“Columbus Stockade Blues”
Description
"Way down in Columbus, Georgia, I want to go back to Tennessee. Way down in Columbus stockade, my friends all turned their backs on me. So you can go and leave me if you want to...." The singer laments his imprisonment and the loss of his love
Notes
Apparently a rework of an English lost love song, "Go and Leave Me" [which we have indexed as "Dear Companion" - PJS]. Frank Proffitt heard it sung by Blacks on a chain gang, and it has become a staple of the bluegrass repertoire. Its English origin has been completely forgotten in these traditions, even though the original lost love song is said to be widely known in the British Isles.
Silber credits this to Woody Guthrie; while Guthrie may have played with it a bit, clearly he was not the sole author. - RBW
Given the various 78 recordings, Silber's clearly wrong.... I'd guess Carlisle's recording was the source of the song's popularity in bluegrass. - PJS
Cross references
Recordings
- Bud & Joe Billings [pseud. for Frank Luther & Carson Robison], "Columbus Stockade Blues" (Victor V40031, 1929)
- Cliff Carlisle, "Columbus Stockade Blues" (Champion 45186, c. 1935)
- Tom Darby & Jimmie Tarlton, "Columbus Stockade Blues" (Columbia 15212-D, 1927)
- Flannery Sisters, "Columbus Stockade" (Decca 5256, 1936)
- J. E. Mainer Band, "Columbus Stockade" (on LomaxCD1705)
References
- Warner 137, "'Way Down in Columbus, Georgia" (1 text, 1 tune)
- Silber-FSWB, p. 65, "Columbus Stockade Blues" (1 text)
- DT, COLSTKD
- Roud #7480
- BI, Wa137