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Riverboat Songs?
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: GUEST,hg Date: 18 Mar 13 - 10:37 PM deepdoc1 I do believe Maggie Sayre is the one...can't find the iconic photographs in my mind's eye yet. Many thanks. Who are you? |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: deepdoc1 Date: 18 Mar 13 - 07:35 PM Not sure about the blind part, but there was Deaf Maggie Lee Sayre. Powerful good photos of river folk. |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: GUEST,hg Date: 18 Mar 13 - 05:06 PM Hi all, This is a great old thread and I am using it to see if anyone remembers a female photographer from the thirties who was blind and lived aboard a houseboat on the Mississippi River??? Her photographs were remarkable, many of giant catfish caught from her houseboat????. |
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Subject: Lyr Add: ANNIE CHRISTMAS (Art Thieme) From: Art Thieme Date: 15 Feb 01 - 11:43 PM ANNIE CHRISTMAS -------- After Roark Bradford and Lyle Saxon in The New Orleans Times-Picayune. Also see as a possible source CARL CARMER's 1939 THE HURRICANE'S CHILDREN. Both of the above were reprinted in B.A. Botkin's Treasury Of Folklore books. Jackie Torrence's retelling of Annie Christmas seems to be taken from Carl Carmer's piece. The ANNIE CHRISTMAS I told was from all of the above---plus puns etc. and off the top o' my head changes---some of which stayed in---but some didnt.(see below) ------------------------------------------------------------------- The black folks say Annie was black and the white folks say she was white. Happened so long ago nobody knows for sure. What they did agree on was that she was just one hell of a woman. Annie Christmas stood 7 and a half feet tall in her stocking feet. She weighed 750 pounds and made her living as a keelboat pilot on the Mississippi River---poling those boats up against the current---stickin' the pole in the mud of the bottom and pushin' with all her strength. Muscles werejust a-ripplin' on her arms. Folks lined the shore for miles just to watch Annie work. It was such a prodigious effort. Mostly she wore buckskin and she had a red turkey feather in her hair. She was some sight to see when she was working. There wasn't a man that Annie couldn't beat in a fight -- fair or otherwise. They came from all over to fight her. Even Mike Fink showed up to fight her one time. You know 'bout Mike Fink on the Ohio? He tried to jump the Ohio River once. Got half way across & saw he wasn't gonna make it-----so he turned around and went back. Now, Annie saw these new steamboats every so often and she thought they were pretty fine lookin'. To her they seemed like floating wedding cakes comin' down the river in the misty light of mornin'. She saw the fancy ladies and the gamblers too. They looked fine to Annie too and she set her mind to takin' a ride on a steamboat. She went and got SYXTY YARDS of red satin and made herself a fine little shorty frock. She put the turkey feather in her hair---and she put on her famous necklace-----the one made out of ears and noses and eyes she had bit and gouged off o' guys in those fights she had. When Annie Christmas died, folks said that necklace was 28 feet long !) Well, Annie got on board The River Queen and she met and fell in love with Charlie---a gambler. For both of 'em it was love at first sight. Just a few days after meeting Charlie and Annie Christmas asked the captain to marry them. Exactly one year to the day after gettin' hitched, Annie Christmas gave birth to twelve sons. And all were born at the same time. Within 6 months all of her sons stood 7 and a half feet tall and weighed 750 pounds each---just like their mother. And you think people lined up to watch when Annie was workin' ? Hell, when that family was working they were lined up 5 and 6 deep along the shore. Charlie, himself, never did any work 'cept play roulette. One day he felt lucky --- and he bet on red. Red won ! Charlie yelled, "Just let it ride"---and he planted his hand down on the table to support all his weight. Twenty-five times in a row Charlie won ! The captain came over and told Charlie that he had to cut him off. Seems Charlie had won every dollar that boat had on it... ...Annie walked over to Charlie, took his arm to lead him away--------and Charlie keeled over----dead as a doornail. Apparently he had been dead for quite a while. That steamboat had been losing to a dead man ! Well, you know Annie felt pretty sad then ---. She pined away and died herself not too long after that. And her 12 sons built her a coal black coffin. And it was a very special coffin. It had a pilothouse up top and boilers and a red turning sternwheel behind. And on the darkest night of the year----they cut the rope and Annie Christmas's coffin glided out into the foggy night. And folks say that if you're down on those lowland backwaters of the Mississippi River -- if ya listen close -- you can hear the slapping of the coffin's bucketboards as it glides on by. Art Thieme |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: Sandy Paton Date: 24 Jan 01 - 11:55 PM Cathy Barton and Dave Para have just released a CD titled Living on the River, a collection of river songs and tunes. They're backed up by the talented Grace family. It's available from Folk-Legacy (of course!) and will be listed on our web site soon. Sandy |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: wysiwyg Date: 24 Jan 01 - 09:41 PM Looking for Jim Post online, I found he has done another whole show on the river theme which is described here: http://www.wcinet.com/th/News/073197/Features/69639.htm ~S~ |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: wysiwyg Date: 24 Jan 01 - 09:33 PM Jim Post's "I Wanna Be a Hammer-Down Riverboat Man" from his show, Galena Rose. Lyrics of the tape turns up. ~S~ |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: Art Thieme Date: 24 Jan 01 - 08:18 PM A fellow in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Tom Kenavan, just put together two short films (videos) on the Steamboat Julia Belle Swain-----maybe an hour of lovely footage of the old boat. In one of these the music is from Rick Fielding's LIFELINE CD on Folk Legacy. The other one utilizes my music from the ON THE RIVER cassette. The Julia Belle Swain is the boat I sang on all through the 1990s. Art Thieme |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: walkinman Date: 23 Jan 01 - 05:34 AM A great video, filled with riverboat songs, is "Banjoes, Fiddles and Riverboats", by John Hartford(of Course). John's "living Diary" of the life along the river is really magic and it includes eight original tunes.
wm |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: GUEST,Art Thieme Date: 22 Jan 01 - 08:29 PM Jim, The word I got wrong ("seetie") in my posting of "St. Johns River" was supposed to be "SWEETIE". I, like you, suspect that it's only a fragment of a larger song---but that's all that Burl Ives sang. Art I fixed your Sweetie, Art. She feels much better. |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: Jim Dixon Date: 22 Jan 01 - 01:34 PM Refresh. The above-posted song "St. John's River" sounds interesting but is apparently incomplete. Can anyone supply what is missing? |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: campfire Date: 22 Apr 99 - 02:44 AM refreshed for ddw in windsor |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: Paul G. Date: 12 Apr 99 - 09:21 PM Art... Thanks for the tip on the Burl Ives St. Johns River song. That big river is an important part of my existance, and the source for much of my writing. I'll try to track down a copy of that recording for my personal archives. Paul |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: catspaw49 Date: 12 Apr 99 - 03:14 AM Wow...You really do appreciate it don't you Mumbles? catspaw |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: Mumbles Date: 12 Apr 99 - 03:09 AM Thanks for the Cherokee Queen, Art. |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: Art Thieme Date: 12 Apr 99 - 02:09 AM This song "ST. JOHN'S RIVER" was on Burl Ives __CORONATION CONCERT__ in London for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth. He taped it with his own 2-track tape machine with a mike set up near a speaker---just for his own use. The tape came out so fine that Decca issued it on a LP. Art |
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Subject: Lyr Add: ST. JOHN'S RIVER (Burl Ives)^^ From: Art Thieme Date: 12 Apr 99 - 02:04 AM How about the old Burl Ives recording of "St. John's River"----definitely a Florida riverboat song.
Baby,
Baby,
Baby, That's all I remember. It's a haunting song with much left unsaid. All we're told is someone's leaving someone. They are taking the furniture. They're not leaving any money. And they're taking the STR. (steamboat) THE CHEROKEE on the St. John's River. I do hope the paddlewheel don't hit a manatee. Art |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: harpgirl Date: 11 Apr 99 - 08:48 PM Hey Paul, Ooohh...those sound like neat songs...I'll just have to buy your CD...harpgirl |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: Paul G. Date: 11 Apr 99 - 08:27 PM Hey, Harpgirl. How about a Florida Riverboat tune...If you have it, you'll find "The Mandarin Line" on my first CD, "Good Enough For Me"...about the boat line on the St. Johns back in the last century...if you don't have it, drop me a private note and I'll be happy to send you a tape... pginjax |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: Banjer Date: 11 Apr 99 - 05:56 PM I don't know, but VGO said to me, "You should remember her". I think he has me being somewhere confused with someone else, if that makes sense..I just 'membered, BillD just put up a picture of me on the Mudcat Family Album site! I would suppose if you ever saw me, that pic would jog the memory. |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: harpgirl Date: 11 Apr 99 - 05:49 PM Banjer, Synchronicity! You have a great mentor there. He has my respect. How would I know if we have met? harpgirl |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: Banjer Date: 11 Apr 99 - 04:11 PM This was a very strange occurence!! As I was catching up on this thread I was talking on the phone to my friend and banjo mentor when his name popped up on the screen!! My banjo teacher is none other than VGO! Harpgirl, it is quite possible from VGO's description of you that we may have met before! What a small world this is becoming.....If anyone has any of the tapes or CD's of the 97th Regimental String Band you have VGO's smiling countenance in your hand. He left the band a few years ago in pursuit of other things, but they still use the old pictures onthe covers. (He will be the thinner of the trio, with either a banjo or mandolin in hand) |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: harpgirl Date: 11 Apr 99 - 02:29 PM cat...said while scratching you under your chin...here kitty,kitty...nice kitty.... |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: Tucker Date: 11 Apr 99 - 02:26 PM So true catspaw. I heard Evangeline years ago and though I don't remember how it went I remember I liked it right away. |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: Tucker Date: 11 Apr 99 - 02:25 PM So true catspaw. I heard Evangeline years ago and though I don't remember how it went I remember I liked it right away. |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: catspaw49 Date: 11 Apr 99 - 01:34 PM Sorry Harpgirl, maybe I am. But I wish I'd known more about the real Florida before our last trip. EVERYTHING that my family enjoyed was either off the beaten path or an older "classic" attraction like Gatorland. To stay a bit on track, I didin't run across Evandeline til about 10 years ago, but it's one of those that grabs you right away, like Hard Times, and I immediately included it. Why or what makes songs like that get you immediately? I suppose just personal taste, but there are a few that almost everyone feels the same way about. catspaw
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: harpgirl Date: 11 Apr 99 - 12:19 PM Susan, I like to sing Evangeline. Around here Philip Terry also known as VGO is the expert on Civil War songs. He plays a dozen instruments as well and has an enyclopedic knowledge of banjo history and Civil War songs. Anyone coming to Florida should connect with him for a fascinating conversation. I'm sure he will be at the Florida Folk Fesival during Memorial day weekend... as usual the tomcats took this thread cattywumpus!I think Catspaw is nuttier than Art if that is possible NS (New Subject) anyone going to Orlando for the disney experience should go up to Wekiva Springs and swim in the spring for a taste of natural Florida...It's still a beautiful place if you stay off the beaten path...harpgirl aka abby
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: Susan A-R Date: 11 Apr 99 - 11:50 AM I can remember a singer in our area doing a really amazing song about Evangeline (believe that was the name,) a woman who is waiting for her gambler lover to come back, and she watches as a storm/fire sinks the riverboat he's on. I'll do some thinking and see what I can dredge up. Art, Nice one. I'll have to go and dig up the tune to "Rackets."? Oh, and re enactors, I've been known to put on me petticoats and hoops and sing lovely sappy renditions of "Somebody's Darling" and "When This Cruel War is Over." Vermonters have excessive pride about the Civil War, you see, and our Hemlocks were somethin' else. Say, how DO you guys sit down with those sabers on?? |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: Tucker Date: 11 Apr 99 - 11:13 AM Hey, I'll keep the ring but you can have my ovaltine. Over and out space rangers |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: catspaw49 Date: 11 Apr 99 - 03:07 AM I dunno'........katl and Night Owl are currently leaning toward the Captain Midnight/Orphan Annie route in which case it will be Ovaltine. If I hear, I'll let you know and you do the same General. catspaw |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: Banjer Date: 11 Apr 99 - 02:10 AM Where can I get my Mudcat Decoder Ring and how many nasty tasting boxes of cereal do I hafta eat to get enough boxtops? |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: catspaw49 Date: 11 Apr 99 - 02:08 AM Hmmm......Banj, looks like we may have to include Tucker too!!! catspaw |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: catspaw49 Date: 11 Apr 99 - 02:05 AM I don't do renactments, but I have noticed we are all three Civil War nuts. And the list goes on.......Got youe e-mail by the way, Thanks! catspaw PS---God help us we have similar tastes and would naturally kinda' talk. You, me, and Leej are in trouble here....maybe katl and Night Owl can issue us some secret passwords and other cool Captain Midnight/Secret Squadron stuff. |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: Tucker Date: 11 Apr 99 - 02:02 AM Hey Catspaw, I got family in Lancaster. Nice to talk to ya. Hey, new here. Do you have a friendly feud with LEj and AlistarUK.? I'm an old folkie and love this site, just wandered onto it. After trying to write a tune to 5 pound possum and damn near puking up my whiskey laughing so hard I gave my "best shot" and went on to editorials on Mudcat ala unsolicited. Nuns would kill me. Run on sentence. Death by ruler. AHHHHHHH. Anyway, I can be serious, especially about music, but that is fun too, isn't it? Hope to chat later. Tucker |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: Banjer Date: 11 Apr 99 - 01:46 AM Art, Nice job on The Sultana! As C'paw pointed out, well written AND historically accurate. Well done! |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: Banjer Date: 11 Apr 99 - 01:44 AM LEJ, Reading Civil War Times? Are you part of the CW reenactment community as well? |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: catspaw49 Date: 11 Apr 99 - 01:40 AM Hey tucker, I'm just up the pike from you in Bremen outside of Lancaster. Did you see JH when he was doing the coal special here or was that another time. I love his performances!!!! And Art....Yeah I read LotR's and TheHobbitt.....in the sixties it was like required reading. Funny thing though, my appreciation/understanding of the series is far greater now than it was 30 years ago. Perhaps, as the old saying goes, "We grow too soon old and too late smart." Harpgirl---I too have hated Florida until the past few days and now I'm looking forward to our next trip, God knows when that'll be. You and Banjer have given me a reason to go back...wish I'd been around last year as we did the mandatory family Disney thing...fortunately, my kids liked old Gatorland better. But I am excited for you as it seems things are going your way. Finest Kind!!! LEJ---I'm surprised Art didn't know this, but the Titanic not only didn't have enough lifeboats, but it was supposed to carry the world's largest condom, to be used in just such an emergency. It wasn't ready and they sailed without it and they succumbed to AIDS---Alien Icebergs Destoying Shipping. catspaw |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: tucker Date: 11 Apr 99 - 01:09 AM yeah harp, John was so cool. He started into Loreena and all the audience sat waiting for that morsel, then John broke into "Portsmouth 'Airs". He is an artist. No one was disappointed and he pulled it off so wonderfully. If you can find it listen to it. I have never, bar none, seen a person play an instrument with so much grace, even though me and my Gibson once seemed melded, I felt like a novice. |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: harpgirl Date: 10 Apr 99 - 01:08 PM hey Tucker... I haven't heard that one...wonder if anyone has it? I also got some interesting songs by searching under Mississippi, Art...harp |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: tucker Date: 10 Apr 99 - 12:14 PM Mr. John Hartford did a song for NPR while here in Porsmouth Ohio. He researched it from a local artist in this area who wrote here in I believe in the 1930's. It's called "Portsmouth Aires (Airs?)". John did it well, as he does all his stuff. I hope he comes back again sometime. Tucker P.S. I don't know if Mr. Hartford ever recorded it yet. |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: harpgirl Date: 10 Apr 99 - 10:57 AM Art... *blush,blush* *blink,blink*...I'd take you to the santa fe river and we could soak in the cold springs...I think Devil's Eye would be a good choice...in fact I think I'll go there today..... ...harpalong |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: Art Thieme Date: 10 Apr 99 - 10:31 AM Abby, You make me wanna be in Florida (and that's a first)and 20 years younger. Art |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: Art Thieme Date: 10 Apr 99 - 10:18 AM Should've mentioned that my "Sultana" and "Blue Mountain Lake" and "Red Iron Ore (on my CD) as well as others, I'm sure, share the same great tune. LEJ, I don't think that anyone ever proved anything either way. But I do know that the sinking of the Titanic was actually because the ship collided with a huge, white ALIEN that was proven, in a book I read once (a book that sold millions of copies to believers around the world) to've been part of a CONSPIRACY of similar beings from an entire planet of huge WHITE SUPREMICISTS. We all must stay armed and constantly be on guard.(****LARGE GRIN FOLKS****) Catspaw, Have you read _The Lord Of The Rings? There's an amazing sadly dark character named Gollum in those books by J.R.R.R.R. Tolkien who lurks in a subterranian lake mumbling his name over and over in his throat and devouring Mudcats and other bottom feeding scum !(another *grin*)Thanks for your comments, but it's an early try at songwritin' from a guy who rarely wrote anything. I was more concerned with the treasure hunt of ferreting out the old, traditional song gems lurking in the depths o' history. I only was able to find them after sweeping the scum of the present off the top o' the pond. That afforded a clearer view into the abyss. Art |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: harpgirl Date: 10 Apr 99 - 09:38 AM Hi Guys Please forgive me for posting a request and then disappearing...had a chance to play with Doug Gauss last night and jumped on it...he is a wellspring of florida folk songs and has kept Will McLean's songs lambent around the state. Thanks Sandy for your suggestions. I'll hunt those books down... Of course I have almost every one of John Hartford's albums and even some pictures of John on the Julia Bell Belle Swain thanks to Art...wouldn't sing all those songs for money though *GRIN* Art was sweet enough to send me his riverboat tape which I have nearly worn out already. Lee Ruth introduced me to Bob Dyer's work but I only have the River of the Big Canoe on an old album of folks from the columbia area. It would be nice to have some more... Loved the Sultana, Art! Thanks to the Arkie (who are you?) for the Priarie Bell. Payne's Prairie near Gainesville used to be a lake with a ferry on it LEJ We played eight more miles to Louisville last night! And thanks (tom)catspaw49 for your purrls of wisdom... The DoneyGals did real well at the Florida Old Time Music Championship and we are hoping to persuade Doug Gauss to come out of semi-retirement and become an honorary "Gal for a set at the Florida Folk Festival...or as my old boyfriend calls us..The DonkeyGals!!!Thanks John...I'd love to see some Aussie paddlelboat songs...and to Wolfgang...any boat song would thrill me... keep those riverboat songs flowing my dear Mudcat friends! harpgirl |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: LEJ Date: 10 Apr 99 - 02:31 AM I like the song,Art. I recently read about the Sultana disaster in Civil War Times . Tragic to think of these men who had survived hell in the Southern prison camps meeting death so close to home. Was there any credence given to the theory you mention in your song, that the riverboat may have been sabotaged? Was "Waitin on the Robert E Lee" a piece of riverboat folk music, or of more recent vintage? How about " Eight More Miles to Louisville." |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: catspaw49 Date: 10 Apr 99 - 02:25 AM Jesus Art...Very well done and historically accurate. You're really pissing me off here...go back in your mountain and contemplate body parts: whopper, whopper, whopper, condom, whopper, whopper, condom, whopper, whopper, whopper, whopper, whopper, condom, whopper, whopper, condom, whopper............ Seriously, nicely done...No, it's Art, what do I want to say, not nicely done...oh, got it...WELL STROKED!!! catspaw |
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Subject: Lyr Add: THE SULTANA (Art Thieme)^^ From: Art Thieme Date: 10 Apr 99 - 02:06 AM Lord, leave it to Sandy to get me goin' at this hour o' the mornin'. I just had to dig out this song that I've kept but hadn't thought about since I wrote it when I was barely 20 years old---a month earlier and I'd've been 19.
THE SULTANA Here's the song. Please keep in mind that when w 20 year old writes a song, it means he's 20 years old. When a 60 year old writes a song, it means he's a SONGWRITER!!! Art Thieme
Come all you young fellows where'ere you be,
It was April 24th of a865,
Yes, the month it was April, the day 24,
They jammed into corners and slept side by side,
Now, the old Mississippi had risen so high,
She landed at Memphis on April 26th,
Then all hell broke loose as on they did sail,
Now, some said the boiler just failed to hold,
This story is true, I swear to you all, __________ ________ ________ _____ {More people were killed in the Sultana explosion than died on the Titanic.}
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: Sandy Paton Date: 09 Apr 99 - 01:01 PM Yeah, but ol' Jim held her up against the bank until everybody got ashore! Pretty good poem for a politician. The Bayou Sara also burned (great song). Now I invite someone to write a song about the Sultana disaster. Incredible story. Wish I could write songs! Sandy Sandy |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: Arkie Date: 09 Apr 99 - 11:50 AM Those Missouri kids can sing and play. Thanks to Folk-Legacy for making them available. |
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Subject: RE: Riverboat Songs? From: Arkie Date: 09 Apr 99 - 11:45 AM What was I thinking. The Prarie Bell did not wreck, it burned. |
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