Home with the girls in the morning

Hey OT lovers,

Anyone else heard of/play the tune "Home with the girls in the morning"? For some reason this tune has been on my mind lately. (maybe the imagery, which is hard to beat).

I have a recorded version by David Coe (fiddle) with Frances Cunningham (bouzouki) that I really like. Apparently there are some song lyrics too, something like "Cmon Grandpa, tell us the story / how you used to stay out all night and come home with the girls in the morning". You can't beat that!

Anyone heard any other recordings of this tune?

Hey Jeff,

I'm sure there are other versions out there, but a lot of us here in Utah (you've heard of the place?) learned that one way back in the 70s from a Deseret String Band album--"The Land of Milk and Honey," as I recall. Leonard Coulson, better known as one of the Grumpy Brothers at Intermountain Guitar and Banjo, sang it this way:

When I was a younger man,
Come and hear my story
Sang and danced the whole night long
Came home with the girls in the morning

Come on Grandmpa, sing your song
Come and tell your story
Tell us how you danced all night
Came home with the girls in the morning

Had a dream the other night
Thought I was in glory
Sang and danced the whole night long
Came home with the girls in the morning

Come on Grandpa, sing your song
etc.

I can't remember if the tune is in Am or Dm, but they would would hit the major chord at "story" in the chorus, then right back to minor at "tell us." The verse part was minor all the way through.

Great tune.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by

I'm sure there are other versions out there, but a lot of us here in Utah (you've heard of the place?) learned that one way back in the 70s from a Deseret String Band album

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Thanks, Tom - that sounds like it's the one.

Utah (State Motto: "The Other Bluegrass State); yes I still remember and miss it. #

I know a couple of folks here in Nashville who know of and have CDs by Yankee Clipper and Deseret String Band. #I knew it was a small world when I learned that. #The little bit of lyrics they remembered from Home w/ the Girls were from the DSB version.

Take Care,

Auurgh! I was trying so hard to remember this tune last sunday at my weekly session! Thanks for reminding me about it, it's been years since I've played it, and I never remember to look it up until I'm at the session. Great tune.

The "go home with the girls in the morning" is used in the chorus of the old minstrel tune Boatman Dance. #Is the Utah tune related?

Dance, boatman, dance -- dance, boatman, dance,
Dance all night 'til the broad daylight, and go home with the girls in the morning!
Hey, ho, the boatmen row, sailing down the river of the Ohio,
Hey, ho, the boatmen row, sailing down the river of the Ohio.

I have always played this tune in Dm. I love the Deseret String Band's rendition of it. Anyone know if they are still actively performing? It has been a few years since I saw an article in the Salt Lake Tribune about them, but I have been unable to find any current information on them as far as performances, etc.

Allen,

I don't know if it's the same tune you're thinking of, but I play a three part tune in A called Boatman. I've never heard the specific lyrics you quote, but the "Hey ho..." lines would fit the meter of the first part of the tune. I've sung lyrics to the second and third parts that go like this:

Boatman dance, boatman sing, boatman do most anything (repeat)
Dance boatman dance, sing boatman sing, dance boatman dance
Go home with the girl with the hole in her pants

Although "Boatman" is major and "Home with the Girls" is minor, the A part of both tunes have a very similar structure, so they may be distant cousins. I don't hear that much similarity in the other parts.

Charlie,
After playing it over the weekend, I agree Dm is the right key, at least if you want to sing it.

I haven't heard of the Deseret String Band actually getting together for a performance in many years, though I suspect they would for the right event and price. Lately, Hal Cannon has been involved in a really interesting project called "Red Rock Rondo," which is a song cycle by Philip Bimstein about the history and geography of Southern Utah. Very cool stuff with guitars, bass, violin, oboe, English horn, and Hal on mando, mandocello, accordion and vocals. Hal has also occasionally performed in the Second Hand Band with Tom Carter (from the Deseret String Band) on fiddle and another guy (can't remember his name) providing vocals and very simple percussion. Cool band, but like most of us around here who don't play bluegrass, they don't play out nearly often enough. Hal is also involved with the Western Folklife Center, Cowboy Poetry Gathering, PBS, and lots of other projects. Tom is a professor of folklore with expertise in folk architecture.

Ron Kane recently retired from the ski patrol, and he used to spend his winters here and play with a dance band called the Wasatch Rascals. Now that he's retired, I don't know whether we'll see as much of him around here, but he's a fixture at Weiser and Port Townsend, and is so passionate about fiddle tunes that I'm sure he'll always be playing somewhere. I believe he still punches cattle and fiddles in the evenings for the guests at a working dude ranch, and I believe he still performs with (and is married to) Meghan Merker.

Mark Jardine still fiddles as well, and can be heard occasionally in Tenpenny, Yankee Clipper, the Beehive Band, Idlewild, and other contexts. He even told me he's been playing in a rock band, though I haven't heard it. Skip Gorman is a professional mandolinist, fiddler, bandleader and instructor who needs no introduction on mandolincafe. Leo Coulson still makes banjos and is one of the most notable dealers of vintage instruments in the U.S. Rich McClure passed away several years ago.

Have I left anyone out? Even though they're not active, the Deseret String Band still has recordings in print, and they're well worth tracking down.

Tom

Tom --

Here's Melvin Wine's version of Dance, Boatman, Dance. Apparently a Dan Emmett tune.

Allen,

Yep, that's the tune. The first part lingers on the high A and then runs down to finish the phrase an octave lower. That phrase is very similar to the first part, last four measures, of "Home with the Girls." Except of course one tune is A major and the other D minor.

On second thought, I can hear a bit of similarity in the B parts as well. Maybe it's not just a coincidence that they share some lyrics.

Tom - thanks for the update on everyone. The Beehive Band was scheduled to play at the Millenium Stage at the Kennedy Center a couple of weeks ago, but the day of the performance I rechecked the schedule and they were replaced by some other group. I don't know what happened. I was disappointed as I was really looking forward to hear them. I have what I think is their only recording, a double CD (the title slips my mind). I think I have tracked down all the Deseret String Band recordings and visit Intermountain Guitar when I am visiting Salt Lake. Their video is fun to watch and I wish there were more recordings of them. It is good to hear that they are still active, although in different musical pursuits.

As it happens, I transcribed Home with the Girls in the Morning in my first fiddle book, Anthology of Fiddle Styles. I certainly had heard the Deseret String Band version, but also knew some other bands that played it. My favorite part is when it goes to a sudden A major chord (C# in the melody), which is a stark contrast to the A minors before and after.

Dave

If you google "home with the girls in the morning", you find a link to this transcription:link, which is in Dm.

There is also a couple entries and some info on the www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers database, which cites recorded examples in A dorian (minor) and D dorian.

The one cool thing about the version I mentioned in the opening post, by fiddler David Coe and bouzouki-ist (mando content!) Frances Cunningham (My Own House CD) is that as a variation they hit a Bb chord before the C chords in the B-part, ie,

Bb - C - Dm
Bb - C - Dmajor
Bb - C - Dm
Dm - Am - Dm

Their album is well worth getting if you love old-time fiddle tunes, in this case with somewhat less traditional but excellent Celtic-flavored backup by 10-string bouzouki.

The Deseret String Band was great, and their recordings deserve a wider audience. Several have been reissued and are available at CD Baby here..

There are many settings of "(Go) Home with the Girls in the Morning," including a very swingy and not-so-modal version by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. Snake Chapman played a different setting, too. You can compare (and download) several different settings on iTunes.

Verses with that phrase seem to be common to many songs, tunes, and play-party games.

HOME WITH THE GIRLS IN THE MORNING. AKA – “Go Home with the Girls in the Morning.” Old‑Time, Breakdown. A Dorian (Reiner): D Dorian (Johnson, Songer). Standard tuning. AAB (Johnson, Reiner): AABB’ (Songer). The tune was in the repertoire of legendary fiddler J. Dedrick Harris, born in Tennessee, who played regularly with Bob Taylor while the latter was running for Governor of the state in the late 1800's. Harris moved to Western N.C. in the 1920's and influenced a generation of fiddlers there: Manco Sneed, Osey Helton, Bill Hensley, and Marcus Martin. Texas fiddler Bob Wills also played the tune, which fiddler Snake Chapman heard over the radio (see “Snake Chapman’s Tune”). Johnson (The Kitchen Musician No. 2: Occasional Collection of Old‑Timey Fiddle Tunes for Hammer Dulcimer, Fiddle, etc.), 1982 (revised 1988, 2003); pg. 9. Reiner (Anthology of Fiddle Styles), 1979; pg. 27. Songer (Portland Collection), 1997; pg. 99. Okehdokee 74002, Deseret String Band - “Land of Milk and Honey” (1974. Learned from Utah fiddler Ron Kane).

Great tune. I learned it from Dave Firestine and some other friends in Tucson. Some of us call it the Gilligan’s Island song. Somewhere in those lyrics has to fit: “A three hour tour, a three hour tour...”

Around the Twin Cities, you'll hear the melody, but it's in old time jams and called "Snake Chapman's Tune." I was a little confused till I learned how Snake heard Bob Wills on the radio and came up with his version. They will also call "Twinkle Little Star", but it's an old time version I've never heard, I can only play it the way Bob does. So many tunes, so many versions!

Interesting, it’s actually on my list because it was posted on a Scottish site here.
http://www.nigelgatherer.com/forum/f...play.php?fid=8

I really like the characteristic sudden change from Dm to D major.