Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'

Subject: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family' songs
From: Joybell
Date: 12 Nov 08 - 05:18 AM

At Joe's suggestion here's a place to list the actual authors of the "Carter Family Songs". All together in one spot. Bound to be lots more to add but
A start:
Wildwood Flower/I'll Twine 'mid the Ringlets -- Words: Maud Irving. Tune: Joseph Philbrick Webster. 1860.

Little Rosewood Casket/A Package of Old Love Letters -- Louis P. Goullard and C. A. White. 1870.

Faded Coat of Blue -- J. H. McNaughton. 1865.

Death of Little Joe -- V. E. Marsden. 1866.
Became Darlin' Little Joe -- Major Charles E. Addison. 1876.

You've Been a Friend to Me -- William Shakespeare Hays. 1867.

'mid the Green Fields of Virginia -- Charles K. Harris. 1898.

Just a start as I said.
Cheers, Joy

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family' so
From: Charley Noble
Date: 12 Nov 08 - 08:51 AM

refresh!

The search is on!

I always wondered where "My Dixie Darling" came from.

And "Railroading on the Great Divide."

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family' songs
From: Mark Ross
Date: 12 Nov 08 - 09:34 AM

RAILROADING ON THE GREAT DIVIDE was written by Sara Carter. In the late '40's or early '50's, I think.

Mark Ross

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family' songs
From: Richie
Date: 12 Nov 08 - 10:07 AM

Hi,

Here's a partial list of Carter family songs that they did that are public domain/traditional:

There's No one Like Mother To Me
Will The Roses Bloom In Heaven
Darling Little Joe
Sweet Fern
Tell Me That You Love Me
Cannonball Blues
Storms are On the Ocean,
Wildwood Flower
Can the Circle Be Unbroken
Bonnie Blue Eyes
Chewing Gum
Funny When You Feel That way
Don't Forget Me Little Darling
Give Me the Roses While I Live
When The Roses Come Again
Amber Tresses Tied in Blue
Happy Or Lonesome
I Found You Among The Roses
Lulu Walls
Fond Affection
Dear Companion
Lover's Farewell
Keep On The Sunny Side
Lover's Return
Dark and Stormy Weather
I Never loved But One
I'll Be All Smiles Tonight
Charlie and Nellie
Forsaken Love
I'm Thinking Tonight of my Blue Eyes
I Loved You Better Than You Knew
Let's Be Lovers Again
In The Shadow Of The Pines
One Little Word (Gussie Davis w&m 1899)
I Cannot Be Your Sweetheart (Abbie Ford w&m 1899)
Lonesome For You (I Know What It Means To Be Lonesome- 1918)
You've Been Fooling Me Baby (When You Leave- Allen Brothers)
No Other's Bride I'll Be
Maple On The Hill
Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone
Be Careful Boys/Girls
Hand That Rocks The Cradle recorded 1966
East Virginia Blues
Two Sweethearts
A Message From Home (Maybelle 1966)
Hold Fast To The Right
Will my Mother Know Me There?
My Honey Lou
Give Me Your Love
My Dixie Darling (Arthur Gillespie Percy Weinrich 1909)
You're The Girl of My Dreams/Lover's Lane
Jimmy Brown The Newsboy (Will Hays 1875)
Hello Central Give Me Heaven (Charles Harris 1901)
Black Jack David
Wave On The Sea- The Mermaid Child 289
I Never Will Marry
Rambling Boy
Who's that knocking at My Window/Silver dagger- Oh Molly Dear
Cowboy Jack
My Heart's Tonight in Texas (Witt 1900)
Ship That never returned
Young Companions
See That My Grave Is kept Green (Gus Williams 1876)
Lay My Head Beneath A Rose- 1879
Wandering Boy, The (Hanna 1894) Somebody's Boy is Homeless Tonight/ Bring Back My Boy
Wabash Cannonball
Homestead on the Farm/ I Wonder How the Old Folk Are at Home
I Have An Aged Mother/Ten Thousand Miles

Richie

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family' songs
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 12 Nov 08 - 10:20 AM

Amber Tresses Tied in Blue: Words: Samuel M. Mitchell Music: H.P. Danks, c.1874.

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family' so
From: M.Ted
Date: 12 Nov 08 - 10:52 AM

I have nothing to contribute, but I think that this is a great thread, perhaps even a "redefining" thread, because it promises to pull together information that wasn't generally available--please keep it up!

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family' songs
From: RangerSteve
Date: 12 Nov 08 - 10:57 AM

Charlie, there was a thread about "Dixie Darlin" a few years ago, with the correct words (the "Jelly Roll" line was A.P's invention).

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family' songs
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 12 Nov 08 - 11:50 AM

Interesting idea, Joybell. Not much point in lumping them together as pd-trad. Good to know when the songs were written and the composer(s).
Most will prove to have a beginning, and comparing sheet music will show 'folk variant', at least in the hands of the Carter Family.

Here are the top two on that long list by Richie. More later today.
------------------------------

There's No One Like Mother to Me-- Gussie L. Davis, 1885, words and music (sheet music at American Memory).

Will the Roses Bloom in Heaven-- Charles K. Harris, 1911, words and music. Recorded Victor 16857, sung by Henry Burr.

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family' songs
From: GUEST,maple_leaf_boy
Date: 12 Nov 08 - 01:03 PM

"Meet Me In The Moonlight Alone" / "Prisoner's Song."
"Banks Of The Ohio", which has the song credited to Maybelle, according
to a version that I have.

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family' songs
From: The Sandman
Date: 12 Nov 08 - 01:19 PM

Dont forget their wonderful version of the Golden Vanity.
Sara Carter was some singer,and the OCF were much better[imo]than the later versions.

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family' songs
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 12 Nov 08 - 02:49 PM

"Meet Me by Moonlight Alone"-- by J. Augustine Wade, c. 1840, provided the chorus to "Meet.../Prisoner's Song" This popular song appeared in several arrangements both in UK and U. S., and in song sheets by De Marsan amd Johnson in the U. S.

The "Prisoner's Song" of the Carters borrowed music from "The Ship That Never Returned." The Carters included a verse 'If I had a ship on the Ocean,...' which may have been a reference to "The Ship TNR."

Who put the two together is debatable. Some claim Newgate prison in London was meant originally, others claim several U. S. prisons. Wade was English.
------------------------------------------

Dunno where the murder ballad "The Banks of the Ohio" aka "Banks of the Old Peedee" came from. No 19th c. versions known. TBI notes 1915 as earliest date (where?).

More than one song with that title.

"The Banks of the Ohio" -- Originally "De Banks ob de Ohio," a song of the Nightingale Singers of minstrel fame (F. & W. Stimmel, G. Hunkel, G. Little and J. S. Boswell). Sheet music 1846, but probably a little earlier.
(Also see "Hunt the Buffalo, or the Banks of the Pleasant Ohio")

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family' songs
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 12 Nov 08 - 03:07 PM

Date correction- "Meet me By Moonlight Alone" first published in 1812, not c. 1840. A copy dated 1827 recently sold through an Amazon affiliated dealer. The date 1812 seems early (date on sheet music copy hard to read); I can't find a bio of this composer, but one website suggests c. 1800-1845 for Wade.
The lyrics were posted in thread 72121.
Meet Me

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family' songs
From: Joybell
Date: 12 Nov 08 - 03:12 PM

I found "Sweet Fern" somewhere, I remember. Off searching.
Hello Q. Thought you'd be here.

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family' songs
From: Joybell
Date: 12 Nov 08 - 03:20 PM

Ok. Sweet Fern/Sweet Birds is here already along with a discussion about origins.

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family' songs
From: Richie
Date: 12 Nov 08 - 03:29 PM

Hi,

It's my opinion that A.P., who was the main song catcher and spent much time looking for new material, did not write songs. He found songs and if they didn't know the melody they would sing whatever.

He also collected lyrics and put them together and slightly altered them.

Therefore most of the Carter's massive collection of songs are not their own songs. Several years ago I figured out many of their sources and never finished.

I posted a incomplete list above. Obviously because of the copyright royalties mcuh information didn't come to light, Peer was happy to get the royalties. They also got royalties.

Is there anything published where A.P. tells about where he got the songs?

"Bury Me Beneath the Willow" is another song. They said they got it from Bradley Kincaid. So they got songs from radio and other recordings as well.

Richie

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family' songs
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 12 Nov 08 - 05:55 PM

"Bury Me Beneath the Willow" was collected in folk version by H. M. Belden, 1909, in Missouri, title "Under the Willow Tree." The song is widespread and in many collections.

The S. C. Foster song, "Under the Willow She's Sleeping," does not have comparable lyrics, but it could have been the inspiration.

"Tell Me That You Love Me Yet"-- W. S. Hays, "We Parted by The Riverside," 1866.

"The Cannonball" ("The Cannonball Blues")-- From Norm Cohen, "Long Steel Rail," pp. 413-425. Derived from "Mr. McKinley," first heard by Eleanor Farjeon, sung by D. H. Lawrence (yes, that's right). Another source wrote that Lawrence sang the song to her in 1915. No idea where he got it. Four verses preserved. (Lawrence also collected and sang spirituals)
1
Mister McKinley, he ain't done no wrong;
He went down to Buffalo, way Michigan along,
For to lay him down boys, to lay him down.

The best known version of the above is "White House Blues," sung by Charles Poole. Two verses:

8
Came the train, she's just on time,
She's run a thousand miles from eight o'clock to nine,
From Buffalo to Washington.
9
Yonder comes the train, she's comin' down the line,
Blowin' ever' station, "Mr McKinley's a dyin'"
It's hard times, hard times.

The Carter version removes mention of McKinley, and is turned into a 'My baby's left me' blues. A. P. Carter claimed that he got the song from Leslie Riddles, but the dates don't fit.
1
Oh, listen to the train, coming down the line,
Trying to make up all of her lost time
From Buffalo to Washington.

The Carter verse 'You can wash my jumper, Starch my overalls,...,' variant, was collected by Holloway (MS) in 1915, Alabama; N. I. White, "American Negro Folk-Songs," 1928:

Starch my jumper and patch my overalls,
So if I miss the local, I ken ketch the Cannonball.

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family' songs
From: Richie
Date: 12 Nov 08 - 07:01 PM

The Carters learned "The Cannonball" ("The Cannonball Blues") from African- American guitarist Lesley Riddle. Here's more info from my upcoming book:

"He was just gong to get old music, old songs, what had never been sung in sixty years," said Riddle. "He was going to get it, put a tune to it, and record it." Riddle also taught the Carter Family such songs he knew like "Coal Miner Blues," "The Cannon Ball," "I Know What It Means To Be Lonesome," and "Let the Church Roll On." Maybelle Carter learned to fingerpick and play slide guitar from Riddle. "You don't have to give Maybelle any lessons," said Riddle. "You let her see you playing something, she'll get it- you better believe it."

It was Riddle's job to learn the melody of the song. "If I could hear you sing, I could sing it too," said Riddle. "I was his tape recorder. He'd take me with him and he's get someone to sing the whole song. Then I'd get it and learn it to Sara and Maybelle."

Through Riddle and his friend gospel singer Pauline Gary from Kingsport the Carters also learned "On a Hill Lone and Gray," "I'm Working On A Building" and "On My Way To Cannan's Land." Through Riddle they adapted songs like Blind Lemon Jefferson's "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" (See That My Grave Is Kept Green) and Blind Willie Davis' "Rock of Ages" (When the World's On Fire), which reportedly is the melody that Guthrie later used to write, "This Land Is Your Land." By 1937 Riddle had married and no longer worked with the Carter family. In 1942 he and his wife moved north to Rochester, N. Y. and lost touch the Carter Family.

Richie

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family' songs
From: Joe Offer
Date: 12 Nov 08 - 07:16 PM

If at all possible, please give as much information as you can about the sources of songs, especially if you know of printed sources that pre-date the Carter Family.
I handle licensing for a musician or two,* and it always bugs me when we have to pay Carter Family royalties when I have a strong feeling the song pre-dates the Carters. Oasis is particularly fussy about making sure all songs on cd's they manufacture are properly licensed, so it helps to have solid proof that a song is in the public domain.

-Joe-

*this is not a money-making thing, but it's fun. The only payment I get is a free CD and an occasional kiss on the cheek.

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family' songs
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 12 Nov 08 - 09:10 PM

Joe, it is evident that many (most) of the Carter songs predate the Carters. The problem is that slight word or tune changes make copyright possible. Then you have to show that your musicians are not deriving their versions from Carter Family versions.
This means that the court, publisher (Oasis in your case), etc. have to decide. If not schooled in the intricacies of copyright, and the history of these songs, they have to have everything laid out for them, or they probably will err on the side of caution.

In the post above, Richie says the Carters got "Cannonball" from Riddle. There is a small discussion posted above that. Is it Riddle's version? (Cohen disputed the connection; Riddle said he first met the Carters in 1934, but the Carter version dates from 1930. Riddle also said later he couldn't remember the tune, but also said he got the tune from his uncle. Rather confused). One may go through folksong collections and find similar words, and the tune, prior to the Carter copyright. But is the rewrite by the Carters (and/or Riddle) sufficient to fend off other versions? Are there other versions that leave out reference to McKinley? To paraphrase, it takes a heap o' lookin'.

Added note- I forgot to mention that Poole recorded "Whitehouse Blues" in 1926.

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family' songs
From: Richie
Date: 12 Nov 08 - 10:12 PM

Joe,

My publisher told me I couldn't include Lula Walls in my last book because the Carter's and Peer had a copyright on it. I had to prove my source. Finally they agreed. They also let me include several songs that I felt were copyrighted- go figure.

Now they won't let me use "You Are My Sunshine," a song I strongly dispute authorship (Jimmie Davis).

Anyway the problem with the Carter's songs is their arrangements of songs became popular. Their chords and melodies may differ enough from their original sources that using a similar version of the song may be a copyright violation- as arrangements are copyrighted.

Richie

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family' songs
From: Richie
Date: 12 Nov 08 - 10:21 PM

Q,

Another excerpt from my book:

"One source of A.P.'s songs were African-American musicians, an unusual choice for the segregated rural south. In Kingsport, Tennessee A.P. collected "Motherless Children" from John Henry Lyons who belonged to a group including Brownie McGee and Steve Tarter. One Sunday morning in 1928 Lyons introduced Lesley (Esley) Riddle to A.P."

I have earlier sources from both Cannonball Blues (1928) and the associated song "Whitehouse Blues" (1926). I'll have to look for them.
They are related in some way to Delia's Gone which dates back to the early 1900's.

Richie

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family' songs
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 12 Nov 08 - 10:38 PM

I'm glad copyright is not a problem of mine.

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family' so
From: Charley Noble
Date: 12 Nov 08 - 10:41 PM

Fascinating!

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family' so
From: Ron Davies
Date: 12 Nov 08 - 10:46 PM

"Ship That Never Returned" is by Henry Clay Work. As usual with Carter Family songs, the melody is vastly changed. Admittedly the changes do make the song much more singable.

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family' songs
From: Richie
Date: 13 Nov 08 - 07:47 PM

Hi,

I'll go through several more:

Anchored in Love is...

Anchored in Love Divine James Rowe and Jame Vaughan 1911 also 1915

Richie

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family' songs
From: Richie
Date: 13 Nov 08 - 08:42 PM

God Gave Noah the Rainbow Sign: Traditional African-American Spiritual

Sara in one interview said it came from an African-American source. The song is an old spiritual usually named "I Got A Home the Rock." It reportedly was a slave song though I've not found an early source.

Richie

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family' songs
From: Richie
Date: 13 Nov 08 - 09:53 PM

He Never Came Back (Carter's 1937): William Jerome 1891

Little Log Hut in the Lane (Carter's 1930): Thomas Westendorf 1879 as "I'm Going From the Cotton Fields"

Richie

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family' songs
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 13 Nov 08 - 10:49 PM

Home in that Rock- God Gave Noah the Rainbow Sign discussed with texts and references in thread 40983: I Got a Home

Agreed, "Anchored in Love" is original title of the James D. Vaughan-James Rowe song; 1911. Words from Vaughan book, "Crowning Phrases."
--------------------------------

Perhaps the best way is to approach their tunes alphabetically, so that some organization can be given to this list.

Amber Tresses (tied in blue)- "Amber Tresses Tied in Blue," 1874. Words by Samuel M. Mitchell, music by H. P. Danks. Sheet music at Levy. (Posted above by Malcolm)

Angel Band- "My Latest Sun Is Sinking Fast," c. 1862. Words by Jefferson Hascall, music by William B. Bradbury, in Golden Shower, 1862. Text in Cyberhymnal.
Cho.
O come, angel band,
Come and around me stand,
O bear me away on your snowy wings,
etc....
(There are other 'Angel Bands', but the chorus is the right one.

Answer to Weeping Willow- Or how morbid can you get). Didn't find it.

Are You Lonesome Tonight - "Are You Lonesome To-night? 1926. Lyrics Roy Turk, music Lou Hindman. Henry Burr made it famous. Copied by Elvis. Hmmm, did the Carters pay royalties or were they different enough?

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family' songs
From: Richie
Date: 14 Nov 08 - 12:19 AM

Q,

"Answer to Weeping Willow" is rewrite by the Carter Family of Bury Me Beneath the Willow. Early country recordings that were hit songs often would be rewritten with different lyrics and the same melody. Sometimes by a different artist but usually by the group or individual that recorded the first hit.

Angel Band was not recorded by the Original Carter Family. Let just keep doing the original family then we can add on later if we want.

I agree about keeping them in alphabetical order. Here's what I have for A-F:

Amber Tresses;
Anchored in Love;
Answer to Weeping Willow;
Are You Lonesome Tonight?;
Are You Tired of Me, My Darling?;
Away Out on Saint Sabbath;
Bear Creek Blues;
Beautiful Home;
Beautiful Isle O'er the Sea;
Behind Those Stone Walls;
Birds Were Singing of You;
Black Jack David;
Blackie's Gunman;
Bonnie Blue Eyes;
Bring Back My Blue Eyed Boy;
Bring Back My Boy;
Broken Down Tramp;
Broken Hearted Lover;
Buddies in the Saddle;
Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow;
By the Touch of Her Hand;
Can the Circle Be Unbroken (By and By);
Can't Feel at Home;
Cannonball (Blues);
Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers in Texas;
Carter's Blues;
Charlie and Nellie;
Chewing Gum;
Church in the Wildwood;
Coal Miner's Blues;
Cowboy Jack;
Cowboy's Wild Song to His Herd;
Cuban Soldier;
Cyclone of Rye Cove;
Dark and Stormy Weather;
Dark Haired True Lover;
Darling Daisies;
Darling Little Joe;
Darling Nellie Across the Sea;
Diamonds in the Rough;
Distant Land to Roam;
Don't Forget Me Little Darling;
Don't Forget This Song;
Dying Mother;
Dying Soldier;
East Virginia Blues;
East Virginia Blues No. 2;
Engine 143;
Evening Bells Are Ringing;
Faded Coat of Blue;
Faded Flowers;
Fate of Dewey Lee;
Farewell Nellie;
Fifty Miles of Elbow Room;
Foggy Mountain Top;
Fond Affection;
Forsaken Love;
Funny When You Feel That Way;

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family' songs
From: Richie
Date: 14 Nov 08 - 12:25 AM

Here's are you Tired of Me My Darling: http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mussm&fileName=sm/sm1877/03500/03501/mussm03501.db&recNum=0&itemLink=D?mussm:1:./tem

1877 by Cook and Roland

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family' songs
From: Richie
Date: 14 Nov 08 - 12:49 AM

Away Out on Saint Sabbath is a rewrite of Bury Me on the Lone Prairie. Here is a link with chords and a recording:

http://bettylou.zzruss.com/awayoutontheoldsaintsabbath.htm

Clearly this is rewritten to such an extent it sould be considered an original song by the Carter Family. Here's the lyrics to the cowboy song dating back to 1872:

"O bury me not on the lone prairie"
These words came low and mournfully
From the pallid lips of the youth who lay
On his dying bed at the close of day.

CHORUS: "O bury me not on the lone prairie
Where the wild coyote will howl o'er me
Where the buffalo roams the prairie sea
O bury me not on the lone prairie"

Subject: Lyr Add: BEAR CREEK BLUES
From: Richie
Date: 14 Nov 08 - 02:06 PM

BEAR CREEK BLUES is a blues based on traditional lyrics, but becasue they've changed and arranged them, this song could not be played without giving them credit.

Here's Blind Lemon's One Dime Blues:

You want your friend to be bad like Jesse James?
You want your friend to be bad like Jesse James ?
Just give'm a six shooter and highway some passenger train.

Now look at AP's lyrics:

If you stay on Bear Creek, you'll get like Jesse James
If you stay on Bear Creek, you'll get like Jesse James
You'll take two old pistols and hold up that Bear Creek train

This is clearly what happening. They just take some floating verses and add bear Creek, alterning the song. They also sing their own melody. Here are the other Carter verses, all based on exsisting blues:

Way up on Bear Creek, watching the sun go down
Way up on Bear Creek, watching the sun go down
It makes me feel like I'm on my last go-'round,

The water on Bear Creek, it tastes like cherry wine
The water on Bear Creek, it tastes like cherry wine
You take one drink of it, you're drinking it all the time

I'm going high, high up on some lonesome hill
I'm going high, high up on some lonesome hill
Look down on Bear Creek where my good gal used to live

Richie

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family' songs
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 14 Nov 08 - 02:18 PM

"Angel Band" was recorded by the Carters between 1952-1956. A nice recording, the Acme sessions.

"Are You Tired of Me, Darling" - words G.P. Cook, music Ralph Roland, 1877. Sheet music at American Memory. Fred Kenyon Cook set it to his own tune in 1878; dunno which one the Carters used, although websites indicate the former.

"Bearcreek Blues" - These verses occur in a number of old songs. First two verses are in 19th c. collections. The Carters seem to have made up the verse about Jesse James.

"Beautiful Home" - Shares ideas with "Beautiful," a hymn by Barney E. Warren, 1897, "Beautiful Home," Warren 1911, and "I Have a Home," 1897, also Warren. Not the same. Hank Williams Sr. sang the lyrics used by the Carters.
Another hymn, "Beautiful Home," by A. E. Bloom, pub. in Golden Sheath, 1902, is not the Carter song.
Not found.

"Beautiful Brown Eyes" - Copyright by Arthur Smith and Alton Delmore. Removed from Randolph "Ozark Folk-Songs," Revised Edition, because of this. See thread 6744: Beautiful Brown eyes
Some lines used in older songs.

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family' songs
From: Richie
Date: 14 Nov 08 - 02:21 PM

"Beautiful Home" was composed by: J. Howard Entwisle and Johnson Oatman who also did The Hallelujah Side and othe gospel standards in 1898

Richie

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family' songs
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 14 Nov 08 - 02:31 PM

"Beautiful Home"- Unless one has studied the gospel literature, finding the composers is not easy. I won't try on these anymore, but leave them to those who are more knowledgeable, Richie, for one.

So many songs are listed for the Carter Family. Should Joybell be praised for initiating this list, or hauled away in the black Mariah?

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family' songs
From: Joybell
Date: 14 Nov 08 - 04:17 PM

Oh No! Not the black Mariah! Please.
Will you miss me
Will you miss me
Will you miss me
Will you miss me when I'm gone?

Anyway you'll have to haul Joe away too. Can he be spared? You'd surely miss him.
Searchers for the truth unite and go forth. There are hundreds of songs to go yet.
Joy

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 14 Nov 08 - 05:56 PM

Hi,

It's interesting Q about Beautiful, Beautiful Brown Eyes. The song was collected in 1928. It was removed from Randolph "Ozark Folk-Songs," Revised Edition, because of a copyright that was put on it in the 1930s. That's just plain wrong IMHO.

The problem was it was a big hit in the early 1950s, since a bunch of mnoey was involved and high record sales, the record company with a bogus copyright began enforcing it.

Anton Delmore claims he wrote the song. I'd bet anything he learned it from Arthur Smith who learned it from someone else. The fact that it was collected years before they recorded the song should matter.

An interesting story about the song is told in Alton's autobiography "Truth Is Stranger Than Publicity." I'll tell it from memory:

The family was sitting down eating Thanksgiving dinner at Alton's house in the early 1950s. In the background he heard the song Beautiful Beautiful Brown Eyes.

"I wrote the number one song in the country," he said. "And we barely have enough money to buy a Turkey."

The way he looked at it and the way it was back in the early days: The first person to record a song- well... it was their song.

So that was his song and maybe Arthur Smith's. Somehow he didn't get royalties, probably because he signed them away or the record company took them.

Richie

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 14 Nov 08 - 06:35 PM

Hey Q,

The original Carter Family concluded their recording career in 1941.
The Border Radio recordings usually don't include all the original members. Maybelle's children were also included as with Beautiful Brown Eyes.

The 1952-1956 Acme sessions wasn't the Original Carter Family.

Let's leave those sessions out for now, OK?

Do you have Beldens' "Beautiful Isle O'er the Sea"? He collected it and first published it.

The song was done first by Ernest Stoneman at the 1928 Bristol Sessions and should be considered a folk song. Probably the Carters learned their version from the Stonemans.

Richie

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 14 Nov 08 - 09:47 PM

Beautiful Isle O'er the Sea was never released by the Stonemans. Even though the Caerter were in Bristol there is no proof they learned the song at that time.

It's possible that the chorus is built from George Copper's song Beautiful Isle of the Sea. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?dukesm:2:./temp/~ammem_qQ91::@@@mdb=mcc,gottscho,detr,nfor,wpa,aap,cwar,bbpix,cowellbib,ca

Since the song was found in the region and the Stoneman's knew it, the Carter's claim for authorship is doubtful. Looking at Beldens "Beautiful Isle O'er the Sea" will help.

Richie

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 14 Nov 08 - 10:19 PM

I have no idea what Joybell, or Joe, have in mind about limits on the Carter songs. Only pre-1941? Perhaps they will comment.

"Beautiful Isle O'er the Sea" is a composite of three (four? see last paragraph) songs: "Beautiful Light O'er the Sea, There's someone waiting for me," in Belden, which also has elements of "The Prisoner's Song"- and the 'will not marry' verses found in songs related to "Paper of Pins" and in many folk collections. This is a problem with a number of Carter songs- 'Mix and match'. Of course this was a common folk practice.
Belden printed the song in 1940, collected from a MS ballad book compiled by Ada Belle Cowden, date not stated.
(I found myself fitting the words in Belden to "Beautiful Brown Eyes," and "The Prisoner's Song," a new earworm to try and get rid of).

"Beautiful Isle of the Sea" was a song by George Cooper with music by John R. Thomas, 1865; sheet music published by Pond (at American Memory). Not close enough to the Carter song, but here is the chorus:

Fountain of pleasures untold,
Beautiful isle of the sea!
Fountain of pleasures untold,
Bautiful, beautiful isle of the sea.
(Also issued as a song sheet by Johnson)

Subject: Lyr Add: BEHIND THOSE STONE WALLS (A.P. Carter)
From: Richie
Date: 14 Nov 08 - 10:40 PM

Here's the first part of Behind Those Stone Walls:

BEHIND THOSE STONE WALLS-Carter Family

Twas in St Louis city where I first saw the light
Brought up by honest parents on a pathway of right
I was left on orphan at the age of ten years
On mother's grave I shed many tears

I'd scarcely reached manhood when I left my old home
With some other fellows to the west we did roam
Seeking employment though scarcely could find
We seemed so poor and the people unkind

Was in New York City where we first met our fate
We were arrested while roaming the streets
The charges were burglars the theft it was called
But they said it would place us behind the stone walls

"Behind Those Stone Walls" is a curious title for the lyrics are "behind the stone walls," a small detail but interesting. Lomax collected a similar 1936 version from the Gant family, Austin, Texas, "Adieu to Stone Walls."

It's listed as Saint Louis, Bright City Laws E35d and also known as
"Behind the Great Wall."

Here are some other sources:

Laws, G. Malcolm / Native American Balladry, Amer. Folklore Society, Bk (1964/1950), p266 (St. Louis, Bright City)

Bedingfield, Louis. McNeil, W. K. (ed.) / Southern Folk Ballads, Vol 1, August House, Sof (1987), p. 53 [1951/03/21]

Bishop, Wythe. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume II, Songs of the South and ..., Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p151/#165 [1941/12/09]

Clearly this is folk song collected by the Carters. If others versions were posted it might help for comparison.

http://books.google.com/books?id=i_J4Ii9oArsC&pg=PA311&dq=Adieu+to+Stone+Walls&lr=&as_brr=0&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html

Richie

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 14 Nov 08 - 10:50 PM

Q,

If we just do the original Carter Family then we won't be including all the songs from the Carter Sisters and all the other combinations of the Carters and their granchildren. Also Maybelle who had a long distinguished career, they were on the Johnny Cash show, etc, etc. It would be hard to track down the thousands of songs.

There are around 300 original Carter Family songs.

Richie

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Joybell
Date: 15 Nov 08 - 03:38 AM

I'd say just the original Carter Family. 300 songs are enough for anyone. What do you think, Joe?
Cheers, Joy

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 15 Nov 08 - 11:14 AM

Here's a version of the Carter family song "Beautiful Isle O'er the Sea" from 1916. There's also a reference to a version collected by Sharp. I have that but can't find the book right now:

http://books.google.com/books?id=vqWp2UIaKSwC&pg=PA132&dq=Beautiful+Light+O%27er+the+Sea&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html

Note that the singer changes the word "light" for "isle" which is certainly understandable and even makes sense.

Richie

Subject: Lyr Add: THE BIRDS WERE SINGING OF YOU (AP Carter)
From: Richie
Date: 15 Nov 08 - 11:59 AM

THE BIRDS WERE SINGING OF YOU (Carter Family- Nov. 25, 1930):
Words and Music by A.P. Carter

Last night the pale moon was shining
Last night when all was still
I was wanderering alone in sadness
Out among the woodland hills.

I heard the birds a-singing
Out among the trees and dew
And all the birds, my darling
Were singing, were singing of you.

Chorus: Were singing, singing of you, my love
Were singing, singing of you
And all the birds, my darling
Were singing, were singing of you.

I'll defer to Mark Zwonitzer, "That year he wrote a beautiful and thoroughly modern song, 'The Birds Were Singing of You,' which captured a single suspended moment of grief.

It was around this time that AP and Sara began having martial problems due in part to AP's extended song collecting trips and his lack of interest taking care of his house and family. Perhaps this song is a reflection on AP's situation which in three short years would result in seperation and eventually a divorce in 1936.


Richie

Subject: Lyr Add: BLACKJACK DAVID (Cliff Carlisle)
From: Richie
Date: 15 Nov 08 - 01:11 PM

Hi,

This will give some background on the Carter's "Black Jack David":

http://books.google.com/books?id=rtkANgQuBdAC&pg=RA1-PA20&lpg=RA1-PA20&dq=Black+Jack+David+Carter+family&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=ht

Above is a link to: Country By Nick Tosches. Great chapter on the song with history. Cliff Carlisle recorded "Black Jack David" (Decca 5732, 1939). He got it from T. Texas Tyler AKA David Myrick when they did radio work together.


BLACKJACK DAVID- Cliff Carlisle
(Decca 5732, 1939)


Blackjack David came a-ridin' through the wood
Singin' so loud and merry
His voice was a-ringin' through the green, green fields
He charmed the heart of a maiden,
Charmed the heart of a maiden.

Come go with me my pretty little miss
Come go with me my honey
Come go with me my pretty little miss
You never shall want for money
Never shall want for money

How old are you my pretty little miss
How old are you my honey
How old are you my pretty little miss
I'll be sixteen next Sunday
I'll be sixteen next Sunday

Would you forsake your husband, dear
Would you forsake your baby?
Would you forsake your fine, fine home
To go with the Blackjack David
Go with Blackjack David?"

"Yes, I'll forsaken my husband, dear
And I'll forsaken my baby
And I'd forsake my fine, fine home
To go with the Blackjack David
Go with the Blackjack David."

She put on her high-heeled boots
Made of Spanish leather
And then he took her in his arms
And they both rode off together
Both rode off together.

Last night she slept in a fine feather bed
Beside her husband and baby
Tonight she'll sleeps on a cold, cold ground
Beside the Blackjack David
Beside the Blackjack David

Subject: Lyr Add: BLACK JACK DAVID (Carter Family)
From: Richie
Date: 15 Nov 08 - 01:23 PM

Black Jack David by the Carter Family was recorded 10/4/40 in Chicago, IL. Clearly this is a slight rewrite of Carlisle's classic country version.

BLACK JACK DAVID
Carter Family

Black Jack David came a-running through the woods
And he sang so loud and gaily
Made the hills around him ring
And he charmed the heart of a lady
And he charmed the heart of a lady

How old are you my pretty little miss
How old are you my honey
She answered him with a silly little smile
I'll be sixteen next Sunday
I'll be sixteen next Sunday

Come go with me my pretty little miss
Come go with me my honey
I'll take you across the deep blue sea
Where you never shall want for money
Where you never shall want for money

She pulled off her high-heeled shoes
They were made of Spanish leather
She put on those low-heeled shoes
And they both rode off together
And they both rode off together

Last night I lay on a warm feather bed
Beside my husband and baby
Tonight I lay on the cold, cold ground
By the side of Black Jack David
By the side of Black Jack David

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 15 Nov 08 - 01:54 PM

The more it is looked at, "Beautiful Isle O'er the Sea" just seems to be verses from several songs collected under a title. There is no relation to the Cooper-Thomas song of 1865 except the title. In other words, a "maudlin effusion"* or mishmash of the Prisoner's Song with various floated verses (*So designated by Belden).
The "Seven Long Years" in Gardner is no better, and the chorus "Beautiful Light of the Ocean" doesn't belong with the text.

To me, 'beautiful light' makes sense, since the visual artists I have contect with are always talking about it.

In reference to faith- R. Turnbull, "Beautiful light is born of darkness..."
Ajax, about to die, salutes the car of the sweet sun, the "Beautiful Light"
Langston Hughes- "In front of me, big shadow/ Inside the shadow, beautiful light"
etc.
Perhaps there was another poem or song, 'Beautiful Light O'er the Sea/Ocean', that inspired folk singers to add it to their 'effusions'.

Subject: Lyr Add: BLACKIE'S GUNMAN (Carter Family)
From: Richie
Date: 15 Nov 08 - 03:42 PM

Here are the lyrics to Blackie's Gunman. Apparently, it is a rewrite and there is a quote about the song from Wilgus but I can't remember it.
More info is needed.


BLACKIE'S GUNMAN
As recorded by The Carter Family, on Okeh 06313, 1940-Oct-03.

I was known as Blackie's gunman
The best two-gunman in the land
I could shoot the ace of diamonds
With a draw from either hand

With the dice I had no equal
Some of them are with us now
Most of them are sadly sleeping
Neath the weeping willow bough

Many a cowboy's game I've played in
Left that night with all their gold
As a sport I was broken
As a sport I let it go

I once loved a girl named Nellie
How we loved no tongue can tell
But I know I'll never meet her
Oh it was hard to say farewell

Her eyes were like the deep blue water
And her hair was golden curls
And her cheeks were crimson velvet
And her teeth were snow white pearls

Together we lived in a cottage
And our life it was a dream
And the angels they watched o'er us
Made our life one happy dream

Subject: Lyr Add: BONNIE BLUE EYES (Carter Family)
From: Richie
Date: 15 Nov 08 - 05:26 PM

Bonnie Blue Eyes also known as Goodbye, Little Bonnie, Blue Eyes [Me II-D 5a] was first reported "written" in 1907 by Louise Rand Bascom in the 1909 JOAFL. She also states that it was "ten years older at least."

The song structure and melody are similar to a song I play: There's More Pretty Girls Than One.

The song was first recorded in 1927 by Dock Walsh of the Carolina Tar Heels. Clearly this is an older ballad and the Carter's 1936 recording followed ten earlier recordings.

BONNIE BLUE EYES Carter Family

Goodbye my little bonnie blue eyes
Goodbye my little bonnie blue eyes
You've told me more lies than the stars in the skies
Goodbye my little bonnie blue eyes

I saw my little bonnie last night
She looked so dear to me
She's the only girl I ever loved
She's now gone back on me

Oh stand at the gate and weep
Oh stand at the gate and weep
Oh stand at the gate and weep and morn
Oh bonnie wont you love me once more

Come and lay your hand in mine
Come and lay your hand in mine
Come and lay your arms around my neck
And say that you will be mine

Oh you know what you promised me
Oh you know what you promised me
You promised that you'd marry me
Oh you know what you promised me

I've stayed in the country too long
I've stayed in the country too long
The only wrong that I have done
I've stayed in the country too long

Come and go with me to the train
Come and go with me to the train
Come and go with me and see me get on
Goodbye my little Bonnie I'm gone

Subject: Lyr Add: BRING BACK MY BLUE-EYED BOY TO ME (Carter
From: Richie
Date: 15 Nov 08 - 05:54 PM

Bring Back My Blue-Eyed Boy:

The earliest printed source I found was American Ballads and Songs By Louise Pound in 1922:

My Blue Eyed Boy

There is a tree I love top pass,
And it's leaves are as green as grass
But not as green as love is true
I love but one and that is you.

CHORUS: Bring to me my blue eyed boy,
Bring oh bring him back to me.
Bring to me my blue eyed boy,
What a happy happy girl I'd be.


http://books.google.com/books?id=a98WAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA212&dq=Bring+Back+My+Blue+Eyed+Boy&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html

Compare this to the Carters below. Clearly this is the same song with floating verses from the Carters. The last verse is usually associated with "Bury me Beneath the Weeping Willow."

BRING BACK MY BLUE-EYED BOY TO ME; Carter Family

'Tis true the rain that has no end
It's hard to find a faithful friend
And when you find one just and true
He's dropped the old one for the new

Bring back my blue eyed boy to me
Bring back my blue eyed boy to me
Bring back my blue eyed boy to me
That I may ever happy be

Must I go bound and have no free
Must I love a boy that don't love me
Or must I act the childish part
And love that boy that broke my heart

Last night my lover promised me
To take me across the deep blue sea
And now he's gone and left me alone
An orphan girl without a home

O dig my grave both wide and deep
Place marble at my head and feet
And on my breast a snow white dove
To show to the world I died for love

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 15 Nov 08 - 06:37 PM

Bring Back My Boy: was recorded for Decca by the Carters in 1938, a different company than their 1929 Victor recording. According to Meade it's the same song as the above "Bring Back My Blue-Eyed Boy To Me." I assume the title has been changed to avoid copyright problems.

I'm not sure if the lyrics are different.

Richie

Subject: Lyr Add: BROKEN DOWN TRAMP (Carter Family)
From: Richie
Date: 15 Nov 08 - 07:07 PM

The Carter's 1937 song, Broken Down Tramp is related to "Broken Down Sport" collected in 1929. Norm Cohen in his book Long Steel Rail gives a detailed account of the Tramp songs. The link below is to that book showing an early version from Sam McGee.

http://books.google.com/books?id=AY7St4-8x10C&pg=PA347&lpg=PA350&dq=Broken+Down+Tramp&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html


There are several songs in 1870-80s like "Only a Tramp." Meade references "Broken Down Tramp" Words and Music by Thomas Herrington from the 1870s. I haven't found the sheet music.

BROKEN DOWN TRAMP- Carter Family

I'm a broken down tramp without money
My clothes are all tattered and torn
And I am so sad and so lonely
I wish I had never been born

All through this wide world I have wandered
Inquiring for something to do
But whenever I ask for a job of work
They say they have none for a tramp

Now drink was the cause of my downfall
From the money I had I bought rum
And the friends that were mine when I had it
Now pass by and call me a bum

Now don't be too hasty to judge me
As I drift along with the tide
My clothes may be ragged and dirty
But a clean heart is beating inside

One night on a dark lonely railroad
A hobo all hungry and cold
Saw an empty boxcar on the siding
He climbed in and closed up the door

Six miles he had rode on the railway
When the brakeman came 'round with his light
He was shoved from the car and was killed by the train
Because he was only a tramp

Now young men, let this be a warning
For all you who long for the road
Better stick to the straight life and don't be like me
A poor bum to die in the cold

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 15 Nov 08 - 09:59 PM

"Bring Back My/The Blue-eyed Boy" is widespread. One version in Randolph, Ozark Folk-Songs, was said to have been learned about 1900 (Missouri). Collected in Indiana, Texas.
The 'ca. 1900' version had 5 verses- Remember well, Must I be bound, Bring back my.., Met in a park, Wings of an angel.

Bonnie Blue Eyes/More Pretty Girls also is widespread. In one version reported by Louise Bascom from NC in 1909, the singer laments -

I'm forty-one miles from home
I'm forty-one miles from home
I'm forty-one miles from home
Good-bye, little Bonnie Blue Eyes.

And now she's married and gone,
An' now she's married and gone
I've waited around for her too long
An' now she's married and gone.

The versions (2) collected by Bascom, both with the title "Bonnie Blue Eyes," tell a better story.
Like several other songs collected in NC (Kitty Kline, etc.), the colloquialisms 'Mommer' and 'Popper' are used.

Subject: Lyr Add: BROKEN HEARTED LOVER (Carter Family)
From: Richie
Date: 15 Nov 08 - 11:42 PM

Hi,

The problem with the Carters "Broken Hearted Lover" is that it's similar to all the "Dear Companion," "True Lover's Farewell" songs- they have similar floating lyrics and forms. Other songs (Stonemans and Carolina Buddies) are also named "Broken Hearted Lover" and they may be different songs. The Delmore Brothers also did a different song titled Broken Hearted Lover.

Then there are the printed versions. Here's some information from the Ballas index and Folk Index. Anyone that can help sort this out please do. I'll start looking over the different versions.

Last Farewell, The (The Lover's Return)
DESCRIPTION: "So at last you have come back Since time at last has set you free...." The singer recalls his old love for the other -- but concludes that it is all over now: "No, no, you must not take my hand; God never gives us back our youth...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1932 (Henry)
KEYWORDS: love separation return age infidelity
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Randolph 761, "The Last Farewell" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 495,496 "The Last Farewell" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 761A)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 152-153, "And So You Have Come Back to Me" (1 text)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 33-34, "Too Late" (1 text, 1 tune)

Lover's Return (III), The
DESCRIPTION: Mostly floating verses: "If I had listened to mother, I would not a-been here today." "Let him go, let him go, God bless him, He's mine where ever he may be." "I have a ship out on the ocean." At the end, "My own sweet Robert" arrives from over the sea
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1931 (Fuson)
KEYWORDS: love separation return reunion floating verses
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fuson, p. 111, "The Lover's Return" (1 text)
Roud #16411
Notes: There may be a line or two in this song not paralleled elsewhere. There may not, too. But the combination is unique: The first verse and the "Let him go" chorus imply a betrayal song, the second verse is the floating "I have a ship on the ocean... but before my true love would suffer"; the last verse is closest to unique as it involves the man's return. - RBW

The Lover's Return [Me II-E 6]

At - Broken Hearted Lover; You've Come Back to me
Spaeth, Sigmund G. / Weep Some More My Lady, Doubleday, Bk (1927), p 33 (Too Late [You Have Come Back to Me])
Acuff, Roy; and his Smokey Mountain Boys. Fly, Birdie, Fly. 1939-40, Rounder SS024, LP (1988), trk# 8 [1940/04] (Broken Heart)
Carter Family. Longing for Old Virginia, Rounder 1071, CD (1998), trk# 3 [1934/05/08]
Finch, Mayme. Owens, William A. (ed.) / Texas Folk Songs. 2nd edition, SMU Press, Bk (1976/1950), p 95 [1941] (Too Late [You Have Come Back to Me])
Hawker, Ginny; and Kay Justice. Signs and Wonders, June Appal JA 0060, Cas (1990), trk# 5
Hazel And Alice. Who's That Knocking, Verve/Folkways FVS-900, LP (1966), trk# 13
Jones, Grandpa. 24 Great Country Songs, King 967, LP (1975), trk# B.06 (You've Come Back to me)
Lewis, Laurie; and Dudley Connell. Masters of the Banjo, Arhoolie CD 421, CD (1994), trk# 15 [1993/11/11]
McCord, May Kennedy. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume IV, Religious Songs and Others, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p266/#761A [1934/04/14] (Last Farewell)
Sizemore, Asher; and Little Jimmy. Sizemore, Asher; and Little Jimmy / Favorite Mountain Ballads & Old T..., Sizemore, fol (1932), p13 (And So You Have Come Back to Me)
Starr, Fred. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume IV, Religious Songs and Others, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p267/#761B [1938/07/12]
Stecher, Jody; and Kate Brislin. Song That Will Linger, Rounder 0274-C, Cas (1989), trk# 8
Stoneman, Ernest V. ("Pop"). Round the Heart of Old Galax, Vol 1. Featuring Ernest Stoneman, County 533, LP (1980), trk# B.06 [1928/11/01] (Too Late [You Have Come Back to M
Trickett, Ed. People Like You, Folk Legacy FSI-092, LP (1982), trk# 9
Voss, Jane. Album of Songs, Bay 207, LP (1976), trk# 7
Weaver Brothers. Home in West Virginia: West Virginia Project, Vol. 2, Old Homestead OHCS 177, LP (1987), trk# 1 [1929/10/22] (You Came Back to Me)

Broken-Hearted Lovers/Lover [Me II-E11]

Rt - I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes
Albert E Brumley's Songs of the Pioneers #2, Brumley, Fol (1973), 26
Stoneman, Ernest V. ("Pop"). Ernest V. Stoneman, Vol.1, Old Homestead OHCS 172, LP (1986), trk# A.02 [1928/10/28]

BROKEN HEARTED LOVER- Carter Family

Would you let her part us darling,
Could you truly turn away;
Would it make your heart ache darling,
Not to see me night or day?

CHORUS: I've been dreaming of you darling,
Dreaming of your eyes so blue;
Take me back for love I'm dying,
And I love none else but you.

Many a day with you I've rambled,
Down by the shades of the deep blue sea;
There you told me that you love me,
That you love none else but me.

I will give you back your letters,
And the picture I loved so well;
How it makes my heart ache darling,
Oh, it is hard to say farewell.

Subject: Lyr Add: BROKEN HEARTED LOVER (Delmore Brothers)
From: Richie
Date: 16 Nov 08 - 12:00 AM

This is the Delmores version which I said was a different song. Still the structure of the song is similar. There's a great version of IIIrd Tyme Out playing this on YouTube.

BROKEN HEARTED LOVER - Delmore Brothers

How could I be feeling happy
When you don't love me anymore
You took my love and all my kisses
And you left my heart so sore

I'd rather swim across the ocean
Without the help of God or man
Than be a broken hearted lover
When I have done the best I can

I thought that you were an angel
When I first looked into your eyes
But now I know all about you
I know your home's not in the skies

Stop, look and listen for that whistle
And when you hear that lonesome sound
You'll know by the whistle of that freight train
Your broken hearted lover's gone

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 16 Nov 08 - 12:05 AM

The Carolina Buddies version of Broken Hearted Lover Columbia 15652- D Issued February 1931 is here:

http://honkingduck.com/78s/listen.php?s=20190B

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 16 Nov 08 - 12:47 AM

At this point we can see that the Delmore's, Stoneman's and Carolina Buddies songs are different songs than the Carter's "Broken Hearted Lover." Someone may come up with a song that it is based on, for now I don't know.

Here's some info about a different song mentioned above, the Carters "Lover's Return."

THE LOVER'S RETURN
A. P. Carter
APRS BMI

A 19th century parlor song, also known as "Too Late you have Come Back to me," this was recorded as a trio by the Carter Family for Victor in1934, although without the second verse. Rounder Records reissued the song on the 1998 Carter Family album Gold Watch and Chain: Their Complete Victor Recordings (1933 - 1934) as did Bear Family Records for the 2000 Carter Family album In the Shadow of Clinch Mountain. Others had recorded it before the Carters: the Stoneman Family (as "Too Late" for Victor in 1928) and the Weaver Brothers, for example. Roy Acuff released the song in 1940 as "The Broken Heart." You can find versions of the song by Mother Maybelle Carter (Queen of the Autoharp, Kapp Records, 1964), Hazel Dickens & Alice Foster (Gerrard) (Who's that Knockin' Verve/Folkways, 1965 and also Pioneering Women of Bluegrass, Smithsonian Folkways, 1996), Ed Trickett (People Like You, Folk-Legacy Records, 1982), Jody Stecher & Kate Brislin (A Song that will Linger; Rounder Records, 1989), Jack Hinshelwood (Dark Run, Heritage Records, 1993), Kate Wolf (Looking Back at You, Rhino Records, 1994), Laurie Lewis & Dudley Connell on the Arhoolie Records compilation Masters of the Banjo (1994), Linda Ronstadt (Feels Like Home, Elektra Entertainment, 1995), Kay Justice & Ginny Hawker (Signs and Wonders, June Appal Recordings, 1996 ), and Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris & Linda Ronstadt (Trio II, Elektra Entertainment, 1999).

Subject: Lyr Add: BUDDIES IN THE SADDLE (Maybelle Carter)
From: Richie
Date: 16 Nov 08 - 03:32 AM

Buddies in the Saddle is a cowboy song written by Maybelle and recorded in 1940.

BUDDIES IN THE SADDLE— Maybelle Carter

One stormy day, me and my buddy
Started on our roundup ride.
The wind and dust blew hard around us,
My buddy strayed far from my side.


CHORUS
We were buddies in the saddle,
We were buddies in our home,
We were buddies herdin' cattle,
We were buddies everywhere we roamed.

Subject: Lyr Add: UNDER THE WILLOW TREE (Belden A)
From: Richie
Date: 16 Nov 08 - 03:47 AM

Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow was a hit from the Carters first session, the 1927 Bristol Session. The Carter Family may have heard Whitter's version since they also recorded for Ralph Peer and Victor. From the song notes by Charles K. Wolfe in the book included with the Bear Family Box Set: "Bury Me Under The Weeping Willow was a song both Sara and Maybelle had known since childhood. Like many mountain songs, it was probably based on a 19th century parlor song though nobody has yet been able to identify an exact source."

Since essentially the same lyrics were collected in Missouri by Belden in 1909 we can assume there is a single source for the song that hasn't been found. Here is a set of lyrics from Belden provided by Q in an earlier post:


UNDER THE WILLOW TREE (Belden A)

MS Ballad book of Ada Belle Cowden, Boone Co., Belden version A, p. 483, H. M. Belden, Ballads and Songs Collected by the Missouri Folk-Lore Society.


My heart is broken, I am in sorrow
For the only one I love.
I ne'er shall see his face again
Unless we meet in heaven above.

Chorus:Then bury me beneath the willow,
Beneath the weeping willow tree,
And when he knows that I am sleeping
Then perhaps he'll come and weep for me.

They told me that he did not love me;
But how could I believe them true
Until an angel came and whispered,
'He will prove untrue'?

Tomorrow was to be my wedding day;
But gone! oh, gone! oh, where is he?
He's gone to wed another bride
And all alone he has left me.

This ballad was popularized mainly by the Carter Family who recorded it on Victor 21074 in 1927; and later on Bluebird B-6053 in 1935. They also recorded a remake of the song, "Answer to Weeping Willow," on Decca 5234 in 1936. Here's a recording done by The Carter Family:

http://honkingduck.com/78s/listen.php?s=20404A


The first recording was done by Henry Whitter, "The Weeping Willow Tree" on OKeh 40187, 1924 (rec. 1923). Possibly from Whitter's recording followed Ernest V. Stoneman's, "Bury Me Beneath the Weeping Willow" (CYL: Edison [BA] 5187, 1927) (Edison 51909, 1927) and Ernest Thompson, "Weeping Willow Tree" (Columbia 15001-D, 1924).

Subject: Lyr Add: BY THE TOUCH OF HER HAND (Carter Family)
From: Richie
Date: 16 Nov 08 - 09:49 AM

By the Touch of Her Hand was recorded in 1935 in New York City. This is probably an original song by AP Carter. If anyone has more information it would help.

BY THE TOUCH OF HER HAND-Carter Family

There are days so dark that I seek in vain
For the face of my own true love.
But the darkness hides he is there to guide
By the light of the moon above

CHORUS: Oh the lonesome pines, oh the lonesome pines
Where I met that sweetheart of mine
With her hand in mine and our hearts entwined
As we strolled through the lonesome pines

Bright stars above two sweethearts in love
As we sang to the cooing doves
He has brought me back to that mountain shack
By the touch of her hand in love

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 16 Nov 08 - 10:35 AM

Hi,

To recap: The original Carter Family (Sara, AP and Maybelle) recorded 292 songs by my count and concluded their recording career in 1941.

Of 6 songs starting with the letter A: One is a rewrite of their early hit "Bury Me Beneath the Willow" and one is a rewrite of a folk song. The other 4 are based entirely on earlier songs.

Of the songs starting with the letter B: There are 15 songs and one of them is the same song with a different title. Of the 14 different songs there are 3 original songs presumably by AP (although Sara also wrote a few songs) and 1 by Maybelle. Of the 10 remaining songs 6 are arranged from traditional sources and 4 are based entirely on other songs.

We need more info on "Broken Down Tramp," "Broken Hearted Lover," "Blackie's Gunman" and "By the Touch of Her Hand."

Richie

Subject: Lyr Add: CAN'T FEEL AT HOME IN THIS WORLD ANYMORE
From: Richie
Date: 16 Nov 08 - 03:14 PM

Hi,

I'll do several more song then I've got play music for the rest of the day and evening.

Can the Circle Be Unbroken (By and By); Based on the gospel song: Will the Circle be Unbroken Words: Ada Habershon, Music: Charles Gabriel. Date: 1907.

WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN
Words: Ada Habershon, Music: Charles Gabriel. Date: 1907.

There are loved ones in the glory,
Whose dear forms you often miss;
When you close your earthly story,
Will you join them in their bliss?

CHORUS: Will the circle be unbroken
By and by, by and by?
In a better home awaiting
In the sky, in the sky?

Clearly this is the same song the Carters used and made famous. The real question is: Did the Carters rewrite the verses or get them from other sources as well? The Carters 1935 recording was preceded by the 1930 recording by Frank Welling & John McGhee. Their version most likely is based on this early recording.

Certainly this song is now accepted as traditional and is published everywhere. If AP wrote the verses then the Carters should still have arrangement rights on the song. Their famous version begins:

I was standing by my window,
On a cold and cloudy day.
When I saw a hearse come rolling,
For to carry my mother away.


Can't Feel at Home; Also know as "I Can't Feel at Home" and "This World is Not my Home." I've played this many times and was told it was an old hymn. It's listed as being published in 1919 by Meade.

Meade lists Stovepipe No 1 (Sam Jones) 'Lord Don't You Know, I Have No Friend Like You' recorded August 1924 in NYC and issued as Co 210-D in November 1924. This is followed by The Kentucky Thoroughbreds 'This World Is Not My Home' recorded in April 1927 in Chicago and issued as Paramount 3014 (no date given), and then the Carters' 1931 recording. J.E. Mainer's Mountaineers, with vocal by Zeke Morris, recorded it on 6 August 1935 in Atlanta, issued as Bluebird B60288 - several months before the Monroe Brothers 17 February 1936 recording (Bluebird B6309).

The song was the basis for Woody Guthrie's "I Ain't Got No Home."

Charles Wolfe says the Monroes learned the song from the 1935 'hit' record by the Prairie Ramblers on ARC, but the song had its roots deep in the black gospel tradition. In his liner notes to vol 5 of the Rounder set of Carter RCA material, Wolfe said it had been recorded before the Carter's 1931 recording by several black gospel groups - unfortunately, he doesn't say which - and 'had appeared in a number of white gospel songbooks as "arranged" by one composer or another'.

There are two black gospel recordings of "This World Is Not My Home" before World War II listed in Blues and Gospel Records 1890-1943 (Oxford): Golden Echo Quartet (rec. Atlanta, Ga; 1 April, 1927) and Jessie May Hill (rec. Chicago; 5 May, 1927). Hill's version (backed by Sisters of Congregation ("The Church of God in Christ") and probably accompanied by Arizona Dranes on the piano) is a variant.

CAN'T FEEL AT HOME IN THIS WORLD ANYMORE-Carter Family

    This world is not my home, I'm just passing through
    My treasures and my hopes are all beyond the blue
    Where many many friends and kindred have gone on before
    And I can't feel at home in this world anymore

    Over in Glory land, there is no dying there
    The saints are shouting victory and singing everywhere
    I hear the voice of them that I have heard before
    And I can't feel at home in this world anymore

          Oh, lord, you know I have no friend like you
          If heaven's not my home, oh, lord, what would I do
          Angels beckon me to heaven's open door
          And I can't feel at home in this world anymore

    Heaven's expecting me, that's one thing I know
    I fixed it up with Jesus a long time ago
    He will take me through though I am weak and poor
    And I can't feel at home in this world anymore

    Oh, I have a loving mother over in Glory land
    I don't expect to stop until I shake her hand
    She's gone on before, just waiting at heaven's door
    And I can't feel at home in this world anymore

          Oh, lord, you know I have no friend like you
          If heaven's not my home, oh, lord, what would I do
          Angels beckon me to heaven's open door
          And I can't feel at home in this world anymore


Cannonball (Blues): Was discussed earlier in this thread. The Carters learned "The Cannonball" ("The Cannonball Blues") from African- American guitarist Lesley Riddle. Here's more info from my upcoming book:

"He was just gong to get old music, old songs, what had never been sung in sixty years," said Riddle. "He was going to get it, put a tune to it, and record it." Riddle also taught the Carter Family such songs he knew like "Coal Miner Blues," "The Cannon Ball," "I Know What It Means To Be Lonesome," and "Let the Church Roll On." Maybelle Carter learned to finger-pick and play slide guitar from Riddle. "You don't have to give Maybelle any lessons," said Riddle. "You let her see you playing something, she'll get it- you better believe it."

It was Riddle's job to learn the melody of the song. "If I could hear you sing, I could sing it too," said Riddle. "I was his tape recorder. He'd take me with him and he's get someone to sing the whole song. Then I'd get it and learn it to Sara and Maybelle."

I have information somewhere of earlier sources for this song which is related to Whitehouse Blues and some versions of Delia's Gone. This is from another of my books:

The origin of "White House Blues" is found in the murder ballad "One Mo' Rounder Gone" also known as the popular song "Delia." "One Mo' Rounder Gone" was collected by Howard Odum between 1906-1908 and appeared in print in the JOAFL in 1911. The song can be traced back to around 1900 when the murder of Delia Green took place in Savannah, Georgia. The lyrics and form are the same as "White House Blues" and was surely a song Charlie Poole must have heard in his travels.

Listen and watch Maybelle and Sara play it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlFyGPNmOvI

That's it for now.

Richie

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 16 Nov 08 - 05:16 PM

Comments on a number of these songs in previous threads, only a few of them listed at the heading here. Much scattered info in Mudcat threads, sometimes difficult to find it all.

English versions of Under the Willow tree, etc., in thread 80865: Willow Tree
This World is not my home- thread 27901: The World is Not
Richie covered One More Rounder Delia and White House Blues in thread 98413: White House and etc
Delia details on murder in thread 11867: All my friends

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family son
From: pdq
Date: 16 Nov 08 - 05:49 PM

Great thread.

Does anyone consider "Little Annie" a derivative of Stephen Foster's "Gentle Annie"? Perhaps a song inspired by the older song? Perhaps just a song with a similar name?

Subject: Lyr Add: MEET ME MAGGIE (Will S. Hays)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 16 Nov 08 - 08:22 PM

pdq, I can't see enough similarity with the Foster song.
There are a couple of songs about "Gentle Annie," but they are about her death, which rules them out.

A song with the same idea is "Meet Me Maggie," by Will S. Hays, but it is not the right song. I'll quote it anyhow.

MEET ME MAGGIE
Will S. Hays, 1874

Chorus.
Meet me, Maggie, gentle Maggie,
I'll be waiting dear, for you,
Oh, my heart is lonely pining
For your smile so warm and true.

1
Meet me, Maggie, in the springtime,
When the flowers bloom again,
When each songster loves to warble
Some melodious, happy strain,
Meet me when the twilight shadows
Gather round the brow of day,
When the smiling face of Nature
Looks so blooming and so gay.
2
Meet me Maggie, in the meadow,
And I'll tell you where I've been,-
Where in Erin I have wandered,
All the sights that I have seen.
First I'll tell you how I love you,-
How I missed your sunny smile;
Then I'll kiss you and tell you
I was true, dear, all the while.
3
Meet me, Maggie, darling Maggie,
How I wish the day had flown!
When the little birds are sleeping,
Come to welcome me, my own.
Nevermore shall we be parted,
For my heart shall never rove,-
Like a weary bird it wanders
Back to you, my only love.

1874, published by J. L. Peters, NY, sheet music in guitar arrangement. Lester S. Levy Collection, http://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/levy-cgi/display.cgi?id=133.123.000;pages=3;range=0-2

Subject: Lyr Add: WHEN THE SPRINGTIME COMES AGAIN (Carter)
From: Richie
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 01:38 AM

"Little Annie" is a derivative of Stephen Foster's "Gentle Annie." The Carter's song is called "When The Springtime Comes Again." Bluegrass picker's call it "Little Annie" and usually sing the Carter lyrics which are rather different from Foster's.

GENTLE ANNIE- FOSTER

CHORUS: Shall I nevermore behold thee,
Never hear your loving voice again,
But when the springtime comes, gentle Annie,
And the wild flowers are scattered o'er the glen?

My heart grows sad as I wander
Near the silent spot where thou art laid,
And my heart bows down as I ponder
By the streams and the meadows where we played.

(CHORUS)

We had roamed and loved 'mid the flowers
When your rosy cheeks were in their bloom.
Now I sit alone 'mid the bowers
While I grieve in silence o'er your tomb.

(CHORUS)

WHEN THE SPRINGTIME COMES AGAIN-Carter Family

Once more Little Annie I must leave you
We shall part at the end of the lane
But promise me Little Annie
You will wait for me til springtime comes again

When the sun shines down on the mountain
And the wild sheep are wandering all alone
When the birds and the bees are a humming
Makes me think that springtime wont be very long

When springtime comes on the mountain
And the wild flowers are scattered o'er the plain
I shall watch for the bees to return to their trees
And I'll be waiting when the springtime comes again

Now springtime is here Little Annie
I am on my way back to the lane
For you promised me Little Annie
You'd be waiting when springtime comes again

Subject: Lyr Add: CARTER'S BLUES (Carter Family)
From: Richie
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 02:28 AM

Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers in Texas: is a skit with Jimmie Rodgers. The session began in Louisville, Kentucky on June 10, 1931 with "Why There's a Tear in My Eye" and "The Wonderful City." A. P., who did not sing or play, contributed the song, "Why There's a Tear in My Eye" and had some lines in the skits. A. P's song as many collected came from other sources, "An Old Man's Story" was copyrighted by Carson Robinson in 1928. On June 11 Jimmie recorded "Let Me Be Your Side Track" and the whole group recorded their song-and-spoken-word skits "The Carter Family and Jimmie Rogers in Texas" and "Jimmie Rogers Visits the Carter Family." On June 12 the first skit was redone to its released form.

"The Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers in Texas," though recorded in Kentucky, asks the listener to imagine the Carters paying a visit to Jimmie in the Lone Star State. The number begins with Jimmie offering a short-lived snatch of song on 'Yodeling Cowboy', switches into repartee as the three Carters knock at the door, and then segues into Jimmie and his guests performing "T for Texas."


Carter's Blues: was recorded in Nov. 1929 in Atlanta GA. It's clearly a take-off on Jimmie Rodger's who was quickly becoming the number one country recording artist in the country. Unfortunately the Great Depression was just around the corner.

This song is rewrite of "As I Walked Out One Morning Fair" and is related to "Love Has Brought Me to Despair."

Here's a short clip of "As I Walked Out One Morning Fair:"
http://www.aca-dla.org/cgi-bin/viewer.exe?CISOROOT=/WarrenWilson&CISOPTR=1291&CISOMODE=bib

Someone may find better versions. Here's the Carters:

CARTER'S BLUES- Carter Family

As I woke up one morning fair
To view the fields and taste the air
For to view the fields and the meadows around
I thought I heard some mournful sound
I thought I heard my true love say
"Oh, do turn and come this way"
Yodel-ay-ee, oh-lay-ee, ay-oh-lay-ee

You love some other, you don't love me
You care not for my company
You love some other, and I know why
Because he has more gold than I
But gold will melt and silver will fly
My love for you will never die
Yodel-ay-ee, oh-lay-ee, ay-oh-lay-ee
[INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

There is a flower, I've heard them say
That can be seen from day to day
And if that flower I only could find
To cure this aching heart of mine
Yodel-ay-ee, oh-lay-ee, ay-oh-lay-ee
[INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

So fare you well, my charming little love
Oh, meet me in that land above
And when we meet there in that land
We'll take no more this parting hand
Yodel-ay-ee, oh-lay-ee, ay-oh-lay-ee


Charlie and Nellie; This song is usually called "Nellie Dare and Charlie Brooks." This is clearly an earlier song with little rewriting. Riley Puckett first recorded the song in 1925 as "Send Back My Wedding Ring." It's also called "Charlie Brooks." The Carter's didn't record this until 1938 hence the name change to avoid copyright issues.

This is almost the same as Holland Puckett's 1927 version:
http://www.juneberry78s.com/otmsampler/otmsampat209.html

CHARLIE AND NELLIE
Carter Family Recorded 6/8/38 - Charlotte, NC

Dear Nellie since I left the city
I've found I've changed my mind
I hope you won't think me untruthful
Or do me the least unkind

I think we're both mistaken
I know you'll never suit me
I owe my heart to another
Of course kind friends will agree

Please send me my ring and pictures
Also my letters and books
My clothes with many kind wishes
Respectfully yours Charlie Brooks

I heard all about it dear Charlie
I knew it would end this way
I hope you will always live happy
With your loving little wife Miss Gray

Now here's your ring dear Charlie
Don't give it to her I pray
Unless you tell her 'twas once mine
I wore it one year today

One year today dear Charlie
So happy were we both
You vowed you'd never forsake me
But I find you untrue to your oath

Here's your picture dear Charlie
It's almost faded away
Because I kissed it so often
And this you can tell Miss Gray

As far as your letters dear Charlie
I burned them as they came
I feared by reading them over
Would cause our love to inflame

I must say goodbye dear Charlie
My letter is near an end
Remember I'm always and always
Forever and ever your friend

Subject: Lyr Add: SHE WAS ALWAYS CHEWING GUM (Dave Macon)
From: Richie
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 03:23 AM

Hi,

"Chewing Gum" by the Carters is a different song than "Chewing Gum" by Uncle Dave Macon. This was one of Macon signature songs:

SHE WAS ALWAYS CHEWING GUM: Uncle Dave Macon Vo 5040

I'm going to sing you 'bout my pretty little girl,
She's just as pretty as a plum,
Habit she had was one that was bad,
She was always a-chewing gum,
Chewing gum, yum, yum, yum, yum

Whenever she came to Sunday school,
She always come with a chum,
Well right where they's at, and right where they sat,
They were always chewing gum,
Chewing gum, yum, yum, yum, yum

The song was first found in 1800s songbook entitled "A Collection of Favorite Songs as Sung by Ben Maginley, the clown and jester of the Great Consolidation," also contained advertisements of a score of patent medicine companies, and was 64 pages in size, with words of 40 to 60 songs included.

The Carter Family's "Chewing Gum" with the line "chewin chawin gum" first was published in the 1915 folk song book by Louise Pound. The Carter's version also became quite popular.

The lyrics are in the DT: link above

Richie

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 11:31 AM

Church in the Wildwood: is based entirely on gospel song "Little Brown Church in the Vale" by James Rowe- words, William P. Pitts- music, DATE: Pitts 1857 there is a rewrite by Rowe in 1911.

The Little Brown Church in the Vale has become a famous tourist attraction in Iowa, and the song describing its beauty is still sung.

There are several versions and more info in the DT.

Subject: Lyr Add: COAL MINER'S BLUES (A. P. Carter)
From: Richie
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 11:49 AM

COAL MINER'S BLUES

"Coal Miner's Blues" A.P. Carter (1938)
Lead vocal: Sara Lead Guitar: Maybelle

Some blues are just blues, mine are the miner's blues.
Some blues are just blues, mine are the miner's blues.
My troubles are coming by threes and by twos.

Blues and more blues, it's that coal black blues.
Blues and more blues, it's that coal black blues.
Got coal in my hair, got coal in my shoes.

These blues are so blue, they are the coal black blues.
These blues are so blue, they are the coal black blues.
For my place will cave in, and my life I will lose.

You say they are blues these old miner's blues.
You say they are blues, these old miner's blues.
Now I must have sharpened these picks that I use.

I'm out with these blues, dirty coal black blues.
I'm out with these blues, dirty coal black blues.
We'll lay off tomorrow with the coal miner's blues.

Another verse is reported as:

These blues are so blues, they are the coal black blues,
These blues are so blues, they are the coal black blues.
For my place will cave in and my life I will lose.

This extra verse and info come from "Yonder Come the Blues" By Paul Oliver, Tony Russell, Robert M. W. Dixon. They report that this song was collected by the Carters on a song trip in Lee County, Virginia and that it was popular in the mining community.

Subject: Lyr Add: COWBOY JACK (Carter Family)
From: Richie
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 12:16 PM

Verse above should appear:

These blues are so blue, they are the coal black blues,
These blues are so blue, they are the coal black blues.
For my place will cave in and my life I will lose.

The Stripling Brothers did a song titled Coal Mine Blues in 1929. It's apparently a different song.

Cowboy Jack Laws B24: was first published in the 1928 Songs of the Open Range. It was recorded three times in 1929 first by Marc Williams for Brunswick. Clearly the Carter's version is a slight rewrite of an existing song.

COWBOY JACK
Carter Family- Original

He was just a lonely cowboy
With a heart so brave and true
He learned to love a maiden
With eyes of heaven's own blue

They learned to love each other
And named their wedding day
When a quarrel came between them
And Jack, he rode away

         [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

He joined a band of cowboys
And tried to forget her name
But out on the lonely pa-rairie
She waits for him the same

One night when work was finished
Just at the close of day
Someone said, sing a song, Jack
We'll drive those cares away

When Jack began his singing
His mind did wander back
For he sang of a maiden
Who waited for her Jack

         [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

When he reached the prairie
He found a new-made mound
His friends they sadly told him
They laid his loved one down

They said as she was dying
She breathed her sweetheart's name
And asked them with her last breath
To tell him when he came

Your sweetheart waits for you, Jack
Your sweetheart waits for you
Out on the lonely prairie
Where the skies are always blue

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 12:49 PM

A bit more on Cowboy Jack: The earliest recording was Jack Mathis fro Columbia. Peg Moreland's 1929 recording was one of the early popular recordings. This should be considered a traditional cowboy ballad probably from Arizona which is based on an earlier song.

According to Dallas Turner A.P. Carter was still drawing royalties on the song in the early 1950s and considered it to be "his song." When Turner told A.P. he heard it as a young boy AP said, "I don't mean I composed it but I wrote it down."

Ira Sines 1928 "Songs of the Open Range" contradicts that claim. The Carter's version was one of the most popular versions and they sang it on Border Radio.

The song actually is a rewrite of "Your Mother Prays for You Jack" by F.M. Eliot in 1893. The Carter's also recorded this song. Here's some great info about the song:

http://books.google.com/books?id=pbLA3HzgjW8C&pg=PA51&lpg=PA48&dq=cowboy+Jack+1928&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html

Richie

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 06:09 PM

"Gentle Annie" by Foster is a death song; I can't see the relationship with "Little Annie" of the Carters. Others with 'little' or 'gentle' and/or 'springtime', such as "Meet Me Maggie, gentle Maggie," are also possible precursors- and perhaps none of them.
------------------------
"The Cannonball' lacks ties with "Delie" (Delia) and the last rounder songs.
The funeral train carrying President McKinley from Buffalo to Washington (500 miles, via Harrisburg and Baltimore) was a special, preceded by a pilot train. It was not known as the Cannonball, and the route was not the same as any of the early 'Cannonball' routes.

Norm Cohen ties the "Whitehouse Blues" of Charlie Poole to the Carters "Cannonball Blues" because they share "sufficient musical and lyrical characteristics."
The melody of the first two lines of "Mr McKinley" is similat to that of "Whitehouse Blues," but the last half is different" (Cohen, p. 417, "Long Steel Rail).

A few fragmentary songs of the period mention the 'Cannonball,' but the Carters use of the word cannot be tied to them. It appears to be arbitrary use of a generally familiar name. The line 'From Buffalo to Washington' in the first verse may or may not indicate a memory of the "Whitehouse Blues."
'Coming down the line', yonder comes a train', 'coming down the track', 'I'm going up north', 'she's gone', are commonplace; the only significant verse, 'You can wash my jumper / Starch my overalls', is an old floater.
Looked at from another viewpoint, the Carter song has many floating lines, and is difficult to relate to other songs.

I can see no relationship between "Delie" (Delia) and 'last rounder', and "The Cannonball" by the Carters. Subject matter is entirely different.

Subject: Lyr Add: COWBOY'S WILD SONG TO HIS HERD (Carter)
From: Richie
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 07:51 PM

Thanks for your comments and help Q.

Cowboy's Wild Song to His Herd was printed in 1912 book, Rhymes from the Rangeland by Wesley Beggs:

http://books.google.com/books?id=qbQPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA110&dq=Cowboy%27s+Wild+Song+to+His+Herd:&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html

This is a rewrite by the Carter's.

COWBOY'S WILD SONG TO HIS HERD- Carter family

One beautiful night when the moon was full
And the air was crisp and clear
A cowboy lay on the starlit plain
And thought of his home so dear
         [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

He thought of his mother he loved so well
And the slumber of sleep was buried
Not a sound to be heard but those of the night
As he sang a wild song to his herd
         [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

The cattle are lying so quiet and still
On the carpet that mantles the west
While the golden links from the sky at night
Brings peace to the cowboy's breast
         [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Still he thinks of his mother in a faraway land
And his thoughts by memory was stirred
And he sees himself to the old home again
As he sings a wild song to his herd
         [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

He's far from the din of the city noise
Where the links of folly do shine
He's far from the brawls of the dives of sin
And the flow of the sparkling wine
         [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

He's in the great west with its mantle of green
Where his neighbors say never a word
A land of mirages, mountains and plains
Where the cowboy sings low to his herd

Subject: Lyr Add: THE CUBAN SOLDIER and CYCLONE OF RYE COVE
From: Richie
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 08:27 PM

"Cuban Soldier" was based on the Cuban revolution of 1898-1902. At this time I haven't found the song it's based on. There are hundreds of songs about Spanish American War.

THE CUBAN SOLDIER- 1938 Carter Family

Far away in a Spanish dungeon
A Cuban soldier lay
Slowly dying from the torture
Inflicted day by day
He begged to send a message
But his kindness was denied
So he called his comrades to him
And told his story 'ere he died

CHORUS: When Cuba gains her freedom
    And the Spaniards cease to reign
    There's a loved one on that island
    I will never see again
    Oh, find her for me, comrades
    And tell her you were by my side
    And I bid you take this message
    To a soldier's promised bride

         [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

'Tis the same old story, comrades
Love weeps when duty is done
When Cuba was struggling for her freedom
I was ordered to my gun
Though I'm a captain dying
The struggle will soon be o'er
Tell her I said to meet me
Where the soldiers fight no more CHORUS:



Cyclone of Rye Cove is an event song composed by AP Carter. On May 2, 1929, an unusually violent storm struck the little community of Rye Cove, located in the mountains of Scott County.

During the storm the local two-story schoolhouse, with over 150 children and teachers inside, was struck directly by a tornado. The building was completely leveled, and the debris caught fire from an overturned stove. Thirteen were killed. The dozens of injured were rushed by special train to the hospital in Bristol.

A. P. Carter was in the next valley on the day of the storm. He rushed to Rye Cove to help with the rescue efforts. Carter was touched by the horror of what he saw and soon composed "The Cyclone of Rye Cove." The Carter Family recorded the song that same year for RCA Victor. "The Cyclone of Rye Cove" easily became a part of the musical traditions of Southwest Virginia.


THE CYCLONE OF RYE COVE- Carter Family

Oh, listen today and a story I'll tell
In sadness and tear-dimmed eyes
Of a dreadful cyclone that came this way
And blew our schoolhouse away

    Rye Cove (Rye Cove) Rye Cove (Rye Cove)
    The place of my childhood and home
    Where in life's early morn I once loved to roam
    But now it's so silent and lone
         [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

When the cyclone appeared it darkened the air
Yes, the lightning flashed over the sky
The children all cried, don't take us away
And spare us to go back home

    Rye Cove (Rye Cove) Rye Cove (Rye Cove)
    The place of my childhood and home
    Where in life's early morn I once loved to roam
    But now it's so silent and lone

There were mothers so dear and fathers the same
That came to this horrible scene
Searching and crying each found their own child
Dying on a pillow of stone

    Rye Cove (Rye Cove) Rye Cove (Rye Cove)
    The place of my childhood and home
    Where in life's early morn I once loved to roam
    But now it's so silent and lone

Oh, give us a home far beyond the blue sky
Where storms and cyclones are unknown
There by life's strand we'll clasp this glad hand
With children in a heavenly home

    Rye Cove (Rye Cove) Rye Cove (Rye Cove)
    The place of my childhood and home
    Where in life's early morn I once loved to roam
    But now it's so silent and lone

Subject: Lyr Add: DARK AND STORMY WEATHER
From: Richie
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 10:40 AM

"Dark and Stormy Weather has been recorded as "I Don't Know Why I Love Her/Him" It was recorded at the Carter Family's last session for Bluebird in October 1941. New Lost City Ramblers did a cover of it.

The song "Dark and Dreary Weather" has been collected by Randolph (volume IV #750, pp 234-36)and Brown's North Carolina Folksong II, #168. I was used in Mildred Haun's Master's thesis at Vanderbilt.

Charles Wolfe says about it: "Dark and Stormy Weather shows up in several folksong collections as 'I Don't Know Why I Love Him' and had been recorded in 1937 by the Delmore Brothers."

"It's dark and dreary weather, Almost inclined to rain, My heart is almost broken, My lover has gone on the train!" The singer wonders why she loves him so much, and he loves her not at all. "Some say that love is a pleasure; What pleasure do I see?"

It's related to the song "Farewell He," "Adieu to Dark Weather" songs and the "Let him go God Bless Him" songs

DARK AND STORMY WEATHER

CHORUS: Dark and stormy weather
    It still inclines to rain
    The clouds hang over center*
    My love's gone away on a train

We met, loved, and parted
I thought the world of you
You left me brokenhearted
To me you proved untrue CHORUS:

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

I'm leaving old Virginia
There's nothing here for me
I know you love another
In my grave I'd rather be CHORUS:

         [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

You told me that you loved me
I believed just what you said
But now you love another
I wish that I were dead CHORUS:

*sinners (unclear what this is)

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 03:55 PM

"Can the Circle be Unbroken?" was included in Randolph, "Ozark Folksongs," vol. 4, no. 635, coll. 1941. The verses are the same as those used by the Carters in their recording, and that probably was the source. A line or two of the Carter song could come from earlier songs, but the verses are not in the pre-1935 literature I have seen.

I would like to see the text of the Welling-McGhee recording, if available.

The song was used many times on the Nashville Grand Old Opry, in the upbeat form initiated by the Carters.
The verses of the Habershon hymn are very different, only the refrain is retained, and the midi of the C. H. Gabriel music at Cyberhymnal is dolorous and slower. I have not seen sheet music by Gabriel, or heard his music in his original form.

Subject: Lyr Add: DARK HAIRED TRUE LOVER (Carter Family)
From: Richie
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 06:33 PM

Thnaks for the info Q

"Dark Haired True Lover" is hard to find much info on. The 1918 text is in Robert Gordon Collection #1536 but I don't have access to that collection. This is a rewrite of an existing folk song but we need more info.

DARK HAIRED TRUE LOVER
Carter Family-Original

I once had a dark-haired true lover
She was all the world to me
She promised herself to another
Now don't you think it was me

I was young when I wrote my first letter
I blotted the lines with tears
But now I am old, I know better
We've parted for many long years

Take back every word you have spoken
Let it be as though we've never met
For tonight I'm a poor boy heartbroken
I'll forgive but I'll never forget

Oh, Ruth, Oh, Ruth, how I love you
You just seemed to me like a bird
Although you went back on your promise
Although you went back on your word

Take back every word you have spoken
Let it be as though we've never met
For tonight I'm a poor boy heartbroken
I'll forgive but I'll never forget

We parted in the month of September
Some say we parted for life
But I hope some day or another
I'll call you my sweet darling wife

Take back every word you have spoken
Let it be as though we've never met
For tonight I'm a poor boy heartbroken
I'll forgive but I'll never forget

I wish I had someone to love me
Someone to call me their own
I'm out in this wide world a-wandering
I'm tired of living alone

Subject: Lyr Add: DARLING DAISIES (Carter Family)
From: Richie
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 06:59 PM

Darling Daisies: it rare when you find out something about a song that perhaps no one has figured out. This may be the case. This song is based on "Down by the Garden Wall" by Max Vernor. Published in 1882.

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mussm&fileName=sm/sm1882/16400/16490/mussm16490.db&recNum=1&itemLink=D?mussm:1:./tem

As far as I know no one has attributed this to the Carter's song. Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn sometime!

DARLING DAISIES- Carter Family

When first I met my darling Daisy,
Down by the garden wall
I was walking along the street so shady
I was going for a twilight call

CHORUS: I'd love to sing and dance among the roses
Down by the garden wall
It's there I'd like to meet my Daisy
When I make a twilight call

She was sleeping in a bed of roses
Dreaming of the by and by
While the little birds around were a-singing
Up above the branches so high

CHORUS: [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

If you want to see a bright-eyed beauty
Bright as the stars that shine
Just come and go with me some evening
To see that pretty girl of mine

Subject: Lyr Add: DARLING LITTLE JOE (Carter Family)
From: Richie
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 12:05 AM

Darling Little Joe: there are two sheet music printings, one (dated 1876) crediting it to Charles E. Addison, the other (1866) by V. E. Marsten. See Marsten's at Levy site:
http://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/levy-cgi/display.cgi?id=105.044.000;pages=4;range=0-3

Randolph collected several versions and the song entered tradition so the likely source of the Carter's 1939 version is Bradley Kincaid, who did the song in 1934.

BROADSIDES: Levy 105.044, "The Death of Little Joe," G. Andre & Co., Philadelphia, 1866
LOCSheet, sm1876 10660, "Little Joe," Blackmar & Finney (New Orleans), 1876 (tune)
"The Death of little Joey" H. De Marsan, Publisher, 60 Chatham Street, N. Y.

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?amss:2:./temp/~ammem_wo0t::@@@mdb=mcc,gottscho,detr,nfor,wpa,aap,cwar,bbpix,cowellbib,calb

Broadside LOCSheet sm1876 10660: "Composed and sung by Maj. Chas. E. Addison the noted Confederate Spy and Scout of Gen. John H. Morgan's Command."

DARLING LITTLE JOE-Carter Family

What will the birds do mother in the spring
The little brown birds around the door
Will they fly from the trees and tap at my window
Wondering why Joe wanders out no more

What will the kitten do mother all alone
Will it stop from its frolic for a day
Will it lie on its rug by the side of my bed
As it did before I went away

Keep Tyke dearest mother my poor little dog
For I know that he'll miss me too
Keep him when old and useless he grows
Sleeping all the long summer through

Show him my coat mother so he'll not forget
Little master who will then be dead
Speak often and kindly of little Joe
And pat him on his curly head

What will Thomas the old gardener say
When you ask him for a flower for me
Will he give you a rose he has tended with care
The first fairest bloom of the tree

And you dearest mother will miss me for a while
Though in heaven I'll no larger grow
Any kind angel will tell you at the gate
When you ask for your darling little Joe

Subject: Lyr Add: DARLING NELLIE ACROSS THE SEA (Carter)
From: Richie
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 12:28 AM

"Darling Nellie Across the Sea" was recorded by the Carter Family in 1930 in Memphis TN. This song is based on a ballad or parlor song. Maybe someone can find it. Anyone?

DARLING NELLIE ACROSS THE SEA- Carter Family

      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Oh, the night was dark and stormy
When this message came to me
It was from my darling Nellie
Who is far across the sea

Oh, dear Jack, I know I'm dying
I've no friends, no parents nigh
But remember, dearest Jackie
There's a home for us on high

      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Oh, dear mother, I must leave you
I must go across the sea
I must find my darling Nellie
Who so dearly cared for me

I was wandering through the graveyard
When I found where Nellie laid
It was there my heart was broken
It was there I knelt and prayed

      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Now I'm left alone in sadness
On the field of flowery Spain
And the girl I love is sleeping
In the cold and silent grave

Lay me where Nellie's sleeping
Close beside her let me lie
Where the blooming flowers are creeping
There, oh, lay me when I die

Subject: Lyr Add: DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH (Carter Family)
From: Richie
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 12:50 AM

Diamonds in the Rough: is a gospel song by CW Byron words and LL Pickett Music from 1897. AP Carter sometimes sang this solo on Border Radio programs in the late 1930s.

DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH Carter Family

While walking out one evening
Not knowing where to go
Just to pass the time away
Before we held our show
I heard the Bethel Nation stand
Singing with all their might
I give my heart to Jesus
And left the show that night

CHORUS: The day will soon be over and digging will be done
And no more gems be gathered, so let us all press on
When Jesus comes to claim us and says it is enough
The diamonds will be shining, no longer in the rough

One day, my precious comrade
You, too, were lost in sin
And others sought your rescue
And Jesus took you in
And when you're tired and tempted
And scoffers can rebuff
Don't turn away in anger
This diamond in the rough CHORUS:

While reading through the Bible
Some wondrous sights I see
I read of Peter, James, and John
On the Sea of Galilee
And Jesus when he found them
He bound them very tough
And they were precious diamonds
He gathered in the rough CHORUS:

Subject: Lyr Add: A DISTANT LAND TO ROAM (Carter Family)
From: Richie
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 01:16 AM

Distant Land to Roam; is based on LM Bandy's 1902 song "Leaving Home"
On-line I found the text: Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II, p. 201 (1931), "(The Wanderer)"

Other versions:
Hazel And Alice. Won't You Come and Sing for Me, Folkways FTS 31034, LP (1973), trk# 9
Patterson, Ray and Ina. Songs of Home and Childhood, Vol. 3, County 737, LP (1973), trk# 5
Stanley, Ralph. Distant Land to Roam. Songs of the Carter Family, Columbia DM2, CD (2005), trk# 13

A DISTANT LAND TO ROAM (Carter Family)
(Victor 40255/Bluebird5433/Montgomery Ward 7020, 1929)

I remember very well
On one dark and dreary day
Just as I was leaving home
For a distant land to roam

    Mother said (mother said)
    My dear boy (my dear boy)
    I hope to see you next year again
    Fare you well (fare you well)
    Fare you well (fare you well)
    So I left my dear old home
    For a distant land to roam [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Now I've wandered far away
From my home I've gone astray
Now I'm coming, coming home
Never more from thee to roam   CHORUS [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

And these words she said to me
As she took me by the hand
If on earth we meet no more
May we meet at God's right hand   CHORUS

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Seamus Kennedy
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 01:40 AM

"It's my opinion that A.P., who was the main song catcher and spent much time looking for new material, did not write songs. He found songs and if they didn't know the melody they would sing whatever.

He also collected lyrics and put them together and slightly altered them."

Sounds like an early Bob Dylan.

Seamus

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 08:48 AM

Hi,

I think comparing AP to Bob might be accurate. Maybe I should qualify my statement. Obviusly AP wrote some songs but his role was more of a song gatherer.

AP didn't think "We need to record new songs so I think I'll write a few." it was more like "We need to record new songs so I think I'll find some new ones."

Although they had access to radio and recordings AP knew that the first person to record a song copyrighted that song. At that time recording artists got around the copyrights by simply changing the title or lyrics slightly. The Carters did this some. Another trick was changing your name; Vernon Dalhart and Carson Robison did this and even Ernest Stoneman.

AP IMHO usually took the high road, instead of stealing others songs he looked for songs that had not been recorded. If he found part of a song he (they ) would rework the song adding verses or completing them.

AP search for new songs preserved much of the musical heritage from Clinch mountain area and that region. Much of this preservation by AP and other was due to the commercial record industry. Big money was made from 1924-1929 when the great depression hit.

The Carters and Jimmie Rodgers were two of the groups that continued recording and selling records (though not as many) during the depression years, 1930 until the mid-1930s.

Richie

Subject: Lyr Add: DON'T FORGET ME LITTLE DARLING (Carter)
From: Richie
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 09:20 AM

Don't Forget Me Little Darling: CW Vance- Words and RS Cradall-music 1874. Several years later Thomas Westendorf (Thompson's Mule and others) published a version.

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mussm&fileName=sm/sm1874/05900/05986/mussm05986.db&recNum=0&itemLink=D?mussm:1:./tem

The Carter's version was recorded in 1935 for ARC in NYC.


DON'T FORGET ME LITTLE DARLING- Carter Family

Don't forget me little darling
When from me you're far away
But remember little darling
We'll meet again someday

Darling, I have come to tell you
Though this message breaks my heart
At the dawning of the morning
We'll be many miles apart

Take this little bunch of roses
That you gave me long ago
Many a time I've kissed them, darling
These I'll never kiss no more

Who is going to love you, darling,
Who will hold you to their breast?
Who will talk the future over,
While I roam the desert west?

You may meet with many changes
Driving down life's river stream
But remember, little darling
You are always in my dreams

You may meet with brighter faces
Some may say that I'm not true
But remember, little darling
None can love you as I do

At my window sad and lonely
Oft times do I think of you
And I wonder, oh I wonder
If you ever think of me

Subject: Lyr Add: DON'T FORGET THIS SONG (Carter Family)
From: Richie
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 09:49 AM

"Don't Forget This Song," is an example of a traditional song the Carters changed the name and considrably rewrote the lyrics probably to avoid copyright issues. The song was known and recorded multiple times as "Bad Companions" or Young Companions (Laws E15). Other names are "Bad Company" and "Taney County."

The song was included in Lomax 1910 edition of cowboy songs with no author or information. it's simply known as an old song about a singer, born in Philadelphia, who abandons his family to go to Chicago where he "sinned both might and day." At last he murders a girl and is condemned to die.

The first recording was cowboy Carl Sprague's "Bad Companions" followed by Kelly Harrell's "I was Born in Pennsylvania" in 1925. Spragues debut sides were "When the Work's All Done This Fall" and "Bad Companions"; the former would go on to sell over 900,000 copies.

   DON'T FORGET THIS SONG
Carter Family-Original
   
My home's in old Virginia
Among the lovely hills
The memory of my birthplace
Lies in my bosom still

I did not like my fireside
I did not like my home
I have a mind for rambling
So far away from home

It was on one moonlight evening
The stars were shining bright
And with an ugly dagger
I made the spirits fly

To friends I bid adieu
To parents I bid farewell
I landed in Chicago
In the very midst of hell

      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

While I was in the sober it struck me
As plain as you can see
I'm doomed, I'm ruined forever
Throughout eternity

I courted a fair young lady
Her name I will not tell
Oh, why should I disgrace her
When I am doomed for hell

But now I'm upon my scaffold
My time's not very long
You may forget the singer
But don't forget this song

      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Subject: Lyr Add: THE DYING MOTHER (Carter Family)
From: Richie
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 10:01 AM

The Dying Mother is a song by Nona Lawson- words and C. M. Tate- music written in 1881.

THE DYING MOTHER Carter Family 1940

On a cold winter's eve as the snowflakes were falling
In a low humble cottage a poor mother lay
And although wrecked with pain she lay there contented
With her Savior her friend and peace with Him made

We will all meet again on that great judgment morning
The book will be opened the roll will be called
Oh how sad it will be if forever were parted
While some rise to glory and others stand to fall

[INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Oh that mother of yours has gone o'er the river
And you promised you'd meet her while knelt by her bed
As the death sweat rolled off and fell down on her pillow
Over memories she'll live although she is dead

You remember the kiss and the last words she uttered
Oh the arms that embraced you are with you no more
As we stand by the grave tears drops fall on her passage
And we vow there to meet her on that happy shore

Subject: Lyr Add: THE DYING SOLDIER (Carter Family)
From: Richie
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 10:32 AM

Dying Soldier: As you can imagaine there are many different songs titled and about Dying Soldiers. The Carter's setting is surely World War I.

This should not be confused with Dock Boggs, "Dying Ranger" or Buell Kazee, "The Dying Soldier" (Brunswick 214, 1928).

There are many old "Dying Soldier" songs at American Memory. The text of the Carters song was collected by Crabtree and appears in the 1945 Journal of American Folklore Page 435. Anyone have access to that?

THE DYING SOLDIER- Carter Family

France's sun was slowly sinking o'er the hilltops far away
The land was in its beauty where the dying soldier lay
Tears were streaming down his face as he slowly raised his head
And these were the dying words he said

    Oh, carry me back to old Tennessee
    Let this be my last repose
    Lay my feet beneath the lilacs
    Lay my head beneath the rose
      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Take this message to my mother for I know she's old and gray
At home I know she's waiting, looking for her boy some day
Oh, dear mother, I pulled through for my country and for you
And I'm dying for the red, white, and blue

    Oh, carry me back to old Tennessee
    Let this be my last repose
    Lay my feet beneath the lilacs
    Lay my head beneath the rose
      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

O'er the hills of Tennessee where the wild winds wander free
The little girl waiting there for me
Tell her that the rose she gave me will be placed upon my grave
In memory of her soldier brave

    Oh, carry me back to old Tennessee
    Let this be my last repose
    Lay my feet beneath the lilacs
    Lay my head beneath the rose

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: maple_leaf_boy
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 02:05 PM

My Clinch Mountain Home. The chorus:
Carry me back to old Virginia,
Back to my Clinch mountain home
Carry me back to old Virginia,
Back to my old mountain home.

In one of my music books, there is a song called "Carry Me Back To Old
Virginny." I misplaced the book, but I just remember that the song did
not have an author to it. It was from a Mel Bay Book. I'm looking at
a manuscript of Clinch Mountain, and from my memory it looks somewhat
similar to the song in the Mel Bay book.
Is this one of their traditional re-write songs?

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 03:42 PM

Hi,

I put info about that song on my blog: http://richardmattesonsblog.blogspot.com/


But you're right- I have it as Virginny as well. The song is supposedly AP's first song and he wrote it when he was away from home working. He got sick and had t ocome back home. That's when he sang "My Clinch Mountain Home."

I have precise details on my blog. Whwether AP wrote the song we'll never know. He frequently collected songs and changed them. In this case he would have changed to place to Clinch Mountain.

The Stanley brothers, Carter and Ralph, are also from Clinch Mountain, VA.

Richie

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 05:56 PM

"Carry Me Back to Old Virginny," James A. Bland, 1878; Only the title and the first line of the refrain is similar, but not the verses.

Bland's chorus-
Carry me back to Old Virginny,
There's where the cotton and the corn and tatoes grow,
There's where the birds warble sweet in the springtime,
There's where this old Darkey's heart am long'd to go.

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 06:18 PM

Ref. to vol. 45 JAFL is incorrect. (Crabtree)

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: maple_leaf_boy
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 06:51 PM

Thanks, Q.
I Googled it, and found several results. The top one was from Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carry_Me_Back_to_Old_Virginny
It has a sound-byte for it.

There is a video that plays a recording of it by Alma Gluck.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVuMHCCB5gc

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 07:06 PM

Hi Q,

Of course you're right about the famous Bland song. We'd need to find more info to have it as a basis but that line might have been all AP needed create his song.

The Journal of American Folk-lore By American Folklore Society, JSTOR (Organization), Project Muse Published by Published for the American Folk-lore Society by Houghton, Mifflin, and Co., 1945
Item notes: v.58-59 1945-1946

There are 30 songs collected by Crabtree from Overton County. Apparently the text of the Carter Family song Dying Soldier is there. It might be the wrong edition but at the time I posted I traced it to this 1945 edition.

Richie

Subject: Lyr Add: THE DYING SOLDIER (E. Walter Lowe)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 09:39 PM

The "Dying Soldier" is on the list of the titles of Tennessee Folksongs, E. C. Kirkland, JAFL 49, no. 234, 1946. The song itself is in a thesis by L. G. Crabtree, "Songs and Ballads Sung in Overton County, Tennessee;" George Peabody College for Teachers, Master's thesis, 1936. Unfortunately, this thesis has not been published, so content is not readily available.

There are several "Dying Soldier" songs, UK, Irish, Australian and U. S.; more than one mentions 'mother'. Buell Kazee recorded a "Dying Soldier" in 1928 (text not seen); the Carters did theirs in 1935.
A song called "Brother Green" also is about a soldier's death, but I don't think it is related. One of the 19th c. examples was widely distributed as a songsheet and is my candidate for the 'original', if one goes to a Kazee precursor. If anyone has Kazee's lyrics, that might help tie the Carter song down.

THE DYING SOLDIER
"Oh! Do Not Burey Me Here!" (sic)
Air: "Dearest May"
E. Walter Lowe, 19 NY Cavalry

1
Oh! bury me not 'neath foreign skies,
Where nought is bright to see,
So far from home, from those whose eyes
Are filled with tears for me;
But bear my body to the spot,
Near where the primrose smiled,
When I play'd 'round our little cot,
A merry happy child.
Chorus:
Oh! do not bury me here, where all is dark and drear,
But make my grave
Where the willows wave,
And friends can drop a tear.
2
When first the cry of war arose,
How fast our ranks did swell;
And not a friend did then suppose,
'Twould be the last "farewell;"
Friends passed me as I took the train,
Tears stood in many an eye:
I thought I'd see Estelle again,
But Oh! I've got to die!
3
Could I but live to hear it said,
That our blest flag once more
Waved "Peace" o'er every patriot's head,
And streamed from every shore:
But oh! life's sun is waning fast,
Death's hand is on my brow,
Farewell, loved ones, each hope is past-
I feel I'm going now!

Charles Magnus, New York and Washington, D. C.
Copy in Levy Sheet Music.
Listed in "American Song Sheets, Slip Ballads and Poetical Broadsides 1850-1870," Edwin Wolf 2nd, 205 pp. (Krause Reprint). The 1870 is misleading; the date of publication on the title page is 1865.

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 09:43 PM

Should have noted that the list by Wolf is on line, a google book.

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 10:34 PM

Hi Q,

Too bad we can't see that Crabtree text. There are four different Dying Soldier listings in the Ballad Index- none are the same as the Carters- nor is Buelle Kazee or Dock Boggs (see my post above).

The Carter's was based on WWI and mentions France. The other criteria would be matching the chorus. I found only one Dying Soldier from WWI and mentioning France but it was not the correct song.

As you know there are probably 1000 dying soldier songs so this is a hard one.

Richie

Subject: Lyr Add: EAST VIRGINIA BLUES (Carter Family)
From: Richie
Date: 20 Nov 08 - 10:52 PM

The Carters recorded East Virginia Blues in 1934 and
East Virginia Blues No. 2 in 1935. I've included the lyrics for comparison.

This is an old and widely known and recorded song. It was collected by Sharp in 1917 and is listed as "In Old Virginny." There are four versions Version A and B are closely related. Version C is Man of Constant Sorrow.

This song has been titled "Dark Hollar Blues" by Ashley. It's also vcalled "East Viginia" and "Old Virginny."

EAST VIRGINIA BLUES- Carter Family; 1934 version (Victor 27494)

(Guitar Inst.)

I was born in East Virginia
North Carolina I did go.
There I spied a fair young lady
And her age I did not know.

(Inst.)

Her hair was dark in color,
Her cheeks were rosy red.
Upon her breast she wore white lilies,
Where I longed to lay my head.

(Inst.)

Oh, at my heart you are my darlin'
At my door you're welcome in,
At my gate I'll always meet you
For you're the girl I tried to win.

(Inst.)

I'd rather be in some dark holler
Where the sun refuse to shine
Than for you to be another man's darlin'
And to know you'll never be mine.

EAST VIRGINIA BLUES NO.2- Carter Family 1935


My sweetheart has gone and left me,
And my little sisters, too.
And I'm left alone in sadness,
Lord, I don't know what to do.

All this world has turned against me,
Nothing but trouble do I see
There will be no more pleasure,
In this whole wide world for me.

      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Oh, I am just from East Virginia,
With a heart so brave and true.
And I learned to love a maiden,
With eyes of heavenly blue.

That same day I packed my suitcase,
And I started to go away.
But she met me at the station,
Saying, darling, won't you stay.

      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Oh, I am dying, Captain, dying,
Won't you take these words for me.
Take them over to the jailhouse,
Let this whole wide world go free.

Subject: Lyr Add: ENGINE 143 (Carter Family)
From: Richie
Date: 21 Nov 08 - 12:28 AM

Engine 143 also called the "Wreck on the C & O" is the Carter Family version of the Oct 23, 1890 death of engineer George Alley when the FFV train on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad was wrecked by a landslide near Hinton, West Virginia.

Cox collected versions from 1915-1918. The Carters is based on existing lyrics.

His engine number was Number 4 (not 143 as in the song). The express F.F.V., in the first stanza, refers to the name of the train, the Fast Flying Vestibule. The ballad is believed to have been composed by an African-American engine-wiper at the station in Hinton, West Virginia.

Cohen says the official name of the FFV was Fast Flying Virginian, but it has several nicknames, including First Families of Virginia, Fuller's First Venture, and Fast Flying Vestibule.

ENGINE 143- Carter Family

Along came the FFV, the swiftest on the line,
Running o'er the C&O road just twenty minutes behind;
Running into Souville, headquarters on the line,
Receiving her strict orders from a station just behind.

Georgie's mother came to him with a bucket on her arm,
Saying, "My darling son, be careful how you run;
For many a man has lost his life in trying to make lost time,
And if you run your engine right, you'll get there just on time."

Up the road she darted, against the rock she crushed,
Upside down the engine turned and Georgie's breast did smash;
His head was against the firebox door, the flames were rolling high,
"I'm glad I was born for an engineer to die on the C&O Road."

The doctor said to Georgie, "My darling boy, be still,
Your life may yet be saved, if it is God's blessed will."
"Oh, no," said George, "that will not do, I want to die so free,
I want to die for the engine I love, One Hundred and Forty Three."

The doctor said to Georgie, "Your life cannot be saved."
Murdered upon a railroad, and laid in a lonesome grave,
His face was covered up with blood, his eyes you could not see,
And the very last words poor Georgie said was, "Nearer My God To Thee."

Subject: Lyr Add: THE EVENING BELLS ARE RINGING (Carter Fam
From: Richie
Date: 21 Nov 08 - 12:44 AM

"Evening Bells Are Ringing" is apparently an original song by A.P. Carter. Although the title is a phrase that has been used in poems and the lyrics seem based on a parlor song from the 1800s, I can't find an earlier source.

Anyone?

THE EVENING BELLS ARE RINGING- AP Carter 1934

      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Moonlight shining over Dixie
To my heart will ever bring
Dreams of snowy fields of cotton
Everywhere the darkies sing

    In the evening by the moonlight
    In dear old Tennessee
    And the evening bells were ringing
    Across the hills so tenderly

      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Moonlight makes me sigh for you, dear
Makes me long to hold your hand
I know I'm missing hugs and kisses
Far away from Dixieland

    In the evening by the moonlight
    In dear old Tennessee
    And the evening bells were ringing
    Across the hills so tenderly

      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

My darling, come, for I am waiting
Come, let me hold you very near
We'll build a bower among the flowers
Down in Dixieland

    In the evening by the moonlight
    In dear old Tennessee
    And the evening bells were ringing
    Across the hills so tenderly

Subject: Lyr Add: FADED COAT OF BLUE (Carter Family)
From: Richie
Date: 21 Nov 08 - 06:33 PM

"Faded Coat of Blue" is a Civil War song by J.H. McNaughton written in 1865. The Carters recorded the song in 1934 after Buell Kazee's classic version was done in 1928. Another title of the song is "Nameless Grave." The original sheet music may be found in the Levy Collection.

FADED COAT OF BLUE- Carter Family

My brave boy sleeps in his faded coat of blue
In a lonely grave unknown lies the heart that beat so true.
He sank faint and hungry among the Spanish brave
And they laid him sad and lowly within his nameless grave.

CHORUS: No more the bugle calls the weary one.
Rest, noble spirit in their graves unknown
For we'll find you and know you among the good and true
Where a robe of white is given for a faded coat of blue.

[INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

He cried "Give me water and just a little crumb
And my mother she will bless you through all the years to come
And tell my sweet sister, so gentle, good and true.
That I'll meet her up in heaven in my faded coat of blue".

[INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

No dear one was nigh him to close his mild blue eyes
No gentle voice was by him to give him sweet replies
No stone marks the lowly sod of my lad so brave and true
In a lowly grave he's sleeping in his faded coat of blue

Subject: Lyr Add: FADED FLOWERS (Carter Family)
From: Richie
Date: 21 Nov 08 - 07:39 PM

Faded Flowers is based on a parlor song by James Powers and JH Brown published in 1851. It was recorded first in 1928 and is also known as "Lost Love."

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mussm&fileName=sm/sm1883/24100/24159/mussm24159.db&recNum=0&itemLink=D?mussm:6:./tem

FADED FLOWERS- Carter family 1933

      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

The flowers I saw in the wildwood
Have since dropped their beautiful leaves
And the many dear friends of my childhood
Have slumbered for years in their graves

But the bloom of the flowers I remember
Though their smiles I may nevermore see
For the cold, chilly winds of December
Stole my flowers' companions from me

    'Tis no wonder that I'm brokenhearted
    And stricken with sorrows should be
    For we have met, we have loved, we have parted
    My flowers' companions and me

      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

How dark looks this world and how dreary
When we part from the ones that we love
There is rest for the faint and the weary
And friends meet with loved ones above

For in heaven I can but remember
When from earth my soul shall be freed
That no cold, chilly winds of December
Shall steal my companions from me

      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

    'Tis no wonder that I'm brokenhearted
    And stricken with sorrows should be
    For we have met, we have loved, we have parted
    My flowers' companions and me

Subject: Lyr Add: THE FATE OF DEWEY LEE (Carter Family)
From: Richie
Date: 21 Nov 08 - 07:55 PM

Fate of Dewey Lee, is an event song "written" by AP Carter about the 1931 murder of Dewey Lee. Again we see AP using other sources for inspiration. "Someone gave him a poem and he wrote it," said Janette. [from the Carter's biography]

The man who killed Dewey Lee was convicted and sent to prison in Richmond. AP later regretted writing the song. "He used to say," said Janettte, "They've still got people living, I shouldn't have done that." At the time (1935) AP and Sara had separated and AP had trouble coming up with songs.

THE FATE OF DEWEY LEE- AP Carter

'Twas on one Saturday evening
About the hour of ten
In a little mining town
Where trouble did begin
Everybody there were drinking
There were whiskey everywhere
Dewey Lee got to thinking
He had no business there

He was so tall and handsome
His heart so true and brave
Joe Jenkins pulled his pistol
And sent him to his grave
He took the life of Dewey
When life had just began
And Dewey went to Heaven
While Joe went to the pen

He took the life of Dewey
Because he would not tell
We know he murdered Dewey
For Dewey's pistol fell
His mother sits now weepin'
She weeps and mourns all day
She prays to meet her boy
In a better world some day

So hearken to my story
And what I have to say
Get right with your Maker
We'll meet Him again some day
The clerk said, "Stand up, boy
And listen to your crime!"
They sent him down to Richmond
To serve out his time

Young men all take warning
For this you must outlive
Don't take the life of anyone
For life you cannot give
You may possess great riches
Put many beneath the sod
But money won't hire a lawyer
When you stand before your God

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Fortunato
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 02:53 AM

Ritchie,

I've nothing to add to this thread, but I'm following it with interest.
I appreciate your carrying it on.

regards,
chance

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 09:19 AM

Thanks Chance,

Here's a link to an audio clip with more info about Fate of Dewey Lee.

http://www.blueridgeinstitute.org/ballads/deweylee.html

Subject: Lyr Add: FAREWELL NELLIE (Carter Family)
From: Richie
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 11:21 AM

"Farewell Nellie" is part of the large group of True Lover's Farewell songs. According to the Carter's is a reworking of traditional material by Sara. The inital verse is very close to a soldier's Civil War song found throught the region.

From Belden; I don't have access to the whole song:

Fly across the ocean, birdie,
Fly across the deep blue sea,
There you'll find an untrue lover,
Untrue, yes, untrue to me.

The song is related to A Litle Bunch of Roses:

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.100005476/enlarge.html?page=2&from=pageturner


FAREWELL NELLIE- Attributed to Sara Bays Carter 1937

Farewell, Nellie, farewell
Soon with strangers I must roam
Don't forget the one that loves you
Far away from friends and home

    Fly across the ocean, birdie
    Fly across the deep, blue sea
    Take this message to my darling
    She'll be glad to hear from me

You have told me that you love me
But you have unproved true
So I'll go and court some other
That will love more than you

When the whippoorwills are singing
Across the dark and lonely sea
When you're thinking of ten thousand
Will you sometimes think of me

How my heart is filled with sorrow
And my eyes are filled with tears
So I'll not forget you, darling
If I live ten thousand years

Subject: Lyr Add: FIFTY MILES OF ELBOW ROOM (Carter Family)
From: Richie
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 12:03 PM

Fifty Miles of Elbow Room was written by Herbert Buffum 1879-1939

Af­ter mov­ing with his fam­i­ly to Cal­i­for­nia and be­ing con­vert­ed to Christ at age 18, Buf­fum felt a call to the min­is­try. He held min­is­ter­i­al cre­den­tials with the Church of the Nazarene, and was a ho­li­ness/Pen­te­cost­al evan­gel­ist. He was al­so a prolific song writ­er, with ma­ny songs in­spired by per­son­al ex­per­i­ence; he had 10,000 songs to his cred­it, 1,000 ac­tu­al­ly pub­lished. Ripley's "Believe It or Not" claimed he once wrote 12 songs in an hour. Though a tal­ent­ed mu­si­cian, Buf­fum re­ceived no mu­sic­al train­ing. He sold most of his songs for five dollars or less. When he died, the Los Angeles Times called him "The King of Gos­pel Song Writ­ers."


A classic version is the 1930 recording by Reverend F. W. McGee, Anthology of American Folk Music, Smithsonian/Folkways SFW 40090, CD( (1997), trk# 55 [1930/06/16]

FIFTY MILES OF ELBOW ROOM Carter Family

          Twelve thousand miles its length and breadth
          The foursquare city stands
          Its gemset walls of jasper shine
          Not made by human hands
          100 miles its gates are wide
          Abundant entrance there
          With fifty miles of elbow room
          On either side to spare

               When the gates swing wide on the other side
               Just beyond the sunset sea
               There'll be room to spare as we enter there
               Room for you and room for me
               For the gates are wide on the other side
               Where the flowers ever bloom
               On the right hand, on the left hand
               Fifty miles of elbow room

          Sometimes I'm cramped and crowded here
          And long for elbow room
          I want to reach for altitude
          Where the fairest flowers bloom
          It won't be long before I pass
          Into that city fair
          With fifty miles of elbow room
          On either side to spare

Subject: Lyr Add: FOGGY MOUNTAIN TOP (Carter Family)
From: Richie
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 01:21 PM

Foggy Mountain Top is one of teh Carters well known songs. Earl Skruggs formed his own group, the Foggy Mountain Boys, which was named this song.

The song Rocky Mountain Top is the basis for the Carters:
http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/english-folk-songs/southern-appalachians%20-%200305.htm

I have another version of Rocky Mountain Top in my edition. Randolph collected a version as did Brown. It's hard to tell if the Carters song was the basis for songs collected after 1940. The JOAFL 1945 has the text.

The song is related to the false Young Man songs: White Oak Mountain
and Rocky Mountain Side. The Carters are a collection of floating lyrics.

FOGGY MOUNTAIN TOP- Carter Family 1929

          If I was on some foggy mountain top
          I'd sail away to the west
          I'd sail around this whole wide world
          To the girl I love the best

          If I had listened what mama says
          I would not have been here today
          A-lying around this old jail house
          A-weeping my sweet life away

               Yeah, oh-lay-ee-oh, lee-oh-la-ee-ay
               Lee-oh-lay-ee, lay-ee, oh-lay-ee

                [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

          Oh, if you see that girl of mine
          There's something you must tell her
          She need not be foolin' no time away
          To court some other feller

          Oh, she's caused me to weep, she's caused me to mourn
          She caused me to leave my home
          For the lonesome pine and the good old times
          I'm on my way back home

               Yeah, oh-lay-ee-oh, lee-oh-la-ee-ay
               Lee-oh-lay-ee, lay-ee, oh-lay-ee
                [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

          Oh, when you go a-courtin'
          I'll tell you how to do
          Pull off that long-tailed roustabout
          Put on your navy blue

               Yeah, oh-lay-ee-oh, lee-oh-la-ee-ay
               Lee-oh-lay-ee, lay-ee, oh-lay-ee
                [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Subject: Lyr Add: FOND AFFECTION (Carter Family)
From: Richie
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 01:59 PM

Fond Affection is another song with different names and related to many other songs. "Dear Companion," "The Broken Heart;" and "Go and Leave Me If You Wish To" are different names. The Carter Family's "Fond Affection" was recorded on Victor 23585, 1931 and Montgomery Ward M-4744, 1935. The lyrics are often associated to "Columbus Stockade Blues" but teh melody is different.

It's been collected in 1909 by Belden. If someone has lyrics it would be welcome here. Randolph calls the song "The Broken Heart" with 7 texts. I have Sharp 111 "The Dear Companion" (1 text, 1 tune)
and Ritchie-Southern, p. 10, "Dear Companion" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 153, has 13 texts listed as "Fond Affection."

Here are some related recordings: Dock Boggs, "I Hope I Live a Few More Days" Crowder Brothers, "Leave Me Darling, I Don't Mind" (Melotone 7-04-70, 1937)
Clarence Green, "Fond Affection" (Columbia 15311-D, 1928)
Sid Harkreader, "Many Days With You I Wandered" (Vocalion 15100, 1925)
Kelly Harrell, "By and By You Will Forget Me" (Victor 20535, 1926; on KHarrell02
Mainer's Mountaineers "Let Her Go God Bless Her" (Bluebird [Canada] B-6104, 1935)
Lester McFarland & Robert Gardner, "Go and Leave Me If You Wish" (Brunswick 293, 1929; rec. 1928)
David Miller, "Many Times With You I've Wandered" (Champion 15429, 1928)

FOND AFFECTION- Carter Family

      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Once I loved your fond affection
All my hopes on you was spent
Till a dark eyed girl persuaded
And you cared no more for me

    Go on and leave me if you wish to
    Never let me cross your mind
    In your heart you love another
    Never on earth will call you mine
    Yodel-ay-ee-oh, lay-ee-ay, oh-lay-ee

      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

When I'm dead and in my coffin
And my pale face toward the sun
Will you come and sit beside me
And think of what you have done

    Go on and leave me if you wish to
    Never let me cross your mind
    In your heart you love another
    Never on earth will call you mine
    Yodel-ay-ee-oh, lay-ee-ay, oh-lay-ee

      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

When I'm dead and in my coffin
And the shroud around me bound
Will you come and scatter roses
Upon your lover's mound

    Go on and leave me if you wish to
    Never let me cross your mind
    In your heart you love another
    Never on earth will call you mine
    Yodel-ay-ee-oh, lay-ee-ay, oh-lay-ee

      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 02:20 PM

Going through the Carter material posted by Richie brought a few thoughts up from the mire of my brain.
A number of songs by the Carter Family are under copyright; while it is true that many are based on old parlor or folk songs, the text revisions, and often simplifications to the melody, amply qualify them for copyright.
Singers wishing to use the songs without observing copyright must go back to a pre-Carter version, or write their own verses to a melody that is not a Carter revision of the original. How successful they are in doing this may also depend on a publisher's opinion and/or legal adjudication.

The lyrics posted by Richie makes it evident that A. P. Carter was not just a song borrower, as some have maintained, but was competent as a composer and arranger, and had a sure feel for re-writing old material into a form that fit his time and feeling.

Also evident is that parlor music, song sheets, and the cheaply printed songsters, reached into rural areas. Those who could afford the printed music obviously shared and traded material. Some songs from the mid-19th c. were handed down in folk form, but I doubt that this would account for the majority of the old parlor songs played by the Carters and other rural musicians.

Subject: Lyr Add: FORSAKEN LOVE
From: Richie
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 02:38 PM

Forsaken Love is known as "I Will Love You/Thee Always," "Out in the (Pale)Moonlight" and "I Love You Nellie/Nelly." This might be based on an older parlor song. Anyone?

Compare to this standard country version:

I LOVE YOU NELLIE- Hank Snow

Standing in the moonlight by the old garden gate
Nellie, my darlin', I know you will wait
Wait for me, dearest, he said in tears
Then I'll be your sweetheart through all the long years.

CHORUS: I love you Nellie, yes I'll be true
All these long years have been just for you
And believe me, Nellie, when I'm far away
I'll not forget you, I'll be with you someday.

Standing in the moonlight by the old garden gate
Nellie, my darlin', I know you will wait
Wait for me, dearest, he said in tears
Then I'll be your sweetheart through all the long years.CHORUS:

Early next morning at the break of day
He was to journey so far away
Drawing her nearer, his promised bride
By the pale moonlight these words he replied.CHORUS:

FORSAKEN LOVE- Carter family 1928

They stood in the moonlight nearby the gate
Goodbye, my darling, I know you'll wait
She ceased weeping and smiled through tears
Saying, I've been true, love, through these long years

For on tomorrow at the break of day
He was to journey far far away
He held her closer, his promised bride
And to her questions these words replied

    I've loved you always, yes, I've been true
    My heart shall never be, love, but for you
    Oh, darling, believe me, far over the sea
    Through life or death, still faithful I'll be

One year passed by, he's coming home
His pilgrimage over, no longer to roam
And smiling, he thinks of her shining eye
Shining with welcome, a glad surprise

A dainty letter he takes from his breast
To which his extended lips were pressed
And reading once more by the warming light
The words he had spoken to her that night

    I've loved you always, yes, I've been true
    My heart shall never be, love, but for you
    Oh, darling, believe me, far over the sea
    Through life or death, still faithful I'll be

Once more he seeks the old garden gate
But he arrives, alas, alas, it's too late
The wedding is over, the knot is tied
He finds his darling another's bride

And later they found him there on the grass
A pistol nearby, still holding fast
A crop of letters that explained the deed
And in the pale moonlight these words did read

    I've loved you always, yes, I've been true
    My heart shall never be, love, but for you
    Oh, darling, believe me, far over the sea
    Through life or death, still faithful I'll be

Subject: Lyr Add: FUNNY WHEN YOU FEEL THAT WAY (Carter Fami
From: Richie
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 02:49 PM

Funny When You Feel That Way is "It's Funny when you Feel that Way" by George Harris 1873. Here's a link:

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mussm&fileName=sm/sm1873/14000/14066/mussm14066.db&recNum=1&itemLink=D?mussm:2:./tem

This was first recorded by one of Gene Autry's musical partners Frankie Marvin in 1929. The Carter's did their version in 1937.


FUNNY WHEN YOU FEEL THAT WAY- Carter Family

I can't forget how queer I felt
Since first I fell in love
I had a most sincere attack
Through squeezing a lady's glove

Her lovely hand was in it
As we waltzed around so gay
I thought myself in paradise
It's funny when you feel that way

    It's funny when you feel that way
    It's funny when you feel that way
    I thought myself in paradise
    It's funny when you feel that way

[INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Again we met one afternoon
As we were all alone
I plucked up nerve to ask if she
Someday would be my own

She blushed and said, go ask papa
And ask him if I may
I danced a canter 'round the room
It's funny when you feel that way

    It's funny when you feel that way
    It's funny when you feel that way
    I danced a canter 'round the room
    It's funny when you feel that way

[INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

The old boy said that we might wed
And so he crowned my bliss
And I shall be a double man
In about a month from this

Though it seemed to me somehow the time
Shall never pass away
For I longed to hear those wedding bells
It's funny when you feel that way

    It's funny when you feel that way
    It's funny when you feel that way
    I longed to hear those wedding bells
    It's funny when you feel that way

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 03:01 PM

Hi,

To comment on what Q said in his most recent post here. There are few songs that you could say the Carter Family wrote. They found the songs, they arranged the songs and sometimes they wrote songs based on fragments of other songs.

If the Carters copied someone's version, which they did some of the time, obviously they have no rights. For example "Black Jack David" is a song they just copied- probably from a recording.

There are only a few of their songs you would have trouble with a copyright... unless you sang their exact arrangement. Since there are som many different versions you would need to do what the Carters did-change the lyrics around. You can keep the same title or use one of the many other titles the song is known by.

Many of these older songs you can find a dozen different lyrics and just pick out the ones you like.

The point is: they don't own the song, just the arrangement.

Richie

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 04:14 PM

We've now gone through the original Carter Family songs from A-F. I'll put an asterisk by the songs that they wrote or have a unique arrangement.

Amber Tresses: 1874 "Amber Tresses Tied in Blue," Words Samuel M. Mitchell, music H. P. Danks.

Anchored in Love; 1911 "Anchored in Love Divine" James Rowe & James Vaughan

*Answer to Weeping Willow: a rewrite of "Bury Me Beneath The Willow"

Are You Lonesome Tonight?: 1926 Lyrics Roy Turk, music Lou Hindman.

Are You Tired of Me, My Darling?: 1877 by Cook and Roland

*Away Out on Saint Sabbath: a rewrite of Bury Me on the Lone Prairie

*Bear Creek Blues; from Leslie Riddle, traditional blues verses from Blind Lemon others

Beautiful Home: 1898 by J. Howard Entwisle and Johnson Oatman

Beautiful Isle O'er the Sea: based on an earlier song, maybe Stoneman's.

Behind Those Stone Walls: based on an earlier song.

*Birds Were Singing of You: A.P. Carter as far as we know.

Black Jack David: traditional; taken from Cliff Carlisle; David Myrick

*Blackie's Gunman: rewrite of an unknown song

Bonnie Blue Eyes: arrangement of a traditional song

Bring Back My Blue Eyed Boy: arrangement of a traditional song

Bring Back My Boy: same song as above- arrangement of a traditional song

Broken Down Tramp: rewrite of an earlier song

Broken Hearted Lover; arrangement of a traditional song

*Buddies in the Saddle: 1940 attributed to Maybelle Carter

Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow: 1909 traditional folk song

*By the Touch of Her Hand: attributed to A.P. Carter

Can the Circle Be Unbroken (By and By): 1907 Ada Habershon, Music: Charles Gabriel.

Can't Feel at Home: 1919 as far as we know, traditional folk hymn and spiritual

Cannonball (Blues): from Leslie Riddle based on earlier song

Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers in Texas; skit

*Carter's Blues; 1929 based on another song; title would need to be changed to avoid copyright issues.

Charlie and Nellie: traditional- based on earlier recordings
Chewing Gum: 1925 traditional song

Church in the Wildwood; 1857 James Rowe- words, William P. Pitts- music

Coal Miner's Blues: arranged collected by Leslie Riddle; traditional lyrics from coal camp.

Cowboy Jack: 1928 traditional based on an earlier song

Cowboy's Wild Song to His Herd: based on an earlier song

*Cuban Soldier: based on an unknown song

*Cyclone of Rye Cove: based on a poem sent to AP.

Dark and Stormy Weather: based on traditional lyrics

Dark Haired True Lover; 1918 text is in Robert Gordon Collection #1536

Darling Daisies: 1882 "Down by the Garden Wall" by Max Vernor.

Darling Little Joe: 1866 by V. E. Marsten.

*Darling Nellie Across the Sea: based on an unknown song

Diamonds in the Rough; 1897 CW Byron words and LL Pickett

Distant Land to Roam; LM Bandy's 1902 song "Leaving Home"

Don't Forget Me Little Darling; 1874. C.W. Vance- Words and RS Crandall

Don't Forget This Song: 1910 based on "Bad Companions" or "Young Companions"

Dying Mother: 1881 Nona Lawson- words and C. M. Tate

*Dying Soldier: based on an unknown song; the title may be used

East Virginia Blues: Traditional

East Virginia Blues No. 2; Traditional

Engine 143; 1915 traditional ballad

*Evening Bells Are Ringing: 1934 based on an unknown song by A.P Carter

Faded Coat of Blue; 1865 Civil War song by J.H. McNaughton

Faded Flowers: 1851 song by James Powers and JH Brown

*Fate of Dewey Lee: based on a poem by A.P. Carter

*Farewell Nellie: reworking of traditional material by Sara Carter

Fifty Miles of Elbow Room: written by Herbert Buffum 1879-1939

Foggy Mountain Top: traditional, based on earlier song

Fond Affection: traditional arranged by Carters

Forsaken Love: traditional arranged by Carters

Funny When You Feel That Way: 1873 "It's Funny when you Feel that Way" by George Harris

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 04:33 PM

Hi,

By looking at the list of 59 songs above we can see their are 15 songs that would be difficult to use freely without getting permission.

Several of questionable songs you could use but would need to change the title: Bear Creek Blues (could be Cripple Creek Blues or whatever)
since the Carters (Leslie Riddle) used traditional lyrics.

It looks like there are 6 songs that they wrote (Four by AP). Some of the other 15 questionable songs are based on songs but we don't know yet what the songs are. The Carter also received songs from their followers. I don't know the extent of songs they got except the "Fate of Dewey Lee."

The amount of time and effort AP took to find their songs should not be underestimated.

You need to remember that many of their arrangements are copyrighted (except the ones they based on other earlier arrangements like "Black Jack David" and "Charlie and Nellie.")

Richie

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Joybell
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 05:17 PM

"Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone" - from an unremembered source -- but also here on a thread:
Reverend George Beebee and H. E. McAfee. No date.

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 05:48 PM

Thanks Joybell,

Let's work from G to K: Anyone?

Gathering Flowers from the Hillside;
Girl on the Greenbrier Shore;
Give Him One More as He Goes;
Give Me Roses While I Live;
Give Me Your Love and I'll Give You Mine;
Glory to the Lamb;
God Gave Noah the Rainbow Sign;
Gold Watch and Chain;
Goodbye to the Plains;
Gospel Ship;
Grave on the Green Hillside;
Happiest Days of All;
Happy in the Prison;
Happy or Lonesome;
He Never Came Back;
He Took a White Rose from Her Hair;
Heart That Was Broken for Me;
Heaven's Radio;
Hello Central, Give Me Heaven;
Hello Stranger;
Hold Fast to the Right;
Home by the Sea;
Home in Tennessee;
Homestead on the Farm;
Honey in the Rock;
I Ain't Goin' to Work Tomorrow;
I Cannot Be Your Sweetheart;
I Found You Among the Roses;
I Have an Aged Mother;
I Have No One to Love Me (But the Sailor on the Deep Blue Sea);
I Loved You Better Than You Knew;
I Never Loved But One;
I Never Will Marry;
I Wouldn't Mind Dying;
I'll Be All Smiles Tonight;
I'll Be Home Someday;
I'll Never Forsake You;
I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes;
I'm Working on a Building;
If One Won't Another One Will;
In a Little Village Churchyard;
In the Shadow of Clinch Mountain;
In the Shadow of the Pines;
In the Valley of the Shenandoah;
It Is Better Farther On;
It'll Aggravate Your Soul;
It's a Long Long Road to Travel Alone;
Jealous Hearted Me;
Jim Blake's Message;
Jimmie Brown, the Newsboy;
Jimmie Rodgers Visits the Carter Family;
John Hardy Was a Desperate Little Man;
Just a Few More Days;
Just Another Broken Heart;
Keep on the Firing Line;
Keep on the Sunny Side;
Kissing Is a Crime;
Kitty Waltz;

Subject: Lyr Add: OH MY LOVE'S GONE (Bryant's Minstrels)
From: Joybell
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 09:10 PM

Ok Here goes:
From the Library of Congress - 19th century songsheets
I Never Will Marry -- as -- Oh My Love's Gone
Pubilshed by H. De Marsan in New York.
As sung by Bryant's Minstrels. No author. No date but well before Carters.

Oh My Love's Gone

As I was a walking down by the sea shore,
Where the breezes blew cold, and the billows did roar,
I heard a shrill voice make a sorrowful sound,
It was the winds and the waves and the waters all round.

CHORUS--Oh, my love's gone,
he's the lad I adore,
He's gone where I never, no never, no never--
Shall I see my love no more?

She appeared like some goddess, or dress'd like some queen,
She is the fairest of lilies my eyes ever seen;
I told her I'd marry her myself if she please,
But the answer she gave me, "my love's in the seas."
Chorus.

The loss of my sailor I deeply deplore,
He's lost in the seas, I shall see him no more.
The shells of the oysters shall be my love's bed,
And the shrimps of the seas shall swim o'er his head.

Back anon

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Joybell
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 09:37 PM

Jimmie Brown The Newsboy
was
Jimmie Brown (the paper boy) by William Shakespeare Hays in 1875. Source pd music
Joy

Subject: Lyr Add: I NEVER WILL MARRY (Carter Family)
From: Richie
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 09:58 PM

Thanks Joybell!

The date I have for "Oh, My Love's Gone" is 1864 and the song is clearly the basis for the verses. It's reportedly Irish but I need to look at it more.

Does anyone have Belden's 1906 lyric. Other names are "The Shells of the Ocean" and "Down by the Sea Shore." The classic recording is the Carter Family recording done in Camden NJ in 1933.

I NEVER WILL MARRY Carter family

One morning as I rambled all down the seashore
The wind it did whistle and the waters did roar
I heard a fair damsel make a pitiful sound
It sounded so lonesome in the waters around

    I never will marry or be no man's wife
    I expect to live single all the days of my life
    The shells in the ocean shall be my deathbed
    The fish in deep water swim over my head

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

She plunged her fair body in the ocean so deep
She closed her blue eyes in the waters to sleep
My love's gone and left me, the one I adore
She's gone where I never will see her any more

    I never will marry or be no man's wife
    I expect to live single all the days of my life
    The shells in the ocean shall be my deathbed
    The fish in deep water swim over my head

Subject: Lyr Add: THE LOVER'S LAMENT FOR HER SAILOR
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 10:10 PM

A couple from Belden, priors to "I will never marry," and "Fond Affection."

Lyr. Add: THE LOVER'S LAMENT FOR HER SAILOR

As I was walking down by the seashore
I spied a fair damsel lamenting and mourn.
Chorus:
Crying, "Oh, my love is gone, he's the one I adore,
And he's gone where I'll never see him any more,"
2
She was dressed like a damsel, she looked like a queen,
She was the prettiest maiden that ever I'd seen.
3
I asked her if she'd marry myself
The answer she gave me was "My love's on sea.
4
I never will marry, nor be any man's wife
I'd rather live single the rest of my life."
5
"A woman may prove true and do all she can,
But there is nothing in this wide world so false as a man.
6
"I'll bury myself in this wide deep sea
For the blue waves to roll over me."
7
She plunged her fair body in the wide, deep sea
For the blue waves to roll over her pretty blue eyes.

Version A. "Communicated in 1906 by Supt. W. J. Weese of Bowling Green, Pike Co., who wrote: "This ballad was sung by my mother over forty years ago by a girl playmate of hers, who came from Illinois to Gentry Co., MO, about that time."

Version B

No title (Lover's Lament...)

1
As I was walking along the seashore
I met a fair creature I never met before.
She looked like a goddess and dressed like a queen;
She was the fairest creature I ever had seen.
Chorus:
She was crying "O! my love he's gone,
He's the lad that I adore;
He's gone where I never
Can see him any more."
2
"My love was a sailor, he ran number eight;
But now he is drowned and I am desolate."
3
I asked her to marry me if she pleased
But oh, she kept sighing and solemnly refused;
"Oh, no, I'll not marry, I'll be no man's wife,
I expect to live single the rest of my life.
4
"The shells of the ocean shall be my death-bed,
And the fish of the waters shall swin o'er my head."
5
She plunged her gay body in the ocean so deep,
And there closed her blue eyes in the water to sleep.
The shells of the ocean were her death-bed,
And the fish of the water did swim o'er her head.

Secured in 1910 from a former resident of Green Bay, Wisconsin.

PP. 167-168, H. M. Belden, 1940, "Ballads and Songs Collected by the Missouri Folk-Lore Society," Univ. Missouri.

Subject: Lyr Add: FOND AFFECTION
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 10:24 PM

Lyr. Add: FOND AFFECTION
MS book of Ada Bell Cowden, Boone Co., MO

1
Once I did love with fond affection,
I thought your love was all for me,
Until that dark-eyed girl persuaded;
I found you cared no more for me.
Chorus:
There's but three things I ask for, love,
'Tis my coffin, shroud, and grave.
When I'm dead, love, come and see me
And kiss the girl you have betrayed.
2
Many are the nights with you I've rambled
Many are the nights with you I've strayed.
Thinking your love was mine forever,
Now I find it all displayed.
3
Many are the hours while you are sleeping,
Dreaming and sleeping in sweet repose,
While I, poor girl, lie broken-hearted,
Listening to the wind that blows.
4
Oh! you may love her if you want to,
But I love no other but thee;
While in your heart you love another-
While in my grave I'd rather be.

pp. 209-210, H. M. Belden (as above). Ms compiled by Cowden about 1909. Very widespread song.

Subject: Lyr Add: GATHERING FLOWERS FROM THE HILLSIDE
From: Richie
Date: 23 Nov 08 - 12:58 AM

Thanks Q,

Gathering Flowers from the Hillside is another song collected by Belden before the Carters 1935 recording. Some lyrics are: "I've been gathering wild flowers on the hillside To wreathe upon your brow. But
so long you've kept me waiting They are dead and faded now."

It appears in the 1945 JOAFL as collected by Crabtree. The 1962 JOAFL says "Gathering Flowers from the Hillside" and "Charlie Brooks and Nellie Adair," are traditional.

GATHERING FLOWERS FROM THE HILLSIDE- Carter Family

I've been gathering flowers from the hillside
To wreath around your brow
But you've kept me a-waitin' so long, dear
The flowers have all withered now

I know that you have seen trouble
But never hang down your head
Your love for me is like the flowers
Your love for me is dead

It was on one bright June morning
The roses were in bloom
I shot and killed my darling
And what will be my doom?

Closed eyes cannot see these roses
Closed hands cannot hold them, you know
And these lips that still cannot kiss me
Has gone from me forever more

Subject: Lyr Add: GIRL ON THE GREENBRIAR SHORE
From: Richie
Date: 23 Nov 08 - 01:24 PM

"Girl on the Greenbrier Shore" is another traditional ballad arranged by the Carter Family. The Greenbrier River flows through the Cumberland area in Virginia, kentucky and West Virginia.

It is sometimes called 'The Greenbrier Shore,' 'The Red River Shore,' 'New River Shore.' Note that "The Red River Shore" is an American cowboy variant of this ballad. I'm not sure which version is the oldest but the ballad is probably from an English source.

Dylan did the song 'The Greenbrier Shore' then changed it to 'The Red River Shore.' Greenbriar Boys [Greenbriar Boys, Vanguard VRS-9104, LP (1962), trk# A.05] named their group after this song.

The earliest reference I found was "Greenbrier Shore" in the 1910 "A Syllabus of Kentucky Folk-songs" By Hubert Gibson Shearin, Josiah Henry Combs.

From English Folk Songs in the Southern Appalachians, Sharp
Collected from Mrs. William C. Wooton, KY, 1917:

The Green Brier Shore

I am a lovely laddie and I can love long
I can love an old sweetheart till another one comes on;
I'll hug them and kiss them and keep them at ease
I'll turn my back upon them and court who I please.

At the foot of yon mountain, where fountains do flow,
Where green and wild lilies forever do grow,
I spied a fair damsel and her I adore;
I was forced to go and see her on the green brier shore.

I courted that damsel through love and good-will,
I courted that damsel, it witnessed to kill;
I courted that damsel full six months or more;
I was forced to go leave her on the green brier shore.

I had not been gone long till a letter was sent;
In the midst of that letter these few words were spelled:
Come back my own true love, it's you I adore,
And I will go with you from the green brier shore.

And when her old parents came this for to hear,
They swore they'd deprive her of her own dearest dear.
They selected an army, full twenty or more,
To fight her own true love on the green brier shore.

He drew his sword and pistol, they glistened around;
In a short length of time they fell to the ground.
Some he killed dead, and he wounded a score,
And he gained his own true love on the green brier shore.

So hard is the fortune of poor womankind;
They are always subjected and always confined,
And controlled by their parents till they are made wives,
Then they slave for their husbands all the rest of their lives.


GIRL ON THE GREENBRIAR SHORE Carter Family 1941 on bluebird

'Twas in the year of '92,
In the merry month of June,
I left my mother and a home so dear
For the girl I loved on the greenbriar shore.

My mother dear, she came to me
And said "Oh son, don't go, "
"Don't leave your mother and a home so dear
To trust a girl on the greenbriar shore. "

But I was young and reckless too,
And I craved a reckless life-
I left my mother with a broken heart
And I choosed that girl to be my wife

Her hair was dark and curly too
And her loving eyes were blue;
Her cheeks were like the red red rose
The girl I loved on the greenbriar shore.

The years rolled on and the months rolled by
She left me all alone
Now I remember what mother said
Never trust a girl on the greenbriar shore.

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 23 Nov 08 - 02:56 PM

Have you a fuller reference to the "Gathering flowers..." in the 1962? JAFL? Couldn't find.
One of the poorer Carter songs- too brief and incoherent to tell the story properly.

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 24 Nov 08 - 08:18 PM

Q- Here's the reference from the 1962 JOAFL. It's only a snippet view:

http://books.google.com/books?id=iXALAAAAIAAJ&q=Gathering+Flowers+from+the+Hillside&dq=Gathering+Flowers+from+the+Hillside&lr=&i

States: "Gathering Flowers" is traditional. Looks like there's not much more to look at- but I don't have access.

Richie

Subject: Lyr Add: GIVE HIM ONE MORE AS HE GOES
From: Richie
Date: 24 Nov 08 - 08:19 PM

The Carter's 1940 song "Give Him One More as He Goes" comes from Ike Brown's "I'll give you One More as you go" in 1884. It was recorded as "My Sweetheart is A Sly Little Miss" by Walter Smilth in 1930.

GIVE HIM ONE MORE AS HE GOES- Carter Family

My sweetheart is a shy little miss
And one I fondly adore
And when you ask her for a kiss
She'll give you just one and no more

She'll give you just one and no more
She'll give you just one and no more
And when you ask her for a kiss
She'll give you just one and no more

Her dad was feelin old man
He always had a feelin for me
I can tell you when this feelin began
When his daughter I first went to see

I was bidding my sweetheart good night
In the usual manner you know
When a voice from the house said sic him touse
And give him one more as he goes

And give him one more as he goes
And give him one more as he goes
When a voice from the house said sic him touse
And give him one more as he goes

It was over the garden wall
In a manner I'll tell you not slow
He exclaimed with a swear and his foot smote the air
And I'll give him one more as he goes

And I'll give him one more as he goes
And I'll give him one more as he goes
He exclaimed with a swear and his foot smote the air
And I'll give him one more as he goes

Subject: Lyr Add: GIVE ME THE ROSES WHILE I LIVE
From: Richie
Date: 25 Nov 08 - 08:52 AM

"Give Me Roses While I Live" is a song by James Rowe lyrics, R. H. Cornelius music in 1925. The Carters recorded the song in 1933 and it is one of their popular songs:

GIVE ME THE ROSES WHILE I LIVE- Carter Family

1. Wonderful things of folks are said
When they have passed away
Roses adorn their narrow bed
Over the sleeping clay

CHORUS: Give me the roses while I live
Trying to cheer me on
Useless are flowers that you give
After the soul is gone

2. Let us not wait to do good deeds
Till they have passed away
Now is the time to sow good seeds
While here on earth we stay

3. Kind words are useless when folks lie
Cold in a narrow bed
Don't wait till death to speak kind words
Now should the words be said

4. Give me the roses while I live
Don't wait until I die
To spread the roses over my grave
To see as you pass it by

Subject: Lyr Add: GIVE ME YOUR LOVE AND I'LL GIVE YOU MINE
From: Richie
Date: 25 Nov 08 - 08:57 AM

"Give Me Your Love" by the Carters is "You Give Me Your Love [And I'll Give You Mine]" by L. A. Davis- lyrics and M. J. Fitzpatrick- music in 1902. Carters made the 4th recording in 1936.

GIVE ME YOUR LOVE AND I'LL GIVE YOU MINE- Carter Family

Just at the close of a bright summer day
Just as the twilight had faded away
Soft on the breeze like the coo of a dove
Someone was singing an old song of love

    Tell me you love me and say you'll be true
    I love nobody in this world but you
    Your heart and my heart in love will entwine
    Give me your love and I'll give you mine

      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Come along with me to the quiet shady nook
Where flowers bloom at the side of a brook
Nature is sleeping, the birds are at rest
I'll place a wild rose on your beautiful breast

    Tell me you love me and say you'll be true
    I love nobody in this world but you
    Your heart and my heart in love will entwine
    Give me your love and I'll give you mine

      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

I've something to ask you while you're by my side
A question of love, of groom and of bride
And if you refuse me, my heart it will pine
Give me your love and I'll give you mine

    Tell me you love me and say you'll be true
    I love nobody in this world but you
    Your heart and my heart in love will entwine
    Give me your love and I'll give you

Subject: Lyr Add: GLORY TO THE LAMB'
From: Richie
Date: 25 Nov 08 - 09:15 AM

Glory to the Lamb probably comes from Elmer Bird and the Prairie Ramblers version in 1930. The Carters recorded theirs in 1935. It appears in a Hymn Collection titled the New Onward and Upward( Logansport, Indiana; Home Music Co.) around 1900.


GLORY TO THE LAMB Carter Family

Oh glory oh glory oh glory to the lamb
Hallelujah I am saved and I'm so glad I am
Oh glory oh glory oh glory to the lamb
Hallelujah I am saved and I'm so glad I am

On Monday I am happy on Tuesday full of joy
Wednesday I've got the faith the devil cant destroy
On Thursday and Friday walking in the light
Saturday I've got the victory and Sunday's always bright

I fell in love with Jesus and he fell in love with me
That's the very reason I've got the victory
I'm happy when it's raining I'm happy when it shines
I'm happy now with Jesus I'm happy all the time

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 25 Nov 08 - 02:49 PM

The Kentucky Ramblers also recorded "Glory to the Lamb," I think in the 1930s but don't have the date handy.

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 25 Nov 08 - 05:25 PM

Hi Q,

Elmer Bird was associated with the Kentucky Ramblers, not the Prairie Ramblers, my mistake. I think the recording date was 1930.

Richie

Subject: Lyr Add: GOD GAVE NOAH THE RAINBOW SIGN
From: Richie
Date: 25 Nov 08 - 06:06 PM

God Gave Noah the Rainbow Sign: Traditional African-American Spiritual

Sara in one interview said it came from an African-American source. The song is an old spiritual usually named "I Got A Home the Rock." It reportedly was a slave song though I've not found an early source. It was printed and in circulation in the 1920s and 1930s. "Between Earth and sky" is another title.

GOD GAVE NOAH THE RAINBOW SIGN Carter Family

I've got a home in that rock
Don't you see (don't you see)
I've got a home in that rock
Don't you see
I've got a home in that rock
Just beyond the mountaintop
Tide me over, Rock of Ages, cleft for me

      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

God gave Noah the rainbow sign
Don't you see (don't you see)
God gave Noah the rainbow sign
Don't you see
God gave Noah the rainbow sign
No more water, but the fire next time
Tide me over, Rock of Ages, cleft for me

Old Lazarus, poor as I
Don't you see (don't you see)
Old Lazarus, poor as I
Don't you see
Old Lazarus, poor as I
When he died he had a home on high
Tide me over, Rock of Ages, cleft for me

East and West the fire will roll
Hide thou me (hide thou me)
East and West the fire will roll
Hide thou me
East and West the fire will roll
How will it be with my poor soul
Tide me over, Rock of Ages, cleft for me

      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

When this world's all on fire
Hide thou me (hide thou me)
When this world's all on fire
Hide thou me
When this world's all on fire
Let thy bosom be my pillow
Tide me over, Rock of Ages, cleft for me

Subject: Lyr Add: GOLD WATCH AND CHAIN
From: Richie
Date: 25 Nov 08 - 06:28 PM

The chorus of "Gold Watch and Chain" is based on the Reuben's Train songs that include Nine Hundred Miles. The verses are based on the 1879 Westendorf song, "Is There No Kiss For Me Tonight, Love." You can see the sheet music at American Memory.

Ephraim Woodie & The Henpecked Husbands 1929 recording of the song titled "Last Gold Dollar" preceeded the Carters by four years. The New Lost City Ramblers also covered the song as "Gold Watch and Chain" (on NLCR13, NLCREP2)


GOLD WATCH AND CHAIN- Carter Family 1933

Darling, how can I stay here without you
I have nothing to cheer my poor heart
This old world would seem sad, love, without you
Tell me now that we're never to part

    Oh, I'll pawn you my gold watch and chain, love
    And I'll pawn you my gold diamond ring
    I will pawn you this heart in my bosom
    Only say that you love me again
      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Take back all the gifts you have given
But a ring and a lock of your hair
And a card with your picture upon it
It's a face that is false, but it's fair

    Oh, I'll pawn you my gold watch and chain, love
    And I'll pawn you my gold diamond ring
    I will pawn you this heart in my bosom
    Only say that you love me again
      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Tell me why that you do not love me
Tell me why that your smile is not bright
Tell me why you have grown so coldhearted
Is there no kiss for me, love, tonight

    Oh, I'll pawn you my gold watch and chain, love
    And I'll pawn you my gold diamond ring
    I will pawn you this heart in my bosom
    Only say that you love me again
      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

    Oh, I'll pawn you my gold watch and chain, love
    And I'll pawn you my gold diamond ring
    I will pawn you this heart in my bosom
    Only say that you love me again

Subject: Lyr Add: GOODBYE TO THE PLAINS
From: Richie
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 12:58 AM

Goodbye to the Plains is a western song. Tex Owens did a version for Bluebird called "Pals of the Prairie" a year before the Carters but his wasn't released. Pals of the Prairie was also the name of a silent movie western done in 1929.

Alan Lomax collected this song which seems to be the basis:

Good-by to my pals of the prairie,
Good-by to the cattle and the trail,
Good-by to the cards and the drinking,
Good-by to the prairies and the vale.

If anyone can track down more info on the Lomax song. Clearly there's some rewrites going on. Anyone have more info?

GOODBYE TO THE PLAINS- Carter Family 1937

Goodbye to the pals of the prairie
Goodbye to the pals of the plains
Goodbye to the dash and the danger
Goodbye to the heartaches and pains

Instrumental Break

Goodbye to my faithful old pony
Take care of him, boys, when I go
I'm riding away on life's roundup
Away to where the sun sinks low

Instrumental Break

Goodbye to the hoof-rushing cattle
Goodbye to the clanking of spurs
Goodbye to the laugh and the chatter
Goodbye to the wildlife and steers

Goodbye to the dawning's first blushes
That spare in the east faintly glow
I'm riding away on life's roundup
Away to where the sun sinks low

Instrumental Break


Goodbye to the girls and the boys
Goodbye to all of my friends
Goodbye to the dear girl, my sweetheart
For I know this is my end

For the pale rider comes with his summons
And I'm willing and ready to go
For I'm riding away on life's roundup
Away where the sun sinks low

Subject: Lyr Add: COME, TAKE A TRIP IN MY AIR-SHIP
From: Richie
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 12:07 PM

Gospel Ship is a song done by the Carters in 1935 and later by the Monroes as "Old Gospel Ship." It is similar to "Have a Feast Tonight" in form and melody.

Myron LeFerve's uncle Vestal was listed as the arranger of the first published versions of the song in 1939. According to the Leferve family the song had been sung for at least one generation and no one knew the authorship. In the book "Turn Your Radio On" Vestal agreed t deed the song to The Happy Goodman's. The author says the song is a slave song brought from Africa (with no documentation). Since the Carters recording preceeded this the whole basis for the article, claims by the Vestals etc. seem meritless. The point is: the song was an old song known for many years (that was in tha late 1930s).

Alan Lomax collected the Old Gosel Ship in the 1930s (pub. in 1942). I can't find my notes on the song he collected. Anyone?

The problem is there are several spirituals and gospel songs called Gospel Ship. It's possible that the song was based on the below song (or vice-versa):


COME, TAKE A TRIP IN MY AIR-SHIP
(Words by Ren Shields. Music by George "Honey Boy" Evans. Copyright 1904)

I love a sailor; the sailor loves me,
And sails ev'ry night to my home.
He's not a sailor that sails o'er the sea,
Or over the wild briny foam;
For he owns and air-ship and sails up on high.
He's just like a bird on the wing,
And when the shadows of evening draw nigh,
He'll sail to my window and sing:

CHORUS: Come, take a trip in my airship. Come, take a sail 'mong the stars.
Come, have a ride around Venus. Come, have a spin around Mars.
No one to watch while we're kissing, no one to see while we spoon,
Come take a trip in my airship and we'll visit the man in the moon.

GOSPEL SHIP- Carter Family 1935

I'm going to take a trip in that old gospel ship
I'm a-going far beyond the sky
I'm gonna shout and sing 'til heaven rings
When I bid this world goodbye

I have good news to bring, and that is why I sing
All my joys with you I'll share
I'm going to take a trip in that old gospel ship
And go sailing through the air

I can scarcely wait, I know I won't be late
I'll spend my time in prayer
And when the ship comes in, I'll leave this world of sin
And go sailing through the air

If you are ashamed of me, you ought not to be
Yes, you'd better have a care
If too much fault you find, you will sure be left behind
While I'm sailing through the air

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 12:13 PM

The original title applied to "Goodbye to the Plains" is "The Dying Cowboy of Rim Rock Ranch."

Austin E and Alta S. Fife had this to say about it-
"This "Dying Cowboy" is a folkish bending of cowboy imagery to transcendental notions basic to the Christian faith. Life and salvation are for man what the roundup and trail drive are for the dogies. Note how the realistic range images of the first text get molded, in the second one, into the transcendental images of life and death. (Melody and Text A: Library of Congress #856B2, recorded by John A Lomax. Text B: Library of Congress, collected by John A. Lomax."
The Carter version changes the chorus (with changes) to last verse, and uses little of the Lomax texts except the first line. The religiosity angle survives, but little else is the same.

Probably an early (1920s) product of someone in the fledgling "cowboy church" which holds informal services at rodeos and the like.

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 01:57 PM

"The Dying Cowboy of Rim Rock Ranch"-
No. 120, pp. 324-325, Austin E. and Alta S. Fife, 1969, "Cowboy and Western Songs, A Comprehensive Anthology." 1982 reprint.

Not in John A. and Alan Lomax, 1938, "Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads," Macmillan Co.

The original song can be heard on the cd, Don Edwards, "Moonlight and Skies, 2006.

Subject: Lyr Add: GRAVE ON THE GREEN HILLSIDE
From: Richie
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 01:57 PM

Grave on the Green Hillside is a song by Aldine Kieffer in 1875.

GRAVE ON THE GREEN HILLSIDE- Carter Family 1929

There's a little grave on the green hillside
That lies to the morning sun
And the wayworn feet often wander there
When the cares of the day are done

We sometimes sit in the twilight fall
And talk of a far off land
And I sometimes feel in the twilight there
The touch of a vanished hand

    Grave on the green hillside
    Grave on the green hillside
    In the years to come we will calmly sleep
    In a grave on the green hillside

And this land is full of these little graves
In the valleys, plains, and hills
There's an angel, too, for each little grave
An angel sufficient, Bill

I know not how, but I sometimes think
That they lead us with gentle hands
And a whisper falls on a willing ear
From the shore of a far off land

    Grave on the green hillside
    Grave on the green hillside
    In the years to come we will calmly sleep
    In a grave on the green hillside
      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

And these little graves are but wayside marks
That point to a far off land
And they speak to the soul of a better day
Of a day that's near at hand

Though we first must walk through this darksome veil
Yet Christ will be our guide
We will reach the shore of a far off land
Through a grave on a green hillside

    Grave on the green hillside
    Grave on the green hillside
    In the years to come we will calmly sleep
    In a grave on the green hillside

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 02:19 PM

Tune for "The Dying Cowboy of Rim Rock Ranch" is "The Mule Song," a parody, Edward Harrigan and Dave Braham, pub. 1882 in one of their songsters. See Cazden et al., 1982, "Folk Songs of the Catskills," p. 400.

My error- The song is in Lomax and Lomax, 1938, pp. 98-99; a short version, one version only, no notes.

Subject: Lyr Add: JEALOUS HEARTED ME
From: 12-stringer
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 08:00 PM

Jumping the queue a little here, but my mp3s are all on the hard drive in a busted machine and I happened to find a CD I'd burned with this one on it, so will do it while it's at hand.

Recorded by the Carters for Decca on 8 June 1936, mx 61137-A, released on Decca 5241 and other labels. I learned it several decades ago from the Decca LP "A Collection of Favorites by the CF." Text as posted about 10 years ago in a thread on the song:

JEALOUS HEARTED ME — Carter Family

Takes a rockin' chair to rock,
Takes a rubber ball to roll,
Takes the man I love
To satisfy my soul,

      REFRAIN (Each stanza)
      Because I'm jealous,
      Jealous hearted me,
      Because I'm jealous,
      Jealous as I can be.

Got a stove in the kitchen,
And it bakes nice and brown,
But I need a poppa
To turn the damper down,

You can have my money.
You can have my home,
But, for goodness sakes, women,
Let my man alone,

Gonna buy me a bulldog
To watch while I sleep,
To watch this man of mine
On his midnight creep,


Cf Charley Lincoln [Hicks], "Jealous Hearted Blues," recorded in Atlanta for Columbia on 4 November 1927, mx 145103-2, released on Columbia 14305-D. Italicized lines are spoken by Hicks, whose laugh was his trademark (some 78s bill him as "Laughing Charley").

Ha, ha, ha, I hate to tell you, mama, but I'm sure here (?)

You can have my money, all I own,
For God's sakes, leave my gal alone
Cause I'm jealous, jealous, jealous-hearted, see
So jealous, I'm jealous as I can be

I got a range in my kitchen, bakes nice and brown,
All I need's someone to turn my damper down

It take a rocking chair to rock, take a rubber ball to roll,
Takes the gal I love satisfy my soul

I know the mens don't like me cause I speaks my mind
Aw, the womens crazy 'bout me cause I takes my time

You need a drummer (?), mama, cause you is, too

I left my wife and baby standin' on the doorstep cryin'
I got a house full of children, ain't nary one mine

I says, I got love like a hydrant in your home
I can keep it turned off, I can turn it on

Says, Hello, Central, give me 239
What takes to get it these hips of mine

Aw, some folks said them blues ain't bad
That must not been them blues I had

I says, I can't help, mama, what you do
You can tell the world I got those jealous-hearted blues

I said, stop still, mama, let me give you my agvice
If I catch you with a man, gonna be too tight

Like his brother, Barbecue Bob, Hicks was an Atlanta-based 12-stringer who worked in open tunings with a mostly frailed guitar line and occasional slide notes. His playing is quite free; the song seems more geared for listening than dancing. His enunciation is not always clear and a couple of words elude me in the spoken lines.

The Carters speeded the song a little and steadied the tempo, driven by one of Maybelle's best flatpicked leads, but they use Hicks' song structure and three of their four verses are in his text. The song may derive directly from Hicks' recording though I suspect there's an intermediary step, perhaps Leslie Riddle.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE OLD GOSPEL SHIP
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 08:14 PM

THE OLD GOSPEL SHIP
Sung by Ruby Vass, Hillsville, VA, coll. A. Lomax

Chorus
I'm goin' ta take a trip on that old gospel ship,
I am going far beyond the sky,
I'm goin' ta shout and sing till heavens ring,
Till I bid the world goodbye.
1
I have good news to bring and that is why I sing,
My joy with you I'll share.
I'm goin' ta take a trip in that old gospel ship
And go sailing through the air.
2
I can scarcely wait, I know I won't be late,
I'll spend my time in prayer,
And when the ship comes in, I'll leave this world of sin,
And go sailing through the air.

"A gospel song of the type that became popular around the turn of the century. It's earliest copyright claimant is Stamps/Baxter. The image of religion as a vessel sailing to heaven with a cargo of the faithful is a perennial favorite, occurring in old carols and modern songs alike."
Notes to "The Gospel Ship Baptist Hymns & White Spirituals from the Southern Mountains," Alan Lomax, New World Records 80294.

The liner notes for that recording on line, http://www.newworldrecords.org/linernotes/80294.pdf

Subject: Lyr Add: THE HAPPIEST DAYS OF ALL
From: Richie
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 08:21 PM

Thanks for the post 12 Stringer!

Happiest Days of All is usually titled "Gathering Shells From the Seashore." The song is by Will Thompson in 1975. Otto Gray's band did the first recording in 1930, the Carters did theirs in 1932.

There's a good article from 1906 here:
http://books.google.com/books?id=f_bCmZUgDIcC&pg=PA297&dq=Gathering+Shells+From+the+Seashore&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html


THE HAPPIEST DAYS OF ALL
Carter Family- Original

I wandered today on the seashore
The waves and the winds are low
I thought of the days that are gone by, ma
Many long years ago

We lingered by the gently flowing billows
And watched the golden sunset fade away
And there among the sweet ocean breezes
We talked about our future wedding day

    Gathering up the shells from the seashore
    Gathering up the shells from the sea
    Those were the happiest days of all, ma
    Gathering up the shells from the shore
   [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

When the waves are rolling on the ocean
And the golden moonbeams on the pebbles shine
At your cottage by the sea I'll come again, ma
When the waves are rolling gentle, sweetheart mine

Now I am growing up in years, ma
My locks are all silver and gray
But the vows that we made on the shore, ma
Are fresh in my memory today

    Gathering up the shells from the seashore
    Gathering up the shells from the sea
    Those were the happiest days of all, ma
    Gathering up the shells from the shore
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

No more bright shells we will gather
As the waves come dashing as of yore
She lies 'neath the white pebbled sand
Just covered up with shells on the shore

    Gathering up the shells from the seashore
    Gathering up the shells from the sea
    Those were the happiest days of all, ma
    Gathering up the shells from the shore

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 08:28 PM

Thanks Q,

I had that information at one point but my computer crashed, also I had the singers name as Ruby Bass (typical typo).

R-

Subject: Lyr Add: JEALOUS-HEARTED BLUES
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 08:38 PM

"Jealous-Hearted Blues" was a standard with Ma Rainey.
The song was copyrighted by Lovie Austin, but most of the verses can be found in tradition. Recorded by Ma Rainey between 1923-1928.

Lyr. Add: JEALOUS-HEARTED BLUES (Austin)

1
You can have my money and everything I own,
But for God sakes leave my man alone;
Chorus:
'Cause I'm jealous, jealous, jealous hearted me,
Lord, I'm just jealous, jealous as I can be.
2
It takes a rocking chair to rock, rubber ball to roll,
Takes the man I love to satisfy my soul;
Chorus:
Got a range in my kitchen cooks nice and brown,
All I need is my man to turn my damper down;
Chorus:
Gonna buy me a bulldog to watch him while I sleep,
To keep my man from making his midnight creep;
Chorus:

From "Mother of the Blues, a Study of Ma Rainey," Sandra R. Lieb.
A portion on line.
Many verses by different performers. The Carters used Ma Rainey's version.

Subject: Lyr Add: HAPPY IN PRISON
From: Richie
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 08:59 PM

Happy in the Prison is also known as "When I Lay my Burdens Down" or "Since I Lay my Burdens Down." There's a bunch of info here from different source including the DT. Here's the 1927 Earnest Phipps Holiness Quartet version:

HAPPY IN PRISON- 1927 Earnest Phipps Holiness Quartet

    Well I am happy in this prison
    Yes, I'm happy everywhere
    In my heart the Savior's risen
    Of 10,000 he was spared

CHORUS: Glory, glory, *hallelujah
Sinners lay that burden down
Glory, glory, hallelujah
For a cross receive a crown

(fiddle)

Oh Pentecostal reign is falling
And its coming draweth nigh
Well I can hear the Savior calling
Go in heaven or you die. CHORUS

(Fiddle)

Oh thousands bless the (loving Leader?)
Who've never felt the touch of power.
And they'd love to (?)
Oh Jesus told us of that hour. CHORUS

(Fiddle)

Oh the season is (?)
Oh will you talk to Him for good (?)
Oh it is a joyful healing,
When you know your heart is pure. CHORUS


If anyone has the complete lyrics is would help. Blind Roosevelt Graves recorded this traditional spiritual in 1929 backed with an incredibly hot band, Mississippi Jook Band, that included his brother Aaron.

When I Lay My Burden Down

Glory glory, hallelujah,
When I lay my burdens down
Glory glory, hallelujah,
When I lay my burdens down

All of my troubles will be over,
When I lay my burdens down,... (x2)

I'll go home to meet my Savior,
When I lay my burdens down,... (x2)

I will see, see my mother,
When I lay my burdens down,... (x2)

SINCE I LAID MY BURDEN DOWN- The Elders McIntorsh and Edwards' Sanctified Singers Recorded Chicago: December 4, 1928
Elders McIntorsh and Edwards, vocals and guitar; Bessie Johnson and Melinda Taylor, vocals and tambourine
Originally released on Okeh 8698


McIntorsh and Edwards were Elders in the Church of God in Christ. They lived in the Mid-South, spending part of their professional and spiritual career (in the middle to late 1920s) in or near Memphis. Despite his Irish sounding name, McIntorsh was an African-American, who was probably born in Mississippi around 1890. In addition to "Since I Laid My Burden Down," McIntorsh recorded a powerful song about the 1927 Mississippi Flood with the help of Sister Bessie Johnson. He was last known to be living in the "Bootheel" of Missouri (about 100 miles north of Memphis) in the early 1970s. A more recent group from the Church of God in Christ was the Edwin Hawkins Singers, which had a hit song in the 1960s with "Oh Happy Day" (Bernard Klatzko, notes from Herwin 202).

FOR ADDITIONAL RECORDINGS of Elder Lonnie McIntorsh see the collections: Country Gospel Song (FW RBF19c) Memphis Gospel, 1927-1939 (DOC 5072c); Bessie Johnson 1928-1929 (HER 202a); In the Spirit (OJL 12a); and Kings of Memphis Town, 1927-1930 (Roots 333a).
OTHER RECORDED VERSIONS include:

Folksong revival: as When I Lay My Burden Down: Hedy West (BF 15003c).

Blues: as Since I Laid My Burden Down: Mississippi John Hurt (VG 19/20c, VG 79248c); as When I Lay My Burden Down: Cat-Iron (Folkways 2389 c); Blind Roosevelt Graves (Wolf 110c); Mississippi Fred McDowell (AH 1021a, AH 304c, TST 5019c); Robert Pete Williams (Southland 4a).

Gospel: as Since I Laid My Burden Down: Bernice Reagon (FF 411c); The Soul Searchers (Nashboro 7171a); as Glory Glory Hallelujah Since I Laid My Burden Down: Blue Spring Mississippi Baptist Delegation (SF 40073c); Joseph Spence (SF 40066c); as When I Lay My Burden Down: The Detroiters (Speciality 7034c); Barbara Hendricks (Angel 47026c); Turner Junior Johnson (LC AAFS L10a).

Country/String Band: as When I Lay My Burden Down: Roy Acuff (COL 39998c); Maddox Brothers and Rose (AH 391c).

Jazz: as When I Lay My Burden Down: The Lapsey Brass Band (FW 2650c).

Rock: as When I Lay My Burden Down: Don Nix (Enterprise 1032a)).

GLORY GLORY (HALLELUJAH) (SINCE I LAID MY BURDEN DOWN)
Traditional Negro Spiritual

REFRAIN:
Glory glory, hallelujah
Since I lay my burden down
Glory glory, hallelujah
Since I lay my burden down
Glory glory, hallelujah
Since I lay my burden down
Glory glory, hallelujah
Since I lay my burden down

All my sickness will be over
When I lay my burden down
All my sickness will be over
When I lay my burden down

All my troubles will be over
When I lay my burden down
All my troubles will be over
When I lay my burden down

Lord, I'm feeling so much better
Since I lay my burden down
Lord, I'm feeling so much better
Since I lay my burden down


ALTERNATE STYLE FOR REFRAIN:
Glory glory, (Glory glory!) hallelujah (hallelujah!)
Since I lay (Since I lay) my burden down (my burden down!)
Glory glory, (Glory glory!) hallelujah (hallelujah!)
Since I lay (Since I lay) my burden down (my burden down!)
Glory glory, (Glory glory!) hallelujah (hallelujah!)
Since I lay (Since I lay) my burden down (my burden down!)
Glory glory, (Glory glory!) hallelujah (hallelujah!)
Since I lay (Since I lay) my burden down (my burden down!)


SOURCE: Park New Choir

When I Lay My Burden Down

Alternative titles are: "When I Laid [Lay] My Burden Down," "Glory, Glory, Hallelujah," and "I'm Gonna Lay My Burdens Down." The last is by Doc Watson (in On Praying Ground). See also notes to Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music (Smithsonian Folkways), no. 49 (The Elder McIntorsh and Edwards' Sanctified Singers). An earlier version was recorded by Odum & Johnson (Negro Workaday Songs, 1926, p. 200):

Glory, glory, hallelujah, when I lay my burden down,
Glory, glory, hallelujah, when I lay my burden down,
Glory, glory, hallelujah, when I lay my burden down,
I gonna be in heaven when I lay my burden down.

Glory, glory, hallelujah, I's goin' to my home on high,
Glory, glory, hallelujah, I's goin' to my home on high,
Glory, glory, hallelujah, I's goin' to my home on high,
I's gonna be in my home when I lay my burden down.

There's a different song entitled "Lay Dis Body Down" in Slave Songs of the United States (p. 19).

LAY THIS BODY DOWN- Traditional Negro Spiritual

1. O graveyard, O graveyard,
I'm walkin' troo de graveyard;
Lay dis body down.]

2 * I know moonlight, I know starlight,
I'm walkin' troo de starlight;
Lay dis body down.

* O moonlight (or moonrise); O my soul, O your soul.

[This is probably the song heard by W. H. Russell, of the London Times, as described in chapter xviii. of "My Diary North and South." The writer was on his way from Pocotaligo to Mr. Trescot's estate on Barnwell Island, and of the midnight row thither he says:
"The oarsmen, as they bent to their task, beguiled the way by singing in unison a real negro melody, which was unlike the works of the Ethiopian Serenaders as anything in song could be unlike another. It was a barbaric sort of madrigal, in which one singer beginning was followed by the others in unison, repeating the refrain in chorus, and full of quaint expression and melancholy:--

'O your soul! oh my soul!
I'm going to the churchyard
To lay this body down;
Oh my soul! oh your soul!
we're going to the churchyard
To lay this nigger down.'

And then some appeal to the difficulty of passing the 'Jawdam' constituted the whole of the song, which continued with unabated energy during the whole of the little voyage. To me it was a strange scene. The stream, dark as Lethe, flowing between the silent, houseless, rugged banks, lighted up near the landing by the fire in the woods, which reddened the sky--the wild strain, and the unearthly adjurations to the singers' souls, as though they were palpable, put me in mind of the fancied voyage across the Styx."

We append with some hesitation the following as a variation; the words of which we borrow from Col. Higginson. Lt. Col Trowbridge says of it that it was sung at funerals in the night time--one of the most solemn and characteristic of the customs of the negroes. He attributes its origin to St. Simon's Island, Georgia:]

I know moonlight, I know starlight;
I lay dis body down.]

2 I walk in de moonlight, I walk in de starlight;
I lay dis body down.

3 I know de graveyard, I know de graveyard,
When I lay dis body down.

4 I walk in de graveyard, I wall troo de graveyard,
To lay, &c.

5 I lay in de grave an' stretch out my arms;
I lay, &c.

6 I go to de judgement in de evenin' of de day
When I lay, &c.

7 And my soul an' your soul will meet in de day
When we lay, &c.

["'I'll lie in de grave and stretch out my arms' Never, it seems to me, since man first lived and suffered, was his infinite longing for peace uttered more plaintively than in that line."--Col. Higginson.]


HAPPY IN PRISON- Carter Family

    I am happy in a prison
    Yes, I'm happy anywhere
    In my soul my savior's risen
    Of 10,000 he is fair

Glory, glory, hallelujah
Sinners lay your burdens down
Glory, glory, hallelujah
For a cross receive a crown

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

When the food is low and failing
And the children bare for clothes
I look up to father's healing
For I know my savior knows

    I am happy in a prison
    Yes, I'm happy anywhere
    In my soul my savior's risen
    Of 10,000 he is fair

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Any cost, a fire is burning
And its coming draweth nigh
But I'm happy, always happy
Though in prison I must die

    I am happy in a prison
    Yes, I'm happy anywhere
    In my soul my savior's risen
    Of 10,000 he is fair

Subject: Lyr Add: HAPPY OR LONESOME
From: Richie
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 09:21 PM

"Happy or Lonesome" is likely based on an earlier parlor song and was first collected by Dick Burnett and published in 1913 as "Are You Happy or Lonesome" in his songster; the same songster that produced "Man Of Constant Sorrow." Burnett and Rutherford first recorded the song in 1927.

The Carters slight name change was probably recommended by Peer to prevent copyright problems since the song was copyrighted by Columbia.

HAPPY OR LONESOME- Carter Family, 1934

          Come back to me in my dreaming
          Come back to me once more
          Come with the love light gleaming
          As in the days of yore
          I wonder if you still love me
          And if your heart is still true
          When the spring roses are blooming
          Then I'll come back to you

               Somewhere a heart is breaking
               And calling me back to you
               Memories of loved ones awaiting
               Each happy home and you
               Absence makes my heart fonder
               Is it the same with you
               Are you still happy, I wonder
               Or do you feel lonesome, too
               [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

          When the sun is sinking
          In the golden west
          And the birds and flowers
          They have gone to rest
          Come tell me that you still love me
          And that your heart is still true
          When the spring roses are blooming
          Then I'll come back to you

               Somewhere a heart is breaking
               And calling me back to you
               Memories of loved ones awaiting
               Each happy home and you
               Absence makes my heart fonder
               Is it the same with you
               Are you still happy, I wonder
               Or do you feel lonesome, too

Subject: Lyr Add: HE NEVER CAME BACK
From: Richie
Date: 27 Nov 08 - 09:20 AM

He Never Came Back was written by William Jerome in 1892 and can be viewed here:
http://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/levy-cgi/display.cgi?id=141.006.001;pages=4;range=0-3


HE NEVER CAME BACK
Words and Music by William Jerome.
Boston: Oliver Ditson Co., 1892.

1. A soldier kissed his wife goodbye. He was going to the war.
The tears they trickled down the face of the one he did adore.
"Be patient until I return, my own sweetheart," he cried,
But at the battle of Bull Run, he like a soldier died.

CHORUS: He never came back.
He never came back.
His dear form she never saw more.
But how happy she'll be
When his sweet face she'll see
When they meet on that beautiful shore.

2. I went into a restaurant as hungry as a bear,
And like a raving maniac, I grabbed the bill of fare.
The waiter said, "What will you have?" "Bring me a steak," I say.
He took my order, bowed his head, and slowly walked away.

CHORUS: He never came back.
He never came back.
I waited an hour or more,
But his face I will break
If he's not got that steak
When we meet on that beautiful shore.

3. I went to see the Barnum's show and took my mother-in-law.
She laughed at ev'rything she saw until it broke her jaw.
Outside the tent, a big balloon it proved to be my friend.
I shoved her in, then cut the rope, and up she did ascend.

CHORUS: She never came back.
She never came back,
But high in the air she did soar,
And I'm happy tonight
That she's way out of sight
Till we meet on that beautiful shore.

4. A jay that lived "down on the farm" came in to see the town
And registered at Smith's Hotel as Mister Hayseed Brown.
He took his key and went upstairs with whiskers green as grass,
Pulled off his boots, jumped into bed, and then blew out the gas.

CHORUS: He never came back.
He never came back.
And when they broke open the door,
The last words he said,
Before he dropped dead,
Were, "We'll meet on that beautiful shore."

5. An old maid who was forty-five, she madly fell in love,
And with a young man just nineteen who called her turtledove.
The wedding day at last arrived. The birds did gaily sing.
He touched her for a hundred to go out and buy the ring.

CHORUS: He never came back,
Her sailor boy Jack,
But left her up on the top floor.
The sassy young thing,
He may bring her the ring
When they meet on that beautiful shore.

Fiddlin' John Carson first recorded the song in 1926 as "When We Meet on that Beautiful Shore." The Carters recorded theirs in 1937:

HE NEVER CAME BACK- Carter Family

An old Jane about 49 came in to view the town
She registered up at Smith's Hotel as Miss Ada Brown
She said she was just 25 and that she was in love
With a young lad about 16, she called him her turtledove

The wedding day at last arrived, the birds did merrily sing
He touched her up for a hundred to go out and buy the ring

    He never came back, no, he never came back
    He's been gone for a year or more
    That sassy young thing better have that ring
    When we meet on that beautiful shore

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]


I went down to a restaurant as hungry as a bear
And a raving thief I did, I grabbed the bill of fare
The waiter said, now what for you, a piece of steak, I said
He taken my order and bowed his head and slowly walked away

    No, he never came back, no, he never came back
    I waited an hour or more
    His neck I will break if he has not that steak
    When we meet on that beautiful shore

Subject: Lyr Add: HE TOOK WHITE ROSES FROM HER HAIR
From: Richie
Date: 27 Nov 08 - 09:52 AM

He Took a White Rose from Her Hair is a traditional song usually titled "The (Little) White Rose" and was first recorded in 1927 by Red Patterson and his Piedmont Log Rollers. Again the title was probably changed by the Carters to prevent copyright problems.

The song appears in print in 1929 jOAFL. I found this snippet on-line:

"O, Willie," I said with a smile,
"I'm sure I will have to say no."
He took a white rose from my hair
And said "Good bye, I must go.

Here's a version on-line from Alabama: http://books.google.com/books?id=ZG_VpWAciWsC&pg=PA290&dq=took+a+white+rose+folk+song&lr=&as_brr=0&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html

"The White Rose" was a favorite of WHAS radio radio star Frankie Moore and his Log Cabin Boys. They included the song in their 1936 songbook.

HE TOOK WHITE ROSES FROM HER HAIR- Carter Family 1935

Oh Willie my darling come back
I will ever be faithful and true
Oh Willie my darling come back
I'll forever be faithful to you

I remember once that he said
He loved me better than his life
He called me his darling his wife
Then asked me to be his own bride

Oh darling he said I am sure
Your heart is made of a stone
He took a white rose from my hair
Then left me a standing alone

The next day poor Willie was dead
He was found in the pond near the mill
Oh the clear precious waters so fair
That flows from the branch up the hills

His blue eyes were forever closed
And damp was his golden hair
And close to his pale lips was found
The white rose which he took from my hair

Subject: Lyr Add: THE HEART THAT WAS BROKEN FOR ME
From: Richie
Date: 27 Nov 08 - 01:36 PM

Heart That Was Broken for Me is a southern gospel song by Judson W. Van DeVenter (1855-1939) written in 1914.


Van DeVenter at­tend­ed Hill­sdale Coll­ege, Mi­chi­gan, then taught art in Shar­on, Penn­syl­van­ia. Af­ter sev­er­al years, he de­cid­ed to switch to a ca­reer in evan­gel­ism, work­ing with Wil­bur Chap­man and others in Amer­i­ca and Eng­land. To­ward the end of his life, he lived in St. Pe­ters­burg, Flor­i­da, then moved to Tam­pa, Flor­i­da, around 1923. He was pro­fess­or of hymn­ol­o­gy at the Flor­i­da Bi­ble In­sti­tute (now Trin­i­ty Bi­ble Coll­ege) for four years.

Probably his best know gospel song is "I Surrender All"

THE HEART THAT WAS BROKEN FOR ME- Carter Family 1938

There came from the skies
In the days long ago
The Lord with a message of love
The world knew Him not
He was treated with scorn
This wonderful Gift from above

   They crowned Him with thorns
   He was beaten with straps
   He was wounded and nailed to the tree
   But the pain in His heart
   Was the hardest to bear
   The heart that was broken for me

He came to His own
To his owners He loved
The sheep that had wandered astray
They heard not His voice
But the Friend of mankind
Was halted and driven away


I will take up my cross
I will walk by His side
For the pathway of duty I see
I will follow my Lord
And abide in His heart
The heart that was broken for me

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 27 Nov 08 - 02:14 PM

Heaven's Radio is a gospel song recorded by the Carters in 1940. Stamps-Baxter music copyrighted a song by Brumley title "Heaven's Radio Station Is In The Air" in 1943. Not sure if there's a conncetion.

From a 1942 book: Such items as a Negro woman singing a song she composed called "Heaven's Radio" in which the words are the expression of a simple mind.

The song was refernced to a Freddie Lee Kirby who was a black choir director in Texas during the 1930s. [Popular Song Index: Third Supplement By Patricia Pate Havlice Published by Scarecrow Press, 1989]

There's no direct source I could find. Anyone?

HEAVEN'S RADIO Carter Family

There's a wonderful invention
It's called the radio
You can hear it every where you chance to go
But the static in the air
Sometimes makes it hard to hear
But it is not so with heaven's radio.

CHORUS: Heaven's radio on the other shore
For my precious savior always listens in
It's the same old radio that was used long time ago
For my precious savior always listens in

Daniel in the lions den
With this power should surely win
For my precious savior always listens in
And I know without a doubt
Honest prayers will bring you out
For my precious savior always listens in

Well He set the Hebrews three
From the fiery furnace free
For my precious savior always listens in
He will rescue you today
In that same old fashioned way
For my precious savior always listens in

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 27 Nov 08 - 03:43 PM

Hello Central, Give Me Heaven is a saon by Charles k. Harris written in 1901. Here's a link to the sheet music:

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query


HELLO, CENTRAL! GIVE ME HEAVEN 1934 Carter Family

    Hello, central, give me heaven
    For I know my mother's there
    And you'll find her with the angels
    Over on the golden stair

She'll be glad it's me a-speakin'
Won't you call her for me please
For I surely want to tell her
That we're sad without her here

    Hello, central, give me heaven
    For I know my mother's there
    And you'll find her with the angels
    Over on the golden stair
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Papa dear is sad and lonely
Sobbed a tearful little child
Since mama's gone to heaven
Papa dear, you do not smile

I must speak to her and tell her
That we want her to come home
You just listen while I call her
Call her through the telephone

    Hello, central, give me heaven
    For I know my mother's there
    And you'll find her with the angels
    Over on the golden stair
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

I will answer just to please her
Yes, dear hearts, I'll soon come home
Kiss me, mama, it's your daughter
Kiss me through the telephone

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 27 Nov 08 - 09:02 PM

"Hello Stranger" is a collection of blues and traditional lyrics from different songs arranged by A.P. Carter. It's been recorded by Doc Watson; Hazel and Alice.

HELLO, STRANGER Written and arranged A.P. Carter 1937


    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Hello, stranger, put your loving hand in mine
Hello, stranger, put your loving hand in mine
You are a stranger and you're a pal of mine.

Get up, rounder, let a working man lay down
Get up, rounder, let a working man lay down
You are a rounder, but you're all out and down

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Every time I ride the 6th and 4th streetcar
Every time I ride the 6th and 4th streetcar
I can see my baby peeping through the bars.

She bowed her head, she waved both hands at me
She bowed her head, she waved both hands at me
I'm prison bound, I'm longing to be free
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Oh, I'll see you when your troubles are like mine
Oh, I'll see you when your troubles are like mine
Oh, I'll see you when you haven't got a dime.

Weeping like a willow, mourning like a dove
Weeping like a willow, mourning like a dove
There's a girl up the country that I really love
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Hello, stranger, put your loving hand in mine
Hello, stranger, put your loving hand in mine
You are a stranger and you're a pal of mine

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 28 Nov 08 - 12:21 AM

Hold Fast to the Right is from James Vaughan 1906. Lester McFarland and James Gardner recorded the song first in 1928.

HOLD FAST TO THE RIGHT- Carter Family 1937

Kneel down by the side of your mother, my boy
You have only a moment, I know
But stay till I give you my parting advice
It is all that I have to bestow

    Hold fast to the right, hold fast to the right
    Wherever your footsteps may roam
    And forsake not the way of salvation, my boy
    That you learned from your mother at home
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

You leave us to seek your employment, my boy
By the world you have yet to be tied
But in the temptations and trials you meet
May your heart to the savior confide

    Hold fast to the right, hold fast to the right
    Wherever your footsteps may roam
    And forsake not the way of salvation, my boy
    That you learned from your mother at home
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

I gave you to god in your cradle, my boy
And taught you the best that I knew
And as long as His mercies permits me to live
I shall never stop praying for you

    Hold fast to the right, hold fast to the right
    Wherever your footsteps may roam
    And forsake not the way of salvation, my boy
    That you learned from your mother at home
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

You will find in this satchel a Bible, my boy
It's a book of all others are built
It will help you to live and prepare you to die
And will lead to the gates of the blest

    Hold fast to the right, hold fast to the right
    Wherever your footsteps may roam
    And forsake not the way of salvation, my boy
    That you learned from your mother at home

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 28 Nov 08 - 12:58 AM

Home by the Sea seems to be a rewrite of "Dear Old Home Beyond the Sea" by A. Hamilton Sims and William A. Keller (music) written in 1887. The sentiment is identical but the song probably entered traditional and was changed. You can loook here:
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.100007143/pageturner.html

HOME BY THE SEA Carter Family

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

There's a lonely cottage by the seaside
Where the water lilies strew the shore
It was there I passed my happy childhood
With a loved one that's gone before

    Then give me back my dear old home
    That old home by the sea
    And I never will wander far away
    From my home, my dear old cottage home

    Oh-le-lay-ee, ee-e-e-e-ee
    Ah-lee-oh-lay-ee, ee-e-e-e-e-ee
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Many years have passed since there I wandered
But the old cot' ne'er has been forgot
And my heart in fancy oft returns
To that dear old familiar spot

    Then give me back my dear old home
    That old home by the sea
    And I never will wander far away
    From my home, my dear old cottage home

    Oh-le-lay-ee, ee-e-e-e-ee
    Ah-lee-oh-lay-ee, ee-e-e-e-e-ee
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Yes, my heart is like a humming sea shell
That tells of its birth where e'er it roams
I will sing of my cottage by the seashore
Of my home, my dear old cottage home

    Then give me back my dear old home
    That old home by the sea
    And I never will wander far away
    From my home, my dear old cottage home

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 28 Nov 08 - 12:55 PM

Home in Tennessee was actually titled "My Little Home in Tennessee" and recorded by the Carters in 1932. Apparently it was not issued for Victor at that time and was released later on RCA CNV102.

Although the song entered tradition or at least the title has, this was a song by Maggie Andrews (an alias for Carson Robison) and because it was copyrighted by Columbia, the song was not released. The song was recorded by Al Craver (actually Vernon Dalhart) for Columbia in 1925. Later when the song was released the name was changed slightly.

HOME IN TENNESSEE Carter Family 1932

    Oh, yes, I'm going back
    To my home in Tennessee
    Back to the girl that's waiting
    In the cotton fields to see
    There's a mother and a dad
    That's waiting patiently
    And the place I'm longing for tonight
    Is my home in Tennessee
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

I've sailed the skies in airplanes
To a place called Bunker Hill
I've dropped from the clouds in a parachute
And, oh, boys, what a thrill
I've saw shells fall in no man's land
And dined on the great prairie
But the place I'm longing for tonight
Is my home in Tennessee

    Oh, yes, I'm going back
    To my home in Tennessee
    Back to the girl that's waiting
    In the cotton fields to see
    There's a mother and a dad
    That's waiting patiently
    And the place I'm longing for tonight
    Is my home in Tennessee
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

I've been to 'Frisco's golden gate
Also that of Maine
I've been to the Rocky Mountains
And back down again
Been up to old New York
Saw the Statue of Liberty
But the place I'm longing for tonight
Is my home in Tennessee

    Oh, yes, I'm going back
    To my home in Tennessee
    Back to the girl that's waiting
    In the cotton fields to see
    There's a mother and a dad
    That's waiting patiently
    And the place I'm longing for tonight
    Is my home in Tennessee

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 28 Nov 08 - 01:21 PM

Homestead on the Farm was recorded twice by the Carter Family; first for Victor in 1929 then for ARC in 1935. The song is based on "I Wonder How The Old Folks Are At Home" by by Lambert and Vandersloot in 1909. Will Oakland recorded the song for Edison in 1910.

http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/sheetmusic/a/a02/a0276/

THE HOMESTEAD ON THE FARM Carter Family

Well, I wonder how the old folks are at home
Well, I wonder if they miss me when I'm gone
I wonder if they pray
For the boy who went away
And left his dear old parents all alone

    You could hear the cattle lowing in the lane
    You could almost see the fields of bluegrass green
    You could almost hear them cry
    As they kissed their boy goodbye
    I wonder how the old folks are at home

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK TO TUNE OF HOME, SWEET HOME]

Just a village and a homestead on the farm
And a mother's love to shield him from all harm
A mother's love so true
And a sweetheart brave and true
A village and a homestead on the farm

    You could hear the cattle lowing in the lane
    You could almost see the fields of bluegrass green
    You could almost hear them cry
    As they kissed their boy goodbye
    I wonder how the old folks are at home

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK TO TUNE OF HOME, SWEET HOME]

    [REPEAT CHORUS]

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 28 Nov 08 - 01:36 PM

Honey in the Rock is a gospel song written by Frederick A. Graves in 1895. The Carters recorded their version in 1937.

Honey In The Rock- Carter family

Oh my brother, do you know the Savior
Who is wondrous kind and true?
He's the Rock of your salvation
There is honey in the Rock for you

Oh, honey in the Rock (oh, honey in the Rock)
Sweet honey in the Rock (sweet honey in the Rock)
Oh it tastes just like honey in the Rock
Oh taste and see if the Lord is good
Oh it tastes just like honey in the Rock

Have you tasted that the Lord is gracious?
Do you walk in the way that's new?
have you drank from the living fountain?
There is honey in the Rock for you

Oh, there's honey in the Rock my brother
There is honey in the Rock for you
Leave your sins for the Blood to cover
There is honey in the Rock for you

HONEY IN THE ROCK- Graves lyrics

O my brother, do you know the Savior,
Who is wondrous, kind, and true?
He's the Rock of your salvation!
There's honey in the Rock for you.

Refrain: Oh, there's honey in the Rock, my brother;
There's honey in the Rock for you.
Leave your sins for the Blood to cover;
There's honey in the Rock for you.

Have you tasted that the Lord is gracious?
Do you walk in the way that's new?
Have you drunk from the living fountain?
There's honey in the Rock for you.

Do you pray unto God the Father,
"What wilt Thou have me to do?"
Never fear, He will surely answer,
There's honey in the Rock for you.

Then go out through the streets and byways,
Preach the Word to the many or few;
Say to every fallen brother,
There's honey in the Rock for you.

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 28 Nov 08 - 01:54 PM

"My Little Home in Tennessee," a song collected in Alabama, 1952, has very different lyrics from the Carter song (haven't compared music) - "The Alabama Folk Lyric," R. B. Browne, no. 106, pp. 276-277. Seems to be independent.

There were several songs about a Tennessee home published between 1854-1915 that could have been starting points for the Robson-Carter song, but melodies would have to be checked. American Memory

Subject: Lyr Add: I AIN'T GOIN' TO WORK TOMORROW (Carter)
From: Richie
Date: 28 Nov 08 - 05:16 PM

I Ain't Goin' to Work Tomorrow is a traditional folk song arranged by the Carter Family and is on one of their earlier recordings in 1928.

The lyrics show up in collected versions of Darlin' Corey. It seems the Carters collected the lyrics and arranged the song. It was in the repertoire of Kentucky musician Lily May Ledford.


I AIN'T GOIN' TO WORK TOMORROW
Carter Family

I'm a-going to leave this country
I'm a-going around this world
I'm a-going to leave this country
For the sake of one little girl

Well, she told me that she loved me
And it give my poor heart grief
And she's got her back turned on me
She's courting whoever she please

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Well, I lost my money in gambling
And I lost my name, you see
I am nobody's darling
And nobody cares for me

Don't you hear my banjo ringing
Don't you hear this mournful sound
Don't you hear those pretty girls laughing
Standing on the cold, cold ground

I'll hang my head in sorrow
I'll hang my head and cry
I'll hang my head in sorrow
As my darling passes by

Well, I ain't gonna work tomorrow
And I may not work next day
Well I ain't gonna work tomorrow
For it be a wet, rainy day

[INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 28 Nov 08 - 06:18 PM

"Honey in the Rock" is regarded by many as an African-American spiritual; most Black singers follow the style of Mamie Forehand, who sang it in 1927, but adding the word "Sweet" to the title. The song is included in the Ruby Pickins Tartt Collection of Religious Folk Songs from Sumter Co., AL, edited by Olivia and Jack Solomon ("Honey in the Rock," Mercer Univ. Press).
The verses are not the same as those of Carter or Graves; but they have the word 'brother' in common.
The song does not seem to have been in the African-American Tradition before Mamie Forehand.

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 29 Nov 08 - 01:09 AM

I Cannot Be Your Sweetheart, also known as "Under the Pale Moonlight," is a song written in 1899 by Abbie Ford, who wrote mainly ragtime style music. The song has entered tradition and has been found in several folk song collections.

I CANNOT BE YOUR SWEETHEART Carter Family 1934

Last night I told my heart's love
All under the pale blue sky
Eagerly waiting an answer
I plainly could see in her eye
I love you, sweetheart, I love you
And ask you to be my bride
Her face turned pale and she trembled
And sadly to me replied

    I cannot be your sweetheart
    I cannot stay by your side
    There's one who's waiting off yonder
    Who's claiming me his bride
    My heart is almost broken
    Your vows only add to my pain
    I love you, sweetheart, I love you
    Though we may never meet again

We said goodbye in the moonlight
My heart was turned to a stone
One peaceful hour I was made happy
But now I am sad and lone
Amidst my sorrows forever
Though she may go far away
Wherever she goes I'll love her
And still I can hear her say

    I cannot be your sweetheart
    I cannot stay by your side
    There's one who's waiting off yonder
    Who's claiming me his bride
    My heart is almost broken
    Your vows only add to my pain
    I love you, sweetheart, I love you
    Though we may never meet again

Subject: Lyr Add: I FOUND YOU AMONG THE ROSES
From: Richie
Date: 29 Nov 08 - 01:24 AM

I Found You Among the Roses is by George Pitman in 1913. The Carters recorded their version in 1940. Here's the sheet Music at the Levy Collection (for some reason the links at Levy aren't working):

http://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/levy-cgi/display.cgi?id=152.105.000;pages=5;range=0-4

I FOUND YOU AMONG THE ROSES-Carter family

Once again dear it's rose time it's June time
All the flowers they bloom as of yore
And the robin's sweet song is singing
As I walked here to greet you once more

A year has passed dear since we came here
This old love of ours to renew
And I found you among the roses
The day I come back to you

CHORUS: I found you among the roses
The day I come back to you
All my gladness was there in a garden so fair
Was the happiest moment I knew
Your lips were the color of roses
I craved them as flowers crave the dew
It was out here in your rose garden
Where I found you

I remember the kiss that you gave me
For your cheeks like the rosebuds red
Was a kiss dear that meant to fore me
For all the harsh words I have said

Red roses a blooming around me
I loved every one of them too
For it was there dear in your rose garden
Where I found you

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 30 Nov 08 - 08:25 PM

I Have an Aged Mother is also known "Ten Thousand Miles Away" as well as "On The Banks of A Lonely River."

Here's a link to the 1882 Broadside sheet music "composed by I.M. Williams" at American Memory:

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mussm&fileName=sm/sm1882/16100/16161/mussm16161.db&recNum=1&itemLink=D?mussm:4:./tem

"On The Banks of A Lonely River" was a big hit for Tarton and Darby on Columbia in 1930 possibly prompting the Carters to record the song for Victor later that year. Record sales that year plummeted because of the Great Depression.

I HAVE AN AGED MOTHER- Carter Family

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Last night while I lay sleeping
Last night while in a dream
I saw my dear old mother
Down by a rippling stream

    Don't ask me why I'm weeping
    Don't ask me why I pray
    For I've an aged mother
    10,000 miles away
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

A letter here from sister dear
Come home, we're all alone
Dear mother's slowly fading
She can't be with us long

    Don't ask me why I'm weeping
    Don't ask me why I pray
    I've a dear old mother dying
    10,000 miles away

    Well, ah-le-ho, le-ho-lay
    Well, ah-le-ho, le-ho-lay
    Out in the cold world
    A long ways from home

I'm drawing near the old home
Dear sister's at the gate
She's leading me through the doorway
Oh, brother, you've come too late

Oh, lead me to the casket
Throw back the linen so fine
That I may kiss her pale white lips
For I know they'll never kiss mine

I see the pale moon shining
On mother's white tombstone
The rosebuds 'round them twining
Are just like me—alone

    Well, ah-le-ho, le-ho-lay
    Well, ah-le-ho, le-ho-lay
    Out in the cold world
    Left all alone

Subject: Lyr Add: I HAVE NO ONE TO LOVE ME (Carter Family)
From: Richie
Date: 30 Nov 08 - 08:40 PM

I Have No One to Love Me (But the Sailor on the Deep Blue Sea) is th British Ballad "Sweet William" also know as Captain Tell me TRue and first recorded in 1924 by Gid Tanner as "Sailor Boy."

The ballad index gives the earliest date as before 1839 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(2298)).

The plot is as follows: A girl asks her father to build her a boat so that she may search for her lover. She describes the boy to a passing captain, who tells her he is drowned. She gives directions for her burial, then dies of grief or dashes her boat against the rocks.

Other names include: "The Pinery Boy" "The Sailor's Sweetheart" "My Boy Willie" "Papa, Build Me a Boat"

The Carters recorded their version in 1928:

I HAVE NO ONE TO LOVE ME (BUT THE SAILOR ON THE DEEP BLUE SEA)
Carter Family 1928

It was on last Sunday evening
Just about the hour of three
When my darling started to leave me
To sail on the deep blue sea
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

He promised to write a letter
He promised to write to me
And I haven't heard from my darling
Who sails on the deep blue sea
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

My mother is dead and buried
My papa's forsaken me
And I have no one to love me
But the sailor on the deep blue sea
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Oh, Captain, can you tell me
Can you tell me where he may be
Oh, yes, my little maiden
He's drownded in the deep blue sea
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Farewell to friends and relations
It's the last you'll see of me
I'm going to end my troubles
By drowning in the deep blue sea

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 30 Nov 08 - 09:26 PM

I Loved You Better Than You Knew is a song by Johnny Carroll in 1893 and the first recording was just three years later by Goerge Gaskin on Ber 925. In 1895 "I Love You Yet" was written as "An Answer to Johnnie Carroll's Beautiful & Popular Song I Loved You Better Than You Knew."

Here's the Carters 1930 version:

I LOVED YOU BETTER THAN YOU KNEW- Carter Family

Our hands are clasped, alas, forever
Perhaps we'll never meet again
I love you like I love no other
This parting fills my heart with pain

    As through this weary world I wander
    My thoughts alone will be of you
    In memory will I see you ever
    I loved you better than you knew
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

You ask and freely I'll forgive you
The happy past I must forget
And while I wander alone in silence
I hope that you'll be happy yet

    As through this weary world I wander
    My thoughts alone will be of you
    In memory will I see you ever
    I loved you better than you knew
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Perhaps when I am gone forever
You'll sometimes sit and think of me
And wonder if I'm dead or living
Perhaps I'll think the same of you

    As through this weary world I wander
    My thoughts alone will be of you
    In memory will I see you ever
    I loved you better than you knew

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 30 Nov 08 - 09:48 PM

I Never Loved But One is "Those Dark Eyes" by Armand in 1865. It's been recorded as "Dark Eyes" and probably was titled differently by the Carters in 1932 to avoid copyright issues.

Her's the sheet music:

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?dukesm:1:./temp/~ammem_0URU::@@@mdb=mcc,gottscho,detr,nfor,wpa,aap,cwar,bbpix,cowellbib,ca

I NEVER LOVED BUT ONE- Carter family

                   Onward to the eastern skies,
                   With mooing efforts kissed the sea
                   I sigh and think of those blue eyes
                   That have hope and love for me

                   For they, o they have stole away
                   The heart that truly once was mine
                   Like some lone bird without a mate
                   My weary heart is desolate

                         I look around but cannot trace
                         One welcome word or smiling face
                         In gazing crowds I am alone,
                         Because I never loved but one

                         [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

                   Come up closer to me now,
                   Your chestnut hair is touched with snow
                   But still it is the same dear face,
                   I loved so well long years ago

                   The same as on that winter night,
                   You bent to me and kissed my brow
                   Happy hours of trusting love,
                   Oh well, they're all over now
                  
                   And I must sail the whitening foam,
                   Till I can see a foreign home
                   Till I forget that fair sweet face,
                   I ne'er can find a resting place

                         I look around but cannot trace
                         One welcome word or smiling face
                         In gazing crowds I am alone
                         Because I never loved but one

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 30 Nov 08 - 10:24 PM

"I Never Will Marry" was covered earlier on this thread although more info about the origin is needed.

"I Wouldn't Mind Dying" comes from African-American gospel sources. "I Wouldn't Mind Dying" was recorded by Rev. I.B. Ware in 1928; Golden Leaf Quartette from Jefferson County Alabama in 1928.

It's also titled "By and By We're Going To See The King" by the blind pianist Juanita Arizona Dranes in 1925 and later by Blind Willie Johnson.

I anyone has other lyrics for this song please post them.


I WOULDN'T MIND DYING- Carter Family

          By and by we're going to see the King
          By and by we're going to see the King
          By and by we're going to see the King
          Well, I wouldn't mind dying if dying was all

          Wouldn't mind dying, got to go by myself
          Wouldn't mind dying, got to go by myself
          Wouldn't mind dying, got to go by myself
          Well, I wouldn't mind dying if dying was all

          After death we're going to stand the test
          After death we're going to stand the test
          After death we're going to stand the test
          Well, I wouldn't mind dying if dying was all

          Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy is His Name
          Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy is His Name
          Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy is His Name
          And I wouldn't mind dying if dying was all

          Wouldn't mind dying, got to stay dead so long
          Wouldn't mind dying, got to stay dead so long
          Wouldn't mind dying, got to stay dead so long
          And I wouldn't mind dying if dying was all      

          Ezekiel saw the wheel, a wheel within a wheel
          Ezekiel saw the wheel, a wheel within a wheel
          Ezekiel saw the wheel, a wheel within a wheel
          Well, I wouldn't mind dying if dying was all

          By and by we're going to see the King
          By and by we're going to see the King
          By and by we're going to see the King
          Well, I wouldn't mind dying if dying was all

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 01 Dec 08 - 08:47 AM

I'll Be All Smiles Tonight is a song written by T.B. Ranson in 1879.

Here's a link to the song with notes and TAB:
http://gulfweb.net:34043/~rlwalker/jamnfolk/book001/I'll%20Be%20All%20Smiles%20Tonight-G.pdf

It was recorded by Luther B. Clark and the Blue Ridge Highballers (1926); Mac and Bob (1927); Allen Brothers (1928); Reed Children (1928); Jenkins and Whitworth (1929); Bradley Kincaid (1929); Linda Parker and The Cumberland Ridge Runners (1933); and the Carter Family (1934).

I'LL BE ALL SMILES TONIGHT- Carter Family

          I'll deck my brow with roses
          The loved ones may be there
          And gems that others give me
          Will shine within my hair

          And even those who know me
          Will think my heart is light
          Though my heart may break tomorrow
          I'll be all smiles tonight

               I'll be all smiles tonight, love
               I'll be all smiles tonight
               Though my heart may break tomorrow
               I'll be all smiles tonight
               [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

          Oh, when the dance commences
          Oh, how I will rejoice
          I'll sing the song you taught me
          Without a falling voice

          When the flattering ones come around me
          They'll think my heart is light
          Though my heart may break tomorrow
          I'll be all smiles tonight

               I'll be all smiles tonight, love
               I'll be all smiles tonight
               Though my heart may break tomorrow
               I'll be all smiles tonight
               [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

          And when the room he enters
          With a bride upon his arm
          I stood and gazed upon him
          As though he was a charm

          And onced he smiled upon her
          And onced he smiled on me
          They know not what I suffered
          They found no change in me

               I'll be all smiles tonight, love
               I'll be all smiles tonight
               Though my heart may break tomorrow
               I'll be all smiles tonight

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 01 Dec 08 - 09:48 AM

I'll Be Home Someday is a gospel song from the Carters 1934 session in Camden NJ; I haven't found any info about this song. Anyone?

I'LL BE HOME SOMEDAY- Carter Family

I was standing by the bedside of a neighbor
Who was just about to cross the swelling tide
I asked if he would do me a favor
Just take a message to the other side

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

If you see my Savior, tell him that you saw me
When you saw me I was on my way
You may meet some old friends who may ask about me
Just tell them I'll be home someday

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Now you have to take this journey on without me
It's a debt that sooner or later must be paid
If you see my Savior, don't forget to tell him
Don't forget to tell him what I say

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

You may chance to see my father or my mother
Or some friends who have gone before
You may chance to see my sister or my brother
But try and see my Savior first of all

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 01 Dec 08 - 01:41 PM

"I'll Be All Smiles Tonight" is widely known. Examples from Australia, and a song sheet in England (before 1883) at the Bodleian are noted in thread 5951. The original sheet music may be lost, as so much of the old sheet music has been.

I'll Be All Smiles

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 01 Dec 08 - 04:38 PM

"I Wouldn't Mind Dying" is a composite or goulash of several gospel-spiritual songs," and floaters.
"Soon and Very Soon" aka "We're Going to See the King" is a well-known song, A. Crouch's recording probably the best-known. Lyrics and chords at http://gospelmusic.org.uk/s-u/soon and very soon.htm

"Wouldn't Mind Dying" is a gospel song sung by Blind Mamie Forehand, Washington Phillips and others. c. 1927 or earlier.

"(Holy, Holy,) Holy Is His Name" is gospel, performed by Talbot and others. Claimed by him, but earlier.

"Ezekiel Saw the Wheel" is an old spiritual, several versions.

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 01 Dec 08 - 05:34 PM

I'll Never Forsake You was recorded by teh Carters in 1940 for Okeh.
Need some help on the source: Anyone?

I'll Never Forsake You- Carter Family

I am so happy that you love no other but me
All of my life I've tried to win your love you see
And I still wonder if you will be happy with me
When we are married and I've taken you my wife to be

I have waited so long for the words you just said
I always thought that you loved another instead
But you have told me with your own sweet lips so red
And I am waiting for the day when we shall wed

If you should ever forsake me my love I would pray
Take me to my maker up in heaven where white angels stay
Cause I could never go on living without you this way
If we have to part I'd rather you take me today

No, no I'll never forsake you I'll always be true
And we'll be happy together because I love you
And when I think of us parting sweetheart it runs through my head
If we can't be happy together my love I would rather be dead

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 01 Dec 08 - 06:51 PM

I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes is one of the Carters well known songs, the melody has been used for many other songs.

From the notes by the well known scholar, Charles K. Wolfe: "I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes" is another Carter song that became a standard, echoing down through the years in country music. One historian has called it "the best known melody in country music," and it has been used for everything from Roy Acuff's "Great Speckled Bird" to Kitty Wells' "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky-Tonk Angels." Sara and Maybelle both recalled that they had known the song all their lives, certainly it shows up in dozens of folksong collections, and prior to the Carter version had been recorded by Welby Toomey (a Kentucky singer), Earl Johnson (a Georgia fiddler), the Stoneman Family (from the Galax, Virginia, area), and others -- though none of them actually used A.P.'s title."

"Thrills I Can't Forget" "Blue Eyes" and "In the Shadow of the Pines" are some other titles. It's been collected as "Broken Ties." Another song with the same melody is "Great Speckled Bird."

Teh song was recorded by The Carter Family on February 14, 1929 also again for Bluebird in 1941.

I'm Thinking Tonight Of My Blue Eyes

Would been better for us both had we never
In this wide and wicked world had never met
For the pleasure we both seen together
I am sure, Love, I'll never forget


Chorus: Oh, I'm thinking tonight, of my blue eyes
Who is sailing far over the sea
Oh, I'm thinking tonight, of my blue eyes
And I wonder if he ever thinks of me


Oh, you told me once, Dear, that you loved me
You said that we never would part
But a link in the chain has been broken
Leaves me with a sad and aching heart


Chorus


When the cold, cold grave shall enclose me
Will you come, Dear, and shed just one tear
And say to the strangers around you
A poor heart you have broken lies here.


Chorus

Subject: Lyr Add: BROKEN-HEARTED LOVERS
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 01 Dec 08 - 08:44 PM

"I'm Thinking tonight of my blue eyes"-
The Frank C. Brown Collection of North Carolina Folklore, vol. 2, Folk Ballads, has three examples of "Broken Ties," No. 156, coll. c. 1915, c. 1923, and 1930; the earliest titled "The Broken Engagement." Only the 1930 version mentions 'Blue Eyes," and probably was taken in part from the Carter song. All have the first verse with 'wide, wicked world'. Vol. 3 for some reason does not have the melodies.

The chorus "When the cold, cold clay is laid upon me," in the first example in Brown, is the title of an old song sung by Sloane and Threadgill on Brunswick 100 Series, 299, DAL 695, recorded about Oct. 1928. The record appeared in a Brunswick add in the Charleston Gazette, May 12, 1929.
The Carters changed this to "When the cold, cold grave shall enclose me."

An interesting version from Montana, called a campfire song.

BROKEN-HEARTED LOVERS

Once you said that you always would love me,
And that no one could e'er come between,
Though it's long, long ago since you told me
Yet these words in my memory are green.

'T would have been better for us both had we never
In this wide wicked world had never met;
But the pleasures we've both had together,
I am sure we can never forget.

How sadly my heart yearns towards you
Although distance has thrown us apart;
Do you love me as well as when you held me
Long ago, folded close to your heart.

Now farewell, all my hopes have departed,
I will struggle through life until death;
But alas! you have left me broken-hearted,
And your vows shall implore my last breath.

When my cold, cold grave has surrounded,
Won't you come, love, and shed just one tear;
Will you say to the strangers around you,
That a heart you have broken lies here.

Wish I had a better link. I have seen this version elsewhere, but the title escapes me.
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=64415831&blogID=2904574

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: GUEST,JFO
Date: 01 Dec 08 - 09:59 PM

I am a musician and folklorist with a strong interest in song origins and the history of how the copyright process has been abused when it comes to "folk" music. The Carter Family collection of songs is a great case study. And this is a great thread. (I also recommend the book "Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone" which provides some general info on A.P. approach to song catching.

To my knowledge, the only song that A.P. Carter may actually have written from scratch is Little Darling Pal of Mine – and that is disputed by some, and there are similar songs. (But let's be honest, you can't write a "new" folk song that isn't similar to some old ones.)

However, the work A.P. did on many of the songs in changing the melody, form, and lyrics, along with the distinctive arrangements that the CF recorded, unquestionably qualify them as copyright holders under current copyright law. (Whether that law is fair or well-defined enough is another discussion!)

Versions of many of these songs that we musicians have heard are almost undoubtedly descended from the Carter Family recordings and we would be hard pressed to record our derivative versions and claim we should not be required to pay royalties because we read that there were versions extant prior to the Carter Family recordings.

On the other hand, many of the Carter Family tunes were merely assimilated by the trio and the estate hold the copyrights only because there was no one to object at the time. (Prior to the mass marketing of phonograph recordings of folk and country music and the corresponding royalties, holding such copyrights wouldn't have been worth the effort necessary to secure them.)

Sometimes the copyright/public domain decision can be amazingly trivial. (If you sing "Can the circle be unbroken" it's PD, but if you sing "Will the circle" it's not?) And the copyright holders have all the clout – they have the lawyers and legal apparatus to make life miserable for any recording artist/producer/record label/disc presser/etc. Their goal – and they are successful – is to make it easier to pay the royalties than to risk a legal battle.

I have dealt with this issue in performing in restaurants that have no ASCAP/BMI/Sesac license and therefore are restricted to traditional, public domain, and original material. Trust me, the ASCAP and BMI agents don't care, if they here a song that has the same title as one in their catalog (and most folk songs have published/licensed arrangements) they will try to intimidate the restaurant owner by threatening a legal action if they don't purchase a license. (Try telling a business owner that you'll play a weekly gig for $150 a week but the three music licenses he needs might cost him twice that!)

I recently recorded a CD of songs that were popular in the year 1964 in Greenwich Village during the folk revival (I refuse to call it a "scare") and I could tell you a story about almost every song. Let me share just a few:

House of the Risin' Sun – Obviously PD, right? Not if you use the notes in the organ run the Animals used for their recording. And there are several other arrangements that are copyrighted as well. So take your pick. Yet the song is traditional and my version qualified as PD.

Statesboro Blues – Attributed to Willie McTell (although he may have picked it up from someone else) and there is a copyright in his name. But wait, the version I perform is most like one I heard Taj Mahal do back in the 60's and he holds a copyright on that arrangement.

Black Eye Blues – An old MA Rainey and Tampa Red song from 1920. So its PD, right? Well, the version I sing is one I heard Judy Henske do in 1964. To get a new copyright (and maybe to make the song acceptable for television) her producer changed the title to "Low Down Alligator" and changed one line in the lyrics form "catch you with your britches down" to "catch you with your socks rolled down." I chose to use Ma Rainey's original (?) version and lyrics.

Don't Think Twice, It's Alright – Easy, a Dylan tune, right? Well, sort of. Dylan actually stole the tune from his pal Paul Clayton who performed a song called "Who's gonna buy your chickens when I'm gone" while on an Appalachian song catching field trip. Paul changed the words to "Who's gonna buy your ribbons when I'm gone" to give it a more city-like feel. Dylan came up with new words and Witmark (the publisher) didn't even give Paul co-billing. Paul was ticked, so to make it up to him Dylan took him on his concert tour that year. For Clayton it might have been a case of bad karma, for he had stolen a song a few years before (Gotta' Travel On) that he had no role in writing and made quite a bit off the royalties after several artists recorded it.

Making the whole copyright thing even more complicated is that some songs that were copyrighted weren't renewed in a timely fashion and therefore are technically PD. (But unless you're planning to press at least 10,000 CD's the effort to establish this fact about any given song will be more costly than the royalties.

My advice? If you perform a song version that is derived from a song and arrangement that was printed and/or published in 1922 or before, list it as public domain. Otherwise go to the Harry Fox web site and "pay the man."

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 02 Dec 08 - 08:38 AM

Thanks Q and Guest JFO,

There's several sections in the Carters biography "Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone" that detail A.P.'s song collecting and arranging. There is also information about specific songs. The book doesn't dfetail info about the songs as we have done here.

Since there are muliple versions of many of the Carters songs by different recording artists of the 1920s and 30s legally performing and recording the Carters songs isn't a problem and long as you don't take their exact version (arrangement). You can use their arrangement if it's closely alligned to earlier arrangements (this is especially true if the lyrics are teh same as sheet music from say the 1880s).

Some of their songs where their arrangements are unique or no earlier versions can be found should not be used without giving them credit.

The issue is: they don't own the songs just their arrangements and only when the arrangements are unique.

Richie

Subject: Lyr Add: I'M WORKING ON A BUILDING
From: Richie
Date: 02 Dec 08 - 10:37 AM

"I'm Working on a Building" came from black gospel sources. The Carters learned their version from gospel singer Pauline Gary from Kingsport who was a friend of Leslie Riddle. The Carters also learned "On a Hill Lone and Gray," and "On My Way To Cannan's Land" from her.

Here's the earliest printed lyrics:

"WORKIN' ON THE BUILDING" recorded in Odum & Johnson, The Negro and His Songs (1925, p. 72).

If I wus a sinner man, I tell you what I'd do,
I'd lay down all my sinful ways an' work on the building too.

I'm workin' on the building fer my Lord,
Fer my Lord, fer my Lord,
I'm workin' on the building fer my Lord,
I'm workin' on the building, too.

If I wus a gamblin' man, I tell you what to do,
I'd lay down all my gamblin', an' work on the building, too.

If I was a 'ho'-munger, I tell you what to do,
I'd lay down all my munglin' and work on the building, too.

I'M WORKING ON A BUILDING- Carter Family

                   I'm working on a building
                   I'm working on a building
                   I'm working on a building
                   For my lord, for my lord
                   It's a holy ghost building
                   It's a holy ghost building
                   It's a holy ghost building
                   For my lord, for my lord

               If I was a liar
               I tell you what I would do
               I would quit my lying
               And work on the building too

                   I'm working on a building
                   I'm working on a building
                   I'm working on a building
                   For my lord, for my lord
                   It's a holy ghost building
                   It's a holy ghost building
                   It's a holy ghost building
                   For my lord, for my lord   [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

               If I was a drunkard
               I'll tell you what I would do,
               I would quit my drinking
               And work on the building too

                   I'm working on a building
                   I'm working on a building
                   I'm working on a building
                   For my lord, for my lord
                   It's a holy ghost building
                   It's a holy ghost building
                   It's a holy ghost building
                   For my lord, for my lord   [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]
               
               If I was a preacher
               Tell you what I would do,
               I would keep on preaching
               And work on the building too

                   I'm working on a building
                   I'm working on a building
                   I'm working on a building
                   For my lord, for my lord
                   It's a holy ghost building
                   It's a holy ghost building
                   It's a holy ghost building
                   For my lord, for my lord

Subject: Lyr Add: IF ONE WON'T ANOTHER ONE WILL
From: Richie
Date: 02 Dec 08 - 11:36 AM

If One Won't Another One Will is known as "Lonesome (Stormy) Scenes of Winter, The" [Laws H12]. The song was collected by Belden in 1904. It's referenced to October, 1887 by Meade and appeares in Wehman's Collection of Songs.

If anyone has either the Belden or Wehman lyrics please post them. Here is a list of collections:

Belden, pp. 195-196, "The Lonesome Scenes of Winter" (1 text)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 136-137, "The Lonesome Scenes of Winter (All in the Scenes of Winter" (1 text)
Wyman-Brockway II, p. 94, "The Gonesome [sic] Scenes of Winter" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dean, pp. 108-109, "Lonesome Hours of Winter" (1 text)
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 156-157, "The Stormy Scenes of Winter" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 57, "The Lonesome (Stormy) Scenes of Winter" (1 text, 1 tune)
McNeil-SFB1, pp. 127-129, "Lonesome Scenes of Winter" (1 text, 1 tune)
Shellans, pp. 38-39, "The Scornful Lover" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 209-212,"Stormy Winds of Winter" (4 texts, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 50, "The Stormy Winds of Winter" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Peacock, pp. 445-446, "Flora" (1 text, 1 tune)

Some recordings:

Lewis McDaniel & Walter Smith: "I Went to See My Sweetheart" (Victor 23505, 1930; on ConstSor1)
Southern Melody Boys, "Lonesome Scenes of Winter" (Montgomery Ward 7227, 1937)

IF ONE WON'T ANOTHER ONE WILL- Carter Family 1932

I went one Sunday evening
My true love for to see
I asked her to marry
And she would not answer me [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

The night is almost spent
It is nearer the break of day
I'm waiting for an answer
Oh, what will you say [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Kind sir, if I must tell you
I'd choose the single life
I never thought it suited
For me to be your wife [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

In the course of six weeks later
This lady's mind did change
She wrote me a letter
Kind sir, I feel ashamed [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

I feel as though I slighted you
I cannot hear you mourn
So here is my heart, come take it
And claim it as your own [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

I wrote her back an answer
And sent it back in speed
I own that once I did love you
I loved you dear indeed [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

But then my mind has changed me
I seek another way
Upon some pretty fair maiden
My heart will have its sway [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Upon some pretty fair maiden
My heart shall have its fill
This world is wide and lonely
If one won't another one will

Subject: Lyr Add: THE LONELY SCENES OF WINTER (Belden)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 02 Dec 08 - 12:59 PM

Lyr. Add: THE LONELY SCENES OF WINTER
Sung by Tom Waters, 1904

1
Lonesome seems the winter
The chilling frost and snow;
Dark clouds around me hover;
The wind has ceased to blow.
2
I went the other evening
My true love for to see.
I asked her if she would marry me;
She would not answer me.
3
The little birds sing sweetly
Among every bush and vine.
My joys would be doubled
If only you were mine.
4
The chickens are a-crowing,
It's almost break of day.
I'm waiting for an answer;
Kind love, what will you say?
5
'If it is you that I must answer,
I choose a single life;
For I never thought it suited
For me to be your wife.
6
'So take this for an answer,
And for yourself provide.
For I have found a new sweetheart
And you are cast aside.'
7
About six weeks or more,
The lady's mind did change;
She wrote to me a letter,
Saying, 'Kind sir, I feel ashamed.
8
'I feel that I've forsaken you;
I cannot bear in mind.
So here's my heart, come take it
And claim it as your own.'
9
I wrote her back an answer,
I sent it off in speed;
'I loved you once, my darling,
I loved you once, indeed;
10
'But since you proved false-hearted
I've learned to love again.
I've found a new sweetheart
And you may do the same.'

Belden notes that the song has been found in Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Minnesota as well as in Missouri.
The version above: "No title, Taken down in 1904 by W. S. Johnson from the singing of Tom Waters, fiddler, in Tuscumbia, Miller County [MO]."
"A Newfoundland song, "Proud Nancy (FSN 47-51), has a like theme but little verbal resemblance." [Not in Peacock]

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 02 Dec 08 - 01:11 PM

"Lonesome Seems the Winter" collected also in Alabama: No. 3, pp. 47-48 with musical score. Coll. in 1952, but the singer "thinks she has been singing it for some forty years." Changes in some verses.
Ray B. Browne, 1979, "The Alabama Folk Lyric: A study ...," Bowling Green Univ. Press.

Subject: Lyr Add: IN A LITTLE VILLAGE CHURCHYARD
From: Richie
Date: 02 Dec 08 - 06:11 PM

Thanks Q,

In a Little Village Churchyard was recorded in 1936 by the Carters.

Meade seperates the Carters song from a song with same title we can call "In a Little Village Churchyard- II" which is known as "Mother's Grave." It's from "Since My mother's Dead And Gone" by Phil Mowrey, Harry Percy. The other song is also known as "Old Village Churchyard" and "Since My Mother's Dead and Gone." The song was rewritten by Carson Robison in 1926.

Lomax collected it as "In this Old Gray Village Churchyard"
The Carters song is about a lover that's died, the other song is about a mother that's died. The Carters song is based on another song-what is it? I'd like to see other versions if anyone has them.


IN A LITTLE VILLAGE CHURCHYARD
Carter Family Original

In a little village churchyard
There I see a grassy mound
There my sweetheart lies a-sleeping
In the cold and silent ground

Gently waves the weeping willow
Birds, they warble sweet and low
And there's no one left to love me
Since my sweetheart had to go

    In that little village churchyard
    There I stray with a broken heart
    There is no one left to love me
    Since the day we had to part
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

That sad day will I remember
When she called me to her side
How I watched her spirit fading
And the tears did blind my sight

Then she said, goodbye, my darling
Dry those teardrops from your eyes
Promise me, my little darling
That you'll meet me up on high

    In that little village churchyard
    There I stray with a broken heart
    There is no one left to love me
    Since the day we had to part
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Oft I've wandered to the graveyard
Flowers to plant with tender care
O'er the grave of my dear darling
Darkness finds me weeping there

Subject: Lyr Add: VILLAGE CHURCHYARD
From: Richie
Date: 02 Dec 08 - 06:50 PM

Here's a version by Roscoe Holcomb from the DT:

VILLAGE CHURCHYARD
From Roscoe Holcomb's "The High Lonesome Sound". It states that the hymn is from "The Old Baptist Songbook"

In a dear old village churchyard
I can see a mossy mound
That is where my mother's sleeping
In the cold and silent ground

There in a weeping willow
Sweet little bird to sing at dawn
It's I've no one left to love me
Since my mother's dead and gone

I was young but I remember
Well the night my mother died
There I saw her spirit fading
When she called me to her side

Saying darling I must leave you
And God's voice to lead you on
Pray that we may meet in heaven
Where your mother's dead and gone

Oft I've wandered to the churchyard
Flowers to plant with tender care
On the grave of my dear mother
Darkness finds me weeping there

Looking at the stars above me
Waiting for the early dawn
There by mother I'll be buried
And no more be left alone

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 02 Dec 08 - 07:25 PM

Apparently the song is "In That Dear Old Village Churchyard" from Primitive Baptist Hymn Book and Tune Book (1918) compiled by Elder John Daily.

Anyone have access to that?

Subject: Lyr Add: IN THE SHADOW OF CLINCH MOUNTAIN
From: Richie
Date: 02 Dec 08 - 08:38 PM

In the Shadow of Clinch Mountain was recorded in NYC in 1937. According to the Carters biography Sara sang the song to Jeanette, whether it's Sara's song or A.P.'s song and if it's based on another song I don't know. It seems like it could be a Carter original.

Anyone?

IN THE SHADOW OF CLINCH MOUNTAIN- Carter Family

Oh, I grew up on the side of Clinch Mountain
'Mid the beauty and the wonders of the woods
Where sweet songs from the bright, sunny fountain
And the warbles of the birds I understood

Then I asked how this green, lofty mountain
In the cavern of the lonely desert stood
Said the songs of the bright, sunny fountain
We are given by the waters of His love

    When I've sung my last song in the evening
    And the sun sets in the golden west
    All the scenes of this world I'll be leaving
    In the shadow of Clinch Mountain I will rest

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Through the gates I have passed now from childhood
O'er the railways to the valley of the west
Singing songs of the Clinch Mountain wildwood
Songs neighbors sang and birds still sang the best

    When I've sung my last song in the evening
    And the sun sets in the golden west
    All the scenes of this world I'll be leaving
    In the shadow of Clinch Mountain I will rest
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Long ago stood the oaks and the cedars
Singing sweetly in a whisper of the past
Stand they not now, those great towering leaders
Nor the fountain where their crystal gleams are cast

    When I've sung my last song in the evening
    And the sun sets in the golden west
    All the scenes of this world I'll be leaving
    In the shadow of Clinch Mountain I will rest

Subject: Lyr Add: IN A LITTLE VILLAGE CHURCHYARD
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 02 Dec 08 - 08:58 PM

The song is around in several versions. From Wolf Folklore Collection (post-Carter, but?); 1st part the same, but the rest is different. The "weeping willow" is absent.

IN A LITTLE VILLAGE CHURCHYARD
(My Mother's Grave)

In a little village churchyard,
There I see a grassy mound.
There my mother lies a-sleeping
In the cold and silent ground.
She was sweet and kind and tender,
But oh, those tears I cannot drive away.
Oh, I never can forget her,
For I think of her each day.

Bright the flowers bloom around her,
When the warblers sing their song.
Still I sit so sad and lonely
Since my mother's dead and gone.
I was young, but I remember
That sad day my mother died.
And I set there softly weeping
When she called me to her side.
Then she told me she was going
To where the angels sit upon the throne,
And I know we'll meet in Heaven
When life's troubled race is done.

Mrs. Alice Isringhouse, Holly Grove, AK, 1959.

http://www.lyon.edu/wolfcollection/songs/isringhousein1244.html

Just noted that they had "Baptist Monophonic and Heterophonic Hymnody in Southern Appalachia," an article readable through JSTOR which mentions the song. Is that legal? This is in reference to "Primitive Baptist Hymn Book and Tune Book," 1918, compiled by John Daily ($20-$25 at Abebooks). The article by William Talmadge is in "Anuario Interamericano de Investigacion Musical" vol. 11, 1975.


From "The Kentucky," Clark and Spelman:
"In all American music, there is no more downright melancholy than is to be found in the wailing chant of "The Village Churchyard." The ballad recites a long grief-stricken tale of a lone orphan child wringing its pale hands beside a mother's grave. The child moans:

In that dear old village churchyard,
I can see a grassy mound;
That is where my mother's sleeping,
In the cold and silent ground."

I can't tell if the authors are quoting from an old song or a 1930s cluster.

Subject: Lyr Add: IN THE VALLEY OF THE SHENANDOAH
From: Richie
Date: 02 Dec 08 - 11:20 PM

In the Valley of the Shenandoah is another song that has virually no information about any source that I could find. Without more info we can just assume it's a song by AP Carter. Anyone?

Harry Fox Agency says the legal name of the song is "In the Valley of the Shenandoa," and the songwriter is A.P. Carter. Publisher is APRS, and the contact is Peermusic, www.peermusic.com.

IN THE VALLEY OF THE SHENANDOAH- Recorded Oct 14, 1941


As I sit alone tonight in the stillness of the night
I picture happy scenes of long ago
Of a maiden fair and bright who is seeping there tonight
In the valley of the Shenandoah Ridge

It was in the month of June when the roses were in bloom
When I held her in my arms and softly said
"Darling, in the coming spring I'll be coming back again
To the valley of the Shenandoah Ridge"

[INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

When I left her all alone in her Shenandoah home
She promised she'd be waiting there for me
But the angels came along and took her from our home
From the valley of the Shenandoah Ridge

It was in the month of June when the roses were in bloom
When I held her in my arms and softly said
"Darling, in the coming spring I'll be coming back again
To the valley of the Shenandoah Ridge"

[INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

When the evening shadows fall, in memory I recall
The pledge when I gave to her a ring
"Darling in the coming spring I'll be coming back again
To the valley of the Shenandoah Ridge"

It was in the month of June when the roses were in bloom
When I held her in my arms and softly said
"Darling, in the coming spring I'll be coming back again
To the valley of the Shenandoah Ridge"

Subject: Lyr Add: IT IS BETTER FARTHER ON
From: Richie
Date: 03 Dec 08 - 10:34 AM

It Is Better Farther On could be be based on the popular anonymous poem "A Song of Hope" also called "Farther On."

I hear it singing, sweetly singing,
Softly in an undertone;
Singing as if God had taught it,
"It is better farther on."


"It Is Better Farther On" is also a song found in The Evangelists' Songs of Praise, No. 2 By C. V. Strickland 1892

http://books.google.com/books?id=m-yRR4QMjC8C&pg=PA54&dq=%22It+Is+Better+Farther+On%22&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html

Clearly there are similarities. The Carters clearly is a rewrite of an older existing song (or songs):

Check out the Carters 3rd verse with this found as early as 1836:

I. Say, young soldier, are you weary
Of the roughness of the way?
Does your heart begin to fail you,
And your vigor to decay?

http://books.google.com/books?id=XvB0ERB2iHIC&pg=PA16&dq=And+your+vigor+to+decay&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html

It's almost exactly the Carter's third verse.

IT IS BETTER FARTHER ON- Carter Family

As we travel through the desert
Storms beset us by the way
But beyond the river Jordan
Lies a field of endless day


Farther on, still go farther
Count the milestones one by one
Jesus will forsake you never
It is better farther on

Oh my brother are you weary
Of the roughness and the way
Does your strength begin to fail you
And your vigor to decay

At my grave, o still be singing
Though you weep for one that's gone
Sing it as we once did sing it
It is better farther on

Subject: Lyr Add: IT IS BETTER FARTHER ON
From: Richie
Date: 03 Dec 08 - 11:01 AM

This is the song. We saw in the last post that other verses came from other gospel songs.

IT IS BETTER FARTHER ON (1877) Trad. Arranged by L. Thompson (1911)

Hark! I hear Hope sweetly singing
Softly in an undertone,
Singing as if God had taught her,
"It is better farther on."

Night and day I hear her singing—
Singing while I sit alone,
Singing so my heart may hear it,
"It is better farther on."

When my faith took hold on Jesus,
Light divine within me shone,
And I know since that glad moment,
"It is better farther on."

I have plunged into the fountain,
Flowing free for everyone;
I am saved and Hope is singing,
"It is better farther on."

Farther on, but how much farther?
Count the milestones one by one;
No, no counting, only trusting—
"It is better farther on."

Rest, my soul, in hope forever,
all my doubts and fears are gone;
Jesus is my Savior, Keeper—
"It is better farther on."

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 03 Dec 08 - 11:25 AM

In the Valley of the Shenandoah" shares much with "When the Roses Were in Bloom," Bascom Lamar Lunsford, recorded for the American Folklife Center in 1935.

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 03 Dec 08 - 09:04 PM

Q,

Please post some or all of Lunsford's lyrics. I don't have them. Somewhere I have his book, are they in his book?

Richie

Subject: Lyr Add: IT'LL AGGRAVATE YOUR SOUL
From: Richie
Date: 03 Dec 08 - 09:25 PM

It'll Aggravate Your Soul is a song, according to the Carter's Biography, that was written entirely by A.P. Carter even tho the first verse appears to be based on other lyrics.

It's one of the few songs AP sang solo and it was written during the time when he and Sara were seperated.

IT'LL AGGRAVATE YOUR SOUL Carter family- 1934

          Come all of you people take warning from me
          Don't take no girl to Tennessee
          For if you get married and don't agree
          It'll aggravate your soul

          We left Maces early in the night
          Expect to get married before daylight
          So many things happened to hinder our flight
          It aggravated my soul

          Arrived at The Bristol at 11 o'clock
          The parson was there right on the spot
          We found that the license had been forgot
          It aggravated my soul

          We went for the license in an automobile
          Run so fast couldn't see the wheel
          No on can explain how bad I did feel
          It aggravated my soul

          We stayed all night at The Bristol Hotel
          Just to make folks think we were swell
          Next morning they put it in the Bristol Herald
          It aggravated my soul

          And when the new style books comin' around
          She begins to get ready to go to town
          You know right then she's milliner shop bound
          It'll aggravate your soul

          She wants a new coat and a hobble skirt
          And you can't get in for the young un's and dirt
          And when she gets out, oh how she will flirt
          It'll aggravate your soul

          And when depressions gather round your head
          You'll think of what your dear old mother said   
          With a pain in you back and heart and head
          It'll aggravate your soul

          Now young men take warning from me
          Don't take no girl to Tennessee
          For if you get married and don't agree
          It'll aggravate your soul

Subject: Lyr Add: IT'S A LONG, LONG ROAD TO TRAVEL ALONE
From: Richie
Date: 03 Dec 08 - 10:05 PM

It's a Long Long Road to Travel Alone is a song attributed to Maybelle Carter.

In 1931 the copyright office registered "It's a long road to travel alone" words and music by BAD [pseud of Mrs. WH Do France]. Anyone know about this song?

IT'S A LONG, LONG ROAD TO TRAVEL ALONE- Carter Family 1940

I always thought I'd like to roam
One day I started alone
Out in this old wide wicked world
Away from friends and home

It's a long long road to travel alone
And when the day is gone
No place to pillow my head at night
Only on the cold cold stone

I've travelled around from town to town
Now it's time that I settled down
I've had my fill of rambling around
And now I am homeward bound

One day a letter came to me
And this is what it read
Come home my boy to the old homestead
Your father and mother are dead

It's been a long road to travel alone
I wish I had never roamed
I thought I'd soon see my mother and dad
But now I am left alone

Subject: Lyr Add: JEALOUS HEARTED ME
From: Richie
Date: 03 Dec 08 - 10:34 PM

Jealous Hearted Me is a blues recorded in 1936 by the Carters. See 12 Stringer's post above for Charley Lincoln [Hicks], "Jealous Hearted Blues," recorded in Atlanta for Columbia on 4 November 1927, mx 145103-2, released on Columbia 14305-D. Clearly this is a song the Carter's borrowed.

Charley Lincoln probably got his version from Ma Rainey's 1924 Jealous Hearted Blues. The song was copyrighted by Lovie Austin but the verses except for the first are traditional. Later the song was a rewrite hit with the title, "Evil Hearted Me."


Still more lyrics to "Jealous Hearted Me" come from recordings by Minnie Pearl, who squawked out this tune regularly:

You can have my coffee, you can have my tea
But just you let my feller be,
I"m jealous, jealous-hearted me
I'm just as jealous as I can be.

Now, I like victuals, sauerkraut
I take my mail on the rural route
I'm jealous,jealous-hearted me
I'm just as jealous as I can be.

Take your dominic rooster and your shanghai hen
Get a 'fer' piece away and don't you come again
I'm jealous, jealous-hearted me
I'm just as jealous as I can be.

JEALOUS HEARTED ME- Carter Family

Takes a rockin' chair to rock, takes a rubber ball to roll
Takes the man I love to satisfy my soul
Because I'm jealous, jealous hearted me
I said I'm jealous, jealous as I can be

Got a stove in the kitchen, and it bakes nice and brown
But I need a poppa to turn the damper down
Because I'm jealous, jealous hearted me
I said I'm jealous, jealous as I can be

You can have my money, you can have my home
But for goodness sakes, women, let my man alone
Because I'm jealous, jealous hearted me
I said I'm jealous, jealous as I can be

Gonna buy me a bulldog to watch while I sleep
To watch that man of mine on his midnight creep
Because I'm jealous, jealous hearted me
I said I'm jealous, jealous as I can be

Subject: Lyr Add: JIM BLAKE'S MESSAGE
From: Richie
Date: 03 Dec 08 - 11:44 PM

Jim Blake's Message was an event song from the king of the event song writers Carson Robison with Peter Condon- lyrics in 1927. Carson would put out a song immediately after some tragedy occured and his buddy and partner Vernon Dalhart would record the song. In this case the lyrics are based on a tradtional song from around 1900 that Condon knew.

The lyrics were first printed in a 1910 issue of "Railroad Man's Magazine" after a request for the lyrics in 1909.

The Carters probably added "Message" to the "Jim Blake" title to avoid copyright problems.

From Charles K. Wolfe: Jim Blake's Message is, according to Sara, from a ballet they got "out toward Kentucky." This performance, as well as a transcript and song history, is presented in Norm Cohen's 'Long Steel Rail: The Railroad in American Folksong.' His research has dated the song to the 1890s, but no one seems to know if it was based on a true experience or not. A.P. copyrighted his version of the song on January 5, 1938 - almost six months after he recorded it.

JIM BLAKE'S MESSAGE- The Carter Family, June 17, 1937

"Jim Blake, your wife is dying!"
Went over the wires tonight
The message was brought to the depot
By a lad all trembling with fright
He entered the office crying
His face was terribly white
"Send this message to dad and his engine
Mother is dying tonight!"

In something less than an hour
Jim's answer back to me flew
"Tell wife I'll be there at midnight
I'm praying for her too."
I left my son in the office
Took the message to Jim's wife
There found the dying woman
Was scarce of breath and life.

O'er hill and dale and valley
Thunders the heavy train
It's engine is sobbing and throbbing
And under a terrible strain
But Jim hangs on to his throttle
Guiding her crazy flight
And his voice cries out in the darkness
"God speed the Express tonight!"

I telephoned the doctor
"How is Jim's wife?" I ask
"About the hour of midnight
Is long as she can last!"
In something less than an hour
The train will be along
But here I have a message
Oh God, there is something wrong!

The message reads, "Disaster!
The train is in the ditch
The engineer is dying
Derailed by an open switch."
And there's another message
To Jim's wife it is addressed,
"I'll meet her at midnight in Heaven
Don't wait for the fast Express!"

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 03 Dec 08 - 11:59 PM

"When the roses were in bloom, Lunceford, 1935, is an index card at the library of Congress. I don't have the recording.

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 04 Dec 08 - 12:01 AM

Lunsford, that is.

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 04 Dec 08 - 04:11 AM

There are quite a few roses bloom songs like "When the roses bloom Again" etc. There are some that use the month of June when the roses were in bloom.

It's a possible angle, we need more. Anyone?

Subject: Lyr Add: JOHN HARDY WAS A DESPERATE LITTLE MAN
From: Richie
Date: 04 Dec 08 - 10:59 AM

Jimmie Brown, the Newsboy was refernced by Joy: Jimmie Brown (the paper boy) by William Shakespeare Hays in 1875.

Jimmie Rodgers Visits the Carter Family: The session began in Louisville, Kentucky on June 10, 1931 the whole group recorded their song-and-spoken-word skits "The Carter Family and Jimmie Rogers in Texas" and "Jimmie Rogers Visits The Carter Family." On June 12 the first skit was redone to its released form.

The first release by the two top Country recording artists for Victor was "Jimmie Rodgers Visits the Carter Family" backed by Rodgers "Moonlight and Skies." The single was a big success by post 1929 standards, selling 24, 000 copies. Curiously, the other songs from that session (except Jimmie's solo "Let Me Be Your Side Track") were released five years later, long after Rodgers was dead.

John Hardy Was a Desperate Little Man: was recorded by teh Carter Family in 1928 in one of their early session for Victor. The Carter Family version doesn't repeat the last lyric line, instead there is and instrumental verse.

The Carters version was the fourth recording of the song, preceeded by Eva Davis and local star Ernest Stoneman in 1925.

The song was collected in 1916 by Cecil Sharp. There is an excellent article by John Harrington Cox in the JOAFL. Here are some details about the history:

John Hardy was a black man working in the tunnels of West Virginia. In fact, as Alan Lomax remarks, "the two songs ["John Henry" & "John Hardy"] have sometimes been combined by folk singers, and the two characters confused by ballad collectors...."). One payday, in a crap game at Shawnee Coal Company's camp in what is today Eckman, WV, John Hardy killed a fellow worker. Lomax provides the following additional info- His white captors protected him from a lynch mob that came to take him out of jail and hang him. When the lynch fever subsided, Hardy was tried during the July term of the McDowell County Criminal Court, found guilty and sentenced to be hanged. While awaiting execution in jail, he is said to have composed this ballad, which he later sang on the scaffold. He also confessed his sins to a minister, became very religious, and advised all young men, as he stood beneath the gallows, to shun liquor, gambling and bad company. The order for his execution shows that he was hanged near the courthouse in McDowell County, January 19, 1894. His ballad appears to have been based upon certain formulae stanzas from the Anglo-Saxon ballad stock.... Alan Lomax, The Folk Songs of North America, Garden City, 1960, p. 264; lyrics on pp. 271-273.

JOHN HARDY WAS A DESPERATE LITTLE MAN

John Hardy, he was a desp'rate little man,
He carried two guns ev'ry day.
He shot a man on the West Virginia line,
An' you ought seen John Hardy getting away.

John Hardy, he got to the Keystone Bridge,
He thought that he would be free.
And up stepped a man and took him by his arm,
Says, "Johnny, walk along with me."

He sent for his poppy and his mommy, too,
To come and go his bail.
But money won't go a murdering case;
They locked John Hardy back in jail.

John Hardy, he had a pretty little girl,
That dress that she wore was blue
As she came skipping through the old jail hall,
Saying, "Poppy, I've been true to you."

John Hardy, he had another little girl,
That dress that she wore was red.
She followed John Hardy to his hanging ground,
Saying, "Poppy, I would rather be dead."

I been to the East and I been to the West,
I been this wide world around.
I been to the river and I been baptized,
And now I'm on my hanging ground.

John Hardy walked out on his scaffold high,
With his loving little wife by his side.
And the last words she heard poor John-O say,
"I'll meet you in that sweet bye-and-bye."

Subject: Lyr Add: JUST A FEW MORE DAYS
From: Richie
Date: 04 Dec 08 - 02:02 PM

Just a Few More Days is a gospel song. The idea may have come from the third verse of the 1903 gospel song "The Good Old-Fashioned Way".

"Just a few more steps to follow
Just a few more days to roam..."

There are refernces to it in The New Cokesbury Hymnal, Nashville (1928) edited by Charles C . Washburn:

"Just a few more days to be filled with praise, And to tell the...
Just a few more years with their toil and tears, And the journey..."

Hymns of Praise: For the Church and Sunday School by F. G. Kingsbury -Hymns, English - 1922 - page 15

Anyone find it in one of these or other hymnals?

JUST A FEW MORE DAYS- Carter Family 1938

Not so long ago one morning
Mother called me to her bed
Then she threw her arms around me
Listen to the words she said
Darling, I am going to leave you
But you'll not be left alone
Jesus will protect and shield you
After he has carried me home

    Just a few more days of sorrow
    Just a few more days of pain
    Just a few more days of cloudiness
    Just a few more days of rain
    Then I'm going to live with Jesus
    He has got a home prepared
    Then I'll join the holy angels
    Mother will be waiting there

Sometimes I am sorely tempted
Sometimes I am sorely tired
But to overcome I'm trying
Taking Jesus as my guide
Oh, sometimes the path seems rugged
But it only makes me pray
And I know if I keep trying
I'll see my mother some sweet day

    Just a few more days of sorrow
    Just a few more days of pain
    Just a few more days of cloudiness
    Just a few more days of rain
    Then I'm going to live with Jesus
    He has got a home prepared
    Then I'll join the holy angels
    Mother will be waiting there

Subject: Lyr Add: JUST ANOTHER BROKEN HEART
From: Richie
Date: 04 Dec 08 - 03:25 PM

"Just Another Broken Heart" is the Carter's arrangement of the folk song usually known as "Only Flirting," "Only a Broken Heart" or "She was Only Flirting."

Randolph collected the song as "She Said She Was Only Flirting" from
Elizabeth Waddell in 1927: Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume IV, Religous Songs and Others, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p272/#764. The singer said the song was a parody of a Longfellow poem:

http://books.google.com/books?id=g3JtLNe3nroC&pg=PA272&dq=She+Said+She+Was+Only+Flirting&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html

It was first recorded by Billy Vest in 1931 as "Oh Sir, I was Only Flirting."

It's related to the popular Sinful to Flirt songs [Laws G19] such as "Willie Down by the Pond" and has the same theme as "Juanita." If anyone has any other lyrics versions please post.

JUST ANOTHER BROKEN HEART- Carter Family 1936

They stood on the beach one evening
Out in the moonlight fair
'Twas a boy in the pride of manhood
And a girl in beauty rare

I never thought that you loved me
An innocent look of surprise
Crept out from beneath her lashes
And into those deep brown eyes

Oh, sir, I was only a-flirting
Only a-playing a part
Just another boy's life ruined
Just another broken heart

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Sir, I'm to be married this winter
Farewell, and she gave me her hand
And drawing a robe around her
She left me alone on the sand

She goes with a crowd, I'll pass her
Always bitter and cold
Just another boy grown weary
Just another boy grown old

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

There's a rose grows in your garden
White rose is the emblem of peace
And when I am dead, little darling
Plant that rose at my head and my feet

Oh, sir, I was only a-flirting
Only a-playing a part
Just another boy's life ruined
Just another broken heart

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 04 Dec 08 - 04:08 PM

There's a whole passel of flirting songs from the latter part of the 19th c. They got into folk usage very quickly. It's hard to tell which of them were the inspirations.
I think I will post a couple of them, but will start a thread so that they don't gum up the works here.

"Flirting on the Beach" words and music E. M. Hall, performed by Primrose and West, 1878, White Smith & Co., Boston, was a popular one.

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 04 Dec 08 - 06:35 PM

Well Q there weren't alot of beaches in the Appalachain mountains back then!

Obviously this started off as a parlor type song from the 1800s and "Flirting on the Beach" is a possible source.

R-

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 04 Dec 08 - 06:41 PM

Keep on the Firing Line is a Sounthern gospel song by Bessie F. Hatcher in 1915. It was recorded twice before the Carters 1941 recording.

Keep on the Sunny Side, the Carters theme song, was written by Ada Blenkhorn and J Howard Entwisle in 1899.

Subject: Lyr Add: KISSING IS A CRIME
From: Richie
Date: 04 Dec 08 - 07:16 PM

Kissing Is a Crime was recorded by the Carters in 1935. "I'll not Kiss You Anymore" was recorded in 1930 but unissued.

It was collected as a folk song in Alabama. http://books.google.com/books?id=ZG_VpWAciWsC&pg=PA166&dq=%22I+know+a+pretty+little+girl%22&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html

It resembles the Scottish song "Some Say that Kissing's a Sin" published in 1829. AP clearly changed "sin," a word he could't use, to "crime."

I KNOW A PRETTY LITTLE GIRL
Sung by Eunice Yeatts MacAlexander at her home in Meadows of Dan, Patrick County, VA. Eunice learnt it as a young girl from a neighbour's daughter, who may have picked it up from the Carter Family.

I know a pretty little girl,
And I want her for my wife.
She's neat, she's sweet, she's pretty little feet,
And she's never kissed a boy in her life.
I ask her for a kiss.
She says, 'You're such a beau.
I'll kiss you now, but I'll vow and declare,
I'll never do so anymore.'

'For I'm going to be a better girl,
And never kiss again.
For fear my momma might find it out,
And cause her, oh, such pain.'
'You may walk, you may talk,
You may hold my hand.
But kissing is a crime.
I never expect to kiss you again,
Until the next time.'

I went to see her the other day,
But I didn't go to stay.
She leaned her head upon my breast,
Saying, 'The old folks are far away.'
I kissed her a dozen times,
Till someone came to the door.
She kissed me then,
And there declared she'd never do so anymore.

Repeat verse 3 Repeat verse 4

KISSING IS A CRIME- Carter Family 1935

    I know a little girl
    And I want her for my wife
    She's pretty and sweet, and neat little feet
    Never been kissed in her life
    You can ask for a kiss
    She never got a beau
    And every time she vows and cries
    She'll never do so anymore

Going to be a better girl and never kiss again
Afraid my maw might find out and cause her great pain
You may walk and talk and hold my hand
But kissing is a crime
I'll not kiss you anymore until next time

      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

    I called at her house one night
    But I didn't intend to stay
    She laid her head on my shoulder and said
    The old folks are away
    I kissed her a dozen times
    Someone came to the door
    And every time she vows and declares
    She'll never do so anymore

Going to be a better girl and never kiss again
Afraid my maw might find out and cause her great pain
You may walk and talk and hold my hand
But kissing is a crime
I'll not kiss you anymore until next time

Subject: Lyr Add: KITTY WALTZ
From: Richie
Date: 04 Dec 08 - 07:29 PM

Kitty Waltz was recorded in 1929 by the Carters. The first country recording was Al Hopkins in 1926 which may have been the source. Anyone have Hopkins lyrics?

The instrumental versions were copyrighted by W. Henry Sayen in 1873 and R. Schwentzer as "Kittie Waltz in 1872.

KITTY WALTZ- Carter Family 1929

      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Waltz, Kitty, waltz, let everybody waltz
Waltz, Kitty, waltz, let everybody waltz
Waltz, Kitty, waltz, let everybody waltz
The guitars are ringing, come on and waltz

      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

The girls are singing, their guitars are ringing
Their steps are so neat, their music so sweet
Waltz, Kitty, waltz, let everybody waltz
The guitars are ringing, come on and waltz
      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Boys, come on and join our band
Their guitars are ringing, their music is grand
Waltz, Kitty, waltz, let everybody waltz
The guitars are ringing, come on and waltz

      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Waltz, Kitty, waltz, let everybody waltz
Waltz, Kitty, waltz, let everybody waltz
Waltz, Kitty, waltz, let everybody waltz
The guitars are ringing, come on and waltz

      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 04 Dec 08 - 08:43 PM

Let's try the L titles for the original Carter family:

Last Move for Me;
Lay My Head Beneath the Rose;
Let the Church Roll On;
Let's Be Lovers Again;
Little Black Train;
Little Darlin' Pal of Mine;
Little Girl (I Ever Cared About);
Little Joe;
Little Log Cabin by the Sea;
Little Log Hut in the Lane;
Little Moses; Little Poplar Log House on the Hill;
Lonesome for You;
Lonesome for You Darling;
Lonesome Homesick Blues;
Lonesome Pine Special;
Lonesome Valley;
Longing for Old Virginia;
Look Away from the Cross;
Look How This World Has Made a Change;
Lord, I'm in Your Care;
Lover's Farewell;
Lover's Lane;
Lover's Return;
Lulu Walls;

Anyone?

Subject: Lyr Add: THE LAST MOVE FOR ME
From: Richie
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 08:58 AM

Last Move for Me was recorded June 8, 1936 in NYC and is another gospel song teh Carters did by Herbert Buffum. "When I make My Last Move" was written by Herbert Buffum (1879-1939) around 1926.


THE LAST MOVE FOR ME- Carter Family

I've been traveling for Jesus so much of my life
Been traveling o'er land and on sea
But I'm planning on taking a trip to the sky
That will be the last move for me

    When I move to the sky up in heaven so high
    What a wonderful time that will be
    I'm ready to go, washed in Calvary's flow
    That will be the last move for me
      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

I've seen wonderful sights as I've traveled afar
How little, how empty they seem
When I make my last move to that city of gold
That will be the last move for me

    When I move to the sky up in heaven so high
    What a wonderful time that will be
    I'm ready to go, washed in Calvary's flow
    That will be the last move for me
      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Here I'm bothered with packing each time that I move
And carry a load in each hand
But I'll not need one thing that I've used in this world
When I move to that heavenly land

    When I move to the sky up in heaven so high
    What a wonderful time that will be
    I'm ready to go, washed in Calvary's flow
    That will be the last move for me
      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Everything that I'll need will be furnished up there
Not even my songbooks I'll bring
Or the precious old Bible that showed me the way
I'll not need when I stand by my King

    When I move to the sky up in heaven so high
    What a wonderful time that will be
    I'm ready to go, washed in Calvary's flow
    That will be the last move for me

When I make My Last Move- Herbert Buffum

I have been traveling for Jesus, so much of my life
I have been traveling on land and on sea
But I am counting on taking a trip to the sky
That will be the last move for me!

I have seen wonderful sights as I have traveled afar
But how little, how empty it will seem
When I make my last move to that City Of God
And behold what no vision could dream.

There will be prophets, who I will meet over there
Whose teachings have guided me right
I shall meet the Apostles and Jesus my Lord
I believe I shall know them at sight.

Here I am bothered with packing
And I carry a load in each hand
But I will not need one thing, I have used in this world,
When I move to that Heavenly Land.

When I move to the sky, up to Heaven on High,
What a wonderful trip that will be,
I am already to go
Washed in Calvary's flow,
That will be the last move for me!

Subject: Lyr Add: LAY MY HEAD BENEATH THE ROSE
From: Richie
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 09:12 AM

"Lay My Head Beneath the Rose" is a song the Carters did in 1936 that was made popular by Vernon Dalhart in 1926. "Lay My Head Beneath A Rose" was written by Ned Straight in 1879. Madison and Faulkenstein also published a version in 1897 which was published again in 1936 (1946) and surprisingly has copyright restrictions. The sheet music may have been reissued beacuse of the Carter or Dalhart recordings.

This is another example of a song with an invalid copyright. Both the Levy and Indiana sheet msuic will not dispaly the sheet music.

LAY MY HEAD BENEATH THE ROSE- Carter Family

Darling, clasp me to your bosom
As you did in days of yore
Lay your hand upon my forehead
'Ere I reach the golden shore

Life is from me fastly falling
Soon I'll be in sweet repose
When I'm gone 1 ask this favor
Lay my head beneath the rose

Darling, first you said you loved me
When you gave me hand and heart
There were roses on your cheeks, love
As we vowed we ne'er would part

One more kiss for I am going
Far beyond all earthly woe
May your life be like your cheeks, love
Covered with the blossomed rose

He has crossed the shadowed valley
Where the living waters flow
Love has answered all his pleading
And he sleeps in sweet repose

'Neath a grassy mound he's resting
Where the golden sunset glows
Love has answered all his pleading
And he sleeps in sweet repose

Subject: Lyr Add: LET THE CHURCH ROLL ON
From: Richie
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 09:30 AM

"Let the Church Roll On" is a spiritual that was popular in the 1920s was recorded first by the African-American group, the Norfolk Jubilee Quartet in 1926. It was recorded 5 times before the Carters 1931 Charlotte NC recording for Victor.

The Carters learned the song from Leslie Riddle and also through his friend gospel singer Pauline Gary from Kingsport.

LET THE CHURCH ROLL ON- Carter Family/Leslie Riddle

               Let the church roll on (My good Lord)
               Let the church roll on (Oh, my Lord)
               Turn him out (Turn him out)
               And let the church roll on

          There're gamblers in the church (My good Lord)
          And they won't do right (Oh, my Lord)
          What're you gonna do (Turn them out)
          And let the church roll on

                [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

               Let the church roll on (My good Lord)
               Let the church roll on (Oh, my Lord)
               Turn him out (Turn him out)
               And let the church roll on

          There're drunkards in the church (My good Lord)
          And they won't do right (Oh, my Lord)
          What're you gonna do (Turn them out)
          And let the church roll on
                [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

               Let the church roll on (My good Lord)
               Let the church roll on (Oh, my Lord)
               Turn him out (Turn him out)
               And let the church roll on

          There're members in the church (My good Lord)
          And they won't do right (Oh, my Lord)
          What're you gonna do (Take some new ones that could)
          And let the church roll on

               Let the church roll on (My good Lord)
               Let the church roll on (Oh, my Lord)
               Turn him out (Turn him out)
               And let the church roll on

Subject: Lyr Add: LET'S BE LOVERS AGAIN
From: Richie
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 09:51 AM

Let's Be Lovers Again is a song from Gussie Davis in 1893 titled, "Jack and May (Make Up and Be Lover's Again)".

It's been recorded as "Jack and May" as well as the "Let's be Sweet hearts/Lovers/Friends" titles. The Carters recorded their version in 1935.

LET'S BE LOVERS AGAIN- Carter Family

Jack and May
Sweethearts were they
They were engaged to be wed
Many a promise he made her
Many a love word he said
As most lovers do
They quarreled one night
She bid him not come anymore
She gave him his hat
Jack started away
But he lingered to stay at the door

Chorus: Tie up those broken cords
And lets be lovers again
Darling, you know I love you
To part would give me pain
Let us forget the past
And make up, my pet
Make up and be lovers again.

Years rolled by
Neither were wed
All of Jack's pleadings were vain
One quiet evening poor Jack was found dead
All through life in dismay
Two lives that have been wrecked
But she loves, oh, too late
She goes to his grave every day
She can't tell you why
But it seems to her cry
The wind seems to whisper and say

Subject: Lyr Add: LITTLE BLACK TRAIN
From: Richie
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 10:54 AM

Little Black Train is a tradition gospel song dating back to the late 1800s (Cohen) and was first recorded (4 times) in 1926 by the redoutable Rev. J.M. Gates and later by various hillbilly artists, including Henry and Emry Arthur in 1928. The Carters did not record it until 1935, and 2 copyrights (1935 and 1937) were taken out in the Carters' names!

The story of Hezekiah's bout with sickness, God's threat, Hezekiah's repentance, and Isaiah's promise of fifteen additional years of life is told in 2 Kings 20:1-11 (repeated almost verbatim inIsaiah 38) and briefly summarized in 2 Chronicles 32:24-26.

There are numerous versions in the DT so I'll just post the Carters and one by Dock Boggs that's not in the DT.

It was collected in 1922 by Brown. According to Dorothy Scarborough who printed a version in 1925:

"A more sinister aspect of train-arrival is in another Holy Roller song from Texas. The little black train here represents Death, and the passengers for whom seats are reserved appear not to be crowding eagerly about the ticket window. This train had no schedule, but, like other public carriers, is uncertain in its time arrival and departure. But a delay here brings forth no complaints against the management."

Other names include: "Gospel Train," "Gospel Train Is Coming"
"Death's Black Train Is Coming." "Little Black Train Is A-Comin'"

LITTLE BLACK TRAIN- Dock Boggs

God sent to Hezekiah
A message from on high,
"You better set your house in order,
For you must surely die."

He turned to the wall in weeping,
We see him there in tears,
He got his business fixed all right,
God spared him fifteen years.

There's a little black train a-coming,
Fix all your business right.
There's a little black train a-coming,
And it may be here tonight.

Go tell that ballroom lady
All dressed in the worldly pride
That death's dark train is coming,
Prepare to take a ride.

I see that train with engine
And one small baggage car.
Your idle thoughts and your wicked deeds
Will stop at the judgement bar.

There's a little black train a-coming,
Fix all your business right.
There's a little black train a-coming,
Prepare to take a ride.

That poor young man in darkness
Cared not for the gospel light
Till suddenly he heard the whistle blow
And the little black train in sight.

"Oh Lord, will you not spare me?
I see my wicked plight.
Have mercy, Lord, upon me,
Please come and set me right."

But death had fixed its shackles
Upon his soul so tight,
Before he got his business fixed
The little black train in sight.

There's a little black train a-coming,
Fix all your business right.
There's a little black train a-coming,
And it may be here tonight.


The Little Black Train- Carter Family

There's a little black train a comin'
Set your business right
There's a little black train a comin'
And it may be here tonight

Go tell that ball room lady
All dressed in the worldly pride
That death's dark train is coming
Prepare to take a ride

God said to Hezekiah
A message from on high
You better set your house in order
For you must surely die

He turned to the wall in weeping
We see him here in tears
He got his business fixed all right
God spared him fifteen years

We see that train with engine
And one small baggage car
Your idle thoughts and wicked deeds
Will stop at the judgment bar

That poor young man in darkness
Cares not for the gospel light
'Til suddenly he heard the whistle blow
And the little black train in sight

Have mercy on me lord
Please come and set me right
Before he got his business fixed
The train rolled in that night

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 10:56 AM

Subject: Lyr Add: LITTLE DARLING PAL OF MINE
From: Richie
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 12:41 PM

Little Darlin' Pal of Mine was recorded by the Caters in 1928 in their 2nd session for Peer and Victor. The melody is the spiritual "When The World's On Fire." It's also titled "Little Sweetheart Pal Of Mine" or "My Little Girl."

Apparently this is the song Woody Guthrie used for the melody of "This Land Is Your Land." Jimmie Rodgers covered the song when he visited with the Carter Family and they recorded together in 1931.

According to Maybelle, A.P. wrote the song. Clearly it's based on traditional lyrics and A.P. probably came up with the "little darlin' pal of mine" line, which essential makes the song his.

LITTLE DARLING PAL OF MINE- Carter Family 1928

                   My little darling, oh, how I love you
                   How I love you none can tell
                   In your heart you love another
                   Little darling pal of mine
                     [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

               Many a night while you lay sleeping
               Dreaming of your rambler's life
               Lay a poor boy brokenhearted
               Listening to the wind outside

                   My little darling, oh, how I love you
                   How I love you none can tell
                   In your heart you love another
                   Little darling pal of mine
                     [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

               Many a day with you I've rambled
               Countless hours with you I've spent
               Thought I had your heart forever
               But I found it only lent

                   My little darling, oh, how I love you
                   How I love you none can tell
                   In your heart you love another
                   Little darling pal of mine
                     [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

               There is just three things I wish for
               That's a casket, shroud, and grave
               When I'm dead, don't weep for me
               Just kiss those lips that you betrayed

                   My little darling, oh, how I love you
                   How I love you none can tell
                   In your heart you love another
                   Little darling pal of mine

Subject: Lyr Add: LITTLE LOG CABIN BY THE SEA
From: Richie
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 01:28 PM

Little Girl (I Ever Cared About)should be titled "The Only Girl (I Ever Cared About) and will be covered under Only Girl, The.

Little Joe was recorded by the Carters two times first as Darling Little Joe. The song is really the "Death of Little Joe" by Marsten in 1866. See info/lyrics above under Darling Little Joe.

Little Log Cabin by the Sea is based on "The Bible in the Cabin by the Sea" by W.C. Hapley in 1903. Hapley also wrote "We'll Meet Beyond the Grave." It was also recorded as "The Bible My Daddy Left to Me" by Whitey and Hogan.

Here's The Carter Family's "Little Old Log Cabin by the Sea" Vi 21074 which was recorded in Bristol, Tennessee, August 1, 1927. Reissued on The Carter Family 'Anchored in Love' Rounder CD 1064. Also reissued on Various Artists 'The Bristol Sessions' Country Music Foundation CD CMF-011-D.

LITTLE LOG CABIN BY THE SEA

There is a precious volume all finger-worn and holed
In that little log cabin by the sea
It is the old, old bible, more precious now than gold
'Tis the bible that my mother gave to me

'Tis the old, precious bible, blessed bible
That she read in the cabin by the sea (by the sea)
It's a precious, precious bible, a blessed, blessed bible
The bible that my mother gave to me

How often I have listened to the tempest howl and rave
Round that little log cabin by the sea
While mother read of Jesus who walked upon the wave
How Jesus calmed the storm in Galilee

'Tis the old, precious bible, blessed bible
That she read in the cabin by the sea (by the sea)
It's a precious, precious bible, a blessed, blessed bible
The bible that my mother gave to me

How often, oh how often she read the flowing word
Read the message from the precious word of God
They have told of faithful Daniel who trusted in the Lord
While she led me in the pathway that she trod

Tis the old, precious bible, blessed bible
That she read in the cabin by the sea (by the sea)
It's a precious, precious bible, a blessed, blessed bible
The bible that my mother gave to me

There is no other volume so precious as this book
It tells me how to live and how to die
It tells me of that city, oh wondrous, wondrous look
And that I'll meet the loved ones by and by

Tis the old, precious bible, blessed bible
That she read in the cabin by the sea (by the sea)
It's a precious, precious bible, a blessed, blessed bible
The bible that my mother gave to me

Subject: Lyr Add: THE LITTLE LOG HUT IN THE LANE
From: Richie
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 01:53 PM

Little Log Hut in the Lane is usally titled, "I'm Going From the Cottonfields" which is a song (Going From De Cottonfields) by Thomas Westendorf from 1879. It was recorded first by Frank Crummit then by Hugh Cross. The Carters or Peer surely changed the title to avoid copyright problems.

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?aasm:2:./temp/~ammem_8c06::@@@mdb=mcc,gottscho,detr,nfor,wpa,aap,cwar,bbpix,cowellbib,calb

Curiously the authors of the Carter biography Mark Zwonitzer and Charles Hirshberg got this wrong. They attribute the Carters "Little Log Hut in the Lane" to Hayes "Little Old log Cabin in the Lane," a different song. Oops!

THE LITTLE LOG HUT IN THE LANE- Carter Family

      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Mama says she don't want me
Because I'm getting old
Scared that I might freeze to death
The weather is so cold

If I live till night
I think I will try
When the moon goes down tonight
I'm going to say goodbye

    I'm going from the cotton field
    I'm going from the cane
    I'm going from that little log hut
    That stands down in the lane
      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Now I'm old and feeble
And I cannot see my way
Mama says I'm old and gray
And only in the way

I'm leaving the little log hut
The place I love to dwell
When the stars shine bright tonight
I'm going to bid farewell

    I'm going from the cotton field
    I'm going from the cane
    I'm going from that little log hut
    That stands down in the lane
      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

    I'm going from the cotton field
    I'm going from the cane
    I'm going from that little log hut
    That stands down in the lane
      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Subject: Lyr Add: LITTLE MOSES
From: Richie
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 02:18 PM

LITTLE MOSES is gospel ballad about story of Moses harmonized by G.R. Street circa 1871. The lyrics are traditional.

Collected by Belden as "Moses in the Bulrushes" in 1905. Randolph 662, "Little Moses" has 1 text. "By the Side of a River" is another title. If anyone has the Belden lyrics please post for comparison.

LITTLE MOSES- Carter Family 1929

Away by the river so clear, the ladies were winding their way
And Pharaoh's little daughter stepped down in the water
To bathe in the cool of the day

    Before it was dark she opened the ark
    And found the sweet infant was there
    Before it was dark she opened the ark
    And found the sweet infant was there

And away by the river so blue, the infant was lonely and sad
She took him in pity and thought him so pretty
And it made little Moses so glad

    She called him her own, her beautiful son
    And sent for a nurse that was near
    She called him her own, her beautiful son
    And sent for a nurse that was near
      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

And away by the river so clear, they carried the beautiful child
To his own tender mother, his sister and brother
Little Moses looked happy and smiled

    His mother so good done all that she could
    To rear him and teach him with care
    His mother so good done all that she could
    To rear him and teach him with care
      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

And away by the sea that was red, little Moses, the servant of God
While in him confided the sea was divided
As upward he lifted his rod

    The Jews they could cross while Pharaoh's host
    Was drowned in the waters and lost
    The Jews they could cross while Pharaoh's host
    Was drowned in the waters and lost

And away on the mountain so high, the last one that ever might see
While in his victorious, his hope was most glorious
He'd soon o'er the Jordan be free

    When his labors did cease he parted in peace
    And rested in the heavens above
    When his labors did cease he parted in peace
    And rested in the heavens above

Subject: Lyr Add: LITTLE MOSES
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 04:15 PM

The Carter song "Little Moses" is a combination with songs other than "Moses in the Bulrushes." Belden says that the "Moses in the Bulrushes" he collected in 1905 covers only the first half of the song reported from Tennessee by George Pullen Jackson from Tennessee.
Recorded from the singing of Miss W. A. Drumgoole as she remembered it sung in 1890 by Mr. Tate, stage driver from Beersheba to Beersheba Springs on Cumberland Mountain. The full text from Mrs. Maggie Haun (called "defective" by Jackson).
The Jackson text:

The ladies were wending their way
As Pharo's daughter stepped down to the water
To bathe in the cool of the day.
Before it was dark she opened the ark
And found that the sweet infant was there.

She took him in pity and thought him so pretty,
That made little Moses so glad.
She called him her own, her beautiful son,
And sent for a nurse that was near.

By the side of the river so clear
They *earned that beautiful child *sic
To his own tender mother, his sister and brother,
Little Moses looked happy and smiled.

His mother so good done all that she could
To hear [rear?] him and teach him with care.
Then away by the sea that was red
Stood Moses the servant of God.

While in him confided the deed [dead sea?] was divided
While upward he lifted his rod.
The Jews safely crossed while Pharo's host
Was drounded in the water and lost.

Then away to the mountain so high
Stood Moses with trembling an' awe,
With lightning and thunder, great signs and wonders,
While God was giving the law.
He wrote it down on two tables of stone
Before he returned to the sky.

Then away on the mountain so high
Stood the last one he ever might see.
While Isreal victorious, his hope was most gloriest,
Would soon over Jordan bbe free.
His neighbors did cease, he departed in peace,
And rest-es in heaven above.

George Pullen Jackson, 1937, "Spiritual Folk-Songs of Early America. Augustin NY.

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 05:59 PM

Thanks Q,

Here's the Randolph version of Little Moses online:

http://books.google.com/books?id=g3JtLNe3nroC&pg=PA97&dq=%22Little+Moses&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html

Richie

Subject: Lyr Add: LITTLE POPLAR LOG HOUSE ON THE HILL
From: Richie
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 06:18 PM

Little Poplar Log House on the Hill is a song the Carters covered that was done by the Callahan Brothers on August 16, 1934. The Carter Family recorded their version 6 years later.

Somehow this song is still attributed to A.P.

LITTLE POPLAR LOG HOUSE ON THE HILL- Carter Family 1940

Now kind friends I want to tell you
Of a little country home
It is made of poplar logs upon the hill
That's where father died and left us
When we were very young
And our mother kept us settled on he hill

CHORUS: When our days work on the farm was done
She'd would gather us around
She would have us get down on our little knees
She would pray for God to keep us
Through the night until next
In our little old poplar log house on the hill

Our father died a good man
Which we all would like to do
And I'm going there to see him some old day
When I'm get through with my singing
Lay my guitar by my side
Lord I want to play in heaven when I die

Subject: Lyr Add: LONESOME FOR YOU
From: Richie
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 06:33 PM

Lonesome for You is taken from the 1918 song "I Know What It Means To Be Lonesome" by Brockman and Vincent- words and Kendis- music.

LONESOME FOR YOU- Carter family

          Now I know what it means to be lonesome
          And I know what it means to be blue
          And I know what it means to be lonesome in dreams
          When there's someone missing you

          'Cause I've tried and I've tried since we've parted
          And there is no one know what I gone through
          I'd give all that I own just to have you back home
          'Cause I'm lonesome, lonesome for you

          My best friend left me this morning
          As the clock was striking four
          And the smiling face of my darling
          I may not see no more

          Now I know what it means to be worried
          To be all lonesome and blue
          For the one that I love so dearly
          Has turned her back on me

          Oh, my mind is full of sorrow
          And my hear is filled with pain
          And I feel so broken-hearted
          Won't you please come back again

          'Cause I've tried and I've tried since we've parted
          And there is no one know what I gone through
          I'd give all that I own just to have you back home
          'Cause I'm lonesome, lonesome for you

Subject: Lyr Add: LONESOME FOR YOU DARLING
From: Richie
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 07:30 PM

"Lonesome for You Darling" was recorded in 1940 by the Carters. I haven't been able to find the source yet. Anyone?

LONESOME FOR YOU DARLING- Carter Family

I am lonesome for you darling
Though from me you're far away
In a lonely little cottage
I am waiting day by day

Though you went away and left me
Left me alone in this old world
How it hurt me little darling
To hear you say those parting words

I can see you in the moonlight
Strolling down lover's lane
I know it's you I love my darling
Wont you take me back again

Do you think we could be happy
Do you think we could be true
To the one that's always loved you
No one loves you like I do

Wont you take me back my darling
So I can prove my love to you
If you'll accept me little darling
We will start our lives anew

I will take you back my darling
If you promise to be true
Let me look my little darling
In your loving eyes of blue

We are happy now together
In the moonlight all alone
And we'll settle down forever
In our little cottage home

Subject: Lyr Add: LONESOME HOMESICK BLUES
From: Richie
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 08:26 PM

Lonesome Homesick Blues is one of the few songs written by Maybelle Carter. According to the Carters biography she wrote the song when she was missing Eck, her husband. She also used a blues lick learned from Leslie Riddle.

LONESOME HOMESICK BLUES- Maybelle Carter

I've got the lonesome homesick blues
I've got them bad, babe, down in my shoes
I love someone there that I might lose
That's why I've got these old homesick blues

It makes me homesick to hear your name
And hold you, dear, in my arms again
I'm a-gonna ride that lonesome train
To the one I left in Maces Springs

      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

You told me once, dear, you loved me so
And it's on my mind everywhere I go
I'll soon be knowing if it is so
Or has your love for me grown cold

Oh, listen to that old lonesome train
It's a-gonna carry me back again
To the one that told me their love was true
I'll spend the rest of my days with you

      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

I've been away, babe, a long, long time
Now I'm riding down this old railroad line
And the one I love there I hope to find
To ease this lonesome blue heart of mine

Subject: Lyr Add: LONESOME PINE SPECIAL
From: Richie
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 09:05 PM

Lonesome Pine Special is a railroad song attributed to Sara Carter by
Janette Carter in a talk to a music class at Warren Wilson College. Janette is the daughter of Sara and A.P. Carter.

LONESOME PINE SPECIAL- Sara Carter

I was walking out this morning
With rambling on my mind
I am going to catch the special
That train called Lonesome Pine

You can hear the whistle blowin'
And she's coming down the line
That's the train I catch this morning
To ease my troubling mind

    Well, ah-le-ho, ah-le-ho-lay
    Well, ah-le-ho, ah-le-ho-lay
    Take me back to Texas
    Back to my old home

Oh, I'm weeping like a willow
And I'm mourning like a dove
There's a girl way out in Texas
That I know I really love

Oh, I'm going back to Texas
Where the lonesome coyotes whine
Where the longhorn cattle are roaming
'Round that cabin home of mine

    Well, ah-le-ho, ah-le-ho-lay
    Well, ah-le-ho, ah-le-ho-lay
    Take me back to Texas
    Back to my old home
      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Oh, give me back my rifle
Oh, give me back my gun
Give me back my home in Texas
And my rambling days are done

    Well, ah-le-ho, ah-le-ho-lay
    Well, ah-le-ho, ah-le-ho-lay
    Take me back to Texas
    Back to my old home

Subject: Lyr Add: LONESOME VALLEY
From: Richie
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 09:42 PM

Lonesome Valley, a spiritual from both white and black sources, was recorded by the Carters in 1930 and in 1935. The song was probably from Leslie Riddle but popular versions by both Dalhart and Jenkins had been circulating.

The earliest recording "That Lonesome Valley" was done in 1925 by the Jenkins Family. There's a blues version by Blind Willie McTell, "I Got to Cross the River of Jordan." Other names include:

You Got To Cross It Foh Yohself
Walk This Lonesome Valley
You've Got to Walk That Lonesome Valley
Hark of All
We Shall Walk Through the Valley
John the Baptist
You Got to Stand a Test

Certaintly the basic lyrics in different forms were part of the black culture before the Civil War. These lyrics are The Atlantic Monthly - 1864- Page 589:

Go down in de Lonesome Valley,
Go down in de Lonesome Valley, my Lord,
Go down in de Lonesome Valley,
To meet my Jesus dere !


LONESOME VALLEY- Carter Family

Everybody's got to walk this lonesome valley
We've got to walk it by ourselves
There's nobody here can walk it for us
We've got to walk it by ourselves

My father's got to walk this lonesome valley
He's got to walk it by himself
There's nobody here can walk it for him
He's got to walk it by himself

      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

My mother's got to walk this lonesome valley
She's got to walk it by herself
There's nobody here can walk it for her
She's got to walk it by herself

All sinners got to walk this lonesome valley
They've got to walk it by themselves
There's nobody here can walk it for them
They've got to walk it by themselves

      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Everybody's got to walk this lonesome valley
We've got to walk it by ourselves
There's nobody here can walk it for us
We've got to walk it by ourselves

Subject: Lyr Add: LONGING FOR OLD VIRGINIA
From: Richie
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 09:57 PM

Longing for Old Virginia was recorded by the Carters in 1934 and comes from Frank Root's 1915 song "I'm Longing for Old Virginia and You."

Here's a link:

http://books.google.com/books?id=AC05AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA13&dq=Longing+for+Old+Virginia&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html

LONGING FOR OLD VIRGINIA- Carter Family


'Mid the green fields of Virginia, dear I met you
Where the roses red and white around us grew
When I held you in my arms and gently kissed you
The robins sang the sweetest song we knew

I'm longing for old Virginia, for old Virginia and you
And I'm hoping the soul within you is longing for me too
To Virginia, just like the ivy, my heart clings ever true
And I reckon in the spring I'll bring a little ring
To old Virginia and you

Though tonight I'm far from you and old Virginia
I still love you as I did that day in June
And when springtime comes again to old Virginia
I'll build a little cottage just for two

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 10:29 PM

Having some computer prob- sorry. Had to post before my computer crashed.

"I'm Longing for Old Virginia and You" is by E. Clinton Keithley not Root who is the publisher

Here a better link:

http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/sheetmusic/devincent.do?&id=LL-SDV-233002&q1=LL-SDV-233002&sid=b44f347a88044020ea6f427033ac596a

Subject: Lyr Add: LOOK AWAY FROM THE CROSS
From: Richie
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 10:58 PM

Look Away from the Cross is based on "From the Cross To The Crown" by F.L. Eiland in 1895 (1901 by Meade). Professor FL Eiland, was a noted hymn writer whose "Hold to God's Unchanging Hands" became widely used in American churches. Here's a bio: http://www.therestorationmovement.com/eiland.htm

The Carters lyrics are identical to the original lyrics:

LOOK AWAY FROM THE CROSS- Carter Family 1940

Look away from the cross to that glittering crown
From your cares weary ones look away
There's a home for the soul where no sorrows can come
And there pleasure will never decay

Look away (weary ones look away) look away (from the cross to the crown)
From the cross to that glittering crown (glittering crown)
Look away (look away weary ones) look away (from the cross to the crown)
From the cross to that glittering crown

Though these burdens of life may be heavy to bear
And your crosses and trials severe
There's a beautiful hand that is beckoning come
And no heartache and sighings are there

Mid the conflicts of battles of struggles and strife
Bravely onward your journey pursue
Look away look away from the cross to that glittering crown
That's a waiting in heaven for you

Subject: Lyr Add: LOOK HOW THIS WORLD HAS MADE A CHANGE
From: Richie
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 11:11 PM

Look How This World Has Made a Change is a traditional spiritual arranged by J.B Vaughan in 1912 and recorded by the famous Vaughan Quartet in 1928. The Vaughan Quartet arguably made the first Country Music recordings (Tony Russell) in 1921.

LOOK HOW THIS WORLD HAS MADE A CHANGE- Carter Family 1937

We see our friends are weeping with the badges on their door
We see their homes in mourning for the loved ones come no more
You can say just what you please, death rides on every breeze
Look how this world has made a change

    Just look how this world has made a change(made a change)
    Just look how this world has made a change(made a change)
    You can see every day how the people pass away
    Look how this world has made a change
      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Our friends are passing over to some far distant shore
We seek them and we call them but they answer us no more
Their throbbing hearts today tomorrow pass away
Look how this world has made a change

    Just look how this world has made a change(made a change)
    Just look how this world has made a change(made a change)
    You can see every day how the people pass away
    Look how this world has made a change
      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Dear sinner, o get ready, you must meet your god on high
For death is all around you and it will not pass you by
Death knocks at every door no matter where you go
Look how this world has made a change

    Just look how this world has made a change(made a change)
    Just look how this world has made a change(made a change)
    You can see every day how the people pass away
    Look how this world has made a change

Subject: Lyr Add: LORD I'M IN YOUR CARE
From: Richie
Date: 06 Dec 08 - 12:17 AM

Lord, I'm in Your Care is another traditional spiritual and is sometimes titled "Oh Lord, I'm in your Care." It was recorded first by Edward Clayborn in 1927; then Rev. Jm Gates in 1934.

The Carters recorded their version in 1937. The Carters may have learned this through Riddle and his friend gospel singer Pauline Gary
or Peer (since it was recorded by Victor previously).

LORD I'M IN YOUR CARE- Carter Family

Oh, Lord, I'm in your care
Oh, Lord, I'm in your care
Your loving arms around me
Evil cannot harm me
Oh, Lord, I'm in your care

All day long I'm in your care
All day long I'm in your care
Your loving arms around me
Evil cannot harm me
Lord, I'm in your care

When I was sick, I was in your care
When I was sick, I was in your care
Your loving arms around me
Evil cannot harm me
Lord, I'm in your care

I'm a friendless child, but I'm in your care
I'm a friendless child, but I'm in your care
Your loving arms around me
Evil cannot harm me
Lord, I'm in your care

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family son
From: Escapee
Date: 06 Dec 08 - 12:33 AM

Does anyone know the origin of "No Depression In Heaven"? I love it dearly and have played it for years. Recently, I read in a CD box set liner notes that the Carter's version was a cover. It didn't say where they got it.
I learned this song from a New Lost City Ramblers album, and it led me into old-time and country music and introduced me to the Carter Family. Oddly enough, when I heard the Carter recording, I didn't care for it, but by then, I'd been a devotee for a long, long time.
Fair winds,
SKP

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 06 Dec 08 - 02:35 PM

No Disappointment in Heaven

Subject: Lyr Add: NO DISAPPOINTMENT IN HEAVEN
From: Richie
Date: 06 Dec 08 - 02:42 PM

Sorry for that last post, my computer is barely working;

Although the songs are different I thought it was a rewrite of:

NO DISAPPOINTMENT IN HEAVEN 1913

There's no disappointment in Heaven,
No weariness, sorrow or pain;
No hearts that are bleeding and broken,
No song with a minor refrain.
The clouds of our earthly horizon
Will never appear in the sky,
For all will be sunshine and gladness,
With never a sob or a sigh.

Refrain

I'm bound for that beautiful city,
My Lord has prepared for His own;
Where all the redeemed of all ages
Sing "Glory!" around the white throne;
Sometimes I grow homesick for Heaven,
And the glories I there shall behold;
What a joy that will be when my Savior I see,
In that beautiful city of gold.

I'll look into it more later,

Richie

Subject: Lyr Add: LOVER'S FAREWELL
From: Richie
Date: 07 Dec 08 - 12:34 PM

The Carter's 1903 "Lover's Farewell" is based on the earlier song "We Have Met and We Have Parted" which is dated by Meade as circa 1870s. Several versions of "We Have Met and We Have Parted" were collected in the early 1930s (Melinger Henry; JOAFL) and the two recordings unfortunately (one in 1928) were never issued.

All the variants are based on "Thou Hast Learned to Love Another"
or "Farewell, farewell, Forever" by Charles Slade published in 1849.
Here's a link:

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mussm&fileName=sm2/sm1849/451000/451430/mussm451430.db&recNum=0&itemLink=D?mussm:6:.

The song was popular and there were numerous broadsides and ballets printed as well as other printed versions. If anyone has "We Have Met and We Have Parted" versions it would be good to post one for comparison.

LOVER'S FAREWELL-Carter Family 1930

We have met and we have parted
We have spoke our last goodbye
You have proved to me false hearted
You may now forever go

You have wrecked the heart I've cherished
You have done me day by day
You are false but I'll forgive you
To forget you I cannot say

For I love you dear I love you
More than all this world I know
You have proved to me false-hearted
You may now forever go

On the river bank I'll loiter
Till I see your face once more
Then I'll plunge beneath the water
And I'll land on some far shore

Among the trees and bushes
Where the dark green willow sway
In the cold and silent rushes
There you'll find my lonely grave

O I wish I was white marble
Cold and white on some far shore
This poor heart would cease from troubling
And I'd feel the pain no more

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 07 Dec 08 - 12:52 PM

There are several early versions of "We Have Met and We Have Parted" part of the "Lover's Farewell" songs

Here's one from 1875:

http://books.google.com/books?id=50YAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA80&dq=%22We+Have+Met+and+We+Have+Parted%22&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html

Belden: We have met and we have parted,
And you scarcely spoke one word.
Like some guilty thing I started
When your well-known voice I heard.

Another version from the 1800s: http://books.google.com/books?id=EWpLAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA249&dq=%22We+Have+Met+and+We+Have+Parted%22&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html

Subject: Lyr Add: LOVER'S LANE
From: Richie
Date: 07 Dec 08 - 01:31 PM

"Lover's Lane" was apparently the first title for the song "You're The Girl of My Dreams." The song could be a rewrite of "Down de Lover's Lane" by Will Marion Cook c 1900.


LOVER'S LANE
Carter Family- Original

I first met you down in lover's lane
You were just like an angel
With an angel's golden wings
We walked along, we sang a song
The birds were singing, too
It seems like heaven's here on earth
Just to be again with you

    You're just the girl of my dreams
    Though it seems that my dreams never come true
      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

At night we'd sit out in the old porch swing
The stars were shining brightly
And softly you would sing
You'd sing of happy days gone by
It makes me happy, too
It'd be like heaven here on earth
If I could be with you

    You're just the girl of my dreams
    Though it seems that my dreams never come true
      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

I first met you down in lover's lane
You were just like an angel
My little brown-eyed Jane
We walked along, we hummed a song
The birds were singing, too
It seems like heaven's here on earth
Just to be again with you

    You're just the girl of my dreams
    Though it seems that my dreams never come true
      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

    You're just the girl of my dreams
    Though it seems that my dreams never come true

Subject: Lyr Add: LOVER'S RETURN
From: Richie
Date: 07 Dec 08 - 02:02 PM

Lover's Return is a tradtional folk song usually called "Too Late" or "Too Late You Have to Come Back to Me." It was recorded by the Carters in 1934 after ten previous recordings including one by Ernest Stoneman in 1928.

The song is known in ballad index as The Last Farewell (The Lover's Return):

"So at last you have come back Since time at last has set you free...." The singer recalls his old love for the other -- but concludes that it is all over now: "No, no, you must not take my hand; God never gives us back our youth...."

Refers to: Randolph 761, "The Last Farewell" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 495,496 "The Last Farewell" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 761A)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 152-153, "And So You Have Come Back to Me" (1 text)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 33-34, "Too Late" (1 text, 1 tune)

LOVER'S RETURN- Carter Family

And so you have come back to me
And say the old love's growing yet
You've tried through all these weary years
You've tried too vainly to forget.

CHORUS: No, no I cannot take your hand
God never gives us back our youth
The loving heart you slighted then
Was yours my friend in perfect truth

Farewell farewell now we must part
You never meant to do me wrong
God sent this anguish to my heart
To teach me to be brave and strong

Farewell I think I love you yet
As friend to friend God bless you dear
And guide you through these weary years
To where the skies are always clear

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 07 Dec 08 - 02:14 PM

We've gone through the letter L for the original Carter Family songs. The sources of several of the songs have not been found yet. The only significant find in the L titles was: "Last Move for Me" which was identified as a song by Herbert Buffum.

At some point we'll go back and list the unidentified songs which for now should just be attributed to A.P Carter or The Carter Family.

Here are the next songs titled M-N:

March Winds Gonna Blow My Blues All Away;
Meet Me by the Moonlight Alone;
Meeting in the Air;
'Mid the Green Fields of Virginia;
Motherless Children;
Mountains of Tennessee;
My Clinch Mountain Home;
My Dixie Darling;
My Heart's Tonight in Texas;
My Home's Across the Blue Ridge Mountains;
My Home Among the Hills;
My Honey Lou;
My Little Home in Tennessee;
My Native Home;
My Old Cottage Home;
My Old Virginia Home;
My Texas Girl;
My Virginia Rose Is Blooming;
Never Let the Devil Get the Upper Hand of You;
No Depression in Heaven;
No More the Moon Shines on Lorena;
No Other's Bride I'll Be;
No Telephone in Heaven;

Anyone?

Subject: Lyr Add: MARCH WIND GONNA BLOW MY BLUES ALL AWAY
From: Richie
Date: 08 Dec 08 - 11:51 AM

March Winds Gonna Blow My Blues All Away is a rewrite of various blues including lyrics associated with "Trouble in Mind" and "I Know You Rider":

The sun's gonna shine in my back door some day
The sun's gonna shine in my back door some day
The wind's gonna rise and blow my blues away

You can listen here:
http://honkingduck.com/78s/listen.php?s=20268B

MARCH WIND GONNA BLOW MY BLUES ALL AWAY- Carter Family 1934


               Sun's gonna shine in my back door some day
               Sun's gonna shine in my back door some day
               Sun's gonna shine in my back door some day
               March wind's gonna blow my blues all away
                [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

          Low down foreman, dirty engineer
          Low down foreman, dirty engineer
          Low down foreman, dirty engineer
          Stole my gal, left me standin' here
                [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

               Sun's gonna shine in my back door some day
               Sun's gonna shine in my back door some day
               Sun's gonna shine in my back door some day
               March wind's gonna blow my blues all away
                [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

          My mama told me long years ago
          Never to marry no girl that I know
          Spend all your money, wear out your clothes
          What will become of you, God only knows
                [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

               Sun's gonna shine in my back door some day
               Sun's gonna shine in my back door some day
               Sun's gonna shine in my back door some day
               March wind's gonna blow my blues all away

Subject: Lyr Add: MEET ME BY MOONLIGHT
From: Richie
Date: 08 Dec 08 - 12:18 PM

"Meet Me by the Moonlight Alone" is based on J. Augustine Wade song circa 1812. The Carters recorded their version in May 1928, almost 3 years after the similar huge hit song, "The Prisoner's Song" was recorded by Vernon Dalhart. Certainly both songs evolved through the folk process to become distinct songs 100 years later.

MEET ME BY MOONLIGHT (Mr. J. Augustine Wade)

Meet me by moonlight alone
And then I will tell you a tale.
Must be told by the moonlight alone
In the grove at the end of the vale.

You must promise to come, for I said
I would show the night flowers their Queen
Nay turn not away that sweet head-
'Tis the loveliest ever was seen.

Oh! meet me by moonlight alone
Meet me by moonlight alone.

Daylight may do for the gay-
The thoughtless, the heartless, the free-
But there's something about the moon's ray
That is sweeter to you and to me-

Oh! remember, be sure to be there,
For tho' dearly a moonlight I prize,
I care not for all in the air,
If I want the sweet light of your eyes.

So meet me by moonlight alone,
Met me by moonlight alone.

Here's the Carter's version of The Prisoner's Song which could be based on earlier versions by Whiter 1925 or Earl Johnson (In The Shadow of the Pines):

MEET ME BY THE MOONLIGHT- Carter Family Songs

1. I'm going to the new jail tomorrow
To leave the one that I love
To leave my friends and relations
And, oh, how lonely, my love.

CHORUS: Meet me by the moonlight, love, meet me
Meet me by the moonlight alone
For I have a sad story to tell you
To be told by the moonlight alone.

2. My parents, how cruel they treat me
They drive me away from their door
If I live 100 years longer
I'll never go back any more.

Chorus

3. If I had a ship on the ocean
All laden and lined with pure gold
Before my darling should suffer
I'd have that ship anchored and sold.

Chorus

4. If I had the wings of an angel
O'er land and sea I'd fly
I'd fly to the arms of my darling
Then I'd be willing to die

Chorus

There's a thread in the DT with other examples including a version collected in 1924 by Vance Randolph. You can also find posts on The Prisoner's song and discussion. No sense copying too much info here.

Subject: Lyr Add: MEETING IN THE AIR
From: Richie
Date: 08 Dec 08 - 12:37 PM

Meeting in the Air appears to be A.P.'s rewrite of the Pentecostal Hymn by I.G. Martin. Here is a link to the music published in 1908:

http://books.google.com/books?id=AQMca_ptzbMC&pg=PA257&dq=%22Meeting+in+the+Air%22&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html


MEETING IN THE AIR- Carter Family

          You have heard of little Moses in the bulrush
          You have heard of fearless David and his sling
          You have heard the story told of dreaming Joseph
          And of Jonah and the whale you often sing
          There are many, many others through the Bible
          I should like to meet them all, I do declare
          By and by the Lord will surely let us meet them
          At that meeting in the air

               There is going to be a meeting in the air
               In the sweet, sweet by and by
               I am going to meet you, meet you over there
               In that home beyond the sky
               Such singing you will hear never heard by mortal ear
               'Twill be glorious, I do declare
               And God's own son will be the leading one
               At the meeting in the air
                [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

          Many things will there be missing in that meeting
          For the mourner's bench will have no place at all
          There will never be a sermon preached to sinners
          For the sinners had refused to heed the call
          There will be no mourning over wayward loved ones
          There will be no lonely nights of pleading prayer
          All our burdens and our anguish will be lifted
          At that meeting in the air

               There is going to be a meeting in the air
               In the sweet, sweet by and by
               I am going to meet you, meet you over there
               In that home beyond the sky
               Such singing you will hear never heard by mortal ear
               'Twill be glorious, I do declare
               And God's own Son will be the leading one
               At the meeting in the air

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 08 Dec 08 - 06:18 PM

'Mid the Green Fields of Virginia is a song by Charles K. Harris in 1898. The sheet music is at the Levy collection which currently can not be linked. Just enter the title at Levy and you'll get the music.

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family son
From: pdq
Date: 08 Dec 08 - 07:28 PM

"Mid the Green Fields of Virginia" sounds like an older Heart Song, but the author Charles K. Harris was at the center of the Tin Pan Alley songwriters starting in the mid 1890s. He wrote such hits as "After the Ball Was Over".

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 08 Dec 08 - 11:21 PM

Hey pdq

"After the Ball Was Over" was in the repertoire of Bradley Kincaid, the Kentucky Mountain Boy, who was well known for collecting and performing authentic folk songs.

A noteworty folk collector decided to go to a concert by the WLS star to hear his interpretation of traditional folk songs. Much to the collectors chagrin Bradley's opening song was "Afer The Ball."

The Carters learned several of Bradley's arrangemnts including "Bury Me Beneath the Willow."

Richie

Subject: Lyr Add: MOTHERLESS CHILDREN
From: Richie
Date: 08 Dec 08 - 11:50 PM

Motherless Children is another song from African-American sources. They learned the song from Leslie Riddle.

The songs is from S.C. Brown- words and Charles Dryscoll- Music in 1904. Othere songs set a precedent such as the 1883 "Be Kind to the Motherless Child"

MOTHERLESS CHILDREN- Carter Family

Motherless children sees a hard time when their mother is dead
Motherless children sees a hard time when their mother is dead
They are driven out in the cold, God knows where to go
Motherless children sees a hard time when their mother is dead

[INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Orphan children sees a hard time in this world
Orphan children sees a hard time in this world
Sister does the best she can, but she really don't understand
Orphan children sees a hard time in this world

Brother won't treat you like mother will when your mother is dead
Brother won't treat you like mother will when your mother is dead
You may ask for a piece of bread, you are told to go to bed
Motherless children sees a hard time when their mother is dead

[INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Orphan children sees a hard time in this world
Orphan children sees a hard time in this world
Sister does the best she can, but she really don't understand
Orphan children sees a hard time in this world

[INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Friends won't treat you like mother will when your mother is dead
Friends won't treat you like mother will when your mother is dead
They will tell you what to do, but they'll turn their back on you
Motherless children sees a hard time when their mother is dead

[INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Orphan children sees a hard time in this world
Orphan children sees a hard time in this world
Sister does the best she can, but she really don't understand
Orphan children sees a hard time in this world

Subject: Lyr Add: THE MOUNTAINS OF TENNESSEE
From: Richie
Date: 09 Dec 08 - 01:25 AM

Mountains of Tennessee seems like a rewrite of the song, Sweet Sunny South. The songs has a different chord and melody but the lyrics and form are very similar. The "cool shady nook" line is also found in Katie Kline.


THE MOUNTAINS OF TENNESSEE-Carter Family

      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Take me back, take me back to my old mountain home
Take me back where my heart longs to be
Where we played by the brook in the cool, shady nook
In the mountains of Tennessee

In my old mountain home where the wild roses bloom
Is a spot just like heaven to me
Take me back, take me back to my old mountain home
In the mountains of Tennessee
      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Take me back, take me back to my old mountain home
Take me back to my old mother's knee
Where the stars shine bright and the birds sing free
In the mountains of Tennessee

'Round my old mountain home where I used to roam
They're waiting a welcome for me
Take me back to my old log cabin home
In the mountains of Tennessee
      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Subject: Lyr Add: MY CLINCH MOUNTAIN HOME
From: Richie
Date: 09 Dec 08 - 09:43 AM

"My Clinch Mountain Home" was reported to be the first song A.P. wrote: Wanting to earn enough money to buy himself a piece of land, A.P. left his home in 1911 and set out for Richmond, Indiana (as his father had done), to work on the railroad but came down with typhoid fever and quickly returned home. Family members recall that he wrote his first song while he rode the train back to Virginia, "My Clinch Mountain Home," a nostalgic ode to the place of his birth that would become one of the Carter's hits:

Carry me back to old Virginny,
Back to my Clinch Mountain home;
Carry me back to old Virgininy,
Back to my old mountain home.

The family claim that A.P. wrote the song may be correct but the chorus and sentiment are based on James A. Bland's 1878 song
"Carry Me Back to Old Virginny." The verse is the melody of the "Battleship of Maine."


MY CLINCH MOUNTAIN HOME- Carter family

          Far away on the hills
          To a sunny mountainside
          Many years ago we parted
          My little Ruth and I
          From this sunny mountainside
          She clung to me and trembled
          When I told her we must part
          She said "Don't go, my darling
          it almost breaks my heart
          To think of you so far apart"

               Carry me back to old Virginny
               Back to my Clinch Mountain home
               Carry me back to old Virginny
               Back to my old Mountain home
               Well, a-le-ho, le-ho-lay-ee
               Well, a-le-ho, le-ho-lee
               Yeah, lee-oh-lay-ee-hee
               Oh, my mountain home

          I folded my arms around her
          Leaned her head against my breast
          I told her I would wed her
          When I came back from the west
          At my old Clinch Mountain home
          In my hand I hold a picture
          Of the old home far away
          In the other one my sweetheart
          I'm thinking of today
          On the sunny mountainside

               Carry me back to old Virginny
               Back to my Clinch Mountain home
               Carry me back to old Virginny
               Back to my old Mountain home
               Well, a-le-ho, le-ho-lay-ee
               Well, a-le-ho, le-ho-lee
               Yeah, lee-oh-lay-ee-hee
               Oh, my mountain home
                [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

          My mother's old and feeble
          My father's getting gray
          I'm going back to Virginia
          And I expect to stay
          At my old Clinch Mountain home

               [CHORUS]

Subject: Lyr Add: MY DIXIE DARLING
From: Richie
Date: 09 Dec 08 - 10:41 AM

My Dixie Darling is taken from the song "Dixie Darling" by Gillispie and Weinrich in 1909.

MY DIXIE DARLING- Carter family

               Way down below the Mason-Dixon line
               There's where the honeysuckle are entwined
               There's where the southern winds are blowin'
               There's where the daisies' growin'
               Girls up north in their gay finery
               Whirling around in society
               Singing the song of my Dixie darling
               Where I long to be
                  
                   My Dixie darlin'
                   Listen to the song I sing
                   Beneath the silv'ry moon
                   With my banjo right in tune
                   My heart's forever true
                   I love no one but you
                   My Dixie darling
                   My Dixie queen

               Goin' down south, gonna have a good time
               See my girl down in old Caroline
               Drink my booze and do as I please
               For all the girls I long to squeeze
               Singing the song of my Dixie darling
               That's where I long to be going
               That's where the jellyroll's rolling
               With my Dixie queen

                   My Dixie darlin'
                   Listen to the song I sing
                   Beneath the silv'ry moon
                   With my banjo right in tune
                   My heart's forever true
                   I love no one but you
                   My Dixie darling
                   My Dixie queen

Subject: Lyr Add: MY HEART'S TONIGHT IN TEXAS
From: Richie
Date: 09 Dec 08 - 11:16 AM

My Heart's Tonight in Texas also known as "Tonight my Heart's in Texas" was recorded by the Carter Family for Bluebird in 1834. The western folk song, credited to Roden-Max S. Witt in 1900, was first recorded as "By the Silvery Rio Grande" by Ted Chestnut in 1928. "Down by the Silvery Rio Grande" was published in 1913 as by Dave Weisberg, R. F. Roden, and music-Charles Speidel.

The Carters probably based their version on the Girls of the Golden West's recording in 1932.

MY HEART'S TONIGHT IN TEXAS- Carter Family

In the distant state of Texas
By the silvery Rio Grande
Strolled a couple out one evening
Was two sweethearts hand in hand
Was a rich man's pretty daughter
And the lad she loved so dear
Though tomorrow they must part for many a year.

My heart's tonight in Texas
Though I'm far across the sea
The band is playing Dixie
And that's where I long to be
Dad says the earl I'll marry
But although here is my hand
My heart's tonight in Texas
By the silvery Rio Grande.

To Europe she was going
To become a lady grand
For her father hoped an
Earl of course she'll wed
But she went away next morning
And her heart was true to Jack
A letter came one day and this it read

At a stately ball in England
Stood the Texas lass one night
The scenes were all splendid
And the light were dizzyingly bright
The earl knelt beside her
Asking her to be his bride
But her thoughts were by the silvery Rio Grande

Subject: Lyr Add: MY HOME'S ACROSS THE BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS
From: Richie
Date: 09 Dec 08 - 05:40 PM

My Home's Across the Blue Ridge Mountains is a traditional folk song recorded by the Carter Family in 1938. Louise Bascom Rand collected a version called "My Own True Love" in 1909. Bascom Lamar Lunsford stated that this song can be classified as a "Straw-ride song." Possibly it is based upon an old religious song, "Oh, How I Love Jesus."

Here are some early recordings:

Clarence Ashley, Garley Foster, Dock Walsh & Doc Watson, "My Home's Across the Blue Ridge Mountains" (on Ashley03, WatsonAshley01)
Carolina Tar Heels, "My Home's Across the Blue Ridge Mountains" (Victor V-40100, 1929)
Carter Family, "My Home's Across the Blue Ridge Mountains" (Decca 5532, 1938/Decca X2184, n.d.)
Delmore Brothers, "My Home's Across the Blue Ridge Mountains" (Bluebird B-8247, 1939)
Kelly Harrell, "I'm Going Back to North Carolina" (OKeh 40505, 1925; on KHarrell01)
Bascom Lamar Lunsford, "My Home's Across the Smoky Mountains" (AAFS 3155 B2)
Poplin Family, "My Home Is Not In South Carolina" (on Poplin01)
Pete Seeger, "My Home's Across the Smoky Mountains" (on PeteSeeger25)
Arthur Smith, "Across the Blue Ridge Mountains" (Bluebird B-7221, 1937)
Jack Wallin, "My Home's Across the Blue Ridge Mountains" (on Wallins1)

MY HOME'S ACROSS THE BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS

My home's across the Blue Ridge mountains
My home's across the Blue Ridge Mountains
My home's across the Blue Ridge Mountains
For I never expect to see you anymore

[INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

How can I keep from crying
How can I keep from crying
How can I keep from crying
For I never expect to see you anymore

My home's across the Blue Ridge mountains
My home's across the Blue Ridge Mountains
My home's across the Blue Ridge Mountains
For I never expect to see you anymore

[INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Oh, how I hate to leave you
Oh, how I hate to leave you
Oh, how I hate to leave you
For I never expect to see you anymore

My home's across the Blue Ridge mountains
My home's across the Blue Ridge Mountains
My home's across the Blue Ridge Mountains
For I never expect to see you anymore

[INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Good-bye, my little darling
Good-bye, my little darling
Good-bye, my little darling
For I never expect to see you anymore

Subject: Lyr Add: MY HOME AMONG THE HILLS
From: Richie
Date: 09 Dec 08 - 06:12 PM

My Home Among the Hills is a song the Carters recorded in 1940. It seems as if A.P. wrote this trying to recreate Gene Autry's 1932 hit "That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine."

Any other info?

MY HOME AMONG THE HILLS-Carter Family

Got a home in the hills of old Virginia I love still
And it stands near the lonesome pines
And I long to go back to the vine covered shack
Where I left that old mother of mine

I can still see her there in that old rocking chair
In my home among the hills
And I seem to hear her say why did you go away
From your home among the hills

The pine trees stand alone near my old Virginia home
And that silver- haired mother of mine
I can see her smiling face in that old familiar place
In my home among the hills

I'm leaving here today I'm going back to stay
In my home among the hills
How happy we will be near the lonesome pine trees
In my home among the hills

Subject: Lyr Add: MY HONEY LOU
From: Richie
Date: 09 Dec 08 - 06:37 PM

"My Honey Lou" was recorded by the Carters in 1936. It is a song by Frank M. Statia written in 1897. A different song with the same title "My honey Lou" was written in 1904 by Thurland Chattaway.

MY HONEY LOU- Carter Family

[INSTRUMENTAL INTRO]

When the sun sets in the west, my Honey Lou
Then the time I love you best, my Honey Lou
Come and look into my eyes
When the moon shines in the skies
I'll be in paradise, my Honey Lou

    Last night I waited long, my Honey Lou
    And told the birds my song, my Honey Lou
    When the bright and silver moon
    Sheds its soft and mellow light
    I love you more each night, my Honey Lou

      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

When the birds have hushed their song, my Honey Lou
All the twilight shadows on my Honey Lou
My heart forever beats
For my Honey gal so sweet
I'll lay it at your feet, my Honey Lou

    Last night I waited long, my Honey Lou
    And told the birds my song, my Honey Lou
    When the bright and silver moon
    Sheds its soft and mellow light
    I love you more each night, my Honey Lou

      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

    Last night I waited long, my Honey Lou
    And told the birds my song, my Honey Lou
    When the bright and silver moon
    Sheds its soft and mellow light
    I love you more each night, my Honey Lou

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 09 Dec 08 - 06:45 PM

My Little Home in Tennessee is a song by Carson Robison in 1926.

Subject: Lyr Add: MY NATIVE HOME
From: Richie
Date: 09 Dec 08 - 07:15 PM

My Native Home is a song recorded by the Carter's in 1936. This is clearly based on another song. Can anyone find it?

MY NATIVE HOME- Carter Family

I'd like to see my native home
The lofty trees, the golden sand
The rugged hills all crowded 'round
My mother's voice how sweet would sound

Sometimes I dream of home and friends
My dreams are false, my heart it rends
And when I wake I'm all alone
My dreams are false, my friends are gone

      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

I'd like to see my heart's delight
Her beauteous face and eyes so bright
And how she'd smile as I drew near
I'd kiss her with a falling tear

It fills my heart with fondest love
To listen to that lonesome dove
She mourns as if her mate was gone
As if, like me, left all alone

      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Nine or ten years have passed and gone
And I'm still left here all alone
Virginia, o my native home
Among your hills I'd love to roam

Subject: Lyr Add: MY OLD COTTAGE HOME
From: Richie
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 01:01 AM

My Old Cottage Home, recorded by the Carters in 1931, is based on a song by R.A. Glen circa 1880.

MY OLD COTTAGE HOME
Carter Family- Original

I am thinking tonight of an old cottage home
That stands on the brow of the hill
Where in life's early morning I once loved to roam
But now all is quiet and still

    Oh, my old cottage home, my old cottage home
    That stands on the brow of the hill
    Where in life's early morning I once loved to roam
    But now all is quiet and still
      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Many years have gone by since in prayers there I knelt
With dear ones around the old hearth
But my mother's sweet prayers in my heart still are felt
I'll treasure them all while on earth

    Oh, my old cottage home, my old cottage home
    That stands on the brow of the hill
    Where in life's early morning I once loved to roam
    But now all is quiet and still
      [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

One by one they have gone from the old cottage home
On earth we shall see them no more
But we'll meet them again on that beautiful shore
Where parting will come nevermore

    Oh, my old cottage home, my old cottage home
    That stands on the brow of the hill
    Where in life's early morning I once loved to roam
    But now all is quiet and still

Subject: Lyr Add: MY OLD VIRGINIA HOME
From: Richie
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 01:32 AM

My Old Virginia Home was recorded by the Carters in 1935. Fiddler Miller Wikel recorded a song by that title twice; once in 1928 and again in 1929 but the sides were not released. My Old Virginia Home by Charles T. Frey in 1855 is similar in sentiment but not the same song.

This certainly seems like a Carter Family original based on the title. Anyone have any other info?

MY OLD VIRGINIA HOME- Carter Family

It was on one winter day from my home I went away
Far away from friends and home I longed to roam
But tonight I'm lone and sad just a little homesick lad
And I'm longing for my old Virginia home

I'm a lad from old Virginia bravely knocking my way back home
To that cabin home in the mountains never more let me roam
I'm a lad from old Virginia and I'm coming coming home
There I'll settle down forever in my old Virginia home

Since I left that little shack how my mind has wandered back
How mother often prayed for her lad
But from her I went astray and I know I've dearly paid
So I'm coming back to mother and my dad

Subject: Lyr Add: MY TEXAS GIRL
From: Richie
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 10:59 AM

My Texas Girl is a western song recorded by the Carters in 1935. It appears the song is a rewrite of one of the "Sleepy Rio Grande" songs. According to Tex Rhinehart "Sleepy Rio Grande" is a mondegreen for "Silvery Rio Grande" so it's possible the song was "Silvery Rio Grande" at some point.

Bob Miller's 1934 songbook had the song "Sleepy Rio grande." Other titles include: "Where the Sleepy Rio's Flowing," and "By the Sleepy Rio Grande."

I'd bet the Carters song is based on the Carson Robison, Frank Luther song "Sleepy Rio Grande" backed by "When it's springtime in the Rockies" which was a huge hit for Victor in 1929. They recorded songs under the alias "Bud and Joe Billings"

Anyone have the lyrics?

MY TEXAS GIRL-Carter Family

All my life I've wondered if what I done was wrong
All I ever cared to do was ride my pony on
I never had no heartache was always happy and gay
Until I met a Texas girl who stole my heart away.

CHORUS: Where the sleepy Rio Grande goes slowly to the sea
It was there she promised to be mine throughout eternity
But the angels they grew jealous of her beauty and her smile
And came along one stormy night and stole away my bride
The birds have hushed their singing sadness is over the land
The birds miss my darling by the sleepy Rio Grande

Her lips were like the Russian wine her hair it hung in curls
Her cheeks were like the dawn of day that breaks upon the world
She's gone and left me lonely I miss the touch of her hand
Tonight while I am walking by the sleepy Rio Grande

Subject: Lyr Add: MY VIRGINIA ROSE IS BLOOMING
From: Richie
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 11:51 AM

My Virginia Rose Is Blooming is a song recorded by the Carters in 1935. The song was collected by Perry in the JOAFL 1945 but I don't have access to the lyrics and info.

To me this seems like a rewrite by A.P. of "Yellow Rose of Texas:"

There's a Yellow Rose in Texas
She's waiting there for me.

This probably is a song written by A.P. At this time A.P. and Sara were separated.


MY VIRGINIA ROSE IS BLOOMING
Carter Family- Original

My Virginia rose is blooming
She's waiting now for me
In the hills of old Virginia
Is where I long to be
She wears a winning smile
And her loving eyes are blue
She's won my heart forever
For she's a girl that's true

Beneath the scarlet maple
By the trickling little spring
Was where I made the promise
And gave to her the ring
Springtime is approaching
The birds and doves are here
They are singing so sweetly
But none can sing like her

It's love that calls you to me
My rose that never fades
And lose its crimson leaves of love
Love that's perfect made
I long to see my darling
There in the midst of dew
With the sparkling dewdrops all around her
She'll be a queen and a view

She's a wild rose in the forest
A fairy in a dream
My darling's in Virginia
Her age is just 16
It's a long, long ways from my darling
Just a little too far to be
My Virginia rose is blooming
She's waiting now for me

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family son
From: pdq
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 12:45 PM

...I assume most of these have been covered, but maybe not:

The Winding Road
Over the Garden Wall
Motherless Children
The Evening Bells are Ringing
Homestesd on the Farm
Longing for Old Virginia
The Foggy Mountain Top
Thge Poor Orphan Child
This is Like Heaven to Me
Picture on the Wall
March Winds
Bring Back My Blue Eyed Boy to Me
No Hiding Place Down Here
Give Me YourLove
Stern Old Batchelor
Are You Lonesome Tonight?
Old Cottage Home

Subject: Lyr Add: NEVER LET THE DEVIL GET THE UPPER HAND OF
From: Richie
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 01:42 PM

Hi pdq,

Right now we're going alphabetically from A. We're on N.

Never Let the Devil Get the Upper Hand of You is the 1937 Carter Family version of the traditional ballad, Knoxville Girl, which was first recorded in 1924 by Riley Puckett.

"The Knoxville Girl" is the US version of the "Wittham Miller/Berkshire Tragedy/ Cruel Miller" large group of songs from the British Isles, originating as "The Bloody Miller" in 1684. In the US it is known as "The Wexford Girl," "The Oxford Tragedy," "The Expert Girl," Johnny McDowell," "The Prentice Boy," "Never Let the Devil Get the Upper Hand of You" (Carter Family version) as well as many similar names.

NEVER LET THE DEVIL GET THE UPPER HAND OF YOU- Carter Family

My tender parents brought me up
Provided for me well
Twas in the city of Lanson Town
They placed me in a mill.

It was there I spied a pretty fair miss
On whom I cast my eye
I asked her if she'd marry me
And she believed a lie.

Three weeks ago last Saturday night
Of course it was the day
The devil put it in my mind
To take her life away.

I went into her sisters house
At eight o'clock one night
But little did the creator think
On her I had my spite.

I asked her if she'd take a walk
With me a little ways
That she and I might have a talk
About our wedding day.

We walked along until we came
To my little desert place
I grabbed a stick off of the fence
And struck her in the face.

I run my fingers through her coal black hair
To cover up my sin
I drug her to the riverside
And there I plunged her in.

I started back unto my mill
I met my servant John
He asked me why I was so pale
And it so very warm.

Come all young men and warning take
Unto your lovers be true
And never let the devil get
The upper hand of you

Subject: Lyr Add: NO DEPRESSION (IN HEAVEN)
From: Richie
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 09:18 PM

No Depression in Heaven also known as "No Depression" is a song that was first recorded by the original Carter Family in 1936 during the Great Depression 1929-1938). The song is based on the 1936 "No Depression in Heaven" by James David Vaughan and was published in his songbooks.

James David Vaughan (1864-1941) was a music teacher, composer, song book publisher, the founder of the Vaughan Conservatory of Music and the James D. Vaughan Publishing Company.

Vaughan was born in Giles County, Tennessee on December 14, 1864, the son of George Washington and Eliza (Shores) Vaughan. He died February 9, 1941.

Vaughan is generally considered to be the founder of the genre now known as "Southern Gospel" music. He started the James D. Vaughan Music Publishing Company in 1902 and in 1910, he was the first to establish a professional quartet and put them on the road for the purpose of selling songbooks. The Vaughan School of Music was formed in 1911. Numerous gospel performers would study there in the following years. In 1912, Vaughan began the Vaughan Family Visitor, an influential publication across the South during the early 20th century.

In 1922, Vaughan founded one of the first radio stations in Tennessee, WOAN, where he broadcasted Southern Gospel music until 1930. He also founded the first record company based in the South, Vaughan Phonograph Records. Vaughan was also involved in local politics, serving as mayor of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee from 1923 to 1927, a position his brother Charles Wesley and son would hold after him.


NO DEPRESSION (IN HEAVEN)- CARTER FAMILY (1936)
This song was recorded by The Original Carter Family for Decca (De 5242) in New York, NY, Monday, 8 Jun 1936 (another take remained unissued). It was re-recorded (for radio transcription use) on Wednesday, 10 Jun 1936.

For fear the hearts of men are failing,
For these are latter days we know.
The Great Depression now is spreading,
God's word declared it would be so.

CHORUS: I'm going where there's no depression,
To the lovely land that's free from care.
I'll leave this world of toil and trouble,
My home's in Heaven, I'm going there.

In that bright land, there'll be no hunger,
No orphan children cryin' for bread,
No weeping widows, toil or struggle,
No shrouds, no coffins, and no death.

This dark hour of midnight nearing
And tribulation time will come.
The storms will hurl in midnight fear
And sweep lost millions to their doom.

Subject: Lyr Add: NO MORE THE MOON SHINES ON LORENA
From: Richie
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 10:20 PM

No More the Moon Shines on Lorena is a Carter Family song recorded in 1930. It includes the remarkable line, "the possum playing on the wild bananas" and was written by Louis Staab circa 1889. The song has been recorded titled as "Lorena" "Lorina" and "Lorrainna" according to Meade. Unfortunately Meade didn't realize there was another song with a similar name.

The other song is the Civil War song "Lorena" which is a different yet similar song with Words: H.D.L. Webster/Music: J.P. Webster from 1857 titled Lorena. Here's Webster's song:


The years creep slowly by, Lorena;
The snow is on the grass again,
The Sun's low down the sky, Lorena,
The frost gleams where the flowers have been.

Perhaps Stabb's song is a rewrite of "Answer to Lorena" by Paul Vane, which would make it a rewrite of a rewrite. Then the Carters would be a rewrite of a rewrite of a rewrite- oh well.

NO MORE THE MOON SHINES ON LORENA
Carter Family- Original

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Way down upon the old plantation
Old massa used to own me as a slave
He had a yeller gal he called Lorena
And we courted where the wild bananas wave

For long years there we courted
And we were as happy as one
And my heart works for dear massa
And the happiness of life is just begun

    No more the moon shines on Lorena
    As we stood and watched the coon among the corn
    And the possum playing on the wild bananas
    And the old owl a-hooting like a horn

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

One day I called to see my dear Lorena
I thought she would meet me at the gate
But they took her away to old Virginny
And left me to mourn for her fate

For years I had longed to see her
And the thoughts of her was ever in my head
One day massa read me a letter
Telling me that Lorena was dead

    No more the moon shines on Lorena
    As we stood and watched the coon among the corn
    And the possum playing on the wild bananas
    And the old owl a-hooting like a horn

But I know that her soul has gone to heaven
And there she is ever free from pain
And to her a brighter crown is given
And no more she will wear the darkie's chain

    No more the moon shines on Lorena
    As we stood and watched the coon among the corn
    And the possum playing on the wild bananas
    And the old owl a-hooting like a horn
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Subject: Lyr Add: NO OTHER'S BRIDE I'LL BE
From: Richie
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 10:35 PM

No Other's Bride I'll Be is taken fron CA White's 1869 song "Widow in the Cottage by the Sea." Meade references another publication in 1869 by C. P. Bishop. The Carter's title was probably made to avoid copyright issues. Another song "Cottage by the Sea" by J. R Thomas is a diferent song.


NO OTHER'S BRIDE I'LL BE- Carter Family

Just one year ago today love
I became your happy bride
Changed a mansion for a cottage
To live by the river side

You told me I'd be happy
But no happiness I see
For tonight I am a widow
In a cottage by the sea

CHORUS: All alone by the seaside he left me
And no other's bride I'll be
For in bridal flowers he begged me
In the cottage by the sea

From my cottage by the seaside
I can see my mansion home
I can see those hills and valleys
Where with pleasure I have roamed

The last time that I saw him
Oh how happy then were we
But tonight I am a widow
In the cottage by the sea

Subject: Lyr Add: NO TELEPHONE IN HEAVEN
From: Richie
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 11:36 PM

No Telephone in Heaven was recorded by the Carter Family in 1930.

Meade refernces Delaney's Recitations #3 (Willian W. Delaney Circa 1910) as an early source

The song is based on the 1899 Werner's Readings and Recitations. Here is the link:
http://books.google.com/books?id=THsCAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA171&dq=No+Telephone+in+Heaven&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html


NO TELEPHONE IN HEAVEN- (A.P. Carter)

"Now I can't wait on baby," the smiling merchant said
As he stooped and softly toyed with his golden curly head.
"I want to call up mama," came the answer full and free.
"Could you telephone and ask her when she is coming back to me?"

CHORUS: "My child," the merchant murmured as he struck the anxious brow,
"No telephone connection where your mother lives at now.
No telephone in heaven!" And the tears spring in her eyes.
"I thought God had everything with him up in the skies."

"Tell her that I get so lonesome, that I don't know what to do.
And papa cries so much, I guess he must be lonesome too.
Tell her to come to baby 'cause at night I get so 'fraid
With no one there to kiss me when the lights begin to fade.

"All through the day I wander since my dolly's got so sore
From the awful punching brother give it with his little sword.
They ain't no one to fix it since mama's gone away,
And poor little lonesome dolly is getting thinner every day."

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 11:54 PM

Hi,

Here's the next batch of original Carter songs. We're about 2/3 of the way through with about 100 songs left. Thanks for everyone's help.

Oh, Take Me Back;
On a Hill Lone and Gray;
On My Way to Canaan's Land;
On the Rock Where Moses Stood;
On the Sea of Galilee;
One Little Word;
Only Girl (I Ever Cared About);
Over the Garden Wall;
Picture on the Wall;
Poor Little Orphaned Boy;
Poor Orphan Child;
Rambling Boy;
Reckless Motorman;
River of Jordan;
Room in Heaven for Me;

Anyone?

Subject: Lyr Add: OH TAKE ME BACK
From: Richie
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 12:06 AM

Oh, Take Me Back is a 1938 blues by the Carters based on traditional blues lyrics. Looks like the 3rd verse could be original. Leslie Riddle was an influence on the Carters blues songs.


OH TAKE ME BACK- Carter Family

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Woke up this morning and I could not keep from crying
Woke up this morning and I could not keep from crying
My good gal left me With a troubling mind
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Oh, just look where that evening sun has gone
Oh, just look where that evening sun has gone
Gone down behind the mountain And it won't be back till morn
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Oh, hand me that long distance phone
Oh, hand me that long distance phone
Gonna talk to my honey All night long
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Oh, take me back and try me one more time
Oh, take me back and try me one more time
And if I don't do Then send me down the line
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Subject: Lyr Add: ON A HILL LONE AND GREY
From: Richie
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 09:35 AM

On a Hill Lone and Gray (There's A Hill Lone and Grey) is a southern gospel song the Carters recorded twice; the first time in 1932 for Victor unissued and the second for Bluebird in 1934. The song was written by Beverly Francis Caradine and appears in Truths and Triumphs for Revivals in 1894.

Car­ra­dine pas­tored a large Meth­od­ist con­gre­ga­tion in St. Lou­is, Mis­sou­ri. In 1893, he be­came a full time evang­el­ist, and held ser­vic­es in ma­ny parts of the Unit­ed States. He was forced to re­tire af­ter be­ing in­jured in an ac­ci­dent in Se­at­tle, Wash­ing­ton, in 1918. His works inc­lude:

Best of All, with William Kirkpatrick & C. J. Fowler Church Entertainments: Twenty Objections
Golden Sheaves
Heart Talks
A Journey to Palestine
Pastoral Sketches
Revival Incidents

The Carters 1932 recording for Victor was probably unissued because Peer could not obtain an original copyright for the song. Below the Carters lyrics I've included the original lyrics for comparison.

ON A HILL LONE AND GREY-Carter family

On a hill lone and gray
In a land far away
In a country beyond the blue sea
Where beneath that far sky
Went a man for to die
For the world and for you and for me.

CHORUS: Oh it bows down my heart
And the tear drops do start
When in memory that gray hill I see
It was there on its side
Jesus suffered yes he died
To redeem a poor sinner like me

Hark, I hear the dull blow
Of the hammer swung low
They are nailing my lord to the tree
With the cross he upraised
While the multitude gazed
He ascended that hill lone and gray.

CHORUS:

Shout aloud then my soul
Let the glad tidings roll
From the land to the end of the sea
Where beneath that far sky
Went a man for to die
For the world and for you and for me

THERE'S A HILL LONE AND GREY- Words:CARRADINE Music:John B. Bry­ant

There's a hill lone and grey, in a land far away,
In a country beyond the blue sea,
Where beneath that fair sky went a Man forth to die
For the world and for you and for me.

Refrain

Oh, it bows down my heart
And the teardrops will start,
When in mem'ry that grey hill I see.
For 'twas there on its side, Jesus suffered and died
To redeem a poor sinner like me.

Behold! faint on the road, 'neath a world's heavy load,
Comes a thorn crownèd Man on the way,
With a cross He is bowed, but still on through the crowd
He's ascending that hill lone and grey.

Refrain

Hark! I hear the dull blow of the hammer swung low;
They are nailing my Lord to the tree,
And the cross they upraised while the multitude gaze
On the blest Lamb of dark Calvary.

Refrain

How they mock Him in death, to His last lab'ring breath,
While His friends sadly weep o'er the way;
But though lonely and faint, still no word of complaint
Fell from Him on the hill lone and grey.

Refrain

Then the darkness came down and the rocks rent around,
And a cry pierced the grief laden air;
'Twas the voice of our King Who received death's dark sting,
All to save us from endless despair.

Refrain

Let the sun hide its face, let the earth reel apace,
Over men who their Savior have slain;
But behold from the sod, comes the blest Lamb of God,
Who was slain and is risen again.

Refrain

Subject: Lyr Add: ON MY WAY TO CANAAN'S LAND
From: Richie
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 10:10 AM

On My Way to Canaan's Land usually known as "I'm on my Way to Canaan's Land" or just "I'm On My Way," is from the African-American traditional. It was recorded by the Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet, and Blind Gussie Nesbit. The Pace Jubilee Singers 1927 recording was titled "I'll Journey On."

The Carter's 1930 recording surely came from Leslie Riddle/Pauline Gary- two African-Americans the Carters collected black gospel songs.

According to one author, Bernice Johnson Reagon, the song come from the traditional "If You Go Don't Hinder Me." She also says Canaan refers to Cananda, or escaping to Canada. She gives no direct links to earlier songs.

During the 60s Civil Rights movement the song was changed to "I'm on my way to Freedom land."

ON MY WAY TO CANAAN'S LAND-Carter Family

               I'm on my way to Canaan's land
               I'm on my way to Canaan's land
               I'm on my way to Canaan's land
               I'm on my way (Praise God) I'm on my way

               If father won't go, it won't hinder me
               If father won't go, it won't hinder me
               If father won't go, it won't hinder me
               I'm on my way (Praise God) I'm on my way

               If mother won't go, it won't hinder me
               If mother won't go, it won't hinder me
               If mother won't go, it won't hinder me
               I'm on my way (Praise God) I'm on my way
   
               If sister won't go, it won't hinder me
               If sister won't go, it won't hinder me
               If sister won't go, it won't hinder me
               I'm on my way (Praise God) I'm on my way

               Oh, be baptized in Jesus' name
               Oh, be baptized in Jesus' name
               Oh, be baptized in Jesus' name
               I'm on my way (Praise God) I'm on my way

               I'm on my way to Canaan's land
               I'm on my way to Canaan's land
               I'm on my way to Canaan's land
               I'm on my way (Praise God) I'm on my way

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 10:32 AM

A version of "I'm On My Way" was recorded in 1926 by Bo Weavil Jackson titled "I'm on My Way to the Kingdom Land" and also by the New Gospel Keys.

I'd like to find an early source for this song. Anyone?

Subject: Lyr Add: ON THE ROCK WHERE MOSES STOOD
From: Richie
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 02:43 PM

On the Rock Where Moses Stood is a song I've played many times as "Crying Holy Unto The Lord." The Carters recorded their version in 1930 presumably collected and taught to them via Pauline Grey and Leslie Riddle.

It's from the African American tradition being first recorded by the Norfolk Jubilee Quartet in 1924 as "Crying to the Lord."

It's perhaps derived from the spiritual Elijah Rock

ON THE ROCK WHERE MOSES STOOD- Carter Family 1930

          Crying Holy unto the Lord
          Crying Holy unto the Lord
          Oh, in that day when the bells don't toll
          Crying Holy unto the Lord

    Crying Ho................ly unto the Lord
    (Crying Holy unto the Lord............Holy unto the Lord)
    Crying Ho................ly unto the Lord
    (Crying Holy unto the Lord............Holy unto the Lord)
    Oh, if I could, I surely would
       (If I could....surely would)
    Stand on the rock.............where Moses stood
                      (Praise God, where Moses stood)

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

          Sinners, run unto the Lord
          Sinners, run unto the Lord
          Now please don't let this harvest pass
          And lose your soul at last

    Crying Ho................ly unto the Lord
    (Crying Holy unto the Lord............Holy unto the Lord)
    Crying Ho................ly unto the Lord
    (Crying Holy unto the Lord............Holy unto the Lord)
    Oh, if I could, I surely would
       (If I could....surely would)
    Stand on the rock.............where Moses stood
                      (Praise God, where Moses stood)

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

          Crying Holy unto the Lord
          Crying Holy unto the Lord
          The four and twenty elders bowing all around the altar
          Crying Holy unto the Lord

    Crying Ho................ly unto the Lord
    (Crying Holy unto the Lord............Holy unto the Lord)
    Crying Ho................ly unto the Lord
    (Crying Holy unto the Lord............Holy unto the Lord)
          Oh, if I could, I surely would
       (If I could....surely would)
    Stand on the rock.............where Moses stood
                      (Praise God, where Moses stood)
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Subject: Lyr Add: ON THE SEA OF GALILEE
From: Richie
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 06:03 PM

On the Sea of Galilee is a spiritual recorded by the Carters in 1933 for Victor and then they changed the name to avoid copyright issue and recorded the song for Bluebird in 1935 as "Sea of Galilee."

One verse comes from Isaac Watts circa 1709 and it appears in the Sacred Harp. Any other versions or info would be welcome.

ON THE SEA OF GALILEE Carter Family

Am I a soldier of the cross
A follower of the Lamb
And shall I fear to own His cause
Or blush to speak His name

    On the sea (the sea, the sea)
    Of Galilee (of Galilee)
    My Jesus is walking on the sea
    On the sea (the sea, the sea)
    Of Galilee (of Galilee)
    My Jesus is walking on the sea
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Must I be carried to the skies
On flowery beds of ease
While others walk to win the prize
And sail through bloody seas

    On the sea (the sea, the sea)
    Of Galilee (of Galilee)
    My Jesus is walking on the sea
    On the sea (the sea, the sea)
    Of Galilee (of Galilee)
    My Jesus is walking on the sea
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

There shall I bathe my weary soul
In seas of heavenly rest
And not a wave of trouble roll
Across my peaceful breast

    On the sea (the sea, the sea)
    Of Galilee (of Galilee)
    My Jesus is walking on the sea
    On the sea (the sea, the sea)
    Of Galilee (of Galilee)
    My Jesus is walking on the sea

Subject: Lyr Add: AM I A SOLDIER OF THE CROSS?
From: Richie
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 07:27 PM

AM I A SOLDIER OF THE CROSS?

Am I a soldier of the cross,
A follower of the Lamb,
And shall I fear to own His cause,
Or blush to speak His Name?

Must I be carried to the skies
On flowery beds of ease,
While others fought to win the prize,
And sailed through bloody seas?

Words: Isaac Watts, ap­pend­ed to his Ser­mons, pub­lished 1721-4; Watts wrote this hymn in con­junc­tion with a ser­mon he was giv­ing on 1 Co­rinth­i­ans 16:13. For a dif­fer­ent ar­range­ment, see When the Bat­tle's Over.

Music: Ar­ling­ton, Thom­as A. Arne, 1762; ar­ranged by Ralph Har­ri­son in his Sac­red Har­mo­ny–A Col­lect­ion of Psalm­tunes, An­cient and Mo­dern (Lon­don: 1784) (MI­DI, score). Alternate tune:

Subject: Lyr Add: ONE LITTLE WORD
From: Richie
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 07:43 PM

One Little Word is another Carter Family song based on an 1899 song written by Gussie Davis.

ONE LITTLE WORD Carter Family

          The dream of love is over
          Today we said goodbye
          We parted not in anger
          Though tears came in her eyes

          'Twas just as fate decreed, dear
          That we should never wed
          Yet in her heart she loved me
          She married wealth instead

    One little word could've changed my future life
    One little word could've made her my wife
    Too late, too late, now my fondest hopes are dead
    One little word, that word was never said
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

          Since schooldays we had been sweethearts
          She was her father's pride
          Her folks lived in a mansion
          Our cottage by its side

          Though years have brought their changes
          The same old love tale told
          She wed to please her parents
          A man of wealth and gold

    One little word could've changed my future life
    One little word could've made her my wife
    Too late, too late, now my fondest hopes are dead
    One little word, that word was never said

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 07:58 PM

Only Girl (I Ever Cared About);

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 08:08 PM

Only Girl (I Ever Cared About) is "You Are The Only Girl I Ever Cared About" Will Cobb- Words; Gus Edwards- Music in 1899.

Subject: Lyr Add: OVER THE GARDEN WALL
From: Richie
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 08:21 PM

Over the Garden Wall is a song Sara Carter said "that was an old ballet given to us by an old lady in Tennessee." The song was written by the minstrel showmen Harry Hunter and George D. Fox in 1879. In the companion book for the Bear Family's set of the complete recordings of the Carter Family, Charles Wolfe wrote that the song was popularized in the 1890s by the vaudeville singer Tony Pastor and then moved into the folk tradition. Judging from the number of publishers who have issued editions of it (see the Library of Congress American Memory site), it must've been quite the hit.

The Carters sang only two verses, the first and fourth, with only slight alterations. Their melody is rather different from Fox's, but still resembles the original closely in spots.


OVER THE GARDEN WALL
A. P. Carter

My love stood under a walnut tree,
Over the garden wall.
She whispered and said she'd be true to me,
Over the garden wall.
She has beautiful eyes and beautiful hair,
She's not very tall so she stood in a chair.
Many a time I kissed her there,
Over the garden wall.

CHORUS: Over the garden wall,
The sweetest girl of all.
There never were yet
Such eyes of jet,
And you can bet I'll never forget
The night our lips in kisses met,
Over the garden wall.

There's always a will, there's always a way,
Over the garden wall.
There's always a night, as well as the day,
Over the garden wall.
We hadn't much money, but weddin's were cheap,
So while the old feller was snoring asleep,
With a lad and ladder she managed to creep,
Over the garden wall. CHORUS

OVER THE GARDEN WALL(1879)
words by Harry Hunter
music by G[eorge] D. Fox

1. Oh, my love stood under the walnut tree,
Over the garden wall,
She whispered and said she'd be true to me,
Over the garden wall,
She'd beautiful eyes and beautiful hair,
She was not very tall so she stood in a chair,
And Many a time have I kissed her there,
Over the garden wall.

      CHORUS
      Over the garden wall,
      The sweetest girl of all.
      There never were yet such eyes of jet,
      And you can bet I'll never forget
      The night our lips in kisses met,
      Over the garden wall.

2. But her father stamped and her father raved,
Over the garden wall,
And like an old madman he behaved,
Over the garden wall,
She made a bouquet of roses red,
But immediately I popped up my head,
He gave me a bucket of water instead,
Over the garden wall. CHO.

3. One day I jumped down on the other side,
Over the garden wall,
And she bravely promised to be my bride,
Over the garden wall,
But she screamed in a fright, "Here's father, quick,
I have an impression he's bringing a stick."
But I brought the impression of half a brick,
Over the garden wall. CHO.

4. But where there's a will, there's always a way,
Over the garden wall,
There's always a night as well as the day,
Over the garden wall ;
We hadn't much money, but wedding's are cheap,
So while the old fellow was snoring asleep,
With a lad and ladder, she managed to creep
Over the garden wall. CHO.

Subject: Lyr Add: PICTURE ON THE WALL
From: Richie
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 08:58 PM

From the DT: The Carters recorded 'Picture on the Wall' on February 23 1932. It is credited by Wolfe to Landress and almost certainly learned from the 1927 Yellow Hammers hit recording. Wolfe says Sara recalled that they had learned it 'from an old record'.

From the notes to The Georgia Yellow Hammers lp, Rounder 1032, 1979: This was the band's most successful recording; in 1953 Bud Landress gave an account of its composition to an Atlanta newspaper writer. "Landress, who spent a good deal of his time farming, said he was inspired to write the song one night after he had plowed corn all day. After going to bed, he became fascinated with a picture hanging on the wall of his bedroom and the idea to make the song about it was born. The picture, however, was not one of his mother, about whom the song was written. He got out of bed, wrote the words and 'sawed out the tune' on his old fiddle. Several hours later when the composition was finished, he awakened his wife and sang it to her for an opinion, which probably wasn't very good at that time of night."

There's a good chance Landress based his song on one of the earlier "Picture on the Wall" songs found at American Memory. They made big money on the song, crediting it to another source wasn't something usally done. See the DT for other similar versions.

PICTURE ON THE WALL- Carter Family

There's an old and faded picture on the wall
That has been a-hanging there for many a year
'Tis a picture of my mother, for I know there is no other
That can take the place of mother on the wall

    On the wall (On the wall)
    On the wall (On the wall)
    How I love that dear old picture on the wall
    Time is swiftly passing by and I bow my head and cry
    'Cause I know I'll meet my mother after all

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Yes, the children all have gathered, all have gone
And I have a little family of my own
And I know I love them well, more than any tongue can tell
But I'll hold that dear old picture on the wall

    On the wall (On the wall)
    On the wall (On the wall)
    How I love that dear old picture on the wall
    Time is swiftly passing by and I bow my head and cry
    'Cause I know I'll meet my mother after all

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Since I lost that dear old mother years ago
There is none to which with troubles I can go
As my guitar makes its chords I am praying to the Lord
Let me hold that dear old picture on the wall

    On the wall (On the wall)
    On the wall (On the wall)
    How I love that dear old picture on the wall
    Time is swiftly passing by and I bow my head and cry
    'Cause I know I'll meet my mother after all

Subject: Lyr Add: POOR LITTLE ORPHANED BOY
From: Richie
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 09:27 PM

According to Meade "Poor Little Orphaned Boy" appeared in print in 1874. The song is apparently traditional. The first recording was made in 1928 by Buell Kazee followed by the Carter Family's 1933 recording.

POOR LITTLE ORPHANED BOY- Carter Family 1933

My mother died when I was young
My sisters, they were sad
They laid their hands upon my head
And taught me how to pray

    So now, my mother, she's gone to rest
    In the land of purest joy
    And I wonder if she thinks of me
    Her poor little orphaned boy
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

When I was only two years old
I never shall forget
A parting kiss she gave to me
I sometimes feel it yet

    So now, my mother, she's gone to rest
    In the land of purest joy
    And I wonder if she thinks of me
    Her poor little orphaned boy
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

When I was sick, in every hour
She watched me as I lay
And with her kind and gentle hand
She smoothed me tenderly

    So now, my mother, she's gone to rest
    In the land of purest joy
    And I wonder if she thinks of me
    Her poor little orphaned boy
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

So now I press this world alone
Her love with me shall stay
And from the throne above the skies
Her smile shall rest on me

    So now, my mother, she's gone to rest
    In the land of purest joy
    And I wonder if she thinks of me
    Her poor little orphaned boy

Subject: Lyr Add: POOR ORPHAN CHILD
From: Richie
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 09:35 PM

Poor Orphan Child is the gospel song "Saviour Lead Them Orphans" by H.W. Elliot and Emmett Dean in 1898.

POOR ORPHAN CHILD- Carter Family

    I hear a low faint voice that says
    My papa and mama's dead
    And it comes from the poor orphan child
    That must be clothed and fed
    And it comes from the poor orphan child
    That must be clothed and fed
    And it comes from the poor orphan child
    That must be clothed and fed

Savior, lead...................them by the hand
(Savior, lead them by the hand, yes, gently lead them by the hand)
Savior, lead...................them by the hand
(Savior, lead them by the hand, yes, gently lead them by the hand)
Savior, lead...................them by the hand
(Savior, lead them by the hand, yes, gently lead them by the hand)
Till they all reach that glittering strand
(Till they all reach that glittering strand)

    We see so many children now
    Poor little boys and girls
    Who want that mother's loving hand
    To smooth their golden curls
    Who want that mother's loving hand
    To smooth their golden curls
    Who want that mother's loving hand
    To smooth their golden curls

    [CHORUS]

    But now we see those wandering curls
    Hang careless 'round their brow
    They say to us, my papa's dead
    And I've no mother now
    They say to us, my papa's dead
    And I've no mother now
    They say to us, my papa's dead
    And I've no mother now

          [CHORUS]

    O Savior, every orphan bless
    Wherever they may roam
    Bless every hand that lends them aid
    And bless the orphan's home
    Bless every hand that lends them aid
    And bless the orphan's home
    Bless every hand that lends them aid
    And bless the orphan's home

          [CHORUS]

Subject: Lyr Add: RAMBLING BOY
From: Richie
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 10:02 PM

Rambling Boy is classified by Laws as "The Wild and Wicked Youth" [Laws L12]. The English folk song dates to before 1830 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 25(2054)). Here's info from the Ballad Index:

REFERENCES (18 citations):
Laws L12, "The Rambling Boy (Wild and Wicked Youth)"
Belden, pp. 136-137, "The Rambling Boy" (1 text)
Randolph 148, "The Rambling Boy" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Warner 101, "The Rambling Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp-100E 83, "The Robber" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuson, pp. 63-64, "The Rich Rambler" (1 text)
Cambiaire, pp. 43-44, "The Wretched Rambling Boy" (1 text)
Ritchie-Southern, pp. 91-92, "The Reckless and Rambling Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Combs/Wilgus 90, pp. 184-185, "The Rich and Rambling Boy" (1 text)
Kennedy 326, "Newlyn Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn-More 35, "The Newry Highwayman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zimmermann p. 96, "The Bold and Undaunted Youth" (1 text fragment)
BrownII 121, "The Rambing Boy" (1 text)
Lomax-FSNA 96, "The Ramblin' Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, pp. 130-131, "The Rambling Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Thorp/Fife XIII, pp. 148-190 (29-30), "Cow Boy's Lament" (22 texts, 7 tunes, the "L" text being in fact a version of this piece)
Darling-NAS, pp. 106-107, "The Rambling Boy" (1 text)

RECORDINGS:
O. J. Abbott, "The Bold and Undaunted Youth (The Rambling Boy)" (on Abbott1)
Clarence Ashley & Tex Isley, "Rude and Rambling Man" (on Ashley01)
Justus Begley, "The Roving Boy" (AFS, 1937; on KMM)
Jumbo Brightwell, "Newry Town" (on Voice03)
Carter Family, "The Rambling Boy" (Bluebird B-8990, 1941/Bluebird 33-0512, 1944)
Wade Mainer, "Ramblin' Boy" (Bluebird 33-0512, 1944)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Rambling Boy" (on NLCR05)
Riley Puckett, "Ramblin' Boy" (Columbia 15605-D, 1930)
Bob Scarce, "Newlyn Town" (on FSB7)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(2054), "The Wild and Wicked Youth," T. Birt (London), 1828-1829; also Firth c.17(208), Harding B 11(576), Harding B 15(376a), Harding B 11(939), Firth c.17(6), Harding B 16(307a), Harding B 11(4205), Harding B 11(4211), Harding B 11(4212), Firth b.34(314), Harding B 11(3519A), Firth c.17(7), 2806 c.16(325), Harding B 17(338a), Harding B 20(117), Harding B 17(337b), "The Wild and Wicked Youth"; Harding B 28(235), "The Highway Man's Fate"; Harding B 26(67), "The Bold and Undaunted Youth" ("In Stephen's-green I was bred and born"), J. Moore (Belfast), 1852-1868

ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Rake and Rambling Boy
Adieu Adieu

Notes: The Bodleian "The Wild and Wicked Youth" broadsides, and OLochlainn-More 35, include a version of the lines
"I robbed Lord Mansfield I do declare, ...
Lord Fielding's gang they did me pursue And taken I was, by that cursed crew."
The Bodleian notes to 2806 c.16(325) include references to the cast of characters: "Fielding, John, Sir, d. 1780; Mansfield, W.R., Baron Sandhurst, 1819-1876"
Broadside Bodleian Harding B 26(67) is another example of the "I robbed Lord Mansfield I do declare" group. Zimmermann's fragment seems to be from this version. In this case he falls in with "Fieldskin gang." - BS
Given the date of the song, I would think the Mansfield involved more likely to be William Murray, first Earl of Mansfield (1706-1793), who was Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench from 1756. This has at least sometimes been corrupted to Lord Melbourne, presumably William Lamb, second Viscount Melbourne (1779-1848), the Prime Minister (on and off) from 1834 to 1841. But Mansfield is closer to the Era of the Highwaymen -- and, as Chief Justice, someone they would doubtless enjoy taking.
Fielding in fact might refer to John Fielding or his brother Henry, the author (died 1755). Henry Fielding was driven by poverty to take a post as Commissioner of the Peace for Middlesex in 1748. John Fielding, despite being blind, succeeded him in 1754 -- and dramatically improved law enforcement, though he didn't have the funding to carry out all his reforms. Still, he did enough that life became much harder for the highwaymen.
"Fielding's Gang" is presumably the Bow Street Patrol, founded by the Fieldings as the first almost-national police force in England.


RAMBLING BOY- Carter Family 1941

I was rich but a rambling boy
Too many a city I did enjoy
And there I married me a pretty little wife
And I loved her dearer than I loved my life

She was pretty both neat and gay
She caused me to rob the road highway
I robbed it yes I do declare
I made myself ten thousand there

Plenty dry goods for to carry me through
My pistol, sword, my money too
My forty-four she never failed
My true love comes for to go my bail.

My mother says she has no home
My sister says she's all alone
My wife she's left in sad despair
With a broken heart and a baby fair.

Now when I die dont bury me at all
Just place me away in alcohol
My forty-four lay by my feet
Please tell them I am just asleep

Subject: Lyr Add: RECKLESS MOTORMAN
From: Richie
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 11:21 PM

Reckless Motorman is a Carter Family rewrite of the "Dying Brakeman" and the related "True and Trembling Brakeman" songs. According to Cohen a brakeman is also referred to as a motorman. He also said A.P collected the song on a collecting trip in Southwest Virginia in 1937 or 1938. So the song is traditional reworked by A.P. Carter.

RECKLESS MOTORMAN-Carter Family 1938

Yonder stands the reckless motorman
Who says his age is twenty one
Standing by his mainline motor
Saying folks what have I done

Is it true I've killed my brakemen
Is it true that he is dying
Oh I tried to stop my motor
But I could not stop in time

See the cars stacked up on him
See him raise his weary head
See his sister standing by him
Crying brother are you dead

Sister sister I am dying
Soon I'll be on yonder shore
Soon I'll have a home in heaven
There'll be no braking anymore

Go and tell my youngest brother
Take these words to an end
To never start the day a braking
For his life is sure to end

Go tell my father who is weigh man
What he weighs to weigh it fair
There'll be no scales up in heaven
For that meeting in the air

Subject: Lyr Add: RIVER OF JORDAN
From: Richie
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 11:43 PM

River of Jordan is listed under Some of These Days [Me III-C 27]. To complicate maters there's different song by Shelton Brooks titled "Some of These Days." Additional complications result from a different song by the Poplin Family titled "River Of Jordan."

I learned the song as "God's Gonna Set This World On Fire." Other names include:

"I'm Gonna Sit at the Welcome Table"
"We Gonna Walk the Streets of Washington,"
"Walking on the Streets of Glory,"
"I'm Gonna Sit at the Freedom Table" (civil rights movement song)
"I'm Gonna Tell God How You Treat Me."
"One of these Days"
"Welcome Table"
"Streets of Glory"
"Jacob's Ladder"
"Some of These Days"

The earliest recording is the 1915 Fisk University Male Quartet then the 1922 Florida Normal Quartet.

Some Recordings:
Emmett Brand, "I'm Going to Cross the Rivers of Jordan, Some of These Days" (on MuSouth06)
Carter Family, "River of Jordan" (Victor 21434, 1928; Montgomery Ward M-4430, 1934; on Babylon)
Jaybird Coleman, "I'm Gonna Cross the River of Jordan - Some o' These Days" (Silvertone 5172, 1927; on Babylon)
Florida Normal Quartet, "The Welcome Table" (OKeh 40079, 1924; rec. 1922)
West Virginia Night Owls, "I'm Goin' to Walk on the Streets of Glory" (Victor 21533, 1928)
Charles Owens w. Isabel Owens, "The Welcome Table" (on NovaScotia1)
West Virginia Snake Hunters [John & Emery McClung], "Walk the Streets of Glory" (Brunswick 119, 1928, rec. 1927)
Alice Wine, "I'm Gonna Sit at the Welcome Table" (on BeenStorm1)

This is another song the Carters learned through their African-American sources Leslie Riddle and Pauline Gray.

RIVER OF JORDAN- Carter Family 1934

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

I'm going down to the river of Jordan
Oh, yes
I'm going down to the river of Jordan
Some of these days (hallelujah)
I'm going down to the river of Jordan
I'm going down to the river of Jordan
Some of these days

I'm going to eat at the welcome table
Oh, yes
I'm going to eat at the welcome table
Some of these days (hallelujah)
I'm going to eat at the welcome table
I'm going to eat at the welcome table
Some of these days

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

I'm going to sing in the heavenly choir
Oh, yes
I'm going to sing in the heavenly choir
Some of these days (hallelujah)
I'm going to sing in the heavenly choir
I'm going to sing in the heavenly choir
Some of these days

I'm going to put on the silvery slippers
Oh, yes
I'm going to put on the silvery slippers
Some of these days (hallelujah)
I'm going to put on the silvery slippers
I'm going to put on the silvery slippers
Some of these days

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

I'm going to sit down by my Jesus
Oh, yes
I'm going to sit down by my Jesus
Some of these days (hallelujah)
I'm going to sit down by my Jesus
I'm going to sit down by my Jesus
Some of these days

Subject: Lyr Add: ROOM IN HEAVEN FOR ME
From: Richie
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 11:53 PM

Room in Heaven for Me is another James Vaughan song titled "Is There Room for Me?" written circa 1900. The Carters version was recorded in 1930.

ROOM IN HEAVEN FOR ME- Carter Family 1930

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Beyond the sea where fades such glorious dreams
Where things are ours that eyes have never seen
The soul's sweet home is blissful ever more
Will there be room for me on that bright shore

    There's room...............Yes, room
            (room for you and me.....room for you and me)
    There's room.......For all
            (room for me....room enough for all)
    There's room....................For all
            (yes, there's room for me....room enough for all)
    Yes, room...................for..me
         (room enough in heaven, yes, room)

(Instrumental)

That wondrous city far beyond confine
Where all is joy and peace so pure divine
In visions I it's glittering streets can see
And wonder if there's room in heaven for me

    There's room...............Yes, room
            (room for you and me.....room for you and me)
    There's room.......For all
            (room for me....room enough for all)
    There's room....................For all
            (yes, there's room for me....room enough for all)
    Yes, room...................for..me
         (room enough in heaven, yes, room)

I long to soar away and be at rest
And there to lean upon my Savior's breast
Oh, won't that be a glorious victory
To find that there is room in heaven for me

    There's room...............Yes, room
            (room for you and me.....room for you and me)
    There's room.......For all
            (room for me....room enough for all)
    There's room....................For all
            (yes, there's room for me....room enough for all)
    Yes, room...................for..me
         (room enough in heaven, yes, room)

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 11:55 PM

Hi,

The S titles are the next batch:

School House on the Hill;
See That My Grave Is Kept Green;
Sad and Lonesome Day;
Sailor Boy; Sea of Galilee;
Single Girl, Married Girl;
Sinking in the Lonesome Sea;
Something Got a Hold of Me;
Spirit of Love Watches Over Me;
Sow 'Em on the Mountain;
St. Regious Girl;
Stern Old Bachelor;
Storms Are on the Ocean;
Sun of the Soul;
Sunshine in the Shadows;
Sweet as the Flowers in May Time;
Sweet Fern;
Sweet Heaven in My View;

Anyone?

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 12:04 AM

Here's the sheet music to Vaughan's "Is There Room For Me?"

http://books.google.com/books?id=AQMca_ptzbMC&pg=PA6&dq=%22Is+There+Room+for+Me%22&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html

Subject: Lyr Add: SCHOOL HOUSE ON THE HILL
From: Richie
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 12:12 AM

School House on the Hill is another song by Aldine Kieffer titled "The School House On The Hill" from 1907.

Aldine Silliman Kieffer (August 1, 1840 – November 30, 1904) was a leading 19th century proponent of shape note musical notation, music teacher and publisher.

SCHOOL HOUSE ON THE HILL- Carter Family 1933

Fond memory paints its scenes of other years
Bring me their memory still
And bright amid those joyous scenes of years
The schoolhouse on the hill

    Oh, the schoolhouse that stands upon the hill
    I never, never can forget
    Dear happy days are gathered 'round me still
    I never, no never can forget
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

There hangs the swing upon the maple tree
Where you and I once swung
There flows the spring, forever flowing free
As when we both were young

    Oh, the schoolhouse that stands upon the hill
    I never, never can forget
    Dear happy days are gathered 'round me still
    I never, no never can forget
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

There climbs the vines and there the berries grow
Which once would rise so high
And there the ripe nuts glistened in the grove
Of rich October skies

    Oh, the schoolhouse that stands upon the hill
    I never, never can forget
    Dear happy days are gathered 'round me still
    I never, no never can forget

Subject: Lyr Add: SEE THAT MY GRAVE IS KEPT GREEN (Carter)
From: Richie
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 08:19 AM

See That My Grave Is Kept Green is based on Gus William's 1879 song which can be found in the DT and at American Memory. Speculation about Williams song being the the source for Blind Lemon Jefferson's "see that my Grave is Kept Clean" is unfounded and only the title itself appears to have been used in the Jefferson blues song.

The Carters made the third Country Music recording in 1933.

SEE THAT MY GRAVE IS KEPT GREEN-Carter Family 1933

    When I am dead and gone from you, darling
    When I am laid away in my grave
    When my spirit has gone to heaven above
    To him whom my soul will save

          Oh, the day will come to you, darling
          When no more on earth I'll be seen
          There's one little wish, darling, grant me
          See that my grave is kept green
          When from this world I go
          Leaving forever the scene
          While others are dead, oh, will you then
          See that my grave is kept green
          [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

    Oh, the hour of joy is passing
    But, alas, how soon it will fade
    Your glances of love are meeting my own
    And sunlight will turn to shade

          Oh, the day will come to you, darling
          When no more on earth I'll be seen
          There's one little wish, darling, grant me
          See that my grave is kept green
          When from this world I go
          Leaving forever the scene
          While others are dead, oh, will you then
          See that my grave is kept green
          [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

    I shall never be happy again, my love
    Never be happy again
    For girls in their teens don't know what love means
    I shall never be happy again

          When from this world I go
          Leaving forever the scene
          While others are dead, oh, will you then
          See that my grave is kept green

Subject: Lyr Add: SAD AND LONESOME DAY
From: Richie
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 09:00 AM

Sad and Lonesome Day is a blues based on Blind Lemon Jefferson's "See that my Grave is Kept Clean." The Carters probably learned it from a member of their Kingsport blues group that included Brownie McGee, Leslie Riddle and Sam Lyons.

The Songs is also known as "Two White Horses in a Line" and "One Kind Favor." Jefferson recorded his song in 1927.

The Carter Family's "Sad and Lonesome Day": Victor 23835, 1933; Melotone 7-04-53/Conqueror 8735, 1937;

SAD AND LONESOME DAY- Carter Family

Oh today has been a lonesome day
Today has been a lonesome day
Today has been a lonesome day
And seems tomorrow 'll be the same old way

Oh, they carried my mother to the burying ground
Oh, they carried my mother to the burying ground
Oh, they carried my mother to the burying ground
And watched as the bearers let her down

Did you ever hear a church bell tone
Did you ever hear a church bell tone
Did you ever hear a church bell tone
You may know by that she's dead and gone

Oh, dig my grave with a silver spade
Oh, dig my grave with a silver spade
Oh, dig my grave with a silver spade
And mark the place where I must lay

There's one kind favor I ask of you
There's one kind favor I ask of you
There's one kind favor I ask of you
That's to see that my grave is kept green

See That My Grave is Kept Clean- Blind Lemon Jefferson

Well its one kindfavor I ask of you
Well, it's one kind favor I ask of you
Lord, its one kind thing, I'll ask of you
See that my grave is kept clean


It's a long lane ain't got no end (3X)
It's a bad way that don' ever change

Lord, it's two white horses in a line (3X)
Will take me to my burrying ground

My heart stopped beating and my hands got cold (3X)
It's a long, long story that the bible told

Have you ever heard a coffin sound? (3X)
Then you know that the poor boy is in the ground

Oh, dig my grave with a silver spade (3X)
You may lead me down with a golden chain

Have you ever heard the church bell toll? (3X)
Then you know that the poor boy's dead and gone

Subject: Lyr Add: SAILOR BOY
From: Richie
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 09:20 AM

Sailor Boy is a traditional ballad listed as The Faithful Sailor Boy [Laws K13] and by Meade as Sailor Boy's Farewell. It was first recorded by Gid Tanner of Skillet Licker fame in 1924. Vernon Dalhart's 1925 version titled "Sailor Boy's Farewell" was popular.

Here's info from the ballad index:

EARLIEST DATE: 1859
FOUND IN: US(MA,SE) Ireland Britain Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (10 citations):
Laws K13, "The Faithful Sailor Boy"
Doerflinger, p. 164, "The Sailor Boy" (1 short text, 1 tune)
SHenry H543, p. 103, "The Sailor Boy" (1 text, 1 tune); also probably H678, p. 89, "The Irish Soldier Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ranson, pp. 32-33, "The Faithful Sailor Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
McBride 60, "The Sailor Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 68, "The Faithful Sailor Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 111, "The Faithful Sailor Boy" (1 text plus mention of 3 more)
Chappell-FSRA 33, "Sailor Boy" (1 text)
Fuson, pp. 61-62, "The Soldier Boy" (1 text)
BROADSIDES: NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(64a), "The Sailor Boy," Poet's Box (Dundee), c. 1890
Notes: G. W. Persley has been listed as the author of this piece, but the song appears older.
The Sam Henry text "The Irish Soldier Boy" lacks many of the elements of fuller versions of this song, and also has a slightly different form. But it has so many elements in common with Laws K13 that I think it must be listed here. If it isn't Laws K13, it's swallowed several verses whole.

SAILOR BOY- Carter Family

'Twas on one dark and stormy night
The snow was on the ground
The sailor boy was at his post
His ship was outward bound.

His sweetheart standing by his side
She mourned a bitter tear
Though as he pressed her to his side
He whispered in her ear

"Farewell, my own true love
This parting gives me pain
And you will be my guiding star
'Til I return again!"

"And then I think of you, my love
While storms are raging high
Then, oh sweetheart, remember me
Your faithful sailor boy."

"Twas sad to say the ship returned
Without the sailor boy
For he had died while on the sea
His flag was held most high

And as his shipmate steps on shore
To tell that he was dead
A letter that he gave to her
These words it sadly read

"Farewell, my own true love
On earth we'll meet no more
Though may we meet in heaven above
Where parting is no more!"

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 09:25 AM

Sea of Galilee is another title for "On the Sea of Galilee" which was recorded twice by the Carters with two titles. It is already covered above under the O titles "On the Sea of Galilee."

Subject: Lyr Add: SINGLE GIRL MARRIED GIRL
From: Richie
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 09:39 AM

Single Girl, Married Girl is a traditional ballad that the Carters recorded at their first session in Bristol, then again in 1935.

According to the Carters biography the song came from Mollie Carter, A.P.'s mother and it was a well-known old song.

SINGLE GIRL MARRIED GIRL- Carter Family 1927 and 1935

Single girl, single girl, she's going dressed so fine,
Oh, she's going dressed so fine.
Married girl, married girl, she wears just any kind,
Oh, she wears just any kind.

Single girl, single girl, she goes to the store and buys,
Oh, she goes to the store and buys.
Married girl, married girl, she rocks the cradle and cries,
Oh, she rocks the cradle and cries.

Single girl, single girl, she's going where she please,
Oh, she's going where she please.
Married girl, married girl, a baby on her knees,
Oh, a baby on her knees.

Subject: Lyr Add: SINKING IN THE LONESOME SEA
From: Richie
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 10:14 AM

Sinking in the Lonesome Sea is the Carter's 1935 version of "The Golden Willow Tree" or "Lowlands Low" which is the English ballad "The Golden Vanity" Child 286. The song dates back to a 1685 broadside.

No sense going into the history or details here. There's info in the DT.


SINKING IN THE LONESOME SEA- Carter Family 1935

There was a little ship and it sailed upon the sea
And she went by the name of the Merry Golden Tree

    As she sailed upon the low and lonesome low
    As she sailed upon the lonesome sea

There was a little sailor unto his captain said
Oh, Captain, Captain, what'll you give to me

    If I sink her in the low and lonesome low
    If I sink her in the lonesome sea

500 Dollars I'll give unto thee
And my oldest daughter I'll wed unto thee

    If you'll sink her in the low and lonesome low
    If you'll sink her in the lonesome sea

He bowed his head and away swam he
Till he come to the ship called the Turkish Reveille

    And she sanken in the low and lonesome low
    She sanken in the lonesome sea

If it wasn't for the love of your daughter and your men
I would do unto you as I did unto them

    I would sink you in the low and lonesome low
    I would sink you in the lonesome sea

Subject: Lyr Add: SOMETHING'S GOT A HOLD OF ME
From: Richie
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 10:39 AM

Something Got a Hold of Me is a gospel song recorded by the Carters in 1941 that is probably based on Warren Caplinger's verson from the 1930s.

Warren Caplinger, is best known as "Cap" of Cap, Andy and Flip, a gospel singing trio who played over WMMN, Fairmont. Here's a bio:

A very popular West Virginia radio act of the 30s, it comprised Cap (b. Samuel Warren Caplinger, 16 June 1889, Kanawha Station near Parkersburg, Wood County, West Virginia, USA, d. 7 July 1957; guitar), Andy (b. Andrew Patterson, 28 August 1893, Petros, Tennessee, USA, d. 19 November 1950; fiddle, guitar, vocals) and Flip (b. William Austin Strickland, 28 November 1908, Blount County, Alabama, USA, d. 21 July 1988; banjo, mandolin, tenor vocals). Cap worked as a miner before relocating to Tennessee, where he met Andy. In 1928, after forming a string band with George Rainey and his two sons, they went to Ashland, Kentucky, where, as Warren Caplinger's Cumberland Mountain Entertainers, they recorded nine sides for Brunswick and Vocalion.

Soon afterwards, Cap relocated to Akron, Ohio. Andy made further recordings for Columbia, with the McCartt Brothers, before rejoining Cap in Akron, where they formed the Dixie Harmonizers. They became regulars on radio in Akron and Cleveland and made further recordings, this time for Gennett. They also, as the Pine Ridge String Band, worked with Lum And Abner on a network show in Cleveland, during which time, Grandpa Jones, then a youngster just starting his career, was a member of their band. In 1930, the trio commenced its very successful radio career when Flip, who had already worked on radio, joined Cap and Andy. During the 30s, the trio became very popular, not only at Akron and Columbus, Ohio, but also on stations in West Virginia and Kentucky, including WWVA Wheeling, WMMN Fairmont, and WCHS Charleston. During this very successful time, they published several songbooks but had little interest in making records, although in 1939/40, they had recorded nine sides for the Fireside Melodies label that are still awaiting reissue. They made further recordings in the mid-40s for a local label, but they appear to have been lost. They hold the distinction of being the first act to popularize "Roane County Prison".

By 1940, when Flip left, the act was based at Charleston and their repertoire consisted mainly of gospel numbers. Milt Strickland (Flip's 16-year-old son) joined Cap and Andy and the act continued until Andy's poor health saw them finally disband in 1949. Patterson relocated to Harriman, Tennessee, while Cap worked for a time as a disc jockey on local Charleston radio stations. Andy died in 1950 and was buried at St. Albans, West Virginia. When Cap died in 1957, he was buried near his old partner. In the early 40s, Flip worked with Curly Fox And Texas Ruby on the Grand Ole Opry, but he eventually relocated to Indiana, where he continued to play with various groups in the 70s. In 1979, he retired to his native Alabama, where he died in 1988; he is buried in Gallipolis, Ohio, his wife's home.

SOMETHING'S GOT A HOLD OF ME- Carter Family 1941

          When first I heard of the people who claim
          This old-time religion was real
          I says I'll go down, take a look at the crowd
          It's just the weak-minded, I feel

               But something got a hold of me
               Yes, something got a hold of me
               I went there to fight, but on that night
               There's something got a hold of me

          I walked right down, peeped in at the door
          And the Devil says, don't you go in
          I says I'll go in, for that will not hurt
          And sit as far back as I can

               But something got a hold of me
               Yes, something got a hold of me
               I went there to fight, but on that night
               There's something got a hold of me

          About that time he got up to preach
          And he looked right down upon me
          He told everybody how mean I had been
          Don't think he thought much of me

               But something got a hold of me
               Yes, something got a hold of me
               I went there to fight, but on that night
               There's something got a hold of me

          They sing and shout and they all clasp their hands
          And they all got down on their knees
          When the fire fell from heaven it fell upon me
          And then I fell to the floor

               But something got a hold of me
               Yes, something got a hold of me
               I went there to fight, but on that night
               There's something got a hold of me

          So now I've learnt and no need to doubt
          That the old-time religion is real
          I have a spirit I'll never forget
          That something got a hold of me

               But something's got a hold of me
               Yes, something's got a hold of me
               I have a spirit I'll never forget
               That something's got a hold of me

Subject: Lyr Add: THE SPIRIT OF LOVE WATCHES OVER ME
From: Richie
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 12:23 PM

Spirit of Love Watches Over Me is a 1932 gospel song by the Carters based on a song byy George Lindley circa 1840.

George Linley (1798-September 10, 1865), was a verse-writer and musical composer. The son of a tradesman, he was born at Leeds in 1798, and partly educated at Eastbury's Quaker school. Linley contributed verses to the local newspapers, and published some pamphlets before leaving Leeds in early life. After a residence in Doncaster (see Modern Hudibras, p. 66 ) and Edinburgh, he finally settled in London, where he made some reputation as the writer and composer of songs and ballads.

Linley wrote and composed several hundred songs between 1830 and 1865. Among his most fashionable and popular ballads, composed between 1830 and 1847,were, Thou art gone from my gaze, Song of the roving gipsey, and Constance.

Here's a link to the sheet music:
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.100007358/enlarge.html?page=2§ion=&size=640


THE SPIRIT OF LOVE WATCHES OVER ME-Carter Family 1932

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Thou art gone from my gaze like a beautiful dream
And I seek there in vain by the meadow and stream
Oft I breathe out your name to the winds floating by
But the sweet voice is mute to my cry
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

In the stillness of night when the stars mightily shine
My heart fondly holds a communion with thine
For I feel thou art near and where e'er I may be
That the spirit of love watches me
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Oft the birds in the bower now companion I make
Every simple wildflower I prize for the sake
Deep woods and dark clouds can now pleasure impart
For the solitude suits my poor heart
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Thou art gone from my gaze, yet I will not repine
E'er long we shall meet in a home that is thine
For I feel thou art near and where e'er I may be
That the spirit of love watches me

Subject: Lyr Add: SOW 'EM ON THE MOUNTAIN
From: Richie
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 12:54 PM

Sow 'Em on the Mountain is a traditional spiritual recorded by the Carters in 1930. It was leter recorded by the Coon Creek Girls and Woody Guthrie as "Sowing on the Mountain."

"Sow 'em is a mishearing of "Sowing" so clearly this is a song they learned from another source.

According to one author "Sowing On the Mountain" is a traditional gospel song in which the biblical warning of "fire next time" takes on additional meaning in the nuclear age.

In my opinion the song is based on the verse of the 1874 hymn "Bringing in the Sheaves:"

Sowing in the morning, sowing seeds of kindness,
Sowing in the noontide and the dewy eve.

There is also a relationship in form and content to "This Train is Bound for Glory.

SOW 'EM ON THE MOUNTAIN-Carter Family 1930

                   Sow 'em on the mountain, reap 'em in the valley
                   Sow 'em on the mountain, reap 'em in the valley
                   Sow 'em on the mountain, reap 'em in the valley
                   You gonna reap just what you sow

               If you've been a gambler, better quit your gamblin'
               If you've been a gambler, better quit your gamblin'
               If you've been a gambler, better quit your gamblin'
               'Cause you gonna reap just what you sow

                   Sow 'em on the mountain, reap 'em in the valley
                   Sow 'em on the mountain, reap 'em in the valley
                   Sow 'em on the mountain, reap 'em in the valley
                   You gonna reap just what you sow

               If you been a tattler, you better quit your tattling
               If you been a tattler, you better quit your tattling
               If you been a tattler, you better quit your tattling
               'Cause you gonna reap just what you sow

                   Sow 'em on the mountain, reap 'em in the valley
                   Sow 'em on the mountain, reap 'em in the valley
                   Sow 'em on the mountain, reap 'em in the valley
                   You gonna reap just what you sow

               If you been a liar, you better you quit your lying
               If you been a liar, you better you quit your lying
               If you been a liar, you better you quit your lying
               'Cause you gonna reap just what you sow

                   Sow 'em on the mountain, reap 'em in the valley
                   Sow 'em on the mountain, reap 'em in the valley
                   Sow 'em on the mountain, reap 'em in the valley
                   You gonna reap just what you sow

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 01:33 PM

Albert E. Brumley, the evangelist, took copyright on a large number of arrangements, including some of those also "arranged" and copyrighted by the Carters.
One of these is "The Picture on the Wall;" Brumley's copyright of 1938 is handled Stamps-Baxter (or whomever controls that company now).
"Two Little Orphans," and several descendants, subject of a Mudcat thread, was copyright by him and M. Lynwood Smith in 1966.
Arrangements of "Home on the Range," "Listen to the Mocking Bird" and "Grandfather's Clock" were copyright in 1966 by Smith for arrangements in "Lamplightin' Songs," published by a Brumley company.
"Cowboy's Dream" (Last night as I lay on the prairie) is another with a Brumley arrangement copyright.

Not posted yet, but "When the roses bloom in Dixieland" resembles "When it's springtime in the Rockies."

Subject: Lyr Add: ST REGIOUS GIRL
From: Richie
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 02:33 PM

Hi Q,

Brumley wasn't above copyrighting other people's songs, not sure how he pretended it fit his "Christian" morals. I personally have questioned his authorship of "I'll Fly Away" the chorus of which I traced to an African-American song predating his copyright. It's probably been changed enough so that the copyright is valid... still I wonder.

St. Regious Girl (sic) is usally "St. Regis Girl" and it refers to an indian maiden. The Carters recorded the song in 1938. Saint Regis Maiden as I recall is basically a version of "Red River Valley." I'm sure this was a known version of the song but can't find the info on-line. I think Fowke referenced it.

If anyone has more info or a link to the recording it would help.

ST REGIOUS GIRL-Carter Family 1938

In a pine shaded grave by the river
Where the nightingale sings sad and low
All alone lies a St Regis maiden
Who did sing this sad song years ago

Never more will my heart fill with gladness
As I stroll through the forest again
For to prison they've taken my lover
That's why my poor heart's full of pain

When in prison your dying from sorrow
I hope you'll recall those last days
That together we spent in this valley
And the vows that we've shared on its quay

Oh if I could but burn down that prison
To steal you away for awhile
They could carry me off to the gallows
And I'd go to my doom with a smile

When the moon is high in the heaven
And the mountains do gleam in its light
How often I'll dream of you sweetheart
As I mourn there alone in the night

There will be a green grave in the forest
And people when passing that way
Will think of that St Regis maiden
As she lies there alone in the clay

A shadow has crossed o'er the valley
Where once only sunshine did reign
But where ever life's pathway may lead me
I shall ever remember our dream

In the future someday I will meet you
On the bright shore so far from this world
And there before God I will greet you
That's the dream of the St Regis girl

Subject: Lyr Add: STERN OLD BACHELOR
From: Richie
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 05:27 PM

Stern Old Bachelor is a traditional song related to the 1860 song, "I'm a Jolly Bachelor." The Carters 1938 version is possibly based on Chubby Parker's versions titled "I'm A Stern Old Bachelor;" he recorded the song three times, first in 1927.

Stern Old Bachelor first referenced in print in the 1887 newspaper "Dighton Republic" in Kansas.

STERN OLD BACHELOR- Carter Family 1938

I am a stern old bachelor, my age is 44
I do declare I'll never live with women anymore
I have a stove that's worth 10 cents, a table worth 15
I cook my gruel in oyster cans and keep my things so clean

    Oh, little sod shanty
    Little sod shanty give to me
    For I'm a stern old bachelor
    From matrimony free
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

When I come home at night, I smile and walk right in
I never hear a voice shout out, I say, where have you been
On a cold and stormy night, in my cozy little shack
I sing my songs and think my thoughts with no one to talk back
    Oh, little sod shanty
    Little sod shanty give to me
    For I'm a stern old bachelor
    From matrimony free
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

I go to bed whene'er I please and get up just the same
I change my socks three times a year with no one to complain
At night when I'm in peaceful sleep my snores can do no harm
I never have to walk the floor with a baby in my arms

    Oh, little sod shanty
    Little sod shanty give to me
    For I'm a stern old bachelor
    From matrimony free
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

And when I die and go heaven as all good bachelors do
I will not have to grieve for fear my wife will get there, too
    Oh, little sod shanty
    Little sod shanty give to me
    For I'm a stern old bachelor
    From matrimony free

Subject: Lyr Add: THE STORMS ARE ON THE OCEAN
From: Richie
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 06:08 PM

Storms Are on the Ocean is the Carters beautiful rendition of a variant of the large True Lover's Farewell folk song family originating in British Isles. The songs are often called: "Fare You Well, My Own True Love" and the "Ten Thousand Miles" songs. The first collected version in the US is 1906 (Belden). Other sets of lyrics were collected in 1916 and 1917 by Cecil Sharp; he titled the songs "True Lover's Farewell."

The Carters first verse, the "if I go ten thousand miles" is found in Sharp No. 114 A.

The second and third verses also in Sharp 114 A are from English "The Lass of Roch Royal" or "Lord Gregory" (Child #76):

Oh, who will dress your pretty little feet
Oh, who will glove your hand
Who will kiss your rosy red cheeks
When I'm in the far off land

In fact the whole song except for the chorus is found in Sharp 114 A. Only the chorus is distinct.Here are some recordings:

The Carter Family, "The Storms Are On the Ocean" (Victor 20937, 1927); (Okeh 03160, 1936)
A. P. Carter Family, "Storms are on the Ocean" (Acme 993, c. 1949)
Delmore Brothers, "The Storms Are On the Ocean" (Bluebird B-8613, 1941)
Aunt Molly Jackson, "Ten Thousand Miles" (AFS, 1939; on LC02)
Bascom Lamar Lunsford, "Little Turtle Dove" (Brunswick 229, 1928; on BLLunsford01; a composite of all sorts of floating verses, a few of which may be from this song)
Lewis McDaniel & Gid Smith, "It's Hard to Leave You, Sweet Love" (Victor 40287, c. 1929)
Neil Morris, "The Lass of Loch Royale" (on LomaxCD1701)
New Lost City Ramblers, "It's Hard to Leave You, Sweet Love" (on NLCR16)
Jean Ritchie & Doc Watson, "Storms Are On the Ocean" (on RitchieWatson1, RitchiteWatsonCD1)
[Leonard] Rutherford & [John] Foster, "Storms May Rule the Ocean" (Gennett, rec. 1929; on KMM)
Ruby Vass "10,000 Miles" (on Persis1)

THE STORMS ARE ON THE OCEAN- Carter Family 1927 and 1935

I'm going away to leave you, love
I'm going away for a while
But I'll return to you some time
If I go 10,000 miles

    The storms are on the ocean
    The heavens may cease to be
    This world may lose its motion, love
    If I prove false to thee

Oh, who will dress your pretty little feet
Oh, who will glove your hand
Who will kiss your rosy red cheeks
When I'm in the far off land

    The storms are on the ocean
    The heavens may cease to be
    This world may lose its motion, love
    If I prove false to thee
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Oh, papa will dress my pretty little feet
And mama will glove my hand
You can kiss my rosy red cheeks
When you return again

    The storms are on the ocean
    The heavens may cease to be
    This world may lose its motion, love
    If I prove false to thee
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Oh, have you seen those lonesome doves
Flying from pine to pine
A-mourning for their own true loves
Just like I mourn for mine

    The storms are on the ocean
    The heavens may cease to be
    This world may lose its motion, love
    If I prove false to thee
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

I'll never go back on the ocean, love
I'll never go back on the sea
I'll never go back on the blue-eyed girl
Till she goes back on me
    [CHORUS]

Subject: Lyr Add: THE SUN OF THE SOUL
From: Richie
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 06:31 PM

Sun of the Soul is from a 1917 Southern gospel song by Curtis Williams titled "When the Lights Have gone Out In Your Soul."

It was first recorded in 1927 by Ernest Phipps and his Congregation for Victor "If the Lights Gone Out of Your Soul." Peer probably knew about the Phipps recording and let the Carters record the song with a different title, a common practice to avoid copyright and royalty issues. teh Carters made their version in 1932.

THE SUN OF THE SOUL- Carter Family 1932

               When the sun of your life has gone down
               And the clouds in the west turn to gold
               Endless death will to you then have come
               If the light has gone out in your soul

                   Oh, just think how in death you would feel
                   With the light growing dim in your soul
                   Oh, how lonely it will be, oh, how still
                   If the light has gone out in your soul
                   [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

               When you come to the end of the way
               And life's story for you has been told
               Oh, how sad all to you will appear
               If the light has gone out in your soul

                   Oh, just think how in death you would feel
                   With the light growing dim in your soul
                   Oh, how lonely it will be, oh, how still
                   If the light has gone out in your soul
                   [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

               When the chilly winds of death around you steal
               And the sweat upon your brow is damp and cold
               What a dread in your life you would feel
               If the light has gone out in your soul

               When before the judgement bier you shall stand
               And your deeds of you have been trolled
               Good and evil appears, oh, what then
               If the light has gone out in your soul
                   Oh, just think how in death you would feel
                   With the light growing dim in your soul
                   Oh, how lonely it will be, oh, how still
                   If the light has gone out in your soul

Subject: Lyr Add: SUNSHINE IN THE SHADOWS
From: Richie
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 07:04 PM

Sunshine in the Shadows is the song "Heavenly Sunshine" by Lucy Eddie Campbell from Duck Hill Mississippi, who taught at Booker T. Washington High School in Memphis.

http://www.memphishistory.org/TheChurch/TheBaptistChurch/LucieCampbell/tabid/151/Default.aspx

It was first recorded by Laura Henton I presume in the 1920s. The Carters probably got this African-American gospel song from Leslie Riddle or Pauline Gray.

SUNSHINE IN THE SHADOWS
Carter family- Original

When our hearts are bowed in sorrow
And it seems all help is gone
Jesus whispers do not falter
I will leave you not alone
Then somehow amidst my trials
How it is I cannot see
Then I hear a voice from heaven
Gently saying follow me

    There is sunshine in the shadows
    There is sunshine in the rain
    There is sunshine in our sorrows
    Though our hearts are filled with pain
    There is sunshine when we're burdened
    There is sunshine when we pray
    There is sunshine, heavenly sunshine
    Blessed sunshine all the way

Sometimes my friends forsake me
And I'm tempted to despair
Then I think of my dear savior
Who lay his head, his head nowhere
Oh, it pays to follow Jesus
Just to learn of him each day
And I'll guarantee you, my brother
You'll have sunshine all the way

    There is sunshine in the shadows
    There is sunshine in the rain
    There is sunshine in our sorrows
    Though our hearts are filled with pain
    There is sunshine when we're burdened
    There is sunshine when we pray
    There is sunshine, heavenly sunshine
    Blessed sunshine all the way

Subject: Lyr Add: SWEET AS THE FLOWERS IN MAY TIME
From: Richie
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 08:31 PM

Sweet as the Flowers in May Time is a traditional song usually known as "My Mother/Mama Scolds Me For Flirting." It was first recorded by the Carolina Tar Heels in 1927.

Randolph collected a version learned prior to 1900. The Carters extra verse is taken from the chorus of the 1867 song "Where There's A Will There's A Way."

SWEET AS THE FLOWERS IN MAY TIME- Carter Family 1932

    Sweet as the flowers in May time
    Sweet as the dew on the rose
    I would rather be somebody's darling
    As a poor girl who nobody knows

Oh, mama scolds me for flirting
What is as a poor girl to do
Oh, this world would be sad without a lover
And this world would be sad without you
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Oh, I wish I had someone to love me
Someone just to call me their own
Be the rule over somebody's kitchen
Or the queen over somebody's home

    Sweet as the flowers in May time
    Sweet as the dew on the rose
    I would rather be somebody's darling
    As a poor girl who nobody knows
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Oh, what is the use of us parting
Wherever there's a will, there's a way
Tomorrow the sun may be shining
Although it is cloudy today

    Sweet as the flowers in May time
    Sweet as the dew on the rose
    I would rather be somebody's darling
    As a poor girl who nobody knows

Subject: Lyr Add: SWEET FERN (Carter Family)
From: Richie
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 09:03 PM

According to Charles Wolfe "Sweet Fern was a song AP found in his collecting trips into the east Tennessee hills; more commonly known as Sweet Bird, it was written and copyrighted in 1876 by Thomas Westendorf and George Persley. It shows up in a number of southern folksong collections and had even been recorded the year before (1928) by West Virginia singers Orville Reed and Richard Harold.

According to the Meade, Spottswood and Meade discography 'Country Music Sources', Fred Pendleton and Arville Reed recorded 'Sweet Bird' as a vocal duet under their own names in December 1927 and as The Virginia Night Owls in March 1928. Sid Harkreader and Grady Moore also recorded it in March 1928. Richard Harold recorded it in October 1928 with guitar and fiddle backing, but musicians names were not listed. The Carters issued recordings under the 'Sweet Fern' title in 1929 (twice), 1935 and 1936. Fields Ward and His Grayson County Railsplitters also recorded a version in 1929 under the title 'The Birds Are Returning'. There were several recordings in the 1930s under a variety of titles by Bob Cranford and A.P. Thompson (1931), Sweet Violet Boys (Prairie Ramblers) (1936), Aunt Idy Harper and the Coon Creek Girls (1938) and (Charlie) Monroe's Boys (1939).

The Carter's biographers Mark Zwonitzer and Chas. Hirshberg report in "Will You Miss Me when I'm Gone":

"meanwhile Gladys (AP and Sara's daughter) always insisted her father authored the song. "I can tell you where Daddy wrote a song one time." she said in 1990. "Right over behind the house here. The blackberries were ripe. . . and there's a little old bird up in the tree a-singin' and Daddy was a-throwin berries,and he come back-- Sweet Fern. He got the tune to it from that bird a-singin' to him and (the berries a-hittin' the bucket. And he come back and said "Sary,I thought up a song, and he wrote it and they made that record."
'the historian and the daughter are probably both right, in a way. Like as not, AP did get some lyrics for Sweet Bird. . . and like as not, he did get the idea for the call-and-response arrangement from his blackberry expedition. And like as not, Sara and Maybelle took AP's notion and remade the melody and instrumentals into something barely suggested by the old sheet music."

SWEET FERN- Carter Family 1929

Springtime is coming sweet lonesome bird,
Your echo in the woodland I hear;
Down in the meadow so lonesome you're singing,
While the moonlight is shining so clear.

Chorus: But I know he's away in a far distant land,
A land that's far over the sea;
Go fly to him singing your sweet little song,
And tell him to come back to me.
Sweet Fern, Sweet Fern,
Oh, tell me is my darling still true;
Sweet Fern, Sweet Fern,
I'll be just as happy as you.

Yodel: O-dell-eeho-eeho-layhee, edell-leo-leo-layhee,
Ay-leo-lay-dee-hee-oh-leolayhee.

2. Oh tell me sweet fern is he thinking of me
and the promise we made long ago;
He said he'd return from far over the sea
oh why do the years go so slow. Chorus/Yodel

3. And upon my finger he placed a small ring
on the day he was leaving his home;
I said I would be his own dear little girl
and would love him wherever he'd roam. Chorus/Yodel

Subject: Lyr Add: SWEET HEAVEN IN MY VIEW
From: Richie
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 09:26 PM

Sweet Heaven in My View is a spiritual from both the African-American and white tradition usually known as "Heaven in my View" and "Got Heaven in my View."

"Heaven in my View" was first recorded in 1926 by Sam Butler and later the same year by the Biddleville Quintette. The song was recorded 7 times before the Carters 1936 recording.

According to the Carters biography the song was an old hymn sung at holiness revivals years before that Maybelle remembered.
The "Sweet" prefix was probably added the title and chorus to prevent copyright issues and make the song more their own.


SWEET HEAVEN IN MY VIEW- Carter Family 1936

    Got sweet heaven in my view, hallelujah
    On my journey I press on, praise the Lord
    For I'm bound for that holy city
    Got sweet heaven in my view

Oh, my mother, she died and left me
I'm alone in this world, I'm alone
And my father, he won't own me
Got to find me another home

    Got sweet heaven in my view, hallelujah
    On my journey I press on, praise the Lord
    For I'm bound for that holy city
    Got sweet heaven in my view

Oh, you need not talk about me
Just because I am crippled and blind
For I've got my ticket purchased
I've reach heaven just on time

    Got sweet heaven in my view, hallelujah
    On my journey I press on, praise the Lord
    For I'm bound for that holy city
    Got sweet heaven in my view
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

And when I get to heaven
Take a seat and set right down
Looking up to my heavenly father
Looking for a robe and a crown

    Got sweet heaven in my view, hallelujah
    On my journey I press on, praise the Lord
    For I'm bound for that holy city
    Got sweet heaven in my view

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 09:50 PM

We need other versions of "Heaven in my View" for now we'll move on to the T-We title songs:

Tell Me That You Loved Me;
There'll Be Joy, Joy, Joy;
There'll Be No Distinction There;
There's No Hiding Place Down Here;
There's No One Like Mother to Me;
There's Someone Awaiting for Me;
They Call Her Mother;
This Is Like Heaven to Me;
Two Sweethearts;
Wabash Cannonball;
Walking in the King's Highway;
Wandering Boy; Wave on the Sea;
Wayworn Traveler;
We Will March Through the Streets of the City;
We Shall Rise;
Weary Prodigal Son;
Western Hobo;

Anyone?

Subject: Lyr Add: TELL ME THAT YOU LOVE ME
From: Richie
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 10:01 PM

Tell Me That You Loved Me is a song by Will S. Hayes written in 1866 that's titled "We Parted By The Riverside." The sheet music is at the Levy Collection which can't be linked.

The Carters title was probably to prevent copyright/royalty problems as the song had already been recorded by Stoneman and then Kincaid as "We Parted By The Riverside."

TELL ME THAT YOU LOVE ME- Carter Family 1932

               We parted by the riverside
               The moon looked down on you and me
               The stars put on a look of pride
               The river murmured to the sea

               The dew drops kissed the blushing rose
               The mournful winds did sigh
               One word broke nature's sweet repose
               That sad word was goodbye

                   Oh, tell me that you love me yet
                   For, oh, this parting gives me pain
                   Please tell me that you'll not forget
                   For we may never meet again

[INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

               We parted by the riverside
               Though I have roamed in distant climes
               My heart has not forgot its pride
               For I have loved you all the time

               And I am faithful to you still
               As long as you are true
               Let fate bring to me what it will
               For I love you, only you

                   Oh, tell me that you love me yet
                   For, oh, this parting gives me pain
                   Please tell me that you'll not forget
                   For we may never meet again

                   [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

                   Oh, tell me that you love me yet
                   For, oh, this parting gives me pain
                   Please tell me that you'll not forget
                   For we may never meet again

Subject: Lyr Add: THERE'LL BE JOY, JOY, JOY
From: Richie
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 10:46 PM

There'll Be Joy, Joy, Joy is a spiritual usually known as "In My Father's House." It was recorded first by the Four Wanderers in 1929.
A version (In My Father's House) is printed in Carl Sandburg's American Songbag, Harcourt, Sof (1955/1928), p483.

A version titled "There'll Be No Liars There" was recorded in 1927 by the Hickory Nuts. If anyone has any versions please post one for comparison.


THERE'LL BE JOY, JOY, JOY- Carter Family 1934

There'll be joy, joy, joy
Up in my father's house
Up in my father's house
Up in my father's house
There'll be joy, joy, joy
Up in my father's house
Where there's peace, sweet peace

We will all be happy there
Up in my father's house
Up in my father's house
Up in my father's house
We will all be happy there
Up in my father's house
Where there's peace, sweet peace
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

There'll be no drunkards there
Up in my father's house
Up in my father's house
Up in my father's house
There'll be no drunkards there
Up in my father's house
Where there's peace, sweet peace

Don't you want to go up there
Up to my father's house
Up to my father's house
Up to my father's house
Don't you want to go up there
Up to my father's house
Where there's peace, sweet peace

We will all be as one
Up in my father's house
Up in my father's house
We will all be as one
Up in my father's house
Where there's peace, sweet peace

There'll be joy, joy, joy
Up in my father's house
Up in my father's house
There'll be joy, joy, joy
Up in my father's house
Where there's peace, wonderful peace

Subject: Lyr Add: THERE'LL BE NO DISTINCTION THERE
From: Richie
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 10:59 PM

There'll Be No Distinction There comes from Blind Alfred Reed in 1929. The Carters recorded their version in 1940. Here's some info and Blind Alfred Reed's lyrics:

THERE'LL BE NO DISTINCTION THERE
(Blind Alfred Reed) (1929)

There'll be no sorrow on that heavenly shore,
There'll be no woes at the cabin door.
We'll all be wealthy and the poor will all be there,
We'll be rich and happy in that land bright and fair,
There'll be no distinction there.

There'll be no distinction there,
There'll be no distinction there,
For the Lord is just and the Lord is right,
And we'll all be white in that heavenly light,
There'll be no distinction there.

In the same kind of raiment and the same kind of shoes,
We'll all sit together in the same kind of pews,
The whites and the colored folks, the gentiles and the Jews,
We'll praise the Lord together and there'll be no drinking booze,
There'll be no distinction there.

Oh when we get to heaven, we will know and understand;
No woman will be flirting with another woman's man.
There'll be no trouble in that holy happy land;
We'll play on golden instruments and shout to beat the band,
There'll be no distinction there.

We're never blue in heaven, nothing there to wreck the mind;
Everybody is our neighbor, all the folks are good and kind.
No aggravating women there to boss the men around;
When we enter into heaven, we will wear a golden crown,
There'll be no distinction there.

This song was recorded by Blind Alfred Reed with Arville Reed in New York, NY, 3 Dec 1929 and released as RCA VICTOR Vi 23550/BLUEBIRD Bb 5882. It is related in topic to A. P. Carter's "NO DEPRESSION IN HEAVEN." THE ORIGINAL CARTER FAMILY subsequently also recorded the first two verses of Reed's song with one additional verse not to be found in Reed's version (Chicago, IL, Thursday, 3 Oct 1940; OKEH OK 05982/CONQUEROR Cq 9572). Lyrics as reprinted in liner notes for "How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live?" Rounder 1001, 1972

---

THERE'LL BE NO DISTINCTION
(Carter Family 1940)

There will be no more sorrow on that heavenly shore
There'll be no wolfs a howlin' near the old cabin door
We will all be quite wealthy and there'll be no more poor
When we all get together on that heavenly shore

CHORUS: There'll be no distinction there (over there)
There'll be no distinction there
For the lord am just and the lord am right
And we'll all be white in the heavenly light
There'll be no distinction there

In the same kind of raiment in the same kind of shoes
We will all sit together in the same kind of pews
The white folks and the colored the gentile and the Jews
They will all be so happy that they doesn't refuse

They tell me up in heaven we will all be as one
And we'll all sing together when the life's crown is won
Our fathers and our mothers and sisters will be there
For they tell me up in heaven no distinction there

Subject: Lyr Add: THERE'S NO HIDING PLACE DOWN HERE
From: Richie
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 11:17 PM

There's No Hiding Place Down Here (No Hiding Place) is another spiritual first recorded by the Famous Jubilee Singers in 1927. The probable source is the Carter's African-American contacts Leslie Riddle and Pauline Gray.

For comparison below the Carters is a 1928 printed version:

THERE'S NO HIDING PLACE DOWN HERE- Carter Family 1934

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Sister Mary she wears a golden chain
Sister Mary she wears a golden chain
Sister Mary wears the golden chain
There's every link in Jesus' name
There's no hiding place down here

    There's no hiding place down here
    There's no hiding place down here
    Well, I run to the rock just to hide my face
    And the rocks cried out, no hiding place
    There's no hiding place down here
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

I'll pitch my tent on the old campground
I'll pitch my tent on the old campground
I'll pitch my tent on the old campground
I'll give Satan one more round
There's no hiding place down here

    There's no hiding place down here
    There's no hiding place down here
    Well, I run to the rock just to hide my face
    And the rocks cried out, no hiding place
    There's no hiding place down here
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Oh, the Devil wears a hypocrite's shoe
The Devil wears a hypocrite's shoe
The Devil wears a hypocrite's shoe
And if you don't watch out he'll slip it on you
There's no hiding place down here

    There's no hiding place down here
    There's no hiding place down here
    Well, I run to the rock just to hide my face
    And the rocks cried out, no hiding place
    There's no hiding place down here

NO HIDING-PLACE DOWN THERE N. I. White, 1928 (1965) American Negro Folk-Songs, p. 121-122, no music.


Went down to the rocks to hide my face, (3 times)
The rocks cried out no hiding-place,
No hiding-place down there.

Pharoah's daughter lookin' for roses, (3 times)
Stumpted her toe and fell over Moses,
No hiding-place down there.

Sister Mary wears a golden chain, (3 times)
And every link's in Jesus name,
No hiding-place down there.

Sinnaman sitting on the gates of hell, (3 times)
The gates flew open and in he fell,
No hiding-place down there.

Sinnaman row your boat one side, (3 times)
Cause you can't get to heaven on the ebbing tide,
No hiding-place down there.

Cause hell is deep and hell is wide, (3 times)
You can't touch the bottom and you can't touch the side,
No hiding-place down there.

Subject: Lyr Add: THERE'S NO ONE LIKE MOTHER TO ME
From: Richie
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 11:26 PM

According to the Carters biographers "There's No One Like Mother to Me" is word for word as poem Maybelle cut out of a magazine.

The poem was actually a "pretty home song" by Charles A. Davies published in 1877 by JC GROENE & Co., 24 and 42 Arcade, Cincinnati, O.

THERE'S NO ONE LIKE MOTHER TO ME- Carter Family 1936

Sadly I'm thinking tonight
Thinking of the sweet by and by
Memories of childhood so bright
Come back like a dream with a sigh

I've been thinking of friends and of home
In that cottage far over the sea
No matter wherever I roam
There's no one like mother to me

    There's no one like mother to me
    No matter how poor she may be
    I'll go back to that home o'er the sea
    There's no one like mother to me
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

When I left that old home o'er the sea
I kissed them goodbye at the gate
Somebody whispered to me
A loving voice asked me to wait

Her blessing she gave with a smile
And tears on her cheeks I could see
How often that sweet face I've missed
There's no one like mother to me

    There's no one like mother to me
    No matter how poor she may be
    I'll go back to that home o'er the sea
    There's no one like mother to me
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

    There's no one like mother to me
    No matter how poor she may be
    I'll go back to that home o'er the sea
    There's no one like mother to me

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 12:00 AM

Curiously Gussie Davies published the song in 1885:

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mussm&fileName=sm/sm1885/25900/25967/mussm25967.db&recNum=1&itemLink=D?mussm:1:./tem

Obviously the songs are the same. Looks like Charles L. Davies was Gussie L. Davies? Interesting!

Subject: Lyr Add: THERE'S SOMEONE WAITING FOR ME
From: Richie
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 12:29 AM

There's Someone A-Waiting for Me (There's Somebody Waiting For Me) is from an unknown parlor song that Meade says is pre-1861. It was collected by Randolph from back in the 1890s:

http://books.google.com/books?id=g3JtLNe3nroC&pg=PA216&lpg=PA217&dq=THERE%27S+SOMEbody+WAITING+FOR+ME&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html

This should not be confused with the Von Tilzer song by the same title from 1902. I'll look at this again.

THERE'S SOMEONE WAITING FOR ME- Carter family

All the people of today, they are going far away
To the mountains, the lakes, or the sea
There's a little spot out west that I always loved the best
And there's someone a-waiting for me

    She'll be happy (She'll be happy)
    She'll be free (She'll be free
    When she wanders alone with me
    It'll be getting quite late
    When I meet her at the gate
    And there's someone a-waiting for me
    Yodel-ay-ee, oh-ah-lee-oh-lay-ee
    Ah-lee-oh-lay-ee, oh-ah-lay
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

There's birds in every tree and they sing among the breeze
But there's none so happy as me
I am going out west and there I'll do my best
To build a little home for you and me

    She'll be happy (She'll be happy)
    She'll be free (She'll be free
    When she wanders alone with me
    It'll be getting quite late
    When I meet her at the gate
    And there's someone a-waiting for me
    Yodel-ay-ee, oh-ah-lee-oh-lay-ee
    Ah-lee-oh-lay-ee, oh-ah-lay
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Oh, the birds that fly above singing dear songs of love
O'er the meadows, the valleys so deep
Their voices so sweet that they sing me to sleep
For I know my darling will not weep

    She'll be happy (She'll be happy)
    She'll be free (She'll be free
    When she wanders alone with me
    It'll be getting quite late
    When I meet her at the gate
    And there's someone a-waiting for me
    Yodel-ay-ee, oh-ah-lee-oh-lay-ee
    Ah-lee-oh-lay-ee, oh-ah-lay
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family son
From: Artful Codger
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 06:00 AM

This is very welcome information!

However, a caveat:
Unless you enjoy litigation, bear in mind that the Carters altered many of the songs they sang not only to fit their particular style, but expressly to make their arrangements copyrightable--they were urged to do this by Ralph Peer, their agent/manager. Granted, A.P.'s copyrights often infringed on the copyrights of others, whether intentionally or not; that is now immaterial. In preparing a song, the Carters frequently changed melody lines, chord progressions and lyrics; these changes are identifiable enough that a court might easily detect the Carters' still-copyrighted contributions in your arrangements, unless you derived directly from original or p.d. materials.

In short, in most cases, you'll still need to credit the Carters as well as the original authors, and respect their copyrights, however questionable.

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family son
From: Artful Codger
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 07:47 AM

Richie: SJLibrary.org (the San Jose Library catalog) has an entry for "There's No One Like Mother To Me!" (no date listed), with "Davies, Charles" given as both composer and lyricist. And you can find a couple pieces of music by Charles A. Davies at the Levy site, dated 1885 and 1886, though not the piece in question.

But Gussie Lord Davis is clearly credited with writing both words and music for the 1885 "There's No One Like Mother To Me", and he was famous for writing tear-jerkers like this. The similarity of his words to the Carters' version is undeniable; I haven't checked the tunes. It's improbable he first wrote and published the song as "Davies" in 1877, when he would only have been 13 or 14. And note that Davis's song title lacks an exclamation mark, while Davies' has one.

So it appears there might be two songs with the same title, written by composers with similar surnames. It would be interesting for someone in San Jose to compare the library copy against the scan of Davis's song.

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 09:39 AM

Thanks artful Codger,

Many of the copyrights on early country music songs are not invalid, just because someone copyrighted a song that was not theirs doesn't mean they own the song.

They don't own the arrangement if they took the arrangement from someone else. The fact that a few words or the title were changed to avoid copyright infringement doesn't make it valid.

Now the copyright date is frozen at 1923 because of the Sony Bono law.
Copyright lawyers and huge corporations are intimidating us and preventing the fair use of many songs.

Peresonally I think it's wrong.

Richie

Subject: Lyr Add: THEY CALL HER MOTHER
From: Richie
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 04:11 PM

They Call Her Mother is 1938 song by The Carters that probably is written by A.P. Carter. The lyrics and style are similar to something he would write.

THEY CALL HER MOTHER- Carter Family 1938

There's a store by the road in the country
Among the hills where the evergreens grow
In that store by the road there's a woman
Who is different from others I know

Now her irony-gray hair's turned to silver
And her kind eyes are ever soft and blue
Always she has a kind word for others
And a smile ever waiting for you
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

She's adored for her sunny disposition
By the women, the children and men
In all the neighboring hills they call her Mother
For she's really a mother dear to them

She is cheerful like the birds in the cedars
She is modest like the songs that they sing
In the hills nearby they call her Mother
For she's really a mother true to them
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]
When the clouds hang low on the mountain
And the pines are bent low by the snow
Neighbors go to that store by the roadside
It's a place that they all love to go

Some go there to play cards at the table
Some just sit by the warm, cheering fire
And dear Mother with kind disposition
Finds a way to make all happy there

She's adored for her sunny disposition
By the women, the children and the men
In all the neighboring hills they call her Mother
For she's really a mother dear to them

Subject: Lyr Add: THIS IS LIKE HEAVEN TO ME
From: Richie
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 04:18 PM

This Is Like Heaven to Me is taken from J.E. French's gospel song with the same title in 1903.

Here's the sheet music:
http://books.google.com/books?id=AQMca_ptzbMC&pg=PA58&dq=%22This+Is+Like+Heaven+to+Me%22&lr=&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES&ie=ISO-8859


THIS IS LIKE HEAVEN TO ME- Carter Family 1933

I find many people who can't understand
Why I'm so happy and free
I've crossed over Jordan to Canaan's fair land
And this is like heaven to me

    Oh, this is like heaven to me
    Yes, this is like heaven to me
    I've crossed over Jordan to Canaan's fair land
    And this is like heaven to me
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

I've heard the sweet music, the heavenly chords
From gloryland over the sea
The soul-thrilling message from Jesus, my Lord
And this is like heaven to me

    Oh, this is like heaven to me
    Yes, this is like heaven to me
    The soul-thrilling message from Jesus, my Lord
    And this is like heaven to me
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

I'm looking for Jesus in glory to come
From glory land over the sea
A cloud of bright angels to carry me home
And that will be heaven to me

    Oh, that will be heaven to me
    Yes, that will be heaven to me
    A cloud of bright angels to carry me home
    And that will be heaven to me

Subject: Lyr Add: TWO SWEETHEARTS
From: Richie
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 04:40 PM

Two Sweethearts is a popular parlor song from Moran and Helf in 1897. The Carters made the 8th country recording in 1932.

TWO SWEETHEARTS- Carter Family 1932

A crowd of young fellows one night at a ball
Were telling of sweethearts they had
All seemed jolly except one lad
Who seemed downhearted and sad
Come join us, Ned, his comrades then said
Surely some girl has loved you
Then raising his head, proudly he said
I'm in love with two

    One has hair of silver-gray
    The other one is just like gold
    One is young and youthful, too
    The other one is aged and old
    But dearer than life are they both to me
    From neither would I part
    One is my mother, God bless her, I love her
    The other one is my sweetheart
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

My sweetheart is a poor working girl
I'm determined to wed
Father said no, 'twill never be so
You must marry an heiress instead
Mother was young, she knows how it is
When father met her she was poor
Ned, don't fret, she'll be your wife yet
For he will consent, I am sure

    One has hair of silver-gray
    The other one is just like gold
    One is young and youthful, too
    The other one is aged and old
    But dearer than life are they both to me
    From neither would I part
    One is my mother, God bless her, I love her
    The other one is my sweetheart

Subject: Lyr Add: WABASH CANNONBALL
From: Richie
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 05:18 PM

Wabash Cannonball is originally from "The Great Rock Island Route" credited to J. A. Roff in 1882. It rewritten in 1904 as "Wabash Cannon Ball," perhaps by William Kindt, who copyrighted it. Cohen suspects the rewrite preceded Kindt's 1904 publication, and common tune is not the same as either Roff's or Kindt's.

The Carters 1929 recording was very popular until Roy Acuff adopted the song when he played it on the Grande Ole Opry circa 1939.
I never like the way the Carters and others rhymed "shore" with "shore" in the opening verse.

WABASH CANNONBALL- Carter Family 1929

Out from the wide Pacific to the broad Atlantic shore
She climbs flowery mountains over hills and by the shore
Although she's tall and handsome and known quite well by all
She's a regular combination of the Wabash Cannonball

Oh, the eastern states are dandy, so the western people say
Chicago, Rock Island, St. Louis by the way
To the lakes of Minnesota where the rippling waters fall
No changes can be taken on the Wabash Cannonball

    Oh, listen to the jingle
    The rumble and the roar
    As she glides along the woodlands
    Over hills and by the shore
    She climbs the flowery mountains
    Hear the lonesome hobo squall
    She glides along the woodlands
    The Wabash Cannonball
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Oh, here's to Daddy Claxton, let his name forever be
And long be remembered in the ports of Tennessee
For he is a good old rounder till the curtain round him fall
He'll be carried back to victory on the Wabash Cannonball

I have rode the I.C. Limited, also the Royal Blue
Across the eastern countries on mail car number two
I have rode those highball trains from coast to coast that's all
But I have found no equal to the Wabash Cannonball

    Oh, Listen to the jingle
    The rumble and the roar
    As she glides along the woodlands
    Over hills and by the shore
    She climbs the flowery mountains
    Hear the merry hobo squall
    She glides along the woodlands
    The Wabash Cannonball
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 05:30 PM

Across the eastern countries? Yep, that's what they sang.

Subject: Lyr Add: WALKING THE KING'S HIGHWAY
From: Richie
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 05:45 PM

Walking in the King's Highway is a gospel song by A.J, Showalter in 1901.The Carter's 1938 ercording followed the 1930 recording by the Gordon County Quartet. Tommy Dorsey recorded a version in 1940.

WALKING THE KING'S HIGHWAY-Carter Family

We shall see the desert as the rose
Walking in the king's highway
There'll be singing where salvation goes
Walking in the king's highway

CHORUS: There's a highway there and a way
Where sorrow shall flee away
And the light shines bright as the day
Walking in the king's highway

We shall see the glory of the lord
Walking in the king's highway
And behold the glory of his word
Walking in the king's highway

There the rain shall fall upon the ground
Walking in the king's highway
And the springs of water shall be found
Walking in the king's highway

No unclean things shall pass o'er here
Walking in the king's highway
Just the ransomed ones without a fear
Walking in the king's highway

Subject: Lyr Add: THE WANDERING BOY (Carter Family)
From: Richie
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 06:02 PM

Wandering Boy is "Somebody's Boy is Homeless Tonight" by R.S. Hanna in 1984.

THE WANDERING BOY- Carter Family

Out in the cold world and far away from home
Somebody's boy is wandering alone
No one to guide him and keep his footsteps right
Somebody's boy is homeless tonight

Out in the hallway there stands a vacant chair
Yonder's the shoes my darling used to wear
Empty the cradle, the one that's loved so well
How I miss him, there's no tongue can tell

    Bring back my boy, my wandering boy
    Far, far away, wherever he may be
    Tell him his mother, with faded cheeks and hair
    At their old home is waiting him there

Oh, could I see him and fold him to my breast
Gladly I'd close my eyes and be at rest
There is no other that's left to give me joy
Bring back my boy, my wandering boy

Well I remember the parting words he said
We'll meet again where no sad tears are shed
There'll be no good-byes in that bright land so fair
When, done with life, I'll meet you up there

    Bring back my boy, my wandering boy
    Far, far away, wherever he may be
    Tell him his mother, with faded cheeks and hair
    At their old home is waiting him there

Subject: Lyr Add: WAVE ON THE SEA
From: Richie
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 06:21 PM

"Wave (sic) on the Sea" is a tradional English ballad based on The Mermaid (Child 289). The Carters version of the ballad is not a good one.

The song has been traced back to 1765 and different titles are:
"The Mermaid," "The Wrecked Ship" "Black Friday" "Waves on the Sea" "Three Sailor Boys" "The Sinking Ship"

RECORDINGS:
Emma Dusenberry, "The Mermaid" (AFS, 1936; on LC58) {Bronson's #40}
William Howell, "The Mermaid" (on FSBBAL2)
Bascom Lamar Lunsford, "The Mermaid Song" (on BLLunsford01) {cf. Bronson's #32}
New Lost City Ramblers, "Raging Sea" (on NLCR02)
Ernest Stoneman & His Blue Ridge Corn Shuckers, "The Raging Sea, How It Roars" (Victor Vi 21648, 1928)

WAVE ON THE SEA- Carter Family 1941

Oh, the waves on the sea, how they roll
And the chilly winds, how they do blow;
My own true love got drowned in the deep
And the ship never got to the shore.

Oh the first on the deck was the porter of the ship
And a rough-looking fellow was he;
Says, "I care no more for my wife and my child
Than I do for the fish in the sea."

Well, I left my dear darling a-grieving
Well, I left my dear darling a-grieving
Well, I left my dear darling a-grieving after me
For I never expect to see her any more.

Subject: Lyr Add: DELIVERANCE WILL COME / WAYWORN TRAVELER
From: Richie
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 06:51 PM

Wayworn Traveler is from "Deliverance will come" by John B. Matthias in 1836. It was first recorded by Uncle Dave Macon in 1926. Here's some info:

DELIVERANCE WILL COME (AKA "THE WAYWORN TRAVELER")

HEDY WEST: ... a once popular religious song which tells in compression the same story as Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" and which was often printed in pre-Civil War songsters and hymnals in both German and English. It was sometimes attributed to the Methodist circuit-riding preacher John B. Matthias (1767-1848). WAYWORN TRAVELER was several times recorded on hillbilly discs in the 1920s and 1930s. My grandmother heard it and sang it in church when she was a child. It may also have been one of the hymns she heard sung by the community of Germans who had immigrated to Gilmer County, Georgia, around 1900. In church they sang in German while everyone else sang simultaneously in English....
The tune of this hymn was used by Bob Dylan for his own Paths of Victory. In the 1880s, the tune was also used by the "People's PLISTEN for a song depicting the plight of the American Farmer, "Pans of Biscuits."

DELIVERANCE WILL COME Uncle Dave Macon, 1926

I saw a wayworn traveler in tattered garments clad,
And struggling up the mountain, it seemed that he was sad.
His back was laden heavy, his strength was almost gone,
Yet he shouted as he journeyed ''Deliverance will come!"

CHORUS: Then palms of victory, crowns of glory,
Palms of victory I shall wear.

The songstress in the arbor, that stood beside the way,
Attracted his attention, inviting his delay.
His watchword being "Onward!" he stopped his ears and ran,
Still shouting as he journeyed, ''Deliverance will come!"

I saw him in the evening, the sun was bending low,
He'd over-topped the mountain and reached the vale below.
He saw the golden city, his everlasting home,
And shouted loud, ''Hosanna, deliverance has come!"

I heard the song of triumph they sang upon that shore,
Saying, ''Jesus has redeemed us to suffer nevermore.''
Then casting his eyes back-ward on the race that he had run,
He shouted loud, ''Hosanna, deliverance has come!"


VERSION #2
Lyrics as recorded by The Original Carter Family, New York, NY, Jun 8, 1936
(Decca De 5240); transcribed by Manfred Helfert.

I saw a wayworn traveler in tattered garments clad,
And struggling up the mountain, it seemed that he was sad.
His back was laden heavy, his strength was almost gone,
It [sic] shouted as he journeyed, ''Deliverance will come!"
CHORUS:
Then palms of victory, crowns of glory,
Palms of victory I shall wear.
The summer sun was shining, the sweat was on his brow,
His garments worn and dusty, his step seemed very slow.
But he kept pressing onward, for he was wending home,
Still shouting as he journeyed, "Deliverance will come!"
The songstress in the arbor, that stood beside the way,
Attracted his attention, inviting his delay.
His watchword being "Onward!" he stopped his ears and ran,
Still shouting as he journeyed, ''Deliverance will come!"
While gazing on that city, just o'er that narrow flood (?),
A band of holy angels came from the throne of God.
They bore him on their pinions, they bore the dashing foam,
And joined him in his triumph, "Deliverance has come!"



THE WAYWORN TRAVELER- Carter Family 1936

I saw a wayworn traveler, in tattered garments clad
And struggling up the mountain, it seemed that he was sad
His back was laden heavy, his strength was almost gone
Yet shouted as he journeyed, Deliverance will come

    Then palms of victory, crowns of Glory
    Palms of victory I shall wear

The summer sun was shining, the sweat was on his brow
His garments worn and dusty, his steps seemed very slow
But he kept pressing onward for he was wending home
Still shouting as he journeyed, Deliverance will come

    Then palms of victory, crowns of Glory
    Palms of victory I shall wear
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

The songsters in the arbor that stood beside the way
Attracted his attention, inviting his delay
His watchword being onward, he stopped his ears and ran
Still shouting as he journeyed, Deliverance will come

    Then palms of victory, crowns of Glory
    Palms of victory I shall wear

While gazing on that city just o'er that narrow flood
A band of holy angels came from the throne of God
They bore him on their pinions before the dashing foam
And joined him in his triumph, Deliverance has come

    Then palms of victory, crowns of Glory
    Palms of victory I shall wear

DELIVERANCE WILL COME- Matthais (from a web-site on-line)

I saw a way-worn traveler
In tattered garments clad,
And struggling up the mountain,
It seemed that he was sad;
His back was laden heavy,
His strength was almost gone,
Yet he shouted as he journeyed,
Deliverance will come.

The summer sun was shining,
The sweat was on his brow,
His garments worn and dusty,
His steps seemed very slow:
But he kept on pressing onward,
For he was wending home;
Still shouting as he journeyed,
Deliverance will come.

The tempter in the arbor,
That stood beside the way,
Attracted his attention,
Inviting his delay:
His watchword being "Onward!"
He stopped his ears and ran,
Still shouting as he journeyed,
Deliverance will come.

I saw him in the evening,
The sun was bending low,
He'd overtopped the mountain,
And reached the vale below:
He saw the golden city,
His everlasting home,
And shouted loud, Hosanna,
Deliverance will come!

While gazing on that city,
Just o'er the narrow flood,
A band of holy angels
Came from the throne of God:
They bore him to the Savior,
Safe o'er the dashing foam;
And joined him in his triumph,
Deliverance has come!

I heard the song of triumph
They sang upon that shore,
Saying, Jesus has redeemed us
To suffer nevermore:
Then, casting his eyes backward
On the race which he had run,
He shouted loud, Hosanna,
Deliverance has come!

Subject: Lyr Add: WE WILL MARCH THROUGH THE STREETS OF...
From: Richie
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 07:11 PM

We Will March Through the Streets of the City is a gospel song recorded by the Carters in 1932. The verses come from revival hymns and shape-note hymns from the 1800s, the first verse is also well known in the African-American church.

WE WILL MARCH THROUGH THE STREETS OF THE CITY- Carter Family 1932

          We will march through the streets of the city
          With our loved ones gone before
          We will sit on the banks of the river
          Where we'll meet to part no more

    Jesus sought me when a stranger
    Wandering from the fold of God
    He to rescue me from danger
    And transported by his blood

    Come, thy fount of every blessing
    Do now hark to sing God's praise
    Streams of mercy never ceasing
    Calls for songs of loudest praise

          We will march through the streets of the city
          With our loved ones gone before
          We will sit on the banks of the river
          Where we'll meet to part no more
          [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

    Hark the voice of Jesus calling
    Who will go and work today
    Fields are white and harvest is waiting
    Who will bear the sheaves away

          Yes, we'll march through the streets of the city
          With our loved ones gone before
          We will sit on the banks of the river
          Where we'll meet to part no more

Subject: Lyr Add: WE SHALL RISE
From: Richie
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 07:30 PM

We Shall Rise is "Hallelujah We Shall Rise" by J.E. Thomas in 1904.
Below the Carters lyrics are the original lyrics for comparison.

WE SHALL RISE- Carter Family 1940

In that resurrection morning
When the trump of god shall sound
We shall rise.............we shall rise
             (Hallelujah, we shall rise)
Then the saints will come rejoicing
And no tears will e'er be found
We shall rise.............we shall rise
             (Hallelujah, we shall rise)

    We shall rise (Hallelujah) We shall rise (Amen)
    We shall rise (Hallelujah)
    In that resurrection morning
    When these prison bars are broken
    We shall rise.............we shall rise
                  (Hallelujah, we shall rise)
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

I shall see that blessed savior
Who so freely died for me
We shall rise.............we shall rise
             (Hallelujah, we shall rise)
And our fathers and our mothers
And our loved ones we shall see
We shall rise.............we shall rise
             (Hallelujah, we shall rise)

    We shall rise (Hallelujah) We shall rise (Amen)
    We shall rise (Hallelujah)
    In that resurrection morning
    When these prison bars are broken
    We shall rise.............we shall rise
                  (Hallelujah, we shall rise)

    We shall rise (Hallelujah) We shall rise (Amen)
    We shall rise (Hallelujah)
    In that resurrection morning
    When these prison bars are broken
    We shall rise.............we shall rise
                  (Hallelujah, we shall rise)

WE SHALL RISE- John E. Thomas 1904

In the resurrection morning,
When the trump of God shall sound,
We shall rise, Hallelujah! we shall rise!
Then the saints will come rejoicing
And no tears will e'er be found,
We shall rise, Hallelujah! we shall rise.

Refrain; We shall rise, Hallelujah! we shall rise!
Amen! We shall rise! Hallelujah!
In the resurrection morning,
When death's prison bars are broken,
We shall rise, Hallelujah! We shall rise.

In the resurrection morning,
What a meeting it will be,
We shall rise, Hallelujah! we shall rise!
When our fathers and our mothers,
And our loved ones we shall see,
We shall rise, Hallelujah! we shall rise!

Refrain

In the resurrection morning,
Blessèd thought it is to me,
We shall rise, Hallelujah! we shall rise!
I shall see my blessèd Savior,
Who so freely died for me,
We shall rise, Hallelujah! we shall rise!

Refrain

In the resurrection morning,
We shall meet Him in the air,
We shall rise, Hallelujah! we shall rise!
And be carried up to glory,
To our home so bright and fair,
We shall rise, Hallelujah! we shall rise!

Refrain

Subject: Lyr Add: WEARY PRODIGAL SON
From: Richie
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 07:38 PM

Weary Prodigal Son is the gospel song "Calling the Prodigal" by Charles H. Gabriel in 1889.

Here's a link to the original sheet music:
http://books.google.com/books?id=HP5DRe4og7AC&pg=PA68&dq=Calling+the+Prodigal&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html

WEARY PRODIGAL SON- Carter Family 1931

God is calling the prodigal, come without delay
Hear, o hear him calling, calling now for thee
Patient, loving, and tender life still the father pleas
Hear his loving voice calling still (oh, calling still)


    Calling now for thee
    (Calling now for thee)
    Oh, where.........is the prodigal son            
             (Is the prodigal son, where is the prodigal son)   
    Calling now for thee
    (Calling now for thee)
    Oh, where.........is the prodigal son
             (Is the prodigal son, where is the prodigal son)

Come there's bread in the house of the father and to spare
Hear, o hear him calling, calling now for thee
Lo, the table is spread and the feast is waiting there
Hear his loving voice calling still (oh, calling still)

    Calling now for thee
    (Calling now for thee)
    Oh, where.........is the prodigal son
             (Is the prodigal son, where is the prodigal son)
    Calling now for thee
    (Calling now for thee)
    Oh, where.........is the prodigal son
             (Is the prodigal son, where is the prodigal son)

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

    Calling now for thee
    (Calling now for thee)
    Oh, where.........is the prodigal son
             (Is the prodigal son, where is the prodigal son)
    Calling now for thee
    (Calling now for thee)
    Oh, where.........is the prodigal son
             (Is the prodigal son, where is the prodigal son)

Subject: Lyr Add: WESTERN HOBO
From: Richie
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 08:01 PM

Western Hobo is a traditional song better known as "Wild and Reckless Hobo" or "The Railroad Bum." The Carters 1929 title is surely to avoid copyright issues. George Reneau's 1925 recording "Wild and Reckless Hobo" is the first.

Meade lumps the song into the vast "Ten Thousand Miles from Home" group whic is Laws H2. The famous Jimmie Rodgers song "Waiting For the Train" is one of the best known versions. Rodgers like the Carters used traditional verses to craft his songs. The song is also related to Danville Girl.

WESTERN HOBO- Carter Family 1929

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

The wild, western hobo
Who left his happy home
Started upon a western trip
All by himself alone
Upon this western trip
Going to have lots of fun
But upon this western trip
This is the song he sung

    Ay-oh-lay-ee-oh, oh-lay-ee-ay
    Oh-lay-ee, oh-lay-ee, oh-lay-ee

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

I stepped up on a platform
Smoking a cheap cigar
Waiting to catch a freight train
To catch an empty car
I buttoned my coat up closely
Walked on down the track
I caught the steps of a sleeper car
I never did look back

    Ay-oh-lay-ee-oh, oh-lay-ee-ay
    Oh-lay-ee, oh-lay-ee, oh-lay-ee

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

My pocketbook is empty
My heart is filled with pain
10,000 miles away from home
Hoboing an old freight train

    Ay-oh-lay-ee
    Ay-oh-lay-ee
    Oh-ah-lay-ee

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 08:22 PM

Here's the last original Carter Family titles:

When I'm Gone;
When Silver Threads Are Gold Again;
When This Evening Sun Goes Down;
When the Roses Bloom in Dixieland;
When the Roses Come Again;
When the Springtime Comes Again;
When the World's on Fire;
Where Shall I Be?;
Where the Silvery Colorado Winds Its Way;
Where We'll Never Grow Old;
Who's That Knocking on My Window;
Why Do You Cry, Little Darling;
Why There's a Tear in My Eye;
Wildwood Flower;
Will My Mother Know Me There?;
Will the Roses Bloom in Heaven;
Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone?;
Winding Stream;
Wonderful City;
Worried Man Blues;
You Are My Flower;
You Better Let That Liar Alone;
You Denied Your Love;
You Tied a Love Knot in My Heart;
You're Nothing More to Me;
You've Been a Friend to Me;
You've Been Fooling Me, Baby;
Your Mother Still Prays (For You, Jack);
You're Gonna Be Sorry You Let Me Down;
You've Got to Righten That Wrong;
Young Freda Bolt

What's interesting to me is that some of the Carter's most famous songs like the Circle Be Unbroken; Wildwood Flower, Worried Man Blues
are freely used even though the arrangements by the Carters are unique and what we sing-publish etc are based directly on them.

Yes they are based on other songs but you could say that about 90% of their songs. Yet their arrangements are basically standard use for the songs and no one questions copyright infringement.

On their lesser known arrangements to quote the Artful Codger above:

"However, a caveat:
Unless you enjoy litigation, bear in mind that the Carters altered many of the songs they sang not only to fit their particular style, but expressly to make their arrangements copyrightable--they were urged to do this by Ralph Peer, their agent/manager. Granted, A.P.'s copyrights often infringed on the copyrights of others, whether intentionally or not; that is now immaterial. In preparing a song, the Carters frequently changed melody lines, chord progressions and lyrics; these changes are identifiable enough that a court might easily detect the Carters' still-copyrighted contributions in your arrangements, unless you derived directly from original or p.d. materials."

This to me is the confusing part, where did the verses for "Circle Be Unbroken" come from: The Carter Family. Did they write them? We don't know. Is their copyright valid?----NO

Subject: Lyr Add: WHEN I'M GONE
From: Richie
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 08:58 PM

When I'm Gone is "You'll Miss Me When I'm Gone" by Delehanty and Hengler 1874. I can't find the original lyrics. Anyone?

This was first recorded by Blind Alfred Reed in 1928. The Carters may have based their version on his as they did with another song. Anyone have Reed's lyrics?

WHEN I'M GONE- Carter Family 1929

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

You're gonna miss me when I'm gone
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone
Oh, I know you will miss me when I'm gone
You're gonna miss me by my walk
You're gonna miss me by my talk
Oh, I know you will miss me when I'm gone

    When I'm gone (When I'm gone)
    When I'm gone (When I'm gone)
    Oh, I know you will miss me when I'm gone
    When I'm gone (When I'm gone)
    When I'm gone (When I'm gone)
    Oh, I know you will miss me when I'm gone
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

You're gonna miss me by my prayers
You're gonna miss me everywhere
Oh, I know you will miss me when I'm gone
You're gonna miss me by my song
You're gonna miss me all day long
Oh, I know you will miss me when I'm gone

    When I'm gone (When I'm gone)
    When I'm gone (When I'm gone)
    Oh, I know you will miss me when I'm gone
    When I'm gone (When I'm gone)
    When I'm gone (When I'm gone)
    Oh, I know you will miss me when I'm gone
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

You're gonna miss me by my ways
You're gonna miss me everyday
Oh, I know you will miss me when I'm gone
You're gonna miss me by my song
You're gonna miss me all day long
Oh, I know you will miss me when I'm gone

    When I'm gone (When I'm gone)
    When I'm gone (When I'm gone)
    Oh, I know you will miss me when I'm gone
    When I'm gone (When I'm gone)
    When I'm gone (When I'm gone)
    Oh, I know you will miss me when I'm gone

Subject: Lyr Add: WHEN SILVER THREADS ARE GOLD AGAIN
From: Richie
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 09:04 PM

When Silver Threads Are Gold Again is by Eben Rexford and Hart Danks in 1875.

Here's the sheet music:
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mussm&fileName=sm/sm1875/05900/05919/mussm05919.db&recNum=0&itemLink=D?mussm:4:./tem

WHEN SILVER THREADS ARE GOLD AGAIN- Carter Family 1936

Darling, we are growing old
And show the silver in our hair
Sands of time have stolen all the gold
That made your youthful tresses fair

But years can never steal away
A love that never can grow old
What care we for tresses gray
Since love will always keep its gold

Love, I'll tell you with a kiss
If heaven gives back the youth we miss
Your face will be no fairer then
When silver threads are gold again

Darling, I can read today
The question in your thoughtful eyes
You wonder if I wish for May
Beneath this frosty Autumn sky

Love of mine, be sure of this
For me, no face could be so fair
Than this one that I stoop to kiss
Beneath its crown of silver hair

Subject: Lyr Add: WHEN THIS EVENING SUN GOES DOWN
From: Richie
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 09:33 PM

When This Evening Sun Goes Down is the 1937 gospel song by the Carters
which might be based on a song by Cliff Carlisle "When the Evening Sun Goes Down." Anyone have more info?

It also appears the Carlisle's "You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone" which may relate to the Carters "You'll Miss Me When I'm Gone."

We know the Carters took Carlisle's version of Black Jack David and recorded it.

WHEN THIS EVENING SUN GOES DOWN- Carter Family 1937

When this evening sun goes down
Then in heaven I will be found
I will end life's other side
When I cross the great divide

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

When this evening sun goes down
When I wear my starry crown
When I'll see a smiling face
And rest in amazing grace

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

He will wipe away my tears
He will blind me to all my fears
Then in joy I'll ever be bound
When this evening sun goes down

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

When this evening sun goes down
When they lay me 'neath the ground
When we'll meet, weep, and mourn
Then I'll be in my heavenly home

Subject: Lyr Add: WHEN THE ROSES BLOOM IN DIXIELAND
From: Richie
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 11:57 PM

When the Roses Bloom in Dixieland is by George Evans in 1915.

WHEN THE ROSES BLOOM IN DIXIELAND- Carter family 1929

    When the roses bloom in Dixieland
    I am coming back to you
    When the birds are singing music grand
    To the sweetest girl I ever knew
    I am saving up my money
    To buy a little cabin home for two
    When the roses bloom in Dixieland
    I am coming back to you

I just got a letter from the sunny south
From my girl in Tennessee
She said she loved me like she used to do
And was waiting there for me
I answered back her letter
Though I am far away
When the roses bloom in Dixieland
I am coming home to stay

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

    When the roses bloom in Dixieland
    I am coming back to you
    When the birds are singing music grand
    To the sweetest girl I ever knew
    I am saving up my money
    To buy a little cabin home for two
    When the roses bloom in Dixieland
    I am coming back to you

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

When I left my honey at the railroad train
I said, honey, wait for me
I'm going to make a lot of money up north
Then it's me for old Tennessee

    When the roses bloom in Dixieland
    I am coming back to you
    When the birds are singing music grand
    To the sweetest girl I ever knew
    I am saving up my money
    To buy a little cabin home for two
    When the roses bloom in Dixieland
    I am coming back to you

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family son
From: Artful Codger
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 12:02 AM

Away Out on Saint Sabbath: Per Charles K. Wolfe, In the Shadow of Clinch Mountain, "Sara thinks someone gave them a ballet of this. She had no idea of what the title means."

So while it may be a rewrite of "Bury Me Not", much of the rewriting occurred at other hands.

Subject: Lyr Add: WHEN THE ROSES COME AGAIN
From: Richie
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 12:06 AM

When the Roses Come Again is by Arthur W. French and George W. Persley in 1874.

Here's the sheet music:
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mussm&fileName=sm/sm1874/13000/13099/mussm13099.db&recNum=0&itemLink=D?mussm:3:./tem


WHEN THE ROSES COME AGAIN Carter Family 1933

'Neath the shadow, down the meadow, leaves lying on each side
By the river, flowers shiver, fading, dying in their pride
Someone straying, long delaying, stands a-parting down the lane
I must leave you, someone's saying, till the roses come again

    When the roses come again
    When the roses come again
    I will meet you, I will greet you
    When the roses come again
    Oh-la-lay-ee, Ah-le-hee, Ah-le-hee
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

As I wander, I will ponder on a happy by and by
On a summer over yonder with joy to you and I
Do not borrow grief or sorrow in the hours that yet remain
We shall know a glad tomorrow when the roses come again

    When the roses come again
    When the roses come again
    I will meet you, I will greet you
    When the roses come again
    Oh-la-lay-ee, Ah-le-hee, Ah-le-hee
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Sunshine over clover blossom on the meadow wide
Summer's fingers sweetly linger everywhere on every side
Someone's roaming in the gloaming, happy hearts that feel no pain
All their sadness turned to gladness, now the roses come again

    When the roses come again
    When the roses come again
    I will meet you, I will greet you
    When the roses come again
    Oh-la-lay-ee, Ah-le-hee, Ah-le-hee

Subject: Lyr Add: WHEN THE SPRINGTIME COMES AGAIN
From: Richie
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 12:26 AM

Away Out on Saint Sabbath seems like floating verses with a slight rewrite of "Bury Me Not." If it was a ballet (printed sheet of lyrics or broadside) maybe we can track it down.

WE should be able to track this verse down:

My mother she lies sleeping beneath the church yard sod,
her body lies there mouldering and her spirit has gone to God.


When the Springtime Comes Again is based on Stephen Foster's Gentle Annie in 1856. There is also a different song by C.W. Baker with that title. The Carter Family recorded the song under the title of 'When the Springtime Comes Again' on 24 May 1930 - Victor V-40293. Sara was the lead singer and Charles Wolfe notes: '... the song was one she [Sara] knew as "Little Annie". She learned it from a neighbour of A.P.'s who gave them the ballet for it (ie the written and printed lyrics)'.

WHEN THE SPRINGTIME COMES AGAIN- Carter Family 1930

Once more Little Annie I must leave you
We shall part at the end of the lane
But promise me Little Annie
You will wait for me til springtime comes again

When the sun shines down on the mountain
And the wild sheep are wandering all alone
When the birds and the bees are a humming
Makes me think that springtime wont be very long

When springtime comes on the mountain
And the wild flowers are scattered o'er the plain
I shall watch for the bees to return to their trees
And I'll be waiting when the springtime comes again

Now springtime is here Little Annie
I am on my way back to the lane
For you promised me Little Annie
You'd be waiting when springtime comes again

Subject: Lyr Add: WHEN THE WORLD'S ON FIRE
From: Richie
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 12:53 AM

When the World's on Fire is a spiritual from the African-American tradition. The Carter's use the same melody in "Little Darling Pal of Mine."

"When the World's on Fire," which had been recorded as "Rock
of Ages" by Blind Willie Davis, a black singer-guitarist from McComb, Mississippi in May 1928. Probably they learned his version from Leslie Riddle, who showed Maybelle alide guitar which she plays on this selection.

WHEN THE WORLD'S ON FIRE- Carter family 1930

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Oh, my loving mother, when the world's on fire
Don't you want God's bosom to be your pillow
Tide me over in the Rock of Ages
Rock of Ages cleft for me

I'm going to heaven when the world's on fire
And I want God's bosom to be my pillow
Tide me over in the Rock of Ages
Rock of Ages cleft for me

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Oh, my loving brother, when the world's on fire
Don't you want God's bosom to be your pillow
Tide me over in the Rock of Ages
Rock of Ages cleft for me

Oh, my loving sinner, when the world's on fire
Don't you want God's bosom to be your pillow
Tide me over in the Rock of Ages
Rock of Ages cleft for me

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Don't you want to go to heaven when the world's on fire
Don't you want God's bosom to be your pillow
Tide me over in the Rock of Ages
Rock of Ages cleft for me

Subject: Lyr Add: WHERE SHALL I BE
From: Richie
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 01:07 AM

Where Shall I Be? is an African-American spiritual. It was recorded in 1927 by Blind Lemon Jefferson (as Deacon Bates) and also by the Norfolk Jubilee Quartet.

It's also a Pentecostal hymn which the version the Carters learned. Here's the traditional hymn arranged by R.E. Winsett in a 1908 "Songs of Pentecostal Power:"

http://books.google.com/books?id=AQMca_ptzbMC&pg=PA38&dq=%22Where+Shall+I+Be%3F%22++spiritual&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html

WHERE SHALL I BE- Carter Family 1930

The judgement day is drawing nigh
Where shall I be
When God the work of men shall try
Where shall I be
When east and west the fire will roll
Where shall I be
How will it be with my poor soul
Where shall I be

    Oh, where shall I be
    When the first trumpet sounds
    Oh, where shall I be
    When it sounds so loud
    When it sounds so loud as to wake up the dead
    Oh, where shall I be when it sounds

When wicked men his wrath shall see
Where shall I be
And to the rocks and mountains flee
Where shall I be
When hills and mountains flee away
Where shall I be
And all the work of men decay
Where shall I be

    Oh, where shall I be
    When the first trumpet sounds
    Oh, where shall I be
    When it sounds so loud
    When it sounds so loud as to wake up the dead
    Oh, where shall I be when it sounds
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

When the savior reigns from shore to shore
Where shall I be
From God's angry presence thrown
Where shall I be

    Well, I'll be sleeping in my grave
    When the first trumpet sounds
    I'll be sleeping in my grave
    When it sounds so loud
    When it sounds so loud as to wake up the dead
    I'll be sleeping in my grave when it sounds
               [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]
               [REPEAT LAST CHORUS]

Subject: Lyr Add: WHERE THE SILVERY COLORADO WENDS ITS WAY
From: Richie
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 08:58 AM

Where the Silvery Colorado Wends Its Way is a song by C.H. Scroggins and Charles Avril in 1901. Recordings date back to 1902. The Carters 1932 version was probably based on an earlier country recording by Emry Auther or Frank Luther.

WHERE THE SILVERY COLORADO WENDS ITS WAY- Carter Family 1936

The twilight softly gathered
'Round my home among the hills
And all nature soon will settle down to rest
While I sit and sadly ponder
And my heart with longing fills
As I often think of one that I love best

We were wedded in the springtime
And our hearts they knew no pain
Fair nature seemed to smile on us that day
Now she sleeps beneath the lilacs
And she'll ne'er come back again
Where the silver Colorado wends its way

There's a sob on every breeze
And a sigh comes from the trees
And the mocking birds they sing a sadder way
For the flowers creep no more
'Round my cheerless cabin door
Where the silver Colorado wends its way

The silver snow is gleaming
On your distant mountainside
Where often used to wander Nell and I
And the birds are singing gaily
In the valley far below
Where I long some day to lay me down and die

Then our lives were gay and happy
In the shadow of the hills
My heart beats fonder for her day by day
And I feel her presence near me
As I sit alone tonight
Where the silver Colorado wends its way.

There's a sob on every breeze
And a sigh comes from the trees
And the mocking birds they sing a sadder way
For the flowers creep no more
'Round my cheerless cabin door
Where the silver Colorado wends its way

Subject: Lyr Add: WHERE WE'LL NEVER GROW OLD
From: Richie
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 09:04 AM

Where We'll Never Grow Old is a gospel song by James C. Moore from the early 1920s. Frequently called "Land Where We'll Never Grow Old" it was first recorded by the Jenkins Family in 1926; the Carters made the 14th country recording of it in 1932.

WHERE WE'LL NEVER GROW OLD- Carter Family 1932

I have heard of a land on the far away strand
'Tis a beautiful home of the soul
Built by Jesus on high, there we never shall die
'Tis a land where we never grow old

Never grow old, never grow old
In the land where we'll never grow old
Never grow old, never grow old
In the land where we'll never grow old

In that beautiful home where we'll nevermore roam
We shall be in the sweet by and by
Happy praise to the king through eternity sing
'Tis the land where we never shall die

When our work here is done and the life crown is won
And out troubles and trials are o'er
All our sorrows will end and our voices will blend
With the loved ones who've gone on before

Subject: Lyr Add: WHO'S THAT KNOCKING ON MY WINDOW
From: Richie
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 09:19 AM

Who's That Knocking on My Window is the Carters' version of the traditional English ballad the Drowsy Sleeper also know as "Awake Awake" and "Silver Dagger." The song dates bacK to 1817:


Bodleian Ballad index features this version of "Drowsy Sleeper:"

Awake awake ye drowsy sleeper,
Awake awake, 'tis almost day!
How can you sleep, ye darling creature
Since you have stole my heart away?

In the US it's known also as O Molly dear/O Katie Dear and has been collected by Sharp as "Awake Awake" in 1916-1917.


WHO'S THAT KNOCKING ON MY WINDOW Carter Family

Who's that knockin' at my window,
Knocks so loud and won't come in?
'Tis your own true-hearted lover
Rise you up and let him in

Go 'way, go 'way, don't wake my mother
For love's a thing she can't endure
She's been the ruin of many a lover
She'll be the ruin of many more

I've come to whisper in your ear, love
Do you think it any harm?
I've come to wean you of your mother
Pray trust yourself in your darling's arms!

Go 'way go 'way, don't wake my father
For he is on his bed of rest
And on his breast he carries a *weapon
To kill the one that I love best

I wish I was some little sparrow
I'd circle like a turtle dove
I'd fly away to a lonely valley
And settle down in the land of love

* pronounced "wee-pon.

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family son
From: Artful Codger
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 09:32 AM

Cowboy's Wild Song to His Herd: The poems in Rhymes from the Rangeland are Beggs's own (see the introduction/"explanation"), so he may be considered the original author of the text of this song. Lacking any indications that it was turned into a song prior to the Carters, we must assume they supplied the music. Per Charles Wolfe, sources differ on whether A.P. or Maybelle wrote the song, but considering that Maybelle was by far the more musical of the two, I strongly suspect the tune at least was hers.

Richie, thank you for hunting up the original poem! I'd thought of doing my own rework, but the Carter attribution put me off. And "Down by the Garden Wall" (Darling Daisies) was a great find as well.

Darling Nellie Across the Sea: Per Charles Wolfe, Sara wrote much of the song herself (implying an antecedent).

Funny When You Feel That Way: Per Wolfe, 19th c. versions credit G.W. Hunt.

The Girl on the Greenbrier Shore: Per Wolfe, it's based on an incident which occurred in 1896.

He Never Came Back: Wolfe gives the original date as 1891, not 1892. The sheet music at the Levy may not be from the first publication run.

Jealous Hearted Me: The Carters learned it from Lesley Riddle.

My Dixie Darling: Per Wolfe, the original song was titled "Dixie Darlings" (plural) and it was written in 1907, not 1909.

My Native Home: Per Wolfe, by John Rogers Thomas, c.1865. Learned from a woman in Russell County, VA.
The Levy site has "My Dear, My Native Home", music by John Rogers Thomas, words by Charles Hart, 1855. Same song? I haven't really checked.

My Old Cottage Home: Per Wolfe, written by R.A. Glenn (with two n's).

One Little Word: See thread 111888; sadly it didn't show up when I ran a search on the title just now. The thread contains some source links and a transcription of the original lyrics (supposedly). Note: Frank Howard's "One Little Word", available at the American Memory site, is an unrelated piece.

Over the Garden Wall: See thread 6020, where I've provided the original lyrics and an ABC of the original melody.

The Spirit of Love Watches over Me: Per the sheet music linked above, the original title was "Thou Art Gone from My Gaze".

Two Sweethearts: Per Wolfe, "Moran and Helf" were E.P. Morgan (words) and J. Fred Helf (music).

When the Roses Bloom in Dixieland: Wolfe gives 1913, not 1915, as the date for Evans' original. George "Honeyboy" Evans was a minstrel showman. He also wrote "In the Good Old Summertime".

I'm skeptical when people talk about a song as having been written by A.P. Almost all the Carter songs were copyrighted in A.P.'s name only, regardless of which of the Carters were actually involved in writing/reworking them. A.P. doesn't appear to have been musically accomplished--his bass lines are glaringly dull and often at odds harmonically, and he needed Riddle to accompany him on the song collecting trips to capture the tunes they heard. I can't recall reading that he ever played an instrument. So I suspect that Sara, Maybelle and Lesley Riddle did nearly all of the music writing and arranging, and much more of the lyric work than they're generally credited with.

Subject: Lyr Add: WHY DO YOU CRY LITTLE DARLING
From: Richie
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 09:37 AM

Why Do You Cry Little Darling was recorded at teh Carters last session in Oct. 1941 and is a song (according to their biographers) written by Maybelle Carter. The song references upcoming World War II.

WHY DO YOU CRY LITTLE DARLING- Carter Family 1941

Why do you cry little darlin
Why are those tears in your eyes
Why do you weep little darlin
Just when I say goodbye

It makes me sad and lonely
To see you feel so blue
What have I done little darlin
Have I been untrue to you

Cause you are called little darlin
To fight for your country true
There's many a poor girl just like me
Weeping for their sweetheart too

I've tried so hard to be cheerful
But thought of all the long years
You might be gone little darlin
I could not keep back my tears

That's why I cry little darlin
Because you're going away
Leaving me all broken hearted
To weep for you day after day

Every night I'll kneel by my bedside
And ask God to guide you each day
Back to your sweetheart that's waiting
And loves you more than I can say

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Richie
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 09:55 AM

Thanks Artful Codger,

I don't have access to Charles Wolfe, the late great Country Music historian, liner notes.

A.P. actually played the fiddle. Here's an account of their first unofficial recording session:

The first opportunity to record came in 1926 when A.P and Sara arranged an audition for a Brunswick record scout in Kingsport, Tennessee. They sang "Anchored in Love" and A.P. played a fiddle solo. [According to Gladys Carter they sang "Little Log Cabin by The Sea" and "Poor Orphan Boy" before A.P. (Doc) sawed away on a few fiddle tunes.] When the record company scout (looking for another Fiddlin' John Carson) suggested to him that he should perform solo (they told the Carters that a musical group with a female lead singer would never sell) as Fiddlin' Doc and only record square dance fiddle songs, he flatly refused [Gladys said it was because A.P. promised his mother he wouldn't play jigs].

A.P. was also noted as a good bass singer. As lead singers- guitarists Sara and Maybelle surely wrote the chords and melodies to most of the songs where the Carters didn't know the melody.

Subject: Lyr Add: WHY THERE'S A TEAR IN MY EYE
From: Richie
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 10:07 AM

"Why There's a Tear in My Eye" is a song by Carson Robison (An Old Man's Story) from 1928 that the Carters played with Jimmie Rodgers at their 1931 session in Louisville KY.

WHY THERE'S A TEAR IN MY EYE- Carter family 1931

               I once loved a beautiful maiden
               As fair as the blue skies above
               And each night as we wandered together
               The moon seemed to smile on our love

               We vowed to be true to each other
               That nothing could cause us to part
               But we never once dreamed that the future
               Held only a broken heart

               Then there came the night when we parted
               We quarreled as all sweethearts do
               And I learned what it was to be jealous
               When they told me her love was untrue

               She told me she had always been faithful
               She swore that her love could not die
               And then when I did not believe her
               She kissed me and told me goodbye

                   Oh-de-lay-ee-oh, de-lay-ee
                   Yo-de-lay-ee
                   [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]
                  
               I found I had falsely accused her
               And went back to make her my bride
               And there in the door stood her mother
               She told me my sweetheart had died

               I went in and knelt down beside her
               And there in the hush of that room
               I prayed that my maker would take me
               And send my soul down to its doom

               So now I have told you the reason
               There's always a tear in my eye
               Through long weary years I've repented
               But I'm longing to lay down and die

               I wonder if I'll be forgiven
               When I face the master someday
               And I wonder if I'll see my sweetheart
               On that beautiful shore far away

                   Oh-de-lay-ee-oh, de-lay-ee
                   Yo-de-lay-ee

Subject: Lyr Add: WILDWOOD FLOWER
From: Richie
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 10:14 AM

Wildwood Flower is "I'll Twine Mid the Ringlets" by Maud Irving and JP Webster from 1860. This popular song by the Carters recorded in 1928 was probably attributed to them until fairly recently.

Even though their arrangemnt and melody are unique when the source of the song became known their copyright became invalid. Now teh song is free and considered PD even though the Carters arrangement is still used.

WILDWOOD FLOWER- Carter family


          Oh, I'll twine with my mangels and waving black hair
          With the roses so red and the lilies so fair
          And the myrtle so bright with the emerald dew
          The pale amanita and islip like blue

               [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

          I will dance, I will sing, and my heart shall be gay
          I will charm every heart, in his crown I will sway
          When I woke from my dreaming my idol was clay
          All portion of love had all flown away

               [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

          Oh, he taught me to love him and promised to love
          And to cherish me over all others above
          How my heart is now wondering no misery can tell
          He's left me no warning, no words of farewell

               [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

          Oh, he taught me to love him and called me his flower
          That was blooming to cheer him through life's dreary hour
          Oh, I long to see him and regret the dark hour
          He won and neglected this pale wildwood flower

               [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Subject: Lyr Add: WILL MY MOTHER KNOW ME THERE
From: Richie
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 12:30 PM

Will My Mother Know Me There? is a song from Johnson Oatman and William Golden in 1906. It was included in Songs of the Kingdom: The Camp Meeting Specialý by Robert Emmet Winsett 1911, 200 pages. It was recorded twice before the Carters 1933 recording.

WILL MY MOTHER KNOW ME THERE
Carter Family- Original

When I reach my home eternal
Reach that city bright and fair
When I stand among the angels
Will my mother know me there

    Yes, I know that she will know me
    In those mansions bright and fair
    Mother's love can ne'er forget me
    And I'm sure she'll know me there

I have changed with the changing seasons
I am bent with toil and care
When I stand among the angels
Will my mother know me there

    Yes, I know that she will know me
    In those mansions bright and fair
    Mother's love can ne'er forget me
    And I'm sure she'll know me there
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

All for me my mother wrestled
When she used to kneel in prayer
Do you think she has forgotten
Will my mother know me there

    Yes, I know that she will know me
    In those mansions bright and fair
    Mother's love can ne'er forget me
    And I'm sure she'll know me there
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Mother's face has been a beacon
O'er the sea of deep despair
I shall look for her up yonder
Will my mother know me there

    Yes, I know that she will know me
    In those mansions bright and fair
    Mother's love can ne'er forget me
    And I'm sure she'll know me there

Subject: Lyr Add: WILL THE ROSES BLOOM IN HEAVEN
From: Richie
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 12:34 PM

Will the Roses Bloom in Heaven is a song by Charles K. Harris in 1911. It was recorded twice before the Carters 1932 recording.

Here's a link to the sheet music:
http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/sheetmusic/devincent.do?&id=LL-SDV-106058&q1=LL-SDV-106058&sid=3fdad41f7ea6c1580541b5dc8f4bcf83


WILL THE ROSES BLOOM IN HEAVEN Carter Family 1932

In a cold and cheerless garret
In a room so dim, so lone
In a frosty wintry silence
There was heard a little moan
And a little child is asking
At the break of the day
Will the roses bloom in heaven
Tell me, mama, tell me, pray

    Will the roses bloom in heaven
    Are there any gardens there
    Any violets and clover
    Way up with the angels fair
    Will the branches fill with blossoms
    And in winter fill with snow
    Will the roses bloom in heaven
    Tell me, mama, e'er I go
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Now the room grows light and lighter
Everything has caught a glow
Heaven seems to stretch about her
While dream faces come and go
Then she whispered, birds are singing
Psalms of melody
And I see the roses blooming
While the angels beckon me

Then mother whispered
In the land so bright and fair
Where the roses will be blooming
There will be no parting there
Goodbye, my little darling
For death is lingering near
And on the pale little face
There was not one trace of fear

    Will the roses bloom in heaven
    Are there any gardens there
    Any violets and clover
    Way up with the angels fair
    Will the branches fill with blossoms
    And in winter fill with snow
    Will the roses bloom in heaven
    Tell me, mama, e'er I go

Subject: Lyr Add: WILL YOU MISS ME
From: Richie
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 12:42 PM

Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone? is by Rev. George Beebe and H.E. McAfee circa 1900. This song is now the name of the definitive biography about the Carters, Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone by Marc Mark Zwonitzer and Charles Hirshberg.

The Carters recorded the song twice- first in 1928 and again in 1935 after A.P. and Sara separated. The Carters kept recording and occasionally performing together until 1943 when Sara moved to California to live with her new husband Coy Bays. Without Maybelle and her family carrying on the Carter tradition in the 1940s the music of the Carters might have been largely forgotten. A.P. moved back to Poor Valley and ran a small grocery store in relative obscurity, he tried in vain to resurrect the group but Original Carter Family never recorded again. They left a wealth of musical treasures behind as their legacy. I never knew them, but I do miss them.

WILL YOU MISS ME- Carter Family 1928 and 1935

          When death shall close these eyelids
          And this heart shall cease to beat
          And they lay me down to rest
          In some flowery bowery tree
               
               Will you miss me (miss me when I'm gone)
               Will you miss me (miss me when I'm gone)
               Will you miss me (miss me when I'm gone)
               Will you miss me when I'm gone

          Perhaps you'll plant a flower
          On my poor, unworthy grave
          Come and sit along beside me
          When the roses nod and wave

               Will you miss me (miss me when I'm gone)
               Will you miss me (miss me when I'm gone)
               Will you miss me (miss me when I'm gone)
               Will you miss me when I'm gone

          One sweet thought my soul shall cherish
          When this fleeting life has flown
          This sweet thought will cheer when dying
          Will you miss me when I'm gone

          When these lips shall never more
          Plant a kiss upon thy brow
          But lie cold and still in death
          Will you love me then as now

               Will you miss me (miss me when I'm gone)
               Will you miss me (miss me when I'm gone)
               Will you miss me (miss me when I'm gone)
               Will you miss me when I'm gone

Subject: Lyr Add: THE WINDING STREAM
From: Richie
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 12:57 PM

Winding Stream (The Winding Stream) is a song Meade calls a parlor song from the 1800s and calls the song, "Give To Me a Winding Stream."
Initial searches haven't turned up the song.

THE WINDING STREAM Carter family 1932

                   [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

               O give to me a winding stream
               It must not be too wide
               Where waving leaves of maple trees
               Would meet from either side
               The water must be deep enough
               To float a small canoe
               With no one else but you


                   Do not disturb
                   My waking dream
                   The splendor of
                   That winding stream
                   Flower in my canoe
                   Her eyes they look me through
                   A maiden fair with golden hair
                   Looks very much like you
                   [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

               The sparkling trout beneath the bank
               Doth leave his hiding place
               Kingfisher from the bough above
               So eager to give chase
               The spreading branches overhead
               The sunrise peeping through
               And looking, dear, at you


                   Do not disturb
                   My waking dream
                   The splendor of
                   That winding stream
                   Flower in my canoe
                   Her eyes they look me through
                   A maiden fair with golden hair
                   Looks very much like you

Subject: RE: Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 01:06 PM

Charles Wolfe wrote or edited (two by Talley) Tennessee Strings, A Good-Natured Riot, DeFord Bailey, Mahalia Jackson, The Life and Legend of Lead Belly, Everybody's Grandpa, In Close Harmony, Classic Country, Kentucky Country, Folk Songs from Middle Tennessee, and many papers.
Artful Codger, which one has the information on the Carter songs?

There are many "Little Darling" songs, some music only. Sara's seems unique.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE WONDERFUL CITY
From: Richie
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 01:15 PM

Wonderful City is a song attributed to Jimmie Rodgers and was recorded with the Carter family in their joint 1931 session in Louisville KY. Rodgers usually appropriated material for his songs so the lyrics probably are based on another song. This is even more likely because this was the only gospel song Rodgers recorded.


THE WONDERFUL CITY- Jimmie Rodgers and Carter family 1931

I'm waiting watching and longing
That beautiful sight to behold
When I shall awake some bright morning
In that city with streets of pure gold

My savior has gone to prepare it
For all who accept his grace
And that's why I know I'll be welcome
To a home in that wonderful place
When I reach my home in that city
Shall I find you waiting up there
With the saints who have gone on before us
To that beautiful home so fair

My whole heart is set upon heaven
Where my savior's face I shall see
And live in the light of his glory
Throughout all eternity

[Yodel]

He bids us to work in His vineyard
To toil for Him early and late
What a glorious reward for our labor
To enter that beautiful gate

Subject: Lyr Add: WORRIED MAN BLUES (Carter Family)
From: Richie
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 01:40 PM

Worried Man Blues is a traditional blues song arranged by the Carter Family who recorded the song in 1930 and again in 1935. The only earlier recording is by Sam Collins with a vocal John D. Fox in 1927 on Gnt 6352.

The song is made up of traditional verses arranged by the Carters probably from Leslie Riddle/Brownie McGee/Sam Lyons group.

Look at Charley Patton's "Down the Dirt Road Blues:"

I'm goin' away, to a world unknown
I'm goin' away, to a world unknown
I'm worried now, but I won't be worried long


WORRIED MAN BLUES
As recorded by the Carter Family, 1930.

It takes a worried man to sing a worried song.
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song.
I'm worried now, but I won't be worried long.

I went across the river; I lay down to sleep.
I went across the river; I lay down to sleep.
When I woke up, with the shackles on my feet.

Twenty-nine links of chain around my leg.
Twenty-nine links of chain around my leg.
And on each link an initial of my name.

It takes a worried man to sing a worried song.
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song.
I'm worried now, but I won't be worried long.

[INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

I asked the judge, what might be my fine.
I asked the judge, what might be my fine.
Twenty-one years on the R. C. Mountain Line.

The train I ride, sixteen coaches long.
The train I ride, sixteen coaches long.
The girl I love is on that train and gone.

It takes a worried man to sing a worried song.
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song.
I'm worried now, but I won't be worried long.

[INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

If anyone asks you who composed this song.
If anyone asks you who composed this song.
Tell 'em 'twas I, and I sing it all day long.

It takes a worried man to sing a worried song.
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song.
I'm worried now, but I won't be worried long.

Subject: Lyr Add: YOU ARE MY FLOWER
From: Richie
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 01:54 PM

You Are My Flower is a song attributed to a.P. Carter and it certainly seem like a song he wrote even if he had a few lines to get him started.

YOU ARE MY FLOWER Carter Family 1938

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

The grass is just as green
The sky is just as blue
The day is just as bright
The birds are singing, too

    You are my flower
    That's blooming in the mountain for me
    You are my flower
    That's blooming there for me
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

The air is just as pure
The sunlight just as free
And nature seems to say
It's all for you and me

    You are my flower
    That's blooming in the mountain for me
    You are my flower
    That's blooming there for me
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

So wear a happy smile
And life will be worthwhile
Forget your tears
And don't forget to smile

    You are my flower
    That's blooming in the mountain for me
    You are my flower
    That's blooming there for me
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

When summertime has passed
And snow begins to fall
Just sing this song
And say to one and all

    You are my flower
    That's blooming in the mountain for me
    You are my flower
    That's blooming there for me

Subject: Lyr Add: YOU BETTER LET THAT LIAR ALONE
From: Richie
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 02:40 PM

You Better Let That Liar Alone known also as "Let That Liar Alone" is a spiritual found in the Joyful Meeting in Glory Song Book No 1 in 1919. The first recording is by Edward Clayton in 1927.

Other versions by country musicians include Emry Arthur 1928 and Frank Luther 1934.

YOU BETTER LET THAT LIAR ALONE- Carter Family 1937

Chorus: If you don't want to get in trouble
If you don't want to get in trouble
If you don't want to get in trouble
You better let that liar alone

Well let me tell you people what a liar will do
He's always coming with something new
He'll steal your heart with a false pretence
Make out like he's your bosom friend

When a liar takes the notion to bend the truth
He'll lay around his neighbors to get the news
And nearly every day when you look out
You can see that liar coming to your house

He'll tell you such a lie it'll surprise your mind
He'll mix a little truth for to make it shine
When he finds out you believe what he says
Then that liar's gonna have his way.

When everything's in perfect peace
Here comes that liar with his deceit
When he gets his business fixed just right
Then that liar's going to cause a fight

Bridge: He'll make out like he loves you so well
Everything you hear he must come and tell
Let me tell you sisters if you only knew
What a certain somebody says about you.
He studies up a lie he'll tell it so smooth
You'll think absolutely that it must be true
And he'll urge you out for to trace the tale
And if you don't mind you'll be put in jail
A hypocrite liar both kicks up a fuss
They're both very bad but a liar's the worse

Subject: Lyr Add: YOU DENIED YOUR LOVE
From: Richie
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 02:56 PM

You Denied Your Love is a song by the Carters in 1938. For now I've not found a source. It certain looks like the type of song they would have written,

YOU DENIED YOUR LOVE- Carter family 1938

That was the day when you went away
You broke my heart in the month of May
That little ring I gave to you
Will show you, dear, my love was true

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Sweet are the flowers of our friendship
That has bloomed our whole life through
But ne'er forget, though you're far away
They're blooming in my heart today

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

You denied your love, but you proved it so
You came to see me when the sun was low
You broke my heart, but you were kind
When you said "Oh, dear, you could never be mine"

Oh, let me tell you what love will do
When you love a boy that don't love you
It'll break your heart, they'll leave you alone
They'll roam the west, so far from home

Subject: Lyr Add: THERE'S A LOVE KNOT IN MY LARIAT
From: Richie
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 03:24 PM

You Tied a Love Knot in My Heart is from the Carters final session in 1941. The only related lyrics seem to be a song recorded in the 1930s:

THERE'S A LOVE KNOT IN MY LARIAT
written and recorded by Wilf Carter aka Montana Slim

I'll be thinking of you pal at sunset time
Thinking of the happy days gone by
There beneath the dear old western sky
And I'll tell you just the reason why,

There's a love knot in my lariat,
And it's waiting for a blue eyed gal you bet,
While I'm riding the range all day
My old lasso seems to say, it twines around an ornery stray,
There's a love knot in my lariat
And it's waiting for my little prairie pet
When I swing my old lasso you'll hear my yodel ay ee hoo
There's a love knot in my lariat.

Probably the only related lyrics would the title. Perhaps that was enough to get Maybelle started.

YOU TIED A LOVE KNOT IN MY HEART- Maybelle Carter 1941

You tied a love knot in my heart, dear
When you said you'd be my bride
Oh, how well I remember
As we strolled side by side

Leaves were falling all around us
Roses withered on the ground
You tied a love knot in my heart, dear
That can never be unwound
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

The only thing that I have left now
Is this little string of down
With a little love knot in it
That she held tight in her hand

As I stood there by her bedside
As I look into your eyes
You tied a love knot in my heart, dear
That can never be untied
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

There's a heart tonight that's lonely
There's a heart tonight that's sad
For God has took you from me
Dearest pal I ever had

She's gone to sing up in heaven
God needed her there by his side
You tied a love knot in my heart, dear
That can never be untied

Subject: Lyr Add: YOU'RE NOTHING MORE TO ME
From: Richie
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 03:36 PM

You're Nothing More to Me is titled "Thou Art Nothing More To Me" by Meade. It was collected and published in The Frank Brown NC folk songs by Belden in 1952. Anyone?

YOU'RE NOTHING MORE TO ME- Carter Family 1938

Tonight we part forever
You're nothing more to me
The chain that bound us is broken
Not a tear I'll shed for thee

    Go break the heart of another
    Just as you have broken mine
    Go tell her that you love her
    And call her fondly thine

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Here, take this ring that you gave me
Which was so dear to me
Go give it to another
It's nothing more to me

    When you gaze upon the engraving
    Will you think one time of me
    You've broken my heart forever
    Not a tear I'll shed for thee

    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Goodnight, goodbye forever
You're nothing more to me
You've broken my heart forever
Not a tear I'll shed for thee

    I must say goodbye, my darling
    Nevermore to meet again
    I will ask of you a promise
    Will you meet me up in heaven
    [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Subject: Lyr Add: YOU'VE BEEN A FRIEND TO ME
From: Richie
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 03:44 PM

You've Been a Friend to Me is a song by Will Hays in 1868.

Here's the sheet music:http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mussm&fileName=sm/sm1879/11900/11919/mussm11919.db&recNum=0&itemLink=D?mussm:1:./tem

YOU'VE BEEN A FRIEND TO ME- Carter family 1936

                   Oh, I'll ne'er forget where e'er I roam
                   Where ever you may be
                   If ever I have had a friend
                   You have been that friend to me

               My bark of life was tossing down
               The troubled stream of time
               When first I saw your smiling face
               And youth was in its prime

                   Oh, I'll ne'er forget where e'er I roam
                   Where ever you may be
                   If ever I have had a friend
                   You have been that friend to me
                   [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

               Misfortune nursed me as her child
               And loved me fondly, too
               I would have had a broken heart
               Had it not been for you

                   Oh, I'll ne'er forget where e'er I roam
                   Where ever you may be
                   If ever I have had a friend
                   You have been that friend to me
                   [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

               Now I look back upon the past
               Acrost life's troubled seas
               And smile to think of all I've seen
               You've been a friend to me

                   Oh, I'll ne'er forget where e'er I roam
                   Where ever you may be
                   If ever I have had a friend
                   You have been that friend to me

                   Oh, I'll ne'er forget where e'er I roam
                   Where ever you may be
                   If ever I have had a friend
                   You have been that friend to me

Subject: Lyr Add: YOU'VE BEEN FOOLING ME BABY (Carter Famil
From: Richie
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 03:49 PM

You've Been Fooling Me, Baby is taken from the Allen Brothers "When You Leave You Leave Me Sad" recorded in 1930. The Carters version was recorded in 1934.

YOU'VE BEEN FOOLING ME, BABY
As recorded by the Carter Family, 1934. (Bluebird B-5771, Montgomery Ward M-4548)

I don’t want you, mean mama.
There ain’t no use you hangin’ around,
For I've found another mama,
And now I am Chicago bound.

CHORUS: You've been fooling me, baby.
You've been telling me your lies,
When I thought you were an angel
Just sent down from the skies.

Sing those parting blues to me, sweet Nell.
When you leave, you leave me sad,
‘Cause my daddy's gone and left me
I just wouldn't treat him right. CHORUS

I wouldn't give him much lovin’,
Wouldn't stay home at night.
Now I hear the train a-comin’.
He has gone out of sight. CHORUS

Subject: Lyr Add: YOUR MOTHER STILL PRAYS FOR YOU JACK
From: Richie
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 03:57 PM

Your Mother Still Prays (For You, Jack) is a song from F.M. Eliot in 1893.

Your Mother S