I thought so too ! We've always been interested in the stories behind the songs, especially what the mountain folks used to call the "play-party tunes." One such song that Dave Peyton brought us from Aunt Jennie Wilson, called "Georgia Buck," has an interesting story. Here's the 2009 podcast about it:
Hit it Dave! podcast mentions Logan. My Mom always said when she lived in Logan (about three years when Dad assigned there) she never saw the sun shine once.
Oh, that's rich! Thanks for sharing it. Well, of course, David had a lot of Logan County stories, mostly about covering the Buffalo Creek flood disaster (50 years ago next month!) and of course, about Jennie Wilson. The first I ever heard about Aunt Jennie was from Peyton, when he started learning her songs. Probably the best of the bunch was "Banks of the Old Guyan." Here's a story we did about David recording that song with Roger Samples at a party of the Bowen house in 1974:
Yes, Dave played Autoharp throughout his many years with The Flood. Here's an audio clip of David talking on Joe Dobbs' radio show, "Music from the Mountains," about his love of the instrument:
I remember that Debbie Reynolds sang this same song in the 1962 movie: "How the West Was Won." She is trying to lift the spirits of the other travelers in a wagon train led by Robert Preston who falls for her. BTW - The title of the song seems to indicate that it was a slave song. Slave songs of the Gullah Geechee people and others often referred to slave boatmen who were responsible for transporting slaves and their owners, visitors from one plantation to another in coastal areas.
Thank you, Elyette! I completely forgot about the song's movie history (if I ever knew it!) :) The song had quite a few covers over the years. White and black string bands and jug bands recorded it in the '30s, folk versions (Pete Seeger, Brownie McGhee) came in the '50s and '60s. It's even had a recent rebirth with the Old Crow Medicine Show. (Pamela's hearing the Old Crow rendition, incidentally, prompted her to suggest we take it up). Meanwhile, the possible Gullah Geechee connection is fascinating. Appreciate it!
So happy you liked this post. We’ve always loved trying to learn the history of old songs. Once a folksinger, always a folksinger (You know how to identify folksingers, right? The introduction to their songs are longer than the songs themselves!)
so interesting!
I thought so too ! We've always been interested in the stories behind the songs, especially what the mountain folks used to call the "play-party tunes." One such song that Dave Peyton brought us from Aunt Jennie Wilson, called "Georgia Buck," has an interesting story. Here's the 2009 podcast about it:
http://www.1937flood.com/audio/podcasts/floodcast15.mp3
Hit it Dave! podcast mentions Logan. My Mom always said when she lived in Logan (about three years when Dad assigned there) she never saw the sun shine once.
Oh, that's rich! Thanks for sharing it. Well, of course, David had a lot of Logan County stories, mostly about covering the Buffalo Creek flood disaster (50 years ago next month!) and of course, about Jennie Wilson. The first I ever heard about Aunt Jennie was from Peyton, when he started learning her songs. Probably the best of the bunch was "Banks of the Old Guyan." Here's a story we did about David recording that song with Roger Samples at a party of the Bowen house in 1974:
https://1937flood.substack.com/p/remember-aunt-jennie
haunting … is Dave playing the lovely instrument? what is it?
Yes, Dave played Autoharp throughout his many years with The Flood. Here's an audio clip of David talking on Joe Dobbs' radio show, "Music from the Mountains," about his love of the instrument:
http://1937flood.com/audio/Stories/DavidRemembers-100302.mp3
Enjoy!
I’m going to listen to Mother Maybelle. How would you characterize Dave’s playing? Because for some reason that song was so incredibly lovely to me.
I remember that Debbie Reynolds sang this same song in the 1962 movie: "How the West Was Won." She is trying to lift the spirits of the other travelers in a wagon train led by Robert Preston who falls for her. BTW - The title of the song seems to indicate that it was a slave song. Slave songs of the Gullah Geechee people and others often referred to slave boatmen who were responsible for transporting slaves and their owners, visitors from one plantation to another in coastal areas.
Thank you, Elyette! I completely forgot about the song's movie history (if I ever knew it!) :) The song had quite a few covers over the years. White and black string bands and jug bands recorded it in the '30s, folk versions (Pete Seeger, Brownie McGhee) came in the '50s and '60s. It's even had a recent rebirth with the Old Crow Medicine Show. (Pamela's hearing the Old Crow rendition, incidentally, prompted her to suggest we take it up). Meanwhile, the possible Gullah Geechee connection is fascinating. Appreciate it!
Never heard of that! Interesting!
So happy you liked this post. We’ve always loved trying to learn the history of old songs. Once a folksinger, always a folksinger (You know how to identify folksingers, right? The introduction to their songs are longer than the songs themselves!)