Lomax gives a version of 'Johnson Boys' from Lily Mae Ledford that shares its opening stanza with the Frank Proffitt version in DT and some other lines with the Al Hopkins version. Lomax gives no other source note apart from a reference to Brown III.


JOHNSON BOYS

Johnson boys, raised in ashes
Never knew how to court a maid
Turn their backs and hide their faces
Sight of a pretty maid makes them afraid (x3)

Johnson boys went a-courtin'
The Coon Creek girls so pretty and sweet
They couldn't make no conversation
They didn't know where to put their feet (x3)

The Johnson boys, they went a-huntin'
Took two dogs and went astray
Tore their clothes and scratched their faces
They didn't get home till break of day (x3)

The Johnson boys went to the city
Ridin' in a Chevrolet
They came home broke and a-walkin'
They had no money for to pay their way (x3)
Shame, o shame on the Johnson boys

Source:   #115 in Alan Lomax 'The Folk Songs of North America' Doubleday & Co 1960. From the singing of Lily Mae Ledford