Blind Pig & The Acorn

Little Bessie

Little Bessie is a traditional song, no one knows for sure who wrote it. As with many old songs-the words and verses in Little Bessie change depending on who's performing it. There's an interesting thread of comments about the song on Mudcat Cafe-you can go here to read them.

In a nut shell-the thread discusses the possibility of Little Bessie being as old as 1860 but a few entries later a commenter claims the song was written by a lady who lost her 4 year old daughter, Bessie to a fire in the 1920s.

One of the more interesting comment entries quotes the liner notes from one of Ricky Skaggs albums, Ancient Tones:

Here is another song that I first heard from the Stanley Brothers. I loved their version very much. Then, one day, I found an old songbook that had many more verses to it than what they had recorded. I asked my dad if he knew anyone who could sing the old mountain style version of 'Little Bessie'. He said he thought he did. So we went down the road to a neighbour's house. Their names were Alvie and Vernie Fyffe. Vernie knew the old way of singing that song. So I learned it from her. One of the blessings of having my own record label is that I can have the freedom to make the music that I want to make, even if it is ten minutes long.

LITTLE BESSIE
(Traditional)

Hug me closer, mother, closer
Put your arms around me tight
For I am cold and tired, dear mother
And I feel so strange tonight

Something hurts me here, dear mother
Like a stone upon my breast
Oh, I wonder, mother, wonder
Why it is I cannot rest

All the day while you were working
As I lay upon my bed
I was trying to be patient
And to think of what you said

How the king, dear blessed Jesus
Loves his lambs to watch and keep
Oh, I wish he would come and take me
In his arms that I might sleep

Just before the lamps were lighted
Just before the children came
While the room was very quiet
I heard someone call my name

All at once a window opened
On a field of lambs and sheep
Some far out in a brook were drinking
Some were lying fast asleep

In a moment I was looking
On a world so bright and fair
Which was filled with little children
And they seemed so happy there

They were singing oh so sweetly
Sweetest songs I ever heard
They were singing sweet, mother,
Than our darling little birds

But I could not see the Saviour
Though I strained my eyes to see
And I wondered if He saw me
Would He speak to such as me

All at once a window opened
One so bright upon me smiled
And I knew it must be Jesus
When he said, Come here my child

Come here, my little Bessie,
Come up here and live with me
Where little children never suffer
Suffer through eternity

Then I thought of all you told me
Of that bright and happy land
I was going when you called me
When you came and kissed my hand

And at first I felt so sorry
You had called and I would go
Oh, to sleep and never suffer
Mother, don't be crying so

Hug me closer, mother, closer
Put your arms around me tight
Oh, how much I love you mother
And how strong I feel tonight

And the mother pressed her closer
To her own dear burdened breast
On the heart so near its breaking
Lay the heart so near its rest

At the solemn hour of midnight
In the darkness calm and deep
Lying on her mother's bosom
Little Bessie fell asleep

Source: Ricky Skaggs 'Ancient Tones' Skaggs Family Records SKFR-CD 1001

Little Bessie fits into the music genre of ballads. Appalachia is commonly associated with ballads. Not everyone likes the songs-I do like them-more than that-I love them.

I've talked about my love for ballads before here on the Blind Pig-tried to reason out exactly why I love those sad, often violent songs. Perhaps my attraction comes from a feeling of "there but for the grace of God go I", a morbid fascination with death, or the satisfaction of knowing someones life is worse than mine. Then again maybe it's because while I'm listening-I can vicariously live out a range of emotions-fear, outrage, despair, -then when the song is over, I get to go back to the sunshine.

 Ron Pen, from the University of KY, has this to say about Ballads:

The ballad form originated in Europe during the Middle Ages and was firmly established in the British Isles by the fifteenth century. By the early eighteenth century, the composition of new ballads in Great Britain had tapered off, but the British ballad tradition was transported to the New World by emigrants. Formal collection and study of the British ballad repertoire dates to the late nineteenth century, when Harvard scholar Francis James Child collected and categorized 305 ballads in a series of books, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (1882–98).

Child ballads generally utilize a single opening stanza to introduce the setting and the principal characters. The story then unfolds rapidly to a point of confrontation, followed by a resolution presented through third-person narrative or dialogue.

In Appalachia, Child ballads were traditionally performed by a solo singer without instrumental accompaniment, though in later years a fretted dulcimer, guitar, fiddle, or banjo was sometimes used to accompany the singing. Although the language of ballads is dramatic, the singing style in Appalachia tended to be objective and detached, allowing the story to tell itself without the influence of an emotional delivery.

Additionally, the ballad tradition of telling a story in song continues to be an essential ingredient of country and bluegrass music. Many popular traditional ballads, whether performed within folk revivalist circles (for example, “Darling Cora”) or in popular music circles all over the world (“House of the Rising Sun”), have reentered circulation or gained wider distribution following collection (and publication and/or recording) from Appalachian balladeers.

Now that I've told you more than you wanted to know about the song-give our version a listen. (*Don't forget to stop the music player in the top right of this page before you start the video)

You'll notice we don't do even half the verses mentioned in the Ricky Skaggs quote-most people don't-and we do at least one that he doesn't even list. I believe Pap and Paul's version is closest to a recording done by the Country Gentlemen. But even our version changes.

I uploaded the video above several months ago, but last Sunday at our weekly pickin and grinnin sessions-Paul threw in one of the other verses. Once the song was over, we mentioned it-and Paul said "No I always sing that verse." Me and Pap informed him he was wrong-and I told him I had the video to prove it!

Of course I'm prejudice-but I love our version. Pap's tenor is chilling-Paul's flat top picking is amazing-and with only one chord for me to play-my bass doesn't sound half bad either.

So are you a ballad lover too?

Tipper

Ballads." (2012) In Encyclopedia of Appalachia, Retrieved May 21, 2012, from Encyclopedia of Appalachia: http://www.www.encyclopediaofappalachia.com/entry.php?rec=31 

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Stuck Up Blues

Have you ever run into somebody who just flat out thought they were better than everybody else- especially you? I have and I'm sure you have too.

Those kinda folks used to really get under my skin-but I've found one good thing about getting older is you don't care near as much what other people think of you.

Roy Acuff had a hit with a toe tapping song that perfectly describes what I'm talking about-Stuck UP Blues. The song was written by Jim Anglin, who wrote several other of Acuff's hits.

My favorite line of the song: I said look here John I know where you come from and Your Pappy used to use those words by cracky and by gum. See if you can catch Paul grinning at Pap when he sings that part-near the middle of the song. (*Don't forget to stop the music player in the top right of this page before you watch the video)

Did you tap your toes?

Tipper

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Tomorrow's Just Another Day

Ever since Chatter got her new Blueridge Guitar for Christmas, Pap and Paul have been getting her to step up and do more of the picking.

They've been doing the old Hugh X Lewis song-Tomorrow's Just Another Day To Cry for years. But recently Chatter has been picking the intro and the lead in to the breaks. I think she's doing pretty good-see if you don't agree-Paul and Pap's harmony ain't bad either. (*don't forget to stop the music player in the top right of this page before you start the video)

Hope you enjoyed the tune. If you want to find out more about Hugh X Lewis and his music-go here.

Tipper

p.s. Today's the last day to enter the giveaway for Charles Fletcher's new book-if you missed the details-go HERE.

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Angel Band

The old song Angel Band enjoyed a resurgence in popularity after the success of the movie O Brother Where Art Thou and it's soundtrack (Pap says bluegrass music needs to get themselves another movie). I was already familiar with the song-having grown up hearing it in church and at home. But the movie introduced the mournful tune and words to many folks who'd never heard it before.

I wrongly assumed the song was an old southern gospel standard. Once I realized it wasn't in any of the Hymnals I have, I went to my favorite place to search for song related information: The Mudcat Cafe.

Reading through the threads related to the song I discovered the song is much older than I thought. A forum commenter called Uncle Jacque offered this:

My earliest example of "Angel Band" appears in a late 19th Century Hymnal as "The Land of Beulah" and is noted "As sung by the late Bishop MORRIS", credited to "Rev. Jefferson HASCALL 1860 - Wm. BRADBURY, by per."

A few other threads also mentioned Angel Band was once called The Land of Beulah. Calling the song The Land of Beulah seems crazy to me-but I know well and good old songs are often called by different names depending on who it is performing them-just like the words of old songs are also often changed depending on who's doing the singing. For example when The Blind Pig Gang does Angel Band-we change a few words here and there and even change the order of the verses-I'm guessing its because thats the way Pap or Paul learned the song.

Give our version a listen and see what you think. On the day I filmed the song we had a full house for our Sunday afternoon pickin and grinnin in the kitchen session-you might even notice a new face (there are 3 more of us there-but not in the camera frame). Paul joked this would be our 3 mandolin 4 guitar and 1 bass version of Angel Band. (*don't forget to stop the music player in the top right of this page before you start the video)

I've always had a special interest in Angels-I suppose that's why I chose to paint them for so long. In the years since my Papaw Wade died (getting close to 20) I never hear Angel Band that I don't think of him. Its not that it was his favorite song-I don't even know if he liked it. It's the words in the song "Oh come Angel Band come and around me stand" that make me think of him. 

Papaw had a prolonged illness before his death. He knew and we knew-that he was indeed nearing holy ranks of friends and kindred dear. During that time we all took turns staying with him. His bed was in the living room-and was positioned where he could see down the road. One day when I was there he asked me who the 2 men at the foot of his bed were-I said "Papaw there's nobody there" but he insisted there was.

When we asked him about the men-he said "2 men come up the road, in the door, and stood at the foot of my bed and then went back the way they come." We asked if they spoke to him? He said "I couldn't understand them-they talked but their mouths didn't move."

Most folks would say the men were a figment of a sick man's imagination-me I say they were part of his Angel Band.

Hope you enjoyed the history-and the music!

Tipper

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Dogwoods And Music

Hard to believe the Dogwood trees have been blooming for the last 2 weeks if not longer here in southern Appalachia. Seeing their blooms so early made me want to go back in the Blind Pig Archives and see what I'd said about Dogwoods in the past. (just click on the words in orange if you want to see too)

• In 2009 I wrote about Dogwood Winter-and boy was that a different type of Spring-we had snow on the red bud blooms that year.
• In 2010 I wrote about The Legend of the Dogwood and my favorite Dogwood tree.

The early blooms also made me think of a song the Blind Pig Gang's been doing since last summer-Just Above The Place Where You Can Bury Me. See if you like it as much as we do-don't forget to stop the player in the top right of this page before you start the video.

Hope you enjoyed the Dogwood posts from the archives-and the song too!

Are the Dogwoods blooming at your house?

Tipper

p.s. Granny says she's going to whip us if we keep letting the sunshine get in Pap's face.

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Music For Saint Patrick's Day

Portions of this post were originally published here on the Blind Pig in November of 2008.

The song O Danny Boy is popular world wide-sung by famous vocalists as well as around the family piano-or family guitar. Tomorrow is Saint Patrick's Day-and for the last week or 2 I've been noticing green clover and leaping leprechauns around and about. I've also had the song O Danny Boy tickling the back of my head.

I researched the old song and discovered some interesting facts:

• While the tune is indeed Irish-the words were written in England
• There are varying opinions about the origin of the tune-some believe its as old as the 1600s
• In about 1855 Jane Ross discovered the tune and passed it along to a collector of old Irish music, at that time the tune was called Londonderry Air
• Many songwriters tried to add words to the music but nothing seemed to fit the mournful tune
• In the 1800s the tune made it to America along with Irish immigrants
• About 1912 a Mrs. Weatherly heard the song in Colorado, she sent the music back to England to her brother-n-law who was a songwriter
• Mr. Weatherly had already penned the words to Danny Boy but had never found the right melody-now he had it
• When Mr. Weatherly put the old Irish tune to his words a hit that would last through the ages was created
• To read more about the fascinating story behind the song check out this page

I believe O Danny Boy appeals to the masses because the song evokes the strong emotion of longing for someone you love and miss-a truly common theme of mankind.

For me personally, the song transcends location. If I replace the word glen with holler-I would swear the words were written about my mountains and the high graveyards that rest on many of them.

In the same way, you could substitute the descriptive words with hills, dunes, or whatever topography you live near-and feel as though it was written just down the road from you.

For this Pickin' & Grinnin' In The Kitchen Spot O Danny Boy. I want to encourage you to watch the video-Paul sings the original 2nd verse-most performers leave it out. No matter how many times I hear the 2nd verse-I get chills-every last time. (*Don't forget to stop the music player in the top right of this page before you start the video)

2nd verse:

But when you come and all the flowers are dying If I am dead as then I well may be You'll come and find the place where I am lying And kneel and say a prayer there for me And I will hear though soft you tread above me And all my grave will warmer sweeter be For you will bend and whisper that you love me And I shall rest in Peace until you come to me

Tipper

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Outhouses

This week's guest post written by Ed Ammons reminded me of the outhouse post below-it was originally published here on the Blind Pig in 2008.

I've only used a real outhouse one time. I was about 4 or 5 years old. Pap and I were at one of the local country stores-Doris Jeans. Pap was taking forever talking to someone-I wanted to go home because I had to go to the bathroom. I kept on and on until Pap sent me to the store's facilities-which was an outhouse. I remember it was creepy-with spiderwebs. I also remember wishing I hadn't pestered Pap about having to go to the bathroom.

Even though I dream of by gone days and all the knowledge they hold, I'm very thankful I grew up with indoor plumbing. Matthew Burns gives a clear perspective about growing up with an outhouse in A Malodorous Memory.

After doing some research on Outhouses I came up with some interesting tidbits.

• I've heard about 2 seater outhouses-I thought it was only so more than one person could use the potty at a time-however some cases one seat was made larger for adults-one smaller for kids.
• Thomas Crapper was one of the first installers of water-closets.
• Folks had different names for outhouses such as: I'm going to; the white house, the garden house, the la-la, the throne, the summer house, the library, the shiver shanty, and many others. One I still hear on regular basis-I'm going to see a man about a dog. (from The Deer Hunter)
• Outhouse diggers are folks who find old outhouses and dig for treasure. They find all manner of items in old outhouse holes.

In the 1960's Billy Edd Wheeler wrote a satirical song, Ode to the Little Brown Shack Out Back, about losing a beloved outhouse.

For this week's Pickin' & Grinnin' In The Kitchen Spot- Ode to the Little Brown Shack Out Back. (don't forget to stop the music player in the top right of this page before you start the video) 

Hope you enjoyed the song. I ask Granny and Pap if they had any outhouse stories for me. Pap said one of the elementary schools he went to had outhouses. Granny said she didn't care to remember or hear any outhouse stories at all!!

The song does remind me of something an older lady told me a while back. She said she still had her outhouse in the backyard-and even though she hadn't used it in years, she tried to keep it in good condition. Someone from the county told her-she could keep an existing outhouse but once it was torn down she could never build another one. I guess the outhouse was 'grandfathered in'. The lady said she tried to keep it up because you never knew what the future held and she might need that old bathroom again someday.

How about you got any outhouse stories to share?

Tipper

p.s. For more information about outhouses check out Frequently asked questions about outhouses.

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Brand New Tennesse Waltz

Funny how we view our parents-as just parents. Often in our mind's eye they're parents-they've always been parents-and they'll always be parents.

A year or so ago me and the girls saw a man in town. He spoke to us and went on his way. I couldn't resist telling the girls that he used to like me. Almost in unison they said "what do you mean he liked you?" I said "Well it was when we were in school-and I mean he liked me-he thought I was pretty." I could literally see the wheels turning in their minds: "wow someone besides Dad liked Mom; wow Mom was young like us and had boys who liked her; wait a minute we're her life what about us-Back off buddy!"

I'm the same way about Granny and Pap. Its hard for me to picture them without us, hard for me to imagine they each had lives that didn't include the words Steve, Tipper, and Paul-not to mention all the grandkids. But they did.

At a family reunion a few years ago, some old photos were being passed around. I heard somebody say this one is of Jerry (Pap)-I couldn't wait till it reached me. I fully expected to see a boy in overalls-or maybe a young handsome dark haired man holding a baby Steve.

The scene in the photo was startling. It was Pap-on a boat-in shorts with no shirt and no shoes-Pap with longish hair whipped around his face. My mouth wanted to say no this is not Jerry! But one look at his face told my brain it was indeed Pap.

In my entire life I have never seen Pap in anything but work boots or Sunday loafers-not one tennis shoe. And Pap in shorts? Get out of here! For sure something I've never seen before.

I was reminded of the astonishing photo of Pap a little over a year ago when Paul decided he wanted us to learn the song Brand New Tennessee Waltz. The song was written by Jesse Winchester. I was most familiar with The Nashville Bluegrass Band's version. Although the Nashville Grass is among my all time favorite artists-I didn't like the song. I wasn't excited about learning it-and once I realized it had a funny beat-I was even less excited.

After a few weeks of practicing the song we were getting the hang of it. One Sunday afternoon Paul and Pap got the harmony perfect-and in the excitement of us actually liking how the song sounded, Pap said "You know that song reminds me of this girl I knew when I was living in California." One of us said why? Pap said "Well there was this girl that I liked. She lived with another girl and when I'd get off work of the evening I'd stop by their house on my way home. Well one day when I stopped she told me she'd had enough of California she was going back to Tennessee. I was young and hot tempered and her leaving made me mad. I didn't want her to go."

After that little story I decided the song wasn't so bad after all. A few weeks later we had the song down pat and were really enjoying it. Paul went to the wrong chord-or said the wrong word or something. We quit right in the middle of the song to start over and Pap said "We were going along so good why I could see the blue strings on her apron." I said "You mean the girl from California?"-Pap said "Yes she was a waitress and she wore this apron that had blue strings coming out of both pockets." 

Once I heard about the blue strings I decided Brand New Tennessee Waltz was my new favorite song-at least when we sing it.

See what you think about it. (don't forget to stop the music player in the top right of this page before you start the video)

Hope you liked the song!

Tipper

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Deep Elem Blues

Back in January of 2009 I wrote about having the blues-more specifically the wintertime blues, the baby blues, the lovesick blues-I'm sure you get the picture. You can jump back in the Blind Pig archives to see the post in its entirety: Have You Got The Blues?

The blues post started out with a photo of ice built up on the inside of my kitchen window. There are no worries of that happening this January-its been in the 60s here in western NC.

A few other updates from the post:

• We no longer have the dial up blues-we're really uptown now with only the occasional "satellite internet blues."
• The girls haven't been suffering from the "grounded for being a slacker at school blues" in a long time-but with all the extra studying there's hardly any time left for contra dancing.
• Along with most of the US we're still suffering from the "lowdown mean I'm broke and ain't got no money blues."
• One other thing that hasn't changed-is how much I love Paul's version of the song Deep Elem Blues. The song has such entertaining lyrics you gotta love it for that-but add Paul's insane picking and emotion filled vocals and its pefection. I mean what goes on between his head and his fingers that makes those awesome sounding guitar breaks come out?

The old blues song has various titles-depending on who you ask-to name a few: Deep Elm Blues, Deep Elem Blues, or Deep Ellum Blues.  Its been around since the 1930s and has been recorded by various artists over the years including The Grateful Dead. Deep Elm was a red light district in Dallas Texas you can go here to read more about the history of the song.

As is the case with many old songs, the lyrics vary depending on the person performing it. Here's the ones Paul sings:

Well I went down to the bottoms to see my Mary Lou She was dancing with a stranger she had taken off her shoes Oh sweet Momma your Daddys got the Deep Elem Blues Oh sweet Momma Daddys got the Deep Elem Blues

Well I told that trifling woman Told her what I was going to do If she don't quit her rambling I'm going ramble too Oh Little Momma your Daddys got the Deep Elem Blues Oh Little Momma Big Daddys got the Deep Elem Blues

Well I once knew a Preacher preached the Bible through and through till he went down to Deep Elem Now his preaching days are through Oh Little Momma your Daddys got the Deep Elem Blues I said oh now Momma Poppas got the Deep Elem Blues

Well I wish I was an apple hanging on the tree Every time Mary Lou came by she could take a bite of me Oh now Momma your Daddys got the Deep Elem Blues I said oh now Mommason Daddyson got the Deep Elem Blues

Give it a listen and see if you like it as much as I do. (don't forget to stop the music player in the top right of this page before you start the video)

Got any variety of the blues at your house?

Tipper

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Cry Cry Darling

If you've been a long time listener to country or bluegrass music I'm positive you've heard the old standard Cry Cry Darling. Since the song was first written-its been associated with everyone from Bill Monroe to Dolly Paton. I once had a cd with an outstanding verison of the song done by Laurie Lewis-I listened to it so much I wore it out.

Jimmy Yves Newman wrote Cry Cry Darling. Newman was born in 1927 in Louisiana. He was commonly known as the Cajun Cowboy-and over the years the Yves was dropped for a C.- the C standing for Cajun. Over Newman's lengthy career he had 33 hit songs land on the billboard charts and was inducted into several impressive associations. You can read more about Jimmy C. Newman's career and awards here.

I found this interesting tidbit about Newman and his song Cry Cry Darling on OLDIES.com:

He wrote and recorded ‘Cry, Cry Darling’. Listeners to his early recordings will note a prominent hiss on his pronunciation of the letter ‘S’, caused by a badly fitted gold tooth. Fred Rose tried to eliminate the problem by changing lyrics, such as in ‘Cry Cry Darling’, where ‘sunshine’ became ‘moonlight’ (a little later a partial denture replaced the offending tooth and permanently cured the problem). Also through the auspices of Fred Rose, Newman joined Dot Records. In 1954 a new recording of ‘Cry Cry Darling’ reached number 4 on the US country charts and led to his joining The Louisiana Hayride. Between 1955 and 1957 he had five more Top 10 country hits, the biggest being his recording of Ned Miller’s ‘A Fallen Star’, which became a number 2 country and number 23 pop hit. OLDIES.com

Last summer Chatter saw an old clip of Allison Krauss singing Cry Cry Darling and it jogged her memory back to the days of her and Chitter singing along with Laurie Lewis while riding to and fro in my backseat.

She decided she wanted to learn the song. The first time she performed it in public was at the JCCFS's Fall Festival. The crowd loved it-and I am still loving it. Her pure clear voice seems perfect for the song-see if you don't agree. (don't forget to stop the player in the top right of this page before you start the video)

Pretty good uh? Are you familiar with the old song-or with the Cajun Cowboy who wrote it?

Tipper

p.s. Be sure to drop back by tomorrow for the best story I've ever heard about lightered wood/rich pine.

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