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Wagon Yard/ Stay in the Wagon Yard/Wish I Had Stayed in the Wagon Yard
Old-Time Song and breakdown;
ARTIST: From Lowe Stokes and his North Georgians. Vocal by Arthur Tanner. On County LP 504 Mountain Songs.
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes
EARLIEST DATE: 1900s; based on and earlier broadside from 1700s (Tony Russell); 1928 recording Peg Moreland for Victor;
RECORDING INFO: The Wagon Yard [Me II-W67]
Rt - Wagon Yard Blues
At - Jolly Farmer
Rm - From Earth to Heaven ; Traveling Man
Pb - Cedar Beetle Song
Any Old Time String Band. Any Old Time String Band, Arhoolie 4009, LP (1978), trk# A.04 (I Wish I'd Stayed in the Wagon Yard)
Byrd, Robert (Senator). Mountain Fiddler, County 769, LP (1978), trk# 12 (Wish I Had Stayed in the Wagon Yard)
Ferguson, Hank. Behind These Walls, Folk Legacy FSA 013, LP (1963), trk# B.05 (Jolly Old Time Farmer)
Gypsy Gyppo String Band. Gypsy Gyppo String Band, Bay 209, LP (1977), trk# B.08 (Wish I'd Stayed in the Wagon Yard)
Harold and Abe. Sweet Sunny South, Heritage (Galax) 043, LP (1984), trk# 4 (I Wish I'd Stayed in the Wagon Yard)
Harper, Roy. It's a Long Way Back, Old Homestead OHS 80094, Cas (1989), trk# B.01 (Stayed in the Wagon Yard)
Hotmud Family. Stone Mountain Wobble, Vetco LP 503, LP (1974), trk# A.02
Last Straw String Band. Last Straw String Band, Jack Rabbit 001, LP (197?), trk# B.07 (I Wish I'd Bought a Half a Pint and Stayed in the Wagon Yard)
Red Clay Ramblers & Al McCanless. Red Clay Ramblers with Fiddlin' Al McCanless, Folkways FTS 31039, LP (1974), trk# 6
Spark Gap Wonder Boys. Cluck Old Hen, Rounder 0002, LP (1970), trk# B.03 (Wish I Had Stayed in the Wagon Yard)
Stokes, Lowe; & His North Georgians. Mountain Songs, County 504, LP (196?), trk# B.05 [1929/11/01] (Wish I Had Stayed in the Wagon Yard)
Tanner, Gordon. Rosenbaum, Art (ed.) / Folk Visions & Voices. Traditional Music & So...., Univ. of Georgia, Bk (1983), p108 [1979/10/13] (I Wish I'd Bought a Half a Pint and
Tanner, Gordon;, Smokey Joe Miller, and Uncle John Patterson. Down Yonder. Old Time String Band Music from Georgia, Folkways FTS 31089, LP (1982), trk# B.06 [1979/10/13] (I
Ungar, Jay; and Lynn Hardy. Songs, Ballads and Fiddle Tunes, Philo 1023, LP (1975), trk# 4
Wagon Yard Blues Rt - Wagon Yard
RECORDING INFO: The Jolly Farmer
Uf - Wagon Yard; Dog and Gun; Three Men Went a-Hunting
Three Men Went a-Hunting [Me II-A 5]
At - We Hunted and We Halloed/Hollered; Lookey There; We Hooped and We Hollered; Fox Hunt; Come All Ye Jolly Sportsman; Cape Ann
Mf - Reynard the Fox (Tally Ho Hounds Away)
Cazden, Norman (ed.) / Book of Nonsense Songs, Crown, Sof (1961), p 54 (Looky There Now)
Lomax, Alan / Folksongs of North America, Doubleday Dolphin, Sof (1975/1960), p 12/# 2 [1843] (Cape Ann)
Newell, William Wells / Games and Songs of American Children, Dover, sof (1963/1909), p 96/# 34 (There Were Three Jolly Welshmen)
Avery, Latius. Cazden, Norman, et.al. / Folk Songs of the Catskills, SUNY Press, sof (1982), p572/#152 [1950s] (Three Huntsmen)
Brand, Oscar. Songs Inane Only, Riverside RLP 12-835, LP (1958), trk# A.03 (Three Jovial/Jolly Huntsman)
Burwell, D. C.. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p328/# 77 [1929/02/20] (We Hunted and We Halloed/Ho
Cleveland, Sara. Brave Boys, New England Traditions in Folk Music, New World NW 239, LP (1977), trk# 14 [1965/06]
Cox, John Harrington. Cox, John Harrington (ed.) / Folk-Songs of the South, Dover, Sof (1967/1925), p532/#165 [1920ca]
Fisher, Dorothy Canfield. Flanders, Helen H. & George Brown / Vermont Folk Songs and Ballads, Folklore Associates, Bk (1968/1931), p125 [1930] (We Hunted and We Halloed/Hol
Gordon, Joe; Folk Four. Gay Gordon, HMV CLP 1379, LP (195?), trk# B.05b
Hartlan, Richard. Creighton, Helen / Songs and Ballads from Nova Scotia, Dover, sof (1996/1933), p201/# 93 [1927-32]
Holt, Will. Will Holt Concert, Stinson SLP 64, LP (1963), trk# A.03 (Three Jovial/Jolly Huntsman)
Hubbard, Elizabeth Wheeler. Linscott, Eloise Hubbard (ed.) / Folk Songs of Old New England, Dover, Bk (1993/1939), p290 [1920-30s] (Three Jovial/Jolly Huntsman)
Ives, Burl. Burl Ives Sings for Fun, Decca DL 8248, LP (195?), trk# A.02 (Three Jovial/Jolly Huntsman)
Jones, Sallie D.. Cox, John Harrington (ed.) / Folk-Songs of the South, Dover, Sof (1967/1925), p478,532/#165 [1917/01] (Three Farmers)
Lea, Terrea. Terrea Lea and Her Singing Guitar, ABC Paramount ABC 161, LP (196?), trk# B.07 (Jolly Farmer)
Lloyd, A. L. (Bert). English Drinking Songs, Riverside RLP 12-618, LP (1961ca), trk# 8 (Three Drunken Huntsmen)
Marks, Phyllis. Folksongs and Ballads, Vol 2. Phyllis Marks, Augusta Heritage AHR 008, Cas (1991), trk# 1.05
Mills, Alan. More Songs to Grow On, Scholastic SC 7676, LP (1955), trk# B.09 (We Whooped and We Hollered)
Moore, Byrd; & His Hot Shots. Folk Music in America, Vol.13, Songs of Childhood, Library of Congress LBC-13, LP (1978), trk# B.04 [1929/10/23]
Moore, Byrd; & His Hot Shots. Southern Dance Music, Vol. 2, Old-Timey LP 101, LP (1965), trk# 6 [1929/10/23]
New Lost City Ramblers. New Lost City Ramblers, Vol. 3, Folkways FA 2398, LP (1961), trk# 10
New Lost City Ramblers. Cohen, John, Mike Seeger & Hally Wood / Old Time String Band Songbook, Oak, Sof (1976/1964), p168
Philo Glee & Mandolin Society. Philo Glee & Mandolin Society, Campus Folksong Club CFC 101, LP (1962?), trk# B.03
Stevenson, Annie. McNeil, W. K. (ed.) / Southern Folk Ballads, Vol 2, August House, Sof (1988), p 55 [1964/01/26] (Three Jolly Welshman)
Taber, I. N.. Moore, Ethel & Chauncey O.(ed.) / Ballads and Folk Songs of the Southwes, Univ. of Okla, Bk (1964), p249/#119 [1940s] (Owl and the Jay Bush)
Tawney, Cyril. Cyril Tawney Sings Children's Songs from Devon and Cornwall, Argo ZBF 4, LP (1969), trk# A.01 (Three Huntsmen)
Williamson, Robin. Songs for Children of All Ages, Flying Fish FF 438, LP (1987), trk# A.03
Wood, Hwyel. Kennedy, Peter (ed.) / Folksongs of Britain and Ireland, Oak, Sof (1984/1975), #306, p663 [1954]
SOURCES: Folk Index; Mudcat; Meade
NOTES: Wagon yard is recent rewrite circa 1900s of "The Jolly Farmer" songs which include "Dog and Gun" and "Three Men Went a-Hunting." "Dog and Gun" is an old song that dates back to the 1700s.
Document recently reissued Lowe Stokes' 1929 recording of 'Wish I had stayed in the wagon yard' on 'Lowe Stokes Vol 1' Document DOCD 8045. Earl Johnson's 1930 recording also has been reissued by Document. Tony Russell describes the song as 'an exquisite parable of an unfortunate countryman's experiences in the big city that might have been plucked from an 18th century broadside'.
Other more recent recordings are by Jay Unger and Lyndon Hardy on Philo 1023 in 1975, by the Hot Mud Family on Vetco 503 in 1973, and Senator Robert Byrd on County 769 in 1978. I like Brett Ratliff's version on Cold Icy Mountain; 'Wish I Had Stayed in the Wagon Yard" Brett Ratliff banjo vocals with a fine fiddle solo by Jesse Wells.
WAGON YARD/Wish I Had Stayed in the Wagon Yard- Lowe Stokes; 1929
Wagon Yard From Lowe Stokes and his North Georgians. Vocal by Arthur Tanner. On County LP 504 Mountain Songs. Key on LP is A Capo on 2 nd fret to get into A
I am a jolly farmer, last night I came to town
To bring a bale of cotton, I’d worked the whole year round
I put my team in the wagon yard, and bought me a bottle of gin
I went out to see the electric lights, and watch the cars come in
I met a dude out on the street, the clock was striking nine
He says, come on old hayseed, take a drink its mine
I must have bought a dozen drinks, cos it hit my pocket book hard
I wish I’d bought me a half a pint and stayed in the wagon yard
(Instrumental)
Listen to me farmers, I’m here to talk with sense
If you want to see them electric lights, just look right over the fence
Don’t monkey with them city doves, you’ll find they’re slick as lard
Just go and get you a half a pint, and stay in the wagon yard.
(Instrumental)
I’m a deacon in a horse shed church, down near Possum Trot
If the sisters find about my spree, they’re bound to make things hot
I went out on a party, I led the pace that kills
When I woke up that gang had gone and left me all the bills
I found them over on the corner, near Soul Salvation Hall
That drunken bunch were out there singing, Jesus paid it all
They put me up in a driver’s box, Lord my pillow was hard
I wish I’d had me a half a pint, and stayed in the wagon yard
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