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.
The Soldier and the Sailor
An hour of prayer
Mike Seeger learned this song from Nancy Jones, a singer in North Carolina. I researched the song and found serveral very different versions. Some of them pretty rowdy. I adapted three of these verses and toned them down to fit better with Mrs. Jone's version which has a lovely innocence about it.
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.
Texian Boys
A warning to young ladies.When other good folk are all gone to bed, the devil is a workin' in the Texian's head.
This song was collected by John Lomax, recorded on his Folkways "John A. Lomax Jr. Sings American Folksongs." Texian Boys is not very complimentary about Texas, but pretty accurate actually.
The Swapping Song
A song of free wheeling commerce
This appalachian song has versions going back many generations in England and Scotland. I got it from the singing of Paul Clayton on 'American Folk Tales and Songs' on Tradition records, jewel of an album featuring the singing of Paul Clayton and Jean Ritchie as well as story telling by Richard Chase.
The Golden Willow Tree
An American version of this famous English ballad
Tne 'Golden Willow Tree' or 'Golden Vanity' (Child 286) dates back to a late 17th. century broadside in which Sir Walter Raleigh is pictured as this nasty captain. Practically everyone who sings folksongs has recorded it. Even Johnny Depp sang a bit of it in 'Pirates of the Carribean'.
Leatherwing Bat
Love life of birds and other flying things
Bits of melody and lyrics from "Leatherwing Bat" show up an many old play songs such as "The Jolly Miller" (Same old man livin' at the mill, Mill turns around by its own free will), "The Birds Courting Song", "The Crow Song". These seem to be related to some Irish songs and eighteenth century broadsides.
Fod!
A really silly song
This song is a load of fun from Kenton County, Kentucky. I learned it from Mike and Peggy Seeger's 'Fly Down Little Bird' album. The first couple of verses remind me of "Rattlesnake Mountain and it is darned near as silly as that song.
The Wreck of Old Number Nine
A sappy train wreck ballad
"The Wreck of the Old Nine" was written by Carson J. Robison, and popularized by Vernon Dalhart in the 1920's. Carson J Robison was one of the earliest radio show singing cowboys.
Statesboro Blues
A blues from Blind Willie McTell
Blind Willie McTell recorded this song in 1928 and it is probably of his own composition. A few people have revived it recently, notably Taj Mahal, Rory Block, Dave Van Ronk, Chris Smithers, the Allman Brothers and the Holy Modal Rounders, those bizarre purveyors of psychedelic old time country.
Wabash Cannonball
Get on board!
The Wabash Cannonball is the subject of many speculations. Was there really a train by that name? Who is Daddy Claxton? What is a "combination?" Are there really jungles in Indianna? What do you mean, "no changes can be taken?"
The Man that Wrote the Home Sweet Home
New lyrics to a disreputable old song
Once upon a time, in the late 1920’s and early 30’s, there was a pair of country recording artists named Charlie Parker and Mack Woolbright. Mack was a blind banjo player who pioneered a three-finger style that caught the attention of a young feller named Earl Scruggs.