Origins: The authors of the 'Carter Family songs'

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.