Origins: South Coast ^^^

Subject: Lyrics, South Coast
From: rjradack
Date: 28 Dec 99 - 12:16 PM

Does anyone have any info on the song South Coast? It has been recorded by Jack Elliot and I believe The Kingston Trio? I am looking for the original version, who wrote it, and what are the difinitive lyrics? thanks

Subject: RE: South Coast
From: Joe Offer
Date: 28 Dec 99 - 01:39 PM

Hi - it's always best to do a search before requesting a song. There's a good chance we already have it, if it's a folk song. If you had used the blue box to search for [south coast] (square brackets find an exact phrase), you would have found this (click here). I think we do have the definitive lyrics and songwriter information.
We had a really interesting thread on that song a year or two back, but I'll be darned if I can find it - it must have been in a thread that didn't have a very specific title. I've been trying to change message titles to make searches easier, but I guess I missed that one. Maybe somebody else can remember the thread and point us to it. It's a great song, isn't it? It does make you want to know about the story behind the song.
My first question is, where exactly is the Barranca?
-Joe Offer-

Subject: Lyr Add: SOUTH COAST ^^^
From: Mudjack
Date: 28 Dec 99 - 05:47 PM

I think a Barranca is a spanish term for canyon.

THE SOUTH COAST
(Lillian Bos Ross, Sam Eskin, Richard Dehr & Frank Miller)

My name is Lonhano de Castro
My father was a Spanish Grandee
But I won my wife in a card game
To hell with those lords o'er the sea

   Well the South Coast is a wild coast and lonely
   You might win in a game at Cholon
   But a lion still rules the Barranca
   And a man there is always alone

I played in a card game at Holon
I played with an outlaw named Juan
And after I'd taken his money
I staked all against his daughter Dawn

I picked up the ace ... I had won her
My heart it was down at my feet
Jumped up to my throat in a hurry
Like a young summer's day she was sweet.

He opened the door to the kitchen
And he called the girl out with a curse
Saying "Take her, Goddamn her, you've won her
She's yours now for better or worse"

Her arms had to tighten around me
As we rode down the hills to the south
Not a word did I hear from her that day
Nor a kiss from her pretty young mouth

But that was a gay happy winter
We carved on a cradle of pine
By the fire in that neat little cabin
And I sang with that gay wife of mine.

That night I got hurt in a landslide
Crushed hip and twice broken bone
She saddled her pony like lightning
And rode off for the doctor in Cholon

The lion screamed in the Barranca
Buck, he bolted and he fell on his side
My young wife lay dead in the moonlight
My heart died that night with my bride

Copyright Blackwood Music
recorded by Ramblin' Jack Elliott on "Ramblin' Jack Elliott" (1961) ^^^

Subject: Lyr Add: SOUTH COAST (Lillian Bos-Ross) ^^
From: raredance
Date: 31 Dec 99 - 01:26 AM

The old South Coast thread must have disappeared down the barranca, I couldn't find it either. Below is information I posted to some SC thread in the past. The DT lyrics are those that are normally sung. See below for even more definitive (or at least closer to the original) words.

South Coast was written as a poem by Lillian Bos-Ross (aka Shanagolden Ross)in 1926 when she and her husband were camped at Big Creek in the Big Sur country of California. The original title was "The Coast Ballad";. Bos-Ross was also the author of several novels about Big Sur. One of her novels (The Stranger) became a movie (Zandy's Wife) starring Gene Hackman and Liv Uhlman. The Coast Ballad was copyrighted as a song by Bos-Ross and Sam Eskin in 1941. The original chorus did not refer to the South Coast per se. The repeating first line of the chorus was "But the Monterrey coast, wild and lonely-" Katie Lee in her book (Ten Thousand Goddam Cattle - A History of the American Cowboy in Story, and Verse. 1976. Katydid Books; Records, Jerome, AZ pp 111-115, 225-226) relates some conversations with Lillian's husband sometime after Lillian had died. The full song contains 16 verses/choruses. Most versions do not include them all. The song has been recorded a number of times as well as passed around. It is my understanding that the other "authors", Dehr & Miller were instrumental in getting it into the form and tune used today. Among the recordings are:

Terry Gilkyson and The Easy Riders - "Marianne and Other Songs" (Columbia Records) reissued as part of "The Easy Riders - Marianne" (Bear Family 6CD)

Herta Marshall - "American Folk Songs For Women" Folkways FA2333

Singin' Sam Agins - "Singin' Sam & Friends" Haywire Records

Katie Lee - "Ten Thousand Goddam Cattle" Katydid KD-10076

The Kingston Trio - The K3 version can be found on at least 5 CDs. It may also be part of one of the various greatest hits type collections.
"The Kingston Trio" Capitol T-996 (reissued as a double album CD)
"Live At Newport- CD (Vanguard)
"The Capitol Years" - 4 CD box set Capitol Records
"Stereo Concert" (Capitol Records), reissued on CD as "Stereo Concert Plus" (Folk Era Records)
"The Guard Years 1957-1961" (Bear Family 10 CD set)

Ramblin Jack Elliot - "South Coast" CD (Redhouse Records)

Arlo Guthrie - "Son Of The Wind" (Rising Son Records)

SOUTH COAST
(Lillian Bos-Ross, 1926)

My name is Lonjano de Castro,
My father was a Spanish Grandee;
But I won my wife in a card game
To hell with those lords o'er the sea

In my youth I had Monterey homestead,
Creeks, valley, and mountains all mine;
I built me a snug little shanty
And roofed it and floored it with pine.

I had a bronco, a buckskin -
Like a bird he flew over the trail.
When I rode him out forty miles every Friday
To get me some grub and my mail.

Chorus (original version):
   But the Monterey Coast, wild and lonely -
   You might win in a game at Jolon
   But the lion still rules the barranca
   And a man there is always alone.

I sat in a card game at Jolon
I played with a man there named Juan
And after I'd won all his money
He said, "Your homestead 'gainst my daughter, Dawn."

I turned up the ace, I had won her!
My heart which was down at my feet
Jumped up to my throat in a hurry;
Like a young summer field, she was sweet.

He opend the door to the kitchen;
He called the girl in with a curse;
"Take her, God-damn her, you won her!
She's yours now for better or worse!"

Her arms had to tighten around me
As we rode up the hills from the south,
But no word did I get from her that day
Nor kiss from her pretty red mouth.

We got to my cabin at twilight
The stars twinkled over the coast.
She soon loved the orchard, the valley
But I knew she loved me the most.

That was a glad happy winter;
I carved on a cradle of pine.
By a fire in that snug little shanty
I sang with that gay wife of mine.

But then I got hurt in a landslide
Crushed hip and twice-broken bone;
She saddled up Buck just like lightning,
And rode out through the night to Jolon.

A lion screamed in the baranca;
Buck bolted and fell on a slide.
My young wife lay dead in the moonlight;
My heart died that night with my bride.

They buried her out in the orchard.
They carried me out to Jolon.
I lost my Chiquita, my nina;
I'm an old, broken man, all alone.

The cabin still stands on the hillside,
Its doors open wide to the rain;
But the cradle and my heart are empty,
And I never can go there again.

rich r ^^

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lyrics, South Coast
From: Suffet
Date: 11 Dec 00 - 06:55 AM

I have all the lyrics -- several different versions to be sure -- but I could use the music. The South Coast is in the DT with words alone. I tred to figure it out from the Kingston Trio record, and I have that opening bass run down pat the way the do it in E minor. But I still think I am missing a note here and there and maybe a change or two. I believe it's a three chord song, using an Em, and Am, and a B7. Maybe even an Am7.

So if you have a copy of an old KT song book or some other source for the sheet music -- just a lead sheet will do -- please contact me.

Thanks,
Steve

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lyrics, South Coast
From: Allan C.
Date: 11 Dec 00 - 08:45 AM

The thread we had before was a lyric search for "Southcoast" which explains why it was difficult to find.

http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=28185&messages=5

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: South Coast ^^
From: Suffet
Date: 23 Apr 01 - 06:16 AM

I sang South Coast at the Sunnyside Song Circle yesterday (4/22/01) and the song raised a question I had never previous considered. First recall this important stanza:

But then I got hurt in a landslide,
Crushed hip and twice-broken bone;
She saddled up Buck just like lightning,
And rode out through the night to Jolon.

Now the question: Was the young woman riding to get help, or was she using the accident as an opportunity to escape from the forced "marriage" to Señor de Castro?

Viewed again in light of this question, South Coast is as much a tale of selling a child into servitude, sexual and otherwise, as it is a tragic love story.

What do you think?

--- Steve

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: South Coast ^^
From: Giac
Date: 23 Apr 01 - 08:15 AM

Hi Suffet,

I always took this verse:

We got to my cabin at twilight
The stars twinkled over the coast.
She soon loved the orchard, the valley
But I knew she loved me the most.

to mean that she eventually grew to love him and was satisfied with her life, but I suppose the line "I knew she loved me the most" could indicate a delusion on his part and she was only biding her time til she could flee. Hmmmmmm, never thought of it that way.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: South Coast ^^
From: Suffet
Date: 23 Apr 01 - 09:11 PM

Good point! I now see South Coast in an entirely different light.

Forwhat it's worth, I sing the following as a final stanza:

They buried her out in the orchard,
They carried me down to Jolon,
It's been fifty-five years since I lost her,
I'm a broken old man, all alone.


His delusion has really grown over time!
But then, again, I usually sing the first verse partly in Spanish, like so:

Me llamo Lonjano de Castro,
Mi padre fue gran Español,
Gané mi mujer in a card game,
To Hell with those lords and their gold!


--- Steve

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: South Coast ^^
From: GUEST,dusty m
Date: 23 Apr 01 - 11:44 PM

mmm, we're hittin' some good stuff t'nite. i'm gettin' goose-bumps just readin' this. anybody on here ever hiked Big Sur, like to Sykes hot spring?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: South Coast ^^
From: GUEST,joe
Date: 24 Apr 01 - 07:57 PM

hmm, guess not.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: South Coast ^^
From: Song Dog
Date: 25 Apr 01 - 10:14 PM

I have lived in Salinas, Ca. 60 mi. north of Jolon, for 44 yrs. I have hunted & fished all over that region many times, for many yrs. Its obvious that Lonjano de Castro's "Monterey Homestead" was about 60 mi. south of Monterey,which would be the Big Sur area on the coast. I know this because he rides his horse out 40 mi. every friday to get grub & mail in Jolon, which is about 20 mi. to the east, over a big mountain from the coast. Twenty miles each way accounts for the forty miles he travels. BTW the old stagestop is still there and a small store, if it is still open. I havent been there for a couple of years now. However, I must disagree with Mudchuck on the meaning of Barrancas, I'm almost positive it means "mountains". Also I am totally convinced that his wife was indeed going for help, and not trying to escape. BTW, I have been singing the Kingston Trio version since it first came out in the 50s. I now sing the original also. Lonjano appears to be a Spanish Grandee's Rebel child. I know that whole southcoast, infact most all of California was at one time split-up into large landgrants to Spanish Grandees. It's very beautiful country, and still full of mountain lions. I myself have heard them scream in the "barrancas".

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: South Coast ^^
From: Big Tim
Date: 26 Apr 01 - 11:54 AM

Thanks for all the info on this great song which I became fascinated with after buying the Ramblin Jack CD. I got it at one of his UK gigs and he signed it for me!

Subject: Lyr Add: THE SOUTH COAST REVISITED (S L Suffet)
From: Suffet
Date: 29 Apr 01 - 06:39 PM

THE SOUTH COAST REVISITED
New words by Stephen L. Suffet © 2001
Based on THE SOUTH COAST by Lillian Bos-Ross and Sam Eskin

My name is Donna Maria Garcia,
My father's a gambling drunk,
He gave me away in a card game,
To a wealthy young rapist and punk.

As a young girl he beat me and cursed me,
As he did to my mother before,
And after she died of the fever,
He made me his servant and whore.

Chorus:
Oh, the South Coast is wild and lonely,
But I'd sooner lie there in my grave,
Where the lion still rules the barranca,
Than to live as any man's slave.

I remember the night of the card game,
When he opened the door with a curse,
Saying, "Take her, God damn you, you won her,
She's yours now for better or worse!"

My arms had to tighten around him,
As we rode up the hills from the South,
What else could I say but "I love you"?
Oh, the lies how they poured from my mouth!

He waited a week 'til he took me,
The whiskey it stank up his breath,
As he shoved his damn thing deep inside me,
Oh, how that I longed for his death!

Repeat chorus.

I plotted my chance to escape him,
I made it look like a landslide,
I toppled the big rocks upon him,
Oh, how that I wished that he died!

I saddled up Buck just like lightning,
As he lay 'neath the piles of stone,
Then I galloped away to my freedom,
To the far away town of Jolon.

A lion screamed in the barranca,
Buck bolted and fell on a slide,
That bastard he somehow recovered,
While I was the person who died.

They buried me out in the orchard,
The carried him down to Jolon,
May he burn in deep Hell with the Devil,
After he lives out his life all alone!

Repeat chorus.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: South Coast ^^
From: Deckman
Date: 29 Apr 01 - 10:53 PM

I hiked much of Big Sur in the 60's. I'm also a lover of Robinson Jeffers. I've been enjoying this remeberance. CHEERS, Bob (deckman) Nelson

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: South Coast ^^
From: GUEST,cindy lee
Date: 04 Apr 04 - 11:09 PM

My family was named Ross and rented land from Juan Castro around 1865 for about a year. They were immigrants from Illinois. Im wondering if Lillian Bos Ross is from this leniage of Ross and was she aware of the family history there. Likely a coincidence...but seeing her name on the song made me wonder.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: South Coast ^^
From: Franz S.
Date: 05 Apr 04 - 02:37 PM

Castro is a very common surname around these parts (I'm about 80 air miles from Jolon). Some but not all are descendants of the Castro that John C. Fremont fought a battle with back in 1846. I always thought the guy's name was Juanjano de Castro, which would square better with Spanish phonics.

Barranca, (feminine noun). deep cleft or hollow; gorge, ravine. from Cassell's Spanish Dictionary

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: South Coast ^^
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 05 Apr 04 - 07:36 PM

You mean NOT the Jeremy Taylor poem!

Added in This thread "All along the south coast"

Nigel

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: South Coast ^^
From: GUEST,little sur
Date: 05 Apr 04 - 08:06 PM

Lillian Bos Ross' novel "The Stranger" tells of a mail order bride whose husband is a homesteader in the Big Sur, and how she grew to love it there. This is also part of the theme of "South Coast"
It may shed some light on
"Now the question: Was the young woman riding to get help, or was she using the accident as an opportunity to escape from the forced "marriage" to Señor de Castro?"
Somewhere I have a "South Coast Cookbook" with photos and recipes of Ms. Ross.
Good thread.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: South Coast ^^
From: GUEST,Little Sur Again
Date: 05 Apr 04 - 08:14 PM

If you want music and chords for South Coast, it appears in the "Collected Reprints from Sing Out! Volumes 7 - 12" (page 86). And if you can find one, it was originally in the Volume 8 of "Reprints". Anyone remember those lovely little, hip pocket friendly gems?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: South Coast ^^
From: GUEST,Joe Shmoe
Date: 05 May 05 - 12:58 AM

When I was a kid i remember hearing a version of south coast with a lead female vocalist, I think it was really old and i'm not sure who performed it or where i can find it...
if anybody has any info on this please let me know
(and no i don't think it is the "revisited" version that is mentioned above)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: South Coast ^^
From: GUEST,Dave
Date: 05 May 05 - 05:38 PM

Hughie Jones sings it using the following chords and it's a very good match for the average strummer like myself:

Capo on 4
Am    Dm    Am
Am    G      Am
Dm   A    Dm Am
Dm    C      Am

End of chorus: (C Dm F C G7 Am)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: South Coast ^^
From: GUEST,I Finaly Found It
Date: 20 Sep 09 - 12:05 AM

i first heard this in the late 50's or early 60's. i was one of the first songs that i memorized and sang (not professionally) i had the original record but my mom threw it away later. the kingston trio did it well but i have always been searching for the original TERRY GILKYSON AND THE EASY RIDERS. most people have never heard of him or his song...but i remembered. bob in sb

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: South Coast ^^
From: GUEST,b in sb
Date: 20 Sep 09 - 12:16 AM

a follow up note. so many seem to making so much out this great song. why not just enjoy the song and leave the Hollywood stuff for some place else....? :( b

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: South Coast ^^
From: autoharper
Date: 21 Oct 09 - 04:41 PM

Lillian's tune for this song was the melody we call "Goodnight Irene." Sam Eskin assigned the minor key melody most folks sing today.

-Adam Miller

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: South Coast ^^
From: GUEST,John W
Date: 08 Nov 09 - 01:28 PM

Webster's online Spanish-English dictionary defines "barranca" as hillside or slope and "barranco" as ravine or gorge. See http://www.merriam-webster.com/spanish/Barranca and http://www.merriam-webster.com/spanish/barranco.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: South Coast ^^
From: pdq
Date: 08 Nov 09 - 02:12 PM

The following are Spanish words as used in central California:

    barranca / barranco: ravine or sharp-sided valley

    valle: valley (assumed to be flat-bottomed to some extent)

    playa: beach

    garganta: gorge

    montana: mountain

Subject: RE: Origins: South Coast ^^
From: GUEST,Goat Man
Date: 14 Jul 17 - 03:10 AM

I saw the Kingston Trio perform this song about 1962, and I remember it being described as based on a true story and written over 150 years ago. That would make it more than 200 years ago now. It's a good story, good song, and K 3 version had a haunting melody.

Subject: RE: Origins: South Coast ^^
From: Joe Offer
Date: 26 Oct 23 - 08:31 PM

Singers often mispronounce "Jolon" [it's Ho-LOAN]. It's a little town in southeastern Monterey County, the location of Fort Hunter Liggett, of William Randolph Hearst's Hacienda, and of Junipero Serra's Mission San Antonio de Padua. It's an awesomely beautiful area.

Kingston Trio recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBVnEvhW6Ac

Tom Russell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fai_IibpuAU

Ramblin' Jack Elliott: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpb7nHskqj0

Jerry Jeff Walker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c61eaZg0H4A

Doc & Richard Watson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvd2J3AX-gg

Arlo Guthrie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZShoHn6C1s

Jaime Brockett: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSr8LUkw_gc

Subject: RE: Origins: South Coast ^^^
From: gillymor
Date: 26 Oct 23 - 09:00 PM

Thanks, Joe. One of my favorite songs.

Subject: RE: Origins: South Coast ^^
From: Joe Offer
Date: 26 Oct 23 - 08:31 PM

Singers often mispronounce "Jolon" [it's Ho-LOAN]. It's a little town in southeastern Monterey County, the location of Fort Hunter Liggett, of William Randolph Hearst's Hacienda, and of Junipero Serra's Mission San Antonio de Padua. It's an awesomely beautiful area.

Kingston Trio recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBVnEvhW6Ac

Tom Russell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fai_IibpuAU

Ramblin' Jack Elliott: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpb7nHskqj0

Jerry Jeff Walker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c61eaZg0H4A

Doc & Richard Watson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvd2J3AX-gg

Arlo Guthrie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZShoHn6C1s

Jaime Brockett: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSr8LUkw_gc

Subject: RE: Origins: South Coast ^^^
From: gillymor
Date: 26 Oct 23 - 09:00 PM

Thanks, Joe. One of my favorite songs.