Topic: Lowe Stokes--"Wish I Had Stayed In the Wagon Yard"

[Johnm]

Hi all,
"Wish I Had Stayed In The Wagon Yard" was recorded by Lowe Stokes & His North Georgians at a session for Columbia in Atlanta on November 1, 1929. The band consisted of Lowe Stokes and Bert Layne on fiddles, Arthur Tanner on banjo-mandolin or tenor banjo and vocals and Claude Davis or Hoke Rice on guitar. I first heard this song on one of the earliest county re-issues, "A Collection of Mountain Songs", and have loved it ever since then. I think Arthur Tanner's vocal is great, and i appreciate the song's stance of making fun of oneself. Here is "Wish I Had Stayed In The Wagon Yard", and I'd appreciate help with any blank spaces or mistakes:



INTRO ENSEMBLE SOLO

I am a jolly farmer, last night I came to town, to
Bring a bale of cotton, I'd worked the whole year 'round. I
Put my team in the wagon yard and bought me a bottle of gin. I
Went out to see the 'lectric lights and watch the cars come in.

I met a dude out on the street, that clock was striking nine. He
Says, "Come on, old hayseed, take a drink, it's mine." I
Must have bought a dozen drinks, 'cause it hit my pocketbook hard. I
Wish I had bought me a half a pint and stayed in the wagon yard.

ENSEMBLE SOLO

Listen to me, farmers, I'm here to talk with sense. If you
Want to see them 'lectric lights just look right over the fence. Don't
Monkey with them city ducks, you'll find they're slick as lard. Just
Go and get you a half a pint and stay in the wagon yard.

ENSEMBLE SOLO

Says I'm a deacon in a hard shell church, down near Possum Trot. If the
Sisters hears about my spree, it's bound to make them hot. I
Went out on a party, I led the pace that killed. When
I woke up that gang had gone and left me all the bill.

I found them over on the corner, near Sloan Salvation Hall. That
Drunken bunch was out there singing, "Jesus paid it all." They
Put me out in a dry goods box, Lord, my pillow was hard. I
Wish I'd bought me a half a pint and stayed in the wagon yard.

ENSEMBLE SOLO

Edited 3/6 to pick up corrections from Blues Vintage

All best,
Johnm

[Blues Vintage]

"those city ducks" could be "them city ducks" in verse 3 and a ENSEMBLE SOLO after that verse.

[Johnm]

Thanks for the help, Blues Vintage, right on both accounts. I've made the changes.

[Johnm]

Hi all,
This just came up in my YouTube feed. Kind of makes me glad that I never ran into Lowe Stokes.



All best,
Johnm

[eric]

Clearly, never a dull moment hanging out with Lowe.

[Lignite]

I had the unforgettable experience of being in close quarters with Lowe Stokes at the Brandywine Mountain Music Festival in 1982. The festival had hired all of the surviving Skillet Likkers to perform including Lowe Stokes, Bert Layne and Gordon Tanner (Gid's son). Some folks near the stage area were playing tunes in a small shed and I popped in there right beside Lowe who was going to town bowing with his hook. All three men died within the year; Gordon Tanner never made it to the festival but was taken to the hospital in Maryland the night before suffering from a heart attack, Bert Layne died later that same year and Lowe Stokes the next.