another man done gone to the county farm

Subject: another man done gone to the county farm
From: GUEST,John Orford
Date: 24 Jun 13 - 11:00 AM

For some reason this ran through my head the other day and I found myself singing it.

Another man done gone
Another man done gone
Another man done gone to the County Farm
Another man done gone

He had a long chain on (x5)

Was up for ninety years
Was up for ninety years
Was up for ninety years, you couldn't cont my tears
Was up for ninety years

Another man done gone (repeat)

I think I heard this on BBC - or did someone sing it in the Gyre and Gimble (remember the G you Londoners?)

Any clues, anyone? I've seen other versions of the words, but these are what I heard, about 50 years ago or more.

Subject: RE: another man done gone to the county farm
From: GUEST,Fred McCormick
Date: 24 Jun 13 - 11:58 AM

Another Man Done Gone was collected from the magnificent Vera Hall Ward of Livingstone, Alabama in 1940 by John Lomax and in 1947 by Alan Lomax. A third recording of her singing it dates from 1950 and was collected by Harold Courlander.

It appears to be a pretty rare song and the only other version of it I've been able to trace was recorded by Harold Courlander from Willie Harris, also of Livingstone, Alabama, again in 1950.

The text of Mrs Hall's 1940 recording is as follows.

Another man done gone x3
From the County farm,
Another man done gone.

I didn't know his name x4

He had a long chain on x4

He killed another man x4

I don't know where he's gone x4

I'm gonna walk your log (?) x4.

Clearly, as far as Vera Hall's text is concerned, the song is about a prisoner breaking out of the county farm, or conceiveably dying while inside, rather than someone being sent to prison.

You can find it on Rounder CD 1500, A Treasury of Library of Congress Field Recordings. It also appears on the Alan Lomax produced radio programme, Blues in the Mississippi Night.

Subject: RE: another man done gone to the county farm
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 24 Jun 13 - 12:00 PM

It's surely "Another man done gone [ie escaped] FROM the county farm"?

That is certainly how I heard Alan Lomax sing it at the Princess Louise in 1956, and that is how it appears in the DT. It was apparently sung to spread the news of the escape among the chain gangs.

~M~

Subject: RE: another man done gone to the county farm
From: Allan C.
Date: 24 Jun 13 - 12:32 PM

Here's an excellent version of it by
Odetta .

Subject: another man done gone to the county farm
From: GUEST,John Orford
Date: 25 Jun 13 - 07:38 AM

Thank you everyone. "I didn't know his name" is a verse I knew once but have forgotten. The last verses that Vera Hall sings I never heard and the singer was a man. However it seems to be Vera Hall's version all right. I see it as "to the County Farm", the song being one of despair for a life sentence in chains. Both interpretations make sense to me, since music is sung to fit the singer's mood and experience. Thank you for Odetta, but she's over the top for me. It's good we don't all like the same thing.

Subject: RE: another man done gone to the county farm
From: GUEST,Fred McCormick
Date: 25 Jun 13 - 08:05 AM

I heard a very funky jazz singer sing it on the radio once. Who he was I can't remember after all this time, but if his text differed from the Vera Hall, I'm sure that would have stuck.

John, like you I'm not a fan of Odetta, so I haven't listened to her version. However, Vera Hall's 1959 recording appeared on one of the two anthologies which Alan Lomax produced for Prestige and Atlantic from his Southern Journey field trip. My guess is that's where Odetta and our elusive jazz singer learned it.

Next question, was AMDG one of the Vera Hall recordings which Moby sampled?

Subject: RE: another man done gone to the county farm
From: GUEST,John Foxen
Date: 25 Jun 13 - 02:10 PM

John Mayall sang it on the Blues Breakers LP with the "I didn't know his name" verse but I don't know where he got it.