Re: "Pop" Folk Music Memories

[Dan Strassberg <dan.strassberg@worldnet.att.net>]

At 01:29 PM 5/4/98 -0400, you wrote:
>
>I'm trying to find a Top 40 radio song from
>the early to mid 60's (the "pop" folk music era)
>that had the following lyrics:
>
>Down On The Levee, In Old Alabamy...
>With Ephraim & Sammy...
>Waitin' For The Rober E. Lee....
>.....
>It's So Neat To Beat Your Feet On The Mississippi Mud....
>
>I pray that among all the posters & lurkers that recall
>the Adventure Car Hop so well, there might be someone who
>could tell me who sang that song.  It may have been 2
>different songs, I'm not 100% sure.
>
>Private e-mail would be fine:
>
>Thanx,
>Roger Kirk
>rkirk@videoserver.com
>
They are indeed two different songs, "Waitin' for the Robert E Lee" and
"Mississippi Mud." They date back to _way_ before the '50s, and I'm sure
were recorded by many artists. But I'm not sure that either qualifies as a
folk song. Although contemporary folk music is mostly copyrighted material
by identifiable composers and lyricists, I think the proper definition of
folk music is music whose composer is uncertain--music that was passed down
orally from generation to generation. I'm quite sure that these two songs
are copyrighted material by identifiable composers. I suspect that "Waitin'
for the Robert E Lee" came from a Broadway show. 

In the same genre as these songs is "Birth of the Blues". I don't know the
composer, but I'm sure the composer is identified on the sheet music. The
most famous of the many recording of "Birth of the Blues" is probably the
one by Sammy Davis Jr, but I bet there are over 100 recordings of this song.

Probably the most popular folk song ever, in terms of records sold, was the
Weavers' "Good Night, Irene" which went gold in 1951. Another "folk" song
that achieved enormous popularity was the Kingston Trio's recording of "Tom
Dooley." Although you'll find an author and a copyright date on the record
label, what was copyrighted in this case was a particular adaptation of a
true folk song. I guess the Byrds' recording of "Turn, Turn, Turn," with its
lyric from the Book of Eclesiastes, probably also has legitimate folk
origins. But another hymn that achieved great popularirity, "Amazing Grace."
probably does not.

- -------------------------------
Dan Strassberg (Note: Address is CASE SENSITIVE!)
ALL _LOWER_ CASE!!!--> dan.strassberg@worldnet.att.net
(617) 558-4205; Fax (617) 928-4205

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