Lry. Add: SWEET SUNNY SOUTH Charlie Poole

Take me back to a place where I first saw the light,
To the sweet sunny south take me home.
Where the mockingbirds sang me to rest ev'ry night,
Oh, why was I tempted to roam?

I think of regret of the dear home I left,
Of the warm hearts who cheered me then.
Of the wife and the dear ones of whom I'm bereft,
An s sight of the old place again.

Take me home to a place where my little ones sleep
And old Massa lies buried nearby
O'er the graves of my loved ones I long there to weep
And among them to rest and to die

Take me back to the place where the orange trees grow
To my cot in the evergreen shade
Where the flowers on the river's green margin they grow
They are sweet on the banks where we played

'Til the path to our cottage they say has grown green
The place is quite lonely around
And I know that the smiles and the forms I have seen
Now lies in the cold mossy ground

Take me back, let me see what is left that I knew
Can it be that the old house is gone?
Dear friends of my childhood indeed must be few
And now I must face death all alone not a Poole verse

Take me home to a place where my little ones sleep
And old Massa lies buried nearby
O'er the graves of my loved ones I long there to weep
And among them to rest and to die

Notes: Charlie Poole's North Carolina Ramblers version from Kinney Rorrer's book 'Rambling Blues.' Poole recorded this in NY on May 7, 1929, CO-15425-D. It was first done by the North Carolina Ramblers in 1927, Chicago, Ill. with Roy Harvey- Vocal.

Printed versions, under a number of titles, were usually credited to either 'Raymond' or else 'W. L. Bloomfield (in the 1850's). The cover of an 1850's music sheet is reprinted with the notes to the version recorded by Kentucky fiddle-player Buddy Thomas on his album Kitty Puss (Rounder CD 0032).

Laws has two versions. This is the version that starts "Take me back to a place where I first saw the light, To the sweet sunny south take me home" a longing for teh South. It should not to be confused with "The Sweet Sunny South (I)" [Laws A23], a (Confederate) soldier's farewell.

The other version in the DT "To the Sweet Sunny South" resembles Poole's version but is not his version.

-Richie