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Bile Them Cabbage Down
Traditional Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; Oklahoma, Arkansas, southwestern Pa., northeast Alabama.
ARTIST: "Big Sweet" Lewis Hairston banjo and vocal Martinsville, VA; Recorded 1977
Listen: "Big Sweet" Lewis Hairston 1977 Bile Dem Cabbage Down
Listen: Earnest Stoneman 1961 Bile Dem Cabbage Down
Listen: Skillet Lickers 1928- Bile Dem Cabbage Down
Listen: Bill Monroe- Bile Dem Cabbage Down "live"
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes; EARLIEST DATE: Earliest printed version 1878; First recording Uncle Dave Macon 1924. Listen: Uncle Dave Macon (Version 10)
OTHER NAMES: The word 'bile' means 'boil'. "Boil Them Cabbage Down," "Bake Them Hoecakes Brown." "Possum and Raccoon"
RECORDING INFO: Recorded by numerous North Georgia bands: Riley Puckett and Gid Tanner (1924), The Skillet Lickers (1928), Earl Johnson (1928), and the Georgia Wildcats (1937) {Clayton McMichen's band}. County 723, Fred Cockerham, Tommy Jarrell & Oscar Jenkins - "Back Home in the Blue Ridge". Paramount 3151 (78 RPM), 1928, The Dixie Crackers {North Georgia}. Heritage 048, "Georgia Fiddle Bands" {Brandywine, 1982}, (1983). Vocalation 14849 (78 RPM), Uncle Dave Macon (1924). Anderson, Bob; and the Country Ramblers. Indiana Hoedown, Puritan 5003, LP (1973), cut#B.03 (Bile Them Cabbage Down); Ball, E. C. (Estil C.). Land of Yahoe, Rounder 8041, CD (1996), cut# 4 (Bile Them Cabbage Down); Benoit, Jarvis. Tarbot Anthology. Cape Breton's Music Festival, Shag Rock SOTH 0001, LP (1978), cut#A.08; Blue Ridge Mountain Dancers. Folk Festival of the Smokies. Vol. 1, Traditional FFS-528, LP (197?), cut# 1c; Brower, Cecil (Cousin Cecil). Old Fashion Country Hoedown, Cumberland MGC 29500, LP (196), cut#B.01 (Bile Dem Cabbage Down); Campbell, Jon. Campbell Family. Champion Fiddlers, Fretless 101, LP (1977), cut#B.04; Clayton, Paul. Dulcimer Songs and Solos, Folkways FG 3571, LP (1962), cut# 7 (Bile Them Cabbage Down); Cockerham, Jarrell and Jenkins. Back Home in the Blue Ridge, County 723, LP, cut# 6 (Bile 'Em Cabbage Down); Coon Creek Girls. Early Radio Favorites, Old Homestead OHS 142, LP (1982), cut# 15; Ensemble. Shivaree!, Esoteric ES-538, LP (1955), cut# 4a (Bile 'Em Cabbage Down); Farina, Richard. Dick Farina & Eric Von Schmidt, Folklore F-Leut/7, LP (1963), cut#A.04d; Farina, Richard and Mimi. Celebrations for a Grey Day, Vanguard VSD 79174, LP (196?), cut# 13g (Celebrations for a Grey Day); Feldmann, Peter. How to Play Country Fiddle, Vol.1, Sonyatone STI-101, LP (1975), cut# 1; Flippen, Benton. Old Times, New Times, Rounder 0326, Cas, cut# 1 (Bile Them Cabbage Down); Frazier, Nathan; and Frank Patterson. Altamont: Black Stringband Music from the Library of Congress, Rounder 0238, LP (1989), cut# 3 (Bile Them Cabbage Down); Hamilton, Frank. Frank Hamilton Sings Folk Songs, Folkways FA 2437, LP (1962), cut# 10 (Boil the/them Cabbage Down); Houle, Lawrence "Teddy Boy". Wood That Sings, Smithsonian/Folkways SF 40472, CD (1997), cut#19f (Bile 'Em Cabbage Down) ; Jackson, John. Step It Up and Go, Rounder 2019, LP (1979), cut# 4 (Bile 'Em Cabbage Down); Jones, Clark. Early American Folk Music Music & Songs, Folkways FTS 31091, LP (1982), cut# 9b; King, Wayne. Old Time Fiddle Hits, Vol. 1, Banff CM4-735 Tape, Cas, cut# 7 (Boil the/them Cabbage Down); Kizzar, Tim. In an Arizona Town, AFF AFF 33-3, LP (1976?), cut# 10 (Boil the/them Cabbage Down); Mace, Lee;'s Ozark Opry. Some Old Favorites, Ozark Opry VJ 0011, Cas (198?), cut#B.07; Maloy, Frank. Devil's Box, Devil's Box DB, Ser (196?), 23/1, p43 (Boil the/them Cabbage Down); McGee Brothers and Arthur Smith. McGee Brothers and Arthur Smith, Folkways FA 2379, LP (1964), cut# 22 (Bile 'Em Cabbage Down); McLain Family Band. Country Dance Album, Country Life CLR-16, LP (1986), cut#A.05 (Boil the/them Cabbage Down); McMichen, Clayton. Traditional Music at Newport, 1964, Part 2, Vanguard VSD 79183, LP (1965), cut#A.02; Monroe, Charlie; & the Kentucky Pardners. Songs of Charlie Monroe and the Kentucky Pardners, County 539, LP (1974), cut# 6 (Bile Them Cabbage Down); Old Reliable String Band. Old Reliable String Band, Folkways FA 2475, LP (1963), cut#B.01 (Boil the/them Cabbage Down); Price, Bill & Betty. Bill and Betty Price, Rural Rhythm RRBP-239, LP (197?), cut#B.05; Puckett, Riley. Riley Puckett Story, Roots RL-701, LP (1971), cut# 3 (Bile Dem Cabbage Down); Reese, Belton;, Thadeus Goodson and Israel Alston. Library of Congress Banjo Collection, Rounder 0237, LP (1988), cut# 18 (Bile Dem Cabbage Down); Skillet Lickers. Day in the Mountains, County 512, LP (196?), cut# 3g (Fiddler's Convention in Georgia); Smothers Brothers. Two Sides of the Smothers Brothers, Mercury MG 20675, LP (196?), A.05 (Cabbage); Steele, Cye. Irish Walking Cane Fiddler, Black Bear BBR 1005, LP (196?), cut#B.08 (Boil the/them Cabbage Down); Stoneman, Ernest (V., "Pop"). Mountain Music On the Autoharp, Folkways FA 2365, LP (1965), cut# 6; Stoneman, Ernest (V., "Pop"). Stoneman Family Old Time Songs, Folkways FA 2315, Cas (1957), cut# 9 (Bile 'Em Cabbage Down); Wanzer, Loyd. Folk Fiddling Left Handed Style, American Heritage AH-LP 19B, LP (196?), cut#A.04 (Bile Down the Cabbage); Wheeler, Carol Ann. Joy of Fiddling, American Heritage 401-532, LP, cut# 7c (Boil the Cabbage); Williams, Tommy. Forever Fiddlin', Murray MR-5500, LP (198?), cut#B.04 (Boil the/them Cabbage Down);
RELATED MELODY: Possum on the Rail; Old Wife Who Wanted Spruncin'; Bull Train; Four Hand Reel; Carve That Possum
RELATED TO: Drake's Reel; Travelin' Down the Road; Dorset Four Hand Reel; Dugannon;
SOURCES: "Lomax-FSNA 269, "Bile Them Cabbage Down" Claude Thompson (Cotton County, Oklahoma) [Thede], John Nicholson (Fayette County, Pa., 1949) [Bayard]. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 219, pg. 173. Reiner (Anthology of Fiddle Styles), 1977; pg. 8. Ruth (Pioneer Western Folk Tunes), 1948; No. 118, pg. 41 (appears as "Bake Those Hoe Cakes Brown"). Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1964; pg. 76 (includes variations, and appears as "Boil the Cabbage Down"). Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; pg. 69. Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 710, "Bile dem Cabbage Down," Silber-FSWB, p. 40, "Bile Them Cabbage Down"; Rockwell, Jerry. Dulcimer Player News, Dulcimer Player News DPN, Ser (1973-), 7/2, p26; Thompson, Claude. Fiddle Book, Oak, Bk (1967), p 69b (Bile Them Cabbage Down); Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc;
NOTES: This version features "Big Sweet" Lewis Hairston banjo and vocal Martinsville, VA. It was recorded 1977.
This fast fiddle tune has two standard versions. This version has Verse-Chorus (The Verse stays on the I chord in the 2nd meas.). This is how I first learned it in North Carolina (key G):
VERSE: G G G D
G C G/D G
CHORUS: G C G D
G C G/D G
Now I play it usually in Key of A as a standard one-part song- Capo II:
VERSE & CHORUS: G C G D
G C G/D G
Bile Dem Cabbage Down was first published in 1877 by Sam Lucas as "Hannah Boil Dat Cabbage Down" (lyrics below). The song is very old and there are many versions.
According to Alan Lomax: "Bile Them Cabbage Down" is commonly found in beginning fiddle instructors and in ditty-books, and is "a negro reel tune which has become universally popular among white square dance musicians."
Notes from Kuntz: D Major (Bayard, Thede): A Major (Reiner, Ruth, Sweet). Standard or AEAE (McMichen). One part: AABB (Sweet): AABBCCDD' (Ruth). Ralph Rinzler traces the tune to an early English country dance "Smiling Polly," in print in 1765. African-
American origins are evident in collections of White, Scarborough and Brown-all from black informants. Tennessee banjoist and entertainer Uncle Dave Macon recorded one of the first versions of the song in 1924.
Clayton McMichen put together a virtuoso version of this tune to use in competition at various major fiddle contests. Also played by Arthur Smith on his radio broadcasts (Frank Maloy). The tune was Clayton McMichen's favorite contest tune, by his own account (Charles Wolfe). Richardson, in "American Mountain Songs", pg. 88., thought the tune was derived from "Oh Susanna." The title appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by folklorist/musicologist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. Cauthen (1990) found evidence the tune was commonly known in northeast Alabama from its mention in two sources: reports of the De Kalb County Annual (Fiddlers') Convention 1926-31, and in the book Sourwood Tonic and Sassafras Tea (where it was listed as one of the tunes played by turn of the century Etowah County fiddler George Cole). Richard Nevins believes the tune was not known in the Mt. Airy, N.C., musical community until the advent of the phonograph." (Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).
Bile Dem Cabbage Down was first published in 1877 by Sam Lucas:
HANNAH BOIL DAT CABBAGE DOWN (excerpt)
Sam Lucas, 1878
1. Oh, Hannah, boil dat cabbage down—Hannah, boil 'em down—
And turn dem buckwheats round and round—Hannah, boil 'em down.
It's almost time to blow de horn—Hannah, boil 'em down—
To call de boys dat hoe de corn—Hannah, boil 'em down.
CHORUS: Hannah, boil 'em down,
De cabbage just pulled out de ground.
Boil 'em in de pot
And make him smoking hot.
Hannah, boil 'em down,
De cabbage just pulled out de ground.
Boil 'em in de pot
And make him smoking hot.
Subsequent verses usually involve comic verses from the minstrel era about the possum and the raccoon, the backsmith shop, the coon dog and frequent, "Went up on the mountain to give my horn a blow" line. Many of the verse were collected by Perrow, Tally, White, Scarborough and Brown from African American sources in the early 1900s.
I remember a story that after the song was recorded by country musicians in the 1920s there was dispute over the copyrights to the song by Clayton McMichen, who played the tune regularly at competitions. McMichen clearly did not write the song but wanted to be the owner of the copyright because it was his favorite competition tune. (Matteson 2009)
BILE DEM CABBAGE DOWN- Lewis Hairston
Listen: "Big Sweet" Lewis Hairston 1977 Bile Dem Cabbage Down
[Banjo]
CHORUS: Bile them cabbage down babe,
Turn your hoecakes brown.
Last words I hear her say,
Bile them cabbage down.
Verse: I wished I had a nickle,
I wished I had a dime.
I wish I had a pretty little girl,
Kiss her and call her mine.
Verse 2: Some give a nickel
Some give a dime.
But I ain't givin' nothin'
She weren't no girl of mine. (CHORUS)
[banjo]
VERSE3: Mama sent me to the spring one day
She told me not to stay.
But I fell in love with a pretty little girl,
Stayed till Christmas day.(CHORUS)
Raccoon up the simmons tree,
Possum on the ground
Raccoon say, "You darned fool,
Shake some simmons down." (CHORUS)
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