Some new songs

Between the recording project and the Dulono's gigs, I haven't spent a lot of time on new material; however, I have been working on a few new songs. The following may break into the bob-i-lynn repertoire at some point this spring or summer (Farmer's markets are a good venue to try new material):

Pretty Little Miss In The Garden: this is a 'folk song' that the Stanley Brothers got from the New Lost City Ramblers to put on an album in the early 60's. I first heard Big Medicine do it (live , I think, but I have their CD as well). When I decided to learn it, I bought a Stanley Brother's Collection as well. Although the approaches are similar, we'll probably do it closer to the Stanley Brothers version. The New Lost City Ramblers do it as well, but I haven't heard their version. Tim O'Brien has a variant called 'Pretty Fair Maid in the Garden' and I also have a unaccompanied version of 'Pretty Fair Damsel' by Tom Ashley that Mike Seeger recorded in 'Close to Home'. Currently, I am doing it in the key of F# - capo on the 6th fret and playing out of 1st position (Lynn will be on 4th fret playing in D).

The Raging Sea, How it Roars: I first heard the New Lost City Rambler's version of the song but knew it was originally released by Ernest Stoneman and the Blue Ridge Cornshucker's on 78. The only recording I could find of this (other than the original 78) was on an LP that Rounder released in th 1970's. I started looking for it an EBay and was able to get it within a few weeks after starting my search. Both recordings are similar, but it's good to have 'the original'. This is based on a Child Ballad called 'The Mermaid', but there is no mention of the mermaid in this song. Lyle Lofgren has an excellent article on the song which was originally published in MBOTMA's Inside Bluegrass magazine. In addition to these two recordings, I also have an unaccompanied version by Crockett and Perline Ward (originally on 78). Norman & Nancy Blake have recently recorded 'The Mermaid' which actually preserves the mermaid. The current plan is to play in the key of E flat using two guitars, but we're still working out the arrangement.

Deep Elem Blues: part of the reason I picked this was that the Lone Star Cowboy's version features 'old-time' mandolin: I am always looking to add to our vocal/mandolin/guitar repertoire. according to this link, 'Deep Elem' apparently was the red light district in Dallas. The song describes trips to Deep Elem as life altering events:

Now I once knew a preacher,
Preached the Bible through and through,
He went down into Deep Elem,
Now his preaching days are through.

There is also a variant called Black Bottom Blues - turns out I have versions of these, including a version by Gene Autry with yodeling. We're doing it in D, the original may have been in C (it sounds like C# on our recording). I'm on mandolin and Lynn has tried it in C-position with Capo on 2nd fret.

I Got A Bulldog: We heard Troublesome Creek at MBOTMA's Winter Bluegrass Weekend a year or so back and this is on their CD. However, hearing the original 78 got me thinking about adding it to the bob-i-lynn repertoire. Nothing profound here, but it fits into the male bravdo/vulnerable genre (I'll figure what that means later). I have various collections that contain this, but they all are the same version by The Sweet Brothers and Ernest Stoneman.
We haven't done much with this so far, but it looks like a fiddle/guitar combination in G.


After I had started working on these songs, we received the latest issue of The Old Time Herald:
one of the articles in the issue (April/May 2008) is entitled Essential Hillbilly Commercial Recordings on 78s; interestingly, both Raging Sea and I Got a Bulldog are on the list of 100 or so essential sides. Note that the online version contains the introduction, you need access to the print addition to get the actual list. I'll be checking this list to both fill up gaps in my collection, plus maybe find another song or too to learn.

I have some other songs that I'm considering, but nothing that has percolated up far enough as something to spend a lot of time on. Lynn is working on a couple of songs, so we hope to add one or two that she sings this summer as well.