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Dark Hollow (Ashley’s “Dark Holler Blues” )
Traditional Song and “Blues”- Appalachian region, widely known.
ARTIST: Clarence 'Tom' Ashley “Dark Holler Blues” recorded 23 October 1929 in Johnson City, Tenn. Issued as Co 15489-D in February 1930. Reissued on 'The Music of Clarence "Tom" Ashley 1929-1933: Greenback Dollar' County CO-CD-3520.
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes DATE: “Farewell Song” by Burnett-1913 and “In Old Virginny” collected by Cecil Sharp-1917; Clarence "Tom" Ashley, "Dark Holler Blues"- 1929; Bill Browning’s version- 1958.
RECORDING INFO: Buell Kazee, "East Virginia" (Brunswick 154B, 1927; on AAFM3) Clarence "Tom" Ashley, "Dark Holler Blues" (Columbia 15489-D, 1929) Bromberg, David; Band. Midnight on the Water, Columbia PC 33397, LP (1975), cut#B.03; Crouch, Dub;/Norman Ford & the Bluegrass Rounders. Down to Earth Bluegrass, King Bluegrass KB-538, LP (197?), cut# 2; Gorman, Skip; and Rick Starkey. Late Last Night, Marimac 9602, Cas (1991), cut# 2; Kentucky Colonels. Livin' in the Past, Briar BT 7202, LP (1975), cut#A.04; Lundy, Ted; and the Southern Mountain Boys. Springtime in the Mountains, County 749, LP (1975), cut#B.02; McLain Family Band. Troublesome Creek, Country Life CLR 15, LP (1985), cut#B.04; Muleskinner. Muleskinner, RidgeRunner RRR 0016, LP (1978), cut# 4; Sparks, Larry; and the Lonesome Ramblers. Footsteps of Tradition, King Bluegrass KB 527, LP (1974?), cut#B.01; Val, Joe; and the New England Bluegrass Boys. One Morning in May., Rounder 0003, LP (1971), cut# 8. Seldom Scene: Recorded Live At The Cellar Door In Washington, D.C.
OTHER NAMES: “East Virginia Blues;” “Dark Holler Blues;”
RELATED TO: “Old Virginny (Sharp-1917)” “East Virginia;” “Man of Constant Sorrow,” "Little Birdie," “Silver Dagger” Songs- (“Katie Dear,” “O Molly Tell Your Mother”) “I Don't Want Your Millions, Mister”-tune; “Greenback Dollar”-words, tune;
SOURCES: Ritchie-Sing-Fam, "Old Virginny" pp. 134-135; Sharp No. 176 FSAM “In Old Virginny;” Asch/Dunson/Raim, p. 80 "East Virginia;" Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 27 "East Virginia Blues;" Darling-NAS, pp. 115-116, "Oh, Molly Dear" pp. 275-276; "East Virginia” Silber-FSWB, p. 44, "East Virginia;" Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc;
NOTES: Key G or A- bluegrass versions. Standard tuning. Listed as fiddle tune in Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc) by Art Stamper. Recorded on County CO-CD-2729, Art Stamper - "Goodbye Girls, I'm Going to Boston" (2000). “Dark Hollow” is one of myriad branches from the “In Old Virginny” classification by Sharp. Two early versions of include Sharp’s 1918 “Man of Constant Sorrow” and the 1913 “Farewell Song” (“Man of Constant Sorrow”) by Richard Burnett, which Barnett clearly “collected” and adapted from local sources.
Later in the 1930’s (1937), the song included the now popular “Greenback Dollar” line. An “original” version by Hoyt Axton was a hit for the Kingston Trio.
Another “original” version of “Dark Hollow” is credited to Bill Browning. He recorded it on the 'B' side of his single "Borned With The Blues" in 1958. The song was a minor hit for Jimmy Skinner (to be found on the cassette of his 20 greatest hits) and was a favorite of Del McCoury, who first sang it as a member of Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys.The traditional song, "Little Birdie," is related and shares the "I'd rather be in some dark holler" verse.
LYRICS:
I was born in old Virginia,
South Carolina I did go.
There I courted a purty little woman,
But her age I did not know.
Well her hair was brown and curly,
Oh her cheeks was rosy red.
On her breast she wore white lilies,
Oh the tears that I have shed.
When I'm asleep I'm dreaming about you,
When I wake I have no rest.
Every moment seems like an hour,
Oh the pains go through my breast.
I'd rather be in some dark holler,
Where the sun don't never shine.
(Than) for you to be some other man's darling,
When you ain't no longer mine.
Papa says I must not marry,
Mama says it will never do.
But, little girl, if you are willing,
I will run away with you.
I'd rather be in some dark holler,
Where the sun don't never shine.
(Than) for you to be some other man's darling,
When you ain't no longer mine.
When I'm asleep I'm dreaming about you,
When I wake I have no rest.
Every moment seems like an hour,
Oh the pains go through my breast.
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