Alberta (blues)
"Alberta" is the title of several traditional blues songs.
Lead Belly song
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Lead Belly recorded four different version of "Alberta". One of these was recorded in New York on January 23, 1935 (for ARC Records, which did not issue it), and a similar version was recorded in New York on June 15, 1940 (included on Leadbelly: Complete Recorded Works, vol. 1, 1 April 1939 to 15 June 1940).[1] Another version, recorded in Wilton, Connecticut, on January 20, 1935, included the lyrics "Take me, Alberta, take me down in your rocking chair"[2] 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,[3] 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 songs he had sung as a roustabout in his younger days. However, Wheeler's account does not explicitly give any evidence for Roger McGuinn's statement that, "This is a song sung by the stevedores who worked on the Ohio River."[4]
The song became popular in the American folk music revival.
- Bob Gibson recorded it for his Carnegie Concert (1957), and it was included on Sing Out!, vol. 8, no. 3 (1959).
- Jerry Silverman, Folk Blues, vol. 1 (c. 1959)
- Burl Ives, with the title "Lenora, Let Your Hair Hang Down, The Versatile Burl Ives! (1961)
- Chad Mitchell Trio, At the Bitter End (1962)
- Odetta, under the title "Roberta," Odetta Sings Folk Songs (1963)
- Valentine Pringle, I Hear America Singing (1963)
- Pernell Roberts, Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies (1963)
- Blues Project, Live at The Cafe Au Go Go (1966, recorded live 1965)
- Doc Watson, Southbound (1966)
- Bob Dylan, two versions, Self Portrait (1970)
- Eric Clapton, Slowhand (1977)
See also
References
- Lyrics of January 23, 1935, version Archived August 12, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Compare Gavan Tredoux's Leadbelly Discography.
- John Lightfoot, "Early Texas Bluesmen," in Clayton and Specht (eds.), The Roots of Texas Music, Texas A&M University Press, p. 102.
- "Mary Elizabeth Barnicle and Tillman Cadle Collection - Archives of Appalachia". Etsu.edu. 2014-01-21. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
- "Humming A Diff'rent Tune: Bob Dylan, "Alberta (Let Your Hair Hang Low)"". Hummingadifferenttune.blogspot.com. 2009-03-28. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
External links
- Alberta, Let Your Hair Hang Low (CSU Fresno Traditional Ballad Index)