I just put up a new tune on my music webpage.
It's a very old tune called "Old Baggum". It's a variant of Child Ballad #18. (Beware of annoying MIDI music on that website.) Francis J. Child was this crazy folklorist who went around the English-speaking world in 1850's collecting all of the old oral tradition songs that he could find and writing them down. The oldest written version of "Old Baggum" is from the Percy Manuscript, circa 1640 or so. My version is of Appalachian ancestry, more or less. The lyrics I'm singing are from Joel Mabus' version, and the banjo arrangement is my modification and mashing together of some tablatures I found on the Internet.
It's a fairly grizzly little song, but it sure is fun to play! (Even if it is about half a step too high for me to sing... :-) Let me know what you think.
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4 comments:
Did Joel Mabus call the lyrics "traditional" when he published the song, or did they take credit for his version of the lyrics. I ask as I'd love to play this on my show but only if the work is in the public domain (and you give permission to play it).
Hey there, Dan. I just checked, and it's listed as "traditional", so no worries there. The Child Ballads are about as public domain as you can get. :-)
Listening to his version again I notice that I've changed some of the words anyway. (The Folk Process in action!) And of course, you have my permission to play it.
My big brother is gonna get played on the radio? Watch out Mike, you might become famous if you're not careful!
Bwa ha ha! It's all part of my devious plan...
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