Coon Creek Girls' Little Birdie

Hi,

One of the songs the Coon Creek Girls recorded in their first recording session on May 30, 1938 is the song, "Little Birdie."

You can listen to Coon Creek Girls version here:
http://honkingduck.com/78s/listen.php?s=20474B

LITTLE BIRDIE

.........D...............A
Little birdie, little birdie,
..............................D
What makes you fly so high?
.........D.................A
It's because I have a true little heart
........................D
And I don't care to die.

I'd rather be here, honey
Than any place I know.
But to help keep down trouble,
Down this old road I go.

Little birdie, little birdie
What makes your wings so blue?
It's nothing else but grieving,
Grieving over you.

I'd rather drink muddy water,
And sleep in a holler log.
Than to stay here on this muddy river,
And be treated like dirty dog.

Another verse Lily May sang on her CD GEMS:

Little birdie, little birdie,
Come sing to me your song.
I've a short time to be here
And a long time to be gone.

These are fairly standard verses. The second and last verses are more unusual. In this song the singer (usually as a solo performer) can stretch out the lyrics holding out certain melody notes. The number of measures and the number of beats per measure are irregular. The lyrics and song title (see Randolph) are sometimes mixed with "Dark Hollow," part of the "East Virginia Blues" family.

The confusion about identifying this song is the similarity to the Kitty Clyde songs: "Kitty Cline" and "Free Little Bird." I consider these two songs to be different songs although the Clyde songs also have lyrics about a little bird.

In some versions associated with Dark Hollow, "pretty woman" or "married woman" is substituted for "little birdie."

Here's what Sandy Patton wrote back in 1968 when he included the song, sung with fretless banjo, on Frank Proffitt's second Folk-Legacy solo recording (C-36):

"This banjo song, now well-known through the performances of Ralph Stanley, Roscoe Holcomb, Pete Steele, etc., can be heard almost anywhere in the Appalachians, but generally without Frank's verses about the misleading married woman. Most listeners will probably tend to identify these particular lines with Leadbelly's version of 'Easy Rider.' "

Here's what Frank sang:

Little birdie, little birdie,
Come and sing to me your song.
I've got a short time now to stay here
And a long time to be gone.

Married woman, married woman,
Just look what you've done.
You caused me for to love you,
Said your husband was dead and gone.

Little birdie, little birdie,
Come and sing to me your song.
I've got a short time now to stay here
And a long time to be gone.

Married woman, married woman,
Just look what you've done.
You caused me for to love you,
Now your husband's come (home).

Little birdie, little birdie,
Come and sing to me your song.
I've got a short time now to stay here
And a long time to be gone.

I'd rather be in a lonesome holler,
Where the sun never shines.
Than for you to be some other's darling,
When you promised you'd be mine.

Little birdie, little birdie,
Come and sing to me your song.
I've got a short time now to stay here
And a long time to be gone.

According to the Ballad Index "Little Birdie" was first collected in 1909 by Brown. Gus Meade categorized it with Free Little Bird which seems like the wrong place to put the song. The first recording was by Land Norris in 1925. Here are some recordings:

Willie Chapman, "Little Birdie" [instrumental] (on MMOK, MMOKCD)
Coon Creek Girls, "Little Birdie" (Vocalion 04413, 1938)
Al Craver [pseud. for Vernon Dalhart], "Little Birdie" (Columbia 15044-D, 1925)
John Hammond, "Little Birdie" (Challenge 168 or 332)
Roscoe Holcomb, "Little Birdie" (on Holcomb-Ward1, HolcombCD1)
Robert Howell [pseud. for Holland Puckett], "Little Birdie" (Herwin 75563, 1927)
J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers, "Little Birdie" (Montgomery Ward M-7127)
Wade Mainer & Zeke Morris, "Little Birdie" (Bluebird B-6840)
Wade Mainer, "Little Birdie" (King 1093, 1952)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Little Birdie" (on NLCR16)
Land Norris, "Little Birdie" (OKeh 45006, 1925)
Frank Proffitt, "Little Birdie" (on FProffitt01)
Sauceman Brothers, "Little Birdie" (Rich-R-Tone 457, n.d.)
Stanley Brothers, "Little Birdie" (Rich-R-Tone 1056, rec. 1952) (on FOTM)
Pete Steele, "Little Birdie" (on PSteele01)
Pete Seeger, "Little Birdie" (on PeteSeeger47)

LITTLE BIRDIE John Hammond (one of the first recordings in 1925)
I've transcribed this but can't hear the beginning of the 3rd verse.

Little birdie, little birdie,
Come sing to me your song.
I've a short time to stay here
And a long time when I'm gone.

I'd rather be in some dark hollow
Where the shine refused to shine
Than the thought that you'd be some other man's woman
When I want to call you mine

....................forty-two miles
From my old Kentucky Home
My Papa and Ma they're both dead
No place to call my own

Little birdie, little birdie,
What makes you act so queer
I'm building for my little ones
That have no clothes to wear

Married woman married woman
Look what you have done
You've caused me for to love you
Now your husband's come.

Little birdie, little birdie,
What makes you fly so high
I'm the only one in this wide world,
And I don't care if I die.

The Greenbriar Boys added the following two verses:

I'd rather be a sailor,
And live my life at sea,
Than to be an old married man,
With a baby on my knee.

Cause a married man sees trouble,
And a single boy sees none,
I expect to live single,
'Til my life is done.

Another verse I've heard used is:

Little birdie, little birdie,
What makes you act so queer,
You have got no cause to worry,
You don't need no clothes to wear.

DARK HOLLOW from Randolph
Mr. Lewis Kelley, Missouri, 1931. From Randolph, Ozark Folksongs, vol. 4, p. 122, A, with music.

Purty woman, purty woman,
Just see what you've done,
You caused me to love you,
Now your husband has come!

Little birdie, little birdie,
Come sing me a song,
I want to live in a dark holler
Where the sun can never shine!

I'd ruther be a sailor
Way out on the sea,
Than to be a married man
With a baby on my knee.

Little birdie, little birdie,
What makes you look so queer?
You've no cause to worry,
No sorrow for to bear.

LITTLE BIRDIE
Source: Silber & Silber, Folksinger's Wordbook (1973), Oak Publications

Little birdie, little birdie,
What makes you fly so high?
It's because I am a true little bird
And I do not fear to die.

Little birdie, little birdie,
What makes your wing so blue?
It's because I've been a-grievin',
Grieving after you.

Little birdie, little birdie,
What makes your head so red?
Well, after all that I've been through,
It's a wonder I ain't dead.

Little birdie, little birdie,
Come sing to me a song.
I've a short while to be here
And a long time to be gone.

Here some great historic info about the banjo in Kentucky near where Lily May grew up from the CD: Last Possum Up The Tree. From George Gibson:

"I was born May 14, 1938 on Burgey's Creek in Knott County, Kentucky, in a log cabin built ca. 1900 by James Edward "Uncle Ed" Thomas, the first known dulcimer maker in Kentucky. Burgey's Creek is officially known as Little Carr Creek and is a tributary of Carr Creek, which is a tributary of the Kentucky River. My parents were descendants of some of the earliest pioneers in east Kentucky. Settlers brought banjo songs and frolics into east Kentucky well prior to the Civil War. I have found two references to the banjo in Kentucky prior to 1700. Early settlers in the area were mostly from Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina.

My father, Mal Gibson (1900-1996), learned to play banjo around 1905-10 along with his older sister Flora (1896-1936) and Mel Amburgey (1893-1972), a neighbor from a very musical family. Mel Amburgey told me that he, my father and my father's sister could play over 100 songs in one tuning of the banjo. This was a remarkable feat, for they used many different tunings. My father's younger brother, Bob Gibson, also learned to play banjo, although I never heard him play. My mother, Tishie Hammons Gibson, had several relatives that played banjo.
My grandfather, George W. Gibson, and his first cousin, Dan Gibson, were playing banjo in Knott County by the 1890s. Dan was a noted banjo player and square dance caller."

LITTLE BIRDIE, e-CGAD:Little Birdie was a popular dance tune on Carr Creek in Knott County. One old gentleman said "I wore out a new pair of shoes one night while dancing to Little Birdie." My father said he learned to play the tune when he was about seventeen (in 1917) after hearing his uncle, Nord Gibson, whistle the tune. My father then remarked that he could play any tune that he could whistle. Once in a while he would tune for Little Birdie, play a stroke or two before laying the banjo down. I subsequently learned that the tune was the favorite of his only sister, Flora Gibson Morton, who learned to play banjo at the same time he did - Flora died in 1936. I heard Gar Maxie, a neighbor who was an excellent banjoist, play this tune. I cannot recall from whom I actually learned the verses. I do know that I was playing it not long after I traded for my first banjo. The verses below are those I sang on the Possum CD; however, I do know, and occasionally sing, other verses.

Little Birdie, Little Birdie,
What makes you fly so high?
Don't you know Little Birdie
that life will pass you by.

Little Birdie, Little Birdie,
Come sing to me your song,
We've a short time to be here
And a long time to be gone.

Used to be a little boy,
And I played down in the sand,
NowI am a great big boy,
Trying to make myself a man.

Married woman, married woman,
Just see what you have done,
You've cased me for to love you,
And now your man has come.

Little Birdie, Little Birdie,
Come sing to me your song,
We've a short time to be here
And a long time to be gone.

The Coon Creek Girls' version was reissued on Trikont US-0310, Flowers in the Wildwood: Women in Early Country Music. One of Stefan Grossman's videos of old time music at the Newport Folk Festival has some very impressive footage of the Coon Creek Girls performing Little Birdie.

I'll need to do some more research about the origin of this song. Any information would be helpful. I'll be doing one more post on Lily May Ledford for now. I might come back to her and the Coon Creek Girls later.

Take care,

Richard