Roger McGuinn carries on the tradition of folk music http://folkden.com
This is a rare recording of me playing with Bobby Darin and his band at the Coconut Grove nightclub in Hollywood circa 1963. I’m playing my Vega 5-string banjo and singing harmony.
[G] Boil ’em cabbage boys[C] down, [G] turn the ho-cakes [D7]round
[G] The only song that [C] I can sing is [G] Boil ’em [D7] cabbage [G] down
A. F. Beddoe claims to have written this song in 1953 as part of the folk opera “Go Lightly, Stranger.” However Pete Seeger says he heard the song in 1946, sung by a tall stranger named Frank. Joan Baez learned the song from Bob Gibson and recorded it for her 1962 Vanguard album “Joan Baez In Concert, Part 1.” However in this article from FolkWorks.org Ross Altman, PhD did some detective work and concluded that A. F. Beddoe did write the song after all.
Here’s a little bootlegger story:
A government official came to the home of a known bootlegger to destroy his still. The son came to the door. The “revenuer” asked to see the boy’s father. “He’s working” said the son. The agent knew what that meant. He offered the boy ten dollars to take him to the father. Boy said “Ok, give me the money now.” Agent said he’d give it when they got back. Kid said “Mister, you ain’t coming back!”
[G] You’ll just lay there by the [Bm] juniper
[G] While the moon shines [Bm] bright
[G] Watch them jugs [Bm] a-filling
In the [A] pale [Bm] moonlight
Build you a fire with hickory
Hickory, ash, and oak
Don’t use no green or rotten wood
It’ll get you by the smoke
We’ll just lay there by the juniper
While the moon shines bright
Watch them jugs a-filling
In the pale moonlight
My daddy, he made whiskey
My granddaddy, he did too
We ain’t paid no whiskey tax
Since 1792
We’ll just lay there by the juniper
While the moon shines bright
Watch them jugs a-filling
In the pale moonlight
Jack Monroe AKA (Jackie Frazer; The Wars of Germany) [Laws N7] Roud (268)
A rich girl loves a sailor; her father does not, and has the boy pressed to war in Germany. She disguises herself in men’s apparel and enlists under the name (Jackie Monroe). When her lover is wounded, she sends for a London doctor to heal him. She reveals her identity; they are married
“Jack Monroe” dates back to 1818 in the collection of (Garret, _Merrie Book of Garlands)
The chorus Lay the lil·ly-low ˈliliˌlō
chiefly dialectal, England
Webster’s dictionary definition: as a bright flame indicating the intensity of their love relationship.
This version comes from Hot Springs, North Carolina and was sung by Mrs Gentry, though there are many variations of this tune, including Jack a Roe and Jack the Sailor.
The melody has also been used in the popular worker’s song “Which Side Are You On?”
[G] Lay the lily low
[D7] So fare the well my [G] dear
She dressed herself in a man’s array
And apparel she put on
And to the field of battle
She marched the men along
Your cheeks are red and rosy
Your fingers neat and small
Your waist too slim and slender
To face the cannon ball’
‘My cheeks are red and rosy
My fingers neat and small
But it never makes me tremble
To face the cannon ball
The battle being ended
She rode the circle round
And through the dead and dying
Her darling boy she found
She picked him up all in her arms
She carried him down to town
She sent for a London doctor
To heal his bleeding crown
This couple they got married
So well they did agree
This couple they got married
So why not you and me?
I learned this gospel song, dating back to 1874 from Bob Gibson and Bob Camp at the Gate of Horn in Chicago in 1961. It refers to “the marriage feast of the Lamb” in the New Testament Book of Revelation 19:6-9.
I’m gonna walk the streets of glory
I’m gonna walk the streets of glory one of these days
I’m gonna walk the streets of glory
I’m gonna walk the streets of glory one of these days
I’m gonna sit at the welcome table
I’m gonna sit at the welcome table one of these days
I’m gonna sit at the welcome table
I’m gonna sit at the welcome table one of these days
I’m going home to be with Jesus
I’m going home to be with Jesus one of these days
I’m going home to be with Jesus
I’m going home to be with Jesus one of these days
[Em] I’m gonna tell God how you treat me one of these days
[Em] I’m gonna walk the streets of glory one of these days
[Am] I’m gonna sit at the welcome table one of these days
[D] I’m gonna tell God how you treat me one of these days
I’m gonna tell God how you treat me
I’m gonna tell God how you treat me one of these days
I’m gonna tell God how you treat me
I’m gonna tell God how you treat me one of these days X2
This is a modern adaptation of the classic Bluegrass song, “Shady Grove” from my Limited Edition CD. I have always liked the drums in Hip Hop music and thought it would be fun to add them to this traditional song. The result is what I call “Pho-Cop” being a combination of folk music and Hip Hop. The five string banjo adds a level of antique authenticity. Today marks the 27th anniversary of the Folk Den!
Limited Edition CD
Shady grove my little love
Shady grove I say
Shady grove my little love
Going to shady grove
Wish I was in shady grove
Sittin’ in a rockin’ chair
If those blues would bother me
I’d rock away from there
Shady grove my little love
Shady grove I say
Shady grove my little love
Going to shady grove
Had a banjo made of gold
Every string would shine
The only song that it would play
Wish that girl was mine
Shady grove my little love
Shady grove I say
Shady grove my little love
Going to shady grove
When I was in shady grove
Heard them pretty birds sing
The next time I go to shady grove
Take along a diamond ring
Shady grove my little love
Shady grove I say
Shady grove my little love
Going to shady grove
When you go to catch a fish
Fish with a hook and line
When you go to court a girl
Never never look behind
Shady grove my little love
Shady grove I say
Shady grove my little love
Going to shady grove
When I was a little boy
All I wanted was a knife
Now I am a great big man
Lookin’ for a pretty little wife
Shady grove my little love
Shady grove I say
Shady grove my little love
Going to shady grove
Wish I had a big fat horse
And corn to feed him on
Wish I had a pretty little girl
To feed him when I’m gone
Shady grove my little love
Shady grove I say
Shady grove my little love
Going to shady grove
Got this from the Harry Smith Anthology of American Folk Music. This song feels appropriate because farmers are having a real tough time making a living these days.
[G] Come you ladies and you gentlemen and listen to my song
I’ll sing it to you right, but you might think it’s wrong
May make you mad but I mean no harm
[G] It’s just about the renters on [D] Penny’s [Em] farm
[G] It’s hard times in the country
Down on [D] Penny’s [G] farm
Now you move out on Penny’s farm
Plant a little crop of ‘bacco and a little crop of corn
He’ll come around to see, gonna plan and plot
Till he gets himself a mortgage on everything you got
It’s hard times in the country
Down on Penny’s farm
Hasn’t George Penny got a flattering mouth
Move you to the country in a little log house
Got no windows but cracks in the wall
He’ll work you all summer and rob you in the fall
It’s hard times in the country
Down on Penny’s farm
You go in the fields and you work all day
Way into the night but you get no pay
Promise you meat or a little lard
It’s hard to be a renter on Penny’s farm
It’s hard times in the country
Down on Penny’s farm
Now here’s George Penny come into town
With his wagon-load of peaches, not one of them sound
He’s got to have his money or somebody’s check
You pay him for a bushel and you don’t get a peck
It’s hard times in the country
Down on Penny’s farm
“Well Well Well” is an old gospel song that was revived by the folk community in the early 1960s and performed by many artists including Bob Gibson and Bob Camp, Peter Paul and Mary and the Seekers.
[Em] Well well well who’s that a-calling
Well well [Am] well [G] hold my [B7] hand
[Em] Well well well night is a-falling
[G] Spirit is a-moving all over this [B7] land
[G] God told Noah build Him an arc
[Bm] And the rain started falling
And the skies turned dark
[Em] The old arc a-moving,
[Am] Water stared to [C] climb
[G] God said a fire [B7] not a flood next time
CH
My Lord said fire coming judgement day
All mankind gonna pass away
Brothers and sisters don’t you know
We’re gonna reap just what we sow
CH
World’s not waiting for the Lord’s command
He’ll build Him a fire that’l sweep the land
With thunder out of Heaven
Comin’ Gabriel’s call
And the sea’s gonna boil
And the sky’s gonna fall
CH X 2
Prison legend had it that if you were touched by the light of the Midnight Special train, you were bound to be freed from prison. “Midnight Special” was recorded by Lead Belly but had been around for at least twenty years before his version became popular.
[G] Well, you wake up in the [C] mornin’, you hear the work bell [G] ring
And they march you to the [D] table you see the same old [G] thing
Ain’t no food on the [C] table, and no pork is in the [G] pan
But you better not [D] complain, or, you get in trouble with the [G] man
[Chorus:]
[G] Let the Midnight [C] Special shine a light on [G] me
Let the Midnight [D] Special shine its everlovin’ light on [G] me
Yonder come miss Rosie, tell me how do you know?
By the way she wears her apron, and the clothes she wore
Umbrella on her shoulder, piece of paper in her hand
She come to see the gov’nor, she wants to free her man
[Chorus]
If you ever go to Houston, well, you better walk right
You better not gamble, you better not fight
The sheriff will grab you and thy’ll take you on down
The next thing you know, You’re prison bound
[Chorus]
[Chorus]
I first learned “Cotton Eyed Joe” at Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music in 1957. No one really knows what it’s about but speculation has it that Joe would come to a town and steal away a man’s sweetheart. The song predates the Civil War and has become a cult dance tune both in line dance and partner dance. It has been recorded by The Moody Brothers, The Chieftains, Ricky Skaggs and the Swedish band Rednex. The 1980 film Urban Cowboy sparked a renewed interest in the dance. It has also inspired nightclubs to take on the name as in the photo above.
Come for to ramble
Come for to sing
Come for to show you
A diamond ring
BREAK
Where did you come from
Where did you go
Where did you come from
Cotton Eye’d Joe
Haden’t been for Joe Cotton Eye’d Joe
I’d a-been married 40 years ago X2
Where did you come from Where did you go
Where did you come from
Cotton Eye’d Joe
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