Subject: RE: Origins: New Harmony (Craig Johnson)
From:
GerryM
Date: 12 Jul 23 - 08:01 AM
There is a Sandy & Caroline Paton album called New Harmony, and the first track on it is the song under discussion, and in the liner notes the song is, indeed, called New Harmony. The liner notes are available at https://folkways-media.si.edu/docs/folkways/artwork/FLG00100-LP.pdf.
They say, ""New Harmony" is one of my favorite songs, and was written by one
of our favorite songwriters, Craig Johnson. Craig now lives in Takoma
Park, Maryland, but he grew up in Michigan, and spent quite a bit of
time in his grandfather's home town, New Harmony, in southern Indiana.
New Harmony is on the Wabash River, just a few miles upstream from
where it joins the Ohio. Craig has fond memories of going from New
Harmony down to the towboat landing in Mount Vernon, Indiana.
"Craig says that this is the first song he ever wrote that he
considered a "keeper." He wrote it in 1975, after being in New Harmony
for awhile following his father's death. As a matter of fact, he says
he wrote most of it while driving from Terre Haute to Gary. As a
Hoosier myself (from Whiting, not far from Gary), I guess I have a
natural affinity for songs like this. I am delighted to see such
good new songs coming out of the Heartland. And it's nice for Hoosiers
to have an alternative to "On the Banks of the Wabash Far Away."
"Many of Craig's songs deal with nostalgia and changing times. It
was New Year's when he wrote "New Harmony," a time for reflection and
reminiscence. He had just become aware of the way shape note hymns and
fiddle tunes often have titles that are place names, like "Arlington"
and "Cumberland Gap," and named his song "New Harmony" in keeping with
that tradition.
"To the best of my knowledge, this song has been recorded only once
before, by Jim Ringer in 1977 on his Philo album, Tramps and Hawkers
(PH 104). (CP)"
The lyrics given in the liner notes are pretty much as given by Joe, upthread.
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sj
