vrijdag 28 april 2017

All Round My Hat (early 18th Century) / The Three-Coloured Ribbon (1921) / The Death of Brugh (1922) / Farewell He (early 18th Century)


The song "All Around my Hat" (Roud 567 and 22518, Laws P31) is of nineteenth-century English origin. In an early version, dating from the 1820s, a Cockney costermonger vowed to be true to his fiancée, who had been sentenced to seven years' transportation to Australia for theft and to mourn his loss of her by wearing green willow sprigs in his hatband for "a twelve-month and a day," the willow being a traditional symbol of mourning.
The song was made famous by Steeleye Span in 1975 (incorporating another early 18th Century traditional "Farewell He")





Bodleian Ballad library, has a version of " All around my Hat", apparently the Cockney parody as "All around my hat, I vears a green villow" (published between 1813 and 1838).
The tune was given as "The (poor) fisherman's boy"
 



Another Cockney version in Bodleiean is dated between 1819 and 1844


And here's a Cockney version in Bodleien which is not dated.


There is also a political parody called "The Disappointed One", starting with the 'All around my Hat' verse, unfortunately not dated.


The song "All around my hat" appears on several other Bodleian Ballad library images under the title "The Green Willow" (sometimes referring to a cap, not hat), but no tune is given in any of them


Here's another sheet from the Library Of Congress.



 In 1895 an influential version of "All Around My Hat" was printed in "A Garland of Country Song". collected by Sabine Baring-Gould and Henry Fleetwood Sheppard.
In the notes Fleetwood Sheppard says he mofified two or three of the original verses, because "there was no real humour in them, and the London dialect of that day is a thing of the past".
 







(c) Mrs. R.W. Duncan (1943) (as "All Round My Hat")
Recorded August 23, 1943 in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
Recordist: Helen Creighton.

All Round My Hat (from DUNCAN, Mrs. R.W. of Dartmouth, Halifax County, Nova Scotia
First line of song: All round my hat I will wear the green willow...) — 23 August 1943 
Rec no. 398 Loc. no. AR 5068 AC 2234 MF no. 289.82




And here's another (probaby earlier) version from 1943: N S A - Helen Creighton: Folklife



5 days later Helen Creighton recorded another version of this song with another singer:

(c) Dennis Smith (1943) (as "All Round My Hat")
Recorded August 28, 1943 in Chezzetcook, Nova Scotia, Canada
Recordist: Helen Creighton.




The same melody was also used for a song called "The Death Of Brugh", about the death in 1922 of Cathal Brugha. who was an Irish revolutionary and politician, active in the Easter Rising (1916).
In  1951 Alan Lomax collected a version in Ireland by Johnny McDonagh.




Listen here:




In 1953 Helen Creighton was responsible for yet another recording of "All 'Round My Hat"
In July of that year she recorded Mr. Neil O'Brien in Pictou, Nova Scotia


Here are the liner-notes (SEE PAGE 9)


(c) Neil O'Brien (1953) (as "All 'Round My Hat")

Listen here:


Or here:




(c) Stanley Holloway (1954) (as "All Around My Hat")
In 1954 Stanley Holloway recorded the Cockney version of "All Around My Hat".


Listen here:


Or to a sample here:




(c) John Langstaff (1956) (as "All 'Round My Hat")


Listen here:


Or herer:




(c) Glenn Yarbrough (1957) (as "All Around My Hat")


Listen here:


Or here:




(c) Diane Oxner (1957)  (as "All 'Round My Hat")
Released on the album: 
Diane Oxner Sings the Helen Creighton Collection of Traditional Folk Songs of Nova Scotia
 
 



Rereleased on the next Boxed Collection


Listen here:




In Ireland, Peadar Kearney adapted the song to make it relate to a Republican lass whose lover has died in the Easter Rising (1916), and who swears to wear the Irish tricolor in her hat in remembrance in "The Three-coloured Ribbon". It was published in 1921.



In Seamus De Burca's book "The Soldier's Song" about Peader Kearney , the first two verses and chorus of "The Three-coloured Ribbon" are printed as Declan had it (except that it has "to set Ireland free"), with a dedication of the song "To Eva" (Kearney's wife); and it's subtitled as "Easter Week Ballad". He probably wrote it, while he was interned in Ballykinlar, after the Rising.

So "The Tri-coloured Ribbon" has a strong connection with "The Death Of Brugh" (SEE ABOVE)

(c) Peg Clancy Power (1963) (as "The Tri-Coloured Ribbon")



Listen here:


Or here:




(c) Wolfe Tones (1966)  (as "Three Coloured Ribbon")





(c) Peter Bellamy (1969)  (as "All Around My Hat")




Listen here:




In 1975 British folk-band Steeleye Span had a Top 5 Hit in the UK charts with "All Around My Hat"
Steeleye Span's version also incorporated another traditional song ("Farewell He") which was also published in "A Garland Of Country Song" (SEE NEXT LINK)



But at the Bodleian Library there are still older versions:

"Farewell He" at the Bodleian Library collection:

Farewell he ("Its fare you well cold winter and fare you well cold frost ...")
Imprint: J. Ctanach [sic], Printer, 2, Monmouth-court (Date: between 1813 and 1838) Farewell he

("Farewell, cold winter, and farewell cold frost ...")
Imprint: Printed for W. Armstrong, Banastre-street (Liverpool) (Date: between 1820 and 1824)

Farewell he ("Farewell cold winter and farewell cold frost ...")
Imprint: C. Croshaw, Printer, Coppergate, York (Date: between 1814 and 1850)

[Fare] thee well cold winter ("Oh, fare thee well cold winter ...")
Printer: [s.n.] ([s.l.]) Date: [s.a.]

Here's a version from 1968 recorded by Archie Fisher.

(c) Archie Fisher (1968) (as "Farewell She")


Listen here:




In the version of Steeleye Span the original tune of  "Farewell He" was replaced by the original tune of "All Around My Hat".

(c) Steeleye Span (1975) (as "All Around My Hat")
(incorporating "Farewell He")


Listen here:




(c) Status Quo and Maddy Prior (1996)  (as "All Around My Hat")
Quo and Maddy Prior of Steeleye Span had a Top 50 hit in the UK.


Listen here:



vrijdag 21 april 2017

Cockles and Mussels (1876) / In Dublin's Fair City (1917) / Molly Malone (1940)


"Cockles and Mussels" (also known as "Molly Malone" or "In Dublin's Fair City") is a popular song set in Dublin, Ireland, which has become its unofficial anthem.

The song tells the fictional tale of a fishwife who plied her trade on the streets of Dublin and died young, of a fever. 
In the late 20th century a legend grew up that there was a historical Molly, who lived in the 17th century. She is typically represented as a hawker by day and part-time sex-worker by night. In contrast she has also been portrayed as one of the few chaste female street-hawkers of her day.


The song was compiled and edited in 1883 by William H. Hills in "Student's Songs", published in Cambridge, Massachusetts by Moses King




It was also published by Francis Brothers and Day in London in 1884 as a work written and composed by James Yorkston, of Edinburgh, with music arranged by Edmund Forman.

But the earliest version of  "Cockles and Mussels" which has been traced to date was published firstly in Boston, Massachusetts, in a collection of college songs in 1876,
(Henry Randall Waite, Carmina Collegensia: A complete Collection of the Songs of the American Colleges, with Selections from the Student Songs of the English and German Universitys, Boston, Ditson, 1876, Part Third: Miscellaneous Songs and English and German Student Songs: page 73).
 

According to Brian Rust's "The Columbia Master Book Discography, vol 2", George Potter recorded "In Dublin's Fair City" on March 30, 1917 in New York. But it was not issued



First officially released version I could find:

(o) James O'Neill (1924) (as "In Dublin's Fair City")
Recorded April 15, 1924 in New York
Released on Harmony 2-H
 

Wanted: soundfile





(c) Terence O'Brien (1927) (as "Cockles and Mussels")
Released on Parlophone E 3244




(c) Tom English (1934) (as "Cockles and Mussels")
Released June 1934 on Decca F.3965


Listen here:



(c) Gray Gordon and his Tic-Toc Rhythm (1940) (as "Molly Malone")
Vocal: Art Perry
Recorded July 23, 1940 in New York
Released on Bluebird 10861




Listen here:




(c) Andrews Sisters (1940) (as "Sweet Molly Malone")
Recorded September 5, 1940
Released on Decca 3440





(c) Danny Kaye (1941) (as "Molly Malone")
Recorded May 5, 1941
Released on Columbia 36194

Recorded in Melotone Recording Studio in New York
Released as record # 3B of a 3 10" 78RPM album on Stinson S-364
 






(c) Marie McDonald (1944) (as "Cockles and Mussels")
The first part of the song is sung by actress Marie McDonald in the 1944 movie Guest in the House. Her character arrives home rather drunk, carrying a basketful of live mussels from the nearby beach. Some seconds later she echoes her equally tipsy companion's lines while keeping the melody

The complete movie is here (she sings it at 54 min and 30 sec in the movie)




(c) James Dunn (1945) (as "Molly Malone")

The song (sung by James Dunn) also appears in the 1945 movie A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and is quoted in the book of the same title by Betty Smith.

The complete movie is here (he sings it at about 40 minutes in the movie)




(c) Josh White (1947) (as "Molly Malone")
Recorded December 10, 1945
Released as record # 24239 on 4 record set "Ballads and Blues Vol 2" (Decca A-611)
 



Listen here:


Or here:




(c) Kate Smith (1946) (as "Molly Malone")
Recorded April 16, 1947
Released on Columbia 37136





(c) Burl Ives (1953) (as "Molly Malone")
Recorded May 2, 1953 in New York
Released on Decca DL-5490


Listen here:




(c) Joni James (1959) (as "Molly Malone")



Listen here:




(c) Pete Seeger (1962) (as "Molly Malone")

Released on the album "American Favorite Ballads: Songs and Tunes, vol. 5"



Listen here:




(c) Eric & Hattie (1962) (as "Cockles and Mussels")


Listen here:




(c) Ruby Murray (1962) (as "Cockles and Mussels")


Listen here:




(c) Joni Mitchell (1963) (as "Molly Malone")
Recorded ca 1963 at Radio Station CFQC AM, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Released in 2020 on the next CD set





(c) Cisco Houston (1964) (as "Molly Malone")





(c) John Gary (1965) (as "Cockles and Mussels (Molly Malone)")


Listen here:




(c) Conny van Bergen (1965)  (as "Molly 'Dear' Malone")
With the Rivertown Dixieland Jazzband
Released on Decca ‎– AT 10 146




Listen here:




(c) Bing Crosby (1966) (as "Molly Malone (Cockles and Mussels)")
Bing Crosby (voc), Radio Eireann Light Orchestra, Conducted by Buddy Bregman (orc)
Recorded September 20, 1966 in Dublin. Ireland
Recorded for an Irish TV show in Dublin (Radio Eirean - "A Little Bit Of Irish" TV show)


Released in 1993 on the CD: "A Little Bit Of Irish".


Listen here:




(c) Dubliners (1977) (as "Molly Malone")


Listen here:




(c) Tim Hart (1983) (as "Cockles and Mussels")


Listen here:




(c) Ian McCulloch (1984)  (as "Cockles and Mussels")



Listen here:





(c) U2 (1985) (as "Molly Malone")
This song has been played 4 times as a snippet. It's been played 2 times in the main set and 2 times in an encore set.



Here's a live version from a 2001 USA tour:




(c) Sinead O'Connor (2002) (as "Molly Malone")





(c) Roger McGuinn (2006) (as "Molly Malone")
In 2006 McGuinn recorded a version in the context of his Folk Den project





Finally here's a beautiful ethereal version by Irish artist Clodagh Simonds

This recording by Matmos of Clodagh Simonds (of Fovea Hex) singing Molly Malone, in itself a sonic marvel of intelligent artifice, was first featured on their FOR ALAN TURING ep, a work commissioned in 2006 by The Mathematical Sciences Research Institute at Berkely CA on the opening of their new Mathematics Hall.

(c) Fovea Hex (2006)

Re-released in 2012 on the next CD


Listen here:








NOT TO BE CONFUSED with another Molly Malone written in 1927 by George M. Cohan for his Broadway musical "The Merry Malones".





And also NOT TO BE CONFUSED  with another Molly Malone recorded by Charles Hart in 1920

Listen here:





dinsdag 18 april 2017

Mocking Bird (1918) / Hush Little Baby (1937) / Say Darling Say (1928) / Mockingbird (1963) / Puppet On A String (1964)

NOT TO BE CONFUSED with "Hush Little Baby, Don't You Cry" (or "You'll Be An Angel Bye and Bye") which is in fact a different song, lyrically as well as melodically. It was written in 1884 especially for Lotta by F. Belasco --- (Listen to samples on the bottom of this playlist)


The "Hush, Little Baby" in this playlist is a traditional lullaby, thought to have been written in the Southern United States. Like most folk songs, the author and date of origin are unknown. The lyrics promise all kinds of rewards to the child if he or she is quiet. The simple structure allows more verses to be added ad lib.






Cecil Sharp collected The Mocking Bird from Lucy Cannady of Endicott, Virginia, on August 23, 1918.

Here's Sharp's handwritten manuscript:




A few months later Sharp collected a version from Julie Boone of Micaville, North Carolina, on October 8, 1918.
 





Ernest V Stoneman incorporated "Hush Little Baby" in "Say Darling Say"

(o) Justin Winfield (=Ernest V Stoneman and The Sweet Brothers) (1928) (as "Say Sarling Say")
Recorded July 9, 1928 in Richmond, Indiana,
Released on Gennett 6733



Also released on Supertone 9400 (as by Uncle Ben Hawkins)
 


Listen here: The Hush Little Darling frase is at 1 minute and 30 seconds in the YT below




(o) Annie Brewer (1937)  (as "Hush Li'l Baby")
Recorded on March 13, 1937 by John and Ruby Lomax in Montgomery, Alabama.
Library of Congress recording 878 B1
Annie Brewer was a schoolteacher
 





(c) Bernice Haynes (1939)  (as "Hush Little Baby")
Recorded on May 21, 1939 by John and Ruby Lomax in Lincoln County.
Cummins State Farm, near Varner, Arkansas



Listen here:


Or here:





(c) Texas Gladden (1941)  (as "Hush, Baby , Don't You Cry")
Recorded by Alan and Elizabeth Lomax in 1941 in Salem, Virginia.



Listen here: 




(c) Jean Ritchie (1949) (as "Hush Little Baby")






(c) Weavers (1951) (as "Hush Little Baby")


Listen here:




(c) Jean Ritchie (1952) (as "Hush Little Baby")


Listen here:





(c) Sandy and Caroline Paton (1960)  (as "Hush Little Baby")






(c) Odetta (1960) (as "Hush Little Baby")


Listen here:




(c) Joan Baez (1963) (as "Hush Little Baby")


Listen here:





In 1963 Inez and Charlie Foxx wrote and recorded "Mockingbird" based on "Hush Little Baby"

(c) Inez Foxx (1963)  (as "Mockingbird")






(c) Dusty Springfield (1964) (as "Mockingbird")
Recorded January 27, 1964 at the Olympic Studios in Barnes, UK





(c) Nina Simone (1964) (as "Hush Little Baby")
Recorded live on May 12, 1963 at Carnegie Hall





(c) Elvis Presley (1964)  (as "Puppet On A String")
With new lyrics by Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett.
Recorded June 10, 1964



Listen here:




(c) Marlene Dietrich (1964)  (as "Scht...Kleines Baby")
With German lyrics by Marlene Diertrich


Listen here




Carly Simon and James Taylor recorded a remake of "Mockingbird" in the autumn of 1973.
Released in 1974 "Mockingbird" rose to number 5 on the Billboard Pop singles chart and number 10 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, and was certified Gold by the RIAA, signifying sales of one million copies in the US.

(c) Carly Simon & James Taylor (1974) (as "Mockingbird")





(c) Tim Hart (1983)  (as "Hush Litle Baby")


Listen here:




(c) The Men They Couldn't Hang (1985) (as "Hush Little Baby")


Listen here:




(c) Horseflies (1988) (as "Hush Little Baby")


Listen here:




(c) Judy Collins (1990) (as "Hush Little Baby")


Listen here:




American rapper Eminem also used the lullaby "Hush Little Baby" in the lyrics of his single "Mockingbird" from his 2004 album Encore. />

Listen here:




"Hush Little Baby" combined with the "Hambone" dance were also the inspiration for a 1952 song called "Hambone".







NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH "Hush Little Baby, Don't You Cry" (or "You'll Be An Angel Bye and Bye") which is a different song, lyrically as well as melodically. It was written in 1884 especially for Lotta by F. Belasco




(o) Edith McDonald (1920)  (as "Hush Little Baby, Don't You Cry")
Recorded April 5, 1920 in New York City
Matrix # 7285-F
Released on Edison Diamond Disc # 80560-L


(c) Frieda Hempel (1920)  (as "Hush Little Baby, Don't You Cry")
Recorded May 24, 1920 in New York City
Matrix # 7368-B
Released on Edison Diamond Disc # 82204-R
And also on Edison Royal Purple Amberol Record (#29067)


Listen here:




(c) Uncle Dave Macon (1929) ( as "Hush Little Baby, Don't You Cry")

Released on Vocalion # 5397

Listen here: