The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #80768   Message #1474616
Posted By: Joe Offer
29-Apr-05 - 07:22 PM
Thread Name: Origins: See that My Grave's Kept Green (Williams)
Subject: RE: Origins: 'See That My Grave is Kept Clean'
The entry for the Traditional Ballad Index may help a bit. Note the comment about Gus Williams:

See That My Grave Is Kept Clean

DESCRIPTION: Singer, dying, asks that his grave be kept clean, that his grave be dug with a silver spade, and that he be lowered with a golden chain.
AUTHOR: probably Blind Lemon Jefferson
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (recording, Blind Lemon Jefferson)
KEYWORDS: death dying funeral nonballad religious floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Asch/Dunson/Raim, p. 92, "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, pp. 114-115, "Sad and Lonesome Day" (1 text, 1 tune)
Courlander-NFM, p. 139, "(One Kind Favor)" (1 text)
Gilbert, p. 81, "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" (1 partial text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 300-301, "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" (1 text)

Roud #7382
RECORDINGS:
[Joe] Evans & [Arthur] McClain, "Two White Horses in a Line" (Oriole 8081/Perfect 182/Romeo 5081, 1931; on BefBlues1)
Blind Lemon Jefferson, "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" (Paramount 12608B, 1928; on AAFM3; improperly listed as "Two White Horses" on the CD reissue cover though not in the notes; also on Jefferson01, JeffersonCD01)
Mike Seeger, "Sad and Lonesome Day" (on MSeeger01)
Hobart Smith, "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" (on LomaxCD1704)

ALTERNATE TITLES:
Two White Horses In a Line
Notes: In 1870, Gus Williams composed an item "See that My Grave's Kept Green"; I have no idea whether it affected this song. - RBW
I've seen the sheet music for Williams's piece, and the only thing it has in common with this song is the title phrase. The rest is a sentimentally melancholy bit of Victoriana. - PJS
For those who want to hear the song itself, there are several 78 recordings, one by Bela Lam & his Greene County Singers (OKeh 45126, 1927) and a variety by the Carter Family (as "Sad and Lonesome Day": Victor 23835, 1933; Melotone 7-04-53/Conqueror 8735, 1937; Zonophone [Australia] 4379, n.d.). - RBW, PJS
File: ADR92

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