The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #10165   Message #69013
Posted By: Sandy Paton
08-Apr-99 - 12:48 AM
Thread Name: Lyr ADD: Key of R (Elizabeth W. Anthony)
Subject: RE: Key of R - Bill D???
Sorry I've overlooked this thread. Yes, our recording of "Rivers of Texas" is still available, but only as one of our "custom" cassettes. However, I refer you all to Vance Randolph's Ozark Folksongs, the original source for this song, wherein the chorus changes periodically. Caroline and I prefer (now) to close the song by repeating the chorus with the:

Li, li, li, lee, lee lee, pole the boat on,
My Brazos River sweetheart has left me and gone.

chorus that Irene Carlyle (spelling?) actually sang when Randolph collected the song from her. Most of us "revival folk" have chosen to keep the words to the chorus the same from verse to verse in order to let audiences sing along with us. Switching the words around in mid-stream seems a bit sneaky.

Sandy