Newest Songs
Hell Bound Train
A cautionary tale of damnation and redemption
You know about the train that was "bound for glory". Well, this train was going the other way on the opposite track.
Jolly Roving Tar
A sea song from Newfoundland
I found this jolly sea song from Newfoundland on one of the old 'American Folksay' albums produced on Stinson records by Moses Asch, performed by Frank Warner.
No Peas No Rice
A Bahamian jazz song
A Bahamian song recorded in the 1930s by big band leaders such as Mart Brit and Count Basie and in the Bahamas by Blind Blake Alfonso Higgs.
Thorneymore Woods
A song of the noble poacher, and mean gamekeepers
An English poaching ballad as performed by Louis Killen.
La Bruja
Vampire story from Vera Cruz, Mexico. Boo!
La Bruja is a song and traditional dance in the Huapango tradition from the state of Vera Cruz. The dance usually involves a number of women with lighted candles on their heads.The Devil and Bailiff McGlynn
The devil takes his due
What a fine old Irish tale. But it derives from a history that is not so jolly - the mass evictions and house levelings that took place during the Irish famine of the mid-nineteenth century. No wonder the mother in the story cries "May the devil take that awful Bailiff!".
Spotted Cow
A naughty little English folk song
Here is a traditional English song, at least I think so, I heard it from Steel Eye Span, that parcel of rogues who brought fuzz-tone electric guitar to English folk music.
Italian Carol
A christmas song from Italy
An Italian carol adapted by Pete Seeger from an old tradition in Naples in which shepherds come down from the Calabrian mountains for a festive stay in that city during the Christmas celebration.
Wild Women Don't Have No Blues
A blues for strong women
This song was recorded by Ida Cox in 1924, Ida was one of great, if lesser known, female blues singers in the era of Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey and Sippie Wallace.Mean Old Bedbug Blues
A blues from Bessie Smith
Each of these are classic blues performance in their own right and provide an interesting contrast between country blues and early jazz band styles. I always favored Bessie's rendition. I think her slower tempo with piano and guitar accompaniment captured the true creepiness of bedbugs.Uncle Joe Gimme Mo
Calypso from Trinidad
This great Trinidadian Calypso song comes from an early recording by Wilmuth Houdini. I love the way these Calypsonians took "uncle joe and his old ban-jo", a common stereotype in minstrel shows, and transformed him into a rock star.Monsieur Banjo
A creole song for kids
This children's song in Louisiana Creole. My version is an adaptation of Pete Seeger's English language version on 'American Favorite Ballads' and a French language version from the Magnolia Sisters on their delightful children's album 'Lapin Lapin'
Featured Songs
Hopalong Peter
An old time banjo song
This was recorded by J.E. Mainer's Mountaineers in the 1930's. I learned it from the NLCR.
Thinking Tonight of my Blue Eyes
A fine old love song from the Carter Family
The Carter family gave us so much and this is one of the favorites. I bet every country singer as performed it since the Carters recorded it in 1929. The tune was recycled by Roy Acuff for 'Great Speckled Bird' and by Hank Thompson for 'Wild Side of Life.' A good song bears repeating so here's my contribution.Two Hobo Songs
Hobo songs from Jimmy Rogers, Cisco Houston and Blind Boy Grunt
Two songs written on the same sad theme. The first by Jimmy Rogers. The second was recorded in the 1960's on Broadside Ballads. The singer was billed as Blind Boy Grunt and he sounded remarkably like Bob Dylan who was under contract at Columbia at the time.
Johnny Booker
A mule song
Songs about mules are almost a genre all their own like railroad songs or cowboy songs. This is an old song. Some versions came to us by way of minstrel shows but older variants can be found in England.A Lusty Young Smith
A brittish ballad for adults only
The words to this very naughty song come from Thomas D'Urfey's "Wit and Mirth, or Pills to Purge Melancholy," published in 1717. It was set to music by Ed McCurdy for his Electra series 'When Dalliance was In Flower and Maidens Lost the Heads." Ed was ably accompanied by Eric Darling and Alan Arkin.
Who Killed Cock Robin
The birds hold a memorial
This version comes from the singing of Edith Harmon in a field recording made near Maryville, Tennessee in 1939. The original porem has origins in the 14th century or earlier. There is plenty of speculation about symbolic meanings or political significance. I just loved its haunting melody.
Six Songs for Children
A little collection of kid's songs. I'm especially fond of 'Little Black Bull'
Here are six very short songs selected from Ruth Crawford Seeger's books of children's songs Most of these songlets last just a minute or less. Kids don't mind. You can sing it again. If they like the song you may have to sing it again.. and again... and again.
Tighten on the Backband
A song of plowing and country life
Sam Hinton put this song together from bits of mule and ox driver shouts and work songs. Sam was an East Texas songster who left home to become an aquatic biologist. As devoted to his academic career as he was, Sam kept on singing and recording throughout his life and left us some wonderful material.Lost Gander
A quiet banjo instrumental
This is a rarity for me, a purely instrumental piece. It has no lyrics and so I guess it doesn't qualify as a song. It sings to me though.Willie the Weeper
A jazz tune about the perils of opium smoking
"Willie" is a New Orleans jazz band standard dating back before the turn of the century (nineteenth). There are hundreds of verses and almost as many variations of the tune. I learned this one from a ten-inch record album by Shep Ginandes called "Songs of Delinquency."Jay Gould's Daughter
A railroad song.
Here's one version of a classic railroad song. I got it from Pete Seeger. It has been around in many other variations such as Charlie Poole's "Milwaukee Blues" recorded in the twenties.Railroad Bill
A bad man on the railway.
Any young finger-picker must master 'Railroad Bill'. It's a rite of passage. The song has been recorded hundreds of times going back to the 1920's by the best country, blues and folk musicians.