I’m a very latecomer to this thread, but I am fascinated by all that has been presented and argued here. MY GET UP AND GO has been a long time favorite of mine. I first began singing it as early as in my 30’s - busking through Europe, Canada, and the US. It went down equally well at coffeehouses, barrooms, concert stages, and nursing homes. I always credited it to Pete and had never looked deeper until this morning when I did a quick Internet search to confirm a few lyrics I was confused about. Imagine my surprise when I found this!

My take away from it is that there is truth and fact in almost all of what has been posted here. From the various timelines and documentations of version after version, to the passing similarity to OFFICER KRUPKE, to Jimmy Driftwood‘s late-arriving version - even the amalgam version in the Weaver’s Reunion. I appreciate and honor them all. And I deeply sympathize with the need for treasured and beloved creators to get the credit they deserve.

But, as Woody Guthrie certainly taught us, the folk arts are plastic - drawing from and building on all that has gone before.

It just confirms for me once again, that most of our creative efforts spawn and gestate from a vast pool of shared ideas. Sort of like underground aquifers that branch and flow and mix and then surface in lovely pools and streams. This has happened all through our past. These stories, poems, melodies and songs have come down through the oral tradition with the old constantly being rebirthed as something new. And only now, through the conscientious copywriting and registering of intellectual property, and with the advent of such easy and intensive research tools do we realize just how interwoven and cross-influenced so much of our folk art has been.

My sincere thanks to Mudcat for this very enlightening and entertaining morning read!