Lyr Add: songs by Uncle Dave Macon

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: songs by Uncle Dave Macon
From: GUEST,Frank Hamilton
Date: 17 Feb 22 - 07:38 AM

I'd like to call your attention to a CD by friend Peter Feldmann of Santa Barbara called
"Grey Cat on a Tennessee Farm" featuring topflight folk country performers doing the music of Uncle Dave. Peter has been singing and playing bluegrass and old-time music for years and in my opinion, a great player and performer. Byron Berline plays his ass off. Love this CD.

---

A spammer has decided to try to occupy this thread. If you wish to post musical content, as a moderator to reopen it for you. ---mudelf

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: songs by Uncle Dave Macon
From: cnd
Date: 14 Feb 22 - 08:32 AM

The first word of stanza 6 is "Acted"
The first questionable line in stanza 7 is "Tune up the fiddle with the"
The second questionable line in stanza 7 is "Only way to get sugar out [is] to roll the gourd about" (assistance here thanks to the UArk Folk Song Collection)
The questionable line from stanza 9 is "She laid more eggs than any", and on the last line of that stanza it's "another little drink a-wouldn't do me any harm" rather than wrinkle

Otherwise, Jim, your ear is golden as ever!

Subject: Lyr Add: PAPA’S BILLIE GOAT (Uncle Dave Macon)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 13 Feb 22 - 11:30 PM

You can hear this recording at the Internet Archive. However, Spotify has a clearer copy; it is on the Uncle Dave Macon album “Anthology: The Deluxe Collection (Remastered)” (2020).

My transcription: there are a few gaps, marked by ellipses […].

Note that verse 6 seems to be a precursor to “I’m My Own Grandpa.”


PAPA’S BILLIE GOAT
As recorded by Uncle Dave Macon on Vocalion B 14848 (1924)

1. Papa bought him a great big billy goat.
Mama she washed most every day,
Hung her clothes out on the line.
That darned old goat he come that way.

2. He pulled down the red flannel shirt.
He did sorta yank; them buttons crack,
But I'll get even with the son of a gun:
Gonna tie him across the railroad track.

3. Tied him across the railroad track.
Then a train was a-comin’ at a powerful rate.
He belched up that old red shirt
And then flagged down that darned old freight.

4. Went to the depot and I bought me a ticket.
I walked right in there; I sat down,
Stuck my ticket in the brim of my hat,
And the doggone wind blowed it out on the ground.

5. Conductor come around, says: "Gi’ me a ticket."
I had to pay again or be left on the track,
But I'll get even with the son of a gun.
I got a round-trip ticket and I ain't a-comin' back.

6. … an old fool, married me a widow.
The widow had a daughter by the name of Maud.
Father bein’ a widower, married her daughter
And now my daddy is my own son-in-law.

7. Had a little roll, laid it on the board.
… sugar in a gourd.
Sugar in a gourd, you want to get it out
The way to get sugar out,...

8. Come to town the other night.
I heard a little noise and I seed a little fight.
A police watchin’ an’ a-runnin’ all around,
But a load o’ white lightnin’ done come to town.

9. Had a little hen; she had a wooden leg,
The best durn hen that ever laid a egg.
… hen around the barn,
And another little wrinkle wouldn’t do me any harm.

10. I went down the old sage field.
A black snake grabbed me by my heel.
Soon I turned around; I’m gonna do my best,
And I run my head in a hornet’s nest.

11. Went right out upon the steeple
To look right down on the colored people.
Some were black and some were blacker,
And some were the color of a chew of tobacca.

Subject: Lyr Add: DOWN BY THE RIVERSIDE (Uncle Dave Macon)
From: Levana Taylor
Date: 14 Jul 21 - 11:10 PM

DOWN BY THE RIVERSIDE
As sung by Uncle Dave Macon

I'm gonna sing you about my girl
Down by the river
Sweetest little girl in this world
Down by the riverside

Come my love and go with me
Down by the river
We'll go back to Tennessee
Down by the riverside

Oh lover, love me
Down by the river
Oh lover, love me
Down by the riverside

She dressed so neat and she looked so sweet
Down by the river
Shoes and hat and dressed complete
Down by the riverside

Talk about a pretty girl you oughta see mine
Down by the river
She ain't so good looking but she dress so fine
Down by the riverside

Oh lover, love me
Down by the river
Oh love tell me
Down by the riverside

She walked out late and she walked out sooner
Down by the river
You just ought to see her dressed in bloomers
Down by the riverside

I've been all around this whole round world
Down by the river
I hate the old man, but I love that girl
Down by the riverside

Oh lover, love me
Down by the river
Oh lover, love me
Down by the riverside

She walked so cute, she walked so stout
Down by the river
She walked so fast till she came plumb out
Down by the riverside

She sat down on a bumblebee
Down by the river
It raised a blister on her sister
Down by the riverside

Oh lover, love me
Down by the river
Oh lover, love me
Down by the riverside

Chew my tobacco, spit my juice
Down by the river
Love my doney but it ain't no use
Down by the riverside

I had a letter from the Shiloh town
Down by the river
Big St Louis was a-burning down
Down by the riverside

Oh lover, love me
Down by the river
Oh lover, love me
Down by the riverside

------------------

This is a somewhat naughty song by the standards of its recorded contemporaries. The non-rhyming couplet has me puzzled: "She sat down on a bumblebee/It raised a blister on her sister." What taboo word would rhyme with "bumblebee"?

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: songs by Uncle Dave Macon
From: GUEST,cnd
Date: 15 Dec 16 - 11:33 PM

3: bevo(?) steak is T-Bone steak
daddy like a ape(?) is Cadillac eight
7 my partner was told(?). is my partner was full

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnVqlsBlBNc

Subject: Lyr Add: HILL BILLIE BLUES (Uncle Dave Macon)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 15 Dec 16 - 07:04 PM

I have spelled a few words phonetically, as Macon pronounces them.

HILL BILLIE BLUES
As recorded by Uncle Dave Macon

1. I am a Billie and I live in the hills.
I can whistle an' sing like a whooperwill.
Come across the mountain right down in the holler
To see my little doney just as purty's she can waller.

CHORUS: Oh, tell me how long must I wait?
Lord, I get you now or, Lord, I hesitate.

2. Hello central; what's the matter with the line?
I can't talk to that girl of mine.
Storm last night blew all the phones down.
I can't talk to my Saro Brown.

3. As long as bacon is thirty cents a pound,
I'm goin' to eat a rabbit if I have to run 'im down.
Ice cream cone, bevo(?) steak,
You want to win a woman, get a daddy like a ape(?).

4. I been in the city 'n' I been in the town.
I been in the mountain with the blues rollin' down.
Jumped in the river an' I thought I would drown.
I spied a red-headed woman and I couldn't go down.

5. Whiskey, whiskey, I'm gonna let you be.
The bone-dry law made a Christian out o' me.
Goin' to Oklyhoma to marry me a squaw,
And have a big chief for a daddy-in-law.

6. Got water in the ocean; there's water in the sea.
Since the bone-dry, it's been water for me.
Been on the Southern, the Seaboard, too.
It takes a Henry Ford for to shake me an' you.

7. Oh, me and my partner we both ran to bed,
The jug o' white lightning right under my head.
When I woke up, my supper was cold.
My jug it was empty; Lord, my partner was told(?).

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: songs by Uncle Dave Macon
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Nov 16 - 06:03 PM

I have an original recording of the song. I is on one of those ols thick original record. If interested please contact me @ [e-mail]

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: songs by Uncle Dave Macon
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Jan 14 - 07:38 PM

I agree, I would definitely use the "man" version if I were to sing it aloud.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: songs by Uncle Dave Macon
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 11 Jan 14 - 06:25 PM

To our last guest: You're right. As it explains above, Macon recorded KEEP MY SKILLET GOOD AND GREASY twice. He made the first recording in June 1924, and it was released on the Vocalion label; the second, made in January 1935, was released on the Bluebird label.

I believe I have listened to both versions on Spotify. One version, which I suppose is the first, is 2:32 in length, and he sings "There's a nigger on the log." On the other, which is 2:44 in length, he sings "There's a man on the log."

If you want to sing this, please use the "man" version.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: songs by Uncle Dave Macon
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Jan 14 - 08:53 PM

I have a version of "Keep My Skillet Good and Greasy" where it sounds like Uncle Dave Macon says "nigger on the log, finger on the trigger and eye on the hog". Does anyone else believe that's what it is? Sorry if the question has already been answered, I only skimmed most of the thread.

Subject: Lyr Add: OYSTER STEW (parody of "Just Tell Them...
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 31 Jul 13 - 08:44 PM

Uncle Dave Macon didn't sing this. I'm posting this here only so that the lyrics of the parody will be in the same thread as the lyrics of the original. A guest requested this song in the thread 'Mother Songs' of the tear-jerker variety but it isn't really appropriate for that thread either.

From The Alabama Folk Lyric: A Study in Origins and Media of Dissemination edited by Ray Broadus Browne (Bowling Green: Bowling Green University Popular Press, 1979), page 391:

154
Oyster Stew
Parody of "Just Tell Them That You Saw Me"

Spaeth (History of Popular Music, p. 277) says there were many parodies of "Just Tell Them That You Saw Me." This one, however, is the only one I have collected. It shows a vigorous reaction against the sentiment of the song.

"Oyster Stew," sung by Mrs. Ruth Clements, Holt, Tuscaloosa County, 1952.

A man happened to an accident upon a railroad train,
A-trying to ride and would not pay his fee.
The doctors they consulted, examined him, and said:
"We'll have to saw his leg off at the knee."
They tried to give him chloroform but he wouldn't take the stuff,
Said, "Go ahead while I'm brave and strong.
And while you're sawing off the leg, oh, please, sir, let me sing."
They did, and then he started up this song:

CHORUS: Just tell them that you saw me and I was losing flesh,
To ups and downs will always be a slave.
Just whisper to mother dear if you get a chance,
Her darling boy has one foot in the grave.

I went to a church festival about three weeks ago,
Was just because I had nothing else to do.
Of course I stayed for supper, which was fifty cents a chair.
The waiter brought me in some oyster stew.
I dipped my spoon into the stuff and found it was all milk.
I swore I'd never go there any more.
At last one lonely oyster came strolling up the top.
He looked me in the face and bravely said:

CHORUS: Just tell them that you saw me and I was in the soup.
I've been brought here just sixteen times alone.
Please, mister, don't you eat me; I'm the only one they have.
Remember you have children all your own.

Subject: Lyr Add: STATION WILL BE CHANGED AFTER A WHILE
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 24 Sep 12 - 11:30 PM

Here's my transcription from a recording which I found on Spotify. It appears on several albums:


STATION WILL BE CHANGED AFTER A WHILE
As sung by Uncle Dave Macon

SPOKEN: Now, good people, I'm gonna try to play you a pretty little instrumental piece and sing you a beautiful sentimental song.

[INSTRUMENTAL PIECE]

SPOKEN: Now this is a song that is sung by a colored preacher. And he told the congregation that he's a-gonna preach to 'em from the one-eyed chapter of the two-eyed verse of the three who failed to see Peter in the four-corner of the Corinthians. And remember, people, the station will be changed after while.

1. There are people in this world who will try to pull you down,
But I's a-gwine to glory to wear the starry crown.
It's no matter what they do and say,
Gwine to fall on my knees and pray
That the station will changed after while.

CHORUS: Oh, the station will be changed after while.
When the Lord himself shall come,
And the work on earth is done,
Why, the station will be changed after while.

2. Oh, the Bible plainly tells you of that awful judgment day.
That awful day am comin' an' no matter where I be.
You may bury me in the ocean.
You may bury me in the sea,
But the station will be changed after while. CHORUS

3. Oh, the gospel train am comin' an' she's runnin' through the land.
King Jesus is the conductor and she always makes her time.
When she makes the station blow,
You'd better be ready to go.
Why, the station will be changed after while.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: songs by Uncle Dave Macon
From: GUEST,Minneapolis
Date: 24 Sep 12 - 10:47 PM

Hello, I'm looking for lyrics to "The Station Will Be Changed After Awhile."

If anyone's able to help, that's great. A lot of these old links seem to have expired. Thank you.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: songs by Uncle Dave Macon
From: GUEST,jack Warshaw
Date: 06 Jan 11 - 12:00 PM

Colleagues,
I've been singing this for over 30 years and transcribed it slightly differently - corrections in CAPS below:

FROM EARTH TO HEAVEN

[Spoken] Now good people I wagoned and farmed for over twenty years and the style on my wagoning firm IS the Macon Midway Mule and Mitchell Wagon Transportation Company. Situated on the dividing line, operated by gentlemen on and up to time. Main office eight and a quarter mile East Main Street, Murfreesboro and ten and three-quarters West Main Street, Woodbury, Tennessee. Now here's my song!

I remember the year when I begIn to haul, it was during the summer time
Back in the those good old days, you could find whisky, beer and wine
I'd walk right in to every saloon, I was strictly up to time
THERE Never was a night that I didn't drive home, wASN'T pullING the end of A line

Chorus:
Been wagoning for over twenty years, and living on the farm
I'll bet a hundred dollars to a half a ginger cake, I'LL BE here when the trucks is gone

I'LL tell you now, THAT THE bone-dry'S COME, you can't find whisky that'S good
Done quit all of my drinking, done gone to serving God
I love to go to big meetings, and I'm a-gonna tell you why
I love to sing and pray to God, sweet Heaven when I die

Chorus

An auto-truck has a DRIVING wheel, while I hold my line
OH when my feet and body gets cold, I'm walking half the time
I speak right to my power, they understand my talk
And when I holler, WAGON RIGHT, they know just WHERE to walk.

Chorus

An auto-truck runs quick and fast, a wagon hasn't THE speed
Four good mules and a Mitchell wagon is the safest, LOAD yes indeed
I'm on my way to Heaven, and I'LL tell you just how I feel
I'd druther ride a wagon and go to Heaven, than to Hell in an automobile

FINAL CHORUS

NOTE: The 'bone dry' refers to the Federal Prohibition of Alcohol Act in force from 1920 to 1933. So Uncle Dave was taking a swipe at bad bootleg whiskey.

Subject: Lyr Add: TAKE ME BACK TO MY OLD CAROLINA HOME
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 25 Sep 10 - 04:15 PM

At YouTube you can see an excerpt from the 1940 Hollywood film "Grand Ole Opry" in which Uncle Dave Macon and his son Dorris sing TAKE ME BACK TO MY OLD CAROLINA HOME. He never recorded this song.

(I did, however find that several other artists recorded songs called CARRY ME BACK TO MY CAROLINA HOME or MY CAROLINA HOME, which I assume are related.)

The film shows Uncle Dave performing various acrobatic tricks, even dancing, with his banjo. I think I can hear banjo chords being played during these acrobatics. Am I being fooled by an off-camera musician, or is Uncle Dave really doing this?

The story told by the song seems rather disjointed, making me wonder if we aren't hearing mere excerpts from a longer song.


TAKE ME BACK TO MY OLD CAROLINA HOME
As sung by Uncle Dave Macon (on banjo) and Dorris Macon (on guitar)

1. Me an' my buddy(?) started out the other day,
Studyin' a plan how to get away.
Light come on an' it caught us in the dark,
Waitin' for the Chesterfield train to start.

2. Conductor was a-standin' right nigh the rope(?)
An' he hollered to his passengers, "All aboa'd!"
Then he reached up and he pulled the string.
Bang-a-bang-a-bang-a went the banjer string.

CHORUS: Take-a me back. (Take-a me back.)
Take-a me back. (Take-a me back.)
Take-a me back to that ol' Car'lina home. (Oh, yes!)
Take-a me back. (Take-a me back.)
Take-a me back. (Take-a me back.)
Take-a me back to that ol' Car'lina home.

3. Well, the train pulled on to the very next stop.
I looked around, about seventeen cops.
'Cross the hill you oughta seen me run.
Bang-a-bang-a-bang-a went my Gat-a-ling gun. CHORUS

Subject: Lyr Add: FARM RELIEF (Uncle Dave Macon)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 24 Sep 10 - 11:36 AM

You can find an mp3 file of this song here.


FARM RELIEF
As recorded by Dave Macon & Sid Harkreader, June, 1929, Vocalion 5341.

[SPOKEN:] Howdy do! Well, folks, you've heard about the farm relief, read about it, heard them talk about it. Well, it's finally got here. They've just about relieved the farmer of everything he's got. Now I'm telling you right. Now I'll sing you about it after I play you a pretty little prelude on the banjo.

1. Farmer just lately moved to town,
Trying every way to cut expenses down.
He lost his job and he didn't do well,
And everybody believes he's gone back to the farm,
Gone back to the farm, gone back to the farm.

2. Hoover was elected president.
Al Smith went right down in defeat.
Majority voted for the high, high chief,
But show me a farmer who's got relief,
Who's got relief, who's got relief.

3. What farmer has to buy is too high yet.
What he has to sell's too low to make a hit.
Bust up your corporations and your trusts,
For if you don't, then the farmer's gonna bust.
Yes, the farmer's gonna bust. Yes, the farmer's gonna bust.

4. Went in a store for to buy the other day.
Here's just what the merchant had to say:
Nothing a-doing on fall terms.*
Without their money, said the wheels won't turn,
Said the wheels won't turn, said the wheels won't turn.

5. Used to go to church for to hear them shout,
Telling the good Lord what 'twas all about.
Now the congregation is all so far
Riding around in new Ford cars,
Them new Ford cars, them new Ford cars.

6. Washington is the law-making place.
The poor old farmer has[n't] enough to say grace.
If there ain't something done for to help his grace,
The poor old farmer's gonna lose his place,
Gonna lose his place, gonna lose his place.


[* on fall terms, that is, on credit, to be repaid in the fall when crops are sold.]

Subject: Lyr Add: THE BIBLE'S TRUE (Uncle Dave Macon)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 24 Sep 10 - 09:04 AM

You can find an mp3 of this song on this page (or click to play).

There's a version of this in the DT, but it contains a few errors.


THE BIBLE'S TRUE
As recorded by Uncle Dave Macon, April, 1926, Vocalion 5098 and 15322.

1. Evolution teaches man came from a monkey.
I don't believe no such a thing on the days of the week or Sunday.

CHORUS: Well, the Bible's true; oh, yes, I believe it.
I've seen enough and I can prove it.
What you say, what you say,
It's bound to be that way.
God made the world and everything that's in it.
He made man perfect and the monkey wasn't in it.
What you say, what you say,
It's bound to be that way.

2. I'm no evolutionist that wants the world to see.
Ain't no man from anywhere, boys, make a monkey out of me. CHORUS

3. God made the world and then he made man,
Woman for his helpmate. Beat that if you can. CHORUS

Subject: Lyr Add: TENNESSEE JUBILEE (Uncle Dave Macon)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 24 Sep 10 - 08:11 AM

You can find an mp3 file of this song here.

There are gaps in my transcription:


TENNESSEE JUBILEE
As recorded by Uncle Dave Macon, June, 1929, Brunswick 355.

SPEAKING: Well, well, folks, I'm feeling fine. Just eat a hearty dinner. Now I'm going to give you something that's round here: An old Tennessee jubilee. But before I sing you the piece, I have a cousin lives down in Rutherford County, Tennessee. She's a woman. And her brother was telling me about her swappin' a dry cow for an old second-hand Ford car last summer, and she learned to run it pretty well in the wheat fields after they got done thrashing, and she decided she'd go into the city on Saturday, but she drove out to the highway and the traffic was so thick, she backed out, and decided to go in at night. So when she did drive in, the first thing she done, she run over the signal line. And the traffic officer stopped her. And there she was, and she stuck her head out the window and said, "What's the matter?" The traffic gentleman says, "Why, you haven't got your dimmers on." She says, "Lord, Lord! I reckon I have. I put on ever'thing Mam laid out for me to wear 'fore I left home."

And she says, "Who is you, anyhow?" He says, "I'm the traffic jam man, ma'am." Says, "Well, I'm mighty glad you told me. Mam told me to fetch her a quart. Have it ready for me as I go out, will you, please?" Ha-ha-ha-ha!

SINGING: Well, it's me and my doney was a-ridin' of a pony,
She in front and me behind the ...
... she'd always ...
She thinks I'm workin' but I ain't doin' nothin'.
Turkey in the hay, ha-ha! ha-ha-ha!

...a tune called Turkey in the straw.

Well as I went down the old state field,
A black snake grabbed me by my heel.
Said I started runnin' but I do my best
To run my head in a hornet's nest

Turkey in the hay, ah-ha-ha
...
...a tune called Turkey in the straw.

UNKNOWN VOICE, SPEAKING: Uncle Dave, you a awful old man to be a-cuttin' up that-a-way.

DAVE, SPEAKING: Yes, but listen, Bud—

SINGING: It's nobody's business, nobody's business
Nobody's business what I do.

Backbone, that's sausage meat,
Hog head and pickled feet,
Nobody's business what I eat. No!
Nobody's business, nobody's business,
Nobody's business what I do.

She buys the gasoline.
I crank the old machine.
Nobody's business what I do.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: songs by Uncle Dave Macon
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 23 Sep 10 - 11:25 PM

Corrections to the lyrics of OLD DAN TUCKER that Stewie posted 30 Dec 02 - 09:10 PM:

VERSE 1 LINE 3: Combed his head with a wagon wheel

VERSE 3 LINE 4: Lord bless you, honey, how the ashes flew

VERSE 4 LINE 1: ... booze and Choctaw cider

VERSE 4 LINE 3: Hostetter's bitters* and the doctor's tonic

* an actual brand name. I looked it up!

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: songs by Uncle Dave Macon
From: Stewie
Date: 24 Nov 09 - 03:36 AM

Richie has posted the lyrics to Uncle Dave's 'Hill Billie Blues' in this thread: Hill Billie Blues.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: songs by Uncle Dave Macon - Mule Song
From: GUEST,Kelly
Date: 24 Sep 09 - 07:22 AM

Oh Thank You, Thank You for posting lyrics to the "So Long Mule" song. My grandpa (farmer born 1899 in Knox County Indiana) used to sing it to me but all I could recall was the refrain. As I remembered him singing it was "Get a'long mule, quit a'rollin them eyes. . .you can change a fool, but a doggone mule. . .is a mule until he dies."

I've searched by the refrain for a long time without success until today. Again, many thanks!

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: songs by Uncle Dave Macon
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 26 Dec 08 - 03:26 PM

"Rise When the Rooster Crows," transcribed from a Macon recording, in thread 8269:
Rise when the Rooster Crows

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: songs by Uncle Dave Macon
From: Bill D
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 09:08 AM

It seems those lyrics were posted by a folklorist at Mary Washington College.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: songs by Uncle Dave Macon
From: Bill D
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 08:58 AM

By the way! Here is a link to a text file for most of the Uncle Dave lyrics. (as heard by the poster) http://departments.umw.edu/hipr/www/206/songtext/uncle_dave_macon.txt

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: songs by Uncle Dave Macon
From: Bill D
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 08:45 AM

I've replaced "The Bible's True" (noted above) on my storage site. I have some others if anyone wants to hear Uncle Dave's recordings. I can't leave them up permanently, but will try to respond to requests.

Subject: Lyr Add: ALL GO HUNGRY HASH HOUSE (Dave Macon)
From: Stewie
Date: 07 Sep 08 - 07:31 PM

ALL GO HUNGRY HASH HOUSE

Banjo riff.
Spoken: Hello folks, I'm in New York and from the country, but you can't tell me roastin' ears ain't corn.

There's a hotel in the city as we climb the golden stairs
And they serve the hash up on the second floor
There's a graveyard in the cellar, doctor's office in the parlour
And the undertaker keeps his shop next door

'Touch Me Not' was on the teacups, skeleton crossbones on the plates
'Carve Me Right' is on that turkey you could spell
Oh the biscuits they are named, and I'm going to have them framed
At that all go hungry hash house where I dwell

Oh the donuts they are wooden, and we have Limburger puddin'
We kneel in prayer before we go to grub
If you chance to get a breeze of that ambologneous cheese
You'd have swore somebody'd hit you with a club

That hotel where I stay, it is turning my hair gray
For the landlord is always full of beer
All the beds our bugs have rented, and the air was sweetly scented
By an old-fashioned tanyard in the rear

All the sausages they are marked, if you touch them they will bark
It's a relic sent from Bingen on the Rhine
All the boarders have the croup, caught from drinking frozen soup
At that all go hungry hash house where I dine

They have India rubber pickles, exercises on bicycles
And a dinner bell and gong they can't afford
When they open up the gates, we'll come skippin' on roller skates
At that all go hungry hash house where I board

There's a woman called the duchess, brings the coffee in on crutches
And the cake looks like a sponge that's petrified
Oh the pies are old and grey, they were tackled by a jay
Who went right out and committed suicide

Oh the molasses made of paint, if you smell them you will faint
They are yellow and dished up in a gourd
Oh the eggs are made to match, if you touch them they will hatch
At that all go hungry hash house where I board

Source: Transcription of Uncle Dave Macon (vcl/bjo) 'All go hungry hash house' recorded 14 April 1925 in New York City and issued September 1925 as Vo 15076 and in January 1927 as Vo 5076.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: Artful Codger
Date: 23 Jun 06 - 10:29 PM

The Red Clay Ramblers also recorded "Cumberland Deer Chase", so you might find their take on the lyrics helpful.

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 23 Jun 06 - 05:16 AM

That would certainly make some sense.
Quack!
GtD.

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: GUEST,gumpuddin
Date: 23 Jun 06 - 04:41 AM

Re: Cumberland Mountain Deer Chase


Oh, Rover, Rover, see him, see him
Rover, Rover [it's] catch him, catch him
Over the mountain the hills and the fountain
Away to the chase, away, away

Stewie earlier in this thread says:
"I can't hear any 'it's' in the Rover stanza and I think Uncle Dave is singing the plural 'Rovers, Rovers', which would be more logical, but I couldn't swear to it."



50 years ago, when I was growing up and visiting my cousins who lived in rural NC and loved to hunt ... I used to hear them talk to their dogs ...
and it sounded something like this:

"skit him, skit him"

What they were slurring was ... "Let's get him; Let's get him."

Perhaps this "Rover" stanza is


"sketch him, ketch him"
or
"'s catch him, catch him"
from
"Let'd catch him, catch him."

gp

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: Stewie
Date: 19 Jun 06 - 09:35 PM

Q, I posted the Bear Family box set transcription of Macon's 'Poor Sinners ...' above: Date: 16 Jan 06 - 11:24 PM. Do an edit 'find' on this page.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: Artful Codger
Date: 19 Jun 06 - 09:10 PM

If you start listening to the clip above and think "Huh?" when you hear "Will There Be Any Stars", don't worry: it IS the right clip; "The Bible's True" follows a little later.

This song, despite Uncle Dave's intentions, has always struck me as a satire of creationism, rather than support for it. It may be because of the spirited rendition I heard by The Lazy Aces (on The Young Fogies compilation.)

I like to tack on a reprise of the "God made the world" verse this-a-way:

God made the world,
Then he made man,
Woman for to read his beads
And beat him with a fryin' pan.

This infectious tune just begs for more verses.

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 19 Jun 06 - 06:33 PM

"Poor Sinners, Fare You (thee?) Well"-
I didn't find it here. Anyone have Macon's lyrics?

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: Bill D
Date: 19 Jun 06 - 11:25 AM

Uncle Dave could incorporate the preachin' right into the song. I'm still working on a detailed transcription of this: (He could sing it to open meetings for the Kansas School Board)

The Bible's True

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: GUEST,Jim
Date: 19 Jun 06 - 09:57 AM

I love that song too, thanks for workin on the lyrics now i can play it. the whole theme of the flood is so cool. Sry i cant be of much help i have a hard time understanding the old dude myself. Tennessee jubilee is another tough one to crack, if anyone knows about it post it up sometime

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: GUEST,OTP
Date: 07 Mar 06 - 09:35 PM

I John 3:22 reads: And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

Oldtimers I knew said that Uncle Dave could and would preach impromptu sermons whenever he felt the need. If one relates this chapter and verse (there are only 2 books of John with 22+ verses) to the intro of 'Poor Sinners Fare Thee Well' it is easy to see that this is what he was referring to. I have found that there is very little hidden meaning in Uncle Dave's singing and speaking, and altho he took liberties with the language (such as alliteration and ostentatious word-play) he 'said what he meant and meant what he said'.

Best,
OTP

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: Ferrara
Date: 17 Jan 06 - 08:33 PM

Yes!!! Thanks, Stewie.

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: Stewie
Date: 16 Jan 06 - 11:37 PM

Ferrara, if what you are after is 'On the Dixie Bee-Line (In that Henry Ford of Mine)', the lyrics have been posted to the forum in this thread:

CLICK.

--Stewie.

Subject: Lyr Add: POOR SINNERS, FARE YOU WELL (Dave Macon)
From: Stewie
Date: 16 Jan 06 - 11:24 PM

Here is the transcription from book accompanying the Bear Family box set. I don't think what is in the square brackets is accurate, but I don't know what it should be either.

POOR SINNERS, FARE YOU WELL

Spoken:
Now people I'm going to analyse myself to you. You know I'm Methodist. And the last time I was home, I went to the colored church because there wasn't no white meeting going on. And the parson was very clever, he invited me in, and I heard him take his text from the two two verse of [the sixteenth epostle (sic) who took the epistle and fired at John]. And he got up and said: 'Now this is contribution day and I'm going to have the contribution box passed, and bear in mind there's one man in this house been goin' around with another man's wife, and if he don't put in five dollars in that box today, I'm a-gwine expose him. So I stayed there 'til the box went around and she come in with seventeen five dollar bills and one two-dollar bill with a note written plainly, pinned to it, saying, 'Brother, forever hold your peace, you'll get your other three dollars before the sun goes down'. Now I'm going to sing one of their favorite songs.

Gwine down on the river, down on Jordan's stream
All those children crying, Lord, Lord, I've been redeemed

Chorus:
Crying, mmmm, mmmm
Them-a golden slippers I'm bound to wear
Them-a golden slippers I'm bound to wear
Them-a golden slippers I'm bound to wear
Poor sinners fare thee well

Jews didn't believe in Jesus, not a word was said
Then he went down to Lazarus' grave,
Raised him from the dead

Chorus

Shout if you are happy!

Just come out of the water, ain't got fairly dry
If you don't mind old Satan make you tell a lie

Chorus

When I get to heaven, know I'm gonna smile
Sit down by my Saviour's side, be one welcome child

Chorus

Recorded by Uncle Dave Macon on 16 April 1926 and issued as Vocalion 15324 in June 1926.

Meade ('Country Music Sources') notes that the text at page 153 of Anthony J. Showalter 'The National Singer' (Dalton, Ga, A.J. Showalter Co, ca 1885) is a close approximation of the Macon recording.

--Stewie.

Subject: Lyr Add: RAILROADIN' AND GAMBLIN' (Dave Macon)
From: Stewie
Date: 16 Jan 06 - 09:48 PM

'Railroadin' and Gamblin' seems to have been a source of contention for people who attempt to decipher Uncle Dave's lyrics. The main areas of dispute are the chorus and the 'Johnny get' verse. For all manner of mondegreens on the 'pickin' up chips' line do a search of the old-time music newsgroup archives. Lyle Lofgren of the Brandy Snifters reported that his group had discussed the song with Kirk McGee in the sixties. Although Kirk hadn't seen a text, he was close to Uncle Dave when he sang the song. As Lyle remembered Kirk's take, the chorus was:

Oh, railroadin' and gamblin'
Pickin' up chips for a mammy
Lord, lord, lord
Get your feet outa the sand
And put 'em in the mud
Get your feet outa the sand
And put 'em in the mud

Personally, I cannot hear an 'a' before 'mammy' and I agree with what is in the ballad index entry posted above by Jim:

Take your feet outa the sand
Stick 'em in the mud

For the 'Johnny get' verse the New Lost City Ramblers went with:

Says that preacher, 'golly ain't it a sin?
Johnny get your britches 'cause here comes the wind'

Lyle and the Brandy Snifters went with:

'Johnny get your wood cut, 'cause here comes the wind'

Lyle wrote to the oldtimey newsgroup:

'When we asked Kirk about what he thought the verse might mean, he looked at us as if we were daft. He said something like, "They were just words. Uncle Dave sang quite a few verses like that". My interpretation would be that it's a sin to not provide fuel for the cold weather ahead. It might be something else, though. This sounds like a "floating" verse, but I've never heard it in any other song'.

However, once again, my hearing concurs with that of the writer of the ballad index entry quoted above:

'Johnny get your whiskers cut, here comes the wind'.

Below is what I hear after consideration of various interpretations. To paraphrase the immortal lines of 'The Open Book' poem:

Now that I've opened the ledger on Uncle Dave interpreters just as they be
Some half-assed bronc stomper or free holy chomper
Will kick all the shit out of me

RAILROADIN' AND GAMBLIN'

What your mammy am told you, six months ago
Keep on your coat and hat, be ready to go

Chorus:
Oh railroadin' and gamblin'
Pickin' up chips for mammy
Lord, lord, lord

Take your feet outa the sand, stick 'em in the mud
Take your feet outa the sand, stick 'em in the mud

Been in the statehouse, been in that hall
Been in that courthouse, the worst place of all

Chorus

Says that preacher, 'God ain't that a sin'
'Johnny get your whiskers cut, here comes the wind'
Lord that preacher, 'God ain't that a sin
'Johnny get your whiskers cut, here comes the wind'

Cars on the roadside, cars on the track
Spent all my money, no way to get back

Chorus

Take your feet outa the sand, stick 'em in the mud
Take your feet outa the sand, stick 'em in the mud

Source: transcription of Uncle Dave Macon 'Railroadin' and Gamblin' recorded on 26 January 1938 in Charlotte, NC, and issued as Bb B8325. Reissued on County CD 115 and in Bear Family Uncle Dave Macon box set BCD 15978 JM.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: Ferrara
Date: 16 Jan 06 - 07:33 PM

Does anyone have the words to "Me and My Henry," I think that's the title, it's in praise of his Ford auto.

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 16 Jan 06 - 05:49 PM

From The Traditional Ballad Index:

Railroadin' and Gamblin'

DESCRIPTION: Uncle Dave Macon surrealism. Singer has been in the state house and the court house; he is broke from gambling. Chorus: "Railroadin' and gamblin'/Pickin' up chips for mammy/Lawd, lawd, lawd/Take your feet out the sand, stick 'em in the mud."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1940 (recording, Uncle Dave Macon)
LONG DESCRIPTION: More Uncle Dave Macon surrealism. Singer has been in the state house (prison?) and the court house, and is broke from gambling despite his mother's advice. "Lawd, that preacher got, ain't that a sin/Johnny get your whiskers cut, here comes the wind." Chorus: "Railroadin' and gamblin'/Pickin' up chips for mammy/Lawd, lawd, lawd/Take your feet out the sand, stick 'em in the mud." You figure it out.
KEYWORDS: prison gambling railroading nonballad nonsense
FOUND IN: US(SE)
RECORDINGS:
Uncle Dave Macon, "Railroadin' and Gamblin'" (Bluebird 8325, 1940; on RoughWays2)
Notes: Almost certainly of minstrel origin; a few lines are in dialect. While I use the keyword "nonsense," I suspect there was meaning in the song once. - PJS
File: RcUDRaG

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: Gern
Date: 12 Jan 06 - 05:07 PM

Does anyone have the words to "Poor Sinner Fare Thee Well" and "Railroading and Gambling"?

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 13 Jul 05 - 11:24 PM

Maybe he had more than one girlfriend and kept getting them confused... :-)

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: Ferrara
Date: 13 Jul 05 - 12:07 AM

Re: Over the Mountains. Thank you, Mrs. Cockrell, and OTP, too! So useful to get this information.

Still not absolutely sure what Uncle Dave actually sang; it almost seemed he changed it from verse to verse, but "my Eily" works well in most places. Maybe the song had been "folk processed" by the time he learned it, or maybe he was singing it from memory and changed a few things here and there.

For myself I'm going to let it all sift itself out, and listen to the recording until I just decide how I want to sing it. All the above guesses and information are great, thanks everyone.

Subject: Lyr Add: OVER THE MOUNTAIN (William Scanlon)
From: OTP
Date: 12 Jul 05 - 03:16 PM

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subj: Over the Mountain

I thought this might clarify the current thread, but it doesn't. I will alter my reading of Uncle Dave's version to "an Eily." It's kind of like passing a sentence around a table, it just comes out a little different each time. Plus, look - another verse!

Paul


Dear Mr. Ritscher:
Shirley Wall forwarded your research request concerning the lyrics to "Over the Mountain" by William Scanlon. I have pulled the sheet music in our collection, which is in a bound volume. It is dated 1882 and here are the lyrics:

1. I'm always light hearted and aisy, Not a care in the world have I,
Because I am lov'd by a Colleen, I couldn't forget if I try.
She lives far away o'er the mountain, Where I know she's still thinking of me,
Arrah! Cushla McChree were I with you, This moment how happy I'd be.

CHORUS: Its over, yes, over the mountain, Where the little thrush sings on the tree;
In a cabin all covered with ivy, There my Eily is waiting for me!

2. The day I bid good-bye to Eily, That day I will ne'er forget,
How the tears bubbled up from their slumber, I fancy I see them yet.
They look'd like the pearls in the ocean, As she wept the tears of love,
Says she, "Teddy my boy, don't forget me, 'Till we meet again here or above. CHORUS

3. Oh, water and land may divide us, Friends like the flow'rs come and go;
The face of my Eily will cheer me, For in that dear face I well know.
The imprint of love and devotion. Surrounded by thoughts chaste and pure,
Will serve as the star to the sailor, Whilst plodding the wold raging moor. CHORUS

Hope this helps. The name in this version is Eily, no where does it say Anna Lee. Let me know if there is something else we can help with.

Lucinda Cockrell
--
Lucinda Poole Cockrell, C.A.
Coordinator of Research Collections
The Center for Popular Music
MTSU Box 41
Murfreesboro, TN 37132
615/898-5884
615/898-5829 (FAX)
http://popmusic.mtsu.edu


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Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: OTP
Date: 12 Jul 05 - 01:18 PM

Anna Lee or Annie Lee or Annie Lea is a name used in many songs of the later 19th century, such as "Carry Me Back to Tennessee" recorded by the Blue Sky Boys. Uncle Dave tended to slur syllabels and even drop tenses in order to keep the meter and to avoid grouping (for example) words ending in 's' next to words beginning with 's'. His word breaks tend to be rather sophisticated, but coupled with the Middle Tennesse linguistic tendency to slur and understate words (to say nothing of his beloved 'lemonade') it makes it difficult to hear. Part of listening to his songs is looking at the context of each particular word or phrase. Amalee is not a name I have ever heard, and in the larger context of Uncle Dave's work obscure names don't appear.

Paul

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: Andrez
Date: 07 Jul 05 - 10:19 AM

Thanks for the info on recordings I'll spend some time on the weekend and go thru the links. My god though.........Hound Dogs Bop shop is actually still going strong after all these years? Next time I'm in sunny Melb I'll definitely look that shop up. Great thread here!

Cheers,

Andrez

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: GUEST,Bob Coltman
Date: 06 Jul 05 - 09:19 AM

Oops, I missed the "Annalee" ref above & I'll defer to that, though because of the distortion of accent, for my money "Amalie" still sounds better when sung.
Bob

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: GUEST,Bob Coltman
Date: 06 Jul 05 - 09:16 AM

Tarheel, I've puzzled over that "Ollie" too.

Close as I can come, it sounds like "Amalie," accent on the second sylLAble. Fits the first verse reference better, and it is a popular 19th century girl's name.

Note he seems to slip in a quick first syllable before the "Ollie" in the second verse, that's what gave me a tipoff.

Gus Meade's Country Music Sources says it was written 1882 by William Scanlon. If anyone can turn up the original sheet music, we could clear this one up. Meade cites a few printed references but there's no way of knowing whether THEY are accurate.

I love it too. One of the prettiest ever.

Bob

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: Stewie
Date: 05 Jul 05 - 08:03 PM

Amazon has the complete works box set from Bear Family:

CLICK

County sales also has the box set plus some on County and Old Homestead. The two on County are great, but I would avoid Old Homestead - my personal experience with them is that they are shoddily done and the painted surface of the disk on my copy of 'Early Recordings' lifted completely!

Put Uncle Dave Macon into the quick search box on the home page of County Sales:

CLICK.

If you don't want to purchase online, telephone Denys Williams at Hound Dog's Bop Shop in Melbourne. He can supply the box set and the Countys. His shop only opens on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Alternatively, you could contact Steve Reid at Yesterday and Today Records in Paramatta who can supply any Bear Family records.

--Stewie.