I recently heard a very appealing version of the song Blackjack Davy
by Carlene Carter ( of the Carter family) along with Kris Kristopherson - two great voices
and nice guitar work too. When she talks about the song, she says
she learned it from her grandmother, and it was sung as an Appalachian ballad.The
folk process is really at work here, as I first heard it years ago as an English
folk ballad. The melody and general story of the song are the same, but
I recall the English folk song as having a lot more verses. And in the old time
ballad this lady forsakes her baby, not so in this newer country version. I remember a
version of it, dating back probably to the seventies , maybe eighties, that I really
liked, but can't remember who did it. ( It was not the Steeleye Span version)
Maybe one of you catters can help me find it again :

I believe the final verse went:
Last night I slept on a fine feather bed
Besides my husband and baby
Tonight I'll sleep on the cold cold ground
In the arms of blackjack Davy.
Also, that version may have been called The Gypsy Davy. I believe it was
on an album that has been lost in transit years ago.


I 'm also interested in what your favorite version of the song might be, and
any other information you have about it. Seems that it goes back a long way,
but has been embraced - and modified and/or evolved- by many popular singers and groups.


Thanks in advance for anything you can tell me.