Lyr Req: Death Valley Scotty

Subject: Lyric & provenance request: Death Valley Scotty
From:
Date: 25 Apr 97 - 12:20 AM

A verse line goes: "I'll sing you a story of Death Valley Scotty" I seem to remember: "Death Valley Scotty's got a mystery fortune, they say he's uncovered a fabulous find", as part of the chorus.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Death Valley Scotty
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 11 Mar 08 - 07:14 PM

Note—I'm reviving a very old thread here.

According to The Woody Guthrie Archives (also here), there seem to be 3 copies of a song or songs called DEATH VALLEY SCOTTY among WG's papers and notebooks. It isn't clear whether he wrote such a song himself or merely collected it from someone else.

Allmusic.com doesn't list any song by that title. Neither does ASCAP, BMI, The Online 78rpm Discography Project.

Death Valley Scotty, by the way, was a real person (see Wikipedia), a colorful character whose life might make an interesting song.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Death Valley Scotty
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 11 Mar 08 - 07:33 PM

Because I visited Death Valley several times in the 1950's and '60's, and read much of its history, I probably know more about the flamboyant Walter Scott, AKA "Death Valley Scotty," than the average person. He was, first, a consummate liar and con man, albeit a charming one. He had tried several jobs, but was a drifter at heart. He was, mostly, a failure at mining. He eventually befriended one Albert Johnson, an insurance executive from Chicago, and so charmed him that Johnson, who was in frail health, and his wife went to Death Valley and bankrolled "Scotty's Castle," the large and ornate residence that you can visit today. This place is still so remote that people marvel at the place. To have built it when there were no good roads beggars the imagination.

Scotty let it be known that his "wealth" came from his secret gold mine. In truth, the gold mine was in Albert Johnson's bank account.
One of his larks was to charter a train (again, with the indulgent Johnson's money) from Los Angeles to Chicago, with the aim of setting a speed record, which he actually accomplished. This ride made him famous.

By the way, he never lived in the "castle." That was occupied by the Johnsons and their staff. Scotty lived up Grapevine Canyon in his modest shack until he died, circa 1953 or '54. Other stories, tall tales and real, often relating to earlier scams he tried to run, are endless.

With all that, I never heard a song associated with him, though he certainly would have provided fodder for one or more.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Death Valley Scotty
From: Mark Ross
Date: 12 Mar 08 - 11:50 AM

I wrote this about 35 years ago

Mark Ross



DEATH VALLEY SCOTTY

Mark Ross

I live in the canyon you call the Grapevine,

Ten miles away from my Death Valley mine,

You can walk this whole valley 'til your legs have gone lame,

You won't find my gold I never filed a claim.


Chorus;
Death Valley Scotty, what's it like all alone?

With a burro to talk to and a desert to roam.

With your gold and your whiskey, the sand and bleached bones,

They say that Death Valley's your home.


I spent 20 years roaming these hot diamond sands,

With a pack mule & shovel and two good strong hands,

With bad whiskey for drinking, hard beans in bent cans,

That gold, it's all mine, not no other mans.


They sent men to kill me to take all my gold,

But 3 weeks in Death Valley turns young men to old

I let those fools track me 'til they'd grown quite bold,

I left their bones rotting, to hell with their souls.

Chorus;

When I come to town there's something quite grand

With a 20 car train, a big crowd and brass band,

With my ten-gallon hat and my boots all a-shine,

There's no other fun from a Death Valley mine.


I built me a castle on the low valley floor,

But I like living better in the old shack next door,

With my dogs and my cats and my pots and my pans,

One thing I'll tell you I've been my own man.

Chorus;