ADD: Lovely Agnes / Lovely Alice (Sally Rogers)

Subject: Lovely Alice
From: Patricia Sibley
Date: 21 Sep 98 - 08:09 PM

I would like to get the words to "Lovely Alice" by Sally Rogers. I heard her sing it in the spring and I can't get the tune out of my mind.

thanks

Subject: RE: Lovely Alice
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Sep 98 - 09:48 PM

Hi, Patricia - the tune may have got stuck in your mind, but the words didn't. It's Lovely Agnes (click here), dontchaknow. This song sticks with me because I went the other way across Lake Michigan and got the same results. I left the city life of Detroit for a rural part of Wisconsin. Agnes left the gay city life of Wisconsin for rural Michigan. Supposedly, it's a true story, written in honor of Sally's grandmother, or aunt, or something.
-Joe Offer, now in California-

Subject: RE: Lovely Alice
From: harpgirl
Date: 21 Sep 98 - 10:06 PM

..."Lovely Agnes", can be found on "Sally Rogers, The Unclaimed Pint, DGA productions, 1979. She says this on the liner notes:
"I wrote this song for my grandmother as a present on her 92nd birthday. She was raised Agnes Challoner in Oshkosh Wisconsin, and received her Master's degree in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin in Madison in 1910. She then married my grandfather, Augustus James Rogers II who wanted to move to Michigan to grow cherries. After they were wed, they came to Michigan on a ferry boat in search of prime cherry growing country They settled in Benzie County, locating their farm five miles west of the county seat, Beulah, just over the hill from Crystal Lake. Four children, eighteen grandchildren and twenty five greatgrandchildren later, she still lives on the farm. As a young woman, her relatives couldn't understand how she could spend so much time in college and then bury herself on a farm. But today, sitting in her armchair overlooking the orchards, she says, 'You know, I've never felt buried.'"

You know Joe, I've always considered this a real"folk song." And as a former Detroiter now in the north florida piney woods, I remain a big SR fan. Where in the spring did she sing it, Pat? harpgirl

Subject: RE: Lovely Alice
From: rich r
Date: 21 Sep 98 - 11:33 PM

It's an interesting juxtaposition. a song about a lake that was sung in the spring.

rich r

Subject: RE: Lovely Agnes
From: Joe Offer
Date: 23 Sep 98 - 08:50 PM

The "city life" of Oshkosh???? We used to joke about Oshkosh when I lived in southeastern Wisconsin. Actually, though, it has a population over 50,000. I visited there a time or two, 25 years ago - it's a very pretty little city on the shores of Lake Winnebago, the largest inland lake in Wisconsin. There's some awfully pretty territory on both sides of Lake Michigan, especially in the north. This song reminds me of that beauty.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: Folklore: Story behind 'Lovely Agnes'
From: dulcimer42
Date: 22 Jul 09 - 12:19 PM

Several years ago, I heard the story behind Sally Rogers' song, "Lovely Agnes."   Something like, an educated young lady going across Lake Michigan with her lover, to live on a farm... much against her parents' wishes.   Does anyone know the whole story, who this was about, etc.    I like to share the story behind songs I sing, and just can't recall the details about this one. Thanks for your help.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lovely Agnes / Lovely Alice (Sally Rogers
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Sep 21 - 05:35 PM

I loved this performance by Sally and her sister:

https://www.facebook.com/salrog/videos/530512974712642