| Author | Topic: Young Companions | |
| Michael Morris | Posted - 02 Jan 06 - 06:22 am | |
"Taney County" My home's in Taney County Among those pleasant hills And the mem'ry of my birthplace Is on my mem'ry still I landed in Chicago In the merry midst of May And then I took to gambling And sinned both night and day I courted a fair damsel Her name I will not tell For why should I disgrace her When I am doomed to hell? It was on one moonlight evening When the stars were shining bright 'Twas with and ugly dagger I made her spirit's flight I now stand on the scafold My name it will not be long You may forget the singer Pray don't forget the song Source: Randolph/Cohen, Ozark Folksongs (Urbana, Chicago and London: University of Illinois Press, 1982), 153-155. Notes: "Evidently a local adaptation of 'Bad Companions,' a song I heard as long ago as 1918, and which has been sung by many radio 'hillbillys' in recent years. 'Bad Companions' is given in the Library of Congress Checklist, p. 14, as sung at Firebaugh, Calif., in 1940 and recorded by Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin. A text and tune of 'Young Companions' is given by Lomax and Lomax (1938), 212-214, and the text alone in J. Lomax, 81-82. "This piece- of the kind often called a 'criminal's last goodnight'- is a localization of 'Bad (or Young) Companions,' for more references to which see Laws (1964), 1983 (E15). To these, add Crabtree, 59; Perry, 127; Rosenberg, 144. Randolph's B text does not have the Ozark localization. Ozark recording: Charles Ingenthron (AFS 5253 B1). There were many early hillbilly recordings of 'Bad Companions'; Kelly Harrell (OKeh 40544), Carl T. Sprague (Victor 19747), George Reneau (Vocalion 15150) and 5079), Ernest V. Stoneman (Edison 51788 and 5201), Marc Williams (Brunswich 274), Vernon Dalhart (Cameo 8221 and associated labels), Asa Martin (Gennett 6762, Challenger 421), Roy Shaefer (Decca 5274), Carter Family (Victor 40328). The more recent country-western song performed by Stonewall Jackson, 'I Washed My Hands in Muddy Water' (Columbia C-30469), is a derivative piece. "Sung by Charles Ingenthron, Walnut Shade, Mo., Sept. 7, 1941. He has no doubt that it was written about some local boy who went astray in the 1890s. 'We've had plenty o' such fellers, right here in Taney County,' he said soberly." Edited By Michael Morris - 02 Jan 06 - 07:05 am | ||
| masato sakurai | Posted - 02 Jan 06 - 11:16 am | |
From Voices from the Dust Bowl: The Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin Migrant Worker Collection, 1940-1941, with audio recording: BAD COMPANION | ||
| Jon Freeman | Posted - 03 Jan 06 - 11:54 pm | |
Can anyone supply a version with a tune in some format so I can add to the database. | ||
| masato sakurai | Posted - 04 Jan 06 - 01:59 am | |
X:1 T:TANEY COUNTY M:3/4 L:1/4 K:D B:Randolph, Ozark Folksongs, ed. Cohen, p. 154 F|A2 F|A2 F|E D2|z2 A|(A/ B2) G/| w:My home's in Tan-ey Coun-ty A-mong_ those d2 (B/A/)|A2 z|z2 F/G/|A2 F|A2 F| w:pleas-ant_ hills, And the mem-'ry of my E D2|z2 D|A2 A|F2 (F/E/)|D2|] w:birth-place Is on my mem-'ry_ still. | ||
| Jon Freeman | Posted - 04 Jan 06 - 02:12 am | |
Thanks - added it. | ||
| Malcolm Douglas |
Posted - 04 Jan 06 - 03:50 am | |
Roud 786. It was recorded by the Carter Family as Don't Forget this Song. There is another example (Bad Companions), with audio, at the John Quincy Wolf website. | ||