Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms is the Folk Song Of The Week. I always love playing this song and it’s a great one to add harmonica, mandolin and fiddle to. Have fun with it and remember: don’t be afraid to sing!

Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms MP3

Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms(PDF)

Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms

I [G]ain’t gonna work on the railroad
I ain’t gonna work on the [D]farm
Gonna [G]lay ’round this shack till the [C]mail train comes back
And [G]roll in my [D7]sweet baby’s [G]arms

Chorus:
Roll in my sweet baby’s arms
Roll in my sweet baby’s arms
Gonna lay ’round this shack till the mail train comes back
And roll in my sweet baby’s arms

Where were you last Saturday night
While I was lying in jail
You were out walking the street with another man
Wouldn’t even go my jail

Mama was a beauty operator
Sister could weave and spin
Daddy’s got an interest in an old cotton mill
Watch that money roll in

I know your parents don’t like me
They run me away from your door
If I had my life to live over again
I wouldn’t go back there no more

The Folk Song Of The Week this week is Sittin’ On Top Of The World. It’s a lot of fun to play on frailing banjo so don’t be afraid, jump right in and start playing!

Sittin’ On Top Of The World MP3

Sittin On Top Of The World (PDF)

Sittin’ On Top Of The World

It was [G]in the spring one sunny day

My [C]good gal left me Lord she went [G]away

And now she’s gone but I don’t [Em]worry

‘Cause I’m [C]sitting on [D7]top of the [G]world

She called me up from down in El paso

Said come back, daddy, Lord I need you so

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust

Show me a woman a man can trust

Mississippi River, long, deep and wide

The woman I’m loving is on the other side

You don’t like my peaches, don’t you shake my tree

Get out of my orchard, let my peaches be

Don’t you come here running, holding out your hand

I’ll get me a woman like you got your man

The Folk Song Of The Week is Old Plank Road. It’s a fun, fun song and even though there are only a few verses, if you do it right, you can make it last for 15 minutes with a couple of friends!

It’s a blast on frailing / clawhammer banjo and if nothing else, it will make your foot tap!

Old Plank Road MP3

Old Plank Road(PDF)

Old Plank Road

[G]Rather be in Richmond, [C]midst all the hail and [G]rain, Than for to be in Georgia boys, [C]wearing that ball and [G]chain

Chorus:

Won’t get drunk no more, won’t get drunk no [D7]more, [G]Won’t get
drunk no more, way [D7]down on the old plank [G]road

I went down to Mobile for to get on the gravel train, Very next thing heard of me, had on a ball and chain

Dony, oh dear Dony, what makes you treat me so? Caused me to wear the bail and chain, now my ankle’s sore

Knoxville is a pretty place, Memphis is a beauty If you want to see them some pretty girls, hop to Chattanoogie

I’m going to build a scaffold on some mountain high So I can see my Dora girl as she goes riding by

My wife died on Friday night, Saturday was buried Sunday was my courting day, Monday I was married

I decided to do a two for one on this week’s Folk Song Of The Week. I had a lot of requests for a clawhammer or frailing version of The Ballad of Jed Clampett and more for revisiting Somewhere Over The Rainbow so I combined the two. I hope you enjoy!

This time around the Folk Song Of The Week is This Land Is Your Land. It’s a great song and a lot of fun to sing. This is one of those songs that everyone loves to sing along to. Try it out and don’t be afraid to belt it out.

This Land Is Your Land MP3

This Land Is Your Land (PDF)

This Land is Your Land

[G]This land is [C]your land, this land is [G]my land,

From Calif[D7]ornia to the New York [G]Island,

From the Redwood F[C]orests to the Gulf Stream wa[G]ters;

[D7]This land was made for you and [G]me.

As I was walking that ribbon of highway,
I looked above me, there in the skyway,
I saw below me, the Golden Valley;
This land was made for you and me.

I roamed and rambled, and followed my footsteps
Through the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts,
And all around me this voice kept sounding,
“This land was made for you and me.”

As the Sun was shining, and I was strolling
Through the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling,
I could feel inside me and see all around me,
This land was made for you and me.

The Folk Song Of The Week is I Took My Gal Out Walkin’. It’s a fun song on frailing / clawhammer banjo. I have simplified it down to the bare essentials and it still has a kick to it!

Have fun with it and don’t be afraid to sing it!

I Took My Gal Out Walkin’ MP3

I Took My Gal Out Walkin’ (PDF)

I TOOK MY GAL OUT WALKIN’

I [G]took my gal out walkin ‘twas on a Saturday night

I took my gal out walkin’ and the [A]moon was shinin’ [D]bright

[C]I asked her if she’d [G]kiss me and [C]this is what she [D7]said

[G]She said she would not kiss me so [D7]I kissed her [G]instead

CHORUS:

Oh I ain’t got nobody [D7]I’m as blue as can be

I ain’t got nobody to [G]make a big fuss over me

If I don’t get somebody [D7]I’m goin’ back to the farm’

Milk those cows and chickens and [G]I don’t give a golly gosh darn

I took my gal out walkin ‘twas on a Saturday night
I took my gal out walkin’ and the moon was shinin’ bright
I asked her if she’d marry me and this is what she said
She said she would not marry me if the rest of the world was dead!

The Folk Song Of The Week this time around is Sweet Sunny South. There are many more verses than what I sang on the video and it’s a great, great song. This is a mainstay at our monthly jams and I love to make it as long as possible.

Have fun with it and don’t forget to sing!

Sweet Sunny South MP3

Sweet Sunny South (PDF)

SWEET SUNNY SOUTH

[G]Take me back to the place where I first saw the light

To the sweet sunny south take me [C]home

[G]Where the mockingbirds sang me to rest ev’ry night

Oh, why was I [D7]tempted to [G]roam

I think with regret of the dear home I left
Of the warm hearts that sheltered me there
Of the wife and the dear ones of whom I’m bereft
For the old place again do I sigh

Take me back to the place where the orange trees grew
To my cot’ in the evergreen shade
Where the flow’rs on the river’s green margin may blow
And spread their sweet scent o’er the glade

The path to our cottage they say has grown green
And the place is quite lonely around
And I know that the smiles and the forms I have seen
Now lie ‘neath the dark mossy ground

Take me back, let me see what is left that I knew
Can it be that the old house is gone?
Dear friends of my childhood indeed must be few
And now I must face death all alone

But yet I’ll return to the place of my birth
Where the children have played ’round the door
Where they gathered wild blossoms that grew on the bank
That will echo our footsteps no more

Take me back to the place where I first saw the light
To The sweet sunny south take me home
Where the mockingbirds sang me to rest ev’ry night
Oh, why was I tempted to roam

It was a frustrating experience trying not to be distracted by Sandy and Amber while I was recording this, but it was fun at the same time!

If I Lose, I Don’t Care follows the same melody as White House Blues on the verse so today you get a two for one special.

Have fun with it!

If I Lose, I Don’t Care MP3

If I Lose, I Don’t Care (PDF)

IF I LOSE, LET ME LOSE

[C]I can’t walk, neither can I talk

[F]Just gettin’ back from the [C]state of old New York

One [G]morning before [C]day

Flossie, oh Flossie, now what is the matter
Walked all the way from old Cincinatta
One morning before day

CHORUS:

[C]If I lose, let me lose

I don’t [G]care how much I [C]lose

If I lose a hundred dollars while I’m [F]tryin’ to win a dime

For my [G]baby, she needs money all the [C]time

The blood was a-runnin’, and I was runnin’ too
Give my feet some exercise, I had nothing else to do
One morning before day

The peas was so greasy, the meat was so fat
The boys was fightin’ the Spaniards while I was fightin’ gnats
One morning before day

See them girls settin’ at the tank
Ready to catch a freight train they call old Nancy Hanks
One morning before day

I was glad to get this request since it’s a song that every banjo player should play at least once in their lives. Oh, Susanna is a great song on frailing banjo, so here goes the Folk Song Of The Week.

Remember, have fun no matter what!

Oh, Susanna MP3

Oh, Susanna (PDF)

OH SUSANNA!

Oh I [G]come from Alabama with a banjo on my [D7]knee,

I’m [G]going to Louisiana, my true love [D7]for to [G]see

It rained all night the day I left, the weather it was [D7]dry

The [G]sun so hot I froze to death; Susanna, [D7]don’t you [G]cry.

CHORUS:

[C]Oh, Susanna, [G]don’t you cry for [D7]me

For I [G]come from Alabama with my banjo [D7]on my [G]knee.

I had a dream the other night when everything was still,

I thought I saw Susanna coming up the hill,

The buckwheat cake was in her mouth, the tear was in her eye,

I said I’m coming from Dixieland, Susanna don’t you cry.

I soon will be in New Orleans

And then I’ll look around

And when I find my gal Susanne,

I’ll fall upon the ground.

The Folk Song Of The Week this time around is Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down. The funniest part of the video is really not that evident unless I point it out. I had exactly 15 minutes to get this video done before I had to give a lesson over Skype. I was near the finish and I see that the camera that is recording my right hand is about to run out of battery power. I got it done, but just barely and you can see the look on my face as I try to figure out if I am going to make it!!

Have fun with the song and remember it’s only frailing banjo, everything about it should be fun!

Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down MP3

Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down (PDF)

DON’T LET YOUR DEAL GO DOWN

Now, I’ve [D]been all around this [G]whole wide world,

I’ve [C]been down to Memphis, [F]Tennessee;

And it’s [D]any old place I [G]hang my hat

[C]Is home, sweet home to [F]me.

Chorus:

Don’t let your deal go down (x3)
‘Fore my last gold dollar is gone.

Now, I left my little girl crying,
Standing in the door;
She throwed her arms around my neck,
Saying, “Honey, don’t you go.”

Now, I’ve been all around this whole wide world,
Done most everything;
I’ve played cards with the King and the Queen,
The ace, the eight, or the trey.

Now, where did you get them high-top shoes,
Dress you wear so fine?
I got my shoes from a railroad man,
And my dress from a driver in the mine.

Who’s gonna shoe your pretty white feet;
Who’s gonna glove your hand;
Who’s gonna kiss your lily white cheeks;
Who’s gonna be your man?

Now, Papa may shoe my pretty white feet;
Mama can glove my hand;
She can kiss my lily white cheeks
Till you come back again.