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Suggested Song

"900 Miles" Terry Callier, 1968

origins under the cut

the origins of this song are a bit unclear. No one knows who first wrote it or some specifics with its origins. 900 miles is related to the traditional southern song, "Reuben's train," written sometime after 1860, based on the Reuben Wells Locomotive.

the earliest example of the song in print (that i could find anyway) was in 1913, from the journal of American folklore. somewhat similar to the song that Terry Callier covers. I've seen some references to the song being dated to the very early 1900s and late 1800s, so this song is older than 1913.

the first recording of the song (that i could find) was in 1924 by Fiddlin' John Carson "I'm Nine Hundred miles from home"

and in 1927 by Henry Whitter and G. B. Grayson "train No.45"

a common title for this song is Train No. 45 (which is usually just the instrumental version for the reuben train song), which is confusing because the reuben wells is actually referred to as no. 35, but maybe they changed it in the 20s because that was when the California Western Railroad No. 45 was built. I'm not really sure.

Many of the folk artists who covered this song and the music anthologists who collected have credited to hearing it from black singers originally like woody guthrie and Alan Lomax (p.245). Alan Lomax talks about its different versions in different southern states and its history as a labor song for Sharecroppers and convicts who were both white and black.

and Folklorist Norm Cohen talks about its use and connections to black folklife here (p. 502-518).

and it's featured here in the album, "Before The Blues Vol. 2 (The Early American Black Music Scene) 2016"

based on Alan Lomax's account, it seems that the 900 mile version was popularized because of Woody Guthrie's version in 1944

This song is incredibly famous and has been covered by many other traditional and revival folk artists, including: Cisco Houston (1950-1953), Odetta (1963), Barbara Dane (1961), Richie Havens (late 1960s?) and Bob Dylan (1967).

one of the most popular versions of the song "500 miles" was written in 1961 by Hedy west and is a much newer adaptation of the traditional song, it also has a much more cheery melody and fast tempo compared to the somewhat sullen "900 miles". it has been covered many times by country and folk revival artists like: the journeymen (1961), The Kingston Trio (1962), Peter Paul, and Mary (1962), and the Brothers four (1963).

the version by Terry Callier was recorded in 1965, but his folk album wasn't released until 3 years later in 1968. when he released his first album, "The New Folk Sound of Terry Callier." 900 miles was the first song on the tracklist and the album combined elements of traditional folk/blues as well as jazz. he takes traditional songs and re-imagines them with a fresh pair of eyes that makes this folk album stand out from the multitude of others at the time. While it's considered a cult classic today, it seems like it may have not performed very well monetarily considering how long it took to release and how every other Terry Callier release is completely different.

still, even though this was only his first album, and his genre and style diverged pretty heavily from this first album, it remains to me, one of the best things to come out of the folk revival scene, and 900 miles by Terry Callier will remain the best cover of the traditional labor song.

for user @paulkleefishmagic

I’ve been listening to Willie Taylor by Martin Simpson but can’t find much information about the ballad’s origin, do you know anything?

Suggested Song (do you want the history of your favorite folk song? dm me or submit an ask and I'll do a full rundown)

"Willie Taylor" Martin Simpson, 2016 Upon hearing this song, it stuck out to me for a few reasons. the active character of the song is a crossdresser, this song and its relatives are about a woman crossdressing as a man to find her husband, and in some versions, she doesn't even care that her husband remarries and attends their wedding positively. and often she marries the ship Captain and they live happily together. In my opinion, this puts it in or adjacent to the category of transgender history. Very fascinating for a folk song .

"Willie Taylor" is a rendition of the traditional English Folk song "William Taylor", (which is the oldest song I have covered on this blog) was first published in a chapbook in London in 1712 (I couldn't find a digitized copy) and would continue to be published up through the 1800s. The first publication I could find and show you is from 1792 in the chapbook "Four New Songs". in this, it is titled "Billy Taylor"

The Earliest sheet music I could find is from 1895, Collected by Frank Kidson

and here's its melody

This song also seems to be related to another song about a crossdressing sailor woman called "The Rambling Female Sailor" collected here in the 1860s by Frank Kidson, but they are classified as different songs.

The oldest recording is from 1908, which can be found here the earliest recording I could find that is available is from 1938, performed by George Vinton Graham

here's another version from 1967 by Hedy West

While in most modern (1860s onward) versions, the song is comedic, originally it was completely serious and genuine. this folk song from the early 1700s if not older, presented a crossdresser as a sort of folk hero, a figure that people would sing about with veneration. That's amazing to me. I think it would be fun to reimagine the song as either: the woman cross-dresses as a man and runs away with her husband's woman after killing him as a butchfemme relationship, or the woman could be reinterpreted as a transgender man who runs away and falls in love with the ship captain. idk I just think these would be cute fun new renditions.

Song of the day

do you want the history of your favorite folk song? dm me or submit an ask and I'll do a full rundown

"Polly Vaughn" The Dillards, 1963

"Polly Vaughn"/"Molly Bawn"/ "The Shooting of his Dear" is a traditional Irish folk song that first appeared in print in a 1765 chapbook, as "Molly Bawn"

This Version was first recorded in 1936 by Emma Dusenbur but I couldn't find a digitized version.

The earliest recording I could find was collected by Alan Lomax in 1937 and performed by Aunt Molly Jackson. It was later recorded and performed on the radio in America, the UK, and Canada during the 1940s and 1950s. I had a hard time finding these recordings but here is one from 1954 by Evelyn Skaggs in Arkansas, collected by Mary Celestia Parler. The Dillards version was recorded in 1963, and, in my opinion, is the best version. The pacing and energy of the performance really add to the tragedy and drama of the story. They deliver the horror of a young man accidentally killing his lover as he mistook her for a swan. Other versions are nice but the one by the Dillard's sounds like how the story feels.

Some other notable covers include those by Tia Blake Peter, Paul, and Mary Hedy West