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Johnson Boys
Traditional Old-Time, Song and Fiddle Tune- North Carolina, Virginia, Arkansas.
ARTIST: Banjoist Frank Proffitt (North Carolina), who learned the tune "from his father's picking and picked up verses from people on Beech Mountain, friends from Virginia, and others here and there" [Warner].
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes DATE: Tune older (mid 1800’s); Words late 1800's early 1900’s;
RECORDING INFO: June Appal 0067, Whitetop Mountain Band - "Seedtime on the Cumberland" (1992). Marimac 9038, Dan Gellert & Brad Leftwich - "A Moment in Time." Rounder CD0403, The Freight Hoppers - "Where'd You Come From, Where'd You Go?" Tradition TLP 1007, Boone Reid - "Instrumental Music of the Southern Appalachians" (1956). New Lost City Ramblers, "Johnson Boys" (on NLCR03); Best, Carroll; Band with Tommy Hunter. Carroll Best Band with Tommy Hunter, Ivy Creek ICR 250, Cas (1993), cut# 12; Cohen, John. Old-Time Banjo Project, Elektra EKL-7276, LP, cut# 2; Flatt & Scruggs & the Foggy Mountain Boys. Folk Songs of our Land, Columbia CL 1830, LP, cut# 1 (Legend of the Johnson Boys); Freight Hoppers. Where'd You Come From, Where'd You Go?, Rounder 0403, CD (1996), cut# 6; Gellert, Dan; and Brad Leftwich. Moment in Time, Marimac 9038, Cas (1993), cut#A.01; Hicks, Buna. Traditional Music of Beech Mountain, NC, Vol II, Folk Legacy FSA-023, LP (1965), cut# 3; Hillbillies. Hillbillies, County 405, LP (197?), cut#A.01; Iron Mountain String Band (Galax). Music from the Mountain, Heritage (Galax) 101C, Cas (1992), cut# 6; Lindley, David. 5-String Banjo Greats, Liberty LST 7357, LP (196?), cut# 13; Lindley, David. Anthology of the Banjo, Tradition TR 2077, LP (196?), cut# 8; Mainer's Mountaineers (J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers). J. E. Mainer & the Mountaineers. Vol 20. 20 Old-Time Favorites, Rural Rhythm RC-250, Cas (1988), cut#A.02; New Lost City Ramblers. New Lost City Ramblers, Vol. 3, Folkways FA 2398, LP (1961), cut# 11; Phillips, Theopolis Lacey. Music from the Hills of Caldwell County, Physical 12-001, LP (1975), cut# 7; Reid, Boone. Instrumental Music of the Southern Appalachians, Tradition TR 1007, LP (196?), cut# 15; Shanty Boys. Shanty Boys, Elektra EKL-142, LP (195?), cut# 3; Smith, Glen. Traditional Music From Grayson and Carroll Counties, Folkways FS 3811, LP (1962), cut# 20; Southern Michigan String Band. Transplanted Old Timy Music, Pine Tree PTSLP 509, LP (197?), cut# 8; Stecher, Jody. Snake Baked A Hoecake: Jody Stecher and Friends, Bay 203, LP (1974), cut# 2; Vanoy, Henry. Comin' Round the Mountain, Voyager VLRP 302, LP (197?), cut# 5; Vanoy, Henry. Comin' Round the Mountain, Voyager VLRP 302, LP (197?), cut# 18; Ward, Wade. Clawhammer Banjo, Vol. 3, County 757, LP (1978), cut# 15; Warner, Frank. Our Singing Heritage. Vol III, Elektra EKL-153, LP (1958), cut#A.05; Weavers. Weavers' Song Book, Harper & Row, Sof (1960), p 93; Weavers. The Weavers at Home, Vanguard VRS 9024, LP (195?), cut#A.04 (Meet the Johnson Boys); Whitetop Mountain Band. Seedtime on the Cumberland. Sampler 1990-91, June Appal JA 0067C, Cas (1992), cut# 2; Williams, Robin and Linda. Dixie Highway Sign, June Appal JA 0031, LP (1979), cut# 10 (Johnson Girls). Instrumental Music Of The Southern Appalachians : Various Artists (Boone Reid) (1956); Shanty Boys : Shanty Boys (195?); Frank Proffitt Sings Folk Songs : Frank Proffitt (1962); Traditional Music from Grayson and Carroll Counties, Virginia: Songs, Tunes with Fiddle, Banjo and Band : Various Artists (Glen Smith) (1962); Traditional Music Of Beech Mountain, NC, Vol II : Buna Hicks (1965); The Flat-Picker's Guitar Guide - An Advanced Instruction Record : Jerry Silverman (1966); 5 String Banjo Greats : David Lindley (196?); An Old Time Southern Mountain String Band : Iron Mountain String Band (1973); Clawhammer Banjo, Vol. 3 : Wade Ward (1978); Clawhammer Banjo : David Johnson (1983); J.E. Mainer & The Mountaineers, Vol. 20 Old Time Favorites : J.E. Mainer & The Mountaineers (1988); Greatest Stars Of Bluegrass : Various Artists (1989); Music From The Mountain : Iron Mountain String Band (1992); Masters Of The Banjo : Various Artists (1994); Banjo Festival : Various Artists (David Lindley) (1997); Old-Time Banjo Project : John Cohen (19??); Instrumental Music & Songs Of The Southern Appalachians : Eric Darling (19??); Bluegrass Music From The Southern Appalachians : Various Artists (19??); Great Original Recordings 1927-28 : The Tenneva Ramblers (19??); The Asch Recordings, Vol. 2 - 1939 to 1945 : Various Artists (Frank Warner, Pete Seeger & Bess Lomax Hawes) (19??) Hicks, Joe.(Kentucky Boys) Hicks Family. A Cumberland Singing Tradition, Tennessee Folklore Soc. TFS-104, LP (1982), cut# 14;
OTHER NAMES: “Meet the Johnson Boys;” “Kentucky Boys; “Legend Of The Johnson Boys;”
RELATED TO: “Aunt Sal's Song (The Man Who Didn't Know How to Court)" (theme); Mister Booger; "Doran’s Ass/Dolan's Ass," “Spanish Ladies/The Spanish Lady;" “Billy Taylor/Willie Taylor,” "Finnegan's Wake."
SOURCES: The earliest textual reference Meade gives for 'Johnson Boys' is the Brown Collection vol III, #338, 394; Warner (Traditional American Folk Songs), 1984; pgs. 303-304. Warner 129, "Johnson Boys" Lomax-FSNA 115, "Johnson Boys" Silber-FSWB, p. 170, "The Johnson Boys". New Lost City Ramblers. Old-Time String Band Songbook, Oak, Sof (1964/1976), p155;
NOTES: D Major. Standard. Paul Clayton identifies this as an old courting song, comic in nature. Warner (1984) says, "This is a dance tune for the fiddle and banjo - one of the oldest in the mountains. The words are incidental." The title appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954.
For a song that according to Warner is “one of the oldest in the mountains” it is mysterious that early versions have not surfaced. The Traditional Ballad Index gives two basic versions and describes the songs: Johnson Boys 1 (early date 1941)- "I hear the Johnson boys a-coming, Singing and a-hollering and shooting off their guns." A list of exploits of the minimally civilized Johnson Boys, who shoot, court, wash, farm, and fiddle in extravagant ways (but don't know how to court). Johnson Boys 2 (early date 1941)- Johnson boys, who were boys of honor and DID know how to court; song describes their heroic service to the Confederacy as scouts: "When the Yankees saw them coming, They throw down their guns and hide."
Given the wide circulation from recordings by New Lost City Ramblers, Flatt and Scruggs and the Weavers the 1941 and 1964 early dates given by the Traditional Ballad Index suggest a more recent history, probably the early 1900’s. The Meade, Spottswood, Mead Discography gives two recordings only of Johnson Boys- Al Hopkins & His Buckle Busters (1927) and the Grant Brothers (1928). In the Hopkins version, a rewrite, the Johnson Boys turn from 'men of valor' in the civil war 'to buffoons'. The Grant Brothers recorded Johnson Boys on October 15, 1928 in Johnson City, TN, and issued as Co 15460-D in December. A reissue of the Grant Brothers recording may be heard on Various Artists 'Rural String Bands of Virginia' County CD 3502. (Info from Stewie at Mudcat).
According to Brown: 'Johnson Boys.' Contributed by Thomas Smith, Zionville. Watauga county. The first stanza only, as in A and B. with the note: Dance song— fiddle and banjo. There is another verse or two of the old time banjo and fiddle tune which I haven't been able to get. 'Johnson Boys is said by our oldest people to be one of the oldest tunes. __ It was years ago one of the chief tunes played at parties, shindigs, etc.
Brown tends to corroborate an early date since Thomas Smith made his contibutions circa 1915, making a Civil War date probable. The words may have been added later but since the title did not change there's a good chance the words are old as well [Matteson 2009]
Meade notes: 'The tune is an adaptation of 'Doran's Ass' (see Laws Q19), dating from around 1860. It was also used with other Irish songs of the period'. The earliest textual reference Meade gives for 'Johnson Boys' is the Brown Collection vol III, #338, 394.’ In Ireland the tune is known as the comic song "Doran's Ass" and also is the tune for "Finnegan's Wake."
DORAN'S ASS NOTES: Southwestern Pa. D Major. Standard. AB. "Doran's Ass" is known in Pennsylvania as a folk song, "Dolan's Ass," also as a polka “Spanish Ladies” and in the US is a march or reel. According to Bayard (1981) the title is the one the tune is most commonly known by, and comes from a "stage Irish" song.
DORAN'S ASS SOURCES: Dolan's Ass Okun, Milt. Adirondack Folk Songs and Ballads, Stinson SLP 82, LP (1963), cut# 6 Dolan's Ass (2/4 March). Teddy Regan Songster 1861, p51; Francis O'Neill 'O'Neill's Music of Ireland: Eighteen Hundred and Fifty Melodies' Bronx, NY, Lyon & Healy 1903 'Finnigan's Wake' #265; Frank Quinn 'Doran's Ass' recorded 10 Feb 1925 [Gnt 5667]; John McKenna & James Morrison 'Thady Regan' recorded ca Feb 1929 [Co 33342-F]; John McGettigan's Irish Minstrels 'The Star of Donegal' recorded 14 September 1936 [Bluebird B4999]; Samuel P. Bayard 'Dance to the Fiddle March to the Fife: Instrumental Folk Tunes in Pennsylvania' Pennsylvania State Uni Press 1982 - #276 at pages 231-2. Hiram Horner (fifer from Fayette/Westmoreland Counties, Pa., 1944, who learned it from Scots fifer David P. Henderson) [Bayard]. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 276, pgs. 231-232.
FINNEGAN'S WAKE (Torran UíFinnguine) NOTES: (from Ceolas) Also "Tim Finnegan's Wake," "Doran's Ass," "The French Musician," "Paddy Doyle," "The Spanish Lady." Irish, New England; Air (cut time), Polka or March (2/4). D Major (Mallinson, Miller & Perron, Taylor): C Major (O'Neill): G Major (Tubridy). Standard. AB (O'Neill): AABB (Mallinson, Miller & Perron, Taylor. Tubridy).
A tune derived from a comic "stage-Irish" song, which Bayard (1981) says was known in Pennsylvania as a folk song called "Dolan's Ass." The first part of the tune, he observes, is perhaps older than the second. Cazden (et al, 1982) report that Edwin Ford Piper gives 1884 as the date for the first appearance of the song "Finnegan's Wake," while Charles Kennedy uses the date of about 1870 for the piece he identifies as an "Irish-American vaudeville" work. The sheet music was listed as published in New York by Wm. A. Pond Co. in 1864, while a different reference from the same year names the air to the song as "The French Musician." The Journal of the Folk Song Society, Vol. IV, pg. 294, gives three sets of the air, two from the early 18th century and one from camp meeting spirituals known in Britain and the U.S. (all sets resemble the first strain of "Finnegan's Wake"). The song "Willie Taylor" is sometimes sung to this tune in Ireland.
MORE NOTES- JOHNSON BOYS: Speculation about the Johnson Boys being a Civil War song has yet to be proven. Here’s a verse with a Civil War reference:
They were scouts in the rebel army,
And were known far and wide,
When the Yankees saw 'em comin',
They throw'd down their guns and hide.
From the archives of old-time music newsgroup:
What apparently happened here is that the "boys of honor" version was the original, up to the civil war. The song was popular with the Southern troops, so the Northern troops started to satirize it:
Johnson boys, raised in the canebreak
Never learned how to court a maid
Turn their backs & hide their faces
Sight of a pretty girl makes them afraid
I've seen both versions in songbooks; the satire version is much more fun to sing. [Sorry I can't cite a source for this info. I came across it somewhere a few years ago when I was trying to find the funny words and could only seem to locate the straight versions]-terry friedman
From Grateful Dead page: “Sometimes occurs as Meet The Johnson Boys or Legend Of The Johnson Boys. Before this song on the Sleepy Hollow Hog Stompers tape Garcia says that they stole their songs from the Ramblers who had stolen the songs from the old hill musicians, The Ramblers (New Lost City Ramblers) source is certainly true for this song. Johnson Boys occurs in a number of variations many making fun of the Johnson boys but in the Ramblers versions they are heroes of the Civil War. The lyrics used by the Sleepy Hollow Hog Stompers nearly exactly match those in the New Lost City Ramblers Songbook.”
The Johnson Boys is not to be confused with another old-time song “The Johnson Gals/Girls” which is also named “Calico.”
Here are the lyrics to The Johnson Boys from Frank Proffitt:
I hear them Johnson boys a-coming
Singing and a-hollering and shooting off their guns;
All the other fellers scared as the devil,
Johnson boys has got'em on the run
Johnson boys has got'em on the run.
Johnson boys, won't do to mess with,
They stick together just like glue.
If you start any kind of trouble,
They'll beat the hell out of you
They'll beat the hell out of you.
Johnson boys went to the mountain
They didn't reckon long to stay,
Met up with some high-borned ladies
Didn't get back till the break of day
Didn't get back till the break of day.
Johnson boys, getting mighty sassy
Johnson boys, think they're men,
Comb their hair and wash their faces
Look pretty good for the shape they're in
Look pretty good for the shape they're in.
Johnson boys, they went a-courtin'
Johnson boys, they didn't stay.
Reason why they went no further,
Had no money fur to pay their way
Had no money fur to pay their way.
Johnson boys, raised in ashes
Didn't know how to court a maid;
Turned their backs and hid their faces
Sight of a purty girl made them afraid
Sight of a purty girl made them afraid.
Johnson boys, brave and hearty,
They knows how to court old maids.
Kiss and hug and call 'em honey,
Rush up pretty girls, don't be afraid
Rush up pretty girls, don't be afraid.
Johnson boys, play your fiddle,
Johnson boys, sing your song,
Johnson boys, hug in the middle,
Hug in the middle and you can't go wrong
Hug in the middle and you can't go wrong.
Johnson boys, mowin' in the meadow
Big black snake bit one on the toe;
He commenced a-yellin' and a-hollerin'
It's a sight to see them Johnson boys go
It's a sight to see them Johnson boys go!
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