US & Canada Versions 7L. Careless Love Roud 422 (Loveless Love; Kelly's Love; Times Ain't Like They Used To Be)
[Careless Love has been recorded hundreds of times and been absorbed by a wide number of genres. Although its chorus is American, its early stanzas and theme were taken from British folk ballads: specifically, the "Died for Love" ballads and songs. The similar theme of careless love, pregnancy and abandonment has been conveyed by the "apron" stanzas. This careless love caused the maid to leave her mother and father for her false lover and resulted in the pain of separation and rejection of the unwed mother with a child by her lover and her family. For the blues singer in the American south, Careless Love has become more than a poor choice by lovers-- it has become a spiritual being, capable of reeking its wrath upon whoever it touches. In the 1928 version by Lonnie Johnson the singer exacts vengeance upon Careless Love:
You've worried my mother until she died,
You've caused my father to lose his mind,
Now damn you, I'm goin' to shoot you and shoot you four, five times
And stand over you until you finish dyin'.
The transformation of Careless Love to a physical being is characteristic of the blues. Johnson's version sprung from the roots of a ballad with a mysterious past; of a land far away across the "big" pond with kings, moats and castles where the songs and ballads of Died for Love began. In the UK the ballads about a pregnant maid forsaken by her lover came from antecedent broadsides of the 1600s and 1700s. By the late 1800s the ballads were titled "Alehouse," "Brisk Young Sailor" or "I Wish, I wish." The maid laments that "When her apron strings were low, he followed me through frost and snow," and that "now my apron strings are to my chin, he passes my door but won't stop in." The maid is pregnant and wishes she was in her grave with the green grass growing over her. These "apron stanzas" of the Died for Love songs and ballads were brought by the hardy English, Irish, and Scottish settlers to America. One of the earliest colonies was the Virginia Colony of the James River established in the early 1600s. By 1760 there were 340,000 colonists in the Virginia/Jamestown area and by the early 1800s some of these pioneers has moved through the Appalachians into Ohio River Valley region.
As the English, Irish and Scottish settlers moved west, a new chorus (Love, oh Love, oh careless love) was added to the Died for Love "apron" stanzas. Whether the chorus was created by African-America boatmen[1] or simply absorbed by the African America boatmen is unknown. Careless Love was taken along the Ohio River across Kentucky's northern border to Louisville and from there down the Mississippi to New Orleans, Mississippi and Texas where it were sung by African-Americans during the late 1800s. Naturally the song was assimilated by whites and blacks throughout the Ohio River Valley on to New Orleans. Careless Love was created in an early blues form: three repeated lines with an answering line that usually rhymed.
Love, oh love oh careless love
Love, oh love oh careless love
Love, oh love oh careless love
See what careless love has done.
This "call and response" form which later became the 12-bar blues was carried into the deep south. Although this form was sung by Bobby Bolden[2] and the musicians of New Orleans around 1900, W.C. Handy knew Careless Love in Bessemer, Alabama in 1892[3]. He played the parody "Arch and Gordon[4]" in Henderson, Kentucky sometime after the murders in Louisville took place in 1895. Then in 1921 Handy reworked the text and published "Loveless Love," which was recorded by his daughter in 1922 and later by other jazz artists. In 1925 Handy's text was changed by Williams and Keonig and recorded by Bessie Smith[5]. This new text was also sung by other blues artists including Bling Boy Fuller in 1937. Some of the jazz arrangements featured a new chorus:
Love, oh love oh careless love
Love, oh love oh careless love
You broke the heart of many a poor girl,
But you'll never break this heart of mine.
The traditional chorus ending with "See what careless love has done" was found in a number of African-American versions from the south. Some were collected while others were sung by early African-American songsters and bluesmen such as Leadbelly. The version by Leadbelly stuck close to its British roots:
CARELESS LOVE- Sung by Leadbelly in 1948, learned in Louisiana in the early 1900s.
[Instr.]
[spoken] This is what a girl sings to her boyfriend:
[sung] Can't you see what that careless love has done,
Can't you see what that careless love has done,
Can't you see what that careless love has done,
You made me love you, now your girl friend done come.
When I was wearin', my apron so low,
When I was wearin', my apron so low,
When I was wearin', my, apron so low,
I couldn't keep you, away from my door.
Now when my apron up under my chin,
Now when my apron up under my chin,
When my apron, oh Lord up, under my chin,
You would pass my door and but you won't come in.
Can't you see what that old careless love will do,
Can't you see what that old careless love will do,
Can't you see what that old careless love will do,
It can mistreat you, your mama and papa too.
I love my mama and my papa too,
You know I love my mama and my papa too,
I love my mama and I love my papa too,
But I left them both to go along with you.
[inst.]
Goodbye, goodbye, baby goodbye,
Goodbye, goodbye, baby goodbye, (spoken: she don't want to see him no more)
Goodbye, goodbye, if I never see you no more,
You know you drove me away from your door.
The version sung by Lonnie Johnson incorporated new blues verses and Johnson's text was used by future generations including a live version by Janice Joplin that used a 12-string guitar and Leadbelly's sound. Here are Johnson's lyrics[6] which entered tradition:
CARELESS LOVE- Sung by Lonnie Johnson of New Orleans, Louisiana, Nov. 16, 1928.
Love, oh love, oh careless love
Love, love, oh careless love
You have caused me to weep, you have caused me to moan
You have caused me to lose my happy home.
Don't never drive a stranger from your door,
Don't never drive a stranger from your door,
It may be your best friend knockin', on your door,
Then it may be your brother, you will never know.
Careless love, look how you carry me down,
Careless love, look how you carry me down,
You caused me to lose my mother and she's layin' in six feet of ground,
Careless love I can't let you carry me down.
Careless love, you drove me through the rain and snow
Careless love, you drove me through the rain and snow
You have robbed me out of my silver and all of my gold
I'll be damned if you rob me out of my soul.
You've worried my mother until she died,
You've caused my father to lose his mind,
Now damn you, I'm goin' to shoot you and shoot you four, five times
And stand over you until you finish dyin'.
In Appalachia "Careless Love" continued to be sung with the British traditional stanzas as seen in the version by Jean Ritchie[7] which was sung by her family in Knott County in the 1920s. Some versions borrowed stanzas from 7A. Sailor Boy and other folk songs[8]. At the same time Careless Love was widely recorded by early Country musicians and between 1926 and 1938 at least 23 versions were made (See Guthrie Meade's "Country Music Sources"). Many of these versions changed the "Died for Love" theme of the pregnant maid and typical country stanzas about railroad cars, hobos, and leaving replaced them:
"Careless Love" by Asa Martin, James Roberts recorded on 8-29-34.
[freight train sounds]
Two old freight trains side by side,
Two old freight trains side by side,
Two old freight trains side by side,
Don't know which one I want to ride.
Used to be a brakeman on a train, [3x]
But now I'm wearing a ball and chain.
[solo]
See what careless love will do, [3x]
Make you hate your mama and papa too.
When I had money she would go, [3x]
Follow me through the hail and snow.
But now money's spent and gone,[3x]
And I'm just a hobo traveling on.
Love, oh love, oh love divine,
Love, oh love, oh love divine,
You broke the heart of many a poor boy
But you'll never break this heart of mine.
Asa Martin's last stanza even has the modern blues ending. These diluted country versions mixed with some of the original stanzas persisted into the 1950s (see Anita Carter w/ Chet Atkins). By then a new form of country music had evolved from its traditional roots-- bluegrass. Here's one of the earliest bluegrass texts[9]:
Careless Love- played by Bill Monroe & the Bluegrass Boys as recorded March 30, 1946 live on Grand Ole Opry with Earl Scruggs, banjo.
Love oh love oh careless love,
Love oh love of careless love,
Love oh love, how can it be?
You love someone and don't love me.
How I wish that train had come, (3x)
And take me back where I came from
Take back me to Caroline, (3x)
To see that girl I left behind.
Love oh love oh careless love,
Love oh love of careless love,
Love oh love, how can it be?
You love someone and don't love me.
Monroe's chorus remains true to the "Died for Love" roots but the rest resembles the early country versions of Asa Martin and Riley Puckett. However, it can't be expected that a women's song about a careless pregnancy would not be reworked by the male singers of early country and bluegrass music.
From its British roots in the 1700s[10] Careless Love has become a blues, country, jazz, bluegrass and folk standard. In this short study no attempt has been made to include and listen to every possible version of Careless Love. The focus is on traditional versions. At least two versions titled Careless Love-- the 1929 harp instrumental by Slim Barton with Eddie Mapp and the 1933 vocal by Four Southern Singers are curiously versions of "She'll be Coming Round the Mountain." The Four Southern Singers have a stanza with the words "Careless Love" in it but it's not the standard Careless Love stanza. For more details see the Main Headnotes.
R. Matteson 2017]
_____________________________________
Footnotes:
1. See traditional ballad index and notes by Wheeler.
2. Only one stanza of Bolden's text has been preserved, the form was a standard 4 line form. Several interviews with New Orleans musicians have confirmed Careless Love to be in Bolden's repertoire.
3. This is according to Handy in his 1941 autobiography.
4. Handy did not title the parody, "Arch and Gordon." That title, I assume, is given by Wilgus who collected versions in Louisville in the 1950s. I do not have access to the original article dated 1960 in the Kentucky Folklore Record, but the title is also given later by Cohen who reprinted the text. Handy's parody of only two stanzas, appears in his 1941 autobiography.
5. Only two lines of Loveless Love remain in the new text by Williams and Keonig.
6. John's lyrics seem to be a recreation from regional sources and do not constitute original stanzas but rather a borrowing from tradition with a new or recreated stanza or two.
7. Ritchie posted her traditional family version from the 1920s on the Mudcat Discussion forum.
8. Several recordings (see Stoneman's) and several collected texts (see Matteson/Henry) have usually two stanzas from 7A Sailor Boy. The "Captain, captain" stanza also is found in the related, Deep Blue Sea.
9. It has been argued that bluegrass did not begin as a genre until several years later when Stanley Brother recorded Mollie and Tenbrooks.
10. Other stanzas associated with the Died for Love songs can be traced as early as 1611 (see the version by Robert Johnson, lutenist, an antecedent of the 1686 Constant Lady broadside). The apron stanzas are found in the 1700s.
______________________________
CONTENTS: (To access individual versions click on blue highlighted title below or on the title attached to this page on the left-hand column)
1) What Will Mammy Say- Webster (MO) 1880 Rand
2) Arch and Gordon- W.C. Handy (KY) c.1896
3) Careless Love- R.J. Slay (MS) 1909 Perrow
4) Kelly's Love- Anon (MS) 1911 Howard Odum
5) Careless Love- Miss Sloan (KY) 1917 Sharp MS
Careless Love- Mrs. Relaford (KY) 1917 Sharp MS
Loveless Love- W.C. Handy (KY) 1921
Careless Love- L. Howard (MO) 1923 Randolph B
Careless Love Blues- Bessie Smith (TN) 1925
Careless Love- W.C. Handy (KY) 1926 Folk Lyrics
Careless Love - McFarland & Gardner (KY) 1926
Careless Love- Gordon (App) 1927 Carl Sandburg
Careless Love- Byrd Moore (VA) 1928 REC
Careless Love- Jean Ritchie (KY) c.1928 Mudcat
Careless Love- Ernest Stoneman (VA) 1928 REC
Careless Love- Lonnie Johnson (LA) 1928 REC
Careless Love- Lulu Jackson (US) 1928 REC
Careless Love- Bascom Lamar Lunsford (NC) 1929
I Fell In Love w/ Married Man- Woodlieff (NC) 1929
Careless Love- Jimmie Tarlton (SC) 1930 REC
Careless Love- Margaret Tuft Neal (NC) 1930
Careless Love- Riley Puckett (GA) 1931 REC
Careless Love- Emry Arthur (KY) 1931 REC
Times Ain't Like They Used To Be- Ashley (NC) 1933
Careless Love- Edward Tufts (NC) 1933 Matteson
Careless Love- Frank Luther Trio (KS-NY) 1933 REC
Careless Love- Hathaways (NC) 1933 Warner
Careless Love- Martin & Roberts (KY) 1934 REC
Careless Love- Lee Wiley (OK-NY) 1934 REC
Careless Love- Gabriel Brown (FL) 1935 Lomax
Careless Love- Bradley Kincaid (KY) 1937
Careless Love- Delmore Brothers (AL) 1938
Careless Love- Grace Hahn (AR) 1941 Randolph A
Careless Love- Lillian Short (MO) 1942 Randolph C
Careless Love- Josh White (SC) 1944 REC
Careless Love- Leadbelly (LA-TX) 1948 REC
Careless Love- Anita Carter (VA) 1950 REC
Careless Love- (TX) pre1950 Abernethy
Careless Love- Big Bill Broonzy (AR) 1952 REC
Careless Love- Burl Langford (AR) 1954 Parler B
Careless Love- Snooks Egin (LA) 1958 Oster
Careless Love- Mamie Pridemore (AR) 1959 Parler A
Careless Love- Teddy Souter (LA) 1960 Parler C
Careless Love- Blind Connie Williams (PA) 1961 REC
Careless Love Blues- Butch Cage (LA) 1961 REC
Careless Love- "Crip" Diggs (VA) 1963 REC
Jealous Love- Fran Majors (KS) 1963 Hunter A
Careless Love- Lena Clive (OK) pre1964 Moores
Careless Love- Ora Payne (NC) 1966 Burton/Manning
Careless Love- Bill Greer (MO) 1967 Hunter C
Careless Love- Dock Boggs (VA) 1968 REC
Careless Love- Max Hunter (MO) 1969 Hunter B
Careless Love- Spencer Moore (TN) 1988 REC
Careless Love- Joe Thompson (NC) 1989 REC
--------------------------------
Fiddle tune played and sung by Cecil Crank and recorded by Barbara Kunkle in Carter County, Kentucky, 1973.
Fiddle (2x)
Love, oh love, oh careless love
Love, oh love, how can it be,
Love, oh love, oh careless love
To love someone that don't love me.
Fiddle
--------------------------
We'd fly on wings like Noah's dove, [Handy?]
--------------------------
Careless Love- John Cephus
Virginia Piedmont Blues: ˜The Lives and Art of Two Virginia Bluesmen
https://books.google.com/books?id=OB8-AAAAMAAJ
Barry Lee Pearson - 1990
Quotes Lonnie Johnson in 2nd verse. Harp by phil Wiggins.
Oh love, oh love oh careless love,
Oh love, oh love, oh careless love,
Oh love, oh love, oh mean, mean old love,
Can't you see what old careless love has done.
Never drive a stranger from your door,
Never drive, drive a stranger from your door,
Never drive, drive a stranger Lord from your door,
Lord he may, may be the best friend-- you'll never know.
Well I'm down, down in this valley, and on my knees
Lord I'm down, down in this valley, and on my knees
Lord I'm down, down in this valley, and on my knees,
No, no true love, do I see.
Well all of my friends and my money's gone,
Lord and all, all of my friends and my money's gone,
I have lost my happy home.
It'll make you kill yourself and your best friend too
Can't you see what old careless love will do.
---------------------
3. You passed my door but you didn't come in
You passed my door but you didn't come in
You passed my door and didn't come in
Oh love, oh love, oh, careless love
4. Oh you passed my door and you passed my gate
You passed my door and you passed my gate
You passed my door and you passed my gate
[Why oh darlin' won't you wait] [see Carter 1950 version]
John Cephas and Phil Wiggins, Flying Fish, FF470 (1304 W. Schubert, Chicago, 1L 60614) As possibly the only remaining black ... On the countryish "Careless Love,' his upper register harmonica work nicely complements Cephas' low vocal.
-----------------
As recorded by SHIRLEY BASSEY: [from Handy's versions/ folk version 1926]
Love, oh love, oh careless love
You fly right to my head like wine
You've wrecked the life of many a gal
And you nearly wrecked this life of mine
If I were a little bird
I would fly from tree to tree
I'd build my nest up in the air
Where the bad boys couldn't bother me
(Orchestral Interlude)
(When she wore her apron low)
When I wore my apron low
(When she wore her apron so low)
'Cause the bad boys never bothered me
Now I wear my apron high
Now I wear my apron high
Now I wear my apron high
And he never, ever passes by
No, he never (No, he never)
No, he never passes by
----------------
As recorded by BROOK BENTON:
Love, oh love, oh careless love
Love, oh love, oh careless love, oh careless love
Love, oh love, oh careless love
Don't you see what careless love has done
You made me love you, [you made me love you]
Then made me cry
You made me love you, you made me love you
Then made me cry
You made me love you, then made me cry
And then carelessly you said "Bye-Bye, Bye-Bye"
(Instrumental Break)
You walked right by my door today
Oh yes, you walked right by my door today, today
You saw me as you passed, you just looked and laughed
Oh, but you walked right by my door today
(Oh-oh-oh-ooohhh) Love, oh love, oh careless love
(Oh careless love) Careless love
-----------------
As recorded by RAY CHARLES:
I said love, oh love, oh careless love, oh-ooh
Love please tell me
What have I done
For you to hurt me all in fun
Well, you know that I once was blind, but now I see
I said that I once was blind, but now I see
Oh, you know I once was blind, but I'm so glad, so glad I see
That that old love has made a fool of me
Well, you know what a big fool I have been
Let me say what a big fool I have been
Let me say what, oh, what a big fool that I have been
But I'd be, I'd be one all over again
Well, you know if I could ooooooohhhhhh like a mornin' dove
Well, if I could ooooooohhhhhh like a mornin' dove
Well, if I could moan, if I could moan like a mornin' dove
You know I'd moan for ev'ry one in love
That's a-why I say love, woh-woh-oh-oh love, careless love
Wooh, I say love ........... FADE
-----------------
CANOVA FAMILY Julietta Canova, v; or Anna & Julietta Canova-1, v duet; acc. prob. Pete Canova, f; prob. ... Canova, v trio; acc. unknown, o. New York, NY GEX-2797,-A Hannah My Love GEX-2798 Reckless Love Judy (Cracker) Canova, v; ...Judy Canova (1916-1983)
-----------------
Careless Love
Primary Performer / Group Sparks, Benny;
Contributor Recorded by Kip Lornell with funding from NEA and other sources.
Description Benny Sparks sings and plays guitar for an interview by Kip Lornell.
Subject Guitars
Blues music
Singing
DLA Category Music
Minorities
Date 02/01/1977
Time Period 1970-1979
Place Gloucester (Virginia); Virginia;
Love, oh Love oh my careless love
Love, oh Love oh careless love
It caused me to weep, you have caused me to moan
It caused me to leave my happy home
Careless love I can't let you tear me down
Careless love I can't let you tear me down
It caused me to weep, you have caused me to moan
It caused me to leave my happy home.
Plays guitar
Sings last part of 1st strain.
--------------------
Johnny Dodds w. Tiny Parham, "Careless Love"
Instrumental
Anita Carter - Careless Love (1950).
Recorded 22 October 1950 - (UNISSUED - Released 2004) - [09:00-12:30] Brown Radio Productions, 240 1/2 4th Ave. North, Nashville, TN -- Anita Carter (vcl), Chet Atkins [gt], Harold Bradley [gt], W. Robinson [steel], Ernie Newton [bass], John Gordy [piano]. Producer: Stephen Sholes...Born Ina Anita Carter in Maces Spring VA (1933 - 1999)...Anita Recorded 173
----------
The Lee Morse Discography Careless Love Decca 1938 [Lee wiley cover]
You see what careless
-----------
CARELESS LOVE- Joel Mapus
Love, oh Love oh my Careless Love
Love, oh Love oh Careless Love
Love, oh Love oh my Careless Love
Just see what love has done to me
It’s once I wore my apron low
It’s once I wore my apron low
It’s once I wore my apron low
I could hardly keep you from my door
Now my apron strings don’t pin
Now my apron strings don’t pin
Now my apron strings don’t pin
You pass my door, but you won’t come in
I love my mom and poppa too,
I love my mom and poppa too,
I love my mom and poppa too,
But I’d leave them both to go with you
What, oh what would mama say;
What, oh what would mama say;
What, oh what would mama say;
When she learns I’ve gone astray
She’ll tear her hair and bite her tongue;
She’ll tear her hair and bite her tongue;
She’ll tear her hair and bite her tongue;
She did just the same when she was young.
Love, oh Love oh my Careless Love
Love, oh Love oh Careless Love
Love, oh Love oh my Careless Love
Just see what love has done to me
--------
Blind Boy Fuller 1937 [Bessie Smith's text]
Love, oh love, oh careless love
You've fly through my head like wine
You've wrecked the life of a many poor girl
And you nearly spoiled this life of mine
Love, oh love, oh careless love
In your clutches of desire
You've made me break a many true vow
Then you set my very soul on fire
Love, oh love, oh careless love
All my happiness bereft
You've filled my heart with weary old blues
Now I'm walkin', talkin' to myself
Love, oh love, oh careless love
Trusted you now, it's too late
You've made me throw my old friend down
That's why I sing this song of hate
Love, oh love, oh careless love
Night and day, I weep and moan
You brought the wrong man into this life of mine
For my sins, till judgment I'll aton
-----------------
Negro Folk Music U.S.A. - Page 138
https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0486273504
Harold Courlander - 1963 - Preview - More editions
The ballad's reference to an apron becomes, in the following blues rendition, an "apron string," with quite different connotations:
[Folkways 2478; Snooks Egin New Orleans Street Singer by Oyster/Goldstein.
Careless Love- sung by Snooks Eglin of New Orleans (b. 1936) recorded by Dr. Harry Oyster march 1958.
Love, oh love, oh careless love,
Can't you see what careless love do to me?
You made me roam, made me lose my happy home.
It was love, oh love, oh careless love.
You tied me to your apron string
You tied me to your apron string
You said you loved my and it didn't mean a thing,
It was love, oh love, oh careless love.
---------------------
Arch and Gordon (Careless Love parody)- W.C. Handy (KY) c.1896
Other love-triangle ballads include “Arch and Gordon” based on the 1895 Louisville murders that include this refrain: “You see what careless love has done; it killed the governor’s only son.”
Richard Underwood, a University of Kentucky law professor, wrote "CrimeSong: True Crime Stories From Southern Murder Ballads."
Richard Underwood, a University of Kentucky law professor, wrote "CrimeSong: True Crime Stories From Southern Murder Ballads."
On Tuesday, April 30, 1895, Gordon surprised his wife and Arch Brown in flagrante delicto— specifically, in bed at Lucy Smith's establishment. Gordon shot several times, wounding Brown in the left arm. Brown rolled out of and headed for the dresser Gordon emptied his pistol into Brown, and Brown shot Gordon twice. Gordon grabbed Brown's gun and shot him with that. Then Gordon shot his wife, who had attacked him. She stumbled out the door and died on the back porch. Police apprehended Gordon a few blocks away. Gordon was tried and convicted of justifiable homicide and freed on May 9. Folklorist D. K. Wilgus collected two fragmentary versions of the ballad in Kentucky in the 1950s, but it has not turned up elsewhere.
American Folk Songs: A Regional Encyclopedia [2 volumes]: A Regional ...
https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0313088101
Norman Cohen - 2008 - Preview
Arch says, “Gordon, I didn't mean no harm” (3) When Gordon shot Arch in his right arm. ... After the couple moved to Louisville, where Gordon became manager of an enterprise called the “Merchant's Advice,” Mrs. Gordon became acquainted
Fulton Gordon and Nellie Bush moved to Louisville about 1887
Archie Dixon Brown, son of Governor John Young Brown
Richard Underwood Crime Song:
Arch and Gordon
When Archie went to Louisville,
Not thinking he would be killed
arch say Gordon I didn't mean no harm,
When Gordon shot him in his right arm
When Gordon made his first shot,
O''er behind the bed Arch did drop.
Hush now Guvnor, don't you cry,
you know your son Arch has to die.
You see what sportin' life has don,
it has killed Guvnor Brown's only son."
1956 (collected from Mrs. Wills Cline; printed 1960 in Kentucky Folklore Record)
Arch and Gordon (Careless Love parody)- W.C. Handy (KY) c.1896
___________________________
Virginia Piedmont Blues: ˜The Lives and Art of Two Virginia Bluesmen
https://books.google.com/books?id=OB8-AAAAMAAJ
Barry Lee Pearson - 1990
John Cephus
3. You passed my door but you didn't come in
You passed my door but you didn't come in
You passed my door and didn't come in
Oh love, oh love, oh, careless love
4. Oh you passed my door and you passed my gate
You passed my door and you passed my gate
You passed my door and you passed my gate
John Cephas and Phil Wiggins, Flying Fish, FF470 (1304 W. Schubert, Chicago, 1L 60614) As possibly the only remaining black ... On the countryish "Careless Love,' his upper register harmonica work nicely complements Cephas' low vocal.
----------------------
Noah in British and American Folksong
Author(s): Francis Lee Utley
Source:
Journal of the International Folk Music Council,
Vol. 14 (1962), pp. 70-7
Dink's Song, which John Lomax collected in 19o8, sang himself for the Library of Congress, and persuaded Carl Sandburg to praise as a modem utterance of Sapphic power, rises above its commonplaces to a brilliantly ordered piece of
poetic logic bearing the personality of the singer, whom Lomax never forgot. Its
ultimate origins in the English countryside are clear; yet it is wholly personal, a
superb expression of the moods of the forsaken and forsaking woman, be she Negro
prostitute or peasant maid
Along the Brazos River Lomax found Dink, a Negro woman busy washing her man's clothes. Encouraged by a bottle of gin, she sang the sobbing refrain of a woman deserted by her man:
When I wore my apron low,
Couldn't keep you from my do'
Fare-you-well, O honey, fare-you-well!
Now I wears my apron high,
Sca'cely ever see you passin' by.
Fare-you-well, O honey, fare-you-well!
Now my apron's up to my chin,
You pass my do' an' you won't come in.
Fare-you-well, O honey, fare-you-well
Half a Million Miles of Song
Reviewed Work(s): ADVENTURES OF A BALLAD HUNTER by John A. Lomax
Review by: Lois Sager
Source:
Southwest Review,
Vol. 32, No. 2 (SPRING, 1947), pp. 220-222
----------------------------
Careless Love
http://www.honkingduck.com/mc/content/careless-love
Melotone 541-63
Artist:
Martin & Roberts
----------------------
Randolph also has the following fragment from an elderly gentleman, Mr J.E. Webster Groves, Missouri 8 April 1948. He learned it about 1880:
What will Mammy say to me
What will Mammy say to me
What will Mammy say to me
When I go home with a big bell-ee?
I'll tell her to hold her tongue
I'll tell her to hold her tongue
I'll tell her to hold her tongue
She loved pecker when she was young
[Vance Randolph (Ed G.Legman) 'Blow the Candle Out: Unprintable Ozark Folksongs and Folklore Vol II' Uni Arkansas Press, 1992, p 647'.
-----
These from Randolph, Ozark Folksongs, vol. 4.
CARELESS LOVE
I'm lonely, lonely tonight,
Nobody cares no more for me,
He has gone from me to another little girl
And won't come back no more,
Love, oh love, yes careless love,
Can't you see what careless love can do?
It has broken the heart of many a poor girl
And I'm sure it will break this heart of mine.
Sometimes I think that I will leave
And never come back any more,
But when the time comes for me to start
I will not worry any more.
Go hand me down my old valise,
And bundle up my dirty clothes,
And if my momma asks about me
Just tell her I'm sleeping out of doors.
Goodbye, goodbye, now we must part,
I know indeed it'll break my heart,
But since you care no more for me
Just go to the one that you love best.
Sung by Miss Grace Hahn, Fayetteville, Arkansas, 1941. With music.
CARELESS LOVE
Love, oh love, oh careless love (2 times)
It's love, oh love, oh careless love,
You see what love has done for me.
It's a shame we ever met (3 times)
For those good times we'll never forget.
Now my money's spent and gone (3 times)
You pass my door a-singing a song.
Oh I love my mamma and my papa too (3 times)
But I'd leave them both and go with you.
Oh I cried last night and the night before (3 times)
Going to cry tonight, then I'll cry no more.
Ain't this enough to break my heart, (3 times)
To see my man with another sweetheart?
Oh it's done and broke this heart of mine, (3 times0
And it'll break that heart of yours sometime.
Mrs. Lillian Short, Galena, MO, 1942.
The above all from Vance Randolph, vol. 4, pp. 306-308.
Also see Max Hunter, two versions.
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Subject: ADD Version: Careless Love (Max Hunter Collection)
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Mar 03 - 09:20 PM
CARELESS LOVE
Love, oh love, Oh careless love (2 times)
See what careless love can do.
I love my mama and my papa too (2 times)
But I'd leave them both to go with you.
Onve I wore my apron low
Couldn't keep you from my door.
Now my apron strings won't pin (2 times),
You pass me by but won't come in,
See what careless love can do.
Bill Greer, Springfield, MO, 1967, with Real Audio.
Careless Love
Also see version sung by Max Hunter
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Subject: ADD Version: JEALOUS LOVE (Max Hunter Collection)
From: GUEST,Q - PM
Date: 30 Mar 03 - 09:37 PM
JEALOUS LOVE
Love, love, o jealous love, (3 times)
(Lord, Lord, sung at end of 2nd line)
You see what it has done for me.
It'll cause you weep, it'll cause you t'mourn, (3 times)
(Lord, Lord after second line)
It'll cause you to lose your friends at home.
I knew he'd do me this away, (3 times)
(Lord, Lord after 2nd line)
Those sweet red lips he would betray.
Papa, 'way yonder he goes (3 times)
(Lord, Lord---)
Go and bring him to me.
There's a certain little house right here in this town (3 times)
(Lord, Lord ---)
He rides up to and he gets right down.
He takes that other girl on his knee (3 times)
(Lord, Lord--)
And he tells to her what he won't tell me.
He loves her best an' I know why (3 times)
(Lord, Lord,---)
She's got some gold and silver nigh.
Gold will melt and silver will fly (3 times)
(Lord, Lord ---)
No one loves him as well as I.
Sung by Fran Majors, Wichita, Kansas, 1963
With Real Audio. Jealous Love
-------------
Cleoma Falcon recorded it for Decca in New Orleans in December 1936 under the title 'L'Amour Indifferent - One Step'
---------
CARELESS LOVE -Joe F. mudcat
Love, oh love, oh careless love,...
See what love has done to me.
Once I wore my apron low,
Couldn't keep you from my door.
Then I wore my apron high,
Hardly saw you passing by.
Now my apron's up to my chin,
You pass my door, but you won't come in.
You pass my door, you pass my gate,
But you won't get past my thirty-eight.
What, oh what will mama say
When I come home the family way?
She'll bite her lips and hold her tongue --
She did the same when she was young.
What, oh what will papa say?
He ain't my real pa anyway.
The apron stanzas are of course floaters, occurring e.g. in Dink's Song as well.
-----------------
Careless Love Buddy Moss Chorus 1 stanza
Primary Performer / Group Moss, Buddy
Description Song sung and played by Buddy Moss and recorded at the Berea College Celebration of Traditional Music 10-25-75. Fulton County, Georgia
Love, oh love, oh careless love
Love, oh love, oh careless love,
Love, oh love, ?
Don't you see what careless love has done
Don't you never turn a stranger from your door
etc.
--------------
Cuje Bertram was a black fiddler/songster who had done some playing with Richard Burnett in the 1920s. Much of his repertoire seems to have come from the shared or white traditions. Some fine recordings of him were made at his home in Indianapolis in 1970 and appeared on 'Black Fiddlers: The Remaining Titles of Andrew & Jim Baxter, Nathan Frazier & Frank Patterson, and The Complete Recorded Works of Cuje Bertram' Document DOCD-5631. In his version of 'Careless Love', Boggs' .38 becomes a .44:
You pass my window and you pass my door (x3)
But you'll never pass this forty-four
Among the usual ones, he also has this stanza:
I love my dad and my mother too (x3)
I left my home on account of you
--------------------------
Careless Love
Roud Folksong Index (S140352)
First Line: Love, oh love, oh careless love
Source: Abernethy, Singin' Texas pp.42-44
Performer:
Date:
Place: USA : Texas
Collector:
Roud No: 422
Careless Love
Roud Folksong Index (S301683)
First Line: Love oh love careless love
Source: Bluegrass Lyrics.com (http://bluegrasslyrics.com/delmore_index.cfm.htm)
Performer: Delmore Brothers
Date:
Place: USA
Collector:
Roud No: 422
Careless Love
Roud Folksong Index (S171477)
First Line: Love, O love, O careless love
Source: Lomax, Folk Song USA (1947) pp.64-65
Performer:
Date:
Place: USA
Collector: Lomax, John & Alan
Roud No: 422
Careless Love
Roud Folksong Index (S201049)
First Line: Love, oh, love, oh, careless love
Source: Amburgey: Kentucky Folklore Record 9:1 (1963) pp.12-13
Performer:
Date:
Place: USA : Kentucky
Collector: Amburgey, Don Carlos
Roud No: 422
Careless Love
Roud Folksong Index (S171478)
First Line: Love, oh love, oh careless love
Source: Wheeler, Steamboatin' Days (1944) pp.89-90
Performer:
Date:
Place: USA : Kentucky | Illinois : Ohio River
Collector: Wheeler, Mary
Roud No: 422
Careless Love
Roud Folksong Index (S230830)
First Line: Oh love, oh love, oh careless love
Source: Smithsonian Folkways SF 40108 ('His Folkways Years')
Performer: Boggs, Dock
Date: 1968 (10 Feb)
Place: USA : Virginia
Collector: Seeger, Mike
Roud No: 422
Careless Love
Roud Folksong Index (S201051)
First Line: Love, oh love, oh careless love
Source: Burton & Manning, Folksongs 2 pp.103-104
Performer: Payne, Ora
Date: 1966 (29 Oct)
Place: USA : N. Carolina : Beech Mountain
Collector:
Roud No: 422
--------------------------
Take Me Back to Tennessee
Roud Folksong Index (S307070)
First Line:
Source: Meade, Country Music Sources (2002) p.541
Pretty Little Dear
Roud Folksong Index (S312681)
First Line: Farewell, farwewell my pretty little dear
Source: Atchison , Mountain Ballads (1934) p.34
Performer: Atchison, Tex & his Lone Star Rangers
Date: 1934
Place: USA
Collector:
Roud No: 422
Careless Love
Roud Folksong Index (S201051)
First Line: Love, oh love, oh careless love
Source: Burton & Manning, Folksongs 2 pp.103-104
Performer: Payne, Ora
Date: 1966 (29 Oct)
Place: USA : N. Carolina : Beech Mountain
Careless Love
Roud Folksong Index (S140350)
First Line: Love, oh love, oh keerless love
Source: Richardson, American Mountain Songs p.422
Performer:
Date:
Place: USA : (Appalachians)
Collector: Richardson, Ethel Park
Roud No: 422
Careless Love
Roud Folksong Index (S201049)
First Line: Love, oh, love, oh, careless love
Source: Amburgey: Kentucky Folklore Record 9:1 (1963) pp.12-13
Performer:
Date:
Place: USA : Kentucky
Collector: Amburgey, Don Carlo
Careless Love
Roud Folksong Index (S312678)
First Line: Love oh love oh careless love
Source: Testament T 2225 ('Philadelphia Street Singer')
Performer: Williams, Blind Connie
Date: 1961 (5 May)
Place: USA : Pennsylvania : Philadelphia
Collector: Welding, Pete
Careless Love
Roud Folksong Index (S384308)
First Line: Love Oh love how can it be
Source: Field Recorders' Collective FRC 509 ('Tennessee Banjo')
Performer: Leffew, Addie
Date: 1960s
Place: USA : Tennessee : Mountain City
Collector: Hoover, Peter
Careless Love
Roud Folksong Index (S320124)
First Line: Love, oh love, oh careless love
Source: McMichen, Clayton McMichen & His Georgia Wildcats.. Folio of Songs (1934) p.25
Performer: McMichen, Clayton & his Georgia Wildcats
Date: 1934
Place: USA : Georgia : Atlanta
Careless Love
Roud Folksong Index (S201050)
First Line: Love, oh love, oh careless love
Source: Moore, Ballads & Folk Songs of the Southwest pp.358-359
Performer: Clive, Mrs. Lena
Date:
Place: USA : Oklahoma : Mangum
Collector: Moore, Ethel & Chauncey O.
The Old Clay Pipe
Roud Folksong Index (S307944)
First Line: Oh who's gonna smoke the old clay pipe
Source: JSP JSP 7734 ('Charlie Poole' [Boxed set])
Performer: North Carolina Ramblers
Date: 1927 (26-28 Sep)?
Place: USA : New York
Careless Love
Roud Folksong Index (S312679)
First Line: Love, oh love, oh careless love
Source: Carson, Remarkable Collection of Mountain Ballads and Old Time Songs (c1927) p.18
Performer: Carson, Fiddlin' John
Date: 1930c
Place: USA : Georgia
Careless Love
Roud Folksong Index (S310179)
First Line:
Source: Crabtree, Songs & Ballads Sung in Overton County, Tennessee (1936) p.208
Performer:
Date:
Place: USA : Tennessee : Overton County
Collector:
Roud No: 422
Careless Love
Roud Folksong Index (S310177)
First Line:
Source: Perry, A Sampling of the Folklore of Carter County, Tennessee (1938) p.124
Performer: Potter, Anne
Date:
Place: USA : Tennessee : Carter County
Careless Love
Roud Folksong Index (S310178)
First Line:
Source: Perry, A Sampling of the Folklore of Carter County, Tennessee (1938) p.124
Performer: Harrison, Mrs. Gracie
Date:
Place: USA : Tennessee : Carter County
Careless Love
Roud Folksong Index (S230829)
First Line: Papa, papa build me a boat
Source: Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Words p.2723 / Folk Tunes p.3664
Performer: Sloan, Miss
Date: 1917 (9 May)
Place: USA : Kentucky : Barbourville
Collector: Sharp, Cecil J.
Roud No: 422
https://www.vwml.org/record/RoudFS/S230829
Careless Love
Roud Folksong Index (S230838)
First Line: Love, O love, O careless love
Source: Robert W. Gordon Collection (American Folklife Center, LOC) Cylinder A188 item NC 277
Performer: Brown, Mrs. Olla
Date: 1920s
Place: USA : N. Carolina
Collector: Gordon, Robert W.
Careless Love
Roud Folksong Index (S230837)
First Line: Love, O love O careless love
Source: Robert W. Gordon Collection (American Folklife Center, LOC) Cylinder A146 item NC 216
Performer: Randall, Willard
Date: 1920s
Place: USA : N. Carolina
Collector: Gordon, Robert W.