Alberta (blues)
Encyclopedia
Lead Belly song
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Wilton, Connecticut
Wilton is a town nestled in the Norwalk River Valley in southwestern Connecticut in the United States. It is located in Fairfield County. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 18,062. In 2007, it was voted as one of CNN Money's "Best Places to Live" in the United States.Located along...
, on January 20, 1935, included the lyrics "Take me, Alberta, take me down in your rocking chair" and is included on Gwine Dig a Hole to Put the Devil In (Rounder Records, Library of Congress Recordings, vol. 2). Lead Belly's fourth recorded version survives on recording disc BC-122 of the Mary Elizabeth Barnicle–Tillman Cadle Collection at East Tennessee State University
East Tennessee State University
East Tennessee State University is an accredited American university located in Johnson City, Tennessee. It is part of the Tennessee Board of Regents system of colleges and universities, the nation's sixth largest system of public education, and is the fourth largest university in the state...
, recorded near the date of June 15, 1948, with which several related discs are labeled.
Wheeler 1944 song
Mary Wheeler, in her Steamboatin' Days: Folk Songs of the River Packet Era (Baton Rouge, La.: Louisiana State University Press, 1944), records a song she collected from Gabriel "Uncle Gabe" Hester, with the lyrics:- Alberta, let yo' hair hang low,
- Alberta, let yo' hair hand low,
- I'll give you mo' gold than yo' apron will hold,
- Ef you'll jes' let yo' hair hang low.
- Alberta, what's on yo' mind?
- Alberta, what's on yo' mind?
- You keep me worried, you keep me bothered, all the time.
- Alberta, what's on yo' mind?
- Alberta, don't you treat me unkind,
- Alberta, don't you treat me unkind,
- 'Cause I'm worried, 'cause I'm bothered, all the time.
- Alberta, don't you treat me unkind.
Wheeler also reports Hester's reminiscences of the steamboat work song
Work song
A work song is a piece of music closely connected to a specific form of work, either sung while conducting a task or a song linked to a task or trade which might be a connected narrative, description, or protest song....
s he had sung as a roustabout
Roustabout
A roustabout is a labourer typically performing temporary, unskilled work. The term has traditionally been used to refer to traveling-circus workers, natural gas, or oil rig workers....
in his younger days. However, Wheeler's account does not explicitly give any evidence for Roger McGuinn
Roger McGuinn
James Roger McGuinn is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for being the lead singer and lead guitarist on many of The Byrds' records...
's statement that, "This is a song sung by the stevedores who worked on the Ohio River."
The song became popular in the American folk music revival
American folk music revival
The American folk music revival was a phenomenon in the United States that began during the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the mid-1960s. Its roots went earlier, and performers like Josh White, Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Richard Dyer-Bennett, Oscar Brand, Jean Ritchie, John Jacob...
. Bob Gibson
Bob Gibson (musician)
Samuel Robert Gibson was a folk singer who led a folk music revival in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He was known for playing both the banjo and the 12-string guitar. He introduced a then largely unknown Joan Baez at the Newport Folk Festival of 1959. He produced a number of LPs in the decade...
recorded it for his Carnegie Concert (1957), and it was published in Sing Out!
Sing Out!
Sing Out! is a quarterly journal of folk music and folk songs that has been published since May 1950.-Background:Sing Out! is the primary publication of the tax exempt, not-for-profit, educational corporation of the same name...
, vol. 8, no. 3 (1959). Subsequent recordings include:
- Jerry SilvermanJerry SilvermanJerry Silverman is an American folksinger, guitar teacher and author of music books. He has had over 200 books published, which have sold in the millions, including folk song collections, anthologies and method books for the guitar, banjo and fiddle. He has taught guitar to hundreds of students...
, Folk Blues, vol. 1 (c. 1959) - Burl IvesBurl IvesBurl Icle Ivanhoe Ives was an American actor, writer and folk music singer. As an actor, Ives's work included comedies, dramas, and voice work in theater, television, and motion pictures. Music critic John Rockwell said, "Ives's voice .....
, under the title "Lenora, Let Your Hair Hang Down, The Versatile Burl Ives!The Versatile Burl Ives! (album)The Versatile Burl Ives! is a 1961 album by Burl Ives, containing his hit single "A Little Bitty Tear." The album reached No. 35 on Billboard's 1962 Pop Album Chart. In the same year, "A Little Bitty Tear" climbed to No. 1 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary Chart, No. 2 on the Country Singles Chart,...
(1961) - Chad Mitchell TrioChad Mitchell TrioThe Chad Mitchell Trio were a North American vocal group who became known during the 1960s. They performed folk songs, some of which were traditionally passed down and some of their own compositions. Unlike many fellow folk music groups, none of the trio played instruments...
, At the Bitter End (1962) - OdettaOdettaOdetta Holmes, known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, songwriter, and a human rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals...
, under the title "Roberta," Odetta Sings Folk SongsOdetta Sings Folk SongsOdetta Sings Folk Songs is an album by American folk singer Odetta, first released in 1963. It was her second release on her new label, RCA Victor and is out of print...
(1963) - Valentine Pringle, I Hear America Singing (1963)
- Pernell RobertsPernell RobertsPernell Elvin Roberts, Jr. was an American stage, movie and television actor, as well as a singer. In addition to guest starring in over 60 television series, he was widely known for his roles as Ben Cartwright's eldest son, Adam Cartwright, on the western series Bonanza, a role he played from...
, Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies (1963) - Blues ProjectBlues ProjectThe Blues Project is a band from the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City that was formed in 1965 and originally split up in 1967. While their songs drew from a wide array of musical styles, they are most remembered as one of the earliest practitioners of psychedelic rock, as well as one...
, Live at The Cafe Au Go GoLive at The Cafe Au Go GoLive at The Cafe Au Go Go is the debut album by the American band The Blues Project, recorded live during the Blues Bag four-day concert on the evenings of November 24-27, 1965 at the Cafe Au Go Go in New York City...
(1966, recorded live 1965) - Doc WatsonDoc WatsonArthel Lane "Doc" Watson is an American guitar player, songwriter and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues and gospel music. He has won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Watson's flatpicking skills and knowledge of traditional American music are highly regarded...
, SouthboundSouthbound (Doc Watson album)Southbound is the title of a recording by American folk music artist Doc Watson, released in 1966.-Reception:Writing for Allmusic, music critic Thom Owens called the album a pivotal release for Watson, writing ".....
(1966) - Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, two versions, Self PortraitSelf Portrait (Bob Dylan album)Self Portrait is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's tenth studio album, released by Columbia Records in June 1970.Self Portrait was Dylan's second double album, and features mostly cover versions of well-known pop and folk songs. Also included are a handful of instrumentals and original compositions...
(1970)
Other blues songs
Eric ClaptonEric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
's "Alberta" is a cover of The Mississippi Sheiks' variant of the song "Corrine, Corrina." There are other traditional songs in which the singer implores the beloved to let her hair down, for example, "I Wish I Was a Mole In the Ground
I Wish I Was a Mole In the Ground
I Wish I Was a Mole In the Ground is a traditional American folk song. It was most famously recorded and archived in the Library of Congress by Bascom Lamar Lunsford in 1924. It has also been recorded by many other performers....
."
External links
- Alberta, Let Your Hair Hang Low (CSU Fresno Traditional Ballad Index)
- "Alberta" lyrics