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Jonny Booker or De Broken Yoke in de Coaling Ground/Johnny Booker
Traditional Old-Time Song and Breakdown; Found in US and British Isles
ARTIST: J.W. Sweeny from Sweeny's Virginia Melodies. Jonny Boker, or, De Broken Yoke in de Coaling Ground; The Original Banjo Song. Publication: Boston: Henry Prentiss, 33 Court St., 1840; Instrumentation: piano and voice; Performer: As sung with great applause at the Tremont Theatre, By J.W. Sweeny.
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes DATE: From Minstrel era (1840); Other documented versions appear in the early 1900’s;
RECORDING INFO: Gus Cannon “Old John Booker, You Call That Gone” Dec. 5, 1956, Memphis, Tenn. Folkways LP 2610, 2691; Jerry Jordan [pseud. for Walter Smith], "Old Johnny Booker Won't Do" (Supertone 9407B, 1929); Cousin Emmy [Cynthia May Carver], "Johnny Booker" (Decca 24214, 1947; on CrowTold01); New Lost City Ramblers, "Old Johnny Booker Won't Do" (on NLCR17, NLCRCD2) Gerald Milnes, 1999). Marimac 9000, Dan Gellert and Shoofly - "Forked Deer" (1986. Learned from the New Lost City Ramblers); Cousin Emmy (Cynthia May Carver). New Lost City Ramblers with Cousin Emmy, Folkways FTS 31015, LP (1968), cut# 14; English, Logan. American Folk Ballads, Monitor MF 388, LP (196?), cut#B.01a; Gellert, Dan; and Shoofly. Forked Deer, Marimac 9000, Cas (1986), cut#B.09;
RELATED TO: "Ease that Trouble in the Mind" Randolph 258 (1 text); "Poor Old Man" (Poor Old Horse; The Dead Horse- lyrics); Jawbone (lyrics) “Old Dan Tucker;” “Do, Mr. Boker, Do; “Old Johnny Bucka;”
OTHER NAMES: “Mister Booger;” “Knock John Booker;” “John Booker;” “Old John Booker, You Call That Gone,” “Whipped Johnny Booger From His Shirt Tail Down;” “JohnnyBucca,” “Johnny Bucka,” “Do Me Johnny Boker;” “Do, Mr. Boker, Do;” “Old Johnny Pigger;” “Old Johnny Pucker;” “Old Johnny Bull”
SOURCES: New Lost City Ramblers. Old-Time String Band Songbook, Oak, Sof (1964/1976), p194; Randolph 268, "Mister Booger" (2 texts 2 tunes); Lomax-FSNA 258, "Knock John Booker" (1 text, 1 tune); Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 194, "Johnny Booker" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: The tune is known as a banjo/string band piece and comes from the minstrel era. “Johnny Booker” is in the repertoire of fiddler Owen “Snake” Chapman (b. 1919) who calls it, “Whipped Johnny Booger From His Shirt Tail Down” (see notes, paragraph 6). It is also known as a sea shanty and much like “Hogeye” and “Johnny Come Down To Hilo” has borrowed lyrics and melodic themes from its minstrel roots.
The Johnny Booker song is about the troubles experienced by a teamster/sailor along the way: A broken yoke, a stalled cart, etc. Chorus something like "Do, Johnny Booker, oh do, do me do, Do, Johnny Booker, oh do" or "So walk a Johnny Booger to help that nigger"
From Ceolas: Gene Winnans mentions an African-American banjo player named Gus Cannon, who worked medicine shows from 1914 to 1929. Cannon's first two tunes (learned in "strumming style") were "Old John Booker You Call That Gone" and "It Ain't Gonna Rain No More," learned from "Old Man Saul" Russell, who "just played around the house for his own amusement." The musical West Virginia Hammons family had members who played this tune, as did Tygart Valley banjo players (Gerald Milnes, 1999). Marimac 9000, Dan Gellert and Shoofly - "Forked Deer" (1986. Learned from the New Lost City Ramblers).
The sea shanty versions tend to have names such as Johnny Booker/JohnnyBucca/Johnny Bucka/Dead Horse/Do Me Johnny Boker/Do, Mr. Boker, Do, while the minstrel versions tend to have names like Old Johnny Booker/Poor Old Man/Johnny Booger/ Old Johnny Booger/Old Johnny Pigger/Old Johnny Pucker.
From Traditional Ballad Index: Paul Stamler found this verse, "I went to the river an' I couldn't get across, Ease that trouble in the mind, I jumped on a log an' thought it was a horse, Ease that trouble in the mind," in a version of "Johnny Booker" in Cohen/Seeger/Wood. If so, it may be a fragment of that song. But the fragment in Randolph (quoted in its entirety above) does not appear in the "Johnny Booker" versions I've seen. And Randolph has distinct Ozark versions of "Johnny Booker."
From Fiddler Owen “Snake” Chapman (b. 1919): Way back then, people had to make their own clothes. They grew their own cotton and wove their own yarn, string and everything. And my mom said that they would use the tree barks to dye the clothes different colors. She told me the colors that you could get from different tree barks: you could get brown from walnut and purple from something else. And that's where they got that tune Whipped Johnny Booger From His Shirt Tail Down. Back when Daddy come up here, all they had to wear were these real long shirts and didn't wear pants because they had to make their own clothes. So they whipped Johnny Booger on his naked legs.
Here’s an example of the original minstrel lyrics by J.W. Sweeny from 1840:
As I went up to Lynchburg town,
I broke my yoke on de coaling ground;
I drove from dare to bowling spring,
And I tried for to mend my yoke and ring.
Chorus: O Jonny Boker, help dat nigger do,
Jonny Boker, do.
Johnny Booker is also found in England in the early 1900’s. Here are several examples from the Mudcat Forum:
Old John Pigger:
Old John Pigger went fishing one day,
Stuck three feet right in the clay
Old John Pigger did holler and shout
As he ran for a shovel to dig himself out!
Old Johnny Bull:
Old Johnny Bull was a silly old fool
He was drunk both night and day
He swore that the hair on his head was fair
But the ruddy old stuff was grey - was grey
The ruddy old stuff was grey
From Lincolnshire before 1916- Old Johnny Poker:
Old Johnny Poker was a gay old nigger,
And a gay old nigger was he.
*Old Johnny Bucca:
Johnny died and went to heaven,
He got there at half past 'leven
Peter said "Johnny you're late
You'll 'ave t' bugger off cos we've got to shut the gate.
*As sung in Cornwall since time of Mervyn Vincent and Charlie Bate.
Here are the original minstrel lyrics to Jonny Boker/Johnny Booker from Sweeny:
As I went up to Lynchburg town,
I broke my yoke on de coaling ground;
I drove from dare to bowling spring,
And I tried for to mend my yoke and ring.
Chorus: O Jonny Boker, help dat *po' boy do,
Jonny Boker, do.
I drove from dare to Wright's ole shop
Hollered to my driver and told him to stop;
Says I, Mr Wright, have you got a yoke?
He seized his bellows and blew up a smoke.
Chorus: O Jonny Boker, help dat *po' boy do,
Jonny Boker, do.
Says I, Mr Wright, habn't long for to stay
He cotched up his hammer, knocked right away;
Soon as he mended my staple and ring
Says I, Mr Wright, do you charge any ting?
Chorus: O Jonny Boker, help dat *po' boy do,
Jonny Boker, do.
Says he to me I neber charge
Unless de job is werry large;
For little jobs dat is so small
I neber charge any ting at all.
Chorus: O Jonny Boker, help dat *po' boy do,
Jonny Boker, do. (Save three cents dat time)
I drove from dar to Anthony's mill
And tried to pull up dat are hill
I whipped my steers and pushed my cart
But all I could do, I couldn't make a start.
Chorus: O Jonny Boker, help dat *po' boy do,
Jonny Boker, do. (Dat ole *po' boy was fast stalled dat time)
I put my shoulder to the wheel
Upon de ground I placed my heel;
Den we make a mighty strain
But all our efforts prove in vain.
Chorus: O Jonny Boker, help dat *po' boy do,
Jonny Boker, do.
Dare come a waggoner driving by
I sat on de ground and 'gan to cry;
Says me to him some pity take
And help me up for conscience sake.
Chorus: O Jonny Boker, help dat *po' boy do,
Jonny Boker, do.
Says he to me, I will help thee
He tak out his horses No. 3;
I wiped from my eyes the falling tears
He hitched his horses before my steers.
Chorus: O Jonny Boker, help dat *po' boy do,
Jonny Boker, do.
Den to me he did much please
He pulled me up with so much ease
His horses were so big and strong
De way dey pulled dis *po' boy along.
Chorus: O Jonny Boker, help dat *po' boy do,
Jonny Boker, do.
*edited
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