Traditional Music in Coastal Louisiana

The 1934 Lomax Recordings

Joshua Clegg Caffery

• Publisher: LSU Press
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN: 9780807152034
• Topic: Mezzi di comunicazione e arti performative
• Subtopic: Musica

Alan Lomax's prolific sixty-four-year career as a folklorist and musicologist began with a trip across the South and into the heart of Louisiana's Cajun country during the height of the Great Depression. In 1934, his father John, then curator of the Library of Congress's Archive of American Folk Song, took an eighteen-year-old Alan and a 300-pound aluminum disk recorder into the rice fields of Jennings, along the waterways of New Iberia, and behind the gates of Angola State Penitentiary to collect vestiges of African American and Acadian musical tradition. These recordings now serve as the foundational document of indigenous Louisiana music.
Although widely recognized by scholars as a key artifact in the understanding of American vernacular music, most of the recordings by John and Alan Lomax during their expedition across the central-southern fringe of Louisiana were never transcribed or translated, much less studied in depth. This volume presents, for the first time, a comprehensive examination of the 1934 corpus and unveils a multifaceted story of traditional song in one of the country's most culturally dynamic regions.
Through his textual and comparative study of the songs contained in the Lomax collection, Joshua Clegg Caffery provides a musical history of Louisiana that extends beyond Cajun music and zydeco to the rural blues, Irish and English folk songs, play-party songs, slave spirituals, and traditional French folk songs that thrived at the time of these recordings.
Intimate in its presentation of Louisiana folklife and broad in its historical scope, Traditional Music in Coastal Louisiana honors the legacy of John and Alan Lomax by retrieving these musical relics from obscurity and ensuring their understanding and appreciation for generations to come.
Includes:
• Complete transcriptions of the 1934 Lomax field recordings in southwestern Louisiana
• Side-by-side translations from French to English
• Photographs from the 1934 field trip and biographical details about the performers

IBERIA PARISH

SAM “OLD DAD” BALLARD

No one named Sam Ballard appears in the census rolls in southern Louisiana in the first half of the nineteenth century. As is the case with many performers recorded by the Lomaxes, the Archive of American Folk Song may be one of the few tangible records of his existence. After one of Ballard’s performances, John Lomax announces, “These songs have been sung by ‘Old Dad’ of New Iberia, Louisiana, on June the 22nd, 1934. ‘Old Dad’ says he was a baby during the Civil War, and that means he’s about 75 years old” (AFS 100 B). Later Lomax adds, “‘Old Dad’ is a retired railroad worker who was good enough to sing these songs for the Library of Congress in Washington” (AFS 99).

BIG LEG IDA

Hello Captain.	And step back off me.
[. . .]	Oh Captain how’s she [. . .],
Oh Big Leg Ida,	Trouble in mind.
Big Leg Ida.	Trouble in mind.
Where in the world you gone?	Oh Captain crazy ’bout Big Leg Ida.
Hello Captain.	I can’t see,
Where you gone?	And I can’t see.
I’m crazy about lil Ida,	Oh yeah.
Ah stuck on me,	I’m on my way to Alabama.
Ah stuck on me,	I can’t see.
I’m crazy ’bout lil Ida.	I can’t see.
And stuck on me,	I’m full about Corinna,
And is stuck on me.	Got big legs.
I’ve been to [. . .]	And got big legs.
Step back off me.	Big Leg Ida.
Oh, Big Leg Ida.	Hello Captain.
Big Leg Ida, leg in my way.	Gonna ride ole coon.
Hello Ida,	Hello Ellen,
Hello the Morgan	Hello Ellen,
And the TPO line.	Wonder where you gone.
Hello the Morgan,	That won’t do you.
Hello the [Moma],	That won’t do you.
Oh, the [knee bow down].	That won’t do you.
Hello Riley,	[Po bo knee bow down].
Hello Riley,	Captain got a [rider].
Cause the [knee bow down].	Captain got a [rider].
Captain got a section,	Caught a right old coon.
Captain got a section,	Hello the Morgan.
[Be—to be your straw].	Hello the Morgan.
Hello Molly,	Oh, the TPE line.
Big Leg [Nigger]	That won’t do.
Big Leg [Nigger]	That won’t do.
Leg-a in my way.	That won’t do.
That won’t do you,	[Lord, my knee bow down].
That won’t do you,	Hello the Lincoln,
That won’t do you,	Hello the Lincoln,
[Po bo knee bow down].	Hello the Mama,
Hello Captain.	Oh, the [. . .] must go down].^1

While many of the lines in this song remain undecipherable (at least to this researcher), the ones that are clear are largely familiar phrases and notions common to African American work song and blues traditions. “Trouble in mind,” for instance, is both a common phrase and the name of a popular blues song. The repeated addresses to “Big Leg Ida” recall the frequent celebration of “Big Leg” women, or voluptuous women in general, in the blues (see, for instance, Johnnie Temple’s 1938 hit “Big Leg Woman” or Mississippi John Hurt’s “Big Leg Blues”). Ballard also mentions “Corinna,” a frequent object of desire in a family of blues tunes. As John Cowley observes, Ballard “identifies two local railroad lines: Morgan’s Louisiana and Pacific Railroad (‘hello the Morgan’) and the Texas and Pacific Railroad” (2004). The Morgan line, established by nineteenth-century shipping/railroad magnate Charles Morgan (after whom the town of Morgan City was renamed), and the TPO line appear in a number of other railroad work songs, and Ballard himself may have worked on these lines (Baughman 1968).

Ballard’s references to a revolving cast of voluptuous women are in line with the frequently sexual content of work songs in general. Created and performed during long stretches of manual labor, it is hardly surprising that sexual desire would find a means of expression in these songs. Moreover, the collection of somewhat random motifs from a host of possible sources may reflect the improvisatory nature of such a performance.

CATCH THAT TRAIN

Oh, Lord, train a-coming.	Got this train a-running, oh Lord,
Mmmm.	And I got this train a-running (yeah you know she’s running)
Oh, train a-coming.	And I got this train running.
Catch this train.	Hey, Catch this train.
Mm, you better get your ticket, oh ho.	And you better get your luggage,
And you better get your ticket.	And you better get your luggage,
Better get your ticket,	And you better get your luggage,
Catch this train.	Hey, Catch this train.
Been a-rolling in the lowland, Lord.	And you got this train a-comin’,
Been a-rolling in the lowland.	And you got this train a-comin’,
Been a-rolling in he lowland.	And you got this train a-comin’,
Catch this train.	Catch this train.

Although no other direct analogues of this song have been located, its combination of spiritual exhortation and train imagery is a familiar one in both white and black vernacular sacred song. As John Lovell has noted, the train served as a powerful salvational symbol for slaves in particular: “Songs about trains are a minor miracle. The railroad train did not come into America until the late 1820s; it did not reach the slave country to any great extent until the 1830s and 1840s. Even then, the opportunities of the slave to examine trains closely were limited. Yet, before 1860, many spiritual poems exploited the train: its seductive sounds, speed and power, its recurring schedules, its ability to carry a large number of passengers at cheap rates, its implicit democracy” (1972, 259). The identification of the train with liberation also appears frequently in the blues, where liberation from lovesickness and depression (that is, the blues) replaces liberation from spiritual/physical bondage.

This song, while obviously indebted to the spiritual tradition, may have also served an occupational function. Specifically, many of the lines direct the listener to prepare for an arriving train (“get your luggage,” for instance, or “better get your ticket”). We might speculate that a song such as this could have been used as a call—something sung by black porters during the heyday of the railroad in the late nineteenth century.

HE GOT A DEBT TO PAY

My Lord smiling at the sun,	He got a pillar and a chain.
My Lord praying for bloody war.	Whole round world [up and cry].
	Talk ’bout that bloody [war].
He got a debt a to pay.	He got a debt to pay.
Oh Lord, he got a debt to pay.	Oh Lord, he got a debt to pay.
Oh Lord, he got a debt to pay.	Oh Lord, he got a debt to pay.
That is all.	He got a pillar and a chain.
That is all.	Whole round world up [and cry].
He got a debt to pay.	Talk ’bout that bloody [war].
He called “Almighty God.”	He got a debt to pay.
He got a debt to pay.
Oh Lord, he got a debt to pay.
Oh Lord, he got a debt to pay.	Oh Lord, he got a debt to pay.
	Oh Lord, he got a debt to pay.

Although seemingly traditional in nature, this song appears to have no direct analogues. As with many spirituals, images of bondage (“pillar and a chain”) mix with eschatology (“whole round world opened wide”), held together by an organizing idea— in this case the allegorical biblical notion that Jesus Christ died to pay the debts incurred by the sins of mankind.

I GOT UP THIS MORNING / BET ON CUEBALL / A LONG TALL GAL

I got up this mornin’, Captain,	[. . .] Used to sing that song loud.
With a worried mind.	Good morning Captain,
And I hope to Good Lord,	How do you do?
I won’t be worried long.	[. . .]
TPE and the Morgan.	Goin’ away to leave.
Oh, TPE and the Morgan.	I’m goin’ away to leave you, baby.
Oh, side by side.	Ain’t comin’ back no more.
Oh, the TPE with the Morgan.	Everybody, baby.
Fourteen long miles,	And I don’t mind.
But when you’re married,	And [now you know].
Old married railroad,	He’s got grey eyes.
[. . .]	And it must be the Captain
[. . .] in your hand.	Because he’s got grey eyes.
Don’t marry for money.	Goin’ away to leave you.
[. . .]	Rocks and gravel.
[. . .] in your hand.	Oh, rocks and gravel, baby,
Makes a solid road.	Boom boom boom.
Rocks and rocks.	Before day, [. . .]
Oh rocks and gravel, Captain,	Got a letter ’bout his wife [. . .]
Makes a solid gravel.	Bet on Cueball.
Rocks and gravel.	It’s alright, he’s gonna’ win.
Oh, rocks and gravel, Captain,	It’s a long tall girl from Alabama.
Makes a solid road.	Stuck on me.
	Stuck on me.
Got up this mornin’.	It’s a long tall gal from Alabama.
With a worried mind.	Stuck on me, me, me, me, me, me.
I wake up this mornin’, Captain,	It’s a long tall gal from Kansas City.
And I catch my bucket,	Stuck on me.
And I catch my shovel,	Stuck on me.
Try to make a day.	It’s a long tall gal from Kansas City.
Goin’ to work, leave you.	Stuck on me, me, me, me, me, me.
I’m goin’ to work to leave you,	It’s a long tall gal from Los Angeles, California,
Ain’t comin’ back no more.	Stuck on me,
Good mornin’, oh Captain,	Stuck on me.
I want borrow lil’ bit money.	It’s a long tall gal from California,
I wanna win you a fortune.	Stuck on me, me, me, me, me, me.
For you and your wife,	It’s a long tall gal from Kansas City.
Bet on Cueball.	Stuck on me.
He’s alright. He gonna’ win.	Stuck on me.
Bet on Cueball.	It’s a long tall gal from Cincinnati.
He gonna’ run. He gonna’ win.	Stuck on me, me, me, me, me, me.^2
Bet on Cueball.

Similar in rhythm, melody, and s...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• FOREWORD, by Barry Jean Ancelet
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• JIG, JURÉ, AND GESTE: A BRIEF TAXONOMY OF THE 1934 LOMAX COLLECTION
• A NOTE ON THE TRANSCRIPTIONS AND TRANSLATIONS
• ACADIA PARISH
• EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH
• IBERIA PARISH
• JEFFERSON DAVIS PARISH
• LAFAYETTE PARISH
• ST. LANDRY PARISH
• ST. MARTIN PARISH
• ST. MARY PARISH
• VERMILION PARISH
• WEST FELICIANA PARISH (ANGOLA STATE PENITENTIARY)
• UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION
• INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC
• MISCELLANEOUS
• EPILOGUE: “QUOI FAIRE?”
• APPENDIXES
• WORKS CITED
• INDEX