who have posted in this thread.

GregB, I'll have to search out that group's version of this song.

**
Pete Peterson, thanks for that information about Uncle Dave.

Also, Pete, with regard to your question about the name of that Odetta album I referred to, I can't remember its name. The only thing that I can remember is some of the song titles in that album and the fact that there was a large size photo of her on the album cover with that afro hairstyle.

**
Stewie, thanks for posting that wealth of information and examples!!

That's some interesting material!!

Subject: RE: Lyr: Sail Away Ladies (Don't You Rock Me, Daddy-o)
From: Azizi
Date: 30 Nov 11 - 10:49 AM

Here's a link to a video of "Tideo":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BtI8AU9rGY&feature=related

Here's its transcription of that version of "Tideo"


Pass one window, Tideo.
Pass two windows, Tideo.
Pass three windows, Tideo.
Jingle at the window, Tideo

Tideo! Tideo!
Jingle at the window, Tideo


-snip-

I posted that video & transcription on this page my Cocojams website: http://www.cocojams.com/content/childrens-game-songs-and-movement-rhymes.

I also posted a few other videos & transcriptions of "Tideo" on that page as well as my comments about that song. In addition, I included Bob Coltman's post "Jingle At The Window" post as found above, and my post about the song "Lead A Man".

Thanks again Bob and others who posted comments & examples on this thread!

Subject: RE: Lyr: Sail Away Ladies (Don't You Rock Me, Daddy-o)
From: Gurney
Date: 01 Dec 11 - 01:49 AM

I imagine that English readers would best remember Lonnie Donegan's offering from the skiffle days.

Subject: RE: Lyr: Sail Away Ladies (Don't You Rock Me, Daddy-o)
From: GUEST,banjopicker
Date: 01 Dec 11 - 02:34 PM

I love Erik Darlings version of this song on his Child, Child album its great also Tao Seegers version is epic as well

Subject: RE: Lyr: Sail Away Ladies (Don't You Rock Me, Daddy-o)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 01 Dec 11 - 04:19 PM

bluegrassmessengers.com gives lyrics to nine versions of this old fiddle tune. (Probably listed in the main thread (origin) but I will repeat the link here:
http://www.bluegrassmessengers.com/fiddle-lyrics-s-aspx

Macon
Parker and Dodd
Bandy
Kingston Trio
Captain Bob
Roger McGuinn
Jenes Cottrell
Bog Trotters
Van Morrison

First on records, melody only, Uncle Bunt Stevens 1926; First record with lyrics, Uncle Dave Macon 1927; it and many subsequent lyrics filled with floaters. Detailed information at bluegrassmessengers.com

Subject: RE: Lyr: Sail Away Ladies (Don't You Rock Me, Daddy-o)
From: GUEST,Alaska1000
Date: 02 Dec 11 - 12:50 AM

Just came across this website by accident, looking for lyrics from Homer and Jethro's 'Now Here's A Song About A Cow'. I'm delighted to find your site has so many of their song lyrics, plus a lot of other old singers and old songs I was raised on. And yes, I'm saying I'm (getting) old! :)

I first heard 'Don't You Rock 'Em Daddy-O sung by the Womenfolk on their Womenfolk Vol. 2 LP Album released in 1964. In the lyrics they sang was the phrase 'Sail Away, Ladies, Sail Away'.

I'm sorry I don't have any information to add to the great collection of facts about the history of the lyrics of the original song; just wanted to provide another source of a rendition of it.

For any one that's interested, Amazon has most of the Womenfolk Albums available for mp3 download. I was glad to find those - it was like welcoming old friends back after a long absence.

Thanks for this great website and all the treasures it holds!

Subject: RE: Lyr: Sail Away Ladies (Don't You Rock Me, Daddy-o)
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 02 Dec 11 - 12:56 AM

Was one of songs regularly performed by Hyam [aka Henry] Morris's skiffle group at Russ Quaye & Hylda Syms' skiffle club, succeeded by the Nancy Whiskey Club, at the Princess Louise, High Holborn, 1956.

~Michael~

Subject: RE: Lyr: Sail Away Ladies (Don't You Rock Me, Daddy-o)
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 02 Dec 11 - 01:00 AM

...Another, for the record, was Foggy Mountain Top.

Wish I could remember the name of the female vocalist in Hyam's group. Anyone happen to remember?

~M~