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Subject: Delia's Gone From: Roger the zimmer Date: 22 Mar 99 - 10:21 AM I've seen this credited to Blind Blake but haven't got a recording of him singing it & couldn't see one on the All-Music Guide etc. Does anyone know of a currently available recorded version by him? |
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Subject: RE: Delia's Gone From: Dr John Date: 22 Mar 99 - 01:32 PM It's certainly not on Documents complete (?) Blind Blake recordings - 4 CD's. |
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Subject: RE: Delia's Gone From: Date: 23 Mar 99 - 09:47 AM I have several versions of this song, from the Gateway Singers in the 50s, Bud & Travis int the 60s, Johnny Cash in the 90s. This is a song where the basic refrain remains, butthe stanzas fit the mood of the performer. Do not, however have Blind Blake's.---John (not jon) |
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Subject: RE: Delia's Gone From: Roger the zimmer Date: 23 Mar 99 - 10:46 AM Yes, all the current recordings seem to be by people like Johnny Cash & I couldn't find it in the list of Blind Blake's "Complete" recordings either. Thanks any way! |
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Subject: RE: Delia's Gone From: dick greenhaus Date: 23 Mar 99 - 11:25 AM As I vaguely recall, there were two Blind Blakes; one a blues singer, and one from BWI. |
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Subject: RE: Delia's Gone From: Jon W. Date: 23 Mar 99 - 05:36 PM Are you sure you're not thinking of Blind Willie McTell - he did a song about Delia - I don't know the exact title but I've got it in a book at home. David Bromberg did another version of the song and yet another version is in the same book but I can't remember the performer. If you think it might be McTell instead of Blake I'll look up the discography in the book. |
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Subject: RE: Delia's Gone From: reggie miles Date: 23 Mar 99 - 06:57 PM Willie McTell did the song Delia on an album called "Atlanta 12 String", on Atlantic Records. One of my favorite lps. It's now reissued in either cd or cassette form. Reggie Miles |
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Subject: RE: Delia's Gone From: j0_77 Date: 23 Mar 99 - 07:06 PM Yup there is great recording by B Blake - begins Delia (pause) Delia how can it be .... I notice a number of newer recordings change the tune a little :) I prefer the older one. Been trying to get some of them licks fer years. These grate songs are a pleasure to pick and sing - I also like 'Hesitation Blues' by Leadbelly. More great stuff |
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Subject: RE: Delia's Gone From: Roger the zimmer Date: 24 Mar 99 - 05:45 AM Thanks to all respondents, it was the Kingston Trio lyric site that credited it to Blind Blake, I was surprised and I think we've got a consensus that he didn't record it tho' many others have in various versions. |
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Subject: RE: Delia's Gone From: Jon W. Date: 24 Mar 99 - 12:30 PM The other version I wrote of above is called "All the friends I have are gone" or something like that and was done by the Rev. Gary Davis (who also did "Hesitation Blues", I suspect earlier than Leadbelly). |
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Subject: RE: Delia's Gone From: Roger the zimmer Date: 10 May 99 - 11:08 AM It's answer your own question time again! After considerable rummaging in the blues basement of Ray's Jazz Record shop in London, I think it must be the non-blues Blind Blake (the Bahamian folk/calypso singer) who is credited with this and not Arthur (Blind Blake) Phelps. There was a lovely framed poster on sale of Leadbelly's Stella 12-string, but I resisted the temptation to buy it. I managed to smuggle another half-dozen CDs into the house without 'er indoors catching me as well! |
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Subject: RE: Delia's Gone From: Chet W. Date: 10 May 99 - 01:54 PM The version with "all the friends I ever had are gone" was also done very nicely by Bob "Controversial" Dylan on his World Gone Wrong cd. He doesn't say where he got it, except in existential terms. Chet W. |
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Subject: RE: Delia's Gone From: Roger the zimmer Date: 11 May 99 - 03:46 AM To complete my own answer the Bahamian Blind Blake was called Blake Alphonso Higgins. I think I've now killed off my own thread ! |
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Subject: RE: Delia's Gone From: Art Thieme Date: 12 May 99 - 11:10 PM HIGGS---not Higgins---It was definitely Blind Blake Alphonso Higgs, the calypso singer, who did it. I used to have it on an LP along with "Rum & Coconut Water", "The Foolish Frog" (later made famous by Pete Seeger as a segue between chapters of his children's story), "Sloop John B" and many other songs we think of as traditional---and maybe they were/are. Art
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Subject: RE: Delia's Gone From: Art Thieme Date: 12 May 99 - 11:21 PM My absolutely favorite version of "DELIA" is a monumentally complete version done by SPARKY RUCKER. I recommend it highly. Art |
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Subject: RE: Delia's Gone From: Frank OfToledo Date: 13 May 99 - 02:18 AM I have one version you might know about Art. Done by Happy Traum. I don't know the date but I'm guessing the late 70's. I have it on a CD reissue on Shanachie. The other version is a live one recorded in 1996 by Harvey Reid singing and playing a 1970 metal body Dobro. The CD is a double live on Woodpecker Records. My ancient ears can still hear Harry Belafonte doing it on an old RCA Victor LP in the lalte 50's........ |
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Subject: RE: Delia's Gone From: Roger the zimmer Date: 13 May 99 - 04:15 AM Thanks for the extra information, guys. Art, sorry for getting the name wrong: looked it up at home and posted it from work, extra letters entered brain en route! |
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Subject: RE: Delia's Gone From: Jane Bird Date: 13 May 99 - 09:36 AM If we're talking about different versions of this song, Roger Watson has a cracking version on the album "Urban Folk Vol I" (by Urban Folk). I think he says that it was collected somewhere in the Caribean, but I'm not sure. I'll have a look. Cheers,
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Subject: RE: Delia's Gone From: Rockaday Johnny Date: 13 May 99 - 10:56 AM Oops--don't know how that happened! The Delia's Gone version that Dylan covered (All my Friends have gone) is from Steffan Grossman who, in the 60's combined the McTell version with the Gary Davis Version. Roy Bookbinder recorded MY favorite version of that one! |
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Subject: Delia From: Gypsy Date: 02 May 00 - 01:09 AM Hi there, This is an old Harry Belafonte tune. I can recall the tune, and some of the words, but they aren't what we have in the digitrad. It's a really slow, plangent tune. Help me, help me pleeeeeze! |
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Subject: Lyr Add: DELIA From: Bugsy Date: 02 May 00 - 05:41 AM It's all a long time ago but I remember parts of a Jazz version that when something like this:
DELIA
The first time Tony Shot Delia
Delia gone
Well on Monday Tony was arrested Cheers Bugsy |
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Delia From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler Date: 02 May 00 - 06:50 AM I think the Kingston Trio did this, as well. If they did, and if their version is not the one on the DT, try their website, very good for lyrics to their songs. (Sorry haven't got the URL handy, didn't bookmark it). RtS (there was a thread on this last year,started by me, querying the attribution to Blind Blake: turned out it was the other Blind Blake- WI Calypsonian, not the ragtime guitarist/blues singer) |
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Delia From: Jon W. Date: 02 May 00 - 02:05 PM Stefan Grossman has a book with two versions of this song (guitar tab and lyrics) in it--one from Willie McTell and one from Gary Davis, I believe. I can't find it on his website but I've got it at home and I'll take a look at it and get back later. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Delia From: Stewie Date: 02 May 00 - 07:22 PM Here are the lyrics of Blind Willie McTell's version from a Library of Congress recording. I got them from Harry's blues lyrics online site. I have a very different version somewhere, but I can't remember where.
DELIA In his 'American Folk Poetry', Duncan Emrich includes a very long version under the title 'Delia Holmes' from the singing of Will Winn of Columbia, South Carolina. He also gives a reference to an article in the December 1937 edition of Southern Folklore Quarterly: Chapman J. Milling 'Delia Holmes - A Neglected Negro Ballad'. --Stewie.
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Subject: Lyr Add: DELIA (from Bob Dylan) From: simon-pierre Date: 02 May 00 - 09:09 PM Dylan has made something very closed to the version posted by stewie. DELIA
Delia was a gambling girl, gambled all around,
Delia's dear old mother took a trip out west
Delia's daddy weeped, Delia's momma moaned
Curtis' looking high, Curtis' looking low
High up on the housetop, high as I can see
Men in Atlanta, tryin' to pass for white
Judge says to Curtis, "What's this noise about?»
Curtis said to the judge, "What might be my fine?"
Curtis' in the jailhouse, drinking' from an old tin cup
Delia, oh Delia, how can it be?
Delia, oh Delia, how could it be? In the booklet of «World gone wrong», Dylan wrote: «Delia is one sad tale - two or more versions mixed into one. The song has no middle range, come whipping around the corner, seems to be about counterfeit loyalty. Delia herself, noo Queen Gertrude, Elizabeth 1 or even Evita Peron, doesn't ride a Harley Davidson across the desert highway, doesn't need a blood change & would never go on a shopping spree. the guy in the courthouse sounds like a pimp in primary colors. he's no interessed in mosque on the temple mount, armageddon or world war 111, doesn't put his face in his knees & weep & wears no dunce hat, makes no apology & is doomed to obscurity. does this song have rectitude? you bet. toleration to the unacceptable leads to the last round up.» SP |
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Delia From: simon-pierre Date: 02 May 00 - 09:18 PM I should do my research before posting... Rockaday Johny said on the other thread dedicated to this song last year: «The Delia's Gone version that Dylan covered (All my Friends have gone) is from Steffan Grossman who, in the 60's combined the McTell version with the Gary Davis Version.» Could somebody do a blue clicky thing to this informative thread? SP |
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Delia From: Gypsy Date: 03 May 00 - 12:36 AM I'm afraid that the version that I am looking for must be even more obscure. tis a love song, one of the few lines that i can recall is "the wind has a lonesome sound, a lost, lonesome sound" Mayhap i have the name wrong? Thanks to all for the help! |
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Subject: Lyr Add: DELIA (Fred Brooks, Lester Judson) From: John Hindsill Date: 03 May 00 - 12:46 AM The song that Gypsy is looking for is "Delia" credited to Fred Brooks & Lester Judson. It is on RCA Victor LPM-1022, " 'Mark Twain' and Other Folk Favorites", 1954 [and one of the first LPs I bought]. This is, perhaps, Belafonte's first album, at least of folk music. Delia, Delia, where have you been so long? Delia, Delia, everything I had is gone. The trees have left the countryside, The frost is on the ground, The birds all sing a different song, With a low and a lonesome song. With a low and a lonesome sound. Delia, Delia, where have you been so long? Delia, Delia, everything I had is gone. If we could count the falling stars, As we have done before, Or share the sound of summer rain, I'd never ask for more. I'd never ask for more. Who can tell where Delia's gone, Or why she went away, Or if she always knew that she, Would break my heart one day? Would break my heart one day? Delia, Delia aah, Delia. ^^ |
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Delia From: Gypsy Date: 03 May 00 - 01:06 AM My hero!!!! That is exactly what i was looking for. Don't know how you figured out the song from my scanty description, but i truly appreciate. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Delia From: Susan of DT Date: 03 May 00 - 07:00 AM Bugsy - the line break is [br], not [b] (with pointy brackets). I fixed it up. I am sorting thru these Delias versus the ones already in the DT to see what is new to add. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Delia From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler Date: 03 May 00 - 08:38 AM I've just checked the KT home page and this isn't one of the 280 songs on it. Still worth a visit. http://home.att.net/~kingstontrioplace/lyricsaf.htm RtS |
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Subject: Delia From: GUEST,garst@chem.uga.edu Date: 26 Mar 01 - 03:29 PM "Delia" gained national prominence as "Delia's Gone" after the Bahaman Blind Blake (Blake Alphonso Higgs) recorded it in the 1950s. Almost every pop group of the "great folk scare" recorded it. Further, it crossed over into country and rock. Johnny Cash recorded it twice, once in about 1960 and once in 1993. Bob Dylan recorded it in 1992. In field recordings, it goes well back into the '20s and '30s, and it was recorded by jazz band leader Jimmy Gordon at that time. In published collections, you find versions in the collections of Odum and Johnson (1925 and earlier) and White (1928). It is no doubt older, dating to about 1900. White's informant said he learned it between 1900 and 1904. As far as I know right now, the tag "Delia's" (or "Delia") "gone, one more round, Delia's gone" was strictly Caribbean before its introduction to the U.S. in the 1950s. Earlier in the U.S., the tag lines were "One more rounder gone," "All I done had done gone," "Poor gal, she gone," "She's dead, she's dead and gone," "All the friends I ever had are gone," etc. John Cowley pointed out to me that Robert Winslow Gordon had reported to the Library of Congress in 1928 that he had tracked the "Cooney Killed Delia" song to its source in Yamacraw, a black neighborhood of Savannah, GA (see Good Friends and Bad Enemies, by Debora Kodish). Gordon never published anything on this, and I have no idea where his papers on this subject might be. It appears that the Library of Congress doesn't have them (from what they tell me), but I haven't yet been there or to the University of Oregon, where there are more Gordon papers, to check things out personally. Gordon said that he had interviewed and photographed Delia's mother and the detective that had investigated the case and that he had collected 28 different versions of the song and copied 50 pages of court records. I've not seen any of this, unless some of the court records I've found (fewer pages) overlap with Gordon's. John Cowley suggested that, living in Georgia, I might be in a position to track Delia down again, so I started casually looking at versions in accessible sources. When I found the lines, "Nineteen hundred, Nineteen hundred and one, Death of po' Delia, Has jes' now begun," I went immediately to the library to scan the year 1901 in Savannah newspapers on microfilm. Two hours later, in mid-March, 1901, I was looking at an article stating that Moses Houston would go on trial tomorrow for the murder of Delia Green last Christmas Eve. I found other articles, one of them calling Moses "'Coony' Houston," and later the clemency file of Moses Houston in the Georgia State Archives. That file contains a summary, nearly a verbatim transcript, of testimony at Moses' trail. By the way, "Houston" is pronounced "howss'tun" in south Georgia, not "hews'tun." Delia, age 14, was working as a scrub girl in the home of Willie West, on Harrison Street, across the street from Delia's home with her mother at 113 Ann Street. About four months earlier, Delia and Moses, also 14 but nearly 15, had started seeing one another. At the party late Christmas Eve night, around 10:30-11:00 or so, they were quarreling. Cooney appears to have been teasing Delia, claiming that she was his "wife," and talking about their sexual relationship. Delia replied that he was a lying son-of-a-bitch and that she was a lady. Willie West threatened to kick Cooney out of the house if he didn't behave. After that, there was no more fussing, but as the party was breaking up, and as Cooney was leaving, he took a 0.39-cal pistol and shot Delia in the left groin area. Willie West chased him out into the street and held him while police were called. Cooney said that he shot Delia because she called him a son of a bitch, and that he would do it again under the same conditions, but he offered to pay for Delia's doctor. Delia was taken across the street to her mother's house, where she was attended by a doctor, perhaps the same one that signed her death certificate, J. W. Ward. The doctor told newspaper reporters that she would not live, and at around 3 a.m. Christmas morning, 1900, Delia died. According to her death certificate, she was buring in Laurel Grove Cemetery, Savannah, but a recent inventory of tombstones in that cemetery does not contain a record of a marker for Delia Green. Mose, as he came to be called in later life, was convicted of murder with a recommendation for mercy, due to his youth. He was sentenced to life at hard labor in the state penitentiary. He was probably eligible for parole after 7 years, but he served 13. He was paroled in 1913 by Governor John Marshall Slaton, the same governor whose commutation of Leo Frank's death sentence in the Mary Phagan case was followed by Frank's lynching by a mob and an end to Slaton's political career. I know nothing of Mose's later life. I would like to find living relatives of Mose Houston and Delia Green, but so far I have not tracked any down. John Garst
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Subject: RE: Delia From: Peter T. Date: 26 Mar 01 - 05:22 PM Thank you John. As a sometime researcher myself, it must have been a great moment when you found the source. You sort of want to go up to the nearest stranger and say, look, look, and of course they have no idea what it is you are going on about. yours, Peter T. |
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Subject: RE: Delia From: katlaughing Date: 26 Mar 01 - 05:25 PM Just like the other thread on Ella Speed, this is wonderful. Thanks, so much. kat |
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Subject: RE: Delia From: mousethief Date: 26 Mar 01 - 05:31 PM Interesting. Al Stewart recorded a song called "Delia's Gone" which appears to be totally unrelated to this one. Lyrics here: blicky Alex |
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Subject: RE: Delia From: simon-pierre Date: 26 Mar 01 - 05:49 PM Related thread These threads includes comments and lyrics of different versions of the song. |
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Subject: RE: Delia From: Rick Fielding Date: 27 Mar 01 - 12:13 AM Once again (I already did it in "Ella Speed") Bravo! Rick |
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Subject: RE: Delia From: Whistle Stop Date: 27 Mar 01 - 08:04 AM Great info -- thanks for sharing. I've known this song for years, but until today had no idea of its origins. Fascinating stuff. |
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Subject: RE: Delia From: GUEST Date: 27 Mar 01 - 10:24 AM So Somewhere along the line Cooney became Cutty? I have never heard a version that called Delia's murderer by any other name. |
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Subject: RE: Delia From: GUEST,garst@chem.uga.edu Date: 27 Mar 01 - 11:10 AM >So Somewhere along the line Cooney became Cutty? I have never heard a version that called Delia's murderer by any other name. Well, it's often "Tony." I think that Blind Willie McTell actually sings "Cuhnny" and that "Cutty" is an attempt to make some sense of that name. John Garst |
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Subject: RE: Delia From: Mrrzy Date: 27 Mar 01 - 11:16 AM This is, again, why I love the Mudcat so. Here is a song I've always known and never thought to wonder about the history, and here it is, in all its fascinating glory. Thanks! |
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Subject: RE: Delia From: Fortunato Date: 27 Mar 01 - 11:42 AM Great work. Congratulations. fortunato |
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Subject: RE: Delia From: GUEST,garst@chem.uga.edu Date: 28 Mar 01 - 10:32 AM Other tidbits: Mose Houston wore long pants the night he shot Delia, but he wore short pants to court. When asked why he said that the long ones were being cleaned. Clearly, though, his lawyer, Raiford Falligant, wanted to emphasize his youth. Willie West said that there were about a half dozen people at the Christmas Eve party, that they were gathered around an organ singing hymns, and that there had been no drinking. Another witness placed the number present at about 40 and said that most of them were drunk. Falligant called a witness who said that he knew something about the "character" of the house where Willie West lived. Unfortunately, his testimony was not allowed, so I don't know what it would have been. Years later, when Falligant was trying to get Mose Houston out on parole, he described it as a "rough" house. |
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Subject: RE: Delia From: GUEST,garst@chem.uga.edu Date: 28 Mar 01 - 10:44 AM Another tidbit: When Mose Houston given a sentence of a lifetime of hard labor in the state penitentiary, he stood up and thanked the judge. He meant it, obviously - the alternative was a death penalty. Even so, the newspapers though it unusual to thank the judge for a life sentence, and they made "THANKED THE JUDGE" the headline of their report. I am aware of only one version of the ballad that mentions this, and it is a most unusual one that has almost nothing in common with other versions. It appears in an unusual publication, too, a 1970s songbook called The Best Bluegrass Songbook - Ever! by Arthur Bayas and Lipton Nemser. If it weren't for the fact that the last verse is about thanking the judge, a historical fact that is missing in other versions, I would have consigned this version to the trash, thinking that the compilers had written it. Does anyone have a clue where the compilers might have gotten their version? Anybody ever heard of Arthur Bayas or Lipton Nemser? (This sound to me like they could be phony names.) |
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Subject: RE: Delia From: GUEST Date: 28 Mar 01 - 10:56 AM Alex (mousethief) wrote: >Interesting. Al Stewart recorded a song called >"Delia's Gone" which appears to be totally >unrelated to this one. Lyrics here: blicky The lyrics below are found at the Al Stewart site Alex points to. >... >Delia's gone like a darkening of the sky >A change in the weather >Delia's gone like a moment out of time >Maybe forever >Lines of coffee cups on parade >Soldiers for keeping the night away >Soon, too soon, you'll be moving out >There's nothing here to hold you now >Delia's gone. >Delia left Tony >On a hot summer night >She would not go for him and so >He shot her down at sight >Delia gone, one more round, Delia gone! I'm puzzled here by the last verse, which doesn't scan like the others and which really belongs to the old Delia ballad. How did it get here? When I listened to Al Stewart's recording, it wasn't there. It looks like a mistake at the Al Stewart lyrics website. Further, the lines "She would not go for him and so He shot her down at sight" are unusual, but they are found in the Best Bluegrass Songbook - Ever! mentioned in my last post.
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Subject: RE: Delia's Gone From: Rick Fielding Date: 02 May 01 - 06:07 PM Hi Roger. I'm sitting here with distinguished Songwriter Harvey Andrews befor he and his good lady Wendy wend their weary way back to the pleasures of Gnosall Staffs. Harvey was the person who told me that he actually SAW Blind Blake at the Airport in the Bahamas, pickin' and singing for the touristas. I was bloody THRILLED! I remember that Sing=Out used to print a lot of his songs. Hope all is well. May your cordwangler not get caught in the mangler. Rick (and Harvey) |
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Subject: RE: Delia's Gone From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler Date: 03 May 01 - 03:40 AM Thanks for that, Rick, tell Harvey I hope he's having a BOSTIN' time: he'll know what thet means! Best wishes RtS |
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Subject: RE: Delia's Gone From: Garry Gillard Date: 03 May 01 - 04:14 AM Lal Waterson refers to this song and its effect in/on . |
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Subject: RE: Delia's Gone From: Rick Fielding Date: 03 May 01 - 10:48 AM Harvey here, Ta aer kid, we've 'ad a bostin'time. Back fer the Bonks's ternight!! Harvey Andrews |
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Subject: RE: Delia's Gone From: wysiwyg Date: 04 May 01 - 02:29 AM Way too much fun! |
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Subject: RE: Delia's Gone From: GUEST,Q Date: 14 Dec 02 - 08:52 PM DELIE (Delia's Gone) Delie, Delie, was a-goin' her last round, When ole coon came by An' shot her to the groun'. All I done had done gone. Delie, Delie, why didn't yo' run, When yo' seen dat coon a-comin' Wid his forty-fo' caliber gun? All I done had done gone. Rubber-tired cayage, rubber-tired hack Done took poor Delie to de bone yard, Ain't never brought her back. All I done had done gone. Men in Atalanta tryin' to pass fo' white, Delie's in de bone yard Six foot out o' sight. All I done had done gone. Men in Atalanta drinkin' out a silver cup, Delie's in de bone yard, Ain't never goin' to get up. All I done had done gone. "Reported from Durham, NC, 1924, MS. of M. L. Hamlin, 'from memory of a song taught Frank Goodell of Spartenburg, SC, ... by an old Negro to whom he paid $1.00 to teach him to play the guitar. Learned probably between 1900 and 1904'." Newman L. White, "American Negro Folk Songs, 1925 (and reprints), Folklore Associates, p. 215-216. Connected to Frankie and Albert, but here the woman is shot by the man, instead of vice versa. The following fragment collected 1915-1916, MS. of E. L. Harper, heard in Alabama, "Sung by Negro to guitar." Also from Newman L. White, p. 216. Delia! Delia! raise up your head, Try and take your medicine just like the doctor said. Poor gal, she gone! Poor gal, she gone! In DT: Delia, Delia(2), Delia's Gone. Also compare with "Lilly," thread 48696: Lilly Also has the line, "All I got's done gone." The woman shoots Pauly. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Delia From: GUEST,Guest Date: 12 May 07 - 01:30 AM I'm not sure if this string is still active, but I must thank Mr. Garst for the information posted here! I've been researching my name --- yes, it's Delia -- and was thrilled to see this. My father and brother used to tease me with their own versions of this song when I was very young. They would have a great laugh once they could get me angry enough to go stomping out of the room. I always thought they had just made up the whole "Delia's Gone" concept. I guess the laugh is on me! I'm not gone! I'm still here alive and kicking! :-) |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Delia From: GUEST,cmt49 Date: 12 May 07 - 12:40 PM Thanks for the history. Delia was the first country blues number I ever learned. Can't remember where. Funnily enough, I have always sung the culprit's name as 'Curly'. So it's really 'Coony'? I love hearing historical evidence for oral tradition stories like this. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Delia From: Mrrzy Date: 02 Jun 10 - 03:27 PM If delia died after the first shot, why did they need one more round? |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Delia From: Leadfingers Date: 02 Jun 10 - 07:11 PM The first time Tony shot Delia she began to roll her eyes The next time he shot poor elia she lay right down and died As performed by Acker Bilk and his Paramount Jazz band cerdited to Blind Blake |
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Subject: RE: Origin: Delia's Gone (J. Cash version) From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch Date: 08 Mar 16 - 12:50 AM We have a couple of "Delia" threads going. Following up on my last and posting these wherever the Bahamian branch of the tree gets mention. My Gilbert-Lofthouse sheet music is still MIA. More to follow… hopefully. Delia Gone Tony shot his Delia, on a Christmas night, First time he shot her she bowed her head and died– Delia gone–one more round Delia-gone – Delia gone–one more round Delia gone. Send for the doctor, doctor came too late, Send for the minister to lay out Delia straight. Delia gone, one more round! Delia gone. Delia's mudder dressed herself in brown, Went to the cemetery to see her daughter layed down. Delia gone, one more round! Delia gone. Rubber tired buggy, double-seated hack, Take my Delia to de graveyard an' never brought her back. Delia gone, one more round! Delia gone. Tony axed the jailer, "What is my time?" "Sixty-four years in ------- -------'s mine." Delia gone, one more round! Delia gone. Sixty-four years, that ain't no time! Old Joe Bagstack is servin' ninety an' nine! Delia gone, one more round! Delia gone. All you gamblers that likes to bet, Come down to de courthouse and witness Delia's death. Delia gone, one more round! Delia gone. No doubt this popular tho' tragic ballad has its basis in some episode of Nassau history now forgotten. There is, however, a faint resemblance in theme to a song that originated in St. Louis called "Frankie and Johnnie." "Thomas Beer, in his 'Mauve Decade,' places this ballad as early as 1850, but Emerson Hough dates it fully ten years ealier." – Read 'Em and Weep. One stanza is particularly reminiscent: "O bring your rubber-tired hearses; O bring your rubber-tired hacks. They're takin' your Johnnie to the buryin'ground And they won't bring a bit of him back." McCutcheon, John & Evelyn, The Island Song Book, (Chicago Tribune Tower, private printing, Jan. 15, 1927) p.11 Note: History has not been kind to Thomas Beer and justly so. When did rubber-tired buggies, hearses, hacks and whatevers come to your neck of the planet? |
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Subject: RE: Origin: Delia's Gone (J. Cash version) From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch Date: 08 Mar 16 - 12:57 AM Part II Delia's Gone Words and Music by BLAKE ALPHONSO HIGGS (BLIND BLAKE) 1. Now Delia cursed Tony 'Twas on one Saturday night. And she cursed him such a wicked curse, That he swear to take her life. Delia's gone one more round, Delia's gone. 2. First time Tony shot Delia He shot her right in her side. The second time he shot her, She gave up the ghost and died. Delia's gone one more round, Delia's gone. 3. The reason why Tony shot Delia Because she cursed him a wicked curse And if Tony had'nt shot lil Delia, She might have cursed him worse. Delia's gone one more round, Delia's gone. 4. Now Delia's friend is in prison Drinking out the silver cup Whilest Delia she lying in the grave Fighting her level best to get up. Delia's gone, etc. 5. On monday Tony was arrested, On Tuesday his case was tried, The juryman brought him down guilty, He began to rollin' his goo-goo eyes. 6. A rubber tire buggy A double seated hack Took little Delia to the graveyard And they never brought her back. 7. I went down to the graveyard Just to look in my Delia's face. I said, "Delia girl, you know I love you, But I just couldn't take your place." 8. "Jailor, Oh Jailor!" Tony said, "How can I sleep When all around my bed-side I can hear little Delia's feet?" 9. The man that shot my Delia He was riding on a wheel, He rode that wheel so mighty fast They think it was an automobile. 10. Some give Delia a nickle, Some give Delia a dime, I didn't give her one red cent Because she wasn't a gal of mine. 11. Sixty-four years in prison Tony told the judge that isn't no time, He said my younger brother's in the penitentiary Servin' nine hundred ninety and nine. © Copyright 1952 and 1954 Hollis Music, Inc., New York, N.Y. Patterson, Massie, Heyward, Sammy (eds), Calypso Folk Sing, (NY: Ludlow Music, 1963) pp.26-27 ©1963 Ludlow Music, New York, N.Y. First released on: ART Records, ALP6, 10"LP, AEP6, 2x7"EP gatefold, 1952 (recorded in Nassau.) (Same as mentioned elsewhere with copyrights, dates &c.) |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Delia From: Joe Offer Date: 08 Mar 16 - 01:24 AM Phil, for a number of reasons, please do not post the same message or the same set of lyrics in two different threads. Pick the one more appropriate thread, and post your lyrics there. As multiple threads on songs continue to increase, I have been combining threads, including the most pertinent information and the most distinctive versions in "origins" threads. Thanks. -Joe Offer, Mudcat Music Editor (and registrar, if you'd like to join)- joe@mudcat.org |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Delia From: Joe Offer Date: 15 Jun 16 - 12:32 AM There's a nice recording of "Delia Gone" here:It's from the Lomax Deep River of Song collection. The album is titled Bahamas 1935. -Joe- |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Delia / Delia's Gone From: GUEST,Ken Brock Date: 15 Jun 16 - 12:30 PM One reason some folks above had trouble finding Delia's Gone in the Kingston Trio database is that they titled their version "One More Round". |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Delia / Delia's Gone From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch Date: 22 Jun 16 - 06:41 PM Artist Alice Pashley's c.1929 version, another by-product of the Peas an' Rice thread: Rubber tyred buggy, double-seated hack, Carry poor Delia to de graveyard and never bring her back. Delia gone, Delia gone. Parson in de pulpit, telling all dem lies; Ebry time a funral pass he roll dem goo-goo eyes, Delia gone, Delia gone. Parson in de pulpit, trying to save his soul, his wife is at de corner selling jelly roll, Delia gone, Delia gone. Ackknowledgement The six songs with music were taken down by Mrs. Alice Pashley. [Defries, Amelia, The Fortunate Islands, (London: Cecil Palmer, 1929, p.xxi)] |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Delia / Delia's Gone From: Piff Date: 29 Jun 16 - 04:30 PM There is a very attractive and poignant - if somewhat abbreviated - version of the song on Eric Bibb's album "Painting Signs" (which is a great album, by the way!) |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Delia / Delia's Gone From: Piff Date: 29 Jun 16 - 04:30 PM There is a very attractive and poignant - if somewhat abbreviated - version of the song on Eric Bibb's album "Painting Signs" (which is a great album, by the way!) |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Delia / Delia's Gone From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch Date: 30 Jun 16 - 01:47 AM Eric's father, Leon Bibb, covered Delia in 1960 (Leon Bibb Sings Love Songs, VRS 9073, trk. A7, with John Stauber on guitar.) Mudcat thread: Help: Tell me about Leon Bibb (He passed in October, 2015. Thought there was an obit thread too but no luck finding it.) |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Delia / Delia's Gone From: GUEST,Joseph Scott Date: 21 May 20 - 04:16 AM _Pieces Of Eight_ by Richard Le Gallienne, 1918 includes “Some gave a nickel, some gave a dime I never gave no red cent, she was no girl of mine Delia gone! Delia gone!” https://pictures.abebooks.com/MBHR/22385404827.jpg |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Delia / Delia's Gone From: Mrrzy Date: 21 May 20 - 10:49 AM I learned this from Harry Belafonte's Mark Twain album, the one with Man Piaba, which I just found in mp3 format yay. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Delia / Delia's Gone From: GUEST,Bob Coltman Date: 23 May 20 - 07:06 PM I believe the first US singer to introduce "Delia's Gone" (by that title) to American folk circles was Pete Seeger on a Folkways 10" LP, album title not remembered, in the early 1950s. His version uses the Blind Blake refrain (as compared to the several others that use different refrains) but the lyrics are condensed and somewhat different. Whether the divergencies are recomposition by Seeger or are due to some intermediate party I don't know. The Seeger version was enormously influential at the time. Blake's quite popular Behamian recordings reached the US via tourists, but were much less widely heard. Bob |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Delia / Delia's Gone From: GUEST,Gerry Date: 23 May 20 - 07:29 PM According to the discography in David Dunaway's biography of Pete Seeger, How Can I Keep From Singing, Seeger recorded Delia's Gone in 1950 on We Sing – Vol. 1, on MDH records, a bootleg album recorded live in concert at Reed College. It was also on Pete Seeger Sampler, FA 2043 10-inch, released in 1954 – that's most likely the album Bob Coltman is referring to. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Delia / Delia's Gone From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch Date: 24 May 20 - 03:08 PM Could have sworn the Le Gallienne lyric was already in one of the other threads but no, good catch! Snow Smith & His Bahama Minstrels - Songs of the Bahamas, 1940 Burl Ives didn't record it until 1961 but he picked it up earlier when he worked a bit (as 'Ken McGehen') with Snow Smith. ART Records (Miami) labelmate George Symonette And His Calypso Sextette covered it two years after Blind Blake. Belafonte recorded two songs with 'Delia' in the title. Delia ( "Mark Twain" And Other Folk Favorites, RCA, 1954) is credited to 'Fred Brooks' (aka Fred Hellerman – Weavers) and Lester Judson. Not the same song. Delia's Gone (Love is a Gentle Thing, RCA, 1959) is credited to Milt Okun and Bob Corman (aka Robert Romero De Cormier, Jr.) Will Holt's 1957 cover got a lot of attention at the time as well, but for the Yanks it was mostly Belafonte. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Delia / Delia's Gone From: Charmion Date: 27 May 20 - 11:35 AM I learned it from Johnny Cash . |
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