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Lyr Req: Riding Old Paint and Leading Old Ball

03 Apr 01 - 07:31 PM (#432571)
Subject: Ridin' old paint - a cowgirl song
From: Margo

I'm looking for lyrics, writier, and Title. I have a casette with an old, old recording of this song that has in the chorus "Ridin' old paint and leading old Beau." (Can't decipher that last name, but it sounds like beau)

It start's out:

I'm getting mighty tired of single life
gonna settle down and be a wife


Then I have trouble understanding the next line

(something) every day
I'll get me a herd and start me a brand
(something)from man to man
ridin' old paint and leadin' old beau.

CHORUS

Ridin old paint and leading old beau
gonna quit work this comin fall goin to the mountain and live till I'm old
goin to oregon and look for gold goin to get married I swear I will
goin to settle down on the Santa Fe trail
Ridin old paint and leading old beau


I hope this is enough to go by. Thanks a bunch, Margo!!!


03 Apr 01 - 11:36 PM (#432706)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ridin' old paint - a cowgirl song
From: Sorcha

No luck with Google.......refresh


04 Apr 01 - 08:10 PM (#433390)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ridin' old paint - a cowgirl song
From: Louie Roy

Margo who is the artist on the cassette? I have this some where on one of my tapes but to locate the artist would help. Louie Roy


05 Apr 01 - 12:03 AM (#433472)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ridin' old paint - a cowgirl song
From: Margo

Louis, I'm afraid that I don't have a listing of the artist. The tape was made by someone else, and it simply has song after song from old recordings, some of them scratchy 78's. I've been searching on the web, and though I've found the names of some old cowgirl singers, I can't find discographies to match up a song title. Hmmmm... I'll keep looking.

But I did find a reference to "Ridin' ol' Paint, leading ol' BALL" not beau... just a snippet of lyrics. Margo


05 Apr 01 - 12:10 AM (#433478)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ridin' old paint - a cowgirl song
From: Margo

FLASH! I just found out that the writer of the song is Jess Morris! New search underway, Margo


05 Apr 01 - 11:05 AM (#433748)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ridin' old paint - a cowgirl song
From: Margo

refresh. I'm hoping to get what I need from the library of congress.... Margo


05 Apr 01 - 11:56 AM (#433783)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ridin' old paint - a cowgirl song
From: IanC

Now I'm confused. I thought that Jess Morris was a bloke who, incidentally, sang "Goodbye, Old Paint" (in DT)

GOODBYE, OLD PAINT

Are we lookin' fur somethin' else?

Cheers!
Ian


05 Apr 01 - 12:27 PM (#433812)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ridin' old paint - a cowgirl song
From: Louie Roy

Margo you have the correct title it is Riding old paint and leading old ball.I'm still looking through my old records and I do have it somewhere. Maybe you will find it before I do Good Luck. Louie Roy


05 Apr 01 - 12:36 PM (#433817)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ridin' old paint - a cowgirl song
From: WyoWoman

Is this a femalized version (!) of the old "Get Along Little Dogies"? (I ride an old paint; I lead an old dan, I'm going to Montana to throw a hoolihan ...") This has been discussed several times in another thread.

That sounds like a great tape you have. I'd love to hear some of those old songs...

WyoWoman


05 Apr 01 - 04:33 PM (#434085)
Subject: Add: Riding Old Paint and Leading Old Ball (draft)
From: Margo

This song is very up beat and fast. I have deciphered all the words I can - I think I can even sing it this way:

Ridin' ol Paint and Leadin' ol Ball
(Jess Morris?)


I'm getting mighty tired of single life
I'm going to settle down and be a wife
A way out west where the sun shines every day
I'll get me a herd and start me a brand
A way out west from Manning to man
Ridin' ol paint and leadin ol ball


CHORUS:
Ridin ol pain and leadin ol ball
Gonna quit work this comin fall
Going to the mountain and live till I'm old
Going to Oregon and look for gold
Gonna get married I swear I will
Gonna settle down on the Santa Fe trail
Ridin ol paint and leadin ol ball


Every night when my work is through
We'll go strollin just we two
Down the trail where the sun sinks in the west
And every night beneath the stars
I'll play my tune on my ol guitar
Ridin ol paint and leadin ol ball


Chorus

It turns out that the only part I'm not certain of is in the first verse: it sounds like "Manning to man" or "man to man". I wonder if there is a place in the southwest called Manning?

The recording is a kick. I wish I knew who the singer is. She has a group of fellows who sing the chorus in harmony while she yodels. I'm going to use this song in a vocal competition... Margo


05 Apr 01 - 04:58 PM (#434111)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ridin' old paint - a cowgirl song
From: Gene

There is a Manning, North Dakota


07 Apr 01 - 04:05 PM (#435362)
Subject: Old Paintball
From: Joe Offer

So, Margo - do you remember when you were in fifth grade, and the teacher caught you passing a note to the kid in the next desk? What did the teacher say? I'll bet it was something like, "Margo, do you and your friend have something that you would like to share with the class?"
So, Margo, you said in another thread that somebody sent you a personal message that solved the mystery of the "Old Paintball" song. Would you like to share this information with the rest of us, so that everyone will know the story of this song?
[grin]
-Joe Offer-


07 Apr 01 - 04:20 PM (#435369)
Subject: Lyr Add: RIDIN' OL' PAINT AND LEADIN' OL' BALL
From: Margo

OK Joe - Heeeeeeeeeere's Ol' Paint!

RIDIN' OL' PAINT AND LEADIN' OL' BALL
(Curley Fletcher)

I'm getting mighty tired of single life
I'm going to settle down and get me a wife
Away out west where the sun shines every day
Going to get me a job and save my pay
I'll get me a herd and start me a brand
Away out west where a man is a man
And a man must stand straight and tall
I'll be riding old paint and leading old ball

Chorus
Riding old paint and leading old ball
Going to quit work this coming fall
Going to the mountains and live until I'm old
Going to Oregon and look for some gold
Going to get married I swear I will
Going to settle down on the Santa Fe trail
And I'll answer my wife's every beck and call
But I'll still be riding old paint and leading old ball

Second verse
Every night when my work is through
We will go strolling just we two
Down the trail where the sun sets in the west
We will meet all challenges without protest
And every night beneath the stars
I'll play my cowboy songs on my old guitar
And I'll always be standing straight and tall
And I'll still be riding old paint and leading old ball


And Louis Roy's note to me:
This was written by Curley Fletcher a champion Bull,Saddle and BareBack Rider about 1915 and the first person that I heard sing it was MontanaSlim.The Words I sent you came from the song book with all of Curley's songs in it, given to me in 1931 by my Uncle.

The version I have on tape is sung by a gal and is changed to reflect her point of view. It doesn't contain as many lines per verse (boy, if I skipped a space between the last two words, it would be perverse! But I digress...) Thanks to Louis Roy for the lyrics!! Margo


28 Nov 09 - 07:20 PM (#2775822)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Riding Old Paint and Leading Old Ball
From: Jim Dixon

The Online 78-rpm Discographical Project says Bill Boyd's Cowboy Ramblers recorded RIDIN' OLD PAINT AND LEADIN' OLD BALL on Bluebird 5667, 08/07/34. Bill Boyd is credited as composer.


28 Nov 09 - 11:30 PM (#2775881)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Riding Old Paint and Leading Old Ball
From: dick greenhaus

Curly Fletcher, of course, is best known for his "Strawberry Roan"


29 Nov 09 - 01:47 PM (#2776164)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Riding Old Paint and Leading Old Ball
From: Louie Roy

Dick this is a moot point but Curley's song book published in 1915 gave him credit for being the Author of Riding Old Paint And Leading Old Ball


30 Nov 09 - 05:48 AM (#2776597)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Riding Old Paint and Leading Old Ball
From: Artful Codger

Louis: I believe Rhymes of the Round-Up (1917) was Fletcher's first book, and it doesn't contain a poem of this title (though it does have his "Strawberry Roan"). Was "Riding Old Paint" mentioned in an introduction? Or might you be referring to his Songs of the Sage (1931; still no poem like that), or is there an earlier book, or are you referring to a collection by someone else (like Alan Lomax)?


30 Nov 09 - 05:51 AM (#2776598)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Riding Old Paint and Leading Old Ball
From: Artful Codger

BTW, it's not in his Ballads of the Badlands (1932), either.


18 Aug 10 - 07:12 PM (#2968226)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Riding Old Paint and Leading Old Ball
From: GUEST,Jason

The artist is a gal by the name of Patsy Montana, and the group accompanying her is the "Prairie Ramblers". This was actually the flip side of the first country record recorded by a female artist to become a hit, so it's pretty significant historically in addition to being a great song. (It was recorded in 1935, if I'm not mistaken, and released either on the Vocalian label.)


18 Aug 10 - 08:34 PM (#2968272)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Riding Old Paint and Leading Old Ball
From: Q (Frank Staplin)

"ROP and Leading Old Ball" is generally credited to Bill Boyd (see post by Jim Dixon, above) but Jess Morris registered it with the Library of Congress about 1940; Lomax recorded his version.

Jess Morris also claimed to have learned "Old Paint" from Charley Willis, a black cowboy, who in turn claimed to have learned it on a cattle drive in 1871 (There is no printed version prior to Sandburg, 1927, claims unverified).


22 Aug 10 - 03:46 AM (#2970351)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Riding Old Paint and Leading Old Ball
From: GUEST

Hi Folks,

I came across this thread while trying to find out about one of the songs sung by Woody Guthrie and Cisco Houston in a medley on the album "Long Ways to Travel: The Unreleased Folkways Master 1944 - 1949".

Thanks to you folks I've discovered that the first song sung in the track "Train Medley #1" is the first verse of "Riding Old Paint and Leading Old Ball". This has always been one of my favorite parts on the whole album.

Thanks again,

Mike


14 Mar 11 - 10:41 PM (#3113888)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Riding Old Paint and Leading Old Ball
From: GUEST,Avis

every artist has there variations on some classics. My great granddaddy worked in the prison farm and the version i was sang!

Riding old paint and leading ol ball
far well to you people far well to you all
I used to ride ball but now i cant his back is sore
so now i ride paint
Ridin old paint and leading all ball
far well to you people far well to them all
Paints a good pacer a pacer is he he can pace all day in the shade of a tree
riding old paint and leading old ball
far well to you people to far well to you all