Folktunes.org - fiddle

Mole in the Ground - Lonesome Tofu Expressway

Forrest Oliphant — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 11:21:32 -0400

MP3 url: [link]

Source webpage: [link]

Lyrics:

Wish I was a mole in the ground,
Wish I was a mole in the ground,
If I's a mole in the ground, I'd root that mountain down,
Wish I was a mole in the ground.

Wish I was a lizard in the spring,
Wish I was a lizard in the spring,
If I's a lizard in the spring, I'd hear my darlin' sing,
Wish I was a lizard in the spring.

Wish I was a frog in the fall,
Wish I was a frog in the fall,
If I's a frog in the fall, I'd hear my darlin' call,
Wish I was a frog in the fall.

Honey where you been so long,
Honey where you been so long,
I been out on the bend, with the rough and rowdy men.
Honey where you been so long.

Wish I was a mole in the ground,
Wish I was a mole in the ground,
If I's a mole in the ground, I'd root that mountain down,
Wish I was a mole in the ground.

Honey where you been so long,
Honey where you been so long,
I been out on the bend, with the rough and rowdy men.
Honey where you been so long.

Notes:

The Lonesome Tofu Expressway Rambling Stringband--Lonesome Tofu Expressway for short, Tofex for shorter--crowded around the mic at Tom Watson's place in Kuzumaki, Iwate, Japan one cool May night in 2004 and came up with this. All for fun, of course.

The band members include Daniel Conway on the guitar, Elizabeth Gordon on the fiddle, and Forrest Oliphant on the banjo and harmonica. All of them sing vocals.

Cripple Creek - Lonesome Tofu Expressway

Forrest Oliphant — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 11:20:14 -0400

MP3 url: [link]

Source webpage: [link]

Lyrics:

I got a gal at the head of the creek,
Goin' up to see her the middle of the week,
Kiss her on the mouth just as sweet as any wine,
She wraps herself around me like a sweet potato vine.

Goin' up to Cripple Creek, goin' on a whirl,
Goin' up to Cripple Creek to see my girl,
Goin' up to Cripple Creek, goin' on a run,
Goin' up to Cripple Creek to have a little fun.

Girls up on Cripple Creek, 'bout half grown,
Jump on a boy like a dog on a bone,
Roll my britches up to my knee,
I'll wade Cripple Creek when I please.

Goin' up to Cripple Creek, goin' on a whirl,
Goin' up to Cripple Creek to see my girl,
Goin' up to Cripple Creek, goin' on a run,
Goin' up to Cripple Creek to have a little fun.

Policeman (at FanBelt's Jam)

Forrest Oliphant — Thu, 18 May 2006 14:24:27 -0400

MP3 url: [link]

Source webpage: [link]

Lyrics:

Police come, I didn’t want to go this morning (2x)
Police come, I didn’t want to go
Shot him in the head with my 44 this morning

Two little children lying in the bed, this morning (2x)
Two little children lying in the bed
One rolled over to the other and said, it’s morning

Bullfrog jumped from bank to bank, this morning (2x)
Bullfrog jumped from bank to bank
Skinned his whole back from shank to shank, this morning

I know something I ain’t gonna tell is morning (2x)
I know something I ain’t gonna tell
I want to go to heaven in a coconut shell this morning

Great big fellow laying on a log this morning (2x)
Great big fellow laying on a log
Finger on the trigger and his eye on a hog, this morning

Down went the trigger and bang went the gun this morning (2x)
Down went the trigger and bang went the gun
Wish I had a wagon to haul him home this morning

Old Dan Tucker (at FanBelt's Jam)

Forrest Oliphant — Thu, 18 May 2006 14:24:24 -0400

MP3 url: [link]

Source webpage: [link]

Lyrics:

CHORUS:
Hey, get out of the way for Old Dan Tucker
Too late to get his supper,
Supper's over and dinner's cookin'
Old Dan Tucker just standin' there lookin'

I went to town the other night
to hear a noise and see a fight,
All the folks was running around
said Old Dan Tucker's a-coming to town.

CHORUS

Well Old Dan Tucker he come to town
He was ridin' a billy goat, leadin' a hound,
Well the hound dog barked and the billy goat jumped,
They throwed Dan Tucker right straddle a stump.

CHORUS

Well Old Dan Tucker he come home drunk
He jumped at the fire and he kicked out a chunk
Got a live coal down in his shoe
And holy gosh mighty how the ashes flew

CHORUS

Old Dan Tucker was fine old man
He washed his face in a frying pan
He combed his hair with a wagon wheel
And died with a toothache in his heel

CHORUS

John Brown's Dream (at FanBelt's Jam)

Forrest Oliphant — Thu, 18 May 2006 14:24:23 -0400

MP3 url: [link]

Source webpage: [link]

Old Kentucky Whiskey (at FanBelt's Jam)

Forrest Oliphant — Thu, 18 May 2006 14:16:50 -0400

MP3 url: [link]

Source webpage: [link]

Lyrics:

Old Kentucky whiskey, old Kentucky whiskey...

Whitesburg (at FanBelt's Jam)

Forrest Oliphant — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 13:46:37 -0400

MP3 url: [link]

Source webpage: [link]

Notes:

I have encoded and uploaded a jam session from Halloween of last year. There are lots of great modal tunes, some hooting and hollering, and general fun. It will take some time to add each track to folktunes.org, so if you want to see the tracklist and listen now go to the archive.org Halloween at FanBelt's 2005 page. Recorded by Vernon Tilley and edited by Rob VanVeld.

I Saw A Man (at FanBelt's Jam)

Forrest Oliphant — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 13:38:15 -0400

MP3 url: [link]

Source webpage: [link]

Old Dan Tucker by Judge Sturdy's Orchestra

Forrest Oliphant — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 00:56:37 -0500

MP3 url: [link]

Source webpage: [link]

Lyrics:

Old Dan Tucker! Take your partners. One Tucker over here, one over ther, c'mon boys...

Notes:

Judge Sturdy and his "Orchestra" (a small string band) play the traditional country dance tune "Old Dan Tucker", complete with calls, in this 1925 recording. From 78rpm disk.

Hiram's Valley by Judge Sturdy's Orchestra

Forrest Oliphant — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 00:50:14 -0500

MP3 url: [link]

Source webpage: [link]

Lyrics:

Quadrille! Take your partners boys, c'mon...

Notes:

It's funny how impatient the caller sounds in these recordings. "C'mon boys, shake a leg!"

Judge Sturdy and his "Orchestra" (a small string band) play the traditional country dance tune "Hiram's Valley", complete with calls, in this 1925 recording. From 78rpm disk.

Whiskey Before Breakfast by Lonesome Tofu Expressway

Forrest Oliphant — Thu, 23 Feb 2006 22:21:28 -0500

MP3 url: [link]

Source webpage: [link]

Greenback Dollar by Weems String Band

Forrest Oliphant — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 13:06:07 -0500

MP3 url: [link]

Source webpage: [link]

Lyrics:

Over the hill and down in the holler,
All I want is a greenback dollar,
Over the hill and down in the holler,
All I want is a greenback dollar...

Rovin' Gambler by Kelly Harrell

Forrest Oliphant — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 16:00:51 -0500

MP3 url: [link]

Source webpage: [link]

Lyrics:

I am a roving gambler,
I gambled down in town,
Whereever I () for the sake of the cards I'll lie my money down

I had not been in Washington many more weeks than three,
When I fell in love with a pretty little girl and she fell in love with me

She took me in he parlor,
She cooled me with her fan,
She whispered low in her mother's ear I love a gamblin' man

Oh daughter oh dear daughter,
Why do you treat me so,
To leave your old dear mother and with a gambler go

Oh mother oh dear mother,
I know I love you well,
But the love I have for the gamblin' man no human song can tell

I've gambled down in Washington,
I've gambled down in Spain,
I'm going down to Georgia to gamble my last game

I hear the train a-coming,
A-coming round the curve,
A-whistling and a-blowing and staining every nerve

Oh mother oh dear mother,
I'll tell you if I can,
If you ever see me coming again I'll be with a gamblin' man

Notes:

An old traditional song described on the record label as a "Mountaineer's Song with violin and guitar". Kelly Harrell made his living in the Virginia textile mills but sang on the side and recorded several sessions in the later 1920s. "Rovin' Gambler" was recorded on January 7, 1925. From the original 78rpm disk.

Author: Kelly Harrell
Date: 1925-01-07
Source: Original 78rpm disk digitized by old78collector
Keywords: oldtime; folk; country; appalachian

Fourteen Days In Georgia by Blue Ridge Highballers

Forrest Oliphant — Tue, 7 Feb 2006 10:37:34 -0500

MP3 url: [link]

Source webpage: [link]

Notes:

Traditional "Mountain Dance Music" tune, recorded March 23, 1926 by the Blue Ridge Highballers ("led by Charley La Prade, fiddler").

Original 78rpm disk (Columbia 15081-D) digitized by old78collector

Flop-Eared Mule by Blue Ridge Highballers

Forrest Oliphant — Tue, 7 Feb 2006 10:30:49 -0500

MP3 url: [link]

Source webpage: [link]

Notes:

Traditional "Mountain Dance Music" tune, recorded March 23, 1926 by the Blue Ridge Highballers ("led by Charley La Prade, fiddler").

Original 78rpm disk (Columbia 15081-D) digitized by old78collector

Arkansas Traveler by Don Richardson

Forrest Oliphant — Sun, 5 Feb 2006 19:53:10 -0500

MP3 url: [link]

Source webpage: [link]

Notes:

Original 78rpm disk (Columbia A2140) digitized by old78collector
A very early recording of the traditional country fiddle tune "Arkansas Traveler", played by Don Richardson, dating from April of 1916. There is a barely audible piano accompaniment. This is from the original 78rpm disk, which is not in great shape, and there is considerable noise. But this recording does not seem to be widely available even as a reissue, so I thought it worthwhile to post it despite the condition.

Little Billy Wilson by Chinkapin Hunters

Forrest Oliphant — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 00:17:45 -0500

MP3 url: [link]

Source webpage: [link]

Sally Gooden -- Eck Robertson on fiddle

Forrest Oliphant — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 00:11:47 -0500

MP3 url: [link]

Source webpage: [link]

Notes:

Recorded on June 30, 1922 or July 1, 1922 in New York City. Although it is indeed possible, if not likely, that country or hillbilly performers had been recorded earlier, these sessions with Texas fiddler Eck Robertson are the earliest documented recording sessions of a country performer. The recordings were not released until about a year later. "Sally Gooden" is another ubiquitous old-time fiddle tune that is rivalled only by "Soldier's Joy" in popularity.

Arkansaw Traveler fiddle duet by Henry C. Gilliland and Eck Robertson

Forrest Oliphant — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 00:05:48 -0500

MP3 url: [link]

Source webpage: [link]

Notes:

Very early country fiddle duet, recorded June 1922. Arkansaw Traveler played by Henry C Gilliland and A C (Eck) Robertson.

From the original 78rpm disk (Victor 18956).

Ragtime Annie by Eck Robertson

Forrest Oliphant — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 23:28:05 -0500

MP3 url: [link]

Source webpage: [link]

Notes:

Great performance of a traditional tune by fiddler "Uncle" A.C. "Eck" Robertson in this 1922 recording. From 78rpm.

Old Joe Clark by Lonesome Tofu Expressway

Forrest Oliphant — Sun, 27 Nov 2005 12:50:25 -0500

MP3 url: [link]

Source webpage: [link]