Lyr Req: Gold Miners' Songs (American)

Subject: Lyr Add: THE DREARY BLACK HILLS^^
From: Art Thieme
Date: 27 Aug 98 - 11:38 AM

Here's one from the gold rush of 1874 in the Black Hills of Dakota. There was a small amount of gold in the Black Hills; just enough to perpetrate a legitimate hoax. An officer of the Northern Pacific railroad started the rush to stimulate business. General George Custer was part of the plan and he spread the word. The folks that came forced the Sioux Indians off their treatied/native lands. This was a travesty as the Black Hills were sacred to the Indians. Eventually Custer was repaid by the Sioux for this offense at the Battle of Little Big Horn where Custer and his Seventh Cavalry was defeated and slain. The army took out it's frustration on the Indians at the battle of Wounded Knee by slaughtering everyone there--mostly women and children. I first learned this from Frank Hamilton, a former member of the WEAVERS, about 1961---a tape of him I made of a concert he did at the University of Illinois--Chicago (Navy Pier--2 year branch.)---We used to say that was the only university that could be torpedoed! ;-) Later, Jim Ringer did a great version of this song on his wonderful Folk Legacy LP---the one with "California Joe" (Folk Legacy will make custom cassettes from any of their wondrous LPs for anyone desiring to purchase one---a great service and resource.Check out their website ! I'm there too.

THE DREARY BLACK HILLS

Kind friends won't you listen to my horrible tale,
I'm an object of pity and I'm feelin' quite stale,
I gave up my job selling Wright's Patent Pills,
To go hunting for gold in the dreary Black Hills.

CHORUS)
Don't go away, stay to home if you can,
Stay away from that city--they call it Cheyenne,
Where Chief Crazy Horse and old Sittin' Bull,
They,ll lift up your scalps in the dreary Black Hills.

As I went out ridin' one morning in May,
I spied old Kit Carson---he was ridin' away,
He was riding out west with Buffalo Bill,
Gone to huntin' the gold in the dreary Black Hills.

The roundhouse at Cheyenne is filled every night,
With loafers and bummers of most every plight,
On their backs is no clothes, in their pockets no bills,
Each day they keep startin' for the dreary Black Hills.

When I got to Cheyenned no gold could I find,
I thought of the lunch route that I'd left behind,
Through rain, hail and snow---froze plumb to the gills,
They called me the orphan of the dreary Black Hills.

I wish that the man that started this sell,
Was captive and Crazy Horse had him in hell,
But there's no use moanin' or swearin' like pitch,
'Cause the man who'd stay here is a son of a bitch.

And so, my kind friends, this advice I'll unfold,
Don't go to them Black Hills a-diggin' for gold,
For the railroad speculators, their pockets you'll fill,
From takin' that trip to the dreary Black Hills.

Subject: Lyr Add: AUSTRALIA AND THE AMAZON (J A Stone)^^
From: Art Thieme
Date: 27 Aug 98 - 10:40 AM

only 1 verse to this,

The miners came in '49,
The whores in '51.
And then they got together,
And raised a native son.

There are many, many songs from the California gold rush. Try SONGS OF THE GOLD ROSH byRichard A Dwyer and Richard E. Lingenfelter------Univ. of California Press (Berkeley and LosAngeles)1964

The old ballad "The Sailor Boy" from England became "The Pinery Boy" in the lumber woods and then "The California Boy" in 1849 in the gold rush. Only the occupation and a few details of the different jobs were changed from song to song. Other than that, the songs are the same.

Now here's one from the Calif. goldrush that you good folks in Australia should enjoy.

"AUSTRALIA AND THE AMAZON"
by J.A.Stone (OLD PUT)

Farewell old California, I'm going far away,
Where gold is found more plenty, in larger lumps they say;
And climate, too, that can't beat, no matter where you go---
Australia, that's the land for me,where all have got a show.

CHORUS)
But I found that good time over,
For all was grief and pain,
And I should never, never make,
My ounce a day again.

I sold a claim that paid me just an half an ounce a day,
Got robbed at Sacramento and licked down at the bay,
I took the Monumental--for Sydney she was bound,
Her boilers bursted, she burnt up, and 500 were drowned.

We soon found we were lousy, which did us much surprise,
To hear the cabin gentry say, "They're lousy, blast their eyes!"
But when our journey ended and we had seen the mines,
Without a cent were shoved in jail, for taxes and for fines.

But give me California where all have equal rights,
Or the Amazon with all her snakes, I'd run the risk of bites;
Such mean, infernal thieving outlandish lies are told,
The devil will get the first poor whelp that does discover gold.

Subject: RE: LYR REQ: Gold Miners' Songs (American)
From: Gene
Date: 27 Aug 98 - 10:26 AM

See the separate lyrics post:
SUTTER's MILL

Subject: Lyr Add: NORTH TO ALASKA (Johnny Horton)^^
From: Ralph Butts
Date: 27 Aug 98 - 09:28 AM

Bob.....

North to Alaska was a bit country hit here for Johnny Horton, I'd guess about 40 years ago.

......Tiger

North To Alaska
Johnny Horton

Big Sam left Seattle in the year of ninety-two,
With George Pratt, his partner, and brother Billy, too.
They crossed the Yukon river and found the Bonanza gold,
Below that old White Mountain, just a little southeast of Nome.

CHORUS
Where the river is winding,
Big nuggets they're finding.
North to Alaska,
Go north, the rush is on.

Sam crossed the majestic mountains to the valley far below.
He talked to his team of huskies as he mushed on through the snow,
With the northern lights a'running wild in the land of the midnight sun.
Yes, Sam McCord was a mighty man in the year of nineteen-one.

CHORUS

George turned to Sam with his gold in his hand,
Said: "Sam, you're lookin' at a lonely, lonely man.
I'd trade all the gold that's buried in this land
For one small band of gold to place on sweet little Jenny's hand.

"'Cause a man needs a woman to love him all the time.
Remember, Sam, a true love is so hard to find.
I'd build for my Jenny, a honeymoon home,
Beneath that old White Mountain,
Just a little southeast of Nome."

CHORUS

North to Alaska,
Go north, the rush is on.

Subject: RE: LYR REQ: Gold Miners' Songs (American)
From: Bob Schwarer
Date: 27 Aug 98 - 08:17 AM

The first one that comes to mind is "North to Alaska". There is another Alaskan song I'm familiar with but I'll need some time to find it.

Bob S.

Subject: Lyr/Tune Add: THE NATIONAL MINER (Stone & Foster)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 27 Aug 98 - 05:31 AM

Here's one:

The National Miner
John A. Stone & Stephen Foster

When our gold was first discovered
At Coloma near the mill.
All the world at first endeavored to get here
And they keep a-coming still.

Chorus:
Down in the deep ravines
Hear that roaring sound.
There the miners are a-digging.
Digging in the cold, damp ground.

When our war was through with Mexico,
And we paid them for the land;
Those who fought at Palo Alto
Were driven off by the nations they had tanned.

The most popular songwriter and singer of ballads in 1864 was John A. Stone, or "Old Put" as he preferred being called. He and his Sierra Nevada Rangers went from camp to camp entertaining; singing songs he knew the miners liked to hear. Those songs live on and tell the story of another day. (from Singing Gold, a songbook published by the Sacramento Bee in 1977)

I can't quite figure out what the tune is, but it sure sounds familiar.

MIDI file: NATION~1.MID

Timebase: 192

Name: The National Miner
Text: By John A. Stone & Stephen Foster
Key: D
TimeSig: 4/4 24 8
Start
0000 1 69 110 0288 0 69 000 0000 1 71 110 0094 0 71 000 0002 1 69 110 0094 0 69 000 0002 1 66 110 0094 0 66 000 0002 1 64 110 0094 0 64 000 0002 1 62 110 0094 0 62 000 0002 1 74 110 0336 0 74 000 0048 1 71 110 0160 0 71 000 0032 1 71 110 0094 0 71 000 0002 1 71 110 0094 0 71 000 0002 1 69 110 0160 0 69 000 0032 1 66 110 0160 0 66 000 0032 1 66 110 0256 0 66 000 0032 1 62 110 0094 0 62 000 0002 1 64 110 0528 0 64 000 0240 1 69 110 0256 0 69 000 0032 1 71 110 0094 0 71 000 0002 1 69 110 0094 0 69 000 0002 1 66 110 0094 0 66 000 0002 1 64 110 0094 0 64 000 0002 1 62 110 0094 0 62 000 0002 1 74 110 0336 0 74 000 0048 1 71 110 0160 0 71 000 0032 1 71 110 0160 0 71 000 0032 1 71 110 0094 0 71 000 0002 1 69 110 0094 0 69 000 0002 1 66 110 0094 0 66 000 0002 1 62 110 0094 0 62 000 0002 1 66 110 0094 0 66 000 0002 1 66 110 0094 0 66 000 0002 1 64 110 0094 0 64 000 0002 1 64 110 0094 0 64 000 0002 1 62 110 0528 0 62 000 0240 1 74 110 0336 0 74 000 0048 1 73 110 0160 0 73 000 0032 1 71 110 0160 0 71 000 0032 1 69 110 0256 0 69 000 0032 1 66 110 0094 0 66 000 0002 1 66 110 0160 0 66 000 0224 1 71 110 0160 0 71 000 0032 1 69 110 0160 0 69 000 0032 1 66 110 0256 0 66 000 0032 1 62 110 0094 0 62 000 0002 1 64 110 0528 0 64 000 0240 1 69 110 0256 0 69 000 0032 1 71 110 0094 0 71 000 0002 1 69 110 0094 0 69 000 0002 1 66 110 0094 0 66 000 0002 1 64 110 0094 0 64 000 0002 1 62 110 0094 0 62 000 0002 1 74 110 0336 0 74 000 0048 1 71 110 0336 0 71 000 0048 1 71 110 0094 0 71 000 0002 1 69 110 0094 0 69 000 0002 1 66 110 0094 0 66 000 0002 1 62 110 0094 0 62 000 0002 1 64 110 0160 0 64 000 0032 1 64 110 0160 0 64 000 0032 1 62 110 0528 0 62 000
End

This program is worth the effort of learning it.

To download the March 10 MIDItext 98 software and get instructions on how to use it click here

ABC format:

X:1
T:The National Miner
M:4/4
Q:1/4=120
K:D
A3BAFED|d4B2BB|A2F2F3D|E8|A3BAFED|d4B2B2|
BAFDFFEE|D8|d4c2B2|A3FF4|B2A2F3D|E8|A3BAFED|
d4B4|BAFDE2E2|D11/2||

Subject: RE: LYR REQ: Gold Miners' Songs (American)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 27 Aug 98 - 04:51 AM

Hi, Bob - try searching the database with the keywords @gold or @mining, and you'll find lots. Just put @mining in the search box on this page, and you'll see lots - although not all are gold mining songs. I'll see if I can post a couple from the California Gold Rush over the next couple of days.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: LYR REQ: Gold Miners' Songs (American)
From: Barry Finn
Date: 27 Aug 98 - 03:03 AM

I was just about to lay my head down, so I'll be brief & come back later if there's not much here. Debby McClatchy did a recording, I think recently on this, doing alot of "John Stone (known to the gold diggers as "Old Put") material & Holdstock & Murphy did a tape of this type also. Barry

Subject: LYR REQ: Gold Miners' Songs (American)
From:
Date: 27 Aug 98 - 02:45 AM

G'day all,

A friend (who perform a music show in Primary Schools) asked about American Gold Mining / Goldrush songs. We were surprised that we could think of nothing more than passing mentions in 'Clementine' and 'Sweet Betsy from Pike'. I Australia we have a great number of gold songs, both the stage songs of music-hall performers and songs of unknown miners from the 50 of so years in which individuals followed goldrushes and staked individual claims.

My friend thought he would like to do a well-known American song for comparison ... and found none in any corner of his repertoire.

Surely you Yanks sang - at some point in the proceedings ... you can't have spent every spare minute digging! Can anyone steer me to a few good gold rush songs?

Regards,

Bob Bolton

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Click for part 2
Also see: Days of 49