ADD: I Remember Loving You(from Priscilla Herdman)

Subject: Lyr Req: I remeber loving you Utah P Prisilla Her
From: skarpi
Date: 06 Oct 14 - 10:44 AM

Hallo all , I am wondering , have any of you wrote down the extra lyric
that Prisilla Herdman wrote with Utah you can hear it here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgqt38CtqEo

I am just asking before I start spending time writing this down :)

this version is so good ...and of course the song is great

all the best Skarpi Iceland ...

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I remeber loving you Utah P Prisilla Her
From: skarpi
Date: 06 Oct 14 - 10:46 AM

it should be REMEMBER .....ARWWWWW .....sorry I missed that ...

Subject: Lyr Req: I Remember Loving You Utah P Prisilla Her
From: maeve
Date: 06 Oct 14 - 11:20 AM

Priscilla's version as sung with Utah is already here on Mudcat thanks to Stewie, Skarpi. Can't wait to hear you sing it!
Lyr Add: I REMEMBER LOVING YOU (Herdman+Phillips)

Maeve

---

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Remember Loving You Utah P, Pris. H
From: maeve
Date: 06 Oct 14 - 11:26 AM

...And perhaps a clever moderator will stretch the limits of the subject line and otherwise make it easier for people to find this in future. It would eventually be very nice for the DT lyrics for this to include the added verses and credits.

Thank you.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I remeber loving you Utah P Prisilla Her
From: maeve
Date: 06 Oct 14 - 11:30 AM

Regarding credits for this song, Dan Schatz told the rest of the story in the same thread referred to for the full Philips/Herdman version, above:

"Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Utah Phillips songs
From: Dan Schatz - PM
Date: 22 May 09 - 09:25 PM

For years, none of Utah's friends believed that these people existed. Rosalie Sorrels told me that they used to say, "Right Bruce. 'Luigi del Puppo.' Sure." And she told me that whatever anybody else says, Utah wrote the song.

Which he did, more or less. But he built it on the original song that del Puppo and Chumlevich wrote while in a Nelson, BC jail. Joanna wanted to make sure we credited it correctly on the two CD set, because Utah only wrote the third verse and reworked the chorus. She told me it was collected at the Vancouver jail. Utah got hold of it, and sang it for a long time as originally written:

"I remember loving you
Yes and I've had quite a few...."

It wasn't quite right, so he changed the chorus and wrote the third verse, and it became known as his song. But he always gave credit to the original authors.

Tom Paxton does a WONDERFUL version of this song on the two CD set.

Dan " Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Utah Phillips songs

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I remeber loving you Utah P Prisilla Her
From: skarpi
Date: 06 Oct 14 - 02:15 PM

Thank you Maeve ...:) ..

May we meet someday soon :) ...

all the best Skarpi .

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I remeber loving you Utah P Prisilla Her
From: maeve
Date: 06 Oct 14 - 04:29 PM

You're welcome, Skarpi. TL and I would like that!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I remeber loving you Utah P Prisilla Her
From: GUEST,kendall
Date: 06 Oct 14 - 07:33 PM

He used to sing...I remember loving you, of all the girls I knew, and I've had quite a few, I remember loving you.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I remeber loving you Utah P Prisilla Her
From: skarpi
Date: 06 Oct 14 - 08:10 PM

thanks Kendall ...:) ...

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I remeber loving you Utah P Prisilla Her
From: Joe Offer
Date: 07 Oct 14 - 01:23 AM

Let's put the DT version and my interpretation of Stewie's transcription next to each other so we can see if there are differences. I put the Phillips/Herdman verses in italics - Priscilla Herdman sings them on the recording, while Utah Phillips sings the original verses.

I REMEMBER LOVING YOU (del Puppo/Chumlevich/Phillips/Herdman I look at these old letters and postcards From the places where you've been From the towns you'd find on the railway lines And the dirty backroom jails that you've been in And the whispers of the people in the towns When you'd been here and they knew Yes, I remember all these things But mostly I remember loving you I look at my brown suitcase And think of all the places that I've been The railroad yards and the prison guards All the dumpy little towns along the stem And the whispering of the people As they watch every move that I go through I remember all those things Mostly I remember loving you CHORUS: I remember loving you Back when the world was new And I think you loved me too I remember loving you Ah, the buckskin smell that I knew so well When you'd hold me in your arms all in the rain The night you came from a westbound freight You were passing through, and you said you couldn't stay Just an hour we shared, and you said you cared And you'd come again the next time you were through Yes, I remember all these things But mostly I remember loving you The buckskins smell, so the people tell As we huddled in the boxcar from the rain The flashing lights that cut the night The railroad bulls that pulled us off the train When the norther blows and the winter's cold And I'm huddled in the corner 'til I'm blue I remember all these things Mostly I remember loving you CHORUS When the norther blows and I'm lying cold in my bed And I can't sleep for thoughts of you And you're out somewhere in a jungle camp or a boxcar Where you're freezing 'til you're blue I'm close by your side, everywhere you ride And you're with me in everything I do Yes, I remember all these things But mostly I remember loving you The winter streets where the frozen sleet Come soaking through the cardboard in my shoes Where the promised land might be a place Where a man could find free cigarettes and booze The alleyways full of ragged strays The doorway wine I tell my troubles to I remember all these things Mostly I remember loving you CHORUS

I REMEMBER LOVING YOU (DT) I look at my brown suitcase And think of all the places that I've been, Railroad yards and prison guards, All the dumpy little towns along the stem And the whispering of the people As they watch every move that I go through; I remember all those things, Mostly I remember loving you. CHORUS: I remember loving you, Back when the world was new, And I think you loved me too, I remember loving you, The buckskin smells so the people tell As we huddled in the boxcar from the rain; Flashing lights that cut the night, The railroad bull that pulled us off the train, When the winter's cold and the Norther blows I'm huddled in the corner 'til I'm blue; I remember all these things, Mostly I remember loving you. CHORUS Winter streets where the frozen sleet Comes soaking through the cardboard in my shoes, Where the promised land might be a place Where a man could find free cigarettes and booze, And the alleyways full of ragged strays, The doorway wine I tell my troubles to, I remember all these things, Mostly I remember loving you. CHORUS Written by Luigi del Puppo and Tino Chumlovich and collected from del Puppo at Nelson, BC 13 Aug. 1970 by Phil Thomas, PJT Coll 067. Learned by Phillips at Expo '74 in Spokane, WA from singing of collector and Hilda Thomas. v.3 and lines 3/4 of the chorus by Phillips: original 3/4 is: Out of all the girls I knew, Yes, and I've had quite a few ------------------------------------------------------------------ Original 1.4 ... towns that I've been in. JB Copright Strike Music @love filename[ REMBLOVE TUNE FILE: REMBLOVE CLICK TO PLAY RG

Subject: ADD Version: I remember loving you
From: Joe Offer
Date: 07 Oct 14 - 02:40 AM

Here's another interpretation:

I REMEMBER LOVING YOU
(Sheb Woolley recording)

I look at my old suitcase
And I think of all the places that I've been,
All the rail yards and the jail guards,
And the dumpy little towns that I've been in;
And the whispers of the people
As they see me ever movin', passin' through;
Yes, I remember all these things,
But mostly I remember loving you.

CHORUS:
I remember loving you,
Like no other love I knew,
I've forgotten quite a few,
But I remember loving you.

The dingy smells of cheap hotels
Are huddled in some boxcar from the rain;
The flashing lights that cut the night,
And the railroad bull that kicked me off the train;
The wind that blows, the winter snow
And freezin' in the cold until I'm blue
Yes, I remember all these things,
But mostly I remember loving you.
CHORUS

---

Here's a nice recording by Roy Bailey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SB25TiICwI

...and Garrison Keillor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx2gAJ89x2k (significant alterations, and Keillor attributes it to Bruce Phillips)

Subject: RE: Req: I remember loving you Utah P Prisilla Herdman
From: skarpi
Date: 07 Oct 14 - 06:59 PM

Thanks Joe ...

Subject: RE: Req: I remember loving you Utah P Prisilla Herdman
From: bob schwarer
Date: 08 Oct 14 - 02:46 PM

Thanks from me also.

Subject: RE: Req: I remember loving you Utah P Prisilla Herdman
From: maeve
Date: 08 Oct 14 - 02:52 PM

Lots of interesting additions here- thanks.

Could someone kindly correct the thread titles to the correct spelling of Priscilla's name?

RE: Req: I remember loving you Utah P Priscilla Herdman

Thank you.

Subject: RE: Req: I remember loving you Utah P Prisilla Herdman
From: skarpi
Date: 08 Oct 14 - 07:37 PM

haha thanks Maeve ...I did not notice that ;) ...

Subject: RE: Req:I remember loving you Utah P Priscilla Herdman
From: Joe Offer
Date: 09 Oct 14 - 03:44 AM

I thought I made the correction...but there weren't enough spaces, so the "c" I typed didn't "take." I have squeezed it in now, but there are no more spaces.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Req:I remember loving you Utah P Priscilla Herdman
From: maeve
Date: 09 Oct 14 - 04:38 PM

Thanks, Joe.

Subject: RE: Req:I remember loving you Utah P Priscilla Herdman
From: bbc
Date: 10 Oct 14 - 07:32 AM

One of my favorite songs! The contrast between Bruce & Priscilla is wonderful!

Barbara

Subject: I remember loving you Utah P Priscilla Herdman
From: Genie
Date: 25 Oct 14 - 12:10 AM

It's an odd coincidence that a thread about the Herdman/Phillips duet on this song should happen to pop up among the recently added threads at Mudcat.   I did this duet with another Portland guitarist and singer, Mike Sands, at Artichoke Music's "Acoustic Village" open mic last night ("Duet night"), and I'd had to learn Priscilla's part in just a few days.

I made a few slight lyric modifications that made the lyrics seem to scan better for me and/or to make the underlying story make more sense (to me), but it was basically the same.

I sang,
"And the whispers of the people in the town when they'd see you passing through ..."

and
"The few hours we shared when you said you cared
And you'd come again ... "
and
"When the norther blows and there alone in my bed
And I can't sleep for thoughts of you ... "

We also reversed the parts, with Mike singing the original verses first, then me singing Priscilla's part.

It is uncanny that this song should happen to pop up here at Mudcat just a couple weeks ago.

Genie

Subject: RE: Req:I remember loving you Utah P Priscilla Herdman
From: GUEST,bobngail
Date: 07 Dec 14 - 11:17 PM

I learned this at Expo 74 in Spokane from Diane Campbell who got it from Phil Thomas. I believe Utah learned it from her there, too. Also, the Kettle Valley Line we got from her.

Subject: RE: Req:I remember loving you Utah P Priscilla Herdman
From: GUEST,Jon Bartlett
Date: 08 Dec 14 - 02:26 AM

Good to see the Sheb Woolley mention here. Luigi said that he'd sold it to Woolley.

Jon Bartlett

Subject: RE: Req:I remember loving you Utah P Priscilla Herdman
From: GUEST
Date: 08 Oct 15 - 04:35 PM

Does anyone have lyrics for the version of this song done by Garrison Keillor & Lynn Peterson. (FYI: it's on Youtube)

I've captured most of the lyrics but can't understand three phrases, where I have entered '???' in the following:

Garrison Keillor & Lynn Peterson - I Remember Lovin' You:

I look at my old suitcase, I think of all the places that I've been
The cheap hotels with the cooking smells, The airport full of tired businessmen
The whisper of the women in the crowd as I go slouchin' through
I remember all these things, mostly I remember lovin' you.

The ??? that I knew well after weeks you'd been away
The night you came from a trip to Spain on your way to Hongkong, so you couldn't stay
One night we shared and you said you cared and you'd come again when you were ??? through
Yes, I remember all these things, but mostly I remembver lovin' you.

Chorus:
I remember lovin' you, back when the world was new
And I think you loved me too, I remember lovin' you.

Well, the little towns I've walked around, the bars where I found shelter from the rain
And the musty gloom of the waiting room where I sat waiting for the midnight train
When the night is cold and at ten I'm told the train's expected in at half-past-two
I remember all these things, but mostly I remember lovin' you.

On a summer night when the moon is bright and I can't sleep for all the memories
Of the joys we knew when we were two ??? side by side in a gentle breeze
As waved goodbye and softly cried as you disapeared from my view
I remember all these things, but mostly I remember lovin' you.

Chorus:

And the Winter street where the frozen sleet comes soakin' through a couple of layers of wool
On a night I go to do my show ??? that's about a quarter full
Some ragged strays and divorcees I stand on stage and tell my troubles to
I remember all these things, but mostly I remember lovin' you.

Chorus:

Subject: RE: Req:I remember loving you Utah P Priscilla Herdman
From: Janie
Date: 20 May 16 - 11:37 PM

Trying to run down who actually wrote this song. I know Utah said it was misattributed to him but he didn't know who wrote it. I have seen it attributed to Sheb Wooley as the writer. He recorded it, but I often find on the internet that people attribute the song to the artist whose recording they hear, not realizing it may be a cover. It is on his album 'Warm and Wooley' and credited to him as the writer from what I can tell.

Can anyone confirm?

What sent me on this search was listening to John Prine's "Glory of True Love", realizing he 'stole the tune' and was about to post Prine's song to a music group and comment that the tune was not original, but was Utah's. Gonna hold off on posting that until I have a clearer idea of who did write and/or score "I Remember Loving You."

Subject: RE: Req:I remember loving you Utah P Priscilla Herdman
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 May 16 - 03:33 AM

Hi, Janie - the official attribution is what's in the Digital Tradition:

Written by Luigi del Puppo and Tino Chumlovich and collected from del Puppo at Nelson, BC 13 Aug. 1970

That's the official word from Bruce "Utah" Phillips and his family. I have heard from people who knew Bruce, that they suspect that del Puppo and Chumlovich are products of Bruce's imagination, and that Bruce Phillips is the actual author.

I'm sure Mark Ross will have an informed opinion. Everybody around these parts knew Utah Phillips (my wife is in a meditation group with his widow), but Mark is one who really knew Bruce.

At the direction of our publisher, Hal Leonard, on the Rise Again songbook, we put "words & music: Utah Phillips. Copyright 1975 (renewed), On Strike Music. All rights administered by Music Management, PO Box 174, Pleasantville NY 10570."

And that's where we got our license from.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Req:I remember loving you Utah P Priscilla Herdman
From: Mark Ross
Date: 21 May 16 - 11:55 AM

They were real. They wrote the song when they were in jail the original chorus was "I remember loving you, and I've had quite a few.....". Utah changed the chorus and added the last verse. It was originally collected by a Canadian folklorist, Phil....(?), can't remember the last name, who Utah learned it from at the Spokane Folklife/Expo in '74.

Mark Ross

Subject: Lyr Add: LOVIN' YOU (L del Puppo/T Chumlovich)
From: GUEST,Jon Bartlett
Date: 22 May 16 - 02:06 AM

Correct, Mark Ross. It was written by Luigi del Puppo and Tino Chumlovich while in jail at Nelson BC. It was collected from Luigi (along with other songs - funny that no-one asks "what other songs?") by Phil Thomas, the noted BC collector, 13 August 1970. I worked with Phil for many years, transcribing his original tapes, making a set to go in the BC Sound Archives, and editing the 2nd edition of his book, Songs of the Pacific Northwest.

Luigi said at the time that he had sold it to Terry Roberts and that Sheb Wooley had recorded it. I have not heard the Wooley version and would like a reference for it.

I was hired (with Utah and Diane Campbell) as a Host of the Folklife Festival at Expo 74 in Spokane, WA, spending the whole summer there. I had sung the song there, as had Diane, and Phil and Hilda, when they performed there, also sang it. Utah could have got it from any of us. he then added verses and changed some of the existing text, and from this thread, I presume that Priscilla did, too.

Here are the original words collected from Luigi, together with his comments: anything changed or added is from Utah and/or Priscilla/and/or Sheb Wooley and/or Terry Roberts:

ITEM 067                     LOVIN' YOU

Well I look at my brown suitcase
And I think of all the places that I been
The railroad yards the prison guards
And the dumpy little towns that I been in
The whisperin' of the people
As they watch every move that I go through
I remember all these things
But mostly I remember lovin' you

Chorus
I remember lovin' you
Out of all the girls I knew
Yes and I've had quite a few
But I remember lovin' you

Now the Indians smell so the people tell
When we're huddled in the boxcar from the rain
Flashing lights that cut the night
And the railroad bull that kicked me off the train
When the north wind blows and the winter's cold
I huddle in the corner till I'm blue
I remember all these things
But mostly I remember lovin' you

Chorus (twice)

PT: You and...
LP: Tino Chumlovich
PT: I see, and you play in a band here in Nelson, and the fellow you sold - who has the copyright to it is...
LP: Terry Roberts,..it's been sold...it's hit Nashville already,this song
PT: Is that right, eh?
LP: Sheb Wooley sang it
PT: Do they change the words at all?
LP: I heard it on TV
PT: Do they sing the same words, or do they change them at all?
LP: They have different orchestration
PT: Yeah – what's this "Indian smell" bit? This is all, piled in the boxcar - this guy you happened - does this go back to an actual situation you were in, do you remember?
LP: That's right. Well, I wasn't at this - Tino was heavy on this last verse
PT: I see. That was his thing, and he remembered being piled in a boxcar and this one guy was a little bit smelly, eh?
LP: Yeah.

Jon Bartlett

Subject: RE: Req:I remember loving you Utah P Priscilla Herdman
From: GUEST
Date: 22 May 16 - 02:10 AM

Some time back I did a search and found a obit/grave location for one of them, del Puppo I think. Drew a blank on the other name. Maybe I'll run it again.

Subject: RE: Req:I remember loving you Utah P Priscilla Herdman
From: Janie
Date: 22 May 16 - 08:02 AM

Thanks to all. Jon, here is a link to Sheb Wooley's recording. It was in his 1969 album, "Warm and Wooley." I Remember Loving You Sheb Wooley

Subject: Lyr Add: I REMEMBER LOVING YOU (from G Keillor)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 07 Jan 19 - 03:00 PM

My transcription from the videos on YouTube. Click the links below to see them.


I REMEMBER LOVING YOU
As sung by Garrison Keillor and Lynn Peterson on “A Prairie Home Companion” on May 31, 2014 {and Feb. 20, 2016}*

I look at my old suitcase; I think of all the places that I've been:
The cheap hotels with the cooking smells and the airports full of tired businessmen,
And the whispers of the women in the crowd as I go slouching through.
I remember all those things; mostly, I remember loving you.

The soft doorbell that I knew well when you came back after weeks you'd been away,
The night you came from a trip to Spain{Maine} on your way to Hong Kong{LA}, so you couldn't stay.
One night we shared and you said you cared and you'd come again when you were in Saint Lou.
Yes, I remember all these things, but mostly I remember loving you.

CHORUS: I remember loving you, back when the world was new,
And I think you loved me too; I remember loving you.

Well, the little towns I've walked around, the bars where I found shelter from the rain,
And the musty gloom of the waiting room where I sat waiting for the midnight train.
When the night is cold and at ten I'm told the train's expected in at half-past two.
I remember all these things; mostly, I remember loving you.

On these summer nights when the moon is bright and I can't sleep for all the memories
Of the joys we knew when we were two, living side by side in the gentle breeze.
I waved goodbye and softly cried as you disappeared from my view.
I remember all these things, but mostly I remember loving you.

CHORUS

And the winter streets where the frozen sleet comes soakin' through a couple layers of wool,
On a night I go to do my show in a theater that's about a{one} quarter full.
Some ragged strays and divorcees I stand on stage and tell my troubles{stories} to.
I remember all those things but mostly, I remember loving you.

{A friendship that became romance you hope becomes a friendship once again,
Ashamed to lose good feelings just because you hit a bad stretch way back when.
Life goes by so fast you try to hold on to what’s beautiful and true.
I remember all these things; mostly, I remember loving you.}

CHORUS

- - -
* Where there were significant differences in the lyrics, I put the newer words in {braces}. The last 4 lines are entirely new.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Remember Loving You (Priscilla Herdman)
From: GUEST,Robert smardon
Date: 19 Apr 19 - 01:18 PM

The song was collected by Phil Thomas ,collector of Bc folk songs. He collected it from the man who composed it, Luigi Del Puppo, who was in jail at the time.
Phil Thomas was an academic of great integrity and full of respect for the people from whom he collected. Phil Thomas himself changed some of the lyrics to make the song more palatable to the larger audience . Luigi del Puppo’s lyrics contained some unsavoury references and inferences. I heard the original recording and Phil explained what changes he made as well as slowing the tempo down a bit. But he never laid claim to the song.
I was a great fan of Utah Phillips back in the day. Loved his music! But for him to claim authorship of the song is arrogant and self righteous.
If I changed the chorus of ‘ Hey Jude’ to hey dude and added a verse to the lyrics and then said the song was mine and I wrote it I’d be sued so fast my head would spin right off. Because Del Puppo was a virtual unknown from the ‘backwoods’l of Bc of the 1950’s Utah Phillips could get away with it. Needless to say I lost respect for Utah Phillips after that. In the end he was no different from any other arrogant performer.
.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Remember Loving You (Priscilla Herdman)
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Apr 19 - 04:34 PM

Phil Thomas was working on his papers in his collection for several years before his death (I think they're at Simon Fraser University, but don't quote me here) so there is probably an answer to be found in his collection.

Maggie Dwyer

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Remember Loving You (Priscilla Herdman)
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 19 Apr 19 - 07:55 PM

Robert Smardon, if you read upthread, I think you'll see Utah always gave a correct attribution, it was others who attributed the song to him.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Remember Loving You (Priscilla Herdman)
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Apr 19 - 11:53 AM

The Carawans made a recording of this song and they too did not where it came from. I learned it from that recording and again modified it to suit me as I do almost every song I learn – more love and minimal destitution. Somehow love and cardboard in the shoes doesn't mix all that well for me. Great melody though. To each their own... Gopherit

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Remember Loving You (Priscilla Herdman)
From: GUEST,John Perkins
Date: 03 May 19 - 08:35 PM

Someone should ask Jane Voss if Utah Phillips claimed the song outright. They were very close friends.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Remember Loving You (Priscilla Herdman)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 10 May 19 - 08:09 PM

The post from Jon Bartlett above seems quite credible, as it has been corroborated by Mark Ross:

It was written by Luigi del Puppo and Tino Chumlovich while in jail at Nelson BC. It was collected from Luigi (along with other songs - funny that no-one asks "what other songs?") by Phil Thomas, the noted BC collector, 13 August 1970. I worked with Phil for many years, transcribing his original tapes, making a set to go in the BC Sound Archives, and editing the 2nd edition of his book, Songs of the Pacific Northwest.

But I wondered about the version Priscilla Herdman sang with Utah Phillips, so I asked her on Facebook and here's her answer:

I wrote the additional lyrics because I wanted to do it as a duet with Bruce. I knew the back story (and that Bruce did a bit of re-writing due to some "insensitive" lyrics.

So, I guess that covers it.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: ADD: I Remember Loving You (Priscilla Herdman)
From: Bob the Postman
Date: 15 Aug 22 - 02:54 PM

I live in Luigi del Puppo’s home town of Nelson, B. C. . For the last few years I have been asking local folks for their memories of Luigi. Nobody recalled “I Remember Loving You” but a couple of people quoted lines from another of Luigi’s songs which Phil Thomas recorded on August 13, 1970, “North To Krestova”. This song, a parody of the Johnny Horton hit “North To Alaska”, pokes fun at local Doukhobors, as do several of his other songs. The private Facebook group "People of Nelson, BC" contains plenty of Luigi pictures and stories including the baby-in-the-beer-parlour story, the potted pot plant on Baker Street yarn, hustling pool in Kamloops, the whiskey-raffle scam, and Luigi’s patented pick-up line.

I haven’t been able to find any information on the co-author of “I Remember Loving You”, Tino Chumlevich. One or two people say they recall the name. The city directory does show a Frank T. Chulumovich who worked at the plywood plant in 1967. It’s a safe bet that Luigi worked there too at one time or another. Everybody did. (The plant closed in the early 1980s.)

I have heard Luigi referred to as a rounder, a bit of a rascal, a bit of a jerk sometimes, and an open-hearted guy who loved doing things for people. He had friends in the Kaslo Air Force, a coterie of hang-glider pilots who flew their delta-wing gliders off mountain-tops in the vicinity of Kaslo, B. C.. Luigi was the guy who was always happy to drive the truck down from the top of the mountain. Someone told me that it was Luigi who introduced live music to the Ymir Hotel, where there is still a weekly country music session/open mic. He enjoyed taking people out on Kootenay Lake in his DUKW, a war-surplus amphibious landing craft. One year the DUKW featured as a float in the Kaslo May Day Parade. As the parade passed the boat launch, Luigi turned left into the lake and he and his passengers completed the route aquatically.

Luigi was born around 1933. His family had a hillside dairy farm on Mountain Station Road, just south of the Burlington Northern tracks and just outside city limits. Luigi built an outdoor stage in a corner the property, using timber growing on the site. It was called Luigi’s Log Pile and the events held there were known as Log Jams. The bass and drums could be heard a mile away at Lakeside Park. It was an ideal venue for a bush party because you could only get to it by hiking down a trail, which made things awkward for the police when they had to come and shut things down. Luigi was frequently at loggerheads with the authorities, it seems. He was one of the town’s Sunday bootleggers (another was Doukhobor Mary) and sold beer without a license at Log Jams. (In those days B. C. was almost completely dry on Sundays.)

Apart from the usual frictions involving noise, alcohol, and/or traffic, Luigi had two serious run-ins with the law. In November 1959 he was sentenced to a year in the provincial jail after several hundred-dollar bills belonging to a drinking companion were found in Luigi’s possession. Luigi had a reasonable explanation but the judge didn’t buy it.

A decade later he was in court again. According to the Nelson Daily News of May 27, 1971:

"DEL PUPPO GIVEN JAIL TERM FOR ATTEMPTED BOMBING

Luigi Del Puppo, 38, of Nelson, convicted Friday on a charge of placing explosives beside the Creston court building, was sentenced Wednesday to two years and eight months in the B. C. Penitentiary.

Del Puppo was arrested Dec. 9 in Nelson and charged with placing 10½ sticks of dynamite beside the court building and being in unlawful possession of dynamite in the early morning hours of Dec. 5."

Luigi denied having anything to do with that particular dynamite, saying he was only in Creston to buy Christmas trees to ship to St. Louis, Missouri, where Blues hockey player Bob Plager would use his celebrity status to market them. I don’t know what Luigi’s connection to Bob Plager the Penalty King was but Luigi definitely cut and sold trees whenever Christmastime rolled around. But two Crown witnesses said they met Luigi in the beer parlour on the night in question and he talked about almost getting caught placing the dynamite. One of them further testified that Luigi said he had been offered $2,000 to blow up the cop shop in order to destroy evidence being held there. And Luigi was known as a guy who could handle explosives. Whoever placed the dynamite, it never did explode.

Luigi disappeared on the night of May 6 – 7, 1985. His body was never found. Nelson bluesman Mr. Aardvark, frontman of The Flaming Aardvarks, recalls:

"One afternoon Luigi showed up at the Zoo [i. e. the pub at the Civic Hotel] with the Duck and asked if anyone wanted to go for a ride. My band and a few other local musicians took up the offer and away we went. We got high-centered on a shoal about twenty feet from shore around Six Mile. Duck made a ton of noise trying to dislodge itself with a very stubborn Captain. Soon the RCMP showed up to investigate. A beautiful redhead showed up in a canoe and ferried the boys to shore. Luigi was staying with the ship. We all buggered off back to the Zoo. The next day I found out that they found the Duck washed ashore and no Luigi."

On May 9 the following appeared on the front page of the Nelson Daily News:

"HUNT GOES ON FOR CITY MAN

Assisted by divers and a helicopter, Nelson-area RCMP are searching for Nelson resident Luigi Del Puppo, 52, one of the city’s more colourful characters, a spokesman reported Wednesday.

He was last seen on the evening of May 6. After voyaging about a bit with two friends on his Second World War surplus amphibious land-sea vehicle, he waved goodbye to them from the craft about 11 p.m. at Four Mile on Nelson’s North Shore. The vessel was located later at One Mile."

I talked to another guy who was with Luigi on the day of his final voyage. He said they found the DUKW with the engine running at the idle, doing slow circles in Nasookin Bay. He figured that Luigi fell off the boat while taking a leak. Others say Luigi had cancer and decided to leave the party on his own terms. Of course, a story arose that he hadn’t drowned at all but had only disappeared and was living the good life on a beach in Mexico. Someone said that Mr. Aardvark wrote a memorial song about Luigi called "Sleeping With The Fishes" but Mr. Aardvark says it wasn't him.

When I first started asking around about Luigi I’d couch it in these terms: “I know it’s a long shot, but would you by any chance happen to have ever heard of a guy named Luigi del Puppo?” By now I know that, with anyone who was in Nelson from the 60s through to the 80s, all you have to say is, “Tell me about Luigi.” Folks here remember him well, and for the most part quite fondly.

There are stories about Luigi del Puppo in the following editions of the Nelson Daily News: November 26, 1959; November 27, 1959; April 27, 1971; May 20, 1971; May 22, 1971; May 27, 1971; and May 9, 1985.

More information about "I Remember Loving You", Luigi, and Doukhobors can be found in a blog post by Karl Kroeber, a writer who lives near Nelson. Of particular interest to me was Karl's recollection of having encountered one of the songs from the Phil Thomas recording "Hubba Hubba" when he was a child growing up in the Nelson region.

Subject: RE: ADD: I Remember Loving You(from Priscilla Herdman)
From: Bob the Postman
Date: 16 Aug 22 - 05:45 PM

The link in the above post to the private Facebook group "People of Nelson, BC" does not work. Try this one instead: People Of Nelson, BC

I see on You Tube that Karl Kroeber has posted Phil Thomas's recording of Luigi singing "Hubba Hubba" there.

Subject: RE: ADD: I Remember Loving You(from Priscilla Herdman)
From: GUEST,LCS
Date: 14 Jul 23 - 03:27 PM

NOT "dumpy little towns!" Ie wrote it as "funky little towns."

Subject: RE: ADD: I Remember Loving You(from Priscilla Herdman)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 14 Jul 23 - 08:14 PM

Hi, LCS - I don't understand who "Ie" is. Generally, we post lyrics at Mudcat as they came from the source of the lyrics, even if the lyrics were wrong. Our primary sources here are recordings by Utah Phillips, and it's clear he sang "dumpy." But who's Ie?