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Lonesome Road Blues/Goin' Down This Road Feelin' Bad
Traditional Old-Time Breakdown and Song; Widely known.
ARTIST: Henry Whitter- Okeh 40015 Side A Recorded: Dec.10, 1923 Issued: January 1924
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes DATE: Early 1900’s (1923);
RECORDING INFO: Rounder 0132, Bob Carlin - "Fiddle Tunes for Clawhammer Banjo" (1980. Learned from revival musicians in New York in the early 1970's). Rounder CD 0383, Mike Seegar and Paul Brown - "Down in North Carolina." Alden, Ray. Old Time Friends, Marimac 9009, Cas (1987), cut# 22; Carlin, Bob. Fiddle Tunes for Clawhammer Banjo, Rounder 0132, LP (1980), cut# 17; Cohen, John and Penny. String Band Project, Elektra EKS 7292, LP, cut#B.02; Harman, Bob; and the Blue Ridge Descendants. Music of the Blue Ridge, Galaxie, LP (198?), cut#B.06; Hooven, Greg. Tribute to Fred Cockerham, Heritage (Galax) 079C, Cas (1993), cut#A.07; Houston, Cisco. Cisco Special, Vanguard VSD-2042, LP (196?), cut#B.04; Jarrell, Tommy. Pickin' on Tommy's Porch, County 778, LP (198?), cut# 4; Jarrell, Tommy. Music of North Carolina, Heritage (Galax) 024 (XXIV), LP (1979), cut#A.02; Kimble Family. Carroll County Pioneers, Marimac 9036, Cas (1992), cut# 5; Paley, Tom. Old Tom Moore and More, Global Village C 309, Cas (1991), cut# 2; Parrish, Pete. Galax International, Heritage (Galax) 067, LP (1988), cut# 5; Round Peak Band. Round Peak Band, Marimac 9044, Cas (1992), B.11; Schwartz, Hank. Room at the Top, JHU, LP (197?), cut#B.06; Seeger, Mike; and Paul Brown. Way Down in North Carolina, Rounder 0383, CD (1996), cut#19; Seekers. Seekers, Pickwick SPC-3068, LP (197?), cut#A.02; Smith, Orriel. Voice in the Wind, Columbia Special Prod. CSRP 8924, LP (196?), cut#B.02; Spilkia, Dave; and Alden, Ray. Tribute to Tommy Jarrell, Heritage (Galax) 063, LP (1986), cut# 13; Ward, Wade. Round the Heart of Old Galax, Vol 3., County 535, LP (1980), cut# 12; Ward, Wade. Anglo-American Shanties, Lyric Songs, Dance Tunes & Spirituals, Library of Congress AAFS L 2, LP (195?), cut# 18; Ward, Wade. Uncle Wade. A Memorial to Wade Ward, Old Time Virginia Banjo ..., Folkways FA 2380, LP (1973), cut# 10; Ward, Wade. Sounds of the South, Atlantic 7-82496-2, CD( (1993), cut#1.24;
OTHER NAMES: Goin' Down This Road Feelin' Bad; Lonesome Road Blues; Levee Moan; Honey Your Hair Grows Too Long; East Coast Blues. SOURCES: From A Treasury of Folk Songs, Kolb; Sandburg, pp. 225-227, "Levee Moan" (2 texts, 1 tune) Alcazar Dance Series ALC 202, Sandy Bradley - "Potluck & Dance Tonite!" (1979). Carryon 005, "The Renegades" (1993). County 778, Tommy Jarrell - "Pickin' on Tommy's Porch" (1984?. Learned from Carlie Holder). Heritage XXIV, Tommy Jarrell - "Music of North Carolina" (Bradywine, 1978). Marimac 9009, John Cohen - "Old Time Friends" (1987). Reed Island Rounders - "Wolves in the Wood" (1997).
NOTES: G Major. Chilly Winds is a related version of “Goin' Down This Road Feelin' Bad." Both are frequently categorized under “Lonesome Road Blues.” The title appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. Mt. Airy, North Carolina, fiddler and banjo player Tommy Jarrell learned the tune in early in the 20th century and played it in AEAE tuning. He related to Mike Seegar:
“Carlie Holder and me was playing for a dance when I was about fifteen or sixteen years old--I was just beginning to play the fiddle... back then you didn't have over six or eight girls, you know, and they'd get tired and want to rest a while. While they was a-resting, why Carlie, he got to playing that tune, the first time I ever heard it. Then I got him to play it right smart little bit, maybe over two or three times and I learned it right there. I was young then, I could listen to a fellow play a tune, you know, and it would go in my head and stay...I thought it was the prettiest thing I ever heard. And I used to know a lot of words to it but I forgot 'em cause I quit making music for about forty years there. I didn't play none much and I forgot some of them songs.” Tommy Jarrell.
Botkin credits the words of this piece to Woody Guthrie. The first recording and probably Guthrie’s source is Henry Whitter’s Dec.10, 1923 recording “Lonesome Road Blues” on Okeh 40015, Side A. Skillet Lickers included it in their skit "A Corn Likker Still in Georgia" in about 1930. This is a bluegrass favorite recorded by Bill Monroe to Doc Watson.
Here are the lyrics to “Lonesome Road Blues” by Henry Whitter:
(Guitar with harmonica solo)
Oh I’m goin’ down this road feelin’ bad
Oh I’m goin’ down this road feelin’ bad
Oh I’m goin’ down this road feelin’ bad
And I ain’t gonna be treated this a-way
Oh I’m goin’ where the chilly wind never blows
Oh I’m goin’ where the chilly wind never blows
Oh I’m goin’ where the chilly wind never blows
And I ain’t gonna be treated this a-way.
Oh (I’m) way down in jail on my knees,
Oh way down in jail on my knees,
Oh way down in jail on my knees,
And I ain’t gonna be treated this a-way.
Oh they feed me on cornbread and peas
Oh, they feed me on cornbread and peas
Oh, they feed me on cornbread and peas
I ain’t gonna be treated this a-way.
Yes, I’m goin’ where the climate suits my clothes,
Oh I’m goin’ where the climate suits my clothes,
Oh I’m goin’ where the climate suits my clothes,
I ain’t gonna be treated this a-way
Yes I’m goin’ if I never come back,
Oh I’m goin’ if I never come back,
Oh I’m goin’ if I never come back,
And I ain’t gonna be treated this a-way.
(Guitar with harmonica solo 2X)
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