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Subject: On Top of Old Smokey From: JedMarum Date: 30 Dec 09 - 12:57 AM I've always loved this old song ... recorded it this week for a "demo" project I have in the works and decided to put the track up on Youtube, along with recent photos. Please take a look/listen here, if you have a mind to. Thanks! |
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Subject: RE: On Top of Old Smokey From: GUEST,999 Date: 30 Dec 09 - 01:00 AM That is one of my all-time favourite songs, Jed. I have no sound on this computer, but I wll listen to it tomorrow at the library. |
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Subject: RE: On Top of Old Smokey From: Dave Roberts Date: 30 Dec 09 - 07:24 AM Jed, I love this. What an excellent version. Your voice is very reminiscent of Burl Ives. And that is meant as a very very big compliment. |
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Subject: RE: On Top of Old Smokey From: Charley Noble Date: 30 Dec 09 - 08:29 AM Jed- Nicely sung, recorded, and the still images work well with the singing. Charley Noble |
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Subject: RE: On Top of Old Smokey From: kendall Date: 30 Dec 09 - 11:27 AM This is one of the first songs I ever learned, but there are more lyrics in the version I learned. ..it's raining it's hailing and the moon gives no light my horses can't travel this dark road tonight. So hitch up your horses and feed them some hay I'm headed for Georgia and I'll be on my way. My horses aint hungry and they wont eat no hay So fare thee well darling I'll be on my way. I'll climb to Old Smokey that mountain so high Where the wild birds and Turtle Doves can hear my sad cry. Does anyone else know this version? |
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Subject: RE: On Top of Old Smokey From: kendall Date: 30 Dec 09 - 11:30 AM Then, of course, there is the parody: On top of old Smokey all covered with snow I found my true lover face down in the snow Her face was all bloody and covered with flies And there were two sockets where they plucked out her eyes. Now who could have done this? this dastardly deed, It was Roger, the codger, that dirty half breed. |
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Subject: RE: On Top of Old Smokey From: olddude Date: 30 Dec 09 - 11:37 AM Very nice job Jed, nice indeed Dan |
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Subject: RE: On Top of Old Smokey From: fretless Date: 30 Dec 09 - 11:40 AM And then there's Roscoe Holcomb's high lonesome version. |
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Subject: RE: On Top of Old Smokey From: kendall Date: 30 Dec 09 - 11:49 AM My God! he sounds like a hog caught in a barbed wire fence! |
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Subject: RE: On Top of Old Smokey From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego Date: 30 Dec 09 - 11:51 AM After the Weavers popularized "Old Smoky," I heard many ribald versions in my misspent youth. This isn't one of them... On top of Old Baldy, All covered with grass, I saw my true lover, And her beautiful ass. It wasn't a pink one, Assume though you may; But a furry and black one, A-munchin' on hay. |
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Subject: RE: On Top of Old Smokey From: fretless Date: 30 Dec 09 - 02:18 PM Back in the 1950s the version popular in Brooklyn was: On top of old Smokey, where nobody goes I saw Betty Grable without any clothes. Clearly a remnant from WWII. |
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Subject: RE: On Top of Old Smokey From: Joe_F Date: 30 Dec 09 - 06:19 PM Another one in the juvenile department is "On Top of Spaghetti" (in the DT). |
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Subject: RE: On Top of Old Smokey From: Smokey. Date: 30 Dec 09 - 06:23 PM ..... and some have greatness thrust upon them.. |
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Subject: RE: On Top of Old Smokey From: Stringsinger Date: 30 Dec 09 - 07:25 PM I know a different tune than the popular one. Somewhat the same lyrics with a collated text as most of these versions are. Don't forget "Little Mohee". |
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Subject: RE: On Top of Old Smokey From: GUEST,999 Date: 30 Dec 09 - 10:12 PM Beautiful. |
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Subject: RE: On Top of Old Smokey From: Maryrrf Date: 30 Dec 09 - 10:40 PM This is another one of those 'old chestnuts' that needed to be 'dusted off' and performed again. It got sung around so many campfires, elementary school classrooms, etc. and so many parodies developed around it that it lost its appeal, but it's a beautiful song with a great melody. I heard Hank William's version not too long ago and he really brought back its original poignancy. I'm glad Jed recorded it. |
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Subject: RE: On Top of Old Smokey From: GUEST,Jed Marum Date: 01 Jan 10 - 12:17 PM Thanks for looking and for the comments. This old song is just fun to sing and to hear ... |
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Subject: RE: On Top of Old Smokey From: The Sandman Date: 01 Jan 10 - 12:39 PM I hope you will not mind criticism.you have a very good voice,your diction is excellent and you are a very accomplished musician. the main problem[and this only my opinion],is that you are singing the song too rhythmically,instead of the accompaniment following the voice,it sounds like you are being forced to the follow the instruments,as if you were in a strait jacket. my approach would have been to take the song slower and freer ,I see it is a sad song.,it is[imo] too waltz like. I hope I have not offended you,I really think the song would be better,if it was more slower and more free , you have a wonderful voice and are a good instrumentalist. |
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Subject: RE: On Top of Old Smokey From: The Sandman Date: 01 Jan 10 - 12:46 PM hank williams http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGTCZJ-RBPw |
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Subject: RE: On Top of Old Smokey From: The Sandman Date: 01 Jan 10 - 12:51 PM here is an eccentric version http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmsCHL5Llf8 |
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Subject: RE: On Top of Old Smokey From: The Sandman Date: 01 Jan 10 - 01:01 PM this guy is in the same league as Hank.Jed you are good too,but just showing different ways to do it,hope they interest you. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzoA4AaZi44 |
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Subject: RE: On Top of Old Smokey From: GUEST,Jed Marum Date: 01 Jan 10 - 01:11 PM Some sing it as a sad song. I see it as a bit of fun. It is not a serious message. It is a tongue in cheek message; light hearted, humorous. As if the singer were saying, "Let's all have a sing, on this old song, and we'll get a giggle out the message." As for rhythm; I can see the dancers twirling in the same humor as my singing - and of course to the same constant rhythm. I purposely sang to an exact rhythm. When I hear those old complaints, "women lie so easy" or "there's not one girl in a hundred that a poor boy can trust." I take them as if they were spoken with a wink of an eye. They are overstatements, meant to make us smile or even giggle. People say these things and occasionally mean them - but usually it is a joke or at worst a momentary gripe. |
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Subject: RE: On Top of Old Smokey From: The Sandman Date: 01 Jan 10 - 01:12 PM I just listened to that Morris guy again , wow ,a really fine singer. |
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Subject: RE: On Top of Old Smokey From: kendall Date: 01 Jan 10 - 01:35 PM It's all a matter of taste. There is no best version of any song. I never was much of a Hank Williams fan, and I didn't care for his version of On Top of Old Smokey. However, I am a Jed Marum fan. |
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Subject: RE: On Top of Old Smokey From: Maryrrf Date: 01 Jan 10 - 02:01 PM Dick, thanks for posting the link to the Morris Brothers. You are right, it is on par with or even better than the Hank Williams version, which I love. Everyone's 'take' on the song is different, and valid, but I see "Old Smokey" as a sad and poignant song. Unfortunately the upbeat, fun, version to me conjures up all the parodies such as "On Top of Spaghetti", which is why I prefer the slower tempo, mournful renditions, which I believe are more in keeping with the lyrics and spirit of the original. Nothing wrong with Jed's interpretation - different strokes for different folks. |
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Subject: RE: On Top of Old Smokey From: The Sandman Date: 01 Jan 10 - 02:15 PM did I say there was a best version? no I did not. I cant say I have listened to MUCH Hank Williams,but his version,and the Morris brothers, really illustrate[and this is only a personal opinion how a singer can get inside a song. Jed, says he sees it as a bit of fun ,ok,that comes across. that is not how I see the song .I dont particularly like Holcombs version either,although I normally like his stuff. to me the song is a sad song,whichis why I prefer,the other two versions,both of which are sung with genuine feeling. he asked for an opinion,I gave my opinion.I praised his voice his musical accomplishment, his diction.ok. I am sorry , but I prefer the other two versions,I have explained why, no offence intended, but if you ask for an opinion, you have to be prepared for constructive criticism. |
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Subject: RE: On Top of Old Smokey From: Goose Gander Date: 01 Jan 10 - 02:28 PM Thanks for posting the Morris Brothers, I would love to see and hear more of this footage. Here's another version from Hank live on the radio - I think I like this version better than his MGM recording. Plus you get the biscuit commercial. |
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Subject: RE: On Top of Old Smokey From: kendall Date: 01 Jan 10 - 04:06 PM No need to get all snippy Mate, one opinion is as good and no better than any other. |
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Subject: RE: On Top of Old Smokey From: GUEST,Jed Marum Date: 01 Jan 10 - 05:10 PM Nothing touchy about the comments ... I took 'em at face value ... I love the song ... and I hope that comes through, but I do see it as light hearted - so that is how I sing it. Thanks y'll for the comments - and the links to other versions! |
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Subject: RE: On Top of Old Smokey From: GUEST Date: 01 Jan 10 - 07:43 PM ... thanks Kendall. I'm a Kendall Morse fan too! |
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Subject: RE: On Top of Old Smokey From: kendall Date: 01 Jan 10 - 09:16 PM Who dat? |
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Subject: RE: On Top of Old Smokey From: The Sandman Date: 02 Jan 10 - 09:52 AM kendall, mate. ,snippy? |
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Subject: RE: On Top of Old Smokey From: kendall Date: 02 Jan 10 - 10:35 AM Aye. It sounded like you thought I was being disrespectful of your preference in music. |
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Subject: RE: On Top of Old Smokey From: GUEST,Arglebargle IV Date: 30 Jun 18 - 10:38 AM Along came Gene Autry A-clippty clop He gave her five dollars To lay on her top. |
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Subject: RE: On Top of Old Smokey From: GUEST,Paul Hazell Date: 02 Jul 18 - 08:00 PM The song "Bandera Waltz" uses the same or similar melody but is a totally different song. Versions of Bandera Waltz go back many years but Slim Whitman enjoyed some success with it in the 50s and redid it in 1967. Australia's Wayne Horsburgh also did a fine version. |
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Subject: RE: On Top of Old Smokey From: GUEST Date: 02 Jul 18 - 09:01 PM And then there's the Allan Sherman version: On top of old Smokey All covered with hair Of course I'm referring (reFURing?) To Smokey The Bear. |
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Subject: RE: On Top of Old Smokey From: GUEST,Gerry Date: 03 Jul 18 - 03:05 AM Oops, last guest was me. |
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