Listening List Before Class (December 02, 2025)

This time we're headed West of the Mississippi....

WAY OUT WEST

OH SHENANDOAH
traditional
performed by Glen Campbell (1972)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8k09G2A_vZ8

performed by Cowboy Nation (2000)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBvBWb9nGH8

HOME ON THE RANGE
by Daniel E. Kelley, Brewster M. Higley (1874)
performed by Gene Autry (1947)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtysUMM-Ce8

GIT ALONG, LITTLE DOGIES
traditional
performed by Roy Rogers (1940)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2cFji4CmHE

DON'T FENCE ME IN
by Cole Porter, Robert Fletcher (1934)
performed by Roy Rogers (1945)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEOdcR6CJZ4

A very different take on the song:
peformed by Ella Fitzgerald (1956)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw1KdIDRwww

TUMBLING TUMBLEWEEDS
by Bob Nolan (1929-34)
performed by the Sons of the Pioneers (1935)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mH0-leTYJI

I WANT TO BE A COWBOY'S SWEETHEART
by Patsy Montana (1934)
performed by Patsy Montana (1935)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAYwYscqXJQ

STEEL GUITAR RAG (instrumental)
by Leon McAuliffe (1936)
performed by Bob Willis & His Texas Playboys (1936)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehnxV5SL2Cw

MAIDEN'S PRAYER (instrumental)
based on "Modlitwa Dziewicy", by Tekla Bądarzewska-Baranowska (1856)
performed by Bob Willis & His Texas Playboys (1938)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKqt1lxAs4o

COOL WATER
by Bob Nolan (1936)
performed by Vaughn Monroe and Sons of the Pioneers (1948)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rM-Zh4NsSUY

(GHOST) RIDERS IN THE SKY: A COWBOY LEGEND
by Stan Jones (1948)
performed by Stan Jones (1948)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka90ERKLTJQ

THE WAYWARD WIND
by Stanley Lebowsky, Herb Newman
performed by Patsy Cline (1961)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VIniJcrfAI

DESPERADO
by Glenn Frey, Don Henley
performed by the Eagles (1973)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q93wc3-deU

PANCHO AND LEFTY
by Townes Van Zandt (1972)
performed by Emmylou Harris (1974)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3LQeRqTBK4

Lyrics for November 25, 2025

Here are the lyrics for class on November 25, 2025.

Enjoy and See y'all in class!

Listening List Before Class (November 25, 2025)

 Here are some songs to listen to before class!

HILLBILLIES AND BEYOND!

EARLY HILLBILLY MUSIC

WILDWOOD FLOWER
based on "I'll Twine 'Mid the Ringlets" by John Philbrick Webster, Maud Irving (1860)
performed by the Carter Family (1928)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0DMhqlH20k

performed by the Soulmates (2019?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwq8UxDoJ3w

CAN THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN
based on "Will the Circle be Unbroken" by Ada R Habershon and Charles H. Gabriel (1907)
performed by the Carter Family (1935)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjHjm5sRqSA

MINING SONGS

DARK AS A DUNGEON
by Merle Travis (1946)
performed by Merle Travis (1951)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BvbJLTg_FQ

16 TONS
by Merle Travis (1946)
performed by Tennesseee Ernie Ford (1955)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9j91-18Kb4

BLUEGRASS

ROCKY TOP
by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant (1967)
performed by the Osborne Brothers (1967)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Al2KhNTB1Po

performed by Backwoods Bluegrass Band (2024)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsvFrDivPk4

FOX ON THE RUN
by Tony Hazzard (1968)
performed by the Country Gentlemen (1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZMVUdHH49E

performed by the Backwoods Bluegrass Band (2025)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59fPdZj6HzM


SOUTHERN NOT-QUITE HILLBILLIES

HE'S IN THE JAILHOUSE NOW
by Jimmie Rodgers(?) and Elsie McWilliams(?) (1928)
performed by Jimmie Rodgers
content warning: yodeling
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3L2qf3q-ok

RAGGED BUT RIGHT
by anonymous
performed by Riley Puckett (1934)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuplqkI4WYU

Enjoy!

Lyrics for November 18, 2025

Here are the new lyrics for this week.

Enjoy!

Listening List for November 18, 2025

In addition to the songs we didn't get to last time (starting with 'It Ain't Necessarily So) here are some songs to get you acquainted with the predecessors of Country Music.

Part one: THE BRITISH FOLK CONNECTION

An eclectic list of some British folk songs that display features later found in Country Music.

THE SEXUAL LIFE OF THE PRE-INDUSTRIAL BRITISH ISLES

Good clean, dirty fun:
SPOTTED COW
peformed by Steeleye Span
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yrXqcCGx9o

Can't Get No Satisfaction:
MY HUSBAND'S GOT NO COURAGE IN HIM
performed by the Silly Sisters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgEp2MGx30M

Two rather different versions of the same sordid (but true!!!!!) story:
ROSIE ANDERSON

performed by Smalltalk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV5-AsCHaPU

performed by the Silly Sisters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzMXDwsuxxk

SAME STORY – DIFFERENT SONGS

Two very different versions of the same story:
TWO SISTERS / CRUEL SISTER

Jolly Irish tune hiding gruesome deaths:
performed by Clannad
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhnPOUyEomc

Haunting and atmospheric:
peformed by Pentangle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd-Rbia4SSU


Three very different versions of the same story:
D(A)EMON LOVER / HOUSE CARPENTER

Reimagined as a 1970s pop song:
performed by Steeleye Span
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yie8QRDfSUo

Janus version, traditional and modern for the times (1969):
performed by Pentangle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1YXPc5WKY8

Neo-traditional take (with Scottish accent):
performed by Alasdair Roberts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74_cLoeZZy0

OVER TO AMERICA, THE SAME, YET DIFFERENT

HOUSE CARPENTER

Undelicate and raw:
performed by Clarence Ashley
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ka0DOsIo4uE

Refined concert version:
performed by Joan Baez
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCQK3ii1uJs


KNOXVILLE GIRL
Irish murder ballad, transformed for American realities.
performed by the Louvin Brothers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkAdcEEHdRk

BARBARA/BARBRY ALLEN/ELLYN (among many variants, the most widespread folk song in English)

Hoedown hillybilly version:
performed by the Button Collective
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNk0a6_R0hY

Seventies pop-crooning semi-gothic version:
performed by Art Garfunkel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Om5wGY9ty_Y

Atmosphereic a capella version:
performed by Jean Ritchie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTSP0ifyhO4

See y'all in class!

Lyrics for November 04, 2025

Here are the lyrics for tomorrow, November 04, 2025.

There is a very big jump in song quality this week (compared to last week).

For most of them, we will see videos of the songs in the context of the show so it's a good idea to become acquainted with the lyrics ahead of time. I've tried to regularize the lyrics for some of the songs from Show Boat and Porgy and Bess but I might have missed a thing or two.

See y'all in class!