Subject: Origins; Old Blue / Old Dog Blue
From: Joe Offer
I can't believe the Digital Tradition has only three verses for this song. I harvested this sucker in a hurry. Have there been other versions posted? Anybody have a version they'd like to post in this thread?
I realize Rick Fielding posted his own version here (click), but I couldn't bring myself to harvest it. Sorry, Rick, I know you tried.
-Joe Offer-
Here's the Traditional Ballad Index entry on this song:
Old Blue
DESCRIPTION: "I had a dog and his name was Blue...." The singer tells how Blue aided him in 'possum hunting, then goes on to describe Blue's death and burial.AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1913
KEYWORDS: dog death burial hunting
FOUND IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES (9 citations):
Randolph 295, "Old Blue" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune)
BrownIII 220, "Old Blue" (1 text)
Hudson 74, pp. 201-202, "Old Blue" (1 text)
Lomax-FSUSA 7, "Old Blue" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-Singing, pp. 111-112, "Old Blue" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 157, "Blue" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 738, "Old Blue" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 396, "Old Blue" (1 text)
DT, OLDBLUE
Roud #4313
RECORDINGS:
Jim Jackson, "Old Dog Blue" (Victor 21387B, 1928; on AAFM2) (Vocalion 1146, 1928)
Pete Seeger, "Old Blue" (on PeteSeeger09, PeteSeegerCD02)
Art Thieme, "The Split Dog" [combines song and tall-tale] (on Thieme01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Deep Blue Sea (II)" (floating lyrics)
File: R295
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The Ballad Index Copyright 2017 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.
And the Digital Tradition lyrics:
OLD BLUE
I had a dog and his name was Blue
I had a dog and his name was Blue
I had a dog and his name was Blue
Betcha five dollars he's a good 'un too
Here Blue, you good dog you
Shouldered my gun and i tooted my horn
Gonna find a possum in the new ground corn
Old Blue barked and I went to see
Cornered a possum up in a tree
Old Blue died and he died so hard
Shook the ground in my backyard
Dug his grave with a silver spade
Lowered him down with links of chain
Every link I did call his name
Here Blue, you good dog you
Here Blue, I'm a-coming there too
@animal
recorded by Joan Baez
filename[ OLDBLUE
TUNE FILE: OLDBLUE
CLICK TO PLAY
SOF
OLD BLUE
My old dog Blue
'll make a 'possum walk a log,
Make a 'possum clim' a tree,
Then set down and bark for me.
G'on! Blue, you rascal you,
Ketch another 'possum for me and you.
He'll make a 'possum walk a lim',
Then set down and laugh at him;
I'd get the 'possum and carry him home,
Blue'd get nothin' but the bones.
G'on! Blue you rascal you,
Ketch another 'possum for me and you.
My old blue dog is dead and gone,
Left this nigger here to moan;
I went to the barn one sunny day,
Blue! Blue! Blue! Blue! You rascal you,
I wish it was me instead of you.
I buried him in a beautiful shade,
Dug his grave with a silver spade;
Let him down on a golden chain;
At every link I'd call his name:
Blue! Blue! Blue! Blue! You rascal you,
I wish it was me instead of you.
Going to heaven some Sunday morn,
Going to tell you what I'll do:
Get St. Peter's golden horn,
Then go out and blow for Blue;
Blue! Blue! Blue! Blue! You rascal you,
Ketch another 'possum for me and you.
Sung by Negro construction gang, 1915-1916. Origin in minstrel songs and spiritu
als. Perrow collected a version in 1909. On old records of the 1920s and taken u
p by Joan Baez and other folk singers.
White, N. I., American Negro Folk Songs, 1928 (1965), p. 207-207.
@animal @dog @work @Negro
filename[ OLDBLUE2
FS (taken from Dicho's post above)
OLD DOG BLUE
I'm goin' back to whar I'm from,
I'm goin' back to whar I'm from,
I'm goin' back to Giles County.
My wife died and left me a bounty.
We done pretty good, jacked around,
That's the reason why I'm goin' back to Giles County.
I had an old dog whose name was Blue,
You know that Blue was mighty true.
You know that Blue was a good old dog,
Blue treed a 'possum in a hollow log.
You know from that he's a good old dog.
Blue treed a 'possum out on a limb,
Blue looked at me and I looked at him,
Rapped that 'possum and put him in a sack,
"Do fer me, Blue, 'til I get back."
"Hey, Ring! Yeah, Ring Here! (1)
Hey Ring! Hey, Ring here!"
Who's been here since I been gone,
Little baby girl with the red dress on
Who's been here since I been gone,
Little baby girl with the red dress on.
Old Blue's feet was big and round,
Old Blue's feet was big and round,
Never 'lowed a 'possum to tech the ground.
Me and Blue went out on a hunt.
Blue treed a 'possum in a hollow stump.
You know that Blue was a good old dog.
Blue treed a 'possum in a hollow log,
You know from that he's a good old dog.
Old Blue died and I dug his grave, (2)
I dug his grave with a silver spade,
I let him down with a golden chain,
With every link I called his name.
Oh Blue, you good dog you,
Ol' Blue you good dog you,
Blue laid down and died like a man,
Blue laid down and died like a man.
Now he's treein' 'possums in the promised land.
I'm goin' to tell you this jes' to let you know,
Old Blue's gone where the good dogs go.
When I hear old Blue's bark,
When I hear old Blue bark,
Blue's treed a 'possum in Noah's ark.
Blue's treed a 'possum in Noah's ark.
transcription of Jim Jackson, with guitar, recorded for Vocalion in Chicago on 2
2 January 1928 - Vo 1146.
(1) Typical holler when coming to a cabin; hard to decipher. (2) Similar words i
n spirituals and hymns, and in "Deep Blue Sea."
@animal @dog @blues
filename[ OLDBLUE3
FS (taken from Dicho's post below)