Lyr Req: Devil Take the Farmer (Dave Gordon)

Subject: Lyr Req: Corby Swanson - bluegrass
From: fi_in_nz
Date: 03 Oct 11 - 07:11 AM

Hi there - I'm looking for the lyrics to a song which begins "I am Corby Swanson (Swarson) and this is Swanson land". I've found it on a compilaton my husband made in 1990 but I don't know when it was recorded or who by.... anyone any ideas? Or if you know of a good bluegrass forum I can try, do let me know. Cheers Fiona

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Corby Swanson - bluegrass
From: fi_in_nz
Date: 03 Oct 11 - 07:48 PM

Anyone? This is def an American song so maybe I'll get someone knowing it at this time of night/day ;-) F

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Corby Swanson - bluegrass
From: Richie
Date: 03 Oct 11 - 08:01 PM

Hi,

If you have the music try putting more of the lyrics- it would make it easier to find, Corby and Swanson could both be wrong

Richie

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Corby Swanson - bluegrass
From: Midchuck
Date: 03 Oct 11 - 09:46 PM

The title is "Devil, Take the Farmer."

I have a performance of it by Dry Branch Fire Squad on a Rounder sampler CD called "Bluegrass Class of 1990." (which I have, obviously, had for quite a while).

The author is given as Dave Gordon, who is not someone I'm familiar with. The notes say the song was originally recorded by DBFS on an album of theirs entitled "Fertile Ground."

"Corby Swanson" sounds correct to me, unless it's "Corvy."

Peter.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Corby Swanson - bluegrass
From: Melissa
Date: 03 Oct 11 - 11:48 PM

http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/folk-song-lyrics/Devil_Take_the_Farmer.htm

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Corby Swanson - bluegrass
From: Melissa
Date: 03 Oct 11 - 11:50 PM

some of the words in that un-blicked link do not match my ears..

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Corby Swanson - bluegrass
From: fi_in_nz
Date: 04 Oct 11 - 04:12 AM

Great, thanks. Yeah, some of the words aren't quite the same as on the Class of 1990 CD - that's where I picked it up too.... thanks for the link, saves me having to listen hard to get it down ;-)

Here it is in a blue clicky ;-)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Corby Swanson - bluegrass
From: Melissa
Date: 04 Oct 11 - 09:53 PM

That's the cd I compared to..some of the words ARE kind of murky!

Subject: Lyr Add: DEVIL TAKE THE FARMER (Dave Gordon)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 06 Oct 11 - 08:43 AM

DEVIL TAKE THE FARMER is in the DT, but it is strangely formatted. This transcription may be clearer. I have checked it against a recording on Spotify, and changed a word here and there to agree with the recording.


DEVIL TAKE THE FARMER
Words and music by Dave Gordon
As sung by the Dry Branch Fire Squad on "Fertile Ground" (1989)

1. I am Corvy Swanson an' these are Swanson lands,
For pert' near a hundred and fifty years worked by Swanson hands.
Now the land boys want to buy me and I'd rather I was dead,
But hi-ho the dairy-o, the farmer's in the red.

2. When Nora Mae was livin', Lord, weren't we livin' high,
[With] sausage, steak, an' bacon; puddin', cake, an' pie?
Now when I've got a cow down, the vet knows I can't pay.
I don't even have enough to put my bones away.

CHORUS: And the weather takes its toll, and the years take your life.
The city takes the children, and the fever takes a wife.
The dry wind takes the wheat, and the bills take the beans,
And the devil take the farmer in the land of the big machines.

3. They don't know good from bad land. They don't know corn from weeds.
They don't want the houses. They only want the deeds.
They use it as a tax dodge. They use it as a shield.
With half the stuff they hand me, I could fertilize a field. CHORUS

4. [They] don't care whose home they're takin', don't care whose land they grab.
They sit out in the boilin' sun in an air-conditioned cab.
They got a button sayin' "Harvest," another sayin' "Seed."
The third one just says "Money" and it pours in while they sleep. CHORUS

5. The farmer stands alone. The farmer stands alone.
I ain't even got enough to bury my own bones.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Corby Swanson? / Devil Take the Farmer
From: GUEST,Fred "Beetle" Bailey
Date: 07 Oct 11 - 12:00 AM

The late Dave Gordon resided somewhere around the Dayton, Ohio area and wrote some magnificant songs.
Don't know much more, but he's certainly worth ferreting out. The last I heard his widow still had some recordings to sell.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Corby Swanson? / Devil Take the Farmer
From: GUEST,Fred "Beetle" Bailey
Date: 07 Oct 11 - 12:12 AM

BINGO! Search Mudcat for Dave and Kay Goron

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Corby Swanson? / Devil Take the Farmer
From: GUEST,Fred "Beetle" Bailey
Date: 07 Oct 11 - 12:14 AM

But then on the other hand, "Gordon" will probably work better unless you're a real goron.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Corby Swanson? / Devil Take the Farmer
From: GUEST,Kay Gordon
Date: 19 May 20 - 03:34 PM

Hi all,

First, it's "Orvy" Swanson (abbreviated from Orville.

And... yep I am Dave Gordon's widow (remarried so last name is different now). I am working to get the chords down for ALL the songs on the work from which this song was taken - the work is called Black and White Rainbows. All the music is out of print now - there were several other recordings released, some of which are available on EBay:

- Natural Causes
- Corduroy Road
- Falling Rock
- Alive at Last (double album set)
- Room to Grow (children's album)
- Black and White Rainbows (released posthumously on cassette)

As you can see this is a lot of material to manage and sadly, publishing and distribution rights were sold off after the Vetco recording studio/Jimmie Skinner Music publishing company owner passed away a few years ago.

My goal is to develop a music publishing company and reissue the Room to Grow and Black and White Rainbows recordings (I have the rights to RTG, B&WR are held by another company that has said will provide me the rights once ready to accept under my company name).

Whew! Music industry is kind of wild.

The new rights owner of the other albums is slowly working through the catalogue and I am in touch with him.

If interested in other information about Dave Gordon or our work together over the years, please feel free to email me at ginakaylandis at gmail.

I so appreciate your interest and furthering of the music. It has taken me so long to get to this step because Dave died in 1986, I had to go to work for several years after, then remarried and my late (second) husband also became very ill for many years, and he died in 2018. Bear with me and I hope I will get the works I have the rights to on the airwaves, or on the market, or somehow to those who want them, within the 2020/2021 scenario.

Kind regards,

Kay Gordon
(Gina Kay Landis)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Corby Swanson? / Devil Take the Farmer
From: cnd
Date: 20 May 20 - 10:11 PM

Thanks for sharing Kay, I wish you luck!

When are you expecting it to come out?