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Little Maggie
Little Maggie: Painting by Richard L. Matteson Jr. C 2008
Old-Time, Bluegrass; Breakdown and Song. USA; Western North Carolina, Southwestern Virginia, Eastern Tennessee.
ARTIST: From Stanley Brothers; Rich-R-Tone 423, The Stanley Brothers
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes DATE: Late 1800’s;
RECORDING INFO: “Little Maggie With a Dram Glass In Her Hand” was first recorded by Grayson and Whittier in 1928; B.F Shelton recorded "Darling Cora" in 1927. {Available as B.F. Shelton, Darling Cora, 1927 ("Music of Kentucky Vol 1";"Old Time Mountain Ballads").
Other “Little Maggie” Recordings: Flying Fish 102, New Lost City Ramblers - "20 Years/Concert Performances" (1978). Heritage XXXIII, Ernest East, Lawrence Lowe, Fred Cockerham - "Visits" (1981. Recorded at Tommy Jarrell's New Year's Eve party, 1972). Melodeon 7322, The Stanley Brothers. Rich-R-Tone 423, The Stanley Brothers. Wade Mainer, Zeke Morris & Steve Ledford, "Little Maggie" (Bluebird B-7201/Montgomery Ward M-7309, 1937; on GoingDown); New Lost City Ramblers, "Little Maggie" (on NLCR16); Allen, Red;, Frank Wakefield & the Kentuckians. Bluegrass, Folkways FA 2408, LP (1964), cut# 1; Brickman, Weissberg & Company. New Dimensions in Banjo and Bluegrass, Elektra EKS-7238, LP (197?), cut# 7; Carlton, Gaither. Watson Family Tradition, Rounder 0129, LP (1977), cut#B.06; Cockerham, Fred. Clawhammer Banjo, County 701, LP (1965), cut# 7; Cockerham, Fred. Visits, Heritage (Galax) 033, LP (1981), cut# 3; Dane, Barbara. Anthology of American Folk Songs, Tradition TR 2072, LP (196?), cut#A.02; Folk Singers. Run Come Hear, Elektra EKL-157, LP (196?), cut#B.03; Good Time Singers. One Step More, Capitol T 2170, LP (196?), cut#A.03; Hall, Barry. Virtuoso 5-String Banjo, Folkways FG 3533, LP (1964), cut#B.02; Imlach, Hamish. Ballads of Booze, Transatlantic XTRA1094, LP (1969), cut#A.03; Iron Mountain String Band (Calif.). Someday We'll Meet Again, Folkways FA 3836, LP (1981), cut#A.06; Jarrell, Tommy. Rainbow Sign, County 791, LP (198?), cut# 10; Jarrell, Tommy. Come and Go With Me, County 748, LP (1974), cut# 4; Kingston Trio. Kingston Trio, Capitol T 0996, LP (1958), cut# 12; Ledford String Band. Ledford String Band, Rounder 0008, LP (1972), cut# 2; Mainer, Wade. Going Down The Valley; Vocal & Instrumental Music from the South, New1 World1 NW 236, LP (1977), cut# 18; Melton, Ivor. Ballads and Songs of the Blue Ridge Mountains., Asch AH 3831, LP (1968), cut#B.06; Montgomery, Chris. Faded Memories, Star SLP12690, Cas (1990), cut# 7; Paley, Tom. O Love Is Teasin', Elektra BLP-12051, LP (1985), cut#3.16; Paley, Tom. Courtin's a Pleasure and Other Folk Songs of the Southern App..., Elektra EKL-122, LP (195?), cut#B.06; Pine Island. Live Inside, Fretless FR 124, LP (1977), cut#A.06; Powell, Dirk. Hand Me Down, Rounder 0444, CD (1999), cut#12; Presnell, Lee Monroe ("Uncle Monroe"). Traditional Music of Beech Mountain, NC, Vol II, Folk Legacy FSA-023, LP (1965), cut# 20; Price, Bill & Betty. Bill and Betty Price, Rural Rhythm RRBP-239, LP (197?), cut#B.06; Seeger, Mike; and Paul Brown. Way Down in North Carolina, Rounder 0383, CD (1996), cut#16; Smith, Glen; & the Mountain State Pickers. Fiddler, Bluetick BTR 101, LP (197?), cut#A.03; Stanley Brothers. Starday Sessions, County CCS 106/7, LP (1984), cut# 18; Stringbean (David Ackerman). Goin' to the Grand Ole Opry, OV 1726, LP (1976), cut# 5; Ward, Tab. Traditional Music of Beech Mountain, NC, Vol II, Folk Legacy FSA-023, LP (1965), cut# 19; Ward, Wade. 28th Annual Galax Old Fiddlers Convention. Galax, Virginia 1963, Kanawha 302, LP (1963), cut# 5;
RELATED TO: “Darling Cory;” “Hustling Gamblers/Country Blues,” “East Virginia Blues”
OTHER NAMES: Little Maggie With a Dram Glass In Her Hand
SOURCES: Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 48, "Little Maggie" Darling-NAS, p. 277, "Little Maggie" Silber-FSWB, p. 193, "Little Maggie;" Alterman, Ned; and Richie Mintz. Bluegrass Bass, Oak, sof (1977), p53; Bruce, Dix. Mandolin Magazine, Mandolin Magazine MM, Ser (1999-), 1/2, p33; New Lost City Ramblers. Old-Time String Band Songbook, Oak, Sof (1964/1976), p 48
NOTES: A Mixolydian, one part; “Little Maggie” is part of the “Darling Cory/Corey” family of “white blues” songs that include “Country Blues/Husling Gamblers” which were found in the Appalachian region in the late 1800’s.
“It seems that “Darling Corey” dates from the late 19th century. It shares words with 'Country Blues' as well as “Little Maggie”. Dock Boggs recorded 'Country Blues' in 1927 and had learned it from Homer Crawford of Tennessee probably about 1914 under the title 'Hustling Gamblers'. Boggs added verses of his own. In his notes to the Revenant reissue of Boggs' complete early recordings, Barry O'Connell suggests that this 'lyric and tune family' (Hustling Gamblers, Darling Corey, Country Blues etc)'has been around in the southern mountains for over a century'. He went on to say: 'The family of tunes probably originates late in the 19th century and belongs to the then developing tradition of white blues ballads'.” (Stewie)
“Listening to the Shelton version (of “Darling Cory”) again, it is interesting that, early in the song, 'highway robbers' are coming to 'tear the stillhouse down' - 'revenue officers' only make an appearance later in the narrative. 'Highway robbers' seems more of an English than an American idiom - another instance of an English survival in a mountain song? If so, that may be another reason for believing it is quite old.” (Stewie)
“Little Maggie” was recorded by the Stanley Brothers in 1946, when their music was more old-time than bluegrass in style. Mt. Airy, North Carolina, fiddler Tommy Jarrell remembered the tune "going around" the Round Peak area (where he grew up) around 1915 or 1916, and became quite popular with the younger folk. A tragedy occurred about the same time when his 14 year old cousin, Jullie Jarrell, was tending a fire in the kitchen stove and, thinking it was out, poured kerosene over the wood to renew it which suddenly caused flames to flare and severely burn her. Tommy related:
I was coming from the mill on horseback carrying a sack of cornmeal and all at once I saw the smoke and heard the younguns come running towards me crying, 'Jullie's burnt up and the house is a-fire.' I jumped off the horse and ran as fast as I could to the house--later I though about how much faster I could have gotten there by throwing the meal off and riding the horse, but you don't think clear at times like that. When I reached the door I saw Aunt Susan kneeling on the floor above Julie, weeping, her hands all blistered from beating out the fire with a quilt. Jullie was laying there crying, but there wasn't much we could do for her so we ran to the spring for water to put out the fire in the house. They put Jullie to bed right away--her whole body was burned up to her chin, and at first she cried in pain but after a while she didn't feel anything at all. That evening as she was laying there she asked me to get my banjo and sing "Little Maggie" for her. That was the only thing she wanted to hear--it had just recently come around and everyone seemed to take to it. I expect I played it the best I ever had in my life, with the most feeling, anyway. It seemed to comfort her and pick up her spirits a little, but by the following morning she was dead. (Richard Nevins)
The song appears to have been played in neighboring Grayson County, Virginia, a generation earlier, according to Richard Nevins, which points out how isolated the mountainous regions were around the turn of the century.
Here are the lyrics to “Little Maggie” from Stanley Brothers:
Oh yonder stands little Maggie
With a dram glass in her hands
She's drinking away her troubles
She's a courtin' some other man
Oh how can I ever stand it
Just to see them two blue eyes
A shinin in the moonlight
Like two diamonds in the sky
Last time a saw little Maggie
She was sittin' on the banks of the sea
With a forty-four around her
And a banjo on her knee
Lay down your last gold dollar
Lay down your gold watch and chain
Little Maggie's gonna dance for daddy
Listen to that old banjo ring
Pretty flowers were made for blooming
Pretty stars were made to shine
Pretty women were made for lovin'
Little Maggie was made for mine
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