A journal about the songs, musicians and performances I love, Old Time, Bluegrass, Folk and Blues, Rock n Roll and occasional Mongolian Throat Singing....
Em G D7 Am
Ever since the days of old men would search for wealth untold
Em G D7 Am
They dig for silver and for gold and leave the empty holes
Em G
And way down south in the Everglades
D7 Am
Where the black water rolls and the Saw grass waves
Em G D7 Am
The eagles fly and the Otters play in the land of the Seminole
Em G D7 Am
So blow blow Seminole wind blow like your never gonna blow again
Em G D7 Am
I'm calling to you like a long lost friend but I know who you are
Em G D7 Am
And blow blow from the Okeechobee all the way up to Micanopy
Em G D7 Am
Blow cross the home of the Seminole the alligators and the Garr
Em G D7 Am
Progress came and took its toll and in the name of flood control
Em G
They make their plans and they drained the land
D7 Am
Now the glades are going dry
Em G D7 Am
And the last time I walked in the swamp I sat upon a cypress stump
Em G D7 Am
I listened close and I heard the ghost of Osceola cry
Deep Elm Blues (or Deep Elem Blues) is an old blues song that was probably composed in Texas. The Grateful Dead did a version which somebody in Sweden liked, and they wound up teaching it to former Morgantown resident Rachel Eddy Herner, who has since brought it back to West Virginia.
The video below shows Rachel accompanied by her sister Libby plus Bob Shank on the banjo (Bob, how did you get to be so lucky to land this gig??).
This song is based on a 12 bar blues, a song form as American as apple pie. Best of all, Libby is kind enough to show the guitar chord positions on camera.
I like the kind of lilting rhythm in their version of the song and the basic simplicity of the arrangement. There are a number of other versions on youtube, many of which use a more complicated chord structure and rhythm. I may be biased, but I like the Morgantown version much better than the Grateful Dead version.
When you’re going out to Deep Elm.
just to have a little fun,
You better have your fifteen dollars
when the po-liceman come
Oh sweet Mama, Daddy’s got the Deep Elm blues.
Oh sweet Mama, Daddy’s got the Deep Elm blues.
When you going out to Deep Elm
put your money in your socks
those Deep Elm women
they will throw you on the rocks
Oh sweet Mama, Daddy’s got the Deep Elm blues.
Oh sweet Mama, Daddy’s got the Deep Elm blues.
When your going out to Deep Elm
Put your money in your pants
those Deep Elm women
they won’t give a man a chance
Oh sweet Mama, Daddy’s got the Deep Elm blues.
Oh sweet Mama, Daddy’s got the Deep Elm blues.
Well I used to know a preacher
Preached the bible through and through
He went down to Deep Elm
and now the preaching man is through
Oh sweet Mama, Daddy’s got the Deep Elm blues.
Oh sweet Mama, Daddy’s got the Deep Elm blues.
Oh sweet mama, daddy’s got the Deep Elm blues.
Oh sweet mama, daddy’s got the Deep Elm blues.
Oh sweet mama, daddy’s got the Deep Elm blues.
G G G G
C C G G
D C G G ************************************************************
The L&N Don't Stop Here Anymore is a song composed by Jean Ritchie. I'm not sure if it has ever been performed at the Brew Pub, but I'm blogging about it because it kind of reminds me of Mannington Number 9, which is a Keith McManus song performed by the Woodticks as well as Stewed Mulligan. Like Mannington, L&N tells a tragic story about coal mining, but in this case it focuses on another scourge of the mines: unemployment. The closing of a coal mine does not destroy anything physically, but it is incredibly destructive economically. It is a real song, and everyone who either works in mining, or has friends or families who work in mining, understands what it is all about. I first heard this song from Norman Blake, in his Directions album from the late 1970s. Norman plays guitar for that and his wife Nancy accompanies on cello. That album is no longer available (like the L&N, it shut down). Fortunately there are other excellent versions on youtube.com.
My current favorite is the version by Kathy Mattea, which is much more rhythmic--bluegrassized if that is a word--compared to the others, although there are several excellent versions available on youtube and other sources.
Below are lyrics to the song, based mainly on the Kathy Matte version:
Em D Em
When I was a curly headed baby
D Em
My daddy set me down upon his knee
D Em
Said “boy you go to school and learn your letters.
C D Em
Don't you be no dusty coal miner like me.”
chorus:
D Em
I was born and raised in the mouth of the Hazzard Holler
D Em
Coal cars rumbled past my door
D Em
But now they stand in a rusty row, all empty
C D Em
'Cause the L&N she don't stop here anymore.
Well I used to think my daddy was a black man
With script enough to buy the company store
Oh but now he goes to town with empty pockets
And Lord his face as white as the February snow.
(chorus)
(instrumental break)
Never thought I'd ever learn to love that coal dust
Never thought I'd pray to hear that whistle roar
Oh but God I wish the grass would turn to money
And them greenbacks fill my pockets once more.
(Chorus)
Lastnight I dreamed I went down to the coal yard,
To draw my pay like I had done before
But those kudzu vines were covering all the windows
And there were weeds and grass growing right up through the floor.
Who's Gonna Feed Them Hogs
By Tom T. Hall
Tabbed By Larry Mofle
rmofle@satx.rr.com
6/24/2004
My recording sounds tuned down ¼ from Standard…
G C D G
I met him in a hospital about a year ago
C G D
And why i still remember him i guess i'll never know
G C D G
He'd lie there and cry out in a medicated fog,
G C D G
"here i am in this dang bed and who's gonna feed them hogs?"
Chorus:
C G D G
"four hundred hogs, they just standin' out there
C G D
My wife can't feed 'em and my neighbors don't care
G C D G
They can't get out and roam around like my old huntin' dogs
G C D G
Here i am in this dang bed and who's gonna feed them hogs?"
His face was lean and his hands were rough
His way was hogs and his nature was tough
His doctors tried to tell him that he may not live at all
But all he ever talked about was who's gonna feed them hogs
Chorus
Change to key of A (A, D, E)
Four hundred hogs comes to eight hundred hams
And that's a lot of money for a hog-raisin' man
Four hundred hogs comes to sixteen hundred feet
The market's up and there are people a-waitin' on that meat
Well, the doctors say they do not know what saved the man from death
But in a few days he put on his overalls and he left
That's all there is to this small song but waitress, before you leave,
Would you bring me some coffee and a hot ham sandwich, please?
Chorus
"four hundred hogs, they just standin' out there
His wife couldn't feed 'em and his neighbors didn't care
They couldn't get out and roam around like his old huntin' dogs...
Fades out
That's Laura on the left playing mando and Charlotte on the right playing fiddle. Er, no, that's Charlotte on the left playing mando and Laura on the right playing fiddle. Er, no, it's the fiddle on the left and the mando on the right and that's all that I'm certain about.
I love the song Garden Girl by the Carrivick Sisters, Laura and Charlotte (or is it Charlotte and Laura?). It’s a modern song, but one that has its roots in Scotch Irish folksongs, and one that I think could be played with Appalachian string instruments as well. Those with Facebook can hear the recording here:
Although I am certainly not as talented as the fabulous Carrivick Sisters (who can play about any instrument ever invented, and probably some that haven’t been yet), I kind of want to try to play it with some of my friends, and perhaps we will Morgantownize it a bit. I would like to try to approach this song with a bit more driving rhythm and maybe a banjo accompaniment, so perhaps with the help of some musically talented friends we will create a different sound with it . Hopefully it will still be true to the original composition and sentiment.
The song tells the story of a statue of a little girl in a garden. The songwriter (not sure if Laura or Charlotte or both deserve kudos on this one) imagines that the statue must have “seen” many amazing things over the past century, including the return of soldiers from World War II.
It’s a very interesting lyric, very novel compared to the normal stuff. It combines art appreciation, poetry and music all at the same time. I love it.
I actually wrote to the Carrivick Sisters to ask whether there is a real statue, and in fact there is. She’s in the garden at Overbecks in Salcombe South Devon. I think this is her, in fact:
Yes, she's real (although the second pair of arms belong to someone else).
capo on 4
intro: D Em D Em D Em G Em G
G(b) C (e) G(b) D(f#)
Oh Garden Girl, how do you hold those birds so long?
Em(g#m) C(e) G(b) D(f#)
How do you keep them from taking to the sky where they belong?
Em(g#m) G(b) C(e) D(f#)
For a century you stood watching the garden grow
G(b) C(e)
while the world around you changed.
Em(g#m) G (b) C(e) D(f#)
You stood still as you could, watched others come and go
G(b) D(f#) C(e)
You have always remained.
G(b) C(e) G(b) D(f#)
Oh Garden Girl, how do you hold those birds so long?
Em(g#m) C(e) G(b) D(f#)
How do you keep them from taking to the sky where they belong?
Em(g#m) G(b) C(e) D(f#) And during the great war the broken men they came
G(b) C(e) You stood and smiled without fear
Em(g#m) G(b) C(e) D(f#)
As they told you what they saw, how they’d never be the same.
G(b) D(f#) C(e) You could not shed a tear.
G(b) C(e) G(b) D(f#) Oh Garden Girl, how do you hold those birds so long?
Em(g#m) C(e) G(b) D(f#) How do you keep them from taking to the sky where they belong?
Em(g#m) G(b) C(e) D(f#) Now in Weather warm or wild when visitors come by G(b) C(e) And wander the garden paths
Em(g#m) G(b) C(e) D(f#) They’ll see a beautiful child so still but full of life
G(b) C(e) Subject of a thousand photographs.
G(b) C(e) G(b) D(f#) Oh Garden Girl, how do you hold those birds so long?
Em(g#m) C(e) G(b) D(f#) How do you keep them from taking to the sky where they belong?
G(b) C(e) G(b) D(f#) Oh Garden Girl, how do you hold those birds so long?
Em(g#m) C(e) G(b) D(f#) How do you keep them from taking to the sky where they belong?
I might also mention that the Carrivick sisters have very good fashion sense, and to me they have a very good "look" for Old Time musicians. It helps that they are drop-dead gorgeous, but that is not what I'm referring to.
You don't have to look like Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner to play acoustic music, but it is kind of cool for a band to wear clothes that hearken to the time period that the music comes from. Anyway, some of you that play in bands may like to check out some of their photo albums before automatically adopting the grunge look by default.
Laura and Charlotte appearing with the Great Western Revelers. I think they have a cool look.
