Origins: Young Companions^^^

Subject: I was born in Pennsylvania
From: Bud
Date: 18 Sep 98 - 09:22 AM

My Dad used to sing a song that began, "I was born in Pennsylvania, among the beautiful hills; And memories of my childhood are warm within me still."

Can anyone help with this one?

Thanks, Gene, for lyrics to "Roundup in the Spring".

Subject: RE: I was born in Pennsylvania
From: Joe Offer
Date: 19 Sep 98 - 02:04 AM

Hi, Bud - I found that one in the database by looking for a distinctive phrase. I chose [among the beautiful hills] (be sure to use square brackets if you're looking for an exact phrase). The song is Young Companions (click here)
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Young Companions^^^
From: Joe Offer
Date: 30 Oct 08 - 05:42 AM

Seems like we ought to be able to dig up more information on this song. Here's what's in the Traditional Ballad Index:

Young Companions [Laws E15]

DESCRIPTION: The singer, born in Philadelphia, abandons his family to go to Chicago where he "sinned both might and day." At last he murders a girl and is condemned to die
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1910 (Lomax, Cowboy Songs)
KEYWORDS: family murder execution
FOUND IN: US(So,SE,SW)
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Laws E15, "Young Companions"
Randolph 161, "Taney County" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 153-155, "Taney County" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 161A)
Hudson 109, pp. 248-249, "Youth's Companions" (1 text plus mention of 2 more)
Larkin, pp. 109-111, "Young Companions" (1 text, 1 tune)
Logsdon 33, pp. 186-189, "Bad Company" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 625, YNGCMPN*
Roud #786
RECORDINGS:
Kelly Harrell, "I Was Born in Pennsylvania" (OKeh 40544, 1925; on KHarrell01)
File: LE15

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Subject: RE: Origins: Young Companions^^^
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 30 Oct 08 - 02:23 PM

Versions have the man born in Pennsylvania, or Taney County, Missouri (no Taney Co. in PA).

Called "an old song" by some, there is no information as to source or date. Lomax (1910, 1938) provided no information as to his source. Notes in Randolph provide no help; he heard it in 1918.
Most versions are quite similar, and all dated after 1910, the date of the first Lomax publication. Either they came from the Lomax text or perhaps another printed source.

Although printed in "Cowboy Songs" by Lomax, the song does not seem to have been sung on the range except by some of the later recorded cowboy singers who may well have found it in Lomax, and its appearance in 'tradition' is limited.

MacEdward Leach and the Songs of Atlantic Canada has an abbreviated version with the title "Bad Companions," sung by Mary Dunphy at Tors Cove (probably 1940s).
The song has been collected in Mississippi by A. P. Hudson (Amer. Jour. Folklore, 1926, vol. 39, no. 152.

Subject: RE: Origins: Young Companions^^^
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 30 Oct 08 - 02:47 PM

Arthur P. Hudson, JAFL 1926, vol. 39, no. 152, pp. 93-194, collected two versions (pp. 141-142), title "Youth's Companions." He called it a "temperance ballad."

He compares it with "The Sheffield Apprentice," but does not give any explanation.

Subject: Lyr Add: I WAS BORN IN PENNSYLVANIA (Kelly Harrell
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 04 Dec 14 - 07:46 PM

Another version:


I WAS BORN IN PENNSYLVANIA
As recorded by Kelly Harrell on OKeh 40544, 1925.
As found on "Kelly Harrell, Vol. 1, 1925 - 1926" (Document Records, DOCD-8026)

Come all you young companions, wherever you may be,
And listen to my story, and shun fast company.

I was borned in Pennsylvania, among those lovely hills.
The ... of my birthplace lies in my mem'ry still.

I did not like my fireside; I did not like my home.
I had a view for rambling so far away from home.

I rambled into a city; was on a bright summer day.
It was there I took to gambling; I gambled by night and by day.

I courted a fair young lady; her name I will not tell.
And why should I disgrace her, when I am doomed for jail?

It was on a bright ... evening when the stars were shining bright
It was with an ugly dagger I made her spirit fly.

I had a dear old mother, as dear as dear could be,
Down on her knees before me, how she did pray for me!

If I had listened to mother, I would not have been here today
So I was young and foolish; they've stole my heart away

I'm now out on a scaffold; my time it is not long
You may forget the singer, but don't forget the song.

Subject: RE: Origins: Young Companions^^^
From: GUEST,#
Date: 05 Dec 14 - 12:22 PM

MacEdward Leach and the Songs of Atlantic Canada - "Bad ...


Bad Companions (Collected by MacEdward Leach)

Both above worthy of a Google.