The original recording by Fields Ward differs only in very minor respects from what has been posted by JAB - Fields second line is 'all the darkies stood and cried' and he sings 'in' before 'those agonising, cruel slavery days' in every instance. He also has 'loving' rather than 'darling' wife.

For those who may be interested, the following is some information on Fields Ward. There are also a couple of queries.

Davy Crockett Ward was born in Grayson County, Virginia, in the early 1880s. He learned the fiddle at an early age and played with relatives who lived near their home on Buck Mountain. His son, Fields, born on 23 January 1911, was one of several boys in the family who played music. Crockett moved his family to Ballard Creek in 1921 where they formed a stringband known as Crockett Ward and His Boys. This group went on to successfully audition for Okeh in 1927. Between 1921 and 1940s, Crockett and Fields played with the family band and also with many famous Galax-based musicians such as Emmett Lundy and Crockett's brother, Wade. Around 1934, the family band reorganised into the Bogtrotters which played at the White Top Folk Festivals and the Galax Fiddlers Convention that began in 1936. They were recorded by the Folksong Archive of the Library of Congress. After the Second World War, Fields moved to Maryland where he died on 29 October 1987. [Information from Kip Lornell 'Virginia's Blues, Country & Gospel Records 1902-43' Uni Press of Kentucky 1989 pp205-206].

On the sleeve of the Historical LP issue of the 1929 Genett recordings, Fields told his own story:

I was born in Buck Mountain, Grayson County, Virginia on January 23, 1911. My parents, Crockett and Perlina, were musicians and played all string instruments. I started playing guitar at the age of 12 and eventually learned all the string instruments. The first jobs I remember playing were for bean stringings, corn huskings and county fairs. Our pay was usually food staples or just a good time. My first recording session was for the Okeh Record Company of Winston-Salem, North Carolina in 1926 with my father's band which included my brothers, Sampson (banjo) and Curren (auto harp). We recorded 8 sides, including 'Sugar Hill' and 'Dead Heads and Suckers' which I wrote. I was 16 years old at the time. Later our group played in movie houses (Grayson County), as background music for silent films. Then I started working with the Buck Mountain String Band which was led by my uncle Wade Ward (who later recorded for the Okeh Record Company). The band consisted of 3 pieces which played at auction sales and square dances. We were paid by donations from the crowd, generally $20 for the evening. In 1934, I started a road show with our band the Bog-Trotters. Of the 7 pieces in this band, only Eck Dunford, the violin player, could read music. On January 9, 1940 we recorded approximately 150 sides for the Library of Congress. We also played on the Columbia Broadcasting Station which originated out of Roanoke, Virginia. The program was called The American School of the Air and was transmitted to 108 stations. I was then offered a job by John Lair (who later recorded Red Foley). Not wanting to travel around with my wife and family, I turned it down. I jobbed around, but due to illness, was forced to stop playing music. I got a job in public works until 1964 when I started reactivating my musical career.

The records in this album were recorded in Richmond, Indiana during March of 1929. The session lasted a week. We recorded 3 to 4 hours per day. After travelling to the studio in zero weather, we would let our instruments warm up for an hour and start to play. After one rehearsal, the master was cut. I was 20 years old and, as leader, gave the signals to start, stop and also set the tempo. This is the best material we ever recorded and I still hold dear the music from this wonderful session. Due to a disagreement with the Gennet company and the parties involved, the contract was voided and destroyed, and the masters were retained by me as my property. This is the first time they are available to the public.

Fields Ward

Just a couple of anomalies that 'Catters such as Dale or Arkie may be able to explain for me. First, the Historical LP (8001) of the Gennet recordings is titled 'Fields Ward and His Buck Mountain Band'. However, according to Lornell's discography, some of the sides were listed by Gennet as by the Grayson County Railsplitters, others as by Ward and Winfield with the Grayson County Railsplitters (Winfield = Ernest Stoneman), and one simply as by Ward and Winfield - and none as 'Buck Mountain Band'. The Buck Mountain Band (Wade Ward, Van Edwards and Earl Edwards) recorded 4 sides for Okeh in October 1929. What is the story here? Was it simply that, Arnold Caplin, the producer of the Historical LP, decided to call it Fields Ward and His Buck Mountain Band? Or were the othere names decided on by Gennet without reference to musicians involved? Perhaps it was the source of the disagreement referred to by Fields. A second curious anomaly is that Caplin gives the recording session as March 12-16, (which accords with Fields account of about a week's recording) but Lornell's discography gives 2 recording days – 5 March 1929 and 7 March 1929. This is not a different session because Lornell gives the Historical 8001 reference for each cut. A third anomaly is that on the Historical LP sleeve 'Bog-Trotters' is spelled thus, whereas Lornell has it as 'Bogtrotters' for the same 1934 band.

Can anyone explain these anomalies for me?

Cheers, Stewie.