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24 Nov 15 - 12:14 PM (#3753193) Subject: George Washington was a Nice Young Man From: GUEST,Delmar Lemming (David Shea) Does anyone know where this song comes from? George Washington was a nice young man George Washington was a nice young man, a lie he'd never tell But when he chopped the cherry tree his father gave him Chorus: Hallelujah (3x) Got glory in my soul My mother takes in washing, she does it very well But when they fail to pay her, you bet she gives them I took my girl a walking, down by the ferny dell When her parents found out, they really gave me The engineer blows the whistles, the fireman rings the bell The conductor's shouting "All aboard!" and away we go to ... (-- very old traditional US folk song) You can find my recording of the song on Youtube with my guitar& Ian Tothill on fiddle. Recorded at Hen Shea Studios, La Atalaya de SB, Spain. But I cannot recall where I got it! Sorry for being so vague! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsQ1x-f5IZ0 |
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13 Aug 16 - 04:47 AM (#3804815) Subject: Origins: George Washington Was a Nice Young Man From: Joe Offer Refresh. Request above moved from a Carter Family thread, where it didn't belong. Is this a parody of a legitimate gospel song? -Joe- |
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13 Aug 16 - 10:28 AM (#3804871) Subject: RE: Origins: George Washington Was a Nice Young Man From: cnd From what I have found, there was a version recorded in 1928 in Briston, Ten, on Monday, Feb 6th, by POPE'S ARKANSAS MOUNTAINEERS with the exact same lyrics as above. Lyrics to the POPE version: http://www.metrolyrics.com/george-washington-lyrics-popes-arkansas-mountaineers.html Interview with members or POPE: http://www.1001tunes.com/fiddlers/PopeMtneers.pdf Quotes from the article above: *********************************************************** Memphis, TN Monday, February 6, 1928 John H. Chism - fiddle J.W. (Joe) McKinney - banjo and vocal John Sparrow - guitar and high vocal Wallace Chism - guitar low vocal Lee F. "Tip" McKinney - vocal 41852-2 Cotton-Eyed Joe Vi 21469 41853-2 Get Along Home, Miss Cindy Vi 21577 41854-1 George Washington Vi 21469 *********************************************************** PORTIONS OF INTERVIEW WITH TIP McKINNEY INTERVIEWER: Where did you learn those tunes, like GEORGE WASHINGTON? McKINNEY: Well, some of 'em, we made 'em up. I: Which ones did you make up? M: We made up GEORGE WASHINGTON and JAWBONE, and, well, not all of them. CINDY was an old time tune; it was played way back during the Civil War, and COTTON-EYED JOE was too. Them was old tunes. That HOGEYE is an old song 130 years or older. I: And you made up GEORGE WASHINGTON? M: Yes, I'll sing you a little verse of it. GEORGE WASHINGTON "George Washington's a nice young man A lie he wouldn't tell, And when he hacked the cherry tree His father gave him .... Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, Got glory, in my soul. George's mother takes in washing She does it very well, And when they fail to pay her You bet she gives 'em ... CHORUS Oh, the engineerman whistled And the fireman rung the bell, And the 'ductor hollered "All aboard," And away we go to ... CHORUS I take my girl a-walking down on the flowery dell, And when the old folks find it out you bet they give us... CHORUS I know four verses of this song And I can sing them well, And before I'd sing them verses again I'd see you all in ... CHORUS M: You know, when that feller recorded that record, he said, "That one'll go over, I know!" I: Do you know which record sold the best? M: No, I don't. I: Well, who made up the words and the music? M: Oh well, there was two or three of us that would put the verses in sometime you know, to make it rhyme up better than maybe the other one would. This fella Sparrow was a good singer. He'd taught singing school and he was a pretty good singer and a schoolteacher, too. *********************************************************** There's other interesting info in that paper too. Hope that helps sort it out. |
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13 Aug 16 - 10:30 AM (#3804872) Subject: RE: Origins: George Washington Was a Nice Young Man From: cnd It also sounds like this poem could be sung to the same tune https://books.google.com/books?id=OAY-AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA25&lpg=PA25&dq=George+Washington+was+a+nice+young+man+song&source=bl&ots=ACj |
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13 Aug 16 - 01:35 PM (#3804899) Subject: RE: Origins: George Washington Was a Nice Young Man From: cnd Hear the original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKYkEcYi80E |