Jean Ritchie - Joe Bowers (Roud 2806)
This recording was made by Alan Lomax in 1949. Most of the Lomax recordings are poor quality and absent from YouTube. I plan to remove as much background noise as possible and upload as many as I can. Here is a playlist with my other Jean Ritchie uploads: • Jean Ritchie - Geordie (Child 209, Roud 90)
Here is a link to my main channel, which mostly consists of informative and historical videos about traditional music and features many rare recordings: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHYX...
This video will not be monitized. All credit goes to Jean Ritchie, Alan Lomax and whomever currently holds to rights to this music. I uploaded this video because the music needs to be heard.
My name it is Joe Bowers, I have a brother Ike
I come from Old Missouri, all the way from Pike
I tell you why I left there and why I come to roam
And leave my poor old mammy so far away from home
I used to court a girl there, her name was Sally Black
I asked her if she'd marry me and she said it was a whack
Says she to me, "Joe Bowers, before we hitch for life,
You ought to hunt a little home to take your little wife."
"Oh Sally, dearest Sally, oh Sally for your sake,
I'll go to Californie and try to raise a stake."
When I got to that that country I hadn't ____?
And I had such wolfish feelings, I wished myself most dead
At length I went to mining, put in the biggest ___?
Right down upon the boulders, just like a thousand bricks
I worked both late and early in rain and sun and snow
I was working for my Sally, it was all the same to Joe
At length I had a letter from my dear brother Ike
It come from Old Missouri, all the way from Pike
It brought to me the damnedest news that ever you did hear
My heart is almost bursting, so pray excuse this tear
It said that Sal was false to me, her love for me had fled
She got married to a butcher and the butcher's hair was red
And more than that the letter said was enough to make me swear
That Sally had a baby and the baby had red hair