Lyr Add: songs by Uncle Dave Macon

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 18 Nov 01 - 11:07 AM

Sir Roger! - Many thanks for the offer of loans. I do have a copy of the Old-Time String Band Songbook (a.k.a .New Lost City Ramblers), and have Uncle Dave recordings of the songs on your list with the exception of Buddy Won't you Roll Down the Line.
I would be interested in the track which I don't have. I do not recognise your Mudcat Name as being somebody I know from other circles. Do I know you personally by another name? (A P.M. would answer the question if the open forum is not suitable).

By the way - I am pleased that a simple request for lyrics has turned into such a useful Dave Macon resource. In particular, many thanks to Stewie for being the Dave Macon Oracle!
Quack!!!!!
Geoff the Duck!

HTML fixed. --JoeClone, 18-Nov-01.

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 18 Nov 01 - 11:12 AM

Whoops - forgot to close the Italics HTML!
QUACK!

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: Oversoul
Date: 18 Nov 01 - 07:39 PM

For a really fine little book about Uncle Dave's life, contact:

Rutherford County Historical Society P.O. Box 906 Murfreesboro, TN 37133-0906

This the real stuff Macon-ites! Ask for Publication #35.

Subject: Lyr Add: FROM EARTH TO HEAVEN (Uncle Dave Macon)
From: Stewie
Date: 18 Jan 02 - 02:58 AM

FROM EARTH TO HEAVEN

[Spoken] Now good people I wagoned and farmed for over twenty years and the style on my wagoning firm was the Macon Midway Mule and Mitchell Wagon Transportation Company. Situated on the dividing line, operated by gentlemen on and up to time. Main office eight and a quarter mile East Main Street, Murfreesboro and ten and three-quarters West Main Street, Woodbury, Tennessee. Now here's my song!

I remember the year when I began to haul, it was during the summer time
Back in the those good old days, you could find whisky, beer and wine
I'd walk right in to every saloon, I was strictly up to time
Never was a night that I didn't drive home, wouldn't pull me the end of the line

Chorus:
Been a-wagoning for over twenty years, and living on the farm
I'll bet a hundred dollars to a half a ginger cake, I'm here when the trucks is gone

Gonna tell you now, said the bone-dry Tom, you can't find whisky that good
Done quit all of my drinking, done gone to serving God
I love to go to big meetings, and I'm a-gonna tell you why
I love to sing and pray to God, sweet Heaven when I die

Chorus

An auto-truck has a guiding wheel, while I hold my lines
Whoa when my feet and body gets cold, I'm walking half the time
I speak right to my power, they understand my talk
And when I holler, way get right, they know just how to walk.

Chorus

An auto-truck runs quick and fast, a wagon hasn't such speed
Four good mules and a Mitchell wagon is the safest, oh yes indeed
I'm on my way to Heaven, and I tell you just how I feel
I'd druther ride a wagon and go to Heaven, than to Hell in an automobile

Chorus

Source: transcription from 'Uncle Dave Macon: Country Music Hall of Fame Series' MCA CD MCAD-10546.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From:
Date: 03 Aug 02 - 05:33 PM

If anyone can help with the lyrics to "BACKWATER BLUES" including the refrain that sounds like ("OH MY LOVE LONESOME ROAD, OH MY LOVE LONESOME ROAD") I would be eternally grateful. I love the song and would like to have any iformation available on it. There doesn't seem to be any real info from the Internet. Thanks alot

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 03 Aug 02 - 05:57 PM

This Link claims to have the lyrics to all of Uncle Dave's songs. However, I did not see "Backwater Blues", though it may be listed under something else.

Be forewarned! This site is not very well organized. The songs are not in any kind of order that I can decipher. It's also all one big file. Don't try to print it unless you want the whole thing. For individual songs, you have to copy and paste to a word processing program and you may have to re-insert line breaks/carriage returns.

Bruce

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: GUEST,nina-kovars
Date: 04 Aug 02 - 06:03 PM

Bee-dubya-ell, Thanks for the link I've checked the whole list and oh course it's not on it... This seems to be a mystery song in regard to finding much on it. Let me know please if you have any other ideas on obtaining this info, thanks again.. Nina

Subject: Lyr Add: BACKWATER BLUES (Uncle Dave Macon)
From: Stewie
Date: 08 Aug 02 - 02:17 AM

BACKWATER BLUES

Spoken:
Well good people, y'all know water will put out fire but, when water backs up, it makes you put out, right up the mountain, just like old wreck of the 97, goin' down the grade at 90 miles an hour. Now, I'm a-gonna give you a little imitation how that old train was a-goin'.

Instrumental break ['Wreck of Old 97']

Spoken: Hot dog! I'm old but I'm round here!

Backwater's up and the people are runnin'
I'm a-goin' to the mountain, I'm a-goin' huntin'
Fare you well, oh my little darlin'
Lord, lord, ain't I gone

Oh my love, lonesome road
Oh my love, lonesome wood

I love you and you can't help it
You love me, but you won't confess it
No you don't, oh my little darlin'
Lord, lord, ain't I gone

Oh my love, lonesome road
Oh my love, lonesome wood

Two little children lyin' in the bed
The water was a-risin' over their head
Their mother's up town, was never found
Lord, lord, wasn't that sad
Oh how bad, oh how sad

I heard a man talkin' to a feller
The water was a-risin' in his cellar
Rise any more and a-comin' through the floor
Lord, lord, open the door

Oh my love, lonesome road
Oh my love, lonesome wood

Nashville is a favourite town
The back water's got us a-runnin' around
Lord have mercy, ain't I gone
Lord, lord, fare you well

Oh my love, lonesome road
Oh my love, lonesome wood

Source: transcription of Uncle Dave Macon (and Sam McGee) 'Backwater Blues', recorded 11 May 1927 in New York City. Reissued on Uncle Dave Macon 'Go Long Mule' County CO-CD3505.

It seems to me that Uncle Dave is singing 'wood' in the second line of the refrain, but I am not certain. Any corrections?

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: GUEST,Dale
Date: 08 Aug 02 - 08:24 AM

Have to add me to the list of skeptics/careless researchers. It raised no remembrance in my mind either, so much so that I didn't even bother to look ~~ worse yet.

Stewie, I hear wood, just as you do, but it doesn't seem to make sense. But then, how much of that does make sense? For it to make any sense at all, it has to mean wood in the sense of woods, forest, etc.

It's really quite minor, but it sounds to me like you cleaned up his grammar a bit, as I hear just like old wreck of 97, goin' down grade 90 miles an hour. ~~ minus two thes and an at. And of course, he is saying you cain't hep it. That's a pronunciation that you will still hear here in the South ~~ maybe not as much as years ago, but still common enough usage by people of all ages.

Subject: Lyr Add: I TICKLED NANCY (from Uncle Dave Macon)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 09 Sep 02 - 12:53 PM

I found this while searching for a different song about tickling. (See Lyr Req: Shotgun Tickle for the original request.)

Transcribed from a RealAudio file at the Honking Duck site:
http://www.honkingduck.com/BAZ/baz_side.php?meth=t&letter=i&title=I%2520Tickled%2520Nancy&cuid=20483A
Click to play. There are a few words or phrases I'm uncertain about; these are marked with (?).

I TICKLED NANCY
(Uncle Dave Macon & His Fruit Jar Drinkers, 1926)

Been living in the city, but I like the country life.
A dear little country girl I'm going to call my wife.
The first time that I met her, the night was very dark
And you can bet I'm happy with the whole big (?) jolly lark.

CHORUS: For I tickled Nancy and Nancy tickled me
For when we are married how happy we will be.
For we will sit together as happy as can be,
For I'll tickle Nancy, and Nancy'll tickle me.

Now Nancy is a lovely girl; to me she is a charm,
And I can trust her without any alarm.
As we were walking to the home, I placed my loving arm
Around her waist so carefully (?) until we reached the farm.

CHO: Then I'd tickle and Nancy'd tickle me...

And now we are married, we invite you all to call
To come around to ... (?) with us in the fall.
In the winter by the fire, set Nancy on my knee.
For I'll tickle Nancy and Nancy'll tickle me.

Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, ... (etc. for an entire verse.)

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: Stewie
Date: 09 Sep 02 - 06:55 PM

Hi Jim,

I think the missing bits are as follows:

Stanza 1, line 4: 'And you can bet I'm happy as a holy [or perhaps wholly] jolly lark'

Stanza 2, line 4: 'Round her waist she kep' it until I reached the farm'

Stanza 3, line 2: 'Come around, pick apples with us in the fall'

--Stewie.

Subject: Lyr Add: OVER THE ROAD I'M BOUND TO GO (D Macon)
From: Stewie
Date: 27 Sep 02 - 05:02 AM

OVER THE ROAD I'M BOUND TO GO

Spoken: Let's go, over the road I'm bound

Judge and jurymen can't you see
I have murdered in the first degree

Bound to go, bound to go
Over the road I'm bound to go

Every station I pass by
I thought I heard little Ella cry

Weep not, my dear honey
I'm bound to go

It may rain, it may snow
But over the road I'm bound to go

Fare you well I'm bound to go

I rolled out to preach and call
They looked at me: it was the law

Bound to go, bound to go
Over the road I'm bound to go

Every station I pass by
I thought I heard little Ella cry

Bound to go, bound to go
Over the road I'm bound to go

It may rain, it may snow
But over the road I'm bound to go

I rolled out to preach and call
They looked at me: it was the law

Bound to go, bound to go
Over the road I'm bound to go

Every station I pass by
I thought I heard little Ella cry

Weep not, my dear honey
I'm bound to go

It may rain, it may snow
But over the road I'm bound to go

How them women, they did shout
They looked at me, it was all about

Bound to go, bound to go
Over the road I'm bound to go

It may rain, it may snow
But over the road I'm bound to go

Bound to go, bound to go
Over the road I'm bound to go

Source: transcription of Uncle Dave Macon 'Over the Road I'm Bound to Go' recorded on 25 July 1928 in Chicago and issued as Brunswick 329 in August 1929. Reissued on Uncle Dave Macon 'Go Long Mule' County CO-CD-3505.

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 28 Sep 02 - 06:27 AM

A couple of days back on Mudcat, there was a proposal that we use Mucat Resources to get together a file of lyrics to songs in the Honking Duck collection of recordings. It occurred to me that this thread probably contains a lot of the Dave Macon songs within that archive. I also suspect that someone will already have listed which of the lyrics posted in this thread belong to the songs on the Honking Duck website.
Here is a link to that thread, if anyone wants to get the ball rolling with data they already have available. Mudcat Honkingduck Oldtime Project Proposal . I am not sure how the project has been visualised, but it sounds like a good idea.
Quack!
Geoff the Duck!

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 28 Sep 02 - 06:35 AM

Whoops - wrong clicky cut and pasted into the above posting. The clicky to Honking Duck should have been HONKING DUCK WEBSITE - OLDTIME MUSIC RECORDINGS ONLINE
If any joeclones could correct the link and remove this post I might keep some reputation........ probably not!
Quack!

Subject: Lyr Add: WEEVILY WHEAT (from Uncle Dave Macon)
From: Stewie
Date: 29 Sep 02 - 04:26 AM

'Weevily Wheat' came up in a thread creep in the 'Ida Red' thread and I posted Kelly Harrell's version, titled 'Charley He's a Good Ol' Man' there. Uncle Dave's version of 'Weevily Wheat' was printed in his 1938 songbook, but I don't think he recorded it. I'm am indebted to sometime Mudcatter, Larry Parish, for kindly photocopying the Macon songbook for me. You can find the other thread HERE.

WEEVILY WHEAT

' Way down yonder in the maple swamp
The water's deep and muddy
There I spied my pretty little miss
Oh there I spied my honey

Chorus:
Weevily wheat ain't fit to eat
And neither is your barley
Have some flour in half an hour
To bake a cake for Charley

How old are you my pretty little miss?
How old are you, my honey?
She answered me with a 'Yes sir-ee
'I'll be sixteen next Sunday'

Marry me, my pretty little miss
Oh, marry me my honey
She answered me with a 'Yes, sir-ee
'Just go and see my Mammy'

'Way down yonder in Bangor town
Once there lived a Quaker
Every man had to own some land
If not but half an acre

Charley he's a handsome man
Oh, Charley he's a dandy
Charley he's the very man
That sold his hat for brandy

Source: 'Songs and Stories of Uncle Dave Macon' Uncle Dave Macon c/o of WSM, Nashville Tennessee 1938. Copyright Uncle Dave Macon 1938. Reprinted by the Tennessee Folklore Society.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 18 Nov 02 - 11:08 AM

I have just spotted this thread with another Uncle Dave lyric.
Lyr Add: I Don't Reckon It'll Happen Again
The lyrics are a composite of two sets transcribed from the Honking Duck. One by Dave Macon and the other version by Bill Chitwood.
Quack!
GtD

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: GUEST,Gern
Date: 19 Nov 02 - 10:43 AM

I second the chicken connection,relative to 'domenicker' adjective. Refer to Minnie Pearl's spirited rendition of the Carter Family's "Jealous Hearted me:" "Take your domenicker rooster and your shanghai hen/ Get a fer piece away and don't you come again, I'm jealous..."

Subject: Lyr Add: JUST FROM TENNESSEE (Uncle Dave Macon)
From: Stewie
Date: 21 Nov 02 - 01:54 AM

Here is how I hear Uncle Dave's 'Just From Tennessee' - subject, as usual, to confirmation by other ears. I'm not certain of the 'eats greens' stanza, but the remainder should be pretty accurate.


JUST FROM TENNESSEE

Spoken: Hello folks, just as soon as I get the epiglottis and diaphonics of my throat cleared up a little, I'm gonna sing you a song. Now I'm gonna give you (a little of) the variations of 'Cotton-eyed Joe'.

Instrumental

Spoken: Hot dog! Ready and rarin' to go!

Listen, good people, to what I say
Just from Tennessee in my weavin'(?) way
Born(ed) in Warren County, raised in Tennessee
If you don't like my looks, don't look at me
Shout Lula, shout I say
Shout Lula, I'm gwine away
Whooo!
Shout Lula, shout I say
Shout Lula, I'm gwine away

Been to Muscle Shoals and I been to Beaver Dam
I've seen no place like Alabam
Shout Lula, shout I say
Shout Lula, I'm gwine away

I got a girl, says she's so tall
She sits in the parlour with her feet in the hall
Shout Lula, shout I say
Shout Lula, I'm gwine away

I got a girl, says she eats some greens
She shakes her wicked foot and she shakes it mean
Shout Lula, shout I say
Shout Lula, I'm gwine away

Coffee in the pot, there's sugar in the bowl
Papa won't eat without jelly roll
Shout Lula, shout I say
Shout Lula, I'm gwine away

Just one thing, and I don't understand
Why a bow-legged woman likes a pigeon-toed man
Shout Lula, shout I say
Shout Lula, I'm gwine away

Just one thing that makes me unhappy
I haven't got a daughter for to call me pappy
Shout Lula, shout I say
Shout Lula, I'm gwine away
Whooo!
Shout Lula, shout I say
Shout Lula, I'm gwine away
Whooo!

Source: transcription of Uncle Dave Macon 'Just From Tennessee' recorded on 13 April 1925 in NYC and issued as Vo 5075 in February 1927. Reissued on Uncle Dave Macon 'Early Recordings 1924-1925' Old Homestead OHCD 4184.

Subject: Lyr Add: SAVE MY MOTHER'S PICTURE FROM THE SALE
From: Stewie
Date: 04 Dec 02 - 01:44 AM

SAVE MY MOTHER'S PICTURE FROM THE SALE

I've been thinking of the day which has long since passed away
When my mother through sickness drooped and died,
In the quiet and silent room when they laid her in the tomb
I remember then how bitterly I cried

I, but a boy then, my age was scarcely ten,
Through sorrow, I had grown thin and pale
When the home had to be sold, I cried with grief untold,
Oh, save my mother's picture from the sale

The table where I played, the cot on which I laid
All passed away like chaff before the gale
But when the end came near, I cried with piteous fear,
Oh, save my mother's picture from the sale

My mother's face, that dear old face,
Whose loss I ever shall bewail
Don't break an orphan's heart, with this don't make me part
Oh, save my mother's picture from the sale

The picture round was passed, and questions they were asked.
A price for it was bid just here and there.
The tears streamed down my face, I could scarcely keep my place
When I saw the picture pass without a care

But an angel of a girl with a mass of golden curls
Who was struck to see my face so sad and pale,
Outbid them all, you see, and presented it to me
And saved my mother's picture from the sale

My mother's face, that dear old face,
Whose loss I ever shall bewail
Don't break an orphan's heart, with this don't make me part
Oh, save my mother's picture from the sale

Source: transcription of Uncle Dave Macon 'Save My Mother's Picture From the Sale' recorded on 16 April 1925 in NYC and issued as Vo 15100. Reissued on Uncle Dave Macon 'Fun In Life' Bear Family LP BF 15519.

--Stewie.

Subject: Lyr Add: LONG JOHN GREEN (Uncle Dave Macon)
From: Stewie
Date: 14 Dec 02 - 09:11 PM

LONG JOHN GREEN

Here we have the story of Long John Green
An old bank robber from Bowling Green
Put him in jail just the other day
And late last night he made his getaway

Long gone!
Wasn't he lucky
Long gone!
From old Kentucky
Long gone!
That's what I mean
He's done gone from Bowling Green

Long John a-standing on a railroad tie
Waitin' for a freight train to come by
Here come the freight just a-puffin' and a-flyin'
You oughta for to seen John catch that blind

Long gone!
Wasn't he lucky
Long gone!
From old Kentucky
Long gone!
That's what I mean
He's done gone from Bowling Green

Caught him in Bristol at Steven's Place
Put him in jail one evening late
Out on the house tops gonna escape
The coppers forgot to lock the Golden Gate

Long gone!
Wasn't he lucky
Long gone!
From old Kentucky
Long gone!
That's what I mean
He's done gone from Bowling Green

Long John went to a burlesque show
Got him a seat right in the front row
The girl come out with a [high-flown?] dance
They had to put a hole in an am-bu-lance

Source: transcription from 'The Tennessee Folklore Society Presents Uncle Dave Macon At Home, His Last Recordings 1950' Davis Unlimited LP DU-TFS 101.

For background information on this song, see the 'Long John/Lost John thread:

Click Here

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: GUEST,Over the Road
Date: 15 Dec 02 - 01:41 AM

Stewie posted Over the Road I'm Bound to Go in September. I think the first two lines are:

Judge and Jury came to see
I had murdered in the first degree

rather than "J&J can't you see" etc.


The lyric which puzzles me the most is the last line of the chorus to "I'm goin' away in the morn"

With sorrow in our hearts?????

Has inspiration struck anyone else?

Great thread; only happened upon it yesterday

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: Stewie
Date: 22 Dec 02 - 08:07 PM

Hi Guest

Thanks. I listened again to 'Over the Road I'm Bound to Go', but I am sure Uncle Dave is singing 'can't you see' - whoever did the transcription for the NLCR songbook also hears this. Your 'came to see' would certainly make more sense though.

The last line of the chorus of 'I'm Goin' Away in the Morn' is also a complete mystery to me. I've seen it as 'with sorrow in her heart', but I can't hear that either. Sometimes I hear something like 'sounds of the dinner horn'. Whatever it is, it is probable that the final word would rhyme with 'morn'.

--Stewie.

Subject: Lyr Add: SOURWOOD MOUNTAIN MEDLEY
From: Stewie
Date: 22 Dec 02 - 08:26 PM

Richie posted the lyrics of 'Sourwood Mountain Medley' to 'Molly Put the Kettle On' thread: Click Here for 'Molly' thread


SOURWOOD MOUNTAIN MEDLEY

[Spoken] Hello folks, I was walking down the street with one of the ugliest men I ever saw in my life. We passed a really pretty girl, and the ugly fellow said, 'Did you see that girl smile at me?' ' Well', I said, 'Good Lord, man, that's nothing. First time I saw you, I laughed outright. Ha, ha, ha!'

Asked that girl to be my wife, what'd you reckon she said,
She would not have a poor boy, if everyone else was dead.

Chorus:
Ain't gwine get no supper here tonight,
Ain't gwine get no supper here tonight.
Oh, my don't tell, Oh my ring the bell,
Ain't gwine get no supper here tonight,
Ain't gwine get no supper here tonight.

On my way to Sourwood Mountain, fare you well I'm a-going away,
Fare you well I'm a-going away.

Had a big boom in Florida, boys, we know it, we know it.
Forty-nine banks in Georgia closed and that's the way they showed it.

Oh, Jenny put the kettle on, Sally blow the dinner horn,
Jenny put the kettle on, the banks have gone.

Ain't gonna get no supper here tonight,
Ain't gwine get no supper here tonight.
On my way to Sourwood Mountain,
Fare you well I'm a-going away,

[Panic/Tax men] come the bank went broke, we know it, we know it.
Twenty-eight thousand dollars lost, and just the figures to show it.

Oh, Jenny put the kettle on, Sally blow the dinner horn,
Jenny put the kettle on, the banks have gone.

[spoken] I never was as hungry in my life, you know I hadn't had
nothing to eat for three long days, hadn't had a thing but
water. And folks I had had to drink so much water my stomach
thought my throat was taking in washing, and then they come
giving me this:

Ain't gwine get no supper here tonight,
Ain't gwine get no supper here tonight.

On my way to Sourwood Mountain, fare you well I'm a-going away,
Girls all sweet on Sourwood Mountain, fare you well I'm a-going away.

Good pay isn't in one town, we know it, we know it,
Three banks in the town went broke and the people's look do show it.

Oh, Jenny put the kettle on, Sally blow the dinner horn,
Jenny put the kettle on, the banks have gone.

Ain't gwine get no supper here tonight,
Ain't gwine get no supper here tonight.

Source: Uncle Dave Macon "Sourwood Mountain Medley" Vo 5005, reissued on Uncle Dave Macon 'Country Music Hall of Fame Series' MCA MCAD-10546.

Note: What is being sung in the square brackets in the first line of stanza 5 is a puzzle. Sounds something like 'panam' or 'panum'. 'Panic' and 'Tax men' are suggestions. See Richie's 'Molly' thread, linked at the beginning of this posting, for more discussion of this mystery.

--Stewie.


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Subject: Lyr Add: WAY DOWN THE OLD PLANK ROAD
From: Stewie
Date: 22 Dec 02 - 09:14 PM

Richie posted his transcription for 'Way Down The Old Plank Road'. I believe it is more accurate than the transcription already in the DT and linked to earlier in this thread. See Richie's 'My Wife Died On A Sat. Night' thread for associated songs: CLICK HERE


WAY DOWN THE OLD PLANK ROAD

[Spoken] Hot dog, buddy let's go

Rather be in Richmond, midst all the hail and rain,
Than for to be in Georgia boys, wearing that ball and chain.

Chorus:
Won't get drunk no more, won't get drunk no more,
Won't get drunk no more, way down the old plank road.

I went down to Mobile for to get on the gravel train,
Very next thing heard of me, had on a ball and chain.

Chorus

Doney, oh dear Doney, what makes you treat me so?
Caused me to wear the bail and chain, now my ankle's sore.

Chorus

[spoken] Glory halelujah there!

Knoxville is a pretty place, Memphis is a beauty,
Want to see them pretty girls, hop to Chattanoogie.

Chorus

[Spoken] Glory halelujah there! Fare thee well I'm gone!

I'm gwine to build me a scaffold on some mountain high,
So I can see my Dora girl, she goes riding by.

Chorus

My wife died Friday night, Saturday she was buried,
Sunday was my courting day, Monday I got married.

Chorus

[Spoken] Gee horse there!

Eighteen pounds of meat a week, whiskey here to sell,
How can a young man stay at home, pretty girls look so well.

Chorus

[spoken] Fare thee well!

Source: Uncle Dave Macon (with Sam McGee) 'Way Down The Old Plank Road' recorded on 14 April 1926 in NYC and issued as Vocalion 15321 in June 1926 and as Vocalion 5097 in February 1927. Reissued on Uncle Dave Macon 'Go Long Mule' County CO-CD-3505.

--Stewie.

Subject: Lyr Add: OLD DAN TUCKER (from Uncle Dave Macon)
From: Stewie
Date: 30 Dec 02 - 09:10 PM

Here is Uncle Dave's take on 'Old Dan Tucker'. Words I am not sure about are in square brackets. The word in square brackets in the second spoken passage is an Uncle Dave creation of some sort.

OLD DAN TUCKER

Spoken:
Hello folks, you know I been a-pickin' and tryin' to pick a banjer for forty years or more. I used to just play the imitations, but now I'm a-gonna give you a little of the variations of 'Casey Jones'.

Instrumental

Spoken:
Gentlemen – now folks, I'm a-gonna give you a little of 'Old Dan Tucker' containing more heterogeneous, [ 'constapolicies ?'], double flavour and unknown quality than usual.

Old Dan Tucker was a fine old man,
Washed his face in the frying pan
Combed his hair with a wagon wheel
Died with a toothache in his heel

Git out of the way, Old Dan Tucker
You come too late to get your supper

Tucker was a horrid sinner
Never said grace over his dinner
The old hog squealed, the pig did squall
[Held ?] the whole hog with the tail and all

Git out of the way, Old Dan Tucker
You come too late to get your supper

Old Tom Wilson got on a drunk
Fell in the fire and kicked up a chunk
Charcoal got inside the shoe
I'll bet you, honey, how the ashes flew

Git out of the way, Old Dan Tucker
You come too late to get your supper

Here's to booze and Choctaw batter
Lemon extract and old Budweiser
[Horse ?] tastes bitterer'n the doctor's tonic
The good book says a little good for the stomach

Source: transcription of Uncle Dave Macon 'Old Dan Tucker' recorded on 13 April 1925 in NYC and issued as Vocalion 15033 in August 1925. Reissued on Uncle Dave Macon 'Fun In Life' Bear Family LP 15519.

--Stewie.

Subject: Lyr Add: WOULDN'T GIVE ME SUGAR IN MY COFFEE
From: Stewie
Date: 21 Jan 03 - 01:58 AM

Here is a transcription of 'Wouldn't Give Me Sugar In My Coffee'. Any corrections?

WOULDN'T GIVE ME SUGAR IN MY COFFEE

Instrumental [banjo] introduction.

[Spoken] Hot dog! People, you know, a gentleman asked me last night what I was doing. I said, 'Well, sir, on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, I don't do anything'. He says, 'Well, what do you do on Thursday, Friday and Saturday?' I says, 'Why, I rest'. He says, 'You do anything on Sunday?' 'Oh, yes sir, that's my busiest day'. He says, 'What are you doing on Sunday?' I says, 'Getting ready to do nothing on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday'. Ha! Ha!

I'll be dogged if I can see,
How my little honey got away from me,
Been there once, I'm going home,
Wouldn't give me sugar in my coffee-o

Just one thing that bothers my mind,
A world full of women and none of 'em mine
Been there once, I'm going home,
Wouldn't give me sugar in my coffee-o

Well try to look for a needle in the sand,
Try to find a woman that's got no man
Been there once, I'm going home,
Wouldn't give me sugar in my coffee-o

Jaybird sitting on a hickory limb,
Picked up brickbat took him on the chin - hi-ho mister don't you do that again,
Brother, you'll kick the bark off a seasoned hickory limb
Been there once, I'm going home,
Wouldn't give me sugar in my coffee-o

Preacher went to Florida, the truth to tell, he went to Miami at a big hotel,
He went to the beach and the bathing was fine,
Sued for divorce in an hour's time
Been there once, I'm going home,
Wouldn't give me sugar in my coffee-o

Never you mind what your mammy say,
Shake your little foot and sail away,
Been there once, I'm going home,
Wouldn't give me sugar in my coffee-o

Source: transcription of Uncle Dave Macon 'Wouldn't Give Me Sugar In My Coffee' recorded on 8 September 1926 and issued as Vocalion 15440 in December 1926 [also as Vocalion 5002 in February 1927]. Reissued on Uncle Dave Macon 'Wait 'Till The Clouds Roll By 1926-1939' Historical LP HLP-8006 [1975].

--Stewie.

Subject: Lyr Add: PEEK-A-BOO (Uncle Dave Macon)
From: Stewie
Date: 31 Mar 03 - 10:10 PM

PEEK-A-BOO

On a cold winter's eve when business is done
And to your home you return,
What a pleasure it is to have a bright, bouncing boy,
One that you love to admire
You'll hug him, you'll kiss him, you'll press him to your heart,
what joy to the bosom it will bring,
Then you'll place him on the carpet and hide behind the chair,
And to please him you'll commence to sing.

Chorus:
Oh, peek-a-boo, coochee coochee coo
Come from behind the chair,
Oh, peek-a-boo, you rascal you,
I see you hiding there.

Repeat chorus

When I am away from my home and at work,
He's at home with his mama's care so dear,
All the whole day long, you can hear his little song,
Echoing so calm and so clear,
His playthings on the floor, he's happy evermore,
What joy to his mama's heart he brings,
Then you'll find him on the carpet and watching at the door,
For me when I come home to sing

Oh, peek-a-boo, you rascal you
Come from behind the chair,
Oh, peek-a-boo, I see you,
I see you hiding there

Chorus

Source: Uncle Dave Macon & Smoky Mountain Glen 'Peek-A-Boo' recorded on 24 January 1938 in Charlotte, NC, and issued as Bluebird B7779 in October 1938.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: Stewie
Date: 04 Apr 03 - 01:45 AM

Further to the matter of 'dominecker' chooks, Gershon Legman in his notes to Randolph's 'Unprintable Ozark Folksongs and Folklore' gives this delightful quatrain:

Said the dominecker rooster to the bow-legged hen
I ain't had any since the Lord knows when
So rustle up your feathers and h'ist up your tail
'Cause I'm goin' to have a little if I have to go to jail

Legman also confirms Lin's definition above, stating that 'Dominecker' refers literally to 'gray-barred, rose-combed Dominique chickens'. He notes also that 'bow-legged', when referring to a girl or woman, almost always means having had extensive sexual experience. [Vance Randolph, Ed G. Legman 'Blow the Candle Out: Unprintable Ozark Folksongs and Folklore Vol II' Uni Arkansas Press 1992, p 599].

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: Stewie
Date: 06 May 03 - 08:05 PM

Abby Sale posted to the Ballad-L list a link to some wonderful photos of plank roads. Worth a look.

Plank Roads

--Stewie.

Subject: Lyr Add: CAP'N TOM RYMAN
From: Stewie
Date: 14 May 03 - 08:49 PM

The transcription of 'Rock about my Saro Jane' in the DT - CLICK - is missing a line in the chorus. There should be an extra 'Oh, rock about my Saro Jane' line; it should read:

Chorus:
Oh, there's nothing to do but to sit down and sing
And rock about, my Saro Jane
Oh, rock about my Saro Jane
Oh, rock about my Saro Jane
Oh, there's nothing to do but to sit down and sing
And rock about, my Saro Jane

In his book on the birth of the Grand Ole Opry, Charles Wolfe gives some fascinating information on how Uncle Dave came by this piece:

                           "Cap'n Tom Ryman"

In a further instance of historical irony, Uncle Dave liked to sing a song about the builder of the Ryman Auditorium, riverboat man Tom Ryman. The song, entitled 'Cap'n Tom Ryman', was collected from Macon by folklorist George Boswell for his then-unpublished collection of Tennessee folk songs. Uncle Dave never commercially recorded it, though he did record a related version as the widely known 'Rock About My Saro Jane'. Boswell's text reads as follows:

Cap'n Tom Ryman was a steamboat man,
But Sam Jones sent him to the heavenly land,
Oh, sail away
Oh, there's nothing to do but to sit down and sing
Oh, rockabout my Saro Jane, oh rockabout my Saro Jane,
Oh, rockabout my Saro Jane
Oh, rockabout my Saro Jane
Oh, rockabout my Saro Jane
Oh, there's nothing to do but to sit down and sing
Oh, rockabout my Saro Jane

Engine give a scratch and the whistle gave a squall
The engineer going to a hole in the wall,
Oh, Saro Jane
There's nothing to do but to sit down and sing
Oh, rockabout my Saro Jane

Uncle Dave, when asked about this song, gave this history to Boswell:

Now that tabernacle what was built down there where we play, Rev'rend Sam Jones converted Cap'n Tom Ryman. He had six steamboats on the Cumberland River and you ought to have seen that wharf just lined with horses and mules and wagons hauling freight to those boats and bringing it back. And Sam Jones preached the low country to him so straight he took them niggers all down there Monday morning and bought all that whiskey and poured it in the river. Took them card tables and built a bonfire and burned 'em up. Clean up. Niggers started this song.

The song would make an interesting case study in Uncle Dave's use of traditional material in his music. As with many of his pieces, the 'core' of the song seems borrowed from black tradition, as he always acknowledged. The chorus of 'Saro Jane' might have referred to a steamboat originally, and the piece could have been a form of work song. Yet the couplet at the beginning of each stanza seems to have been interchangeable, like a blues stanza. On Macon's 1927 recording of 'Rock About My Saro Jane' (Vocalion 5152), he sings words identical to those above except that he does not include the 'Cap'n Tom Ryman' stanza and does include several other stanzas which seem to have little in common with one another. Although Uncle Dave probably did sing the 'Tom Ryman' couplet earlier than 1950, when Boswell collected it, he probably used it simply as a random stanza in 'Rock About My Saro Jane'. But, after he saw the Ryman Auditorium become the home of the Opry, he might have shifted the emphasis of the song to the more topical subject of Tom Ryman. Macon was notorious for mixing parts of different songs and 'recomposing' them to suit himself, and some day some poor folklorist is going to ruin his liver trying to track them all down.
[Charles K. Wolfe 'A Good-Natured Riot: The Birth of the Grand Ole Opry, Appendix I to Chapter 6, 'Take It Away, Uncle Dave', The Country Music Foundation Press 1999, pp 116-117.]

--Stewie.

Subject: Lyr Add: BAKE THAT CHICKEN PIE (Uncle Dave Macon)
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 12 Jul 03 - 08:07 PM

BAKE THAT CHICKEN PIE
As recorded by Uncle Dave Macon, 1927.

Whoa, if you want to see a darky made happy, I'll tell you what you do:
Slip over to the neighbor's yard, there take down a chicken or two.
Why, you slip around a dark night, when the chickens cannot see,
Want see that the bulldog's tied up, then sneak up to the tree,
For you take a pole just to knock 'im off, then slap him like a goat.
Well, if he hollers loudly, want to shove 'im up under your coat.

CHORUS: Bake that chicken pie, oh, put on lots of spice,
Oh, Lord how I'd like to have just a piece of that chicken pie.

Well, the pullets that flop their wings and crow, when the darky passes by,
Seems to say that they can't be caught, and there ain't no use for to try,
And worse than all that's happened, yes, did you ever hear the like before?
Whenever you go to travel you'll find, there's a lock on the chicken coop door. CHORUS

This country am a-gwine to the dogs at last, when the farmers sit and watch,
Big bull dog and a big steel trap in the watermelon patch,
And worse than all that's happened, yes, did you ever hear the like before?
Whenever you hear that er-er-er-er-er, there's a lock on the chicken coop door. CHORUS TWICE


See thread 61157, Bake that chicken pie, for comments: Chicken Pie

Subject: Lyr Add: ARCADE BLUES (Uncle Dave Macon)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 01 Sep 03 - 11:48 PM

Transcribed by me from www.honkingduck.com:

ARCADE BLUES
(1926)

[Spoken:] "Hot dog! Sung especially for Mr. Charlie Keys and Mr. Hyde in the Arcade who will play your records on both sides."

They got the arcade blues. (2x)
They got the arcade blues so bad.
Got the arcade blues. (2x)
That's a trouble I never had. (2x)

These silk-dressed women (2x)
This arcade's always had.
These silk-dressed women (2x)
Make a married man feel bad. (2x)

If you got a good woman, (2x)
I'd advise you to leave her at home.
These arcade boys (2x)
Won't let a good woman alone. (2x)

If you got a good woman, (2x)
Don't never bring her to town.
But a red-headed woman (2x)
Make a gray rabbit love a hound. (2x)

Gonna lay my head (2x)
Up on some railroad track.
It'll carry me away (2x)
But it will not bring me back. (2x)

A rubber-tired hearse (2x)
Like a great big Cadillac
Carry you over to the graveyard, boys, (2x)
That man won't bring you back. (2x)

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 01 Sep 03 - 11:55 PM

Regarding FROM EARTH TO HEAVEN, which Stewie posted back at 18 Jan 02 - 02:58 AM:

I hear the first line of the second verse differently:

"I'll tell you now, since the bone-dry's come, you can't find whiskey that's good."

I take the "bone-dry" to mean Prohibition.

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: Stewie
Date: 02 Sep 03 - 02:35 AM

Jim, after another listen, I reckon you are quite right. Thanks for the correction.

Cheers, Stewie.

Subject: Lyr Add: CARVE THAT POSSUM (from Uncle Dave Macon)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 07 Sep 03 - 01:19 PM

A version of CARVE THAT POSSUM has been posted here, but it's not Uncle Dave Macon's version. Following is my transcription from The Record Lady's All-Time Country Favorites, on "Requests Page Five". (Actually, I started by copying other transcriptions from the Internet--specifically, here and here--and then making a few corrections based on my own hearing.)

I must admit some serious doubts about the word "on" in the phrase "On, children, on!" and the word "come" in the chorus. I have left them the way I found them. Logically, it would make sense to use the same word in both places. It would also make sense for that word to be "carve," but I'm not convinced that that's what they're singing. Based on hearing alone, and disregarding logic, it sounds equally like "hard" or "horn" or "harm." It's possible that different singers sing different words. It seems that Uncle Dave sings the verse, two or more other singers sing the refrain "On, children, on" and all of them together sing the chorus.

My dog treed. I went to see. (On, children, on!)
There was a possum up that tree, (On, children, on!)
And that possum began to grin. (On, children, on!)
I reached up and took him in. (On, children, on!)

CHORUS: Oh, carve that possum. Carve that possum, children.
Carve that possum, children. Oh, come, children come.

Carried him home and dressed him off. (On, children, on!)
Hung him out that night to frost. (On, children, on!)
One way to cook the possum sound, (On, children, on!)
First parboil, then bake him brown. (On, children, on!) CHORUS

Possum meat am good to eat. (On, children, on!)
Always fat and good and sweet. (On, children, on!)
Three [or "grease" or "sweet"] potatoes in the pan, (On, children, on!)
Greatest eating in the land. (On, children, on!) CHORUS

Some eat early and some eat soon. (On, children, on!)
Some like possum and some like coon. (On, children, on!)
That possum's just the thing for me. (On, children, on!)
Old Rattler's got another'n up a tree. (On, children, on!) CHORUS

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: Stewie
Date: 07 Sep 03 - 09:01 PM

Hi Jim,

I agree with you - there seems to be a 'h' sound rather than 'on', but I can't think what it might be. In fact, I am not sure the word is even 'children' - it sounds like it begins with a 'd' sound to me. However, I believe Uncle Dave is singing 'oh, carve, children, carve' in the last part of the chorus and this is clearest in the very last chorus. I can't hear 'grease' or 'sweet'; it seems to me he is simply singing 'Three or four potatoes in the pan'.

Meade indicates that Uncle Dave Macon & The Fruit Jar Drinkers was the only old-time group to record this. It was recorded on 7 May 1927 in New York City and issued as Vocalion 5151 in August 1927. It has been reissued on CD: Uncle Dave Macon 'Go Long Mule' County CO-CD-3505.

Earliest attribution in Meade is to Sam Lucas ca 1875. The Fiddler's Companion entry for this is:

CARVE DAT POSSUM [1]. See "'Possum Pie" and "Bile Them Cabbage Down." Old-Time, Song. USA; Tennessee, Oklahaoma. G Major. Standard. One part. Charles Wolfe (1991) identifies this as a piece written and performed by black minstrel Sam Lucas about 1870, that appears in a few collections of minstrel songs. Thede printed the following stanza with the tune, collected from Oklahoma fiddlers:
***
Carve dat 'possum Hannah,
Carve dat 'possum soon;
For de pan am ready,
An here am de spoon.
***
African-American collector Thomas Talley, in his book Negro Folk Rhymes (reprinted in 1991, edited by Charles Wolfe), gave the title as "An Opossum Hunt" and printed the text:
***
Possum meat is good an' sweet Carve him to de heart,
I always finds it good to eat, Carve him to de heart
Cho:
Charve dat possum!
Charve dat possum!
Charve dat possum!
Oh charve 'im to de heart!
***
My dog tree, I went to see Carve him to de heart,
A great big possum up dat tree Carve him to de heart,
I retch up an' pull him in, Carve him to de heart,
Dat ol' possum 'gin to grin, Carve him to de heart,
***
I tuck him home an' dressed him off Carve him to de heart,
Dat night I laind him in de' fros', Carve him to de heart,
De way I cooked dat possum sound, Carve him to de heart,
I fust parboiled, den baked him brown Carve him to de heart,
I put sweet taters in de pan, Carve him to de heart,
'Twas de bigges' eatin' in de lan' Carve him to de heart.
***
Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; pg. 69. Vocalation 5151 (78 RPM), Uncle Dave Macon (1927).

POSSUM PIE. AKA- "Carve Dat Possum," "Bile Them Cabbage Down." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA. G Major. Standard. One Part. The tune is identified by Thede as a Negro 'banjo tune'.
**
Carve that 'possum Hannah,
Carve that possum soon;
For the pan is ready,
And I am the spoon.
**
Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; pg. 69.

--Stewie.

Subject: Lyr Add: CARVE 'IM TO DE HEART (Odum & Johnson)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 07 Sep 03 - 09:38 PM

The version from Thede, above, is very similar to the one in Odum and Johnson, 1925 (1976), "Carve 'Im To De Heart." Apparently a very common song. Last three verses; the first two are almost identical:

I went up dar to fetch 'im down,
Carve 'im to de heart.
I bus' him open agin de groun',
Carve 'im to de heart.

De way ter cook de 'possum nice,
Carve 'im to de heart,
Fust parbile 'im, stir 'im twice,
Carve 'im to de heart.

Den lay sweet taters in de pan,
Carve 'im to de heart;
Nuthin' beats dat in de lan',
Carve 'im to de heart.

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 08 Sep 03 - 09:19 AM

Re: CARVE THAT POSSUM

There aren't enough syllables for "three or four potatoes" (although that might be the intended meaning). It could be "three-fo' 'tatoes" or "three potatoes." Either way, it sounds odd to me. I would expect him to say either "potatoes" or "taters" but not "'tatoes." On the other hand, why would it be exactly three? Anyway, I decided "three potatoes" was most likely. And since I was uncertain, I decided to document the fact that I had found "grease" and "sweet" in other versions or other people's transcriptions, but I don't hear those words either. I probably should have shown it differently, e.g.

Three potatoes [or "Three-fo' 'tatoes"] in the pan

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 08 Sep 03 - 11:50 AM

In the first verse second line, I hear "Sky wus barkin' up that tree,"

I agree with the "three-fo tatoes"

Now I can't get the song out of my head---

Subject: RE: ADD:
From: Stewie
Date: 08 Sep 03 - 07:23 PM

Subject: Lyr Add: CARVE THAT POSSUM (Corrected)
From: Stewie
Date: 08 Sep 03 - 07:42 PM

Hi, Jim and Q, deciphering this song was also annoying the hell out of me so I emailed Lyle Lofgren and asked if he would consult Uncle Willie's wordbooks. Uncle Willie [Willard Johnson] was an original member of Lyle's group which began in the 1960s as Uncle Willie and the Brandy Snifters. Uncle Willie was a master of deciphering the mutterings of old-time recording artists. Lyle kindly sent me Uncle Willie's transcription with which he agrees totally, as no doubt you will too. It is bloody amazing that once you know what it should be, you can hear it clearly! From the African-American songs, we should have guessed 'carve him to his heart'. I knew it wasn't 'on children' at the end of the verse lines, but I could have sworn it was 'carve, children, carve' at the end of the chorus. There you go. Have another listen with Uncle Willie's transcription in front of you and reckon that, like me, you will agree he was spot on:


CARVE THAT POSSUM

My dog treed, I went to see (carve him to his heart)
There was a possum up that tree (carve him to his heart)
And that possum began to grin (carve him to his heart)
I reached up and took him in (carve him to his heart)

Chorus A:
Oh, carve that possum,
Carve that possum, children,
Carve that possum, children,
Oh, carve him to his heart

Carried him home and dressed him off (carve him to his heart)
Hung him out that night to frost (carve him to his heart)
Well, the way to cook the possum sound (carve him to his heart)
Cook, fry, boil, and bake it brown (carve him to his heart)

Repeat Chorus A

Possum meat am good to eat (carve him to his heart.)
Always fat and good and sweet (carve him to his heart)
Sweet potatoes in the pan (carve him to his heart.)
Sweetest eating in the land (carve him to his heart.)

Chorus B:
Oh, carve that possum,
Carve that possum, children,
Carve that possum, children,
How? Carve him to his heart

Some eat early and some eat soon (carve him to his heart)
Some like possum and some like coon (carve him to his heart)
That possum's just the thing for me (carve him to his heart)
Old Rattler's got another'n up a tree (carve him to his heart)

Repeat Chorus B

Thanks to Lyle Lofgren,

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 08 Sep 03 - 08:37 PM

Gee! Someone changed the words on the recording before the last post!
Yep, you're right.

Subject: Lyr Add: HOLD ON TO THE SLEIGH (Uncle Dave Macon)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 09 Sep 03 - 09:40 AM

Here's another one I transcribed from Honking Duck. Several words and phrases are highly doubtful; corrections are welcome.

HOLD ON TO THE SLEIGH

[Spoken:] All right, you can go get a little Sweet Marie now.

[Banjo solo]

1. Just as the rain was over and the snow was a-falling fast,
Got my mule harnessed, boys, and got him hitched to that.

2. Drove up to Miss Lizy's all for to take a sleigh.
Would not tell I bobbed that mule. I's scared he'd run away.

CHORUS: Whoa, I tell you. Whoa, I say.
Whoa, I tell you. Hold on to the sleigh.

3. We're off down ... all for to take a ride.
Never felt better in the world with Liza by my side.

4. Said, "Hold tight, Miss Lizy. Sleigh's not very stout.
Watch this mule I backed in here. I'm scared he'll kick us out." CHORUS

5. The mule was fairly prancing, all so innocent.
While I's a-making love to Lizy, he run us in the fence.

[Shouted:] I declare!

6. Just where you gwine, my darling? You act just like a fool.
Hold your lovesick talk to me and try to hold the mule. CHORUS

7. Gwine down to the parson's. Now, Liza, you keep cool,
For I ain't got time to kiss you now. I'm busy with the mule. CHORUS

Subject: Lyr Add: HOLD ON TO THE SLEIGH (Corrected)
From: Stewie
Date: 09 Sep 03 - 08:06 PM

Hi Jim,

Lyle posted Uncle Willie's transcription to this one in the old-time music newsgroup last year. I don't think the recording has made it to CD yet. In his note to the reissue on a Vetco LP, Bob Hyland explained the spoken bit: 'The song is given a prelude on the banjo of an old ballad 'Sweet Marie' written in 1893'. This is how Uncle Willie heard it:

HOLD ON TO THE SLEIGH

(Spoken): All right, people, gonna give you a little 'Sweet Marie' now.

Just as the rain was over
And the snow was a-fallin' fast
Got my mule harnessed, boys,
And got him hitched at last

Drove up to Miss Lizy's
All for to take a sleigh
Would not tell about that mule
I'se scared he'd run away

Chorus:
Whoa, I tell you
Whoa, I say
Whoa, I tell you
Hold on to the sleigh

Well, off to town we went
All for to take a ride
Never felt better in the world
With Liza by my side

Said, 'Hold tight, Miss Lizy
'Sleigh's not very stout,
'Watch this mule lie back his ears
'I'm scared he'll kick us out'

Chorus

The mule was very fancy
And all so innocent
While I was a-makin' love to Liza
He run us in the fence (I declare!)

She says, 'Where you gwine, my darlin'
'You act just like a fool
'Hush your lovesick talk to me
'And try to hold your mule'

Chorus

'Gwine down to the parson's
'Now, Liza, you keep cool
'For I ain't got time to kiss you now
I'm busy with my mule'

Chorus

Source: transcription posted to rec.music.country.old-time newsgroup Click Here.

Uncle Dave Macon 'Hold On To The Sleigh' recorded on 9 September 1926 and issued in NYC and issued as Brunswick 114[E21926-27]. Reissued on Uncle Dave Macon 'The Dixie Dewdrop' Vetco LP 101. See Meade et alia 'Country Music Sources' pp524-525 for numerous related old-time recordings under the generic title 'Whoa Mule'.

--Stewie.

Subject: Lyr Add: SINCE BABY'S LEARNED TO TALK (Macon)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 09 Sep 03 - 10:55 PM

Here's another one I transcribed from Honking Duck. The audio quality was much better on this recording, so I think I got it nailed, except for one part where Uncle Dave seems to stumble over the words. I think the line that begins "Spill the ..." was supposed to end with "silk" in order to rhyme with "milk," but he mistakenly began the line "Spill the silk" which caused him to mumble the end of the line.

The tune reminds me of "Keep on the Sunny Side."

SINCE BABY'S LEARNED TO TALK

I'm a real contented dad. See me smile. I'm awful glad.
I have news to tell you all. 'Twill make you laugh.
First, we'll call the neighbors in, let the jollities begin,
And after that, we'll kill the fatted calf.
When our baby got his tooth, we adored the little youth.
In ecstasy, we saw the darling walk.
'Twas our reg'lar jubilee between the baby's ma and me,
When first our little cherub learned to talk.

Oh, it's pleasant since the baby learned to talk.
Very agreeable since the baby learned to talk.
It was fun to see him walk, better still to hear him talk.
Oh, it's pleasant since the baby learned to walk and talk.

Oh, at dinner on my knee, oh, it really pleases me
To see that kid dissect a plate of hash,
Jam the fork into his eye, pour the vinegar on the pie,
And on his plate to mix a lot of trash.
Drop molasses on the cat, pour the mustard in my hat,
Spill the silk (?) upon his mama's nice ...,
Throw the pepper in the fire, tell his papa he's a liar,
And slyly mix the ketchup with the milk.

Oh, it's diff'rent since the baby learned to talk.
Very agreeable since the baby learned to talk.
It was fun to see him walk, better still to hear him talk.
Oh, it's pleasant since the baby learned to walk and talk.

As a moral, I suggest: of all things it is the best
To bring your children up as they should go.
Never let them stray behind. Always treat them good and kind.
To appease their ev'ry want, do not be slow.
And when you're old and gray, in the corner hid away,
With the rheumatics you're crippled, cannot walk,
I tell you what they'll do: kick the rheumatics out of you.
Oh, it's diff'rent since the baby learned to walk and talk.

Oh, it's diff'rent since the baby learned to walk.
Very diff'rent since the baby learned to talk.
Get so full it makes him stammer, slugs the old folks with the hammer.
Oh, it's diff'rent since the baby learned to walk and talk.

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: Stewie
Date: 10 Sep 03 - 01:59 AM

Jim, I agree he sings 'silk' when he should have sung 'milk', but I reckon the line was meant to be 'Spill the milk upon his mother's nicest silk'. What do you think?

'Since Baby's ...' was recorded on 21 June 1929 in Chicago and issued as Brunswick 362 in December 1929. According to Meade, words and music were by Barney Fagin 1883 and was printed in his 'Dashing Drum Major Songster' 1883.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 10 Sep 03 - 09:29 AM

Both The Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music and The Library of Congress American Memory Collection have several songs by Barney Fagan (note spelling) but not this one, I'm afraid.

I have a slight bias against mentioning milk twice in the same song. I think it would be funnier if he spilled something else on his mother's finest silk.

I notice the song lists practically every condiment that is commonly kept on a southern dinner table: vinegar, molasses, mustard, pepper, ketchup. Only salt is missing, but salt wouldn't do much damage to silk. How about "Spills the coffee on his mama's nicest silk"?

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: wysiwyg
Date: 10 Sep 03 - 10:06 AM

I hope y'all found the thread from last year where I had looked up and listed the ones already posted here.... I was never able to get back to the project due to health and data management issues, but I did find a lot of stuff. Glad to see a "team" of you working on this.

~Susan

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: Stewie
Date: 10 Sep 03 - 11:02 AM

Jim, in that stanza, there are rhymes within the lines - knee/me, eye/pie, cat/hat, fire/liar - and that's why I would opt for milk/silk even if milk occurs twice.

The 'Fagin' was probably a missprint in Meade. That is what he had in the song entry at page 266 and I went with that. However, it is spelled 'Fagan' at the songster reference at page 914. Looks like I opted for the wrong one.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: ADD: Uncle Dave Macon Lyrics
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 10 Sep 03 - 03:53 PM

Yes, but... the internal rhymes all occur on the odd-numbered lines, which are longer than the even-numbered lines.