Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'

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