Richie,

Some other bits and pieces related to material raised earlier in this thread:

1. Harpgirl posted Wilmer Watts & The Lonely Eagles' version of 'Banjo Sam' in this thread CLICK HERE The penultimate stanza that she gives, beginning 'I went a-fishin' an' fished for a shad', is not from the Wilmer Watts version, but a stanza from 'Lulu' in Brown 'North Carolina Folklore III, 222. Norm Cohen who gives the transcription in the marvellous booklet for 'Paramount Oldtime Tunes' was unable to decipher the last 2 lines of the final stanza - and who could blame him:

Throwed my hook ..... shad
.................. my old dad
Throwed my hook in the middle of the hole
Catfish got my hook and pole
Hello Banjo Sam

In relation to the 'Lulu' stanza from Brown III, Cohen noted that the editors of 'North Carolina Folklore III' discuss whether 'ad' or 'dad' is correct, the latter referring somehow to the grandaddy of all fish. Cohen goes on: 'Dan Emmett's composition titled 'Old Dad', published in 1844, leaves no doubt in my mind that "dad" is the original locution, though whether it is indeed a fish, or a father, or some other stock minstrel figure is not clear to me. The fourth stanza of "Old Dad" is related to one stanza of Wilmer Watts' "Banjo Sam":

My mudder once did 'spres a wish
Dat I should go and cotch some fish
I bate my hook to cotch a shad
But the first fish bit was my old dad [Nathan, 446]'

Cohen also noted: 'The "banjo walk, banjo talk" verses are reminiscent of "Jawbone" by Pope's Arkansas Mountaineers (Victor 21577) ... and Carter Bros & Son (Okeh 45289). On the former the words are "Jawbone walk, jawbone talk/Jawbone eat with a knife and fork". "De Old Jawbone" was also a composition of Dan Emmett, published in 1840, but whether it was the source of the minstrel song or borrowed from an earlier folksong is not obvious'.

2. In John Fahey's transcription of Patton's 'Dry Well Blues', your missing line in stanza four is: 'The old weather done come in, parched all the cotton and corn'. The Fahey transcription varies in a number of places from the one you posted, but he is defeated completely by the first 2 lines of the final stanza. I can post the Fahey transcription if you would like it.

3. A transcription of Roscoe Holcomb's version of 'Hook & Line' is given in John Cohen's booklet accompanying the LP version of 'High Lonesome Sound' Folkways FA 2368. There are some blanks here also - it beats me why Cohen didn't simply ask Roscoe what he was singing:

HOOK AND LINE

Gimme the hook and gimme the line
Gimme that gal you call mine

Sal went a-fishing on a hot summer day
.............. over, and the fish got away
Throw away the hook and give away the line
.................... fish some time

I'm goin' to California where they sleep out every night (x2)
You low down woman, you sure don't treat me right

Source: transcription in booklet for Roscoe Holcomb 'The High Lonesome Sound' Folkways FA 2368. This is also reissued on CD: Roscoe Holcomb 'The High Lonesome Sound' Smithsonian/Folkways SFCD 40079.

John Cohen noted that, according to Roscoe and other eastern Kentucky musicians, 'Hook & Line' was the most popular banjo tune used for square dancing in that locale. It was affectionately known as 'Hook and String' and was also a fiddle piece. The Library of Congress check list gives 5 recordings from 1937 and 1938, all from East Kentucky. Roscoe's performance was as he played it for dances. He said that when everyone would get real tired, he'd break into the old Jimmie Rodgers tune, 'California Blues' ('Blue Yodel #4), and the dancers would get tickled, start laughing and find new strength to dance on. [Info from John Cohen's notes for 'High Lonesome Sound'].

There is another Kentucky version of 'Hook and Line' by Bill Cornett on Various Artists 'Mountain Music of Kentucky' Smithsonian/Folkways SFCD 40077.

--Stewie.