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Rock The Cradle Joe
Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; Patrick & Franklin Counties, Virginia; North Carolina, West Virginia
ARTIST: From Andrew Kuntz
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes
DATE: 1800's- Probably from the Minstrel (listed as a song in Slave Lullabies) era. Related to Rock the Cradle Lucy (Miss Lucy Long from 1844). "Rocke the Cradle, John" "was licensed by Laurence Price in 1631 in England, and there is an Irish song called "The Old Man Rocking the Cradle."
RECORDING INFO Rock the Cradle Joe:
Brody, David (ed.) / Guitar Picker's Fakebook, Oak, Sof (1984), p120
Boiled Buzzards. Fine Dining, Marimac 9043, Cas (1991), trk# B.05
Bursen, Howard (Howie). Building Boom, Flying Fish FF 441, LP (1988), B.06b
Carlin, Bob. Brody, David (ed.) / Banjo Picker's Fakebook, Oak, Fol (1985), p133b
Clayton, Bob. Banjo Newsletter, BNL, Ser (1973-), 1982/02,p23
Curley, Clyde. Songer, Susan; & Clyde Curley (eds.) / Portland Collection. Contra..., Portland Collection, Fol (1997), p169
Famous Pyle Brothers. Up on Pyle Mountain, Pyle, Cas (1989), trk# A.07
Fenton, Mike; & Willard Gayheart. Galax International, Heritage (Galax) 067, LP (1988), trk# D.06 [1986/08]
Fenton, Mike. 52nd Annual Old Fiddlers Convention Galax, Va 1987, Heritage (Galax) 704, LP (1988), trk# 7
Frosty Morning String Band. Fiddling Celebration, Soaring Hawk SH 002, LP (1980), trk# A.04
Hold the Mustard. Hold the Mustard, Hold the Mustard, LP (1987), trk# A.04c
Levy, Bertram; and Peter Ostroushko. First Generation, Flying Fish FF 392, LP (1987), trk# 10d
Michael, Walt; & Company. Step Stone, Flying Fish FF 480, Cas (1988), trk# 7b
Milnes, Gerry; and Lorraine Lee Hammond. Hell Up Coal Holler, Shanachie 6040, CD (1999), trk# 11a
Nelson, Mark. Fiddle Tunes for Dulcimer, Kicking Mule KM 218, LP (1980), trk# 3d
Old Virginia Fiddlers. Old Time Fiddle, Patrick County, VA, County 201, LP (1977), trk# B.05 [1948]
Plank Road String Band. Plank Road. Vocal and Instrumental Blend, June Appal JA 015, LP (1978), trk# 11
Plank Road String Band. Brody, David (ed.) / Fiddler's Fakebook, Oak, Sof (1983), p232
Silberberg, Gene. Silberberg, Gene (ed.) / Complete Fiddle Tunes I Either Did or Did Not., Silberberg, Fol (2005), p162
Thompson, Linda Lowe. Dulcimer Players News, DPN, Ser, 27/2, p47(2001)
Trickett, Ed. People Like You, Folk Legacy FSI 092, LP (1982), trk# 5
Winston, Dave. Southern Clawhammer, Kicking Mule KM 213, Cas (1978), trk# A.01
RECORDING INFO Rock the Cradle Lucy: County 506, The Skillet Lickers "Old Time Tunes Recorded 1927, 1931." Calicanto Singers. Days of Gold!, Calicanto, CD (1999), trk# B.07; English, Logan. Days of '49. Songs of the Gold Rush, Folkways FH 5255, LP (1957), trk# B.07; Cofer Brothers. Georgia Fiddle Bands, Vol. 2, County 544, LP (197?), trk# A.02 [1929/03/13] ; Famous Pyle Brothers. Up on Pyle Mountain, Pyle, Cas (1989), trk# A.06; 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), trk# B.06; Reeltime Travelers. Reeltime Travelers, Yodel-Ay-Hee 034, CD (2000), trk# 10 ; Skillet Lickers. Skillet Lickers, Vol. 1, County 506, LP (196?), trk# B.05 [1929/10/29]
RELATED TO: Rock Little Julie; Sally Ann; Rock That/The Cradle Lucy
OTHER NAMES: Rock De Cradle Joe;
SOURCES: Kuntz; Folk index; Mudcat; Alan Block (N.H.) [Spandaro]; Jay Ungar (West Hurley, New York) [Kuntz]; Babe Sengler (Va.) [Phillips]. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 232. Johnson (The Kitchen Musician: Occasional Collection of Old-Timey Fiddle Tunes for Hammer Dulcimer, Fiddle, etc), No. 2, 1982/1988; pg. 10. Kuntz (Ragged but Right), 1987; pg. 333-334. Sing Out, Vol. 36, No. 2, August 1991; pg. 77. Songer (Portland Collection), 1997; pg. 169. Spandaro (10 Cents a Dance), 1980; pg. 16. Tennvale 004, James Leva and Bruce Molsky- "An Anthology." County 201, The Old Virginia Fiddlers- "Rare Recordings 1948-49." June Appal 015, Plank Road String Band- "Vocal and Instrumental Blend." Kicking Mule 213, David Winston- "Southern Clawhammer Banjo."
Slave Lullabies. illus. by Michael Cummings. unpaged. with CD. score. CIP. Houghton. 2000. Tr $18. ISBN 0-395-85755-4. LC 97-20269. PreSchool-Grade 5-This collection includes songs of hope as well as haunting refrains of people being sold. From the reassuring "Great Big Dog" to the nonsense of "Rock de Cradle, Joe."
NOTES: D major; AABB. I play this on guitar Capo 2 in C. This song has three listings with Andrew Kuntz including several sets of lyrics (below). The “Rock the Cradle” lyrics appears in different old-time songs (Red Rocking Chair/Red Apple Juice) and possibly could have been brought over from English sources. Similar lyrics are found in the 1631 English ditty Roch the Cradle John. "Rock the Cradle, John" is also listed in "Wehman's complete dancing master and call book containing full and complete..." No. 1, c.1889. Here are some the lyrics from 1850:
The old English song, "Rock the Cradle, John," has the chorus:
Rock the cradle, John,
Rock the cradle, John,
For there's many a man who rocks another man's bairn,
And thinks he is rocking his own.
Firth c.26(180), by J. B. Geoghegan, c. 1850
An African-American version titled "Rock the Cradle Joe" appears in a recent book, Slave Lullabies. The lyrics and tune are related to “Rock the Cradle Lucy” (Cofer Brothers and Skillet Lickers) from the 1920s. “Rock the Cradle Lucy” is loosely based on the popular minstrel song, “Miss Lucy Long,”also known as "Lucy Long," the chorus is:
Take your time Miss Lucy
Take your time Miss Lucy Long
Rock de cradle Lucy
Take your time my dear.
The tune is similar to Sally Ann and has been compared to Soldier's Joy. According to
James York Glimm in his book, "Snakebite: lives and legends of central Pennsylvania" the cradle refers to a wheat sythe: Well, you was talking about them old fiddle tunes, and that one called "Rock the Cradle, Joe." That's not about a baby cradle, that's about cutting wheat.
The song was collected from African-American (Scarborough 1925- source from late 1800s) and white sources (Brown- 5 lyric versions) with the "Uncle Joe Cut Off His Toe/Joe cut off his toe" rhyme.
Here's "Rock the Cradle, Joe" from Kuntz:
ROCK THE CRADLE JOE [1]. See also related part 'B' of "Sally Ann" (B version). D Major. Standard. AABB. Most modern "revival" versions of the tune come from the playing of J.W. "Babe" Spangler of Meadows of Dan, Virginia, who recorded it in the late 1940's. The following ditty is sometimes sung to the tune in old-time tradition:
***
('B') Rock the cradle Lucy, rock the cradle low,
Rock the cradle Lucy, Rock the Cradle Joe.
***
Rock the cradle Lucy, rock the cradle high,
Rock the cradle Lucy, don't let that baby cry. (Kuntz)
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('A') Can't get up, can't get up,
Can't get up in the morning;
What we gonna do if the baby cries?
Rock the cradle Joe.
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('B') Rock the cradle, rock the cradle,
Rock the cradle Joe;
Rock the cradle, rock the cradle,
Rock it nice and slow. (Johnson)
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What'll we do when the baby cries
I don't know;
What'll we do when the baby cries
Rock that cradle Joe.
***
Variations of the words, however, were in tradition as "Uncle Joe Cut Off His Toe," a nursery rhyme which has variants with verses which also resemble some of the "Old Joe Clark" verses:
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Uncle Joe cut off his toe
And hung it up to dry;
The ladies began to laugh
And Joe began to cry.
***
Chorus:
Rock the cradle, rock the cradle,
Rock the cradle, Joe.
'I will not rock, I shall not rock,
For the baby is not mine.' (Version 'C', Number 97, The Frank C. Brown Collection Of North Carolina Folklore, Volume 3)
***
Lani Herrmann finds a similar verse in the biography of Jennie Devlin (1865-1952) by her granddaughter Katharine D. Newman (Urbana, IL: Univ of Illinois Press, 1995; "an Illini Book"). Allan Lomax recorded this version as a recitation by "Grandma Deb," one of the names by which Jennie Devlin was known. It seems to echo the North Carolina version:
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O, rock the cradle, John,
O, rock the cradle, John,
There's many a man
Rocks another man's child
When he thinks he's rocking his own.
***
Apparently a "Rocke the Cradle, John" "was licensed by Laurence Price in 1631 in England, and there is an Irish song called "The Old Man Rocking the Cradle."
ROCK THE CRADLE JOE [2]. Old-Time, Breakdown. A version of “Rock the Cradle Joe [1].” From the playing of West Virginia fiddler Franklin George, who learned the tune from Jim Farthing, originally from Franklin County, Va. Gerry Milnes says this version “maintains much more character and melody” than the “watered-down” version that has long been a staple of “revival” fiddlers’ conventions. Shanachie Records 6040, Gerry Milnes & Lorriane Lee Hammond – “Hell Up Coal Holler” (1999).
ROCK THE CRADLE JOE [3]. New England, Polka. D Major. Standard. AABB. Similar to version #1. Miller & Perron (101 Polkas), 1978; No. 14.
Here's "Rock the Cradle, Joe" from Lomax:
Rock De Cradle Jo
JAL '39
Clemson, S. C.
Little Hope School House --New Zion Church Congregation
2726A3-Your mamma's a lady- lullaby, by Anna Cason and Polly Pearson
Bye, bye, baby, yo' mamma's a lady
I know yo' pappy's gone down to de town
To shoot a little rabbit skin
To wrap the Baby Buntin' in
Bye, bye, little baby, lay down.
Rock de cradle, Jo Jo, rock de cradle, Susy
Rock de cradle, Jo Jo, rock de cradle, Susy.
Rock that Cradle Lucy (See: Rock the Cradle Lucy)
Sung by Mrs. Kate W. Jones, Houston, Texas, 1912 Kipling St. April 10, 1939
Comment: Mrs. Jones learned this song from her mother, who herself must have known it by 1830. Mrs. Jones came to Texas from Miss. in 1868.
MISS LUCY LONG (For revised text, see next page
Sung by Mrs. Kate W. Jones (see above A 1)
Comment: This song used as lullaby by Mrs. Jones's Mammy in Miss.
Miss Lucy she is handsome, Miss Lucy she is tall.
The way she danced Paducah, She beat them *dancers all.
Oh, rock that cradle, Lucy; Oh, rock that cradle long;
Oh, rock that cradle, Lucy, and keep that baby warm.
Her head is like a cabbage, Her ears like sauer-kraut;
Her mouth is like a fire-place, With the ashes taken out.
Oh, rock that cradle, Lucy; Oh, rock that cradle long;
Oh, rock that cradle, Lucy, And keep that baby warm.
*edited
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