Macon's version was recorded in 1926. About a year later, Frank Blevins' Tar Heel Rattlers cut "Late Last Night When Willie Came," a cover if not an independent version, I would think, but it was never released and is not known to be extant. The Smoky Mountain Ramblers did a version for Vocalion at Knoxville in 1930. This was basically a pickup group, with some of Vocalion's session men backing Walt McKinney, a steel guitarist. Hugh Cross sang lead on the Vocalion take, which was called "Ain't It Hell, Boys." Overall it's pretty similar to Macon's version, with a different chorus: Ain't it hell, hell, hell, oh, boys To love one that don't love you Ain't it hell, hell, hell, oh boys, To love one that won't be true. Skip James, a black artist from the Delta, recorded the song for Paramount in 1931 as "Drunken Spree." It's possible this is a consciously rewritten version of the hillbilly song, though it sounds more like an independent variant to me. Love my darlin', yes I do, I'll love her till the seas go dry And if I thought she didn't love me I'd take morphine and die. It was late last night when Willie came home He made one rap on the door Is that you darling, I would like to know, Darling, don't you rap no more. The last good word I heard my mother say Sonny, come hold my head Oh me, oh my, Never let a dollar by. I sold my watch and I sold my chain I pawned my gold diamond ring If that don't settle my drunken spree I'll never drink no more. You hand me down my [???] And all my girlish clothes It was late last night when Willie came home She made one rap on the door Is that you Willie, I would like to know Honey, don't you rap no more. Repeat first verse Skip plays this in E, with a fingerpicked instrumental between verses. Melody is pretty much the same as the hillbilly versions, and Willie changes sex in the 1931 take (in a 60s remake Willie is a girl throughout, "Miss Willie"). (NB that Cryin' Sam Collins, also of Mississippi, uses a cousin-like verse in a song from his 1931 final session that is otherwise a mix of "Keep My Skillet Good and Greasy" and a train song similar to "Reuben" -- "I got up in my stockings, tripped across the floor/Hyah them bloodhounds rappin' up my door.") See also "What Will I Do When My Money is All Gone" by Uncle Eck Dunford and Hattie Stoneman, from Victor in 1927. Song is actually a member of the "Cold Icy Floor" family but has a couple of familiar sentiments in the lyrics: I dreamed last night that Josephus came home (x3) Knocking and banging at the door. I jumped out of bed and tripped across the floor (x3) Josephus, don't you knock no more. Roy Acuff cut this in the late 30s on ARC as "One Old Shirt." One old shirt is all I got And a dollar is all I crave Oh I brought nothing to this whole wide world Gonna take nothing to my grave. (cho) Ain't it hard, hard, oh Lord, ain't it hard To love a girl that don't love you. Now come my little pink and tell me what you think You're a long time making up your mind. You tell more lies than the stars in the skies Oh baby, your heart ain't mine. My baby come home late hours of the night She just keeps rapping on the door I wake up in my stocking feet My baby, don't rap no more. I love you sweet baby till the sea runs dry The rocks are at the sun I love you sweet baby till the day I die Then you may know I'm gone. I wish I was on some rocky mountain top Sitting in my big arm chair With one arm around my liquor keg And the other one around my dear. Acuff uses a melody significantly different from the standard Macon-derived model and, as with Skip James, this sounds like an independent variant to me. It has one verse straight from "Pretty Little Pink," and another from the "Rocky Mountain Top" family. Of course, "Pink" and "Late" both employ the same melody. There are some songs called "Dollar's All I Crave" in the OTM repertoire, the only one of which I've heard is the Cliff Carlisle version from the 1930s. It's a straight hillbilly blues, with the "one old shirt" verses found in "Late Last Night." Instead of a I-IV-I-I-V-I melody, Carlisle does it as a 12-bar blues.
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