Lyr Req: See That My Grave Is Kept Clean

Subject: See That My Grave Is Kept Clean--anybody?
From:
Date: 27 Mar 99 - 10:55 AM

"Please See That My Grave is Kept Clean"

Does anybody have the lyrics to this old song? I heard a recording by Catfish Keith but can't find it on any of his album discographies listed at his website.

I remember hearing it years ago as a kid, but don't know its origin. I'd like to learn it again.

Please send me an e-mail if you can help me.

Harvey Broussard New Iberia, LA [e-mail]

Subject: RE: See That My Grave Is Kept Clean--anybody?
From: Gene
Date: 27 Mar 99 - 11:00 AM

Check this previous Mudcat Forum Post..
*EARLY TRADITIONAL BLUES*

Subject: Lyr Add: SEE THAT MY GRAVE IS KEPT CLEAN
From: J Woodland
Date: 27 Mar 99 - 01:40 PM

SEE THAT MY GRAVE IS KEPT CLEAN - Blind Lemon Jefferson

There's one kind favor I'll ask of you
One kind favor I'll ask of you
One kind favor I'll ask from you
Won't you see that my grave is kept clean

There's two white horses in a line x3
They're gonna take me to my burying ground

There's a lonely lane that has no end x3
The's a long road that has no trails

Have you ever heard the church bell moan x3
Well you know another boy's dead and gone

You may dig my grave with a silver spade x3
And throw me back where I belong

That's all I remember offhand; there may be a few more verses.

Subject: RE: See That My Grave Is Kept Clean--anybody?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 27 Mar 99 - 01:48 PM

Would it be considered sacrilegious of me to link to the Peter, Paul and Mary version?
-Joe Offer, unrepentant pop folkie, even after a month in Washington-

Subject: RE: See That My Grave Is Kept Clean--anybody?
From: Lucius
Date: 27 Mar 99 - 04:45 PM

Peter, Paul and Mary is just fine, at least you have a link. I still prefer Dave Van Ronk's version. I think that it is off of "The Essential Dave Van Ronk".

Subject: RE: See That My Grave Is Kept Clean--anybody?
From:
Date: 27 Mar 99 - 08:47 PM

I think the earliest version is by Blind Lemon Jefferson. I have that on the "Anthology of American Folk Music" and whenever I get my CD player working again, I will compare it with J Woodlands lyrics and see if anything is missing.

You can get re-issues of the original in collections, but the one in the Anthology is the clearest I have heard.

Murray

Subject: RE: See That My Grave Is Kept Clean--anybody?
From:
Date: 27 Mar 99 - 08:56 PM

I had a feeling a deja vu as I typed the last posting. I had typed out the lyrics in a different thread. Click here to read that thread.

Murray

Subject: RE: See That My Grave Is Kept Clean--anybody?
From: Mark Roffe
Date: 28 Mar 99 - 03:58 PM

I read somewhere (possibly in Dixon and Grodrich's "Recording the Blues"?) that Blind Lemon's grave is not being kept clean. Jefferson traveled to Chicago three times for Paramount Records in the mid-1920's. (At the time, Paramount was a smaller comapany than ones like OKeh, and didn't spring for field trips to the south). Anyway, on Blind Lemon's last trip to Chicago in the midst of a Chicago winter, Lemon lost his way after leaving a party and froze to death on a Chicago street.

Subject: RE: See That My Grave Is Kept Clean--anybody?
From: Ronn
Date: 28 Mar 99 - 05:18 PM

See for yourself at the following: http://www.findagrave.com/pictures/3251.html

Subject: RE: See That My Grave Is Kept Clean--anybody?
From: Mark Roffe
Date: 28 Mar 99 - 10:32 PM

Well, I'll be.... sure looks clean to me!