“Going Down This Road Feeling Bad”

Description

A series of complaints, all ending "And I ain't gonna be treated this a-way." Examples: "I'm going down this road feeling bad." "I'm going where the climate suits my clothes." "I'm tired of lying in this jail." "They feed me on cornbread and beans."

Notes

Botkin credits the words of this piece to Woody Guthrie, and certainly Woody sang the song. But there is every reason to believe it predates him. - RBW

Indeed it does; the Skillet Lickers included it in their skit "A Corn Likker Still in Georgia" in about 1930, and it may have been present in Black tradition before then.

Confusingly, [Warde] Ford's version is listed in the song catalog as, "I ain't gonna be treated this a-way," although the page is headed "I'm going down this road feelin' bad." He credits learning it from "Kaintucks" in Wisconsin.

Both "Worried Blues" and "Georgia Blues," as recorded by Samantha Bumgarner & Eva Davis, incorporate enough elements of "Goin' Down This Road Feeling Bad" that I classify them here.

I place the Barton record here tentatively, as I have not heard it. The title, however, is far too suggestive to ignore. - PJS

Recordings

• H. M. Barnes & his Blue Ridge Ramblers, "Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad" (Brunswick 327, 1929)
• James Barton, "I'm Going Where The Climate Fits My Clothes" (OKeh 40136, 1924)
• Big Bill Broonzy, "Goin' Down the Road" (on Broonzy01)
• Samantha Bumgarner & Eva Davis, "Worried Blues/Georgia Blues" (Columbia 166-D, 1924)
• Jack Burchett, "Chilly Winds (Lonesome Road Blues" (on WatsonAshley01)
• Cliff Carlisle, "Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad" (Perfect 12935, 1933)
• Fiddlin' John Carson, "Goin' Where the Climate Suits My Clothes" (OKeh 45498, 1930)
• Dillard Chandler, "Going Down The Road Feeling Bad" (on Chandler01)
• Cherokee Ramblers, "Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad" (Decca 5138, 1935)
• George Childers, "Goin' Down This Road Feelin' Bad" (on FolkVisions2)
• Elizabeth Cotten, "Going Down the Road Feeling Bad" (on Cotten01)
• Cousin Emmy [Cynthia May Carver], "Lonesome Road Blues" (Decca 24215, 1941)
• Crazy Hillbillies Band, "Going Down the Road Feeling Bad" (OKeh 45579, 1934)
• Ollie Crownover & group "Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad" (AAFS 3562 B2)
• Warde Ford, "I'm going down this road feelin' bad / I ain't gonna be treated this a-way / Goin' down that road feelin' bad" (AFS 4206 A2, 1938; tr.; in AMMEM/Cowell)
• Woody Guthrie, "Blowin' Down This Road" (Victor 26619, 1940); "I'm Goin' Down That Road Feelin' Bad" (AAFS 3418 A1)
• Roy Hall's Cohutta Mountain Boys, "Going Down the Road Feeling Bad" (Fortune 170)
• Rex & James Hardie, "Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad" (AAFS 3566 A1)
• Sid Harkreader, "Way Down In Jail On My Knees" (Broadway 8115, c. 1930)
• The Hillbillies, "Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad" (Vocalion 5021, c. 1926)
• Theophilus G. Hoskins "Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad" (AAFS 1519 A3)
• Bascom Lamar Lunsford, "Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad" (AAFS 1805 B1)
• Ray Melton, "Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad" (AAFS 1347 A2)
• David Miller, "Way Down in Jail On My Knees" (Perfect 12697 [as Blind Soldier]/Conqueror 7709, 1931)
• John D. Mounce et al, "I'm a-Goin' Down This Road Feelin' Bad" (on MusOzarks01)
• J. J. Nesse, J. C. Sutphin & Vernon Sutphin, "Lonesome Road Blues" [instrumental version] (on Stonemans01)
• Pie Plant Pete [pseud. for Claude Moye], "Goin' Down the Road" (Decca 5030, 1934)
• Joe Rakestraw, "Leavin' Here, Don't Know Where I'm Goin'" (on FolkVisions2)
• George Reneau, "Lonesome Road Blues" (Vocalion 5029, c. 1926)
• Robert Ricker, "Goin' Down This Road Feelin' Bad" (AAFS 3903 B5)
• Roe Bros. & Morrell, "Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad" (Columbia 15199-D, 1927)
• Smith & Irvine, "Lonesome Road Blues" [instrumental version] (Champion 16518, 1932; on StuffDreams1)
• Soco Gap Band, "Lonesome Road Blues" (AAFS 3256 B3)
• Gussie Ward Stine, "Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad" (AAFS 4103 B1)
• Ernest Stoneman, "Lonesome Road Blues" (OKeh 45094, 1927; on TimesAint02)
• Gordon Tanner, Smokey Joe Miller & Uncle John Patterson, "Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad" (on DownYonder)
• Henry Whitter's Virginia Breakdowners, "Lonesome Road Blues" (OKeh 40015, 1924, rec. 1923); "Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad" (OKeh 40169, 1924)
• Williamson Bros. & Curry, "Lonesome Road Blues" (OKeh 45146, 1927)

References

1. BrownIII 441, "I'm Going Down This Road Feeling Bad" (1 text)
2. Lomax-FSUSA 72, "Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad" (1 text, 1 tune)
3. Scott-BoA, pp. 346-347, "Goin' Down the Road" (1 text, 1 tune)
4. Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 876-877, "I'm A-Goin' down This Road Feelin' Bad" (1 text, 1 tune)
5. Greenway-AFP, pp. 206-207, "Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad" (1 text)
6. Silber-FSWB, p. 60, "I'm Going Down This Road Feeling Bad" (1 text)
7. DT, GOINDOWN
8. Roud #4958
9. BI, LxU072