“Old Rattler”
Description
Chorus: "Here, Rattler, Here." Rattler is a great tracking dog. When (Old Riley) escapes from prison, Rattler is put on his trail, and finds the man despite many distractions and even (the Brazos River) in the way
Notes
The "Old Reilly" version is officially credited to Huddle Ledbetter. This looks to me like Lead Belly's adaption of "Long John" -- but of course there is Lomax influence. Given that "Long John" is also derived primarily from the Lomaxes, it's hard to have any confidence about the relationship between the songs, or even their folk status. - RBW
Seeger reports that the Texas state farm prisoners from whom he collected a version of the song believed it described the escape of the prisoner Riley from Clements State Farm. - PJS
Cross references
- cf. "Take This Hammer" (lyrics)
- cf. "Long John (Long Gone)" (floating lyrics)
- cf. "Poor Lazarus (Bad Man Lazarus)" (plot)
Recordings
- Elizabeth Cotten, "Here Old Rattler Here" (on Cotten01)
- Mose "Clear Rock" Platt & James "Iron Head" Baker, "Old Rattler" (AFS 208 B1, 1934; on LC8)
- Mose "Clear Rock" Platt, "Old Rattler" (AFS 205 B2) [this is a solo recording, as opposed to the duet with James "Iron Head" Baker]
- George Reneau, "Here Rattler, Here" (Vocalion 14814, 1924)
- Texas state farm prisoners, "Here Rattler Here" (on NPCWork)
References
- Courlander-NFM, pp. 104-105, "(Here, Rattler, Here)" (1 text, perhaps composite, plus apparently a portion of another version)
- Lomax-ABFS, pp. 66-67, "Ol' Rattler" (1 text, 1 tune)
- Silber-FSWB, p. 66, "Old Reilly (In Dem Long Hot Summer Days" (1 text); p. 395, "Old Rattler" (1 text, with the chorus of this song though the verses are those of "Old Tyler")
- Roud #6381
- BI, CNFM104