We have it in the Digital Tradition, but I didn't find any threads on the song. Seems like it should have an interesting history. The Great Song Thesaurus says there was a 1929 recording by Charles "Cow-Cow" Davenport called "Mama Don't Allow No Easy Riders Here" - is it the same song? Here's the entry from the Traditional Ballad Index.
Mama Don't 'Low (DT Lyrics)
DESCRIPTION: "Mama don't 'low no banjo playin 'round here... Well, I don't care what mama don't 'low, Gonna play my banjo anyhow...." Mama forbids all sorts of things, from jazz playing to motorcycle riding, but the singer is not discouraged
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (recording, Charlie Jackson)
KEYWORDS: music mother nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore3 452, "Mama Don't Allow No Low Down Hanging Around" (1 text)
Silber/Silber-FolksingersWordbook, p. 21, "Mama Don't 'Low" (1 text)
DT, MAMADONT
Roud #11793
RECORDINGS:
Allen Bros., "No Low Down Hanging 'Round" (Victor 23536, 1930; Bluebird B-5448, 1934; Montgomery Ward M-4797, 1935)
Connie Boswell & her Swing Band, "Mama Don't Allow It" (Decca 747, 1936)
Milton Brown & his Brownies, "Mama Don't Allow It" (Decca 5281, 1936)
Smilie Burnett, "Mama Don't Like Music" (Perfect 13011, 1934)
Bill Boyd & his Cowboy Ramblers, "Mama Don't Like No Music" (Bluebird B-5855, 1935; Bluebird B-6235/Montgomery Ward M-4791, c. 1936)
Charlie Jackson, "Mama Don't Allow It" (Paramount 12296, 1925)
Leon's Lone Star Cowboys, "Mama Don't Allow It" (Champion 49151, n.d.; Decca 5423, 1937; Montgomery Ward 8045, 1939)
Riley Puckett, "Mama Don't Allow No Low Down Hanging Around" (Columbia 15261-D, 1928)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Johnny and Jane" (lyrics)
NOTES [95 words]: The Brown text is very distinct from the common, bluegrass/jazz-type arrangements of this piece; the first verse and chorus are"
Well, I get up in the morning,
See no rain;
Looked in the pantry,
See the same old thing.
Mama don't allow no low down hanging around.
Chorus:
Mama don't allow it,
Sister don't care.
Papa don't 'low it,
Won't have it here.
Mama don't low no low down hanging around.
But the ending is familiar: "Well, I don't care What your mama don't 'low, Gonna have fun anyhow." Clearly the same song, with the popular texts presumably a modern adaption. - RBW
Last updated in version 4.3
File: FSWB021Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song ListGo to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or DiscographyThe Ballad Index Copyright 2021 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.
The lyrics in the Digital Tradition are exactly what's printed in Folksinger's Wordbook (Silber & Silber, 1973) - although I see the DT has one typo.
MAMA DON'T 'LOW
Mama don't 'low no banjo playin' round here.
I say that mama don't 'low no banjo playin' round here
Well, I don't care what mama don't 'low,
Gonna play my banjo anyhow,
Mama don't 'low no banjo playin' round here.
Mama don't 'low no guitar playin' round here, etc.
Mama don't 'low no bass playin' round here, etc.
Mama don't 'low no talkin' round hcre, etc.,
Gonna shoot my mouth off anyhow, etc.
Mama don't 'low no singin' round here, etc.,
Gonna sing my head off anyhow, etc.
Note: As far as I can find out, this is a C&W/Folkie adaptation
of an older blues that started: "Mama don't 'low no easy riders
here." Popular with pickers. RG
@music
filename[ MAMADONT
RG
I don't have the elusive third volume of the Frank C. Brown Collection of North Carolina Folklore. If somebody would post the version from that book (Page 452), I'd be eternally grateful (but I'll also hate you for having a book I can't find).
-Joe Offer-