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Footprints in the Snow
Minstrel/Bluegrass Song. The song has been composed many times! It was first composed by J. Henry Whittemore; words by J. B. Murphy [1866]; then words and music by Harry Wright in 1880's; then Jackson (words) and Bennett (Music) 1886; The bluegrass versions are slightly different too!
ARTIST: taken from Bill Monroe- 1940’s; Best of Bill Monroe/MCA
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes DATE: 1866 (1931- First Recorded)
RECORDING INFO: Earnest Branch and His West Virginia ramblers 1931; Red Foley recorded it circa March 1934 and Cliff Carlisle in July 1939. Monroe recorded it in February 1945. Columbia CS 1065, Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys - "16 All-Time Greatest Hits" (1). Folkways FA 2355, Clint Howard & Fred Price - "Old-Time Music at Clarence Ashley's" (1961). Old Homestead OHCS 141, Bernice Coleman & the West Virginia Ramblers - "West Virginia Hills: Early Recordings from West Virginia" (1982. Reissue). Old Homestead OHCS 314, "Bradley Kincaid, Vol. 1" (1984. Reissue). Vanguard 107/8, Doc Watson, Clint Howard & Fred Price - "Old Timey Concert" (1987).
OTHER NAMES: Little Foot Prints; Related Melody- "Little Stream of Whiskey."
SOURCES:Mudcat Discussion Forum; Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc; Country Music Sources;
NOTES: "Words and Music by Harry Wright in 1880's; Jackson (words) and Bennett (Music) 1886" (Meade). "Footprints in the Snow" was popularized by mandolin player Bill Monroe and band (1945 recording). It has been a bluegrass standard for years. Christopher C. King, in his notes to "Old-Time Music in West Virginia, Vol 2" (County CD 3519), reports that the first recording of "Footprints in the Snow" was under the title "Little Foot Prints," by the West Virginia Ramblers in June, 1931 (the Ramblers were guitarist Roy Harvey, fiddler Jess Johnson, fiddler Bernice Coleman, and banjo player and singer Ernest Branch). Cliff Carlisle covered the song in 1939, and finally Bill Monroe recorded it with the altered title "Footprints in the Snow." The tune is similar, especially in the beginning, to "Little Stream of Whiskey." (Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).
LYRICS:
Now some folks like the summertime when they can walk about
Strolling through the meadow green it's pleasant there no doubt
But give me the wintertime when the snow is on the ground
For I found her when the snow on the ground.
I traced her little footprints in the snow
I found her little footprints in the snow
I bless that happy day when Nellie lost her way
For I found her when the snow was on the ground.
I dropped in to see her there was a big round moon
Her mother said she just stepped out but would be returning soon
I found her little footprints and I traced them in the snow
I found her when the snow was on the ground.
Now she's up in heaven she's with the angel band
I know I'm going to meet her in that promised land
But every time the snow falls it brings back memories
For I found her when the snow was on the ground.
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