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Lyr Req/Add: Been All Around This World

DigiTrad:
THE GAMBLER (2)


Related thread:
Lyr Req: Hang Me (22)


dcotter@hotmail.com 23 Sep 98 - 10:42 PM
Dave T 23 Sep 98 - 11:08 PM
Barry Finn 24 Sep 98 - 12:01 AM
Joe Offer 24 Sep 98 - 12:20 AM
Charlie Baum 24 Sep 98 - 01:12 AM
Joe Offer 24 Sep 98 - 01:15 AM
dwditty 24 Sep 98 - 05:50 AM
Rockaday Johnny 24 Sep 98 - 11:22 AM
dick greenhaus 24 Sep 98 - 05:36 PM
Charlie Baum 24 Sep 98 - 05:49 PM
Art Thieme 24 Sep 98 - 10:15 PM
harpgirl 24 Sep 98 - 11:09 PM
Pete Peterson 24 Sep 98 - 11:45 PM
harpgirl 25 Sep 98 - 08:35 AM
Art Thieme 25 Sep 98 - 05:56 PM
Charlie Baum 27 Sep 98 - 01:41 AM
Charley Noble 06 Nov 01 - 01:20 PM
Charley Noble 20 Jan 03 - 12:22 PM
Charley Noble 20 Jan 03 - 01:43 PM
Charley Noble 20 Feb 03 - 07:46 PM
GUEST 21 Feb 03 - 04:21 AM
Charley Noble 21 Feb 03 - 08:49 AM
Janie 28 Jul 07 - 09:18 PM
GUEST,Art Thieme 29 Jul 07 - 12:16 AM
Janie 29 Jul 07 - 12:54 AM
katlaughing 29 Jul 07 - 12:58 AM
Janie 29 Jul 07 - 01:30 AM
Goose Gander 29 Jul 07 - 04:02 AM
GUEST,Ewan McVicar 29 Jul 07 - 10:34 AM
Charley Noble 29 Jul 07 - 10:51 AM
Janie 29 Jul 07 - 11:28 AM
Janie 29 Jul 07 - 11:39 AM
Barbara Shaw 29 Jul 07 - 11:46 AM
GUEST,Art Thieme 29 Jul 07 - 03:03 PM
GUEST,Art Thieme 29 Jul 07 - 07:51 PM
GUEST,Art again 29 Jul 07 - 07:53 PM
Janie 29 Jul 07 - 08:57 PM
Q (Frank Staplin) 29 Jul 07 - 09:50 PM
Janie 29 Jul 07 - 10:13 PM
Q (Frank Staplin) 29 Jul 07 - 11:04 PM
Janie 29 Jul 07 - 11:29 PM
Q (Frank Staplin) 30 Jul 07 - 12:55 PM
Janie 30 Jul 07 - 11:45 PM
katlaughing 31 Jul 07 - 12:20 AM
GUEST,harpgirl 31 Jul 07 - 09:00 PM
Janie 31 Jul 07 - 11:05 PM
GUEST,hg 31 Jul 07 - 11:55 PM
Q (Frank Staplin) 01 Aug 07 - 08:57 PM
Q (Frank Staplin) 01 Aug 07 - 09:24 PM
GUEST,hg 01 Aug 07 - 11:04 PM
Q (Frank Staplin) 01 Aug 07 - 11:58 PM
Goose Gander 02 Aug 07 - 01:12 AM
Janie 02 Aug 07 - 01:27 AM
Goose Gander 02 Aug 07 - 11:26 AM
Q (Frank Staplin) 02 Aug 07 - 04:21 PM
Goose Gander 02 Aug 07 - 04:25 PM
Goose Gander 25 May 08 - 03:49 AM
Art Thieme 10 Aug 10 - 05:36 PM
Goose Gander 19 Aug 12 - 03:44 AM
dick greenhaus 19 Aug 12 - 05:39 PM
MissouriMud 20 Aug 12 - 02:47 PM
Charley Noble 20 Aug 12 - 05:29 PM
GUEST 26 Aug 12 - 11:04 PM
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Subject: Been All Around This World
From: dcotter@hotmail.com
Date: 23 Sep 98 - 10:42 PM

There's a song on Reckoning by The Grateful Dead called Been All Around This World, and I can't find it in the database using any of the keywords. Does anybody know if there are alternate verses, or maybe a little history about it, that I couldn't get from the album? Thanks in advance.


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: Dave T
Date: 23 Sep 98 - 11:08 PM

I don't know if it's the same song but...I have a version from Hot Rize called "I've Been All Around This World". It's in the database under the title "Working On The New Railroad". See if this is the song you're after. I'm not familiar with the Dead's version.
Dave T


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Subject: Lyr Add: BEEN ALL AROUND THIS WORLD
From: Barry Finn
Date: 24 Sep 98 - 12:01 AM

Refrain: Hang me oh hang me, I'll be dead & gone
Hang me oh hang me, I'll be dead & gone
Wouldn't mind the hanging, it's laying in that grave so long poor boy, I've been all around this world

Been around Cape Geirido (SP?) & parts of Arkansas (2X)
Got so goddam hungry, I could hide behind a straw, poor boy
Been all around this world

Went up on a mountain there I made my stand (2X)
Rifle on my shoulder, got a dagger in my hand, poor boy, been all around this world

Noose around my neck, strung me up so high (2X)
Last words I heard them say, "it won't be long before you die, poor boy", been all around this world

As far as I know these are the same tunes, only the above is sung slowly & the New Railroad is usually up tempo (at least the way I've heard it). Here are some other verses not in the DT. The words should be pretty close, I'm going from memory, have'nt sung it in yrs. Got this version from Dave Van Ronk.

Lulu oh Lulu where'd you get that dress so fine (2X)
Got my dress from a railroad man, my shoes from a driver in the mines, been all round this world

Lulu Lulu come & open up your door (2)
Before I have to blow it down with my old 44, been all round this world

Barry


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Subject: Lyr Add: I'VE BEEN ALL AROUND THE WORLD
From: Joe Offer
Date: 24 Sep 98 - 12:20 AM

Hi - I found this at LEO (Link Everything Online)
-Joe Offer-

I'VE BEEN ALL AROUND THE WORLD
(as recorded by The Grateful Dead)
------------------------------

Up on the Blue Ridge Mountains, there I'll take my stand.
Up on the Blue Ridge Mountains, there I'll take my stand.
A rifle on my shoulder, six shooter in my hand;
Oh Lord, I been all around this world.

Lulu, my Lulu, come and open the door.
Lulu, my Lulu, come and open the door.
Before I have to walk in with my old 'forty-four.
Oh Lord, I been all around this world.

Momma and Poppa, little sister makes three.
Momma and Poppa, little sister makes three.
They're comin' in the mornin'; that's the last you'll see of me.
Oh Lord, I been all around this world.

Hang me, oh, hang me, so I'll be dead and gone.
Hang me, oh, hang me, so I'll be dead and gone.
I wouldn't mind your hangin', boys, but you wait in jail so long.
Oh Lord, I been all around this world.

Up on the Blue Ridge Mountains, there I'll take my stand.
Up on the Blue Ridge Mountains, there I'll take my stand.
A rifle on my shoulder, six shooter in my hand;
Oh Lord, I been all around this world.


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: Charlie Baum
Date: 24 Sep 98 - 01:12 AM

In the Dave Van Ronk verison, it's
"Been around Cape Girardeau, and parts of Arkansas."
Cape Girardeau is a Mississippi River town in southern Missouri.
--Charlie Baum, your folkie geographer


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: Joe Offer
Date: 24 Sep 98 - 01:15 AM

I've wondered about that one most of my life, Charlie. I always thought a cape was a narrow spit of land that stuck out into an ocean. What the heck's one doing in Missouri, of all places?
-Joe Offer-


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: dwditty
Date: 24 Sep 98 - 05:50 AM

Greg Brown & Bill Morrissey do a fine rendition of Hang Me - very close to the Van Ronk version. BTW, I believe Rush Limbaugh is from Cape Girardeau.


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: Rockaday Johnny
Date: 24 Sep 98 - 11:22 AM

Check out "Cape Girardo" on Art Thieme's "Songs of the Heartland" KM 148 for a GREAT version....


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 24 Sep 98 - 05:36 PM

If you search for [been all around this world], you'll find one.


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: Charlie Baum
Date: 24 Sep 98 - 05:49 PM

I've always assumed, looking at a map, that the "Cape" of Cape Girardeau has to do with the shape of the land as the Mississippi River curls around it. Or perhaps a sandbar. Or perhaps these geographical items existed at the time in history when the place got its name, but Ol' Man River just keeps rollin' along and changin' the landscape.


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: Art Thieme
Date: 24 Sep 98 - 10:15 PM

Yes, Charlie, if ya look at the map there's a "swelling" where the river bends westward and then back eastward at the town site of Cape Girardeau. ie. "a cape" of sorts. It's only about 15 miles north (as the crow flies) of Cairo, Illinois where the Ohio River joins the Mississippi down in that part of S. Illinois called EGYPT. That's close to NEW MADRID, Mo. where in 1812 the N.M.fault "quaked" and the Mississippi ran backwards for 3 weeks---Reelfoot Lake was formed---entire forests were leveled---and this is no tall tale. If it'd been populated as it is now millions would've been killed. The steamboat ROOSEVELT rode out the quake as well as WEEKS of aftershocks(somehow) on the breast of the river! See B.A. Botkin's grand book---TREASURY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER FOLKLORE.

The New Madrid Fault mooved again a couple years ago. We felt it here in Peru, Illinois---100 miles S.W. of Chicago.

Art


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: harpgirl
Date: 24 Sep 98 - 11:09 PM

Art,
Is Crowley's Ridge in Arkansas the lower end of the New Madrid Fault? harp


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: Pete Peterson
Date: 24 Sep 98 - 11:45 PM

which Crowley? Aleistair? that man sure do get around! be careful in that hurricane, Harpgirl! Pete


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: harpgirl
Date: 25 Sep 98 - 08:35 AM

Dr Peterson,
Up a tad late tonight are we? I think it was Billy Bob Crowley! The 'cane appears to be going to Mobile but we are battening down the hatches in case it should turn. I believe that is what Kate did in 1985....I may be soliciting 'cane songs tomorrow...harp


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: Art Thieme
Date: 25 Sep 98 - 05:56 PM

harp---Sorry, don't know.

Art


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: Charlie Baum
Date: 27 Sep 98 - 01:41 AM

Crowley's Ridge is a geographical phenomenon probably independent from the New Madrid fault. The New Madrid fault probably lies very deep down in the earth. The famous 1812 eathquake of New Madrid rang church bells in Boston and New York. (Now that's one powerful tremor!) For the rest of you readers who are wondering what Crowley's Ridge is: Most of Eastern Arkansas is pancake flat. If the Mississipi River rose a few inches in height, it would spread out miles wide across Eastern Arkansas. But running roughly North and South in Arkansas is this ridge of high ground, a hill maybe fifty to one-hundred feet high, a mile or two wide, and many many miles long. It's the only hill for miles around. On the crest of the hill lies Jonesboro, Ark., a city famous recently for reasons it would rather forget.

--Charlie Baum, your folkie geographer and mapfreak

1;0c


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: Charley Noble
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 01:20 PM

Refresh!


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Subject: Lyr Add: I'VE BEEN ALL AROUND THE WORLD
From: Charley Noble
Date: 20 Jan 03 - 12:22 PM

Thee's yet another version of this song in Sigmund Spaeth's WEEP SOME MORE MY LADY, pp. 130, which he collected from Robert Wildhack, an illustrator living at the time in California:

I'VE BEEN ALL AROUND THE WORLD

Bring to me my supper, boys, I'll eat her done or raw (2X)
For I haven't had a square meal since I left old Arkansas,
Gaw damn, I've been all around the world.

It's on the Blue Ridge Mountains. Oh there I'll take my stand (2X)
My rifle on my shoulder, six-shooter in my hand...

The railroad is finsihed, boys, the cars is on the track (2X)
You can take me from my baby, but money will bring me back...

Come to me, my honey, and I will pay your fine (2X)
And each all your troubles I surely will make mine...

The bulls will never get me, and I will tell you why (2X)
For I'm going to wander and travel till I die...

I was always fond of the way John Sondell (?) used to sing this one, words being close to "Working on the New Railroad" in the DT.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: Charley Noble
Date: 20 Jan 03 - 01:43 PM

That should read "Jon Sundell" above.

"The Horsetrader's Song" in Lomax also has the same tune and chorus but an entirely different set of "Gypsy" verses. I always liked the slang word "snide" for swindling someone in a deal.

Charley Noble


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: Charley Noble
Date: 20 Feb 03 - 07:46 PM

Well, this is my current arrangement which borrows some verses from "Handsome Molly":

I've been All around this World

(Traditional
Rearranged by Charlie Ipcar 2003
Key: Bb (5/F))

Well, I'm working on the new railroad,
The mud up to my knees;
Working on the new railroad,
The mud up to my knees;
Digging for big John Henry,
He's so hard to please;
Been all around this world.

When you're lining track, me boys,
Be sure you line 'em right;
When you're lining track, me boys,
Be sure you line 'em right;
Big John Henry, if he ain't pleased,
You'll be working through the night;
Been all around this world.

When you goes a-fishing, boys,
You takes a hook and line;
When you goes a-fishing, boys,
You takes a hook and line;
And when you go a-courting,
Don't leave your bait behind;
Been all around this world.

Well, I went to town last Friday night,
My Molly passed me by;
I went to town last Friday night,
My Molly passed me by;
I could tell her mind was a-changin'
By the roving of her eye;
Been all around this world.

"Now where'd you get them high-heeled shoes,
That dress you wear so fine?
Where'd you get them high-heeled shoes,
That dress you wear so fine?"
"Got my shoes from an engineer,
My dress from a driver in the mine;"
Been all around this world.

Now do you remember, Molly,
When you took me by the hand?
Do you remember, Molly,
When you took me by the hand?
You said if you ever married
That I would be the man;
Been all around this world.

Now the new railroad is ready, boys,
The cars they's on the track;
The new railroad is ready, boys,
The cars they's on the track;
Gonna catch me a long gray train,
Never more look back;
Been all around this world.

Working on the new railroad,
The mud up to my knees;
Working on the new railroad,
The mud up to my knees;
Digging for big John Henry,
He's so hard to please;
Been all around this world.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Feb 03 - 04:21 AM

Max Hunter recorded a version of "Been All Around the World" on his Folk-Legacy album (FSA-11 - not yet available as a CD; at the moment only on cassette). Max called it "The Blue Ridge Mountains" and had collected it from a student at the University of Arkansas who, in turn, had learned it from "old Sam Stewart of Muskogee, Oklahoma." Mary Celestia Parler's notes add: "Sam lived in the Indian Territory in the 1870s and 1880s. He knew such notorious outlaws as Belle Starr and Cherokee Bill." She also observes "It (the song as Max had it) has many lines in common with 'Blue Stone Mountain,' 'My Father was a Gambler,' and 'The Horse Trader's Song.' They are all sung to the same tune.'"
    You might be able to hear Max's source singing the song on the Max Hunter Folksong Collection web site. There's a thread about that site somewhere in the Mudcat archives. Check it out!
    Sandy


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: Charley Noble
Date: 21 Feb 03 - 08:49 AM

Thanks, Sandy. I've been thinking of reviving "The Horse Trading Song." That verse about Arrow/Darrow needs a home:

Once I had an old grey horse
And Darrow was his name
Once I had an old grey horse
And Darrow was his name
But they caught me making whiskey
And they took away my claim
I've been all around this world.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: Janie
Date: 28 Jul 07 - 09:18 PM

I'm not finding what I know is here on the 'Cat somewhere, so thought I would invite some help.

I know, just as sure I was born that on one of these threads related to Been All Around This World/Hang Me/McPherson's Lament, et.al. That somebody, I'm thinking Jim Dixon, or BanjoRay or Q posted a verse about "My daddy was a Gambler, He taught me how to play, and maybe another verse that "My Momma was.... I have looked at all the threads that came up when I searched but can't find the proper thread. I was thinking it was an "Origins" thread and not a Lyr. Add thread, but I just ain't haven' any luck.

Thankee kindly in advance.

Janie


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 12:16 AM

Janie,

I used to do a song with those words for years, but I'll be darned if I can dredge 'em out of my brain right now. Lemme sleep on it and I may have it for you in the morning. Damn, I can't even remember what the song title was...

Frustrating!

Art


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: Janie
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 12:54 AM

May you rest well and awake to find those particular memories have moved to the front of the bus! (And may you rest well even if that particular song decides to continue to lurk just out of reach of recall:^)

Janie


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: katlaughing
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 12:58 AM

Art, I could *hear* you in my mind singing this when I saw the thread title. I'll take a look at your CDs and see if I see it, tomorrow sometime.:-)


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: Janie
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 01:30 AM

some interesting history, lyrics and speculation about the song here.

Looks like I need to research "My Ather Was a Gambler."

Joe or other clones - there are a number of related threads on this song. I hope I'm not posting something that is alread on another thread. The cross references are no longer appearing at the top of the thread, and I don't have the time to go back to the orginal search I did to cross reference myself. If some of this is duplicate information, I apologize.

Janie


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Subject: Lyr Add: HORSE TRADER'S SONG
From: Goose Gander
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 04:02 AM

Horse Trader sung by Frank Pipkin, Arvin FSA Camp 1941/08/24

HORSE TRADER'S SONG
Frank Pipkin
Arvin, 1941

Where was you last winter, boys,
When the ground was all covered in snow?
Where was you last winter, boys,
When the ground was all covered in snow?
On the Blue Ridge Mountains, all wet, hungry and cold.
God knows I've been all around this world.

Do you know these horse traders,
Or do you know their plans?
Do you know these horse traders,
Or do you know their plans?
Draggin' around from town to town and pullin' through the sand.
God knows I've been all around this world.

Look ahead of your horses, boys,
For yonder comes a man;
Look ahead of your horses, boys,
For yonder comes a man;
And if we do snide him, we'll none get nary a dram.
God knows I've been all around this world

Look ahead of your horses, boys,
And yonder comes a plug;
Look ahead of your horses, boys,
For yonder comes a plug;
And if we do snide him, we'll soon be out of grub.
God knows I've been all around this world.

Look ahead of your horses, boys,
And for yonder is a creek;
Look ahead of your horses, boys,
And for yonder is a creek;
We'll drive out for supper and hobble on the grass.
God knows I've been all around this world.

We'll send our women from house to house
To get whatever they can;
We'll send our women from house to house
To get whatever they can;
Lord sakes, yonder comes a woman with a hog jaw in each hand.
God knows I've been all around this world.

We'll hook up our old snide horses, boys,
And drive them out to town;
We'll hook up our old snide horses, boys,
And take them up to town;
First old master that comes along, he'll pay us to bring them back.
God knows I've been all around this world.

Come all you dido peddlers
And let's go take a glass;
Come all you dido peddlers
And let's go take a glass;
For I've swapped old Swagey. I've swapped old Swagey at last.
God knows I've been all around this world.

The new railroad is finished, boys,
And the cars are on the track;
The new railroad is finished, boys,
And the cars are on the track;
And if our women leave us, money will bring them back.
God knows I've been all around this world
--And started round again!

The only other version I'm aware of is from Fred Woodruff of Lincoln, Arkansas - published in the following texts:

Lomax, Folk Songs of North America (1960) pp. 323-324

Randolph, Ozark Folk Songs 3 pp. 261-262

References courtesy of the Roud Folksong Index


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: GUEST,Ewan McVicar
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 10:34 AM

Life is so hectic I only get the mental room to look in and browse around Mudcat once or twice a year. Every time some thread enriches me. I had forgot the Darrow verse of this song, and had not thought of singing the song in a year or three. Thanks to all.


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: Charley Noble
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 10:51 AM

Michael-

Thanks for posting those words.

Charley Noble


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Subject: Lyr Add: DIXON AND JOHNSON
From: Janie
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 11:28 AM

This is supposed to have a similar melody. It lacks a "Hang Me" verse or chorus.

Dixon and Johnson

Dixon and Johnson went riding out one day,
Dixon and Johnson went riding out one day;
They rode up on a mountain ten thousand miles away.
Oh Lord, l've becn all around this world.

They rode up on a woman, as cold as cold or more,
They rode up on a woman, as cold as cold or more;
He wrapped her in his coat and set her up behind him,
Oh Lord, l've been all around this world.

Dixon being wearied lie down to take a rest,
Up stepped this cruel old woman and stobbed him in the breast.

She taken him to her parlor and cooled him with her fan,
She whispered low in her mother's ear, ''I love this gamblin'
man."
Oh woman, oh woman, now see what you have done,
You've killed your bravest soldier, and liable to be hung.

They taken her out on the mountain and told her not to run,
All they gave to her was a pistol and a gun.

The railroad is finished, the cars are on the track,
Trouble will drive a boy from home, but money will bring hin'
back.

see also BUTCHER2
see also NEWRAIL
Note: a quite degenerate version of The Two Butchers; plus some
floaters from other songs.
From Ozark Folksongs, Packard. Collected from Mary Drain, AK,
1941.
@murder @treachery
filename[ DIXJHNSN
play.exe DIXJHNSN
RG
===DOCUMENT BOUNDARY


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Subject: Lyr Add: I'VE BEEN ALL AROUND THIS WORLD
From: Janie
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 11:39 AM

And then there is this which I copied from http://www3.clearlight.com/~acsa/introjs.htm?/~acsa/songfile/I2VEBEEN.HTM

The oldest version that seems to have quite a bit in common with the one sung by Garcia is that sung by Justus Begley, vocal/banjo, Hazard, KY, for the Archive of Folk Song, Library of Congress, 17 Oct 1937:
I started out from Memphis with two dollars and a dime
I started out from Memphis, boys, with two dollars and a dime
But I landed in old Hazard, boys, I did not have a shine
Lord, I've been all around this world

I went to work on the railroad, boys, the mud up to my knees
I went to work on the railroad, boys, the mud up to my knees
The boss come round to boss me, boys, I done just as I pleased
God knows, I been all round this world

I went up to the Midway Inn with money to shoot some dice
I went up to the Midway Inn with money to shoot some dice
They took from me my money, boys, I begged them for my life
God knows, I've been all around this world

The new railroad is finished, boys, the cars are on the track
The new railroad is finished, boys, the cars are on the track
My doney girl has left me, boys, I know that she won't come back
God knows, I've been all around this world

I went to the Blue Ridge Mountains and there'll I'll take my stand
I went to the Blue Ridge Mountains, boys, and there I'll take my stand
With a rifle on my shoulder, boys, and a six-shooter in my hands
God knows, I've been all around this world

The officers came and arrested me and they take me down to jail
The officers came and arrested me and they take me down to jail
They said to me, old fellow, now you know you're allowed no bail
God knows, I've been all around this world

They take me to the court house, boys, and there I had a crowd
They take me to the court house, boys, and there I had a crowd
The sentence was to hang me and leave my wife and child
God knows, I've been all around this world

The sentence was to hang me, well I don't care if you do
The sentence was to hang me, well I don't care if you do
But look out boys, when you hang me, it's liable to injure you
God knows, I've been all around this world

Father and mother, boys, and little sister make three
Father and mother, boys, and little sister make three
Came weeping to the gallows, boys, and see the last of me
God knows, I've been all around this world

You all can sing this song, boys, when I am dead and gone
You all can sing this song, boys, when I am dead and gone
Just think about old Justus, boys, they sung it 'fore he was gone
God knows, but he went all around this world

_______________________OOOOOOOOOOO______________________________

I'm not having any luck finding "My Father Was a Gambler". Anybody have Randolph's "Ozark Folksongs"

Janie


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: Barbara Shaw
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 11:46 AM

This song is on the latest Crooked Still CD "Shaken By a Low Sound" under the title "New Railroad."


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 03:03 PM

Daddy was a rounder--killed a mile and a half from here,
My daddy was a rounder--killed a mile and a half from here
Caught me makin' whisky and I had to clear out of there
I've been all around this world.

That's the verse I've remembered just now. We will see if more gets turned up as I'm plowin the back forty this afternoon.

Art


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 07:51 PM

JANIE, HERE IT IS I think!! Memory be a strange dude!! I don't know what the song was called. I think I learned it from Guy Carawan in the 1960s sometime. I used it as link to tie various songs together---usually on the fly--. The medley was never the same twice. I'd string 'em together to make a point.--- There is a song called "Black Dog" that was done on an old 78 rpm race record--as those were called back then. I do hope this is what you want!?
Art


You can call me your dog when I'm gone, sweet gal,
Call me your dog when I'm gone,
But I come over the hill totin' a forty dollar bill,
And it's baby, where you been so long.

Daddy taught me to gamble,
He never told me gamblin' was a sin,
Daddy taught me how to gamble,
But he never did teach me to win.

He said, don't let your deal go down,
Don't let your deal go down,
I come over the hill totin' a 40 dollar bill
And it's "Baby, where you been so long?"


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: GUEST,Art again
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 07:53 PM

Well, it's not a version of "Been All Around This World"----but it does have the daddy-gambler connection...

Art


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: Janie
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 08:57 PM

Thanks Art. I also found reference to your recording of "Cape Girardeau" while looking for more info.

I can't find anything at all re: The Gambler's Lament on-line.

Janie


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 09:50 PM

Janie, yes, you aren't just dreaming.
"My Father Was a Gambler," or "The Gambler," is not the same song as "Been All Around ..." although a verse or two express the same ideas, and some singers floated verses from one to the other- never know what one of those old-time singers would do.

Janie, yes, there is a version in Randolph, "Ozark Folksongs," vol. 2, no. 146- "My Father Was a Gambler," sung by Mrs. Jones, Pineville, MO, in 1929. Randolph also included a late, brief version in which the two are joined.
H. M. Belden has an older version, "The Gambler," "secured by Miss Frances Barbour in 1917 from the singing of Minnie Doyle of Arlington, Phelps County," [MO]; "Ballads and Songs Collected by the Missouri Folk-Lore Society," 1940, p. 472-473.

I think I posted one or both somewhere in Mudcat, but it's too damn much trouble to go back through my posts, and there is no way in Hell to find them in Mudcat if they aren't in the old, unreliable DT. Search turns up lots of gambler songs, but not these.

I hesitate to post them again since they will just join the legions of the lost.


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: Janie
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 10:13 PM

Thanks Q. I just finished looking at all the threads that came up when I entered 'gambler' in the search box before I came back and saw your post. Nothing turned up. I've also read through bunches and bunches of posts from searching for other key words, but still getting nada.

I think I surrender. I'm glad to get the verses to other related or similar songs though.

Maybe I'll apply a little 'folk process' and put together my own set of verses from what there is to work with.

Janie


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 11:04 PM

Thread 90531 contain's Belden's "The Gambler."
Hang Me

Searches $100/hour discounted rate


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: Janie
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 11:29 PM

That's it, Q! It is exactly the thread I have been searching for.

(I will gladly pay you Tuesday:^)

I"m baffled as to why I wasn't able to find it on my own. Maybe I still don't understand how the search function works, but I searched under Hang me, been all around this world, gambler, my father was a gambler, blue ridge mountains, my daddy was a gambler, etc., etc., etc.

Anyway,

Huge thanks to you especially, but also everybody else.

Janie


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 30 Jul 07 - 12:55 PM

I have the same problems with search. I tried 'hang' but too much came up.
I doubt that Mudcat can ever be indexed.

Susan of DT has listed a few of the additions to the 'new' DT, but the tendency to post derivative versions, ignoring originals, seems rampant.


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: Janie
Date: 30 Jul 07 - 11:45 PM

Q,

It is certainly frustrating when I am looking for something so specific that I know is here but can not find. For someone as knowledgable as you, who is a careful and skillful researcher, and who also shares so freely of your time and knowledge, it must sometimes feel like you are casting pearls before swine.

For a dilettante like me, however, there are bonuses even with an unsuccessful search. I ran across a bunch of information not related to what I was looking for that I found interesting and educational. For example, I had never realized there is a link uptop to all the 'origin' threads. I found myself opening up threads on a number of songs and really enjoyed reading all the history and information. You were the source for a lot of that information. There are a handful of you here on the 'Cat who are true scholars of the music. I think I am echoing what others have said before when I say that the rest of us often ride along on your coat-tails, with joy and gratitude. Please don't ever think that you are wasting your time and knowledge.

Janie


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: katlaughing
Date: 31 Jul 07 - 12:20 AM

I echo Janie's words, Q. Thank you for so much.

On another note: but the tendency to post derivative versions, ignoring originals, seems rampant.

If any of you run across such please let any joe clone know about it so we can chang the post to LYR ADD or whatever might need to be done to make it easier for Susan and/or Dick to find to index. Thanks!


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: GUEST,harpgirl
Date: 31 Jul 07 - 09:00 PM

Janie
You are thinking of Rovin' Gambler, correct?

I am a rovin gambler
I gamble all around
Wherever I see a deck of cards, I lay my money down
I've gabmled down in Mexico and I've gambvled up in Maine
I'm going back to Georgia and gamble my last game....


I sing the Hedy West version which I can't seem to find either. I thought I posted a version of this tune in a thread that had a bunch of the derivatives but what the hell is an original folk song anyway?


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: Janie
Date: 31 Jul 07 - 11:05 PM

Sounds like a song I'd liky to know, Harpgirl, but the one I was looking for is "The Gambler" or "My Father Was a Gambler." Q found the thread where he had posted it originally and provided a link above (the "hang me" blue clicky 6 posts above. It is a different but related song to "Been All Around This World."

Having a good summer?

Janie


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: GUEST,hg
Date: 31 Jul 07 - 11:55 PM

janie,
Oh I see the link. Any summer without hurricanes is a good summer. Stay tuned....


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 01 Aug 07 - 08:57 PM

"The Journeyman" in Brown, North Carolina Folklore, seemingly was the first appearance in print of what most of us call "The Roving Gambler."
That reference I don't have. Maybe some rich feller out there will post it.

Always liked the Crichlow version in Lomax, ABFS. The one in the DT is almost Crichlow's but the names Cisco Huston and Richard Dying Bennett appear at the bottom.

Now just who is this 'Huston' feller? Any relation to Walter?

It's been a time since I heard it, but I think Cisco Houston (yes, that's Houston) had a couple of different verses.

And no, I can't find a thread on the song, but I would be surprised if thjere isn't one.


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Subject: Lyr Add: I WAS A TEXAS RANGER
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 01 Aug 07 - 09:24 PM

Now sing this to "Roving Gambler."

Lyr. Add: I WAS A TEXAS RANGER

I was a Texas Ranger sixteen long years ago;
I ranged through all of Texas and a part uv Mexico.

Ef I was a gambler, westward I would go;
I'd gamble with the Englishmen en there I'd win my dough.

My children they'll go naked; my wife will have to plough;
Along came an officer en drove off my last caow.

Coll. from East Tennessee mountain whites; sung by F. Le Tellier, 1910.
No 11, from Part VI, Songs Connected with Drinking and Gambling.
E. C. Perrow, Songs and Rhymes from the South, 1915, Jour. American Folklore, vol. 28, p. 159ff.

In the old days, remittance men came from England to Canada and the western U. S., some had money. Some were younger sons who couldn't inherit the 'manor,' others were sent out by their family because they were 'wild,' or avoiding the consequences of some action or crime. Some made good investments or bought ranchland and prospered, others threw their remittances away.


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: GUEST,hg
Date: 01 Aug 07 - 11:04 PM

It works, Q...


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Subject: Lyr Add: I'VE BEEN ALL AROUND THIS WORLD (Fife)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 01 Aug 07 - 11:58 PM

From the Fife American Collection, 42 volumes.

Lyr. Add: I'VE BEEN ALL AROUND THIS WORLD (FAC Coll.)
Coll. Bob Duncan

Way up on the Osage mountain where the wind blows chilly and cold,
Way up on the Osage mountain where the wind blows chilly and cold,
Where I hid out last winter, starved and very nearly froze;
Lord knows, I've been all around this world.

Way up on the Osage mountains, It's there I made my stand,
Way up on the Osage mountains, it's there I made my stand,
With a Winchester on my saddle, and a six-shooter in each hand.
Lord knows, I've been all around this world.

They arrested me on Broadway Street and there they made me stand,
They arrested me on Broadway Street and there they made me stand,
With a six-shooter in my face and shackles on my hands.
Lord knows, I've been all around this world.

Well, I took off my overcoat and I hung it on my wall,
Well, I took off my overcoat and I hung it on my wall,
Whipped out two six-shooters, God knows I made them bawl.
Lord knows, I've been all around this world.

Oh hang me, oh hang me, oh hang me good and high,
Oh hang me, oh hang me, oh hang me good and high,
And telegraph to mother to come and see me die.
Lord knows, I've been all around this world.

There's mother and father, little sister she counts three,
There's mother and father, little sister she counts three,
To follow down to the gallows and see the last of me.
Lord knows, I've been all around this world.

The railroad is finished, the cars is on the track,
The railroad is finished and the cars is on the track,
Just telegraph to mother, her money will bring me back.
Lord knows, I've been all around this world.

With music score, pp. 251-252, No. 92.
Austin E. and Alta S. Fife, 1969 (1982 ed. by Bramhall House, NY), "Cowboy and Western Songs, A Comprehensive Anthology."

The Fife American Collection is housed at Utah State University.


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: Goose Gander
Date: 02 Aug 07 - 01:12 AM

Thanks for posting that Fife text, Q.

Does anyone have any ideas regarding an origin for this one?


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: Janie
Date: 02 Aug 07 - 01:27 AM

Referring back to the "Hang Me" thread (now cross referenced, thankee Joe) with a post from Q cut and pasted below for reference, it seems to me very likely the origins of the song are African American, call and response.   

Lyr Add: THE GAMBLER
From: Q - PM
Date: 13 Apr 06 - 12:35 AM

This song may have its origin in the songs of African-Americans.
Orlando Kay Armstrong, 1931, "Old Massa's People," has one of the slaves, awaiting sale in Savannah, singing (quoted from Belden):

I don' mind dyin', but I got to go by myself (2x),
Oh, I don' mind dyin', if dyin' was all.
Lawd, I don' mind dyin', if dyin' was all!

The song in Belden, collected by Miss Frances Barbour, 1917, from Minnie Doyal of Arlington, Missouri:

Lyr. Add: THE GAMBLER

My father was a gambler, he learnt me how to play,
My father was a gambler, he learlt me how to play,
Saying, 'Son, don't go a-begging when you hold the ace and trey,
When you hold the ace and trey.'

Chorus:
Hang me, O hang me, and I'll be dead and gone,
Hang me, O hang me, and I'll be dead and gone;
I wouldn't mind the hangin', it's been gone so long,
It's layin' in the grave so long.

They took me down to old Fort Smith as sick as I could be,
They took me down to old Fort Smith as sick as I could be,
They handed me a letter saying, 'Son, come home to me,'
Saying, 'Son, come home to me.'

My father and my mother and my little sister makes three,
My father and my mother and my little sister makes three,
They all came up to the gallows to see the last of me,
To see the last of me.

They put the rope around my neck and drew me very high,
They put the rope around my neck and drew me very high,
And the words I heard 'em sayin' was 'It won't be long till he'll die,
It won't be long till he'll die.'

Belden, H. M., ed., 1940, "Ballads and Songs Collected by the Missouri Folk-Lore Society, Univ. Missouri Studies, No. 15, no. 1,
pp. 472-473, no music.

Belden also quotes from N. I. White, 1928, "American Negro Folk Songs," , p. 78, in part. Here is White's complete entry from his section on religious songs:
"Reported from Durham, NC, 1925, MS of N. I. White. Sung by Ed Lloyd, Creedmoor, NC.

You can play the ace and trey,
But it sho' will lead you astray.
It's awful sad when the Holy Ghost is gone.

You can weep and you can moan,
But hell goin' be yo' home.
It's awful sad when the Holy Ghost is gone.

You can play the ace and deuce,
But God'll ketch you with no excuse.
It's awful sad when the Holy Ghost is gone.

You can pass the whiskey round,
But you must lay yo' body down.
It's awful sad when the Holy Ghost is gone.

Also reported from Durham, 1919, "Sung by a cripple Negro on the street," W. B. Jeffrey.


The song itself may have not been all around this world, but it certainly has been all around the American South, from the NOrth Carolna Piedmont, to the Mississippi to the Blue Ridge to the Ozarks.

I have trouble tracking the dates, but it looks to me from what I have read so far, the Durham, NC date is the earliest.

Janie


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: Goose Gander
Date: 02 Aug 07 - 11:26 AM

"The song itself may have not been all around this world, but it certainly has been all around the American South, from the North Carolna Piedmont, to the Mississippi to the Blue Ridge to the Ozarks."

And out to California with the 'Dust Bowl' recording! But then I suppose the Dead actually did bring the song all around the world. I'm not aware of any commercial recordings from the 1920s and 1930s, which surprises me a little. Interesting to think what Jimmy Rodgers might have done with it.


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 02 Aug 07 - 04:21 PM

African-American, Southern White- More than one song blended in some versions?

It do get complicated sometimes.


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Subject: RE: Been All Around This World
From: Goose Gander
Date: 02 Aug 07 - 04:25 PM

It sho 'nuff do.


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Been All Around This World (Grateful Dead
From: Goose Gander
Date: 25 May 08 - 03:49 AM

Blue Ridge Mountain as sung by Virgil Lance, Mountain Home, Arkansas on April 15, 1969.

On Blue Ridge Mountain as sung by Walter Vaughn, Springfield, Missouri on April 7, 1958.

The Blue Ridge Mountains as sung by Fran Majors, Fayetteville, Arkansas on May 23, 1959.

Blue Ridge Mountain as sung by Lucy Bird, Mountain Home, Arkansas on December 31, 1971.

All from the Max Hunter collection.


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Been All Around This World (Grateful Dead
From: Art Thieme
Date: 10 Aug 10 - 05:36 PM

refish


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Been All Around This World (Grateful Dead
From: Goose Gander
Date: 19 Aug 12 - 03:44 AM

re-fish?


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Been All Around This World (Grateful Dead
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 19 Aug 12 - 05:39 PM

THe "New Railroad" version (also called "Big John Henry") was collected by Margo Mayo from Rufus Crisp in the late 30s or early 1940s, and was popularized by Joe Hickerson some 20 years latter. Available on a Folways custom CD (drom Smithsonian Folkways, or, for a couple of bucks less, from CAMSCO Music.


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Been All Around This World (Grateful Dead
From: MissouriMud
Date: 20 Aug 12 - 02:47 PM

I think the earliest recording of the song in its current format was by Grandpa Jones in 1946.   Where he got it I am not sure - it is a typical synthesis older several songs. I havent heard Grandpas version - just seen references to it, such as on Bluegrass Messenger site.


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Been All Around This World (Grateful Dead
From: Charley Noble
Date: 20 Aug 12 - 05:29 PM

Really love this song.

Charley Noble


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Been All Around This World (Grateful Dead
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Aug 12 - 11:04 PM

Ozark Folksongs: Vol 2 Songs of the South and West
variant B of #146 My Father Was a Gambler

Blue Stone Mountain

I'll go on Bue-Stone Mountain
And there I'll take my stand
My rifle on my shoulder
Revolvers in my hand
    Oh hang me, oh hang me,
    And I'll be dead and gone,
    I would not mind that hangin'
    But layin' in the grave so long

I have one little brother
And two little sisters makes three
To follow me down to the gallows tree
and see the last of me
    Oh hang me...

I've been all around this world
But never was in jail before
Oh send for my two babies to come and see me cry
Oh send for my two babies to wring their hands and cry
    Oh hang me....


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