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Whoa Back Buck/Whoa Haw Buck and Jerry Boy/
Bluegrass and old-time song and breakdown.
ARTIST: Dave Von Ronk, credits Leadbelly
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes
DATE: Whoa Back Buck: 1920s; 1934 copyright
RECORDING INFO: Whoa Back, Buck [Me II-T21]
Rt - Tighten on the Backband
1. Lomax, John A. & Alan Lomax / Folk Song USA, Signet, Sof (1966/1947), # 67 (Whoa Buck)
2. Bartlett, Johnny. Thompson, Harold W. / Body, Boots & Britches, Dover, Bk (1939), p255 [1880s]
3. Canova Family. Goin' Up Town. Old Time String Bands, Vol. 2, Marimac 9111, Cas (198?), trk# A.02 [1930/12/05]
4. Cooney, Michael. Still Cooney After All These Years, Front Hall FHR 016, LP (1979), trk# A.02
5. Donegan, Lonnie. Lonnie Donegan, Dot DLP 3394, LP (1961), trk# A.03
6. Falderal String Band. Step Right Up... Free Show Tonight!, Hen House, Cas (1996), trk# B.04
7. Grossman, Bob. Bob Grossman, Elektra EKL-215, LP (1961), trk# A.03
8. Leadbelly. Lomax, John & Alan Lomax (eds.) / Leadbelly. A Collection of World Famou, Folkways, sof (1959), p68
9. Leadbelly. Lomax, Alan / Folksongs of North America, Doubleday Dolphin, Sof (1975/1960), p532/#282
10. Rooftop Singers. Good Time!, Vanguard VRS-9134, LP (1964), trk# A.02 (18, 19)
11. Tenenbaum, Molly. And the Hillsides Are All Covered with Cakes, Cat Hair, Cas (1994), trk# 7a
12. Volo Bogtrotters. Tribute to the Appalachian String Band Music Festival, Chubby Dragon CS 1001, Cas (1995), trk# B.02 [1994/11/07]
Whoa Buck
Us - Whoa Back, Buck
Tighten on the Backband
Rt - Whoa Back, Buck
13. Addiss and Crofut. Such Interesting People, Verve V6-8519, LP (1963), trk# 7 (Back Band)
14. Hinton, Sam. Sam Hinton Sings the Song of Men, Folkways FA 2400, LP (1961), trk# 1
Whoa! Ha! Buck and Jerry Boy
Sm - Turkey in the Straw
1. Lomax, Alan / Folksongs of North America, Doubleday Dolphin, Sof (1975/1960), p334/#172
2. Calicanto Singers. Days of Gold!, Calicanto, CD (1999), trk# A.11
3. McCurdy, Ed. Mormon Pioneers, Columbia Legacy LS 1024, LP (1965), trk# A.04
4. Sorrels, Rosalie. Songs of the Mormon Pioneers, Festival LB 2582, LP (196?), trk# B.01
5. Welsch, Roger. Sweet Nebraska Land, Folkways FH 5337, LP (1965), trk# 1
NOTES Whoa Back Buck: Whoa Back Buck was recorded in 1931 and is related to "Whoa Haw Buck and Jerry Boy." Leadbelly is sometimes credited for the song but it is traditional.
"Whoa Haw Buck and Jerry Boy," according several sources, is based on Turkey in the Straw. The song is probably closer to Whoa Back Buck. Here's some info from the ballad index on "Whoa Back Buck":
DESCRIPTION: The experiences of a poor farmer. He describes his fieldwork methods ("Sometimes I plow my old grey horse..."), the crops, his gal's big feet, the dances they went to together, etc. Possible chorus: "Whoa back, buck! And gee! by the lamb!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: work horse farming poverty floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Randolph 281, "Couldn't Raise No Sugar Corn" (1 text, 1 tune, which might be separate since it lacks the chorus)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 187, "Last Year Was a Fine Crap Year" (1 text)
Lomax-FSUSA 67, "Whoa Buck" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax- FSNA 282, "Whoa Back, Buck" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnett, pp. 168-169, "Whoa, Back, Buck!" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenway-AFP, p 72-73, "Oh, My God, Them 'Taters" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10060
RECORDINGS:
Anne, Judy, & Zeke Canova, "Whoa Back Buck" (Romeo 5043, 1931; Regal MR 457 [as "Whoa Buck, Whoa" by Three Georgia Crackers], c. 1931 )
Lulu Belle & Scotty, "Whoa Back Buck" (Conqueror 9587, 1940)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Song of the Pinewoods" (floating lyrics)
cf. "I'm a Rowdy Soul" (floating lyrics)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Tighten on the Backband
Notes: The Lomaxes credit this to Lead Belly, with some new material of their own. (What else is new?) However, the fragment in Randolph strongly implies that Lead Belly did no more than reshape traditional materials -- and then the Lomaxes reshaped THAT.
It is on this basis that I include Greenway's song "Oh, My God, Them 'Taters" here. Greenway's song is just a fragment; it is possible that it is part of a longer song -- or that the Lomaxes borrowed its lyrics. - RBW
A version LAST YEAR WAS A FINE CRAP YEAR is found in Song from Mississippi, in Dorothy Scarborough, 1925, Negro Folk-Songs, p. 187, "On the Trail of Negro Folk-Songs," facsimile reprint by Folklore Associates, 1963.
Text: What a spontaneous expression of romance and realism is found in a song sent from Mississippi by Wirt A. Williams! The "mulie" referred to here is not a mule, as urban readers might ignorantly suppose, but an ox without horns.
In my opinion the title should be "Last Year Was A Fine Crop Year" and the word "crap" should be replaced by "crop" throughout.
1. Last year was a fine crap year
On corn and peas and 'taters;
My pa didn't raise no cotton and corn,
But, oh, good Lord, the 'taters!
Chorus: Haw, Buck, haw, Buck, haw!
Who made de back band?
WHOA BACK BUCK- Leadbelly
In Alan Lomax's Folk songs of North America, he says, "This is Lead Belly's variant of a Negro ploughman's song, which occasionally satirizes the poor whites; known from Texas to Miss." He lists it as Negro Folk Songs as Sung by Lead Belly, copyright 1936.
This man was drivin' twenty yokes of oxen. He was a long ways from home an' it was a slow, drizzlin' rain and the man was cold. He was tryin' to git his oxens to hurry up a little faster, so ev'y once in a while he'd cut down on um—TI-YOW! He'd pop that long blacksnake whip. But you know about how much speed oxen has got. 'Stead of them gettin' faster, they was speedin' up slower . . .
1. Tom done buck and Bill won't pull,
Papa gonna cut that other little bull.
Whoa back. Buck, an' gee, by the Lamb!
Who made the back-band? Whoa, goddam !
CHORUS: Whoa, Buck, an' gee, by the Lamb!
Who made the back-band? Whoa, goddam!
*Whoa, Buck, an' gee, by the Lamb!
Who made the back-band? Whoa, goddam!
WHOA BACK BUCK: Van Ronk who attributed the song to Leadbelly; Clearly this is a different version.
Sometimes I plow the old grey mare
Sometimes I plow old mulie-O
Soon as I get this cotton crop out
I'm going home to Julie-O
Whoa back Buck and gee by the lamb
Who broke the back band Cunningham
When I was skinnen for Jimmy Ryan
Carven my initials on a mules behind
I didn't plant no beans or peas
Had bad luck with the taters o
Cotton crop it didnt come out
But great God Almighty tomatos o
My gal don-t wear high button shoes
Feets too big for gaters-o
All she's good for is a pinch of snuff
And hillin' yam potatos
Eighteen, nineteen, twenty years ago
Took my gal to the party-o
All dressed up in calico
But I wouldnt let her dance but a set or so
Takes two mules to pull a load
Takes four mules to pull double-o
Righty-o Righty-o
When you get your wagon loaded wont you let her go
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