The Audio Archive of Songs Illustrated in the CPR
                                                                               (all post done with permission of the artist)
                                                                                               
                                                                                   
                                                                     THERE IS NO BANK ON WALL STREET THAT BELONGS TO ME

This song was written by Will Mahoney and Halsey K. Mohr in 1906. It was recorded as a ragtime song during that era, and later by a variety of country, popular, and old-time artists. Here is a good old-time version by The New Lost City Ramblers: You can view a video at the link below.

                                    My Name is Morgan But It Ain't J.P. [video]                  My Name is Morgan But It Ain't J.P. [lyrics and chords]

                                                                                                               HOW THE JOHN B. SAILS
The Bahamian folk song originally published as
The John B. Sailsis known to most of us as the Sloop John B.   It has been recorded by numerous artist. The Kingston Trio and The Beach Boys have recordings that are well known to many of us. The accompaniment is performed in a Calypso beat ( - - - _ _ -), a syncopated rhythm. Here is a link to a recording that may be close to the original style of its performance:
                                          The John B. Sails [video]                                                        The John B. Sails [lyrics and chords]


                                                                                        THAT AGGRAVATING BEAUTY
This song is frequently attributed to A. P Carter, and indeed the Carter Family’s recording of it made it well-known for the first time, but the song is much older than that. It was recorded twice by others prior to the Carter family, and was published in Wehrman’s Universal Songster in 1887. Pa Carter had a very high voice, and this recording of him singing it Carter Family Lulu Walls is in G-sharp, so you would have to capo at the sixth fret to play along. You can
also hear it on the HFMS Audio Archive page at the link below.
         
                                                Lulu Walls [Video]                                                   Lulu Walls [Lyrics and Chords]
                                                  
                                                                                 WHICH ON THIS DAY TO BE SERVED IS…
I think this is our first time to have an a capella song in this space. No chords. This great tune has always been one of my favorite holiday carols. The tradition of the boar’s head feast goes back to Anglo-Saxon times. Like many songs from that period, where a large number of literate people read Latin, the song is macaronic, meaning in multiple
languages. Translation of the Latin lines are given in the footnotes. It is an easy tune to learn. You can hear the song at the link below.
 
                                                   The Boar's Head Carol [video]                                  The Boar's Head [lyrics]
                                                                                                                    

                                                      I’M GOING DOWNTOWN TO THE RACES

I learned this song from a Norman Blake album, Live at McCabe’s, and the greatest thing about it is definitely Norman’s flatpicking.  But the song is also a lot of fun to sing.  You can hear Norman picking and singing it at the link below.

                                              Sweet Heaven When I Die [video]                            Sweet Heaven When I Die [lyrics and chords]

                                                                     I’LL JUST KEEP ON KICKING THIS STONE DOWN THE ROAD
           Jeff Black, our October Second Saturday artist, has graciously given us his permission to publish this excellent song of his. Jeff has plenty more great songs, so we hope to see you there October 14. Jeff does this song in C as written, no capo, so you can play along with the recording if you like. You can hear this song on Jeff’s website at the link below.
             
                                        Until I Learn To Fly [video]                                               Until I Learn To Fly [lyrics and chords]
                               
                                                                                               The Lowlands, Low  by Paul Cooper

I learned this song in the 1960s, but it is very old. A Child Ballad published as early as 1635. My niece used to ask me, “Uncle Bo, sing Lowlands Low”. You can listen to the song here as performed by Peter, Paul and Mary:  The Golden Vanity . Peter, Paul and Mary do it in the  key of A, so to play along with them, Capo II.
                                                 
                                                                                     THE GOLDEND VAINITY [lyrics and chords]


                                                                                      The Little Cabin That Could :^)

In the year 1875, Brewster Higley was a doctor who moved into a small cabin in Smith County, Kansas. At the time he had widowed by three wives and loss several children. He would go on to marry twice more. He led a simple life, and after living there for some time, he wrote a poem, “The Western Home”. Later, a friend of his, Daniel Kelley, set the poem to music. It became popular with the ranchers and the western settlers. The poem did not include “home on the range”.  That line was added to the first verse and became the refrain  when song by the ranchers who established the popularity of the song.  It was sung on the steps of the White House, the night Franklin D Roosevelt for first elected. Admiral Richard E. Byrd carried a mechanical Edison phonograph in his equipment during his expedition to the South Pole in the 1930’s.  When the spring on the record player froze, he sang “Home On The Range” to pass the time after his daily work was done.  In 1935, there was a lawsuit by someone who claim to be the composer of this most popular tune. Fortunately, there was the likes of John Lomax who had documented the origin of the tune in 1910 in his book, “Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads”.
              Michael Martin Murphy's Rendition-Home on the Range              Lyrics and Chords            The Original Poem - The Western Home    
         
                                                                                         GOODBYE FAIR LADIES
I first heard the Kingston Trio’s spirited recording of this song in 1962 – the year I graduated from high school. I was already well on my way to being a hard-core folkie. Away Rio is a traditional capstan shanty – dating to the 1860s or before. The “Rio Grande” of this song is almost certainly not the river of southwestern North America, but rather the province Rio Grande do Sul of southern Brazil. You can hear a traditional rendering of the song at the link below.   Every version I have heard has different verses, or the lyrics in a different order.

                                  Away Rio [video]                                                                 Away Rio [lyrics and chords]

                                                                                        HOW COULD I HAVE KNOWN
 Brian Kalinec has been a well-known performer, producer and friend of acoustic music on the Houston scene for many years. He will perform at our Second Saturday concert Saturday, May 13, and has graciously given us permission to publish this song from his new CD, The Beauty of it All, which will be available at the concert. You can hear this song at the link below.

                                      Next Door Stranger [video]                                                   Next Door Stranger [lyrics and chords]

                                                                                    TOMORROW WAS OUR WEDDING DAY

 This song is often attributed to the Carter Family, who were the first ones to popularize it, but it is much older than the Carter Family. The song is first cited in a 1909 compilation of songs by the Missouri Folklore society. I like this version by Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt. Their version is found in the link below. To play along with Dolly, capo at the first fret.

                                       Bury Me Beneath The Willow [video]                             Bury Me Beneath The Willow [lyrics and chords]

                                                                                        WE TURN TO THE SUN

Our February Second Saturday artist, Dana Cooper, is a highly accomplished singer, songwriter and guitarist with strong connections to Houston. He is a recipient of Folk Alliance International’s Spirit of Folk award, and has performed on Austin City Limits, Mountain Stage, and at the Kerrville Folk Festival. He has over 15 CDs to his credit, and dozens of wonderful songs. Dana has graciously given us permission to publish this charming love song, which you can hear on his latest CD, I Can Face the Truth, orat the link below.
                                           Flower and the Vine [video]                                    Flower and the Vine [lyrics and chords]

                                                                   BACK TO BACK, BELLY TO BELLY

 

It might be considered unusual to start the new year with a song about zombies, but this one has special significance for me.  In about 1959, when my Dad brought home our first Hi-Fi record player – a little RCA in a blonde cabinet on spindly legs, the first two LP albums he bought were The Kingston Trio at the Hungry I and Harry Belafonte at Carnegie Hall.  I was hooked from that point on.  I wanted to do nothing but play folk music for the rest of my life.  Zombie Jamboree was one of the more notable songs on the Kingston Trio’s album.  Dave Guard tells about this song in the introduction to their rendition, which you can hear at the link below.

                                     Zombie Jamboree [video]                                           Zombie Jamboree [lyrics and chords]

                                                                                         HEY FOR CHRISTMAS

This song was first published as a broadside in London in the 1600s. The tune is by the legendary English Baroque composer Henry Purcell. I am pretty sure the good Master Purcell did not write the words, which tell of a festive and rather bawdy Christmas celebration, which apparently was not unusual in seventeenth century England. Many more verses exist in the various sources. The version below is as performed by Houston’s Wylde Meade. To hear the tune go to the link below.
                
                                       The Shropshire Wakes [video]                                 The Shropshire Wakes [lyrics and chords]
                                                                            

                                                                                               TEXAS IS CALLIN’ ME

 

Blair Powell was a close friend and mentor of our November Second Saturday artist Steve Fisher.  Blair asked that Steve sing at his memorial service, which took place in Kerrville at the festival.  Steve wrote more than one song for Blair, because he said that just one song was not enough of an homage.  You can hear Steve perform this song at   MEMORIAL DAY , on his CD, Count Me In or at the link below


                                    Memorial Day [video]                                               Memorial Day[lyrics and chords]                    
          

                                                                                IT’S NOT A MASQUERADE BALL

Our song this month comes from the timely pen of our editor, Cehlena Solus, and is published here with her permission.  This song’s back story is pretty self-evident.  One of the things I like about it is the uncommon way it begins on the IV chord.  Many Celtic songs do that – not surprising, considering that Cehlena is the leader of a Celtic band called Wylde Meade.  You can hear this song performed at the link below.

                             Pandemic Shadows [video]                                       Pandemic Shadows [lyrics and chords]


                                              A-CRAWLIN’ IN YOUR WHISKERS

 

One of Canada’s most iconic folk songs, the song recounts his experience while he was visiting Northern Ontario with an Ontario Hydro survey party to study the feasibility of a dam on the Little Abitibi River, which flows north towards James Bay.  You can hear this song performed by the author at the link below.

                             Black Fly Song [video]                                               Black Fly Song [lyrics and chords]


                                              WHERE WERE YOU LAST FRIDAY NIGHT

 

There are many versions and verses of this song.  This is how Tony Rice recorded it fairly early in his career.  You also get to hear some of Tony’s unparalleled flat-picking.  This was back when his playing was still fairly traditional, which is my favorite era of his work.  You can hear the song at the link below.

                            Way Downtown [video]                                                 Way Downtown [lyrics and chords]

 

                                                     DID THE HOT DOGS TASTE BETTER?

The things in this song are true, except for the ones that I made up.  Mostly true.  The streetcar ran down Colonial Ave. in South Dallas right by Grandpa’s house.  You can hear this song performed by Across the Water at the link below.

                         Grandpa, Do You Wonder [audio]                                      Grandpa, Do you Wonder [lyrics and chords]


                                                  MY FEET THEY ARE SO TENDER

The historical setting of this ballad is most likely either the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714) or the Seven Years War (1756-1763).  High Germany refers to the mountainous, Alpine southern part of Germany.  Cecil Sharp collected a version of this song in 1906, and it was actually recorded on phonograph by Percy Grainger in 1908.  You can hear the great English folksinger Martin Carthy perform this song at the link below.

                              High Germany [video]                                               High Germany [lyrics & chords]


LET ME BE A MAN AND TAKE IT


Otto P. Kelland wrote this song in 1947.  Kelland was a prison warden at St. John’s Penitentiary in Newfoundland when he decided to set to music a conversation he once had with a sea captain about a sailor longing for his southeastern Newfoundland home.  You can listen to Stan Rogers perform the song here at the link below.
    
                           Let Me Fish off Cape St. Mary's [video]                     
Let Me Fish off Cape St. Mary's [lyrics & chords]

WRAP MY BODY IN A COTTON SHROUD

Our member and friend John A. Lomax III sent us some CDs copied from a vinyl album he produced in 1964 of live performances at the Jester in Houston.  For those of us who remember The Jester, the CD is a wonderful 60’s cultural document.  The artists include Guy Clark, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Frank Davis, Alex Martin, Kay Oslin, Scott Holtzman, and others.  I have transcribed Guy’s performance of Cotton Mill Girls.  You can hear this performance on the HFMS Audio Archive page at http://www.houstonfolkmusic.org/HFS_Audio_Archive.html.  I have transcribed the song in D.  It sounds like Guy is playing in D with a capo on the first fret.  For the first three people who email me at pcooper1@peoplepc.com, I will bring a free copy of the CD to the April 9 Second Saturday concert with New York singer-songwriter Paul Sachs.
           
                                             Cotton Mill Girls [audio]                            Cotton Mill Girls [lyrics and chords]


                                                                                                   CAN’T BELIEVE WHAT I SAW

This one is from the pen of Rag editor Cehlena Solus.  Cehlena says:  “I was sitting at Meyer Park looking at the nutria and thinking how fun  it would to write a song that included  them.  And I was reading a murder mystery around the same time about a bunch of crazy guys doing some wild stuff down in the Louisiana bayous.  I got to thinking, we have bayou's here but you don't really see nutria too often.  I wonder why? From there my imagination just went kind of wild and I wrote a song about what might happen if we had pirates and spotted nutria on our bayou during Mardi Gras!”  You can hear this song performed by Wylde Meade at the link below.

                                    Bayou Pirates [audio]                                              Bayou Pirates [lyrics and chords]

ROVER, ROVER SEE ‘EM SEE ‘EM

Old-time banjo fans, this is your moment!  This is one of Uncle Dave Macon’s classic banjo tunes – and a lively, fun one it is.  I found a charming performance on Youtube by young Nora Brown CumberlandMtnDeerChase, and she gives a great demonstration of frailing the way Uncle Dave played it.  I couldn’t understand all her words, so the lyrics below are the way I learned it.  But the tune is the same.  You  can also hear it at the link below.

                               Cumberland Mtn Deer Chase [video]                           Cumberland Mtn Deer Chase [lyrics & chords]

  A TROUBLED MIND CAN KNOW NO REST

This is a Canadian folk song, though it was first published on song sheets in America in the 1820s.  It became better known when it was referred to in a serialized story in Vanity Fair magazine called The Prrimpenny Family in 1861.  It has been recorded by an imposing list of Celtic and folk artists, including The Clancy Brothers, The Dubliners, The Chieftains, and Sinaed O’Connor.  You can hear a beautiful version of this song by Malachi Cush and Dierdre Bonner at the link below.

                                             Peggy Gordon [video]                               Peggy Gordon [Lyrics & Chords]
                    
WHILE GRANDPA SPUN THE YARN

Jimmie Joe and Chrissy Natoli – The Better Halves -- gave us a wonderful show at the November Second Saturday Concert.  In this one, from their 2014 CD, All Over the Map Jimmy Joe dazzled us with both his Chet Atkins-style picking and his songwriting.  You can hear it performed at their website:
                                                           Olden_Days                 Olden_Days_Lyrics & Chords

WATER STILL AIN’T GOT ME YET

There is a traditional version of this song.  You can hear Rhiannon Giddens perform it here:  Rhiannon Giddens Version  And then Dirk Powell came along, and penned this extraordinary song of the same title – similar in some respects.  I was so impressed with Powell’s version that I emailed him requesting permission to publish his song here, and he answered me right back, graciously giving his permission, and adding that he wouldn’t mind playing Houston some time.  So here it is.  You can hear a beautifully arranged version by him at:  Dirk Powell or on the Audio Archive page of the HFMS website at  http://www.houstonfolkmusic.org/HFS_Audio_Archive.html

                                      Video:  Waterbound - Dirk Powell                                                 Lyrics and Chords:  Waterbound

                                                                                       IT STUNG LOTS WORSE THAN A HIVE OF BEES

This is one of the “orphan” lyrics Woody Guthrie wrote towards the end of his life when he was too sick with Huntington’s Chorea to play the guitar, so he could not compose music.  In 1998, Woody’s daughter Nora commissioned Billy Bragg and the band Wilco to compose and record music for some of these lyrics.  This version is from Across The Water’s second CD, Waterproof.  You can hear it at the link below.  Capo IV to play along with the recording.

                           Audio by Across The Water                                            Lyrics and Chords:  Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key

   MY WIFE TOOK DOWN AND DIED

Woody Guthrie wrote this song in 1940, and it was published that year in his album of Dust Bowl Ballads.  Woody performs it in his inimitable boom-chuk upbeat style, which you can listen to here:  Woody's Version  I have also heard this song performed as a slow, mournful lament, like this version by Billy Bragg:  Billy Bragg's Version  I like both versions so much that I chose to put them both out here.  I have transcribed the chords to Woody’s version.  If anyone wants the more elaborate chords for the Billy Bragg version, Email me (posted on the last page of this issue), and I will work them out and send them to you.  You can get most of them just by watching Billy’s left hand in the video.

                  Video:  Woody's Version                 Video:   Billy Bragg's Version          Ain't Got No Home [Lyrics & Chords]

TAKES MORE THAN GUNS TO KILL A MAN

Born Joseph Emmanuel Hagglund to Swedish-American parents in 1879, union activist and songwriter Joe Hill was executed for committing murder in 1915 in Salt Lake City.  Documents uncovered in the 21st century strongly suggest that Hill was innocent.  He was executed by a police firing squad.  His political notoriety as a vigorous and effective organizer for the IWW may have influenced his conviction.  Thus, with his death he became a towering martyr to the cause of organized labor.  Joan Baez performed this song at Woodstock in 1969, and it was released as a single by Vanguard in 1970.  I learned it from her recording.  You can hear Joan perform the song at the link below.

                                                         Joe Hill [video]                                                              Joe Hill [lyrics and chords]
                      
                                                                                              AMELIA, OPEN UP THAT THROTTLE

Amelia Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean in 1928, for which she received the Distinguished Flying Cross medal.  In July, 1937 – three weeks prior to her fortieth birthday, she and her navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean in an attempt to circumnavigate the globe.  Second Saturday artist Ben Bedford has generously granted us permission to publish his inspiring (and unabashedly feminist) ballad about her.

                                            AMELIA [video]                                     AMELIA [lyrics and chords]                             

                                                                    WITH HEARTS UNDAUNTED AND COURAGE TRUE

A song about cold weather seemed to be in order.  This traditional ballad about Lord John Franklin’s ill-fated expedition in 1845 to find a Northwest Passage around the pole is one of my favorites.  There were a great many recordings on Youtube to choose from – some by big “names” like Sinead O’Connor and Pentangle.  I liked this version by Andy Toman, which you can hear at the link below.  As with all traditional songs, you will find somewhat different words with different versions.

                                     Lady Franklin's Lament [video]                                         Lady Franklin's Lament [lyrics and chords]



                                                    THEY ATE OF OUR MEAT

On February 13, 1692, an estimated 30 members and associates of Clan MacDonald of Glen Coe were killed by government forces for failing to pledge allegiance to the new monarchs, William III of Scotland and Mary II.  The MacDonalds were Jacobites, participating in an uprising to restore James II to the throne.  The government of William III sought to make a brutal example of them for all the Jacobites.  This tactic worked; the uprising in the Highlands ended with the massacre of Glen Coe.  You can hear a nice version of this song by The Corries at youTube link, or at the link below.

                                       Massacre of Glencoe [video]                                    Massacre of Glencoe [lyrics and chords]


HEAVEN CAN NOT HOLD HIM

Our January issue actually comes out closer to Christmas than the December one, so here goes with my favorite Christmas carol.  Christina Rosetti composed it as a poem in 1872, then the noted English composer Gustav Holst set it to music in 1906.  It makes a lovely vocal piece with acoustic guitar.  You can hear a beautiful version of this song by Dan Fogelberg at In The Bleak Mid Winter.

In the Bleak Mid Winter [video]                                In the Bleak Mid Winter [lyrics and chords]
                                                                   

                                                               Starin' Out My Window
                                                         

This song by our Editor, Cehlena Solus, “…really came from staring out the window,” she says.  “Seeing the wind blow through the trees on the walks I take daily with the dogs along the bayou.”  “Music is all around us in nature if we just take a moment and listen.”  You can hear this song at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gEIz2FBKpo  or at the link below.
                                 
                                              Stepin' Into Color [video]                                             Stepin' Into Color [lyrics and chords]


                                                          I CLIMBED THE WALLS THE ROMANS LEFT BEHIND

 

Jack Williams has graciously given us permission to print this song from his fine album, Walkin’ Dreams.  He wrote it on one of his several tours performing in England.  Jack tells us that the brothers mentioned in verse four were actually his ancestors – sixteen generations back.  Walkin’ Dreams is still available through Jack’s website: http://www.jackwilliamsmusic.com/discography.html

                                  An English Moment [video]                                        An English Moment [lyrics and chords]

                                       ONE KIND FAVOR

 

I was listening to Lightnin’ Hopkins sing this on 33rpm vinyl before I ever heard him do it at the Will Rice commons in Houston in 1962.  But this song goes way back before that.  It was recorded (and some say written) by Blind Lemon Jefferson in 1927.  The list of people who have recorded it since goes on forever, as does the number of different ways to treat the song.  Listening to different versions on Youtube was so interesting that I have provided two versions for contrast.  First, a modern ensemble arrangement by Del McCoury and Friends where they treat it almost like a spiritual.

                  One Kind Favor - Del McCoury              One Kind Favor - Blind Lemon Jefferson      One Kind Favor [lyrics & chords]


                                         ON THE LEFT FOOT, PEG FOOT

 

I got chills the first time I heard this song in about 1959.  It must have been The Weavers’ version, because I don’t know if anyone else had recorded it yet.  The song was first published in 1928 by the Texas Folklore Society.  The A major IV chord at the beginning of the chorus gives the song a very interesting Dorian mode flavor.  The Weavers are actually performing it in E flat minor, so to play along with them you could tune down a half step, or transpose it to D minor and capo up one.  The drinking gourd is, of course, the Big Dipper constellation in which two of its stars point to Polaris, the north star.  Pete Seeger tells more of the story of the song in the intro to their recording, which you can hear at the link below.

                            Follow the Drinking Gourd [video]                                  Follow the Drinking Gourg [lyrics and chords]
                                                                    

                                BRING ALL MY WORRIED NATIONS

 I think this song is a gem tucked away amid the hundreds and hundreds of Woody’s songs.  Some of the concerns Woody writes about are little different from those of today.  You can hear an excellent rendition of this song by Joel Raphael from his 2-CD tribute album of Woody Guthrie songs at the link below.

                           Dance Around My Atom Fire  [video]                                               Dance Around My Atom Fire [lyrics and chords]


                                                                      

                                                       WHO WILL WEAR THE ROBE AND CROWN?

A lot of us may think of Valley to Pray as a folk song.  In fact it was written by the great gospel composer Albert E. Brumley (1905-1977), who also composed I’ll Fly Away, Turn Your Radio On, and many other gospel classics.  The song is also widely known as Down in the River to Pray, as recorded by Allison Krauss and many others.  To me, it is Valley to Pray because that is the version I first heard by Arlo Guthrie 50 years ago.  The song has been recorded by a great many people, perhaps least notably by Across the Water on their a cappella CD, No Strings Attached, so that is the version I have transcribed here, and that you can hear at the link below.

                                 Valley To Pray [audio]                                                                 Valley to Pray [lyrics & chords]            
              

                                         I WILL PAWN YOU THIS HEART IN MY BOSOM

We haven’t had a Carter Family song in this space for quite a while.  Here is one that A. P. Carter wrote in 1933 and recorded for RCA Victor.   They recorded the song in B-flat, which means it was probably played in G shape with the capo on the third fret.  So I have transcribed it in G, and you can capo wherever it is comfortable for you to sing it.  You can listen to the Carter Family’s original version of this song at the link below.
   
                           GOLD WATCH AND CHAIN [video]                                       GOLD WATCH AND CHAIN [lyrics & chords]



WE LEARNED TO MAKE MUSIC OUR OWN

 

Thinking of absent friends in this time of isolation, I reached out to my old band mate Steve Goodchild, and he gave us his permission to publish this song of his – also about an absent friend.  This song was recorded by Across the Water, but also more recently by Steve on his excellent solo CD, Nooks and Crannies.  You can hear Steve’s rendition at the link below.
 
                                   Time, Gentlemen Please [audio]                                       Time, Gentlemen Please [lyrics and chords]



                                                                                                       WILL YE GANG TO THE HIELANDS

 

It’s been a while since we had a good old Child ballad in this space, so here’s a pretty one to learn.  Like most songs this old, there are many variants out there, especially of the lyrics on this one.  You can hear this version performed by The Corries  at YouTube location ,  or at the link below.  I have Americanized some of the dialect, but not all.  Capo at the second fret and play in C as indicated and you will be in tune with the recording.  Thanks to Cehlena Solus of Wylde Meade for digging this one up.

                                                Will Ye Gang ... [video]                                                  Will Ye Gang ... [lyrics and chords]

                                                                                                       DID YOU TRY TO ABSCOND WITH A BEAUTIFUL BLONDE?

This song was first published in 1927 in Carl Sandbug’s American Songbag.  But it obviously harks back to an earlier time when the Territories were a place a person could get a new start, and sometimes, of necessity, with a new name.  You can hear this song performed by Jimmy Driftwood at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc_GFaOBj1s (Jimmy sings completely different lyrics, which pretty well clinches the fact that this is a folk song.  So just pick the verses you like.)  You can also hear this song at the link below.

                                   What Was Your Name in the States [video]                                 What Was Your Name in the States [lyrics and chords]

                                                                    SHE CHURNED THE BUTTER IN DAD’S OLD BOOT

This one was always a standard to do for kids – young or old.  I learned it from Pete Seeger’s record, How to Play the Five String Banjo, published around 1961.  I wonder how many kids today would know what a churn was, or a dasher.  Or butter, for that matter.  You can hear how Pete did the song with audience participation at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TIYfCTAqP8, or at the link below.
                          
                                         Risselty Rosselty [video]                                            Risselty Rosselty [lyrics and chords]                                      

                                                                                       THE ANGELS SING A LULLABY

 

Ben Bedford returns to Second Saturday January 11 (see Page 1).  Ben can bring history and literature alive with his songwriting, and this song from his excellent CD, Lincoln’s Man, is a fine example.  The last verse, with its interwoven references to Jack London’s works, is a songwriting tour de force.  I’ve transposed it to a lower key for easier singing.  You can access a video of Ben Bedford singing this at the link below.

                                             Goodbye Jack [video]                                                     Goodbye Jack [lyrics and chords]


                                                                                                            A HUNGRY FEELIN’

 

This song was first performed as part of a play by Brendan Behan, who is credited with composing it.  Learning that came as a surprise to me, because when I first heard it performed by Ian and Sylvia in the early 60’s it sure sounded like an old folk song.  It is based on Behan’s personal experience at Mountjoy Prison, where he was confined at one time.  You can hear this song at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRL7pEMMIbU, or at the link below.
           
                                               Royal Canal [video]                                                            Royal Canal [lyrics and chords]


                                                                                     HOW CAN A YOUNG MAN STAY AT HOME

This is a great jamming tune, and the verses can go on forever.  Any of the dozens of verses to “Shady Grove” will fit, among others.  You can hear a nice rendition of this song by the Dublin group We Banjo 3 at   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihxwAM3wEyQ,, or at the link below.

                           
Down The River Uncle Joe [video]                                       Down The River Uncle Joe [lyrics and chords]



                                                                               BEND DOWN THE TALLEST TREE       

 

It’s not Christmas yet, but not too early to start learning a carol or two.  This song has the rare distinction of being both a Child ballad https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_Ballads and a Christmas carol.  It dates back to at least the 15th century, where it is known to have been sung at the Feast of Corpus Christi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpus_Christi_(feast).  This is the version I learned from a 1961 Joan Baez record (Yes, a vinyl record.  I still have it).  The chords are slightly different from some other versions, but I love her treatment of it, which you can hear at the link below.

                                       The Cherry Tree Carol [video]                                          The Cherry Tree Carol [lyrics and chords]

                                                                                                 

                                                                             ALL THE LADS HAVE GOT THE SACK

 

The Rhondda Valley in South Wales has been synonymous with coal mining since the mid-nineteenth century, and the fortunes of the region and its people have always paralleled those of the coal industry.  Pete Seeger’s song “The Bells of Rhymney” based on the poem by Welsh poet Idris Davies mentions “the black bells of Rhondda” – black from the coal dust.  This song was written by Frank Hennessey during a miners’ strike.  The reference to “Roben’s axe” refers to Alfred Robens, who was Chairman of the National Coal Board from 1961 to 1971.  You can hear this song performed by The New Barleycorn at the link below.  If all the Welsh names in the last verse don’t roll easily off your tongue, it would probably not violate the folk process to substitute Anglicized Welsh names like Morgan, Davis, Edwards.

                                  Farewell to the Rhondda [video]                                      Farewell to the Rhondda [lyrics and chords]

                                                                    

                                                                                                                      ONE CHORD  WOODY

This one presents a real dilemma between authenticity and art.  As you can see here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH2DJvgNlMA, Woody performed it playing a D major chord throughout the song.  And the purity and earnestness of the song certainly comes out when it is done that way.  But to my musical taste, the melody cries out for a minor chord at the beginning, and the dramatic change to the relative major in the second line, as in this fine rendition from 1965 by Tracy Newman   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKTGilvIw7Y   You can take your pick.  That’s why they call it folk music.  I have notated the chords the way Tracy plays it.  You can play it as she does in the A minor chord shape and capo anywhere from open up to V or so to fit your vocal range.


     Pastures of Plenty [video with Woody]               Pastures of Plenty [video with Tracy Newman]        Pastures of Plenty [lyrics and chords]


                                                                       ‘TIS NATURE’S NEED; ‘TIS GOD’S DECREE

The leaders of the Abolitionist movement set up anti-slavery singing circles and wrote special songs for them, generally set to the tune of old hymns. The best of them was this “Abolitionists Hymn” set to the familiar “Old Hundredth.”, which was published in the Genevan Psalter in 1551.  John Pierpont wrote the lyrics as a poem in 1842.  If you have ever accompanied a hymn singalong, you will know that many hymn tunes change chords just about every beat. This one is no exception, so don’t take it too fast.  I have simplified the chords somewhat from the nice rendition by Stephen Griffith that can be found at the link below.

                                    The Abolitionist Hymn [video]                                                     The Abolitionist Hymn [lyrics and chords]


                                                                                              YER ILL-SPUN YARN

This old Scottish song has an interesting prescription for the young man whose girl is in a family way:  Enlist and see the world.  If you don’t care for the dialect, it is perfectly appropriate to sing the conventional English words.  Most are easy to figure out.  “Owsen wis tae rin”  means “Oxen was to run”.  A bairn is, or course, a baby.  You can hear this song performed by The Corries at the link below.

                                        TWA Recruiting Seargants [video]                              TWA Recruiting Seargants [lyrics and chords]   

                                                                                                 IT AIN’T NO USE

Paul Clayton recorded this song in 1960, and it is widely acknowledged to be the source of Bob Dylan’s Don’t Think Twice.  This is an excellent song in its own right, and Paul’s autoharp accompaniment is a very nice touch.   Paul’s rendition from a Monument Records compilation is on an  album that included tracks by Roy Orbison, Billy Grammar, Grandpa Jones and others.  Sounds interesting.  I would like to look it up.  You can also hear the track available on youTube at the link below.

                            Who's Is Gonna Buy You Ribbons  [video]                           Who's Is Gonna Buy You Ribbons  [lyrics and chords]

                                                         THE WORST THAT I’VE EVER BEEN HURT IN MY LIFE

The Louvin Brothers were an American country music duo composed of brothers Ira Lonnie Loudermilk (1924–1965) and Charlie Elzer Loudermilk (1927–2011), better known as Ira and Charlie Louvin. They helped popularize close harmony, and could be considered direct forerunners of duos like The everly Brothers.. The brothers are cousins to John D. Loudermilk, a Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member.  You can hear a lovely rendition of this sing by Jim and Jesse at the link below.
                               
                                   When I Stop Dreaming [video]                                      When I Stop Dreaming [lyrics and chords]


                                                                    
                                                                         STILL AN ODE TO JOY

 

Our March 9 Second Saturday artist Steve Fisher has graciously given us permission to publish this lovely and wistful song from his new 2-CD release, Growin’ Roses.  Old-time Kerrverts will remember him winning New Folk in 1990, and his presence around the late-night campfires (and he’s there still).  You can hear this song on Steve’s new CD, or  at the link below.

                                      An Old House Near the Corner [audio]                        An Old House Near the Corner [lyrics & chords]                                                                

                                                                                  NO ONE EVER ASKED ABOUT IT

 

Pierce says he carried the idea for this song and his memories of Mr. Zeidman around for many years before he finally wrote it.  The newspaper article that you can find here:  open_the_article  tells the story better than I could.  He uses a very original chord progression in the song, but just about all the chords are quite accessible.  For the A9 chord in line 2, just fret the third and fourth strings both at the second fret, and that will work fine in this song.  This song is on Pierce’s new CD, Father’s Son, just released in January of this year, or you can listen to it by using the link below to view Pierce and David Webb performance of the song.   To play along with the recording, capo at the first fret and refer to the lyrics and chord sheet linked below.

                                        Mr. Zeidman [video]                                                    Mr. Zeidman [lyrics & chords]


                                                                                    TO MAKE THE WOUNDED WHOLE

 

“Is there no balm in Gilead?  Is there no physician there?  Why then is there no healing for the wounds of my people?”  This fine old African-American spiritual uses these words from Jeremiah 8:22 to also allude to faith in the healing and redemptive power of Jesus.  You can hear a lovely rendition of the song on the Audio Archive at the link below.  I have transcribed it in the same key as the recording.

                              Balm in Gilead [audio]                                                               Balm in Gilead [lyrics & chords]

                                                                                                  HEAVEN CANNOT HOLD HIM

 

This is my favorite Christmas carol, "In The Bleak Midwinter", and it goes very nicely with a guitar accompaniment.  The words are from a poem by Christina Rossetti published in 1872, and it was set to music in 1906 by the great Scandinavian composer Gustav Holst.  You can hear a very creditable version of this carol (in the same key, but slightly different chords) by James Taylor at the link below.

                            Heaven Cannot Hold Him [video]                                             Heaven Cannot Hold Him [lyrics & chords]

                                                                                       THERE IS NO JUDGE MORE FAIR THAN TIME

Benny Hughes tells the story that the first time Jack Hardy played at Tom Yeager’s Songbird Sanctuary, I called him up and said, “Benny, you’ve got to go hear this guy – he’s the real deal.”  Jack Hardy was indeed the real deal, and when we lost Jack in 2011, we lost not only a brilliant songwriter, but a major exponent of the folk music movement.  This is one of Jack’s many “Celtic” tunes, and a personal favorite.  You can hear this tune and play along with it at the  link below. 
                                             Blackberry Pie [video]                                                                Blackberry pie [lyrics & chords]

AND I HEARD THE ANSWER

 

This song became well known around Houston when Bill graciously allowed Across The Water to perform and record it.  Bill and Kate are returning to Second Saturday October 13, and Hobos will no doubt be requested, and much of the audience will sing along.  Here are the chords and lyrics in case you want to practice up for Second Saturday.  You can hear Bill and Kate perform this song at the link below. I have transcribed the song in G.  If you want to play along on the video, capo at the first fret.

                                            Hobos in the Roundhouse [video]                              Hobos in the Roundhouse [lyrics and chords]

DON’T TELL A SOUL
Paul Sachs is an alumnus of Jack Hardy’s Monday night songwriting gatherings in Greenwich Village. In 2010, he ventured from his life-long home of New York City for a road trip to Kerrville, Texas with Jack. He returned to Texas as a finalist in the Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk Competition in 2012 and as a winner in 2013. Paul’s maternal grandparents met in New York City after they emigrated from Ireland. This Irish heritage is subtly evident in some of his songwriting, including Family Secrets. You can hear this song on his excellent just-released CD, Full Detroit, or at the link below.
                               
                                               Family Secrets [audio]                                              Family Secrets [lyrics and chords]
                                

LOCK MY HEART IN A BOX OF GOLDEN

I first learned this song either from Pete Seeger’s record, How to Play the Five-String Banjo, or from his book, Americn Favorite Ballads in about 1961.  You wouldn’t expect a slow love ballad like this to be performed on the banjo, but Pete makes it work.  I have transcribed the chords in the key of G.  I think Pete plays it on the banjo in G tuning with the capo at the second fret, so capo II if you want to play along.  You can access the video at the link below.

                              All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies [video]                                      
All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies [lyrics and chords]


THE BIG FOOL SAID TO PUSH ON


 I heard this song before I knew it was by Pete Seeger, It could be taken as “political.”  Or not.  I took it as a pretty cool piece of music, and a good cautionary tale, and still do.  You can hear Pete perform this song at the link below.

                                     Waist Deep In The Big Muddy [video]                                               Waist Deep In The Big Muddy [lyrics and chords]


ANOTHER TIME AND PLACE


Dave van Ronk is often associated with blues and jazz – and he did not write a great many songs.  Dave is quoted as having said there were so many great songs by other people that it didn’t make sense to spend time writing more.  But he penned this lovely lyric that appeared in his 1985 album, Going Back to Brooklyn.  It is quite easy to learn.  I have transcribed it in the key Dave performed it in.  If you don’t fancy making the C# minor barre chord, you can capo at IV and play it C chord shape, so that the C#m becomes a comfy old Am shape.  You can play along with Dave on the recording posted at the link below.
                   
                                     Another Time and Place [video]                                               Another Time and Place [lyrics and chords]


WHE STOLE THE CUDDY?

This one is a shout-out to my wonderful friends from the North of England.  Geordie Ridley was not the original Geordie, but a much revered one among these folks who love their music and their musicians.  Blaydon is about 4 miles from Newcastle.  And yes, interurban bus service (horse-drawn) did exist in England in 1862.  Some of the events in the song are real, it seems.  Coffy Johnny was an actual historical figure.  Ridley sang this song at Balmbra’s Music Hall on June 5, 1862.  “Blaydon Races” has become an anthem for Newcastle United, and they sing it at all the games.  Indeed, some call this song the unofficial Geordie anthem.  This goes out to Helen, Steve, Chris, Michael and John – though Helen is the one actually from the town where they hung the monkey.  You can hear this song at the link below.

                                            Blaydon Races [video]                                                          Blaydon Races [lyrics and chords]


   I HOPE HE LIVES A LIFE OF EASE


David Massengill put on an outstanding show for us at the March second Saturday concert.  This song is always one of his most-requested, and I have heard a number of people say that it is their favorite among David’s many great songs.  The rolling, dulcet tones of his dulcimer provide a perfect accompaniment.  David has graciously given us permission to publish his song.   The rendition here is from a live performance at the Austin Acoustical Café;  you can hear at the link below.

                                              Rider on An Orphan Train  [video]                                              Rider on An Orphan Train [lyrics and chords]

WRAP ME UP IN ME OILSKINS AND JUMPER

 

The notion of an afterlife called Fiddlers Green where old sailors go (those who don’t go to hell, anyway) first appears in literature in an 1856 novel by Frederick Marryat called The Dog Fiend.  This song was written in 1960 by John Connolly and paints a lovely picture of this place long-celebrated in myth, story and song.  You can hear a nice version of this song by The New Barleycorn at the link below.

                                               Fiddler's Green [video]                                                 Fiddler's Green [lyrics and chords]

WE TOOK CARE OF THE BOYS

The Folk Alliance International invited Joe Crookston, our February 10 Second Saturday artist (see Page 1) to be the Artist in Residence at the 2016
Conference in Kansas City MO. Joe collaborated with the National World War I Museum in Kansas City, digging into their archives of letters,
photographs, field recordings and objects from WWI. After reading hundreds of letters, Joe chose to tell the story of Florence Hemphill, a woman.
 A nurse of Scottish ancestry from Wilson County Kansas. A worker less honored in the history books. Florence was a courageous medical presence
in France during some of the most intense fighting.  This song is on Joe’s newest CD, Joe Crookston 2017, or you can hear it at the link below.

Letters of Florence Hemphill [audio]                                   Letters of Florence Hemphill [lyrics and chords]

   AND HIS BODY HAS NEVER BEEN FOUND

 

This song was not composed by Lead Belly, but is a traditional song that he seems to have been the first to record.  Though popular in the folk music and bluegrass community for decades, this song received its greatest boost when Nirvana performed it on MTV Unplugged in 1993, and Kurt Cobain referred to Lead Belly as his favorite performer ever.  The song is played in E major, but to sing it like Lead Belly you need to start the first note on the word “my” a little flat – around a G note – and slide up in the direction of the G# that is contained in the E chord.  You can hear this song performed by Lead Belly at the link below.

                                      Where Did You Sleep Last Night [video]                                    Where Did You Sleep Last Night [lyrics and chords]


 THE LONELIEST BOY IN THE TOWN

Michael Troy’s music may be one of the lesser-known treasures of 21st century American acoustic music.  His sad ballads of life in his home town of Fall River, Massachusetts earned him the sobriquet of “The Poet Laureate of Fall River”.  Michael played for us at Second Saturday in 2007 and 2011, and was a Kerrville New Folk winner in 2010.   We lost Michael to cancer on November 29, 2015.  This deeply evocative Christmas song from his CD Mill Town Boy is representative of Michael’s best work.  The CD is still available on CDBaby, or you can hear the song on the link below.
           
                                                                             Shine Boy [video]                                              Shine Boy [lyrics and chords]

I RIDE THE ROLLER COASTER AND I RIDE THE RODEO

Oklahoma singer-songwriter Steve Fisher graciously gave us permission to publish this excellent song of his from his CD, The Ancient Causeway.  Steve has performed at Second Saturday, and was a Kerrville New Folk winner in the 1990’s.  Steve has a pretty low voice, so you might want to capo it a bit higher, or even transpose it to C or D.  You can also hear Steve perform this song at the link below.
                                                                 
                                                                    Best That I Can Do [audio]                            Best That I Can Do [lyrics and chords]        

HE’LL GO NO MORE A-ROVIN’

 

The delightfully bawdy Maid of Amsterdam was first documented in the mid-1800’s, but is attributed by some scholars to a work by Thomas Heywood in 1608.  You can hear it performed by Wylde Meade on the link below.   Wylde Meade introduces the song with Bayou Town Shanty, which is also shown here.
Maid of Amsterdam [audio]                      Maid of Amsterdam [lyrics and chords]

OH ME OH MY, I MISS MY MAMA

 

We are very fortunate to have Thad Beckman as our September, 2017 Second Saturday artist, and he generously gave us permission to publish one of his songs this month.  This bluesy lyric is the title song of Thad’s 2015 CD, Streets of Disaster.  Not only will we hear this and many more of Thad’s fine originals Saturday night, but he has promised to teach us that cool introductory lick at the fingerpicking workshop he will give Sunday afternoon, September 10 at 2:00 PM at Paul Cooper’s house.  You can hear this song at the link below.
Streets of Disaster [video]                                Streets of Disaster [lyrics and chords]

NOTHING MATTERS WHEN YOU’RE FREE

 

Written in 1970 by Pete St. John, this song became world famous in 1990 when it was adopted as an anthem by the Irish National Football team.  The song is set during the Great Famine of 1845-1850.  “Trevelyan” in the song refers to Charles Edward Trevelyan, a senior British civil servant at Dublin Castle who famously said, “The judgement of God sent the calamity to teach the Irish a lesson.”  You can hear this song performed by The Dubliners at [Daily Motion Video], or at the link below.
                                                 Fields of Athenry [video]                                                 Fields of Athenry [lyrics and chords]

NEITHER WIND NOR RAIN CARE FOR BRAVERY

 

This tune will be familiar to most of us.  IRA rebel Bobby Sands was a fan of Gordon Lightfoot, and composed this song to the tune of “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” while in an English prison.  Musically, I like this song better than Lightfoot’s because the short but powerful chorus provides a break from the repetitive melody of the verses.  For the music track, I’ve chosen a self-posted video by “Sheena” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE1CmgqYaOU because she shows us how to do a fine solo rendition with guitar (which is how most of us would be doing it), and you can see exactly what she is doing on guitar.  She is playing in Am Capo IV.
Back Home in Derry [video]                                     Back Home in Derry [lyrics and chords]

LIKE OUR FEET ARE BORNE OF WINGS


We are a little late to bring you this song for May Day, but still very pleased to offer this one up.  Though he penned scores of great songs, like the one below, Jack Hardy’s influence on folk and acoustic music goes far beyond the songs he wrote.  He was a mentor and coach to a great many young singer-songwriters, hosting regular Monday night workshops at his flat in New York for decades.  He established a musical cooperative called Fast Folk, which provided the first recording opportunity for a large number of young artists, including Lyle Lovett, Suzanne Vega, Tracy Chapman and Shawn Colvin.  You can hear his song on Jack’s 1978 CD, The Nameless One,  or the link below.

                                       May Day [youTube Video]                                                        May Day [lyrics and chords]


TEN GUNINEAS IN GOLD I WILL SLIP IN YOUR FIST

 

We could consider this a 19th century anti-war song.  It was first collected around 1840 in Limerick by Patrick Weston Joyce.  Many traditional songs tell of aggressive recruitment tactics and paying the king’s gold or getting young men drunk to get them to enlist.  I haven’t previously seen one where the would-be “recruits” take matters into their own hands quite as forcefully as Arthur McBride and his cousin.  You can hear a charming rendition of this song by an unidentified group at the link below.


                                   Arthur McBride [video with lyrics]                                                            Arthur McBride [lyrics and chords]

I BELIEVE IN LIGHTNING BUGS

 

Our March Second Saturday artist Danny Schmidt graciously gave us permission to reprint this anthem-like song.  His partner Carrie Elkin did a wonderful job singing lead on it at our March 11 concert.  Danny and Carrie were both veteran road warriors and singer-songwriters when they became a couple a few years ago.  You can hear their arrangement on their 2104 duo CD, For Keeps, or at the link below to Danny Schmidt's webpage (Company of Friends is track #4).
         
                                                Company of Friends [audio]                                                             Company of Friends [lyrics and chords]

                                    

                                                                            NEVER TURN YOUR BACK ON A BONNIE WEE LASSIE

 

In honor of St. Paddy’s day this month, we offer this well-known Irish ballad. Despite the Scots-sounding“bonnie wee lassie”, this song is definitely Irish in origin.  Carnlough Bay is in Northern Ireland, and is, in fact, the location of Pat Hamill’s Hotel (though it is now called the Glencloy Inn).  Pat Hamill’s was a center for cycling enthusiasts, where folks could stop off on their excursions, and a brisk business in renting bicycles was carried on there.  You can hear a lovely version of this song, sung by Jenny Martin at the link below.

                                            Sweet Cornlough Bay [video]                                                    Sweet Cornlough Bay [lyrics & chords]

A BACH ROAD JOURNEY
The Road to Lubeck  by Paul Cooper

In 1705, when he was twenty years old, J.S. Bach took a six-week leave of absence from his job as music director at the Lutheran Church in Arnstadt, Germany and walked two hundred miles to Lubeck to hear an organ recital by his hero Dietrick Buxtehude  the greatest organist of his day.  I was struck by this commitment and passion for music on Bach's part.  I started speculating about what might have gone through his mind on this journey.  First I guessed he might have been thinking about his career and his contributions to music  inventing the well-tempered scale and such.  Getting a little more whimsical, I saw him looking into the future, comparing himself to other composers  maybe getting a little jealous of Handel.   Listen carefully to the melody in the last two lines of the chorus.  The song changes key every measure as it works its way around the circle of fifths.

                       Road To Lubeck(audio)           Lyrics and Chords

                                   
                                       MINSTREL BOY TO THE WAR HAS GONE              
submitted by Paul Cooper

This is one of those songs that many can recognize, but few can name that tune. The tune is familiar, because it has been used as background in several movies (Saving Private Ryan, Blackhawk Down, The Man Who Would Be King) and TV shows (Star Trek). The song was originally composed as an Irish patriotic air by Thomas Moore (1779-1852) who composed it in memory of his Trinity College friends who died in the irish rebellion of 1798. Over the centuries it has come to stand as a universal anti-war song.
                                 The Minstrel Boy sung by Tommy Makem (audio)                            Lyrics and Chords



                              

STEADY AND GRACEFUL, SOLID AND WISE

Submitted By Paul Cooper

 

For those of us who don't attend hockey games or ice skating rinks, a Zamboni is the big four-wheeled machine that comes out and smooths out the ice between skating sessions.  Named for its inventor, Mr. Zamboni, this graceful monster makes quite an impression  especially on kids.  This song was written by Chris Hartman's sister Mary Hartman.  The chorus of it was read by Garrison Keiller on his radio show during his Christmas song contest, and the song has also been heard on NPR's popular program, Car Talk. Mary says "Our local (minor league) hockey arena sometimes plays part of it between periods at hockey games when the Zamboni comes out".   Mary says "We play it in C. I play G chords with the capo on the 5th fret, and Janet plays in C with no capo."

 

Mary performs with the trio Humphrey, Hartman and Cameron out in state of Washington.  Their website is http://humphreyandhartman.com/.  (It is worth visiting for the banjo haiku alone.)   Please note that the audio file was made available by Mary  for purposes of learning the song.  It is not to be added to your permanent collection.

                                                 Lyrics and Chords                                                   Zamboni (audio)


TIME, GENTLEMEN PLEASE

By Steve Goodchild

The notes to Across the Water's second album say:  Joe Scurfield was a schoolmate, fellow soccer and rugby team player, and one of Steve's first musical collaborators.  Came the time for the leaving, Steve and Joe went separate ways, neither knowing that they were to attend universities in adjacent towns, not 20 miles apart, both continuing to pursue their musical interests.  Thirty years later, watching the Old Rope String Band while both were appearing at the Chester (England) Folk Festival, Steve recognized the balding, bearded troubadour as his erstwhile friend  despite playing the fiddle whilst being supported upside-down with his head in a bucket of water! Sadly only a couple of years after renewing the acquaintance, Joe was run down by a drunk, speeding 'joyrider'in a stolen car whilst making his way to his local pub in Newcastle to catch last orders.  "Time gentlemen, please" is a common phrase in the parlance of English pub landlords to announce that it is closing time.


Lyrics and Chords                                            Time, Gentlemen Please (audio)   


WILLIE GOGGIN'S HAT

By Jack Hardy

 

Jack Hardy was kind enough to give Across the Water permission to record this song, and I am boldly assuming his permission also extends to reproducing our version of it here.  This song was inspired by one of Jack's many trips to Ireland.  Some of the details in the song are no doubt products of the poetic imagination, but Killorglin and Caherciveen are real places along the Ring of Kerry, and Jack asserts that there really was a tinker named Willie Goggins, and Jack Hardy did end up with his hat!  You can hear our version of the song on Across the Water's third CD, Watercolour, or on the HFMS link below.

 We perform the song in G, capoed up two frets.  You can of course adjust the capo position to suit your vocal range,

    

Lyrics and Chords                        Willie Goggin's Hat (audio)


A POPPY BY ANY COLOR

 

This song tells a true story.  The lyrics flowed out in a fairly orderly fashion shortly after I heard the story  unlike most of my songs.  The one salient departure from fact is that a year after I recorded the song, I heard that a friend of the people in the song had done a painting of the place in Arizona where the poppies actually bloomed.  And it turned out they were yellow!  The original story as related to me had not included what color the poppies were.  To fit the music, I needed a one-syllable word to describe the poppies, so I had made them red in the song.  Art does not always imitate life down to the last detail.  This song can be heard on Across The Water's second CD, Waterproof, or at the link below.

                                                                                              Lyrics and Chords                                Alethea's Song [audio]



                                                                                               A HOLE IN THE HEART

 

When Lucy Nell Andrews passed away, her family's Email screens lit up with condolences and tributes from singers and songwriters from all over the country who had graced her living room.  Lucy Nell's house concerts were one of the pillars of the Houston acoustic music community, and the very best artists lined up to play there when they were in Texas.  One of the tributes came from Bob Livingston, who wrote, "There's a hole in the heart of Texas tonight".  When this thought was passed on to Steve Goodchild, he says the rest of the song just fell into place.  Thank you, Steve.

 


                                                                                             Lyrics and Chords                              A Hole In The Heart of Texas [audio]




I CAN SEE IT ALL SO CLEARLY

Way out Here by Ken Gaines

 

Ken opened our May Second Saturday Concert songwriter's circle with this fine original.  Having heard Ken perform it for six or seven years now, it's still one of my favorites.  You can substitute an F chord for the Fmaj7 Ken plays at several points if you want a more folky feeling, instead of the shimmery Fmaj7.  You can hear Ken perform this song with Karen Mal on his excellent CD, Catfish Moon, or solo on the HFMS Music archive web page at http://houstonfolkmusic.org/HFS_Audio_Archive.html


                                                                                     
Lyrics and Chords                               Way Out Here [audio]




MY WEDDING DAY

(C. Mims) Pandulce Music BMI

 

Connie was one of the panel of three singer-songwriters who gave us such a fantastic show at our May Second Saturday Concert.  She graciously gave us permission to publish this song of hers in the Rag. "My Wedding Day" is from Connie's 2008 CD release "Go Deep", produced by Jack Saunders at White Cat Studios, Houston. Connie performs this one with capo at Fret III.  The chord designated as C2 in the chorus looks like this:                             

                                                                                                              

You can see Connie perform this song on YouTube at:  Connie on YouTube, or listen to it on the Audio Archive page of the HFMS website at: http://houstonfolkmusic.org/HFS_Audio_Archive.html.


                                                                          Lyrics and Chords                                      My Wedding Day [audio]

                                                                                                   
                                                                                                           Fireside Banjo Sampler                    
                                                                                      
posted by Andy Longo
                                                                                             
I recently completed a Fireside Banjo kit sold by  Backyard Music .   The ring of the banjo is cardboard, and the top is white pine.  I was asked about a sample of the sound so I am storing the audio file on this page for a link of Facebook.
                                                                                                                  Wildwood Flower_sampler



JUST PUT 'IM IN  A HEARSE

 

Bully of the Town

 

You will hear this tune frequently as an instrumental performed by bluegrass and old-time music groups.  For years I thought it was a fiddle tune without words until I heard someone sing it at a bluegrass jam in New Jersey.  There are many variations on the lyrics -- these are my favorites.  I think the last verse is a classic!    Even if you don't choose to learn the song, you should listen at least once to Gid Tanner and his great guitarist Riley Puckett.  They were important pioneers in the development of the music we know today as bluegrass.

 

Lyrics and Chords                  Link to Audio on YouTube


THAT RIVER LIFE FOR ME WAS JUST A DREAM

 

In 1856 the steamboat Arabia struck the stump of a submerged walnut tree in the mighty Missouri River just south of Kansas City.  She went down in minutes, taking with her over 200 tons of cargo bound for general stores all over the American frontier.  All crew and passengers survived.  In 1988 River Salvage, Inc. found her and most of the cargo intact.  Bob's song tells the story of a fictitious river man wannabe who lost his boat and career the first time out.  He reluctantly returns to the farm, declaring the river life "just a dream".  Today the Arabia Museum in Kansas City displays the salvaged boat and much of the lost cargo.  Across the Water plays this song in C chord shape, capo IV. 


Lyrics and Chords               The Arabia [audio]


THE ANGELS SING A LULLABY

 

Ben Bedford's songs are often historical -- sometimes literary -- sometimes both, as in this fine song about Jack London.  The last verse is comprised almost entirely of allusions to London's better-known works.  With his fine tenor voice, Ben performs this song way up around the key of G.  I have pitched it for those of us with more regular voices in the People's key of D, but you may of course capo or transpose it to suit your own vocal range,  You can hear Ben perform this song on his excellent CD, Lincoln's Man.


Lyrics and Chords       Goodbye Jack [audio]




AND WILLIE WILL SING AT MY SERVICE

                                    By Paul Cooper

Gerald Connor was a real cowboy -- an inducted member of the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame, in fact, which helps explain why there was Willie Nelson music playing in the chapel at his funeral.  Gerald was also a decorated veteran of World War II, and a lifelong member of the Masonic Lodge.  All of these institutions were represented at his funeral, and all of them show up in the song.  You can hear this song on Across the Water's first CD, Watermark.

                                                                                                       Lyrics and Chords             Gerald's Song [audio]

                                                                                                               

WAR STORY
by Paul Cooper

 

Joe Crookston's songs about people and events draw the listener in emotionally as much as any singer-songwriter I know.  Joe's CD, "Able, Baker, Charlie and Dog", of which this is the title song, received the most airplay of any folk album at the time it was released, and was awarded "Album of the Year" by the International Folk Alliance.  Joe will perform at our March Second Saturday concert March 9.  This song can be heard on Joe's CD by the same title or at the link below.

                                                                                                       Lyrics and Chords              Able, Baker, Charlie and Dog [audio]


 

                                                                                                       SECOND GENERATION SUNSHINE

                                                                                                                      By  Paul Cooper

 

This is a first for our recently inaugurated song column.  In January we featured Mattie May by Zachary's mom, Carolyn Davis.  This month we are happy to present this lyrical delight which Zachary first performed for us at one of the pickin parties a few months back.  The first verse and chorus show the actual chords created by the lively guitar lick he uses in the accompaniment.  The second verse and chorus show a simplified version if you just want to strum it.  You can hear this song on Zachary's online profile at Reverbnation or at the link below.

                                                                                                 
Lyrics and Chords                      Sunshine [audio]




GARFIELD, HE'S AS HUMAN AS HUMAN CAN BE

A song by Eric Johnson

Another song by one of our talented members,  Eric wrote this song back in the 1980s.  He says he sent the song to the creator of the Garfield cartoon series, but it was not adopted as a theme song.  That's a loss for all of Garfield's loyal fans, in my opinion.  It's a good song.   It is sung to the tune of  'So Long, Its Been Good To Know You' by Woodie Guthrie.  Eric recorded the audio track at World Music in Sugarland, TX

 

Lyrics and Chords                Garfield [audio]


DOWN IN NEW MEXICO

 

This is another song by one of our many talented members, Lloyd Ernstes.  Lloyd has helped us out many times by running sound at our Second Saturday concerts.  You can hear Lloyd's demo of this song at the link below.  Lloyd recorded and mastered the demo at his studio and music store in Stafford, Texas.  You may recognize some familiar voices and players on the demo, including Tica Gibson, Marion Winsett and Kelly Lancaster.


Billy the Kid [lyrics]           Billy the Kid [audio]


FAEN WOULD I BE IN MY AEN COUNTRY

 

HFMS member Tony Paiotti did a nice job performing this fine old traditional song at our May 2013 Second Saturday concert.  Tony plays it in G, capoed at the third fret.  You can of course capo to suit your own vocal range.  You can hear a recording of Tony's performance by using the link below.  You can hear more of Tony's songs at www.youtube.com/user/1AcousticTony.

The Broom of the Cowdenknowes [Lyric & Chords]                 Audio_File     


SO LONG IT'S BEEN GOOD TO KNOW YUH

by Paul Cooper

This one is dedicated to our member and good friend Cal Perry, who passed away on June 6.  This is one of the songs Cal and I performed at Houston Christian High School's presentation on Shakespeare's As You Like It with a backup folk band.  Cal enjoyed doing this song, and it was a pleasure and a privilege performing with him.

                         So Long It's Been Good To Know You [Lyrics]                  Video with Rob Tepper lyrics as shown          Video with Woody (alternative lyrics)



Cal leading us on.

I'LL  FLY AWAY (FROM A SONG CIRCLE WITH CAL PERRY)
by Andy Longo
From time to time, I bring a small recorder with me to the picking parties.  On one occasion, I recorded Cal Perry leading the group in an instrumental performance of I'll Fly Away.    I extracted from the CPR pdf files images of recent pickin' parties that Cal had attended and made a  video(LINK).  The images are of low resolution, but your memories may refine them.

THEY FOUGHT ALL IN ONE MIND

 by Paul Cooper

I first heard this great old traditional English song on the CD Dark Fields by the excellent folk duo Show of Hands.  It's not hard to figure out that the song is both English and traditional, since making fun of Napoleon ("Old Boney in the song) is one of England's most cherished traditions.  You can hear the song performed solo by Phil Beer of Show of Hands at the link below ( The song begins about four minutes into the video, so you can skip over to the song if you like):
                                                         
The Warlike Lads of Russia [audio]                                                     Lyrics and Chords  


I WAS ONCE A STATELY MANSION

by Paul Cooper

In this gospel-sounding melody, Bryan speaks through the voice of an ante-bellum Southern Home.  The song will work with guitar just as well as autoharp.  You can hear this song on Bryan’s CD Home, Home on the Road or at the link below.

Stately Mansion [audio]                      Stately Mansion [lyrics and chords]


RUN OL' MOLLY RUN
by Paul Cooper

This song is a fictional account of the July 4, 1878 match race between the Kentucky horse Ten Broeck and the California mare Mollie McCarty at the Louisville Jockey Club (now Churchill Downs). Ten Broeck won the race before a record crowd of 30,000. The song commonly states that Ten Broeck "was a big bay horse", and although he was a bay, he was "very compactly built" The song refers to a fatal outcome, which did not in fact occur; Mollie McCarty lived nearly five more years, winning multiple races and producing three foals. This song was first recorded by the Carver Brothers in 1929, and later by Bill Monroe. You can hear the song performed by Tony Rice, Sam Bush and Bela Fleck at the link below.

                                                         Run Ol'Molly Run [audio]                                      Run Ol'Molly Run [lyrics and chords]


TELLIN’ HER LIES ON ME

   by  Paul Cooper

Elizabeth Cotton was a pioneer of American urban folk music, and particularly of the guitar style known as two finger pickin’. She played a standard strung guitar left-handed, which to most of us would be upside down. If you don’t know the story of how she was “discovered’ while working in the household of Pete Seeger’s family, it is worth looking up. Cotton wrote a number of other great songs, including Freight Train and Shake Sugaree, that have been recorded by a great number of artists. I suspect a lot more people know her music than know her name. You can hear this song performed by Elizabeth Cotton on YouTube on the link below:


                                                      Tellin' Her Lies On Me [audio]                                       Tellin' Her Lines On Me [lyrics and chords]


BEEN SO LONG

 

HFMS member Gaylee Malone performed this classic sixteen-bar blues at the November pickin’ party – one of many fine songs she has written. Gaylee says everything in the song is taken from actual experience.  She was one of the girls sittin’ at the station waving at the boys in green.  You can hear this song on Gaylee’s CD, or at the link below.

                                                    
                                                       Troop Train Blues [audio]                                      Troop Train Blues [lyrics and chords]

                                                                                  
                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                    SHE WAS VERY FOND OF DANCING

 

Twenty-something years ago I took a trip to Connecticut with the family.  At the restaurant where we were having lunch one day, a quartet dressed in renaissance garb was performing folk and traditional music, and they were very good.  Fine guitar players, terrific harmony.  One of the members was a a red-haired Australian lady with a wonderful strong soprano voice.  I bought their tape (remember audiocassettes?), learned that the name of the group was Sheelta, and listened to it all the way home.  Fast forward twenty years.  When I moved to Houston and heard Sue Atkins sing at a pickin’ party, her voice seemed very familiar.  I overheard her mention Sheelta, and sure enough, it was the same person.  This is the closing song on the tape – a great story of disappointed love, as sad as it is lively.  For the rhyme to work, you have to give “clerk” the English pronunciation – more like “clark”.  You can hear Sue perform this song at the link below.
                                                 
                                             Calico Printer's Clerk [audio]                           Calico Printer's Clerk [lyrics and chords]          


MOVED HIS BODY LIKE A CANNON BALL

 

From Pete Seeger’s  American Favorite Ballads:  In 1908 John Lomax listened to a woman sing as she washed clothes for her man working in a levee camp.  Next year he tried to look her up again.  The townspeople motioned up to the end of the street where the graveyard was.  "That's where Dink's living now."   The Lomax family remembered her song and passed it on to us, a great flower of beauty.  You can hear this beautiful song in the movie or on the soundtrack recording of Inside Llewyn Davis, or at the link below.                                 
                                                                                            Dink's Song [audio]                                    Dink's Song [lyrics and chords]    


         
                                                                                                                     A SONG PRESERVED BY ERIC JOHNSON

Sometime in the late 1970’s, Eric received from his brother a copy of a radio show broadcast in Washington, DC.   It was a recording of Richard K. Spotswood program.   R.K. Spotswood (b.1937) is a musicologist and author from Maryland who has catalogued and been responsible for the reissue of many thousands of recordings of vernacular music in the United States.  From this tape, Eric learned a song recorded by Walter Lee Moore (1914-1997), a long time country western performer who traveled across the country with a variety of groups.   The song is called “Where The Water Lilies Grow”.    It is one of Eric’s more moving and melodic tunes.  After some searching, I have found no other copy available but Eric’s recording at the link below.

                                                                
Where the Water Lilies Grow[audio]                         Where the Water Lilies Grow[lyrics and chords]


                                                                                                      BANKS OF MARBLE

                                                                                                             By Les Rice

                       

Les Rice was a New York State apple farmer and one-time president of the Ulster County chapter of the Farmers Union. His songs have made him well-known to farmers throughout the northeast. This song, ‘Banks of Marble’, written around 1948-49 deals with the farmer’s perennial problem of “parity” and how it affects the farmer’s life. Pete Seeger recorded the song on at least two albums; and in a note in one of his songbooks he wrote that Rice ‘farms across the Hudson from me, near Newburgh [Orange County, New York]. Like most small farmers, he was getting intolerably squeezed by the big companies which sold him all his fertilizer, insecticide and equipment, and the big companies that dictated to him the prices he would get for his produce. Out of that squeeze came this song..  You can hear Pete perform this song on YouTube at the audio link below.

                                                                                   Banks of Marble [audio]                                                   Banks of Marble [lyrics and chords]


                                                                                                          

At our April 2014 song circle, Jorge Palomarez sang  this beautiful love song in Spanish. His title for the song is “No Me Dejes Aqui” (Don’t Leave Me Here).

You can go to links below for the audio and the lyrics in Spanish along with the English translation.



                                                             No Me Dejes Aqui [audio]                                                No Me Dejes Aqui [lyrics & trans
        

                                                                              A Memorable Moment From Bill and Kate Isles Concert April 2014


It was mentioned in the last month’s CPR, that the April concert with Bill and Kate Isles was memorable when he brought up several in the audience to join in on the “Hobo’s” chorus.  As fortune would have it, Cathy Phillips was on hand with her iPhone to capture this event in sight and sound, and she did so admirably.  Below are two links;  One is a link to the full audio and the other is an excerpt of video.

                                                               Hobos in the Roundhouse [audio]                             Hobos in the Roundhouse[video]


UPSIDE DOWN LICKIN’ UP THE WHISKEY

by Paul Cooper

 We learned this song at a a performance of English music hall  numbers the last night of the Chester Folk Festival.  The connection with folk music is that many old music hall songs, such as this one, from the 1800s are now considered folk music, and thought by many to be traditional.  You can hear this song on YouTube at link below.
                                                                         
                                                                   Old Dun Cow [audio]                            Old Dun Cow [lyrics]

                                                                                                              

RIPPLE IN STILL WATERS
by Paul Cooper


   Not all fans of folk music include the Grateful Dead in their regular playlist.  But the Dead did a great deal to spread the gospel of folk, acoustic and singer-songwriter material.  They recorded many traditional folk songs, and a lot of their original tunes, such as the one below, would be a nice fit in any sing circle.  Robert Hunter was their main lyricist, and Jerry Garcia the principal music writer.  Hunter was a poet in his own right, publishing collections of poetry and a translation of Ranier Marie Rilke’s Duino Elegies, in addition to his many songs.  Below are links to the lyrics and to the audio available on youTube.

 
                                                                  Ripple [video on youTube]                                   Ripple [lyrics and chords]



HAVE TO DO IT WHILE I’M HERE

by Paul Cooper

Phil Ochs was a major voice in the Folk Revival and Anti-war Movement of the 1960’s, though his music is not heard much today.  Born in El Paso, Texas, he took his own life in 1976 at the age of 35.  This song, "When I'm Gone", is a philosophical statement couched in lovely poetic images, and based on a simple “turnaround” chord progression.


                                                               When I'm Gone [video on youTube]                     When I'm Gone [lyrics and chords]


ONCE WE WERE BOLD…

 

With 24 CDs going back to 1971, Allan Taylor is one of the premiere troubadours of the western world.  And  I am happy to announce that we have been able to book Allan for Second Saturday for our April 11, 2015 concert.  In the meantime, you can enjoy this great song of his at  the link below, as well as get a good look at how he plays it in Open G tuning. 

                                                          Bold Companeros[video on youTube]                            Bold Campaneros[lyrics and chords]

                                                                                              A MIGHTY DAY

 

The Hurricane of 1900 made landfall on September 8, 1900, in the city of Galveston, Texas. It had estimated winds of 145 miles per hour (233 km/h) at landfall, making it a Category 4 storm on the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale. It was the deadliest hurricane in US history, and the second costliest hurricane in U.S. history based on the dollar's 2005 value (to compare costs with those of Hurricane Katrina and others).

 

Though the dramatic melody and chord changes suggest the hand of a skilled composer, this song is listed as “Traditional” in the online sources I was able to find.  You can hear the song as performed by the Chad Mitchell Trio at the link below.  Chad Mitchell’s lyrics are somewhat different from those shown here, but most of the verses are the same.  I believe the verses tell the story best in the order shown below.
                                                           A Mighty Day [video on youTube]                         A Mighty Day [lyrics and chords]


THAT KIND OF LOVE

 

Pierce Pettis gave us a fine show at the September Second Saturday concert, which included this song, one of his best known.  If you are looking for a love song to learn, this near-scriptural paean to love itself would certainly qualify.  This is the title song of a wonderful CD Pierce produced on his own label, Compass records Group of Nashville www.compassrecords.com.  See links below for the audio file and the lyrics and chords document.   Pierce performs the song in the key of E.  I have transposed it down to D to make it a little more easily sung for most of us.
    
                                                             That Kind Of Love [audio]                                    That Kind of Love [lyrics and chords]

                                                                                             THROW THE VANDALS IN COURT

 

The lyrics to this song are from a 1938 work by the Welsh poet Idris Davies, later set to music by Pete Seeger, and first released in 1958 on an album Pete recorded with Sonny Terry.  The song was made more famous in 1960’s recordings by the Byrds, Judy Colliins and others.  You can hear how Pete Seeger performed it in 1964 at a concert in Australia at the link below. Pete takes careful pains to pronounce the Welsh place names correctly in this performance, which makes it useful for learning purposes.

                                               Bells of Rhymney [youTube video]                     Bells of Rhymney [lyrics and chords]


                                                                                         BRENNAN ON THE MOOR


Willie Brennan was an outlaw from County Tipperary – the same county as the Clancy brothers, whose inspiring version of this song can be heard at the link below.  This is such a great story, it is hard not to be sympathetic to Willie – though he is hanged in the end, according to the rules that outlaw ballads must follow. 

                                             Brennan on the Moor [youTube video]                 Brennan on the Moor [lyrics and chords]


                                                                                               OH, SWEET MAMA
 

Growing up in Dallas in the 1950s, I was aware there was a place east of downtown called Deep Ellum, but I knew very little about it.  I did know that it was inhabited by folks with considerably darker complexions than ours, but I did not know that much of the music that represents mainstream 20th century American blues was being invented and performed there.  Most importantly, I knew that Mom and Dad didn’t think it was any place us kids should be going.  In the 1920s and ‘30s, Leadbelly, Robert Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson and Bessie Smith all performed there.  The 1950s still saw the likes of Lightnin’ Hopkins, Blund Willie Johnson and T-Bone Walker performing there, among many others.  Today, Deep Ellum’s status has been elevated to that of a historical district, but I think this song captures well the flavor of the place in its heyday.  You can hear Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead perform this tune at the link below.

                                           
Deep Ellum [youTube video]                                Deep Ellum [lyrics and chords]


MAYBE – IT’S HARD TO SAY

 

Joe Crookston from Ithaca, N.Y. is an amazing songwriter who has penned a great many songs about a great variety of people and their stories.  In this highly philosophical tale, the melody is simple and traditional-sounding, but the chords are actually a little bit tricky, with frequent changes creating a lot of harmonic movement.  This song, from Joe’s excellent 2011 CD, Darkling & the Bluebird Jubilee is published here with Joe’s gracious permission.  You can access the lyrics, chords, and audio from the links below.
                              
                                                                 Good Luck John [audio]                                                Good Luck John [lyrics and chords]


                                                                                     RIDE THROUGH THE LONELY NIGHT

 

This song was first published in Carl Sandburg’s The American Songbag in the 1930’s.  Sandburg said he collected the song from a cowboy who was in the hospital with a broken leg.  The portrait of the cowboy’s lost love (Laura) in the song is as poignant as it is brief.  You can hear this lovely song at the link below.

                                                    
The Colorado Trail [audio]                                            The Colorado Trail [lyrics and chords]

                                                                                               WHAT A FINE PLACE FOR ONE TO BE

 

Hickory Hill put on a fine show for us at the April Second Saturday concert.  This song by John Early, one of the founding members of the group, was among the ones they performed.  Like many bluegrass lead singers, John pitches his songs pretty high.  I have taken it down from the key of A to G for slightly easier singing. If you want to play along with the recording, you can just capo at the second fret and follow the chord symbols shown below.  You can listen to the song on Hockory Hill’s CD, Freedom, or at the link below.

                                                             Freedom [audio]                                                Freedom [lyrics and chords]

                      
                                                                                                                 SPEED, BONNIE BOAT

This beautiful song tells the story of how Prince Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) escaped in a small boat after the defeat of his Jacobite uprising of 1745.  Disguised as a serving maid, Charles was spirited from Uist to the Isle of Skye after his defeat at the Battle of Culloden in 1746.  You can hear this song at the link below.  If you want to play along with the group on the recording, capo at the first fret and play the chords in D as indicated below.


                                                                    Skye Boat Song [video]                                            Skye Boat Song [lyrics and chords]


SCRIPT ENOUGH TO BUY THE COMPANY STORE


Jean Ritchie, who died June 1 of this, first recorded The L & N Don’t Stop Here Anymore in 1965.  Since then it has been covered in recordings by at least 21 other artists, and live by countless other folk singers.  Born in an unincorporated community in the Cumberland Mountains of south eastern Kentucky, Jean went on to graduate Phi Beta Kappa from Kentucky University, and later was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to trace the links between American ballads and songs from Britain and Ireland.  You can hear Jean’s original recording of this song at the link below.  I have transcribed the song below in the same key as the original recording, Am.
 
                                   The L & N Don't Stop Here Anymore [video]                    
The L & N Don't Stop Here Anymore  [lyrics and chords]

 


HE DIED WITHOUT A PENNY

This traditional song has been covered countless times by folk, folk rock and country artists – often with the lyrics altered to memorialize the passing of a particular person, as in the Byrds’ 1963 version that was a eulogy for John F. Kennedy.  The lyrics shown here are the way I learned it from a folksinging friend in the early 1960’s, before different versions such as Willie Nelson’s (which can be heard on the sound track of Brokeback Mountain) and others became popular.  The version recorded by The Greenbriar Boys, which can be heard at the link below.  It is very similar to the way I first heard it (which is the way that sounds right to me, of course).  A couple of chords shown below are slightly different, but fit perfectly with the melody.


                                            He Was A Friend of Mine [video]                                         He Was A Friend of Mine [lyrics and chords]

GONNA LAY MY HEAD

 

Wikipedia lists 38 recorded covers of this song since it was written in 1924 by jazz pianist Richard M. Jones.  It quickly became a blues standard, and many artists added lyrics of their own.  I have included my favorite verses from a variety of sources in this transcription.  The song can be found in a variety of styles, treatments and chord progressions.  The Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band’s 1987 version is based on the chords shown here.  You can hear this version at the link below.


                                          Trouble In Mind [video]                                                  Trouble In Mind [lyrics and chords]

                                                                                            

                                                                                       A FLOWING GLASS I’LL RAISE

                                                                                    

I was thinking about our October Second Saturday concert with Bryan Bowers, and remembered Bryan’s lovely rendition of this song (The Lake of Ponchartrain).  The story obviously happens in America, though the song is a staple in the repertoire of many Irish groups, such as the Hothouse Flowers, whose beautiful version can be heard at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKq0odvgtmc, or  at the link below.

[note: The map insert shows the names given to what was referred to the 'Lakes of Ponchartrain'.]

                                 Lakes of Ponchartrain [video]                                              Lakes of Ponchartrain [lyrics and chords]


GONNA SLIP MY CABLE

 

There are many types of sea chanteys (see p.6). This chantey is Caribbean and was probably sung as a halyard chantey, to be sung while raising the sails.  Chanteys usually have simple tunes and harmonies, which makes them great for improvising harmonies in group singing.  And some pretty rowdy fun.  You can hear this chantey performed by The Watersons on their CD, Blue Murder, on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9zM46tfRGE  or the link below.

                                Bully in the Alley [video]                                             Bully in the Alley [lyrics and chords]

AND FRANCE SO FULL OF WINE

 

While this song sounds pretty traditional, it was written by Scottish singer-songwriter Ian McCalman and released on his 1975 album, Smuggler.  Ailsa Craig is an uninhabited island 10 miles off Scotland where granite is quarried to make curling stones.  There is a Hazleholm in Cumberland County in Northwest England.  There is another song called The Lads of Lendalfit, but I could not identify it geographically.  You can hear a fine performance of this song by the Sheringham Shantymen at the link below.

                                The Smuggler [video]                                                    The Smuggler [lyrics and chords]



AND SHE WELCOMES THEM WITH OPEN ARMS

 

Brother Sun knocked us out with this song at the November Second Saturday Concert.  Joe Jencks has graciously given us permission to reprint the song here.  The sheet music was also published in the Spring/Summer 2013 issue of Sing Out magazine.  We don’t publish many, if any, “political” songs in this column, but I hope you’ll agree this one rises above any politics that may surround the topic.  You can hear this song on Brother Sun’s CD, “Some Part of the Truth”, or at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3gOoySyNlI, or at the link below.

                                        Lady of the Harbor [video]                                           Lady of the Harbor [lyrics & chords]
                                                                                                          

                                                                       TO DESTROY THE COMMERCE OF THE NORTH

 

This hard-driving shanty tells the story of two Civil War Vessels, the Confederate Sloop of War Alabama and the U.S.S. Kearsarge.  The Alabama was built in England in the shipyards at Birkenhead (the South had no significant shipbuilding industry at that time), while the Kearsarge came from Maine and was named after Mount Kearsarge in New Hanpshire.  You can hear a great version of this song, including the line from Oh Susanna by a group called Schooner Fare at the link below.


                                                         Roll Alabama Roll [video]                                                    Roll Alabama Roll [lyrics & chords]
                                                    

                                                                          GOOD NIGHT AND JOY BE WITH YOU ALL

 

This beautiful traditional Irish song was also the most popular parting song in Scotland till Robert Burns wrote Auld Lang Syne in 1788.  The Parting Glass is one of many traditional songs that Bob Dylan adapted, giving it the title Restless Farewell, and penning some lovely lyrics of his own  (not stealin’ – it’s the folk process).  Sometimes the song is sung to a slow, regular cadence, and sometimes very freely without a consistent rhythm.  It is beautiful either way.  You can listen to a fine solo rendition by the now-departed George Donaldson of Celtic Thunder at  the link below.  You can play along with the recorded track using the chords below and capoing at the third fret (C minor).  The arrangement below has a lot of chord changes.  It reminds me of a hymn.  But the frequent chord changes are quite manageable if you take it slow, which Is a nice way to do the song anyway.


                                               The Parting Glass [video]                                                    The Parting Glass [lyrics & chords]
    
  

                                                                       ONE OF THEM IS GONNA BE THE DEATH OF ME

 

This is one of my favorite bluegrass songs.  I love the way it goes back and forth between the major and the relative minor chords.  In fact, I like it so much I put in another minor in the third line of the chorus.  You can hear a nice version of this song by the all-female bluegrass band Della Mae at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_t-kwIKluRg.  My all-time favorite version of this song is probably the one by Tony Rice, but I thought naming a bluegrass band Della Mae in honor of this great song was such a brilliant stroke that it deserved some recognition.  You can also hear this song  Audio at the link below.

             
                                             Big Spike Hammer [video]                                                    Big Spike Hammer [lyrics & chords]
                          

AT THE DAWNING OF THE DAY

 

These words were first published as a poem in 1946 by the Irish Poet Patrick Kavanaugh.  Later, when the poet met Luke Kelly of the Dubliners, Kelly set it to the tune of the traditional Irish song, The Dawning of the Day, which is also still performed today.  This song has been performed and recorded by a great many artists. You can hear a lovely version by Mark Knopfler at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zftcuVQDcNM,  or at the link below.

                                            Raglan Road [video]                                                     Raglan Road [lyrics and chords]


          

LOVE BETRAYS ALL SECRETS

David Massengill tells the story that when this song was once recorded by a group in Montana, they listed the song as “traditional” because it sounded so much like a “real” folk song it never occurred to them to look up whether there was an author.  David says that was one of the greatest compliments he ever received.  There are several recordings of David performing this song on YouTube.  I like the one at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juFDzw94fJ8, or you can listen to it on at the link below.
 
                                               Road To Fairfax Co. [video]                                                      Road To Fairfax Co. [lyrics and chords]

                                                                                                    
                                                                                                        

WILL YE GO, LASSIE, GO?

 

Bob Stevenson did a lovely job of leading the group in this one at the June pickin party at Steve and Deb Baltzell’s house.  One might guess that this song is centuries old, and in a sense it is.  Though it was composed in its current form by Francis McPeake of Belfast and first recorded in 1957 for a BBC series, the song is generally felt to be a variant of “The Braes of Balquhither” by the Scottish poet Robert Tannahill (1774-1810), a contemporary of Robert Burns.  Wikipedia cites recordings of the song by 78 different groups and artists.  For learning, I recommend listening to the version by The Corries at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKvB3g3HEPQ, or at the link below.

                                     Wild Mountain Thyme [video]                                             Wild Mountain Thyme [lyrics and chords]



THAT’S THE GEM OF IRELAND’S CROWN

 

This is another very traditional-sounding song that was actually written by a known composer.  “Star of the County Down” was written by Cathal McGarvey, who was actually from County Donegal and lived from 1866 to 1927.  The tune, however, is similar to several older pieces, including several hymns.  A “boreen” is a term for a narrow, unpaved road in rural Ireland.  My favorite version is the one recorded in 1988 by Van Morrison with The Chieftains, which you can hear at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSvVVzH3O5E, or at the link below.
 
                              Star of the County Down [video]                                            Star of the County Down [lyrics and chords]

                                                                                             SLEEP I CAN GET NANE

Robert Burns is undoubtedly best known for his poems, but his music is wonderful.  Burns collected old Scottish folk songs and airs, and set many of his poems to music.  He would often compose a poem with a particular tune in mind, so I think we can fairly call him a songwriter as well as a poet.  Burns was probably capable of composing a good tune, but most of the time he borrowed tunes for the songs he wrote – a legitimate use of the folk process.  Burns also wrote in Scots dialect, so this beautiful song needs a little translation, though it is well worth learning a few new words.  You can hear an excellent rendering of this song by English singer-songwriter Maria Barham at the link below.
                                      

                                         Aye Waukin O [video]                                                               Aye Waukin O [lyrics and chords]

                                                                                                   

                                                                                                       WHEN EVERYBODY’S HOME
                                                                                                              by Paul Cooper

I wrote this song in the winter of 1995.  Someone asked if I could post it in the Rag, so here it is.  1995 was a time when my kids were pretty much grown and had left the nest to seek their fortunes, but from time to time would show up back at the nest, still in a pre-fortune condition.  But that Christmas everybody was home.  You can hear this song by clicking on the link below.
          
                                  It Only Seems Like Christmas [audio]                             It Only Seems Like Christmas [lyrics & chords]

 

                                                                                          I NEVER WANTED TO FLY HIGH

 

Welsh singer-songwriter Anne Lister graciously gave us her permission to reprint this song.  A modern rendering of the Greek myth by the same name, this song moves me as much as any I have ever heard.  I first heard it in England performed by a young artist named Greg Russell http://www.russellalgar.co.uk/ at the Chester Folk Festival.  You can hear this song performed by the wonderful guitarist Martin Simpson on a youTube video at the link below.

                                                   ICARUS [video]                                                  ICARUS [lyrics and chords]


                                                                      YOU WONDER CAN YOU EVER GO HOME

We love to listen to HFMS Board member Gayle Fallon do her original songs. Her honey-colored contralto voice and her World War II-era Martin guitar make a perfect combination. Gayle’s varied career took her many places. She served in the military for a number of years before being President of the Teachers’ Union here in Houston. This song speaks of deep personal experience, and we appreciate Gayle sharing it with us. You can hear this song at the link below.


                                                         Some Regrets [audio]                                                 Some Regrets [lyrics and chords]