OLD song

[Forty Rod]

Okay, children, help ol' Unca Forty out.

Back in the days of 1/4" thick 78rpm records was a song that went, "Time, you're a villain.  Time, you're a thief.  Time, you stole my youth from me and now you bring me grief."

Sure would like to find a copy of the lyrics and even the sheet music.  Came out about the same time as Big Rock Candy Mountain and Hallelujah, I'm A Bum.

[deucedaddyj]

Boy, that sure as heck sounds familiar. The lyrics almost sound like something the Stanley Brothers would have written. It could also be a Carter Family song. I hope someone figures this out, because I'm interested to know too.

[Forty Rod]

Wasn't the Carters...some guy who sounded a lot like Ernie Ford, but not so bass.

[Delmonico]

If you don't find out before Monday I've got a friend that has a show on the local non-profit station at 6:30 pm.  If he don't know it would surprise me.  And it sounds familar to me also.

[deucedaddyj]

Could it be Ernest Tubb by any chance? He recorded alot of songs that sounded like that in his early days. Might be red Foley too. Boy, I sure wish I could remember. This is gonna be bugging me all day.

[Forty Rod]

Still no joy.  I can't find a dang thing.

[Delmonico]

Hang on pard, it's Monday, Eric will be on at 6:00, on KZUM  and I'll call him and ask him, sounds like something he would know.  Heck he might even have a copy of it. 

BTW you can listen online, Eric has a good show.

www.kzum.org

That would be 4:00pm yer time Forty, He also knows more about old time Rail Roads than anyone I know, he's an eddy-cated historian with real papers, not a Mongrel one like me.

[Delmonico]

Well I checked with Eric and you stumped him also, but he told me someone else to try tommorow.
But he's gonna play something he knows I'll like since he knows I'm now listening.

I'm feared I know what is in some of his collection.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

I'm not able to find anything either. Why don't you ask for something easy, like "Hangman's Boogey" by Cowboy Copas?

[Delmonico]

Well he played me some Skeak SteeleOld West Pianer music, it's play on old antique uprights in the historic sallons in Nevada.  Good stuff and I sold him the CD at work.  He then played Diamonds and Rust by Joan Baez.   Ok he's diverse.

He ya want to here a good one listen on that link at 7:30-9:00 Pm on Friday, centeral time, the KZUM Hayride, Honky Tonk and Western Swing, Plays Bob Wills and also his 3 brothers bands, W. Loe Daieal and the Ligh Crust Dough Boys and Bill Halley and the 4 Western Aces.

Bill Halley changed the name to the Comets a couple years later. 

I'll try to call Charley tommorow, he runs the biggest music store in Lincoln and Eric says he's even better than him.   Are you sure you didn't hear this in a dream.

[Forty Rod]

Nope.  We moved into a house in 1956 and found a couple of boxes of old, thick, some recorded on one side only, records.  We had this "Time" song, Big Rock Candy Mountain, Hallelujah, I'm A Bum, and a few others on them...all from the thirties.

My sis had them, but she says she gave them away years ago.

I can find the other two on line, but this one isn't turning up at all.

[Four-Eyed Buck]

Forty, Maybe they were recorded as part of a WPA project at the end of the depression. One sided sure sounds like one of those type of projects. Those were probably the old 78 RPM format or possibly master recordings.........Buck

[Delmonico]

You know you might be on to something Buck.  Think hard Forty, did they have labels on them?  They also had places you could go in and pay a bit to record yourself, on of course was Sun Records, some truck driver did that and Sam Philps decided to pay him to sing. 

But all the masters and demo's at that time were 78's and recorded on just one side.

[deucedaddyj]

Next thing you know, a truck drivers driving all the women crazy. Both the songs you mentioned are pretty popular old songs, so I don't know about the WPA. I can't remember the original singer of "Big Rock Candy Mountain" was, but I remember that Burl Ives did it too. I know he wasn't the first though. They both are kind of geared towards hobo's, aren't they. In fact the lines you mentioned sounds like something you'd hear in a hobo song.

[Forty Rod]

Seems they had the old red Victrola labels, but it's been almost 50 years.  Not self recorded...these were professionally done by someone.

[Brigid Tanner]

So did you ever find out what the song was?

[Forty Rod]

Nope.