“East Virginia (Dark Hollow)”

Description

"I was born in (east Virginia); North Carolina I did go. There I met a pretty woman, And her name I did not know." The singer grieves that her parents would marry her to another. "I'd rather be in some dark hollow... than see you be another man's darling"

Same tune

• Carter Family, "East Virginia Blues, No. 2" (Banner 33463/Melotone 13430/Romeo 5482/Conqueror 8535, 1935)

Cross references

• cf. "I Don't Want Your Millions, Mister" (tune)
• cf. "Greenback Dollar" (words, tune)
• cf. "Little Birdie" (floating lyrics)

Recordings

• Clarence "Tom" Ashley, "Dark Holler Blues" (Columbia 15489-D, 1929)
• [Clarence] Ashley & [Gwen] Foster, "East Virginia Blues" (Vocalion 02576, rec. 1933)
• Carter Family, "The East Virginia Blues" (Bluebird B-5650/Montgomery Ward 4550, 1934)
• Logan English, "East Virginia" (on LEnglish01)
• Betty Garland, "I Was Born in East Virginia" (on BGarland01)
• Kelly Harrell, "O! Molly Dear Go Ask Your Mother" (Victor 20280, 1926; on KHarrell01 -- primarily a version of "The Drowsy Sleeper" but with several verses belonging here)
• Roscoe Holcomb, "East Virginia" (on MMOK, MMOKCD)
• Buell Kazee, "East Virginia" (Brunswick 154B, 1927; on AAFM3); "East Virginia" (on Kazee01)
• Uncle Dave Macon, "East Virginia Blues" (Victor 27494, 1941; rec. 1935)
• New Lost City Ramblers, "East Virginia" (on NLCR01); "Dark Holler Blues" (on NLCR16)
• Pete Seeger, "East Virginia Blues" (on PeteSeeger02, PeteSeegerCD01)
• Pete Steele, "East Virginia" (on PSteele01)
• Doc Watson, "East Virginia" (on RitchieWatsonCD1)
• Doc Watson & Clarence (Tom) Ashley, "Dark Holler Blues" (on FOTM)
• Walter Williams, "East Virginia" (AFS, 1937; on KMM)

References

1. BrownIII 279, "Must I Go to Old Virginia" (1 text, with a distorted first line and many floating bits; Roud lumps it with "Porto Rico")
2. SharpAp 167, "In Old Virginny" (4 texts, 4 tunes, but "C" is "Man of Constant Sorrow" and "D" is a collection of floaters)
3. Asch/Dunson/Raim, p. 80 "East Virginia" (1 text, 1 tune)
4. Ritchie-SingFam, pp. 134-135, "[Old Virginny]" (1 text, 1 tune)
5. Ritchie-Southern, p. 65, "Old Virginny" (1 text, 1 tune)
6. Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 27 "East Virginia Blues" (1 text, 1 tune)
7. Darling-NAS, pp. 115-116, "Oh, Molly Dear" (1 text, very mixed, with verses from this song, from "The Drowsy Sleeper" [Laws M4], and some floaters); pp. 275-276, "East Virginia (1 text)
8. Silber-FSWB, p. 44, "East Virginia" (1 text)
9. DT, EASTVIRG*
10. Roud #3396
11. BI, JRSF134