Sometime in the spring of 2011, the Brandy Snifters had their 50th birthday. We would have used the occasion to launch a triumphant Golden Jubilee World Tour, but nobody could remember exactly when in 1961 we decided to play some songs in public, and named our band Uncle Willie & the Brandy Snifters. Instead of a world tour, we put together this remembrance of things past. It's cheaper, and we're less likely to develop deep-vein thrombosis if we don't take long airplane trips (not to mention the difficulty in transporting instruments). So here's the deal: we'll stay home, and you can also stay home and listen to us, through the magic of modern electrical recording.

Our legal counsel has pointed out that about 25% of the pieces included here were not recorded at practices, but were live performances or recorded in a studio, and he's worried about the title (an homage to a 1934 practice night record by Gid Tanner & his Skillet Lickers) resulting in false advertising allegations. Our warranty: if you're not completely satisfied with this CD, return the unused portion, and we'll replace it with some recordings from our practices that will make you wish you'd kept quiet.

Meanwhile, while you're listening to us, you can amuse yourself by reading the following essays about the band.

Jon Pankake:
We fell in love with old-time music in the late 1950‘s, seduced by the red vinyl LP’s of the Library of Congress, ravished by Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music, and then blissfully wed to Uncle Willie’s growing collection of vintage 78 rpm discs and tapes from the Library of Congress's unpublished collection. We early discovered that it was much more enjoyable to try to sing and play old-time songs than just to listen to them. Like friends who might otherwise get together weekly to play poker or bowl, we began meeting on Friday nights to play our favorites from that week’s listening. We called these sessions “practice,” although we were not selecting and polishing a presentation repertoire (as that term implies), but rather absorbing the music by immersion. We tried on songs to see which ones fit, which ones were too large for us, which ones disappointed us, which ones just weren’t us, which ones felt comfortable enough to try again sometime.

We began recording our “practices” neither for preservation nor for circulation, but simply to serve as a mirror in which we could review our success or lack thereof in conveying the pleasure we took in playing and singing. We did begin playing for small audiences in beer joints and college coffeehouses, which served to discipline our practices and taught us to discard songs we liked but which simply didn’t register with audiences (such as Little Maud and Father, Dear Father). Over the years, several practice tapes which had escaped the perils of repeated wear or overdubbing with other music had become buried in our extensive tape collections. These recently came to light and have allowed us to review performances which are now forty or fifty years old.

Many of these performances contain a youthful energy we can no longer summon in our seventies. Some were purely experimental; others found their way into our permanent repertoire. Some had even disappeared from our memories and proved to be complete surprises on rehearing. This was Practice Night With the Brandy Snifters, so pull up a chair, pour yourself a Mr. Boston’s Pinch or pop the top on a pint can of Canadian Ace Ale, and enjoy. We did plenty of all three in our time.

Lyle Lofgren:
Fifty years is a long time to be doing anything, even something as enjoyable as playing traditional music. It's even rarer to be doing it with the same people for that long. Of course, we weren't trying to make a living at it, and until we traveled to Berkeley in 2008, the longest distance we'd traveled to play in public was a 150-mile trip to play at a small Minnesota college. I think I have the secret to our longevity: the only way to stay together that long is to not play together very much under stressful conditions. We have an unwritten rule that searching for gigs is prohibited; we play in public only if invited by someone else. When we were younger, and there was not much local public entertainment, we played out in public several times a year, at coffee houses, beer taverns, political fund raisers, the local bluegrass festival, and university department picnics — anywhere where nobody had high expectations. Even then, we often had problems. An open bar, for instance, was an irresistible invitation to disastrous performances. At another festival, the power failed, and we tried to entertain a large field of lawn-chair-bound listeners without amplification. We solved the problem by becoming strolling musicians, walking up and down the aisles while playing. Now that we've reached an age beyond retirement, we enjoy our legendary status, and so usually play in public less than once a year. We still get together in our living rooms, though, because basically, we're a living-room band. We can keep time with each other that way.

The immersion Jon mentioned was effective. In spite of living in a city, we approach the music much the same way that traditional southern musicians would when playing on the back porch. For example, we don't formally arrange the pieces we play. Each of us gravitates toward an instrument that feels right for whatever we're doing — sometimes, while on stage, we may forget what instruments we used when we played it before, so we just pick up whatever seems right. I can remember only a couple of times during 50 years of "practicing" where we decided to try the same piece a second time to see if we could do it better. The result is sometimes messy, but at least you can't accuse us of being over-rehearsed.

RECORDING SETUP,
1966

We could not have sung all these pieces without Willie's priceless word books, 24 volumes of spiral notebooks that is our primary reference for words that are often indecipherable on the original recordings. Willie insisted that we get the words right, and we took it to heart. And Willie's mastery of both clawhammer and thumb-lead double thumbing on the banjo has been an inspiration to the rest of us.

With a few exceptions, these pieces are technically comparable to field recordings. The older ones are monaural, recorded on a Tandberg reel-to-reel recorder with a microphone tied to a defunct lamp stand, as shown in this photo of Willie, circa 1966. Later, we used stereo tape recorders and two microphones, but the acoustics are still a long way from studio quality. Our experience from listening to the old recordings that comprise our source material is that you should keep listening. After a few times through, these recordings start to sound almost normal, even without the help of a quart jar of Georgia Moon.

Before the days of electronic tuners, we tuned our instruments to whoever remembered to bring some harmonicas. But the harmonicas were seldom in tune, either, so the keys listed are approximations to standard A-440 pitch.

Bud Claeson:
We didn’t just get together one day and decide this was the music we were destined to play. We came to the music from different musical directions and experiences. My tastes were shaped by listening to country and bluegrass music of the 1940s and 1950s. No amount of cajoling and exposure to classical music could save me. I continued to tune into local country music programs and on Saturday nights to the Grand Ole Opry from 6:30PM until forced to bed. Listening to the extended Opry broadcasts exposed me to Uncle Dave, Sid Harkreader, Sam and Kirk McGee, the Fruit Jar Drinkers and the Crook Brothers. I’d like to say I took to that sound immediately, but in reality I still preferred Roy Acuff, Ernest Tubb, Hank Williams, Hank Snow, Bill Monroe and Flatt and Scruggs (even though Mr. Bill kept them off the Opry for several years). Only after getting to know Lyle did I begin moving to old time or traditional music. Maybe it helped that by this time Chet Atkins and his development of the so-called Nashville Sound had ruined country music for me. Still, Lyle and I lost a couple of years playing Weavers and Pete Seeger material. For me the epiphany didn’t come until, as Jon said, the late 1950s with the Library of Congress LPs, the Anthology, and realizing through Uncle Willie that there was a whole world of untapped material on his 78s and tapes.

A few personal notes on performers who influenced me over the years: I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Jimmie Short, guitarist with Ernest Tubb in the early to late 1940s. I tried to copy his work on my old Silvertone archtop, and the lingering effects can be heard in my backup on Sad and Lonesome Day (Track 4, Disc 2). Once into old time, I tried my best to imitate Riley Puckett, and then began incorporating runs from Roy Harvey, Byrd Moore, and Hoke Rice. Eventually I felt comfortable playing whatever I felt fit a particular piece. Vocally my earliest and continuing influence is the late Beecher Kirby ( Bashful Brother Oswald), dobro player and tenor harmony singer with Roy Acuff. Once in a while, a little bluegrass-tinged harmony might slip in, as on Claude Allen (on Going Nowhere Fast, Lak-O-Tone CD -001). While I love the traditional old time, I still sing and play 1940s and 1950s country and bluegrass in the privacy of my home. Once in awhile, I try to draw Jon into a collaboration, but only close friends have ever heard these efforts.

1. Tim Brook (A)
Willie, banjo & lead vocal; Bud, guitar & tenor vocal; Jon, mandolin & vocal; Marcia, vocal (October 1983).
This is the earliest version of Molly and Tenbrooks that we have heard, from The Carver Boys 1929 recording.

1. Tim Brook was the grey colt, and Molly was the brown;
Tim Brook beat Molly to the hole in the ground.
CHORUS:
Tim Brook skipping and gone away, Tim Brook skipping and flying. (2)

2. People of Louisville, going to the fair,
Got out on the race-track, and old Tim Brook was there.
CHO.

3. The road was so dusty, the wind blew so high,
You just could see little Molly as old Tim Brook went by.
CHO.

4. Tim Brook on the ocean, and Molly on the sea,
Tim Brook said, "Molly, you can't get away with me."
CHO.

5. Tim Brook run the races, he run 'em over the hill,
He looked back over his withers, said, "Ride me, Wild Bill."
CHO.

6. Tim Brook says, "Molly, oh, ain't you ashamed,
You come from Californie to scandalize my name."
CHO.

2. I Ain't Going to Work Tomorrow (D)
Bud, guitar & lead vocal; Willie, banjo & vocal; Jon, fiddle & vocal; Lyle, fiddle & vocal; Marcia, guitar & vocal (January 1979).
From The Carter Family. One of our more successful “stringbanding” transformations of the Carter guitar-oriented sound.

1. I'm going to leave this country,
I'm a-going around this world;
I'm going to leave this country
For the sake of one little girl.

2. Well, she told me that she loved me,
And it give my poor heart ease;
Now she's got her back turned on me,
She is courting whoever she please.

3. Well, I lost my money in gambling,
And I lost my name you see;
I am nobody's darling,
And nobody cares for me.

4. Don't you hear my banjo ringing,
Don't you hear this mournful sound;
Don't you hear those pretty girls laughing,
Standing on the cold, frozen ground.

5. I'll hang my head in sorrow,
I'll hang my head and cry;
I'll hang my head in sorrow
As my darling passes by.

6. Well, I ain't gonna work tomorrow,
And I may not work next day;
Well, I ain't gonna work tomorrow,
For it be a wet, rainy day.

3. Down to the Stillhouse (D, detuned to C#)
Jon, fiddle & vocal; Marcia, banjo, Bud, guitar (October 1983).
From The Blue Ridge Corn Shuckers, with added words from Tommy Jarrell.

1. Saddle up the gray horse, who'll be the rider?
Down to the stillhouse to get a little cider.

2. Who'll be the gray horse, I'll be the rider,
Down to the stillhouse to get a little cider.

3. Marce'll be the gray horse, I'll be the rider,
Down to the stillhouse to get a little cider.

4. Big fine horse with a white oak saddle,
Pretty little girl riding a-straddle.

4. Georgia Railroad (G)
Lyle, fiddle & vocal; Bud, banjo (March 1972).
Lyle was trying to reproduce Gid Tanner's raucous performance of this song, with limited success.
Bud jumped on the banjo bandwagon, even though Willie played it exclusively, and Jon , Lyle, and Marcia all played it at various times. After this piece and Johnson Boys (disc 2, track 15), he gave up banjo and stuck to the guitar.

1. Peter and I, we went a-fishing,
Georgia railroad I am bound,
Catch a big mudcat, put him in the kitchen,
Georgia railroad, Georgia gal.

2. Walked down the road 'til it got right muddy,
Georgia railroad I am bound,
Talk to the girls 'til the head got steady,
Georgia railroad, Georgia gal.

3. I got drunk and fell in the gully,
Georgia railroad I am bound,
I got drunk, but I never get muddy,
Georgia railroad, Georgia gal.

4. (Repeat verse 2).

5. When A Man is Married (G)
Willie, banjo & lead vocal; Bud, guitar & tenor vocal; Jon, harmonica (December 1978).
From The Grant Brothers & Their Music.

1. When a man is single, he is his own man,
He goes where he wants to, come back when he can.
But when a man is married, he's not his own man,
Can't go where he wants to, come back when he can.

2. Now, often I've wondered why women love men,
And again I have wondered why men will love them.
They'll cause you to see trouble, see many a downfall,
They'll cause you to pick stones out of mason-a-ry walls.

3. Now when a man gets married, it's the failure of his life,
He's sold all his pleasures and bought him a wife.
So I think I'll stay single, keep bachelor's hall,
Have no wife to scorn me, no children to squall.

4. So fill up your glasses and pass them around,
I'll drink to my notion if such can be found.
For when a man is married, he's not his own man,
Can't go where he wants to, come back when he can.

6. Texas Rangers (D)
Bud, vocal; Lyle, fiddle (Cafe Extemporé, Mpls., MN, February 1978).
The Cartwright Brothers called this just Texas Ranger.

1. Come all you Texas Rangers, wherever you may be,
I'll tell you of some troubles that happened onto me.
My name is nothing extra, so that I will not tell,
But here's to all you rangers, I'm sure I wish you well.

2. 'Twas at the age of seventeen, I joined the jolly band,
We marched from San Antonio down to the Rio Grande.
Our captain, he informed us, perhaps he thought it right,
"Before we reach that station, boys, you'll surely have to fight."

3. And when the bugle sounded, our captain gave command,
"To arms, to arms," he shouted, "and by your horses stand."
I saw the smoke ascending, it seemed to reach the sky,
And then the thought, it struck me, my time had come to die.

4. I saw the Indians coming, I heard them give a yell,
My feelings at that moment, no tongue can ever tell.
I saw the glittering lances, their arrows 'round me flew,
And all my strength had left me, and all my courage, too.

5. We fought for nine hours fully before the strife was o'er.
The likes of dead and wounded I never saw before.
And when the sun had risen, and the Indians they had fled,
We loaded up our rifles, and counted up our dead.

6. And all of us were wounded, our noble captain slain,
The sun was shining sadly across the bloody plain.
Sixteen as brave rangers as ever rode the west
Were buried by their comrades with arrows in their breast.

7. And now my song is ended, I guess I've sung enough,
The life of any ranger, you see is very tough.
So if you have a mother that don't want you to roam,
I advise you by experience, you'd better stay at home.

7. Rabbits in the Lowland (A)
Willie, banjo & vocal; Bud, guitar; Lyle, fiddle (March 1972).
Willie’s earliest banjo models were the funky, rough-and-ready pickers on the Library of Congress recordings, rather than the more polished professionals such as Uncle Dave Macon or Buell Kazee. This one is from George Roark.

1. Rabbits in the lowlands, a-playing in the sand, (2)
Before this time another year, I'll be in Alabam.

2. Rabbits in the lowlands, the bluebirds in the sky, (2)
Well, I hope I'll live forever, my true love never die.

3. Don't you hear it thunder, oh, don't you hear it roar, (2)
Oh, don't you hear me coming, boys, shooting my forty-four.

4. Goin' upon the hillside to plant me a patch of cane, (2)
I'll make some soghum 'lasses to sweeten old Liza Jane.

5. Dark clouds a-rising, it's sure a sign of rain, (2)
Get your bonnet, Liza, and let's go, Liza Jane.

6. (Repeat verse 3).

8. Feast Here Tonight (G)
Jon, mandolin & lead vocal; Bud, guitar & tenor vocal; Marcia, guitar & vocal; Lyle, fiddle (October 1983).
We had no business tackling material by Bill and Charlie Monroe, but sometimes a guy just can’t resist -- you know?

1. There's a rabbit in the log, and I ain't got my dog;
How will I get him? I know.
Take me a br'ar and twist it in his hair,
That's the way I'll get him, I know.
I know (I know), yes, I know (I dearly know),
That's the way I'll get him, I know.
Take me a br'ar and twist it in his hair,
And that's the way I'll get him, I know.

2. I'll build me a fire and roast that old hare,
Roll him in the flame and make him brown.
Have a feast here tonight, while the moon's shining bright,
Then find me a place to lie down.
To lie down (to lie down), to lie down (to lie down),
Find me a place to lie down.
Make me a fire and roast that old hare,
And find me a place to lie down.

3. I'm going down the track with the coat ripped up my back.
The soles on my shoes are nearly gone.
A little ways ahead there's a farmer's shed.
And that's where I'll rest my weary bones.
Weary bones (weary bones), weary bones (weary bones),
That's where I'll rest my weary bones.
A little ways ahead there's a farmer's shed.
And that's where I'll rest my weary bones.

9. I Wish I Was in Bowling Green (G)
Marcia, banjo & vocal; Jon, guitar (Recorded by Lynn Kruse at KSJN studios, St. Paul, MN for Folk Music and Bernstein radio program, May 1976).
From Cousin Emmy. One of our favorite memories is of the time Mike Seeger visited one of our “practices” and phoned Cousin Emmy on the west coast, then held the phone while Marcia performed Emmy’s song to her long distance.

1. I wish I was in Bowling Green, sitting in my chair,
One arm 'round my whisky jug, the other 'round my dear,
The other 'round my dear.
CHORUS:
Bowling Green, oh, good old Bowling Green.

2. If you see that man of mine, tell him once for me,
If he loves another girl, I will set him free,
Yes, I'll set him free.
CHO.

3. Wish I was a bumblebee sailing through the air,
Take my true love by my side, touch him if you dare,
Touch him if you dare.
CHO.

4. Going through this old wide world, going through alone,
Going through this old wide world, I ain't got no home,
I ain't got no home.
CHO.

10. John Brown's Dream (A)
Jon, fiddle & vocal; Marcia, banjo, Bud, guitar (December 1978).
From Tommy Jarrell. Just before we recorded this, Bud’s eyes rolled back in his skull and he began channeling Riley Puckett, which explains his extraordinary work on the bass strings, which we never heard again.

1. John Brown dreamed the devil was dead, (2)

2. (Repeat verse 1).

11. Shoo Fly (C)
Willie, banjo & lead vocal; Bud, guitar & tenor vocal (April 1962).
From the last session of Crockett’s Kentucky Mountaineers in 1931. An early example of our finding our own sound and arrangement on an old standard.

1. I went down to Shoo-fly's house,
Shoo-fly wasn't at home;
Grabbed me a sheet and laid in the bed
Until that rascal come.
CHORUS:
Shoo-fly, Shoo-fly, don't you bother me,
Shoo-fly, Shoo-fly, I'm busy as can be.

2. Apple jack and 'simmon beer,
And still molasses, too;
If anybody can stomach that,
It's more than I can do.
CHO.

3. I went down to Shoo-fly's house,
Shoo-fly wasn't at home;
I eat all of Shoo-fly's meat,
And left Shoo-fly the bone.
CHO.

12. I Wouldn't Mind Dying (F)
Jon, guitar & lead vocal; Marcia, autoharp & vocal; Bud, guitar & bass vocal (July 1977).
Our version is something of a creolization of those of The Carter Family and Blind Mamie Forehand. Bud's vocal is a take on A.P. Carter, but the twin guitar work is pretty much our own arrangement.

1. I wouldn't mind dying, but I got to go by myself, (3)
REFRAIN: I wouldn't mind dying if dying was all.

2. After death, we're going to stand the test, (3)
REF.

3. Oh, bye and bye, we're going to see the king, (3)
REF.

4. Ezekiel saw a wheel, a wheel in the middle of a wheel, (3)
REF.

5. Holy, holy, holy is His name, (3)
REF.

6. (Repeat verse 1).

13. Sweet Sunny South (G, tuned up to G#)
Willie, banjo & vocal; Jon, high banjo (September 1962).
One of our earliest attempts at the twin octave banjos of Da Costa Woltz’s Southern Broadcasters. Unfortunately, not many of these arrangements survived. Willie and Jon got pretty good at them and then, for some reason, abandoned this sound as we got caught up in the never-ending quest for full band pieces.

1. Take me back to the place where I first saw the light,
To the sweet sunny South take me home,
Where the mockingbirds sang me to rest every night,
Oh, why was I tempted to roam?

2. I think with regret of the dear home I left,
Of the warm hearth that sheltered me there,
Of wife and of dear ones of whom I'm bereft,
For the old place again do I sigh.

3. Take me back to the place where the orange trees grow,
to my cot in the evergreen shade,
Where the flowers from the river's green margins may blow
their sweets to the grass where we played.

4. The path to our cottage, they say, has grown green,
And the place is quite lonely around,
And I know that the smiles and the forms I have seen
Now lie in the dark, mossy ground.

5. Take me back, let me see what is left that I knew,
Can it be that the old house is gone?
Dear friends of my childhood, indeed, must be few,
And I must lament all alone.

6. But, yet, I'll return to the place of my birth,
Where the children have played 'round the door,
Where they gathered wild blossoms that garnish the earth,
They'll echo our footsteps no more.

14. Little Lulie (D)
Bud, guitar & vocal (St. Olaf College, Northfield MN February 1978).
From Dick Justice. Bud's comment: "I always liked his songs but my renditions were a bit too imitative even as to the guitar backup."

1. Wake up, wake up, little Lulie, what makes you sleep so sound?
Those highway robbers are coming, going to tear your playhouse down.

2. If I'd a-minded daddy, Lord, I wouldn't been here today,
A-drinking the wine and good whisky has caused me to run away.

3. I'll go in some dark holler, where the sun don't never shine,
There I'll get some other man's woman, and I know she'll never be mine.

4. I'll build me a steeple, Lord, on a mountain so high,
So I can see little Lulie once more before I die.

5. I dreamed I saw little Lulie, a-sitting by the sea,
An empty glass beside her, and a forty-four at her knee.

6. Now, the last time I saw little Lulie, had a wine glass in her hand,
A-drinking away her troubles, and a-courting some other man.

7. Young girls, young girls, take warning, oh, take this warning from me,
Don't never leave your father for a gambling man like me.

8. Now, if you see little Lulie, just tell her I am dead,
A-lying in some lonely graveyard, and a tombstone at my head.

15. Lonesome Valley
Jon, vocal; Marcia, vocal (September 1985).
From a Library of Congress recording of the Gant Family. A version of this story appears in Boccaccio’s The Decameron. How it got from 1340‘s Italy to Austin, Texas, and the Gants must be an interesting story, but we don’t know it.

1. One night a couple, they sat courting,
Two brothers chanced to overhear;
Saying, “This courtship, it must be ended,
We’ll force him headlong to his grave.”

2. The brothers rose early the very next morning,
A game of hunting for to go;
Of this man they both insisted
That along with them that he must go.

3. They rambled over the hills and mountains
To many a place where they were unknown,
Until they came to a lonesome valley
And there they left him dead alone.

4. And when the brothers had return-ed
Their sister inquired for the chosen man;
“We’ve lost him in our game of hunting,
We've lost him in a foreign land.”

5. The sister rose early the very next morning
And dressed herself to go away;
The brothers asked her where she was going,
Not a word to them that she would say.

6. She rambled over the hills and mountains
To many a place where she was unknown,
Until she came to a lonesome valley
And there she found him dead alone.

7. His red rosy cheeks, they were all faded;
His lips were salt as any brine;
She kissed him over and over, saying,
"You were that bosom friend of mine.”

8. And when the sister had return-ed
The brothers asked her where she’d been;
“O, hush your tongues, you deceitful vill-yuns,
For the one you killed, you both shall hang.”

9. And so the brothers were arrested,
And forced across the raging sea;
A storm did come and the wind did drown them,
Their bloody grave lies in the deep.

16. Old Reuben (D)
Marcia, banjo & vocal; Jon, fiddle; Bud, guitar (February 1978).
Marcia heard many versions of this favorite, but thinks hers owes most to The Watson Family. But the instrumental work, particularly the guitar backup, is strictly Brandy Snifters.

1. Well, you oughta been in town, and see the train roll down,
You can hear the whistle blow nine hundred miles.

2. If the train runs right, see my baby tomorrow night,
'Cause I'm nine hundred miles from my home.

3. If my baby says so, I'll railroad no more,
I'll sidetrack my train and go home.

4. Well, the train had a wreck, killed the fireman, I expect,
For I heard the brakeman holler, "Lord, Lord."

5. Well, I'm going down these ties with tears in my eyes,
Trying to read a letter from my home.

6. If I die a railroad man, you can bury me in the sand,
So I can hear the whistle blow nine hundred miles.

7. I got my razor blade, laid old Reuben in the shade,
Gonna start me a graveyard of my own.

17. S-A-V-E-D (D)
Lyle, banjo & lead vocal; Bud, guitar & tenor vocal; Willie, harmonica & vocal; Jon, fiddle & vocal; Marcia, guitar & vocal (March 1981).
From Gid Tanner & Fate Norris.

1. Some folks jump up and down all night At a D-A-N-C-E,
On Sunday go to church to show their brand new H-A-T.
Upon their face they smear large gobs of P-A-I-N-T,
But still they've got the nerve to say, "I'm S-A-V-E-D."
CHORUS:
I'm S-A-V-E-D, I am, I'm S-A-V-E-D.
I'm sure I am, I know I am, I'm S-A-V-E-D.

2. I know a man, I think his name is B-R-O-W-N,
He talks prohibition, but votes for R-U-M.
He has to put the poison in his neighbor's C-U-P,
But still he's got the gall to say, I'm S-A-V-E-D.
CHO.

3. When married folks have lots of cash, their love is firm and strong,
But when you have to live on hash, your love don't last so long.
With a cross-eyed baby on each knee, and a wife with a plaster on her nose,
You'll find that your love don't last so long when you have to wear the second-hand clothes.
CHO.

4. When the money's all gone, and the clothes and the hash,
And you've got no grub for to chaw,
Then you holler for your son for to load up your gun
While you vaccinate your mother-in-law.
CHO.

18. Katy Kline (A)
Willie, banjo & lead vocal; Bud, guitar & tenor vocal; Jon, harmonica; Lyle, fiddle (December 1978).
From The Red Fox Chasers, who also recorded as Cranford & Thompson. Their harmony vocals and minimal instrumentals made them an early favorite with the Brandy Snifters. Bud must have been fighting a cold, as he appears to be struggling to hit notes that he can still hit with ease at age 74.

1. I wish I was a little bird,
I'd never build my nest on the ground;
I'd build my nest in some tall willow tree,
Where the bad boys would not tear it down.
CHORUS:
Oh, tell me that you love me, Katy Kline,
Oh tell me that you love me all the time;
Oh, tell me that you love your own turtle dove,
Oh, Tell me that you love me, Katy Kline.

2. Away from my little cabin home,
Away from my little cabin home,
There's no one to weep, there's no one to mourn,
There's no one but Katy, Katy Kline.
CHO.

3. Oh, who is it knows Katy Kline?
She lives at the foot of the hill.
In a quiet little nook by the babbling brook
That runs by her dear old father's mill.
CHO.

19. Winking Eye (C)
Jon, banjo & lead vocal; Bud, guitar & tenor vocal; Marcia, guitar & vocal; Willie, harmonica (Recorded by Lynn Kruse at KSJN studios, St. Paul, MN for Folk Music and Bernstein radio program, May 1976).
From a modern LP recording by Fields and Wade Ward. CeCe Conway’s research finds a long history for this banjo tune, which as Long Tail Blue reaches back to 1830‘s New Orleans and the earliest banjo instruction books of the 19th century. We consulted professor Herman Eutics on the meaning of some terms in the song. His response:
"Narco could refer to either a narcotics agent or a narcoleptic, but probably not a narco-terrorist, since that term wasn't invented until 1983. But even after extensive research, I could not determine who Hannah Mariah was."

1. I went to town the other night,
I raised sand and had a fight;
Throwed a rock and had to run,
Wished I had my Gatling Gun.
CHORUS:
Oh, me, oh, my,
You'd better watch my winking eye,
You'd better watch my winking eye,
If you don't mind, I'll black your eye.

2. There's a gal in yonders town,
She weighs three hundred and forty pounds;
She looked at me with her winking eye,
But she can't get around like Hannah Maria.
CHO.

3. I went to town the other night,
I raised sand and had a fight;
I kicked a narco up so high,
He came down on Hannah Maria.
CHO.

20. Rocky Mountain Goat (D)
Jon, fiddle; Lyle, fiddle; Bud, guitar; Marcia, guitar (February, 1978).
From Ted Gossett’s Band and a Library of Congress recording by Bill Stepp. The tune is also called The Mud Fence, and Ride the Goat Over the Mountain.

21. Late Last Night When Willie Come Home (G)
Jon, fiddle & lead vocal; Bud, Duolian metal guitar & tenor vocal; Willie, banjo; Lyle, fiddle (January 1978).
From Uncle Dave Macon. Bud's wife gave him a 1932 Duolian for Christmas, 1977, and he couldn’t put it down for months.

1. It was late last night, when my Willie come home,
Heard a mighty rapping at the door;
He was slipping and a-sliding with the new shoes on,
Oh, Willie, don't you weep no more.
CHORUS:
Oh me, and it's oh my,
What's gonna become of me?
I's downtown, just a-fooling around,
No one to go my bond.

2. If I had a-listened to what mama said,
I would not be here today.
I didn't listen to what mama said,
I threw my young life away.
CHO.

2. I love you, dear girl, 'til the sea runs dry,
Rocks all dissolved by the sun;
I love you, dear girl, 'til the day I die,
Then, oh Lord, I'm done.
CHO.

3. Now, one grip sack is all I got,
A dollar bill is all I crave,
Brought nothing with me to this old world,
Take nothing to my grave.
CHO.

22. Old Ship of Zion (C)
Willie, banjo & lead vocal; Bud, guitar & tenor vocal; Jon, testimony (July 1977).
From Uncle Dave Macon and Sid Harkreader. Lyle's yell at the beginning was inspired by his recent re-reading of Moby Dick, which convinced him that there was a whale, rather than a wail, from the islands of the sea. Towards the end of the song, Willie and Bud’s inspired performance seems to have produced some sort of miraculous healing.

1. There's a wail from the islands of the sea,
There's a voice that is calling you and me,
REFRAIN:
It's the old ship of Zion, that good news of Zion,
That good news of Zion, carry me, oh carry me.

2. "Come o'er and help us," is the cry,
"Come o'er and help us ere we die,
REF.

3. We will all sing together, by and by,
We will all sing together, by and by,
REF.

4. I can hear the Savior calling when she comes,
I can hear the savior calling when she comes,
REF.

5. I'm going to meet my mother when she comes,
I'm going to meet my mother when she comes,
REF.

6. We are all bound for heaven when she comes,
We are all bound for heaven when she comes,
REF.

1. Golden Slippers (D)
Willie, banjo & lead vocal; Bud, guitar & tenor vocal; Jon, fiddle & vocal; Lyle, high fiddle & vocal; Marcia, guitar & vocal (October 1983).
Inspired by a version by Dykes’ Magic City Trio, with a stanza from Turkey in the Straw imported by Willie.

1. Golden slippers am laid away,
'Cause I ain't gonna wear 'em 'til my wedding day,
The long-tailed coat that I used to wear,
I'll ride in the chariot in the morning.
CHORUS:
Oh, them golden slippers, oh them golden slippers,
Golden slippers I'm going to wear, because they look so neat.
Oh, them golden slippers, oh them golden slippers,
Golden slippers I'm going to wear to walk the golden street.

2. Old Uncle Ben and sister Luce,
Gonna telegraph the news to Uncle 'Bacca Juice,
What a big camp meeting there'll be that day,
When we ride in the chariot in the morning.
CHO.

3. Did you ever go a-fishing on a hot summer's day,
Did you ever see the little fishes jumping up and down the bay,
With their hands in their pockets and their pockets in their pants,
Did you ever see the fishes do the hootchy-kootchy dance.
CHO.

2. Going to Georgia (D)
Bud, guitar & vocal; Jon, fiddle; Lyle, fiddle; Willie, banjo; Marcia, guitar (October 1983).
From The Tenneva Ramblers. It became a Snifters mainstay for years.

1. Up and down the sycamore ridge, running through the weeds,
Looking for that pretty little girl that wears the silver beads.

2. Going back to Georgia, from there to New Orleans,
Looking for that pretty little girl, I hope I find her clean.

3. If you see that girl of mine, something for to tell her,
To be true to her soldier boy and have no other fellah.

4. (Repeat verse 2).

5. Going back to see that girl, I hope that she won't mind me,
Then I'll stop and stay all day with the girl I left behind me.

6. (Repeat verse 2).

3. I've Been All Around This World (D)
Lyle, mandolin & vocal; Jon, fiddle; Bud, guitar; Marcia, guitar (August 1985).
Some band members would have preferred Justus Begley's Library of Congress version, but this one, from Grandpa Jones, was more amenable to string band treatment.

1. Upon the blue ridge mountains, there I'll take my stand, (2)
With a rifle on my shoulder, six-shooter in my hand, Lord, Lord,
I been all around this world.

2. Lulu, my Lulu, won't you come and open that door, (2)
Before I have to open it with my old forty-four, Lord, Lord,
I been all around this world.

3. She took me to her parlor, she cooled me with her fan, (2)
She whispered low in her daddy's ear, "I love that gambling man," Lord, Lord,
I been all around this world.

4. If you see a rich girl, just pass and treat her fine, (2)
But if you meet a poor gal, then ask her to be mine, Lord, Lord,
I been all around this world.

5. Hang me, oh hang me, and I'll be dead and gone, (2)
I wouldn't mind your hanging, but you lay in jail so long, Lord, Lord,
I been all around this world.

6. Mama and Papa, and little sister makes three, (2)
Come weeping to the jailhouse, it's the last they'll see of me, Lord, Lord,
I been all around this world.

4. Sad and Lonesome Day (F)
Jon, lead guitar & lead vocal; Marcia, guitar & vocal; Bud, guitar (June 1978).
The Carter Family called this white blues See That My Grave Is Kept Green. This is where Jimmie Short creeps into Bud's old-time backup.

1. Today has been a lonesome day, (3)
And it seems tomorrow'll be the same old way.

2. They carried my mother to the burying ground, (3)
I watched as the pallbearers let her down.

3. Did you ever hear a church bell tone, (3)
You know by that she's dead and gone.

4. Go dig my grave with a silver spade (3)
And mark the place where I was laid.

5. There's one kind favor I'll ask of you, (3)
Just see my grave is kept green.

5. The Little Carpenter (pentatonic major key; banjo tuned gDGBD)
Willie, banjo & vocal; Jon, fiddle (March 1962).
From a Library of Congress recording by Jim Howard. Willie added the banjo part. The origin of this song mystified us and everyone else we asked until Lyle wrote about it in a column for the Inside Bluegrass newsletter. He received a message from the Isle of Wight pointing out that the song was from there, and was at least as old as the early 1800s. For more details, see www.lizlyle.lofgrens.org/RmOlSngs/RTOS-LittleCarp.html.

1. I'll tell to you a new song that's lately been made,
'Tis of a little carpenter, he courted a fair maid;
He courted her, he courted her, he loved her as his life;
Oftimes he'd asked her if she would be his wife.

2. Along come an old man, he come from Noey's ark,
A long ways a traveling and rambling in the dark;
I can't fancy you, old man, you look so old and grim;
Oh, my little carpenter, oh, what's become of him?

3. Along come a blacksmith, it was the other day,
He gave to me a handkerchief, or so the people say;
He gave to me a gold ring to talk with him again;
Oh, my little carpenter, oh what's become of him?

4. Along come a young man, he came from Scarlet town,
With gold chains and finger rings, he threw them on the ground;
I can fancy you, young man, you look so neat and trim,
Oh, my little carpenter, what would become of him?

5. Along came the carpenter, he come so neat and slow;
All the money that he makes, he brings to me to show;
He hews with his broadax all day, and sets by me all night,
It's, oh, my little carpenter, my whole heart's delight.

6. Henry Lee (G)
Bud, guitar & vocal (Mattie's Barbecue, Minneapolis MN, April, 1962).
A version of the old ballad that Francis James Child called Young Hunting, from Dick Justice.

1. "Get down, get down, little Henry Lee, and stay all night with me,
The very best lodging I can afford would be fair better'n thee."
"I can't get down and I won't get down and stay all night with thee,
That girl I have in that merry green land I love fair better than thee."

2. She leaned herself against a fence, just for a kiss or two;
With a little pen-knife held in her hand, she plugged him through and through.
"Come all you ladies in this town, a secret for me keep,
With a diamond ring held on my hand that I never will forsake."

3. "Come take him by his lily-white hand, come take him by his feet,
We'll throw him in this deep, deep well, more than one hundred feet.
Lie there, lie there, loving Henry Lee, 'til the flesh drops from your bones,
That girl you have in that merry green land still waits for your return."

4. "Fly down, fly down, you little bird, and alight on my right knee,
Your cage will be of purest gold, in deed of property;
"I can't fly down, and I won't fly down, and alight on your right knee,
A girl who'd murder her own true love would kill a little bird like me."

5. "If I had my band and bow, my arrows and my string,
I'd pierce a dart so nigh your heart, your warble would be in vain."
"If you had your band and bow, your arrows and your string,
I'd fly away to that merry green land and tell what I've seen."

7. Oh, My Little Darling (G)
Willie, banjo & vocal; Bud, guitar (Cafe Extemporé, Mpls., MN, February 1978).
From a Library of Congress recording by Thaddeus C. Willingham.

1. Oh, my little darling,
Don't you weep and cry;
Some sweet day a-coming,
Marry you or die.

2. Oh, my little darling,
Don't you weep and mourn;
Some sweet day a-coming,
Take my baby home.

3. Up and down the railroad,
'Cross the county line;
Pretty little girls a-plenty,
But a wife is hard to find.

8. Then It Won't Hurt No More (D)
Marcia, guitar & vocal; Bud, guitar & vocal/tenor vocal; Jon, fiddle & vocal; Lyle, Hawaiian guitar; Willie, banjo & vocal (May 1984).
From Buster Carter and Preston Young. Bud imitates Young’s second voice, but Marcia takes over Carter’s lead, giving the song a gender twist similar to the vampy vocals of Betty Lou on our favorite Hartman’s Heartbreakers sides. Both Marcia and Bud are playing roles here that are way out of character: Bud's not a dentist, and Marcia has excellent teeth.

1. "Hello, Doc, I've got a bad tooth,
I want you to look and see what to do."
"Yes, my lady, come right in,
I'll pull it out and I'll put one in."
CHORUS:
Then it won't hurt no more. (2)

2. "What'll you have me do now, doc,
Because you know a pain is what I've got."
"Just lay down and open wide,
Because I want to rub it awhile."
CHO.

3. "Wait a minute, Doc, that's the very spot,
I hope you can get it before it rots."
Yes, my lady, that's the very spot,
And the tool to get it I know I got."
CHO.

4. "Wait a minute, Doc, I'll have to shout,
It hurts so good, don't pull it out."
"Yes, my lady, I know it feels good,
And it pleases me to do you good."
CHO.

5. "Oh, my gosh and a great gee whiz,
Can't you let it be just like it is?"
"Yes, my lady, I can let it be,
But it'd give you trouble, don't you see."
CHO.

6. "Go ahead, Doc, and do your stuff,
It's done hurt me long enough."
"Yes, my lady, to tell the truth,
I done pulled that doggone tooth."
Now it won't hurt no more. (2)

9. I'm the Child to Fight (G)
Jon, banjo & lead vocal; Bud, guitar & tenor vocal; Marcia, guitar & vocal (December 1978).
From Uncle Dave Macon. Jon soon wisely abandoned his efforts to emulate Uncle Dave’s three-finger banjo picking. Bud was imitating the three finger banjo with a two finger guitar roll on this cut. Verse 5 is a local updating to Uncle Dave's original version. Segal and Heller were two Minneapolis developers who tore down a lot of substandard, but affordable, rooming houses near the University of Minnesota's expansion to the west bank of the Mississippi River, and replaced them with substandard  high-rent high-rise apartments.

1. I went down to Memphis, but I did not go to stay;
I saw so many pretty girls, I could not get away.
CHORUS:
I'm the child to fight, Lord, I'm the child to fight;
I'm the child to fight, my love, yes, I'm the child to fight.

2. Mosquito, he fly mighty high, flew right by my door;
Get my foot on that mosquito, he won't fly high no more.
CHO.

3. Old man, old man, your head's a-turning gray;
Just follow me ten thousand miles to hear my banjo play.
CHO.

4. I went down to Old Joe's house, and Old Joe wasn't at home;
I eat all of Old Joe's meat, and left Old Joe the bone.
CHO.

5. Segal and Heller, worst old folks ever the good Lord made,
Drove those hippies from the West Bank, ruining the incense trade.
CHO.

6. If I had a scolding wife, I'd whup her, sure as you're born;
I'd take her down to New Orleans, and trade her off for corn.
CHO.

10. Dallas Rag (F)
Jon, mandolin; Bud, guitar (February 1978).
Street-corner Texas jazz from The Dallas String Band. Mike Seeger taught Jon to play this piece on his first visit to Minneapolis, at a time Jon was just beginning on the mandolin and hadn’t even begun to dream of the key of F.

11. Bay Rum Blues (D)
Bud, guitar & vocal; Lyle, fiddle; Jon, mandolin; Marcia, guitar (September 1985).
From David McCarn. This was our first attempt at making this a band piece.

1. I got the bay rum blues, I've had them times before,
Got the bay rum blues, I'm longing for the ten-cent store,
Any old time I can rake up a dime, I'm going back to get some more.
I got the bay rum blues,
And when I go to jail, there's no one to come
And bring me a bottle of old bay rum.
There's no use in trying, for I can't lose
Them long-gone, slim-necked bay rum blues.

2. Yes, some call it bay rum, and some call it bay hoss,
Some get a dozen bottles, some get it by the gross,
When I drink a long-tailed bottle, I foam at the mouth like a horse.
I got the bay rum blues,
And when I get thirsty, there's no one to think
To bring me a dime so I can drink,
There's no use in trying, for I can't lose
Them long-gone, slim-necked bay rum blues.

3. When you can't get liquor and you can't get no gin,
Don't get disgusted, for you have a chance to win.
Get a long goose-necked bottle, and you'll never be sober again.
I got the bay rum blues,
Now some use bay rum just for a tonic,
But take it from me, it's better for your stomach,
There's no use in trying, for I can't lose
Them long-gone, slim-necked bay rum blues.

4. Uncle Sam has taken our liquor away from us,
When I make home brew, he raises an awful fuss;
We're all afraid of ginger, but we'll drink bay rum or bust.
I got the bay rum blues,
There's no use in stopping us any more,
So you better watch out, mister ten-cent store.
There's no use in trying, for I can't lose
Them long-gone, goose-necked bay rum blues.

12. Love Henry
Jon, vocal (Cafe Extemporé, Mpls., MN, February 1981).
A Reader's Digest version of Henry Lee (Track 6). Jon, as “The Masked Folksinger,” once sang this Gant Family song to a radio audience of three million on A Prairie Home Companion. He was thrilled to receive a subsequent fan letter from his old idol, Hally Wood.

1. "Get down, get down, Love Henry," she said,
"Get down, get down," said she.
"Your horse shall be fed on oats and hay,
And your lodging shall be free."

2. "I can't get down, Pretty Polly," he said,
"I can't get down," said he.
"For I have a wife in the Arkansas land,
And I'm a long time coming home."

3. As they were leaning over the fence,
A-changing kisses two,
In her hand she held a ten-cent knife
And she plugged him through and through.

4. "Don't die, don't die, Love Henry," she said,
"Don't die, don't die," said she.
"I've sent for the doctors in the town
To heal up all your wounds."

5. "How can I live, Pretty Polly," he said.
"How can I live?" said he.
"I think I feel my own heart's blood
A-trinkling down my knee."

13. It's Hard to Love and Can't Be Loved (G)
Willie, banjo & vocal; Jon, banjo (September 1975).
H. L. Maxey performs this with fiddle on the Library of Congress recording. Willie and Jon attempt to give it the Da Costa Woltz treatment with octave banjos.

1. Hard to love and you can't be loved, it's hard to love, you know.
It's hard to love when you can't be loved, but I ain't gonna love no more.

2. Get your bonnet, Liza, and hold unto the sleigh,
Ain't got any time to kiss you now, this mule about to get away.

3. The road is rough and rocky, the hills is mighty steep,
I'm going to see that gal of mine before I go to sleep.

4. Sixteen horses on the sleigh, the leader, he is blind,
Every time the sun goes down, there's a pretty gal on my mind.

5. The keenest work I ever done was cuttin' that old tree of pine;
But the hardest work I ever done was courting that gal of mine.

6. Get up on the mountain top and give my whistle a blow,
And every old gal on Shooting Creek come running to the door.

14. Frankie Silvers (G)
Lyle, fiddle & lead vocal; Bud, guitar & tenor vocal (February 1970).
From Byrd Moore & His Hot Shots. Five years earlier, Clarence Ashley had taught us the correct tempo for this song. If we didn't get it right, it's our fault, not his.

1. This awful dark and dismal day
Has swept my glory all away;
My sun goes down, my days are past,
And I must leave this world at last.

2. Judge Daniels has my sentence passed,
These prison walls I'll leave at last;
Nothing to cheer my aching head,
Until I'm numbered with the dead.

3. His feeble hands fell gently down,
His chattering tongue soon lost its sound;
It strikes a terror to my heart
To see his soul and body part.

4. His awful ghost, I know I'll see,
Gnawing his flesh in misery;
With flaming eyes, he'll say to me,
"Why did you take my life away?"

5. Awful, indeed, to think of death,
In perfect health, to lose my breath;
But little time to pray to God,
Now I must trod that awful road.

15. Johnson Boys (G)
Bud, banjo & vocal; Lyle, fiddle (December 1972).
From The Hill Billies. Bud's last banjo effort. In his old age, he regrets having tried to imitate the Hopkins ending, on the basis that it sounds contrived.

1. Johnson boys went a-courting,
The reason why they didn't stay,
The reason why they didn't stay,
They had no money for to pay their way.
REFRAIN:
Had no money for to pay their way,
Had no money for to pay their way.

2. Johnson boys went a-hunting,
Took two dogs that went astray,
The reason why they didn't bay,
They had no money for to pay their way.
REF.

3. Johnson boys left the Blue Ridge,
Trav'ling in a Chevrolet,
The reason why they didn't stay,
They had no money for to pay their way.
REF.

4. Johnson boys come to New York,
Have a big time and see the White Way;
The reason why they didn't stay,
They had no money for to pay their way.
REF.

16. Old Miss Brown (G)
Jon, fiddle & vocal; Bud, guitar; Marcia, guitar; Willie, harmonica; Lyle, fiddle (Date unknown).
From Carter Brothers and Son. The Carter sound seems to come from two fiddles played in octaves and half-shouted nonsense stanzas.

1. Can't get it up, and I can't get it down,
Can't get it up for the old Miss Brown.

2. (Repeat verse 1).

17. King William / Yonder She Comes.
Jon, lead vocal; Marcia, vocal / Jon, banjo & lead vocal; Marcia, vocal (June 1978).
The first of these play-party songs is from a Library of Congress recording by Mr. and Mrs. Crockett Ward, while the second is from Mike & Peggy Seeger. Jon and Marcia were astonished to hear this recording, as they had no memory of having ever recorded it. A mind is a hard thing to lose.

1. King William was King George's son,
And from the royal race was run;
On his breast he wore a star,
To show to the world he's a man of war.

2. Go choose you east, go choose you west,
Go choose the one you love the best.
She's not there, to take her part
Choose you another one with all your heart.

3. Down on the carpet you shall kneel,
As sure as the grass grows in the field.
Kiss her neat and kiss her sweet,
Then you may rise upon your feet.

1. Oh, yonder she comes, and it's "howdy, howdy, do.
Oh, where have you been since the last that I saw you?"

2. "Rise you up my lady, and give to me your hand,
I know you are a pretty girl, the prettiest in the land."

3. (Repeat verse 1).

4. Oh, yonder he comes, and it's "howdy, howdy, do.
Oh, where have you been since the last that I saw you?"

5. "Rise you up, my gentleman, come give to my your hand,
I know you are a fine man, the finest in the land."

6. (Repeat verse 4).

18. Never Be As Fast As I Have Been (G)
Bud, guitar & vocal; Willie, banjo; Jon, fiddle; Lyle, fiddle; Marcia, guitar (Cafe Extemporé, Mpls., MN, June 1978).
From G. B. Grayson and Henry Whitter. “Seven times is enough” was a reference to Liz Taylor’s seventh marriage. We never did this again to catch up to her eighth and final exchange of vows with Larry Fortensky.

1. Come all you young men, take warning by me,
Never be as fast as I have been.
I married me a wife, been the trouble of my life,
Makes me strive and do all that I can, I can,
Makes me strive and do all that I can.

2. Six days in the week I labor for my bread.
She swears three of them shall be hers.
Yes, she rips and she squalls, and she swore she'd have them all,
Yes, she says she must be maintained, maintained,
Yes, she says she must be maintained.

3. She dresses me in rags, the worst of old rags,
While she dresses like a lady so fine.
She marches to town by day and by night
With the gentlemen who drink wine, wine,
With the gentlemen who drink wine.

4. So, now, come death, and take away her breath,
Give me back my freedom once more.
I have lived all my days by the hating of her ways,
And I'm sure I'll never marry any more, any more,
And I'm sure I'll never marry any more.

19. Bill Cheatem (G)/ John Brown's Dream (G)
Jon, banjo & vocal (Cafe Extemporé, Mpls., MN, June 1978).
Bill Cheatem is from James Cole’s String Band, while John Brown's Dream is from Tommy Jarrell. Fiddler James Cole led a black string band whose first recording was released in the Vocalion hillbilly series.

I know a man called Bill Cheatem,
Bought some peanuts and made me eat 'em.

John Brown dreamed the devil was dead, (2)

20. Going down the River (G)
Willie, banjo & lead vocal; Bud, guitar & tenor vocal; Lyle, fiddle; Jon, harmonica (June 1978).
From Dr. Smith’s Champion Hoss Hair Pullers.

1. I had a wife, and she was a weaver,
She wouldn't weave none, and I wouldn't either.

2. I had a wife, and she was a Quaker,
She wouldn't work, and the devil couldn't make her.

3. Oh, my little girl, if you don't do me better,
I'll build me a boat and sail down the river.

4. Boat began to rock, my heart began to quiver,
Oh, my little girl, I'm going down the river.

5. Goodbye, wife, and goodbye, baby,
Goodbye, biscuits sopped in gravy.

6. When I get away, write no letter,
For I'll come back when I get a little better.

7. Coon Creek's up, and Coon Creek's muddy,
I'm so drunk that I can't stand steady.

21. The Story of the Mighty Mississippi (G)
Lyle, fiddle & lead vocal; Bud, guitar & tenor vocal; Jon, harmonica & vocal (St. Olaf College, Northfield MN, February 1978).
From Ernest Stoneman.

1. Way down in the Mississippi valley,
Just among them plains so grand,
Rose the flooded Mississippi River,
Destroying the works of man.

2. With her waters at the highest
That all man has ever known,
She come rolling down the valley
And destroying lands and homes.

3. There were children clinging to the tree-tops,
That had spent those sleepless nights,
And without a bit of shelter,
Or even a spark of light.

4. With their prayers going up to their Father
That the break of day to come,
That they might see some rescue party
That would provide for them a home.

5. There were some of them on the housetops,
With no way to give an alarm,
There were mothers wading in the water
With their children in their arms.

6. Let us all get right with our Maker,
As he doeth all things well,
And be ready to meet him in judgment
When we bid this earth farewell.

22. We Shall Wear A Crown (G)
Willie, banjo & lead vocal; Bud, guitar & bass vocal; Marcia, guitar & vocal; Jon, fiddle & tenor vocal; Lyle, fiddle & vocal (October 1977).
We end this practice session, as usual, with a gospel number, to keep us safe when we drive home. From William Rexroat’s Cedar Crest Singers.

1. I want to see my father, sitting 'round the throne,
Yes, sitting 'round the throne, yes, sitting 'round the throne.
I want to see my father, sitting 'round the throne
In the New Jerusalem.
CHORUS:
And when the battle's over, we shall wear a crown,
Yes, we shall wear a crown, yes, we shall wear a crown.
And when the battle's over, we shall wear a crown
In the New Jerusalem.
Wear a crown (wear a crown), wear a crown (oh, wear a crown),
Wear a bright and shining crown.
And when the battle's over, we shall wear a crown
In the New Jerusalem.

2. I want to see my mother, sitting 'round the throne,
Yes, sitting 'round the throne, yes, sitting 'round the throne.
I want to see my mother, sitting 'round the throne
In the New Jerusalem.
CHO.

3. I want to see my brother, sitting 'round the throne,
Yes, sitting 'round the throne, yes, sitting 'round the throne.
I want to see my brother, sitting 'round the throne
In the New Jerusalem.
CHO.

We have 3 other CDs for sale: Going Nowhere Fast; Not Out of the Woods — Yet; and Voice of the Porkchop. You can check out the contents, plus learn a lot of useful folklore, at our Home Page. Or you can save yourself some time by simply sending $15 US (including shipping and handling) for each CD to:
Lyle Lofgren
4508 Xerxes Ave. S.
Minneapolis MN 55410.

Or, if you'd prefer to use Pay-Pal, contact lylelofgren@visi.com.

Credits:
1986 band photo: Steve Peck. Willie 1966 photo: Elizabeth Lofgren. Cover Design: Elizabeth Lofgren.

Some Inspirational quotes:
"It sounds better to some than it does to others; some can learn it, and some can't learn it, and that's why I say it is a gift."
-- Roscoe Holcomb, speaking about old-time music.

"It sounds like you're about as good as you're gonna get."
-- collector Robert Nobley, commenting on a practice tape we sent him, sometime in the 1970s.