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Buddy---down the line

31 Dec 98 - 03:15 AM (#51489)
Subject: Buddy---down the line
From: Rastaaaaa

The Dave Guard-Kingston trio cut a version of :(Buddy better get on down the line) Anyone know the chorous close to the way they did it.------Buddy better get on down the line-buddy better get on down the line---here comes 97 rollin down the line- Buddy this is etc etc--- ---====---Hey happy New Year everybody---====--- Peace an grooviness Rastaaaaaaaa

31 Dec 98 - 06:15 AM (#51502)
Subject: RE: Buddy---down the line
From: Roger in Baltimore

So you can't understand them either?

Buddy better get on down the line,
Buddy better get on down the line,
Here comes '97 rollin down the line,
Buddy this is '97 at your back,
Better -------------down the stack,
Here comes '97------------

So you are now one line closer, but seemingly just as far away as before.

Good luck with the song.

ROger in Baltimore

31 Dec 98 - 10:24 AM (#51527)
Subject: RE: Buddy---down the line
From: Barry Finn

A flatweeding song from the prison work gangs sounds somewhat similar.

Down The Line

Well I believe I'll roll on down the line
Well I believe I'll roll on down the line
Well I believe I'll roll on down the line
It takes a number one driver down the line
(same structure as above for the rest)
Oh well Black Betty's in the bottom

Well my gal's in Huston

I'm calling on you lead row

I'm calling on you tail row

I believe I'll move on down the line

Barry

31 Dec 98 - 07:02 PM (#51590)
Subject: RE: Buddy---down the line
From: Art Thieme

Way back yonder in Tennessee they leased the convicts out,
Set them to workin' in the mines against free labor stout
Labor rebelled against it--to win it took some time,
But when the lease was in effect we made 'em rise and shine.

CH)Buddy won't ya roll down the line, roll down the line,
Yonder comes my darlin' rollin down the line,
(repeat both lines)

Early monday mornin' they get you up on time,
Take you down to Lone Rock just to look into that mine,
Take you down to Lone Rock just to look into that hole,
Very first thing the captain says is Buddy, better get your pole.

The toast it is half done--the meat is not so well,
All else is so burnt up and the coffee's black as hell,
And when you get your task done and on the floor you fall,
Any little thing you get to eat will taste good done or raw.

(as I recall it from Pete Seeger's AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL BALLADS LP on Folkways many years ago...)

Art

31 Dec 98 - 10:49 PM (#51610)
Subject: RE: Buddy---down the line
From: Barry Finn

Art, thanks for the little blurp on the above song that you posted. The one I posted (Down the Line) seemed like there might be a relationship though probably very slim, but now it seems there may be a closer connection ( though still very distant if at all). I can't read music or read how the tunes as posted here in the DT so I can't tell if the tunes of these two are remotly close but I've always been on the watch for any worksongs that may be connected to prison worksongs. I've really only made a link with two that I'm sure of (both to sea shanties). Thanks. Barry

01 Jan 99 - 01:36 AM (#51623)
Subject: RE: Buddy---down the line
From: Art Thieme

Barry--Happy New Year!

The album by Pete that I mentioned should be available from Smithsonian-Folkways now. It had some fine & obscure songs on it. It's one of my favorites by Mr. Seeger.

I can't read a note of music either. Can't figure out the tune things here at all. But this is a good tune. Fun song to sing. Might be another verse that I've forgotten though.

All the best,

Art

01 Jan 99 - 09:28 PM (#51707)
Subject: RE: Buddy---down the line
From: Susan of DT

Art- The version you mentioned was originally recorded by Uncle Dave Macon and there is another verse. It, along with a variant and a related song can be found in the DT by searching on [roll down the line]. Tunes are there, too.

01 Jan 99 - 11:57 PM (#51717)
Subject: RE: Buddy---down the line
From: murray@mpce.mq.edu.au

You can hear it on the re-issued Folkways CD set "Anthology of American Folk Music"

According to the book "Anthology of American Folk Music" which is about the original album, the relation between the version Art mentions and that Susan mentions is as follows:

"Uncle Dave Macon influenced Pete Seeger's banjo feeling and repetoire more than any other single artist. Pete not only included this and other Macon songs in his repertoire, but puseued his interest in Macon to the point of coordinating and directing a reissue of some of Macon's best recordings, `Uncle Dave Macon (Folkways RBF-51)', in 1963."

For Uncle Dave fans, the paragraph continues:

"A few years later under Ralph Rinzler's direction, Decca also issued a first-rate collection of Macon classics, `Uncle Dave Macon (Decca DL-4760)'."

I wouldn't mind seeing a reissue of either of these two.

Murray

02 Jan 99 - 05:22 PM (#51795)
Subject: RE: Buddy---down the line
From: dick greenhaus

For anyone that's interested in the song, Archie Green's fine book "Only a Miner" devotes a chapter to it, including history and variants. Worth-while reading.

04 Mar 24 - 05:29 PM (#4198536)
Subject: RE: Buddy---down the line
From: Joe Offer

Joe - do cleanup