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New River Train
Traditional Old-Time, Breakdown & Song; Southeast US;
ARTIST: Transcribed from a recording of Bill Monroe back in '39 and '40 (From Mudcat)
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes DATE: Late 1800’s (Earliest Recording1924 Henry Whitter); Fields Ward says he learned it c. 1895;
RECORDING INFO: Kelly Harrell, "New River Train" (Victor 19596, 1925; on KHarrell01) (Victor 20171, 1926; on KHarrell01). Wade Ward, "New River Train" [instrumental] (on Holcomb-Ward1). County 778, Tommy Jarrell - "Pickin' on Tommy's Porch" (1984. Learned from the playing of his father, fiddler Ben Jarrell). Front Hall FHR-037, Mark Graham - "Natural Selections" (1987). Rounder CD 0383, Mike Seegar and Paul Brown - "Down in North Carolina." Vanguard CD, Doc Watson, Fred Price & Clint Howard. Ridge Rangers, "The New River Train" (AFS 1693 A2, 1939; on LC61). Henry Whitter, "The New River Train" (OKeh 40143, 1924); Old Brother Charlie & the Corn Crib Trio, "New River Train" (Mercury 6206, 1949). Pete Seeger, "New River Train" (on PeteSeeger24), (on PeteSeeger33, PeteSeegerCD03). Blue Ridge Corn Shuckers. Bristol Sessions. Vol 1, Country Music Foundation CMF 011C1, Cas (1987), cut# 17e; Cox, Rosa. 52nd Annual Old Fiddlers Convention Galax, Va 1987, Heritage (Galax) 704, LP (1988), cut# 2; Dickel Brothers. Dickel Brothers Volume One, Empty Records MTR 376, LP (1999), cut#A.06; Hughes, Duke. Anglo-American Folksong Style, Prentice-Hall, Sof (1968), 4-5 (Darling You Can't Have One); Jarrell, Tommy. Pickin' on Tommy's Porch, County 778, LP (198?), cut# 5; Kimble Family. Pine Knots School Rowdies, Marimac 9037, Cas (1992), cut# 12; Monroe Brothers. Feast Here Tonight, Bluebird AXM2-5510, LP (1975), cut# 9; Poole, Charlie; and the Highlanders. Charlie Poole and the Highlanders, 1927-29, Puritan 3002, LP (196?), cut# 8b (Trip to New York On the Train); Poston, Mutt; and the Farm Hands. Hoe Down! Vol. 6. Country Blues Instrumentals, Rural Rhythm RR 156, LP (197?), cut# 13; Ridge Rangers. Railroad Songs and Ballads, Library of Congress AFS L61, LP (1968), cut#B.01; Seeger, Mike; and Paul Brown. Way Down in North Carolina, Rounder 0383, CD (1996), cut#13; Skyhook Shoreline Drifters. Second Annual Willamette Valley Folk Festival, Cultural Forum, LP (1972), cut#B.03; Smith, Glen (Virginia). More Goodies from the Hills, Union Grove SS-3, LP (1969), cut# 5; Stoker, Ed. Tenino Old Time Music Festival. 1973-74, Voyager VRLP 313-S, LP (197?), cut# 7; Stoneman, Ernest and Hattie. Stoneman Family Old Time Songs, Folkways FA 2315, Cas (1957), cut# 5; Stoneman, Ernest (V., "Pop"). Round the Heart of Old Galax, Vol 1. Featuring Ernest Stoneman, County 533, LP (1980), cut# 14; Strange Creek Singers. Strange Creek Singers, Arhoolie 4004, LP (1972), cut# 8; Ward, Wade. Roscoe Holcomb and Wade Ward, Folkways FA 2363, LP (1962), cut#B.07; Watson, Doc; Clint Howard and Fred Price. Old Timey Concert, Vanguard 107/8, Cas (1987), cut#A.01; White Lightning. White Lightning, ABC ABCS-690, LP (1969), cut# 6; Darlin' (You Can't Love One)- American Ballads and Folk Songs, MacMillan, Bk (1934), p.158; The Group. 'The Group' Visits Puget Sound, Golden Crest CR 3056, LP (196?), cut#B.01
OTHER NAMES: "Darlin' You Can't Have One;" “A Trip to New York On the Train (Instrumental)”
RELATED TO: “Sweet Mary Jo;” “Going Away From Home;”
SOURCES: Abrahams/Foss, p. 73, "Darlin' You Can't Have One". Lomax-ABFS, pp. 158-159, "Darlin'". PSeeger-AFB, p. 74, "New River Train". Silber-FSWB, p. 143, "New River Train;" Sellers, Maureen. Dulcimer Player News, Dulcimer Player News DPN, Ser (1973-), 24/1, p33;
NOTES: The Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad through the beautiful New River Gorge in southern West Virginia was completed in early 1873 and half a year later the Low Moor Iron Company of Virginia was chartered. The "New River Train" was probably written shortly after the railroad was completed. Fields Ward says he learned the song circa 1895.
The above version, by Ernest Stoneman and the Sweet Brothers, 1928, is from "Long Steel Rail," by Norm Cohen, 1981, p. 466-469, Univ. Illinois Press. Earliest reports of the song come from Virginia. The Ward Family, of Galax, VA, claimed that the song became part of their repertoire in about 1895. The song probably refers to one of the two New River companies chartered by the Norfolk and Western and that worked in the 1880s). The earliest recording (and publication) was by Henry Whitter, of VA, in 1923 (similar to the Stoneman version). Whitter's version counted up to four; in 1925 a version by Kelly Harrell of the same area went up to six. The version quoted from Bill Monroe is Harrell's. Later, Vance Randolph collected a version that went up to ten.
The New River is 330-miles long stretching from the hickory ridges high in the mountains of North Carolina to West Virginia’s coalfields where it joins the Gauley River to create the Kanawha. Far from being "new," the New River is the oldest water course on the eastern seaboard. "I’ve heard dates of anything from 10 million to 360 million years,’ says Lynn Sharp of the Virginia Tech Museum of Natural History in Blacksburg. "I usually just say it’s ancient."
The melody has been described as a "Blue Ridge Mountain standard." The tune and lyrics are similar to "Mole in the Ground" and "My Last Gold Dollar." There is also a resemblance to "Crawdad".
Here are the lyrics to the “New River Train” by Bill Monroe:
Darlin' you can't love but one
Darlin' you can't love but one
You can't love but one, and still have any fun
Oh, Darlin' you can't love but one
Chorus: I'm ridin' on that New River train
Ridin' on that New River train
Same ol' train that brought me here
Is soon gonna carry me away
Darlin' you can't love two
Darlin' you can't love two
You can't love two, and in your little heart be true
Oh, Darlin' you can't love two (chorus)
Darlin' you can't love three
Darlin' you can't love three
You can't love three, and still love me
Oh, Darlin' you can't love three (chorus)
Darlin' you can't love four
Darlin' you can't love four
You can't love four, and love any more
Oh, Darlin' you can't love four (chorus)
Darlin' you can't love five
Darlin' you can't love five
You can't love five, and get honey from my beehive
Oh, Darlin' you can't love five (chorus)
Darlin' you can't love six
Darlin' you can't love six
you can't love but six, that kinda love don' mix
Oh, Darlin' you can't love six (chorus)
Darlin' you can't love but one
Darlin' you can't love but one
You can't love but one, and still have any fun
Oh, Darlin' you can't love but one (chorus)
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