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Johnny Get Your Gun
Old-time Song and Breakdown, Words and music by F. Belasco (Monroe Rosenfield)
ARTIST: Earl Johnson "Johnny Get Your Gun"
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes
DATE: 1800’s (Mid 1800s Sandburg) (1886 F. Belasco AKA Monroe Rosenfield )
RECORDING INFO: Johnny Get Your Gun [Me II-V 6] - Rosenfeld, Monroe H.
Mf - Over There
Bowman, A. S. (ed.) / J. W. Pepper Collection of 500 Reels, Jigs, ..., Pepper, fol (1908), p 58/#286
Spaeth, Sigmund G. / Weep Some More My Lady, Doubleday, Bk (1927), p113
Jackson, Richard (ed.) / Popular Songs of Nineteenth Century America, Dover, Sof (1976), p 97 [1886]
Herder, Ronald (ed.) / 500 Best-Loved Song Lyrics, Dover dn500/500, Sof (1998), p184b
Johnson, Earl; and his Clodhoppers. Georgia Fiddle Bands, Vol. 2, County 544, LP (197?), trk# B.04 [1927/10/11]
Johnson, Earl; and his Clodhoppers. Raw Fiddle, Rounder 1160-2, CD (2004), trk# 1.20 [1927/10/11]
Mainer's Mountaineers. J. E. Mainer & the Mountaineers. Vol 20. 20 Old-Time Favorites, Rural Rhythm RC-250, Cas (1988), trk# B.03
New Lost City Ramblers. Cohen, John, Mike Seeger & Hally Wood / Old Time String Band Songbook, Oak, Sof (1976/1964), p198
RELATED TO: "Over There," "Johnny Get Your Hair Cut," "Betty Martin"
OTHER NAMES: Johnnie Get Your Gun
SOURCES: Clark Kessinger (W.Va.) [Phillips]. Phillips (Fiddlecase Tunebook), 1989; pg. 20-21. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 1, 1994; pg. 97. American Folk Songs for Children, Doubleday/Zephyr Books, Bk (1948), p.142Vance, A. T.. American Songbag, Harcourt Brace Jovan..., Sof (1955), p158 (Hey, Betty Martin)
NOTES: The 1886 song by F. Belasco AKA Monroe Rosenfield is a three part jubilee song which can be viewed on-line at the American Memory site. The folk and country versions use floating verses but keep the “Johnny get your gun, get your gun” tag and use it as the chorus.
Early old-time recording includes Bill Chitwood and Bud Landress 1924; Earl Johnson and his Dixie Entertainers 1927; Fate Norris and the Tanner Boys 1929;
“Over There” by George M. Cohan written in 1917 used the “Johnny get your gun” line in the opening verse:
Johnny get your gun, get your gun, get your gun,
Take it on the run, on the run, on the run.
Over there is a rewrite of F. Belasco's (Monroe H. Rosenfeld) 1886 song, "Johnny Get Your Gun" ( May 1, 1886) The Popular Rage Ethiopian Song and Chorus Originated and Sung by America's Popular Comedians, Sheffer and Blakely, And written for them by F. Belasco, (Monroe H. Rosenfield, 1861-1918)
According to Sandburg, a similar lyric was found to a ditty sung in the 1860's during the War between the States, as follows:
Johnny, git your gun and your sword and your pistol,
Johnny, git your gun and come with me.
Clearly this points to the probability that Monroe H. Rosenfeld's song was based on tradition. Sanburg's infromation is enterd under the song "Hey Betty Martin" a very old song and folk song dating back to at least 1801 (music).
The ballad index has two seperate listings for the song:
Johnny Get Your Gun (I)
Typical lyrics in some version are: "One evenin' in de month of May, Johnny get your gun, get your gun, I met old Peter on the way... Moses wept and Abram cried... Satan's coming don't you hide." Johnny is advised to get his gun and fight Satan "to get to Heaven in de good ole way"
REFERENCES (3 citations):
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 97-101, "Johnny Get Your Gun" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 113-114, "Johnny, Get Your Gun" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuld-WFM, p. 313, "Johnny Get Your Gun"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Johnny Get Your Gun (II)" (chorus, tune)
Notes: This piece does not really belong in a folk song catalog; the song in its original form does not seem to have gone into oral tradition. Rather, pieces of the complex whole survived. There is a nonsense version ("Johnny Get Your Gun (II)"), and the "dance" which concluded the piece provided the tune for George M. Cohan's "Over There." - RBW
Johnny Get Your Gun (II)
DESCRIPTION: Floating verses, mostly to do with guns and animals: "Johnny got his gun, the gun was loaded/Johnny pulled the trigger and the gun exploded." Chorus: "Johnny get your gun, get your gun, get your gun/Johnny get your gun, I say."
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (recording, Bill Chitwood & Bud Landress)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Floating verses, mostly having to do with guns and animals: "Johnny got his gun, the gun was loaded/Johnny pulled the trigger and the gun exploded"; "Johnny got his gun, says turn me loose/Shot a crow and hit an old goose/Crow went caw, the duck went quack/Ought to seen the goose balling the jack." Plus the perennial "My ol' Johnny was a great ol' man/Washed his face in a frying pan/Combed his hair in a wagon wheel/Died with a toothache in his heel." Chorus: "Johnny get your gun, get your gun, get your gun/Johnny get your gun, I say."
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 198, "Johnny, Get Your Gun" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Bill Chitwood & Bud Landress, "Johnny, Get Your Gun" (Brunswick 2883, 1925)
Earl Johnson & his Dixie Entertainers, "Johnnie Get Your Gun" (OKeh 45171, 1927)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Johnny, Get Your Gun" (on NLCR10)
Fate Norris & his Playboys "Johnnie Get Your Gun" (Columbia 15435-D, 1929)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Johnny, Get Your Gun (I)" (chorus, tune, structure)
cf. "Old Dan Tucker" (floating lyrics)
Johnny Get Your Gun- Earl Johnson and his Dixie Entertainers 1927
Fiddle
Oh Johnny get your gun, get your gun, get your gun
Oh Johnny get your gun and have a little fun.
CHORUS: Johnny get your gun, get your gun, get your gun
Oh Johnny get your gun, I say.
Fiddle
Johnny pulled the trigger and the hammer came down,
Gun kicked Johnny right back on the ground. CHORUS
Fiddle
Johnny got his gun, the gun was loaded
Johnny pulled the trigger and the gun exploded. CHORUS
Fiddle
(forgets lyrics sings this, missed 2nd verse)
Johnny pulled the trigger and the hammer came down,
Gun kicked Johnny right back on the ground. CHORUS
Fiddle
Sing a little song I just made up
'Bout a cat, a kitten and little pup
Cat run the kitten and the kitten ran the pup,
Round the table went pretty far up. CHORUS
Johnny got his gun, says turn me loose
Shot a crow and hit an old goose
Crow went caw, the goose went quack
Ought to seen the goose balling the jack. CHORUS
Fifteen cents for turpentine
Dollar and a-half will buy you wine CHORUS
(additional verse)
My ol' Johnny was a great ol' man
Washed his face in a frying pan
Combed his hair in a wagon wheel
Died with a toothache in his heel
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