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Going 'Round this World, Baby Mine/Banjo Pickin’ Girl
Painting by Richard Matteson C 2007
Old-time and bluegrass song, widely known.
VIDEO: Learn how to play Banjo Pickin' Girl: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7VQjpNkkhs
ARTIST: Richard Matteson based on The Coon Creek Girls: Lily May Ledford, vocal and banjo; Rosie Ledford, guitar; Violet Koehler, bass and vocal. Recorded May 30, 1938, in Chicago. Originally issued on Vocalion 04413 and Okeh 04413.
Listen To: Banjo Pickin Girl- Coon Creek Girls
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes
DATE: Arranged 2007 by Richard Matteson. First Published as “Baby Mine” Words Charles Mackay; Music Achibald Johnson in 1874.
RECORDING INFO: 1.Coon Creek Girls. Early Radio Favorites, Old Homestead OHS 142, LP (1982), cut# 10 2.Coon Creek Girls. Banjo Pickin' Girl, Rounder 1029, LP (1978), cut# 16 3.Coon Creek Girls. Going Down The Valley; Vocal & Instrumental Music from the South, New World NW 236, LP (1977), cut# 17 4.Fink, Cathy. Leading Role, Rounder 0223, LP (1985), cut#B.05 5.Hazel And Alice. Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard, Rounder 0054, LP (1976), cut# 11 6.Ledford, Lilly Mae. Banjo Pickin' Girl, Greenhays GR 712, LP (1983), cut# 1 7.Rutherford, Ernest; and the Gold Hill Band. Old Cap'n Rabbit, Heritage (Galax) 080, Cas (1989), cut# 9 8.Sexton, Lee "Boy". Whoa Mule, June Appal JA 0051, LP (1987), cut# 8 (Going Round This World) 9.Skirtlifters. Somewhere in Dixie, Skirtlifters, Cas (1987), cut#B.06 (Goin' Around the World (Baby Mine)) 10.Stamper, I.D.. Red Wing, June Appal JA 0010, LP (1977), cut# 8 (Going Round This World) R. D. Burnett & Lynn Woodard, "Going Around the World" (recorded for Gennett 1929, but unissued; on BurnRuth01); Coon Creek Girls, "Banjo-Pickin' Girl" (Vocalion 04413/OKeh 04413, 1938; on GoingDown); Pete Steele, "Goin' Around This World, Baby Mine" (on PSteele01)
RELATED TO: "Crawdad (Sugar Babe)" "New River Train" “I’m Going Back to Jericho”
OTHER NAMES: Baby Mine; Going round the World Baby Mine; Banjo Pickin’ Girl; Going Round This World; Living on the Mountain Baby Mine; Going Away From Home;
SOURCES: Ceolas; Mudcat Café; Liner notes; Silber-FSWB, p. 54, "Baby Mine" (1 text); Roud #11519;
NOTES: The song, Going ‘Round the World Baby Mine/Banjo Pickin’ Girl, originated from a popular song “Baby Mine” from the late 1800’s. The song form used in “Baby Mine” published in 1874 as “Baby Mine” with words by Charles Mackay and music by Achibald Johnson is similar to the Captain Kidd/Froggy Went A-Courtin’ family of songs. These songs have a repeated part: ("Oh my name is Captain Kidd, as I sailed, as I Sailed") (Froggy went a courtin’ and he did ride un-huh, un-huh); "Sam Hall" ("My name it is Sam Hall, it is Sam Hall"); the hymn "Wondrous Love" ("Oh, what wondrous love this is, O my soul, O my soul").
There are several bluegrass/folk songs that have evolved from Baby Mine with the “baby mine” tag: "Banjo-Pickin' Girl" and “Crawdad Song.” Sometimes there isn’t a tag “I wish I was a Mole (Tempy)” or the tag has been changed to “sugar babe:”
"I'm Going Back to Jericho" by Dock Walsh
I'm goin' back to Jericho, sugar babe,
I'm goin' back to Jericho, sugar babe,
I'm goin' back to Jericho,
And I'm getting married 'fore I go, Sugar babe.
From Stewie: In their notes to the Rounder album, 'Banjo Pickin' Girl', Charles Wolfe and Patricia A. Hall mentioned the 'Baby Mine' song. It seems clear that Lily May Ledford and the Coon Creek Girls were responsible for entrenching 'Banjo Pickin' Girl' in southern tradition. The pertinent passage in the Wolfe/Hall notes is as follows:
Norm Cohen has described 'Banjo Pickin' Girl' as a song that 'conjures up the image of another fun-loving, wanderlusting mountain girl - the Appalachian equivalent of the jazz age's flapper'. In this respect, it shares much of the spirit of Roba Stanley's 'Single Girl', Moonshine Kate's 'Poor Girl's Story' and the Bowman Sisters' 'Old Lonesome Blues'. Parts of this song have been traced to the middle of the sixteenth century and the melody is related to a cluster of mountain banjo songs like 'Crawdad' and 'Sugar Baby'. The 'baby mine' refrain is found in a pop song from 1879 of that name. Another Kentucky variant of the song is performed by Dick Burnett on Rounder 1004.
The Burnett piece referred to is 'Going Around the World' (1929) for which he claimed authorship, albeit a parody of 'Baby Mine'. Emry Arthur recorded a song of the same title in 1928. The Coon Creek girls recorded 'Banjo Pickin' Girl' in 1938.
The Coon Creek Girls were organized around Lily May Ledford of Powell County, Kentucky, in the mid-1930’s. Between 1937 and 1939 the quartet (the fourth member was Daisy Lagne, fiddler) was very popular on the Renfro Valley Barn Dance radio program, broadcasting out of Cincinnati. The career of this foursome culminated in a June 1939 performance (they were the only professional country to group to be invited) at the White House for President and Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt and their guests, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.
Lily May Ledford learned her version from "Going Round This World, Baby Mine" a song her brother taught her after he came back from working the mines. Her brother took the family banjo with him. Lily May added new verses and changed "With my banjo pickin' girl" to "I'll be a banjo pickin' girl." The Coon Creek Girls had many, many verses to the song. It's a great song to write your own verses as you play. You just have to figure out the third line when you get to it!
NOTES on this arrangement: There are several songs I play with the same chord structure. This is based on Lily May Ledford's song from her grandaughter Cari Norris. Cari plays Lily May's Vega banjo (made in the 1930s) and I'll be putting a video of Cari playing with me in Louisville on You Tube soon. Here's my version with the painting lyrics:
Lyrics and TAB of my simple guitar solo for "Banjo Pickin' Girl":
TAB for one of my solos, I play several different solos.
BANJO PICKIN' GIRL Richard Matteson (based on Coon Creek Girls)
Oh, I’m [C]going ‘round the [G]world, baby [C]mine,
I’m [F]going ‘round the world, baby [C]mine;
I’m [F]going round this world, with my [C] banjo-pickin’ [Am]girl,
I’m [C]going ‘round this [G]world, baby [C] mine.
Oh, I’m goin’ to Tennessee, baby mine,
I’m goin’ to Tennessee, baby mine;
I’m goin’ to Tennessee, don’t you try to foller me,
I’m goin’ to Tennessee, baby mine.
[solo]
Oh, I’m goin’ ‘cross the ocean, baby mine,
I’m goin’ ‘cross the ocean, baby mine;
I’m goin’ ‘cross the ocean if I don’t change my notion,
I’m goin’ ‘cross the ocean, baby mine.
Oh, if you ain’t got no money, baby mine,
If you ain’t got no money, baby mine;
If you ain’t got no money, get yourself another honey,
I’m goin’ ‘round this world baby mine.
[solo]
I’m goin’ ‘round this world, baby mine (baby mine),
I’m goin’ ‘round this world, baby mine;
I’m goin’ ‘round this world, with my banjo-pickin’ girl,
I’m goin’ ‘round this world, baby mine.
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