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The Cat Came Back
Old-Time, Breakdown- USA; Ky., Missouri. "A Comic Negro Absurdity Minstrel Song" Words and Music by Harry S. Miller (1893)
ARTIST: Bob MacMillan of Vancouver;
SHEET MUSIC: Cat Came Back arranged Richard Matteson
Listen: Sonny James- Cat Came Back (w/vocal) 1956
Listen: Laurie Berkner- Cat Came Back (w/vocal)
MP3: Fiddle Instrumental by Doc Roberts 1927
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes; DATE: 1893;
RECORDING INFO: Fiddlin' John Carson, "And The Cat Came Back" (Okeh 40119, 1924); Riley Puckett, "The Cat Came Back" (Decca 5442, 1937); Fiddlin' Doc Roberts, "And The Cat Came Back" (instrumental) (Challenge 307, 1927; Silvertone 8179, 1928); Marimac AHS #3, Glen Smith - "Say Old Man" (1990. Learned from Tommy Jackson). Morning Star 45005, Doc Roberts - "Way Down South in Dixie" (Learned from Madison County, Ky., African-American fiddler Owen Walker {b. 1857), a well-known local entertainer). Moore, Lee. Everybody's Favorite, Rural Rhythm RRLM 202, LP (197?), cut#B.01; Osborne, Uncle Charlie (Charlie N.). Seedtime on the Cumberland. Sampler 1990-91, June Appal JA 0067C, Cas (1992), cut# 3; Osborne, Uncle Charlie (Charlie N.). 100 Years Farther On, June Appal JA 0064C, Cas (199?), cut# 8; Williams, Doc. Doc Williams, New and Old Favorites, Wheeling WLPS-7272, LP (196?), cut#B.03
OTHER NAMES: "And The Cat Came Back;" “Cat”
SOURCES: Fiddler J. C. Owens-Fiddler’s Three (Cat Came Back) (a master of various fiddling styles of the upstate South Carolina) Doc Roberts (Ky.) [Reiner & Anick]; Kevin Wimmer [Phillips]. R.P. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, Vol. 1), 1973; pg. 8. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), 1994; pg. 15. Reiner & Anick (Old-Time Fiddling Across America), 1989; pg. 98. Randolph 444, "The Cat Came Back;" Spaeth-ReadWeep, p. 147, "The Cat Came Back;" Silber-FSWB, p. 400, Herren, Ruth Burton. Sweet Bunch of Daisies, Colonial Press, Bk (1991), p 68;
NOTES: "The Cat Came Back", a song written by Henry S. Miller in 1893 is included in my new book, Acoustic Music Source Book, published by Mel Bay. At some point in the 1960s-1970s the lyrics were wed to the chord progression Em/D/C/B7 found in songs like "Sixteen Tons" by Merle Travis. This is the way I play it and you can listen to Laurie Berkner's version (above) that uses the minor chord progression.
There are a variety of online versions at the Max Hunter and Wolff Folklore collections, some with notes and chords. There are a variety of lyric version (many included here), several which even have the cat blown up by an atomic bomb.
Notes from Kuntz: "G Major (Phillips, Reiner & Anick): A Major (Christeson). Standard, AEAE, ADAE. AABBCC (Phillips): AA'BB'CC' (Reiner & Anick). Christeson (1973) notes: "Played by a few Missouri fiddlers in ... the early 1930's but is seldom heard any more." (Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).
CAT CAME BACK-Bob MacMillan of Vancouver
Freddie Wilson had a cat that he didn't want to keep,
He offered it for sale, but no-one would buy it cheap.
He called upon the preacher to ask for his advice,
The preacher said just leave him here, for it would be
so nice --
Chorus: But the cat came back, he wouldn't stay away,
He was sitting on the porch on the very next day;
The cat came back, he didn't want to roam,
The very next day he was home sweet home.
Freddie put the cat on board a ship was headed for Ceylon,
The ship was overloaded, about forty thousand ton;
Not many miles from shore that gallant ship went down
There wasn't any doubt about it, everybody drowned --
(chorus)
Freddie put the cat on board with a man in a balloon,
Who would give the cat away to the man up in the moon,
The balloon it didn't rise, it burst in bits instead,
Ten miles away they found the man stone dead --
(chorus)
Freddie Wilson took his gun and he hid behind a bush,
In the barrel of his gun lead and powder he did push.
He aimed it at the spot where the cat would appear;
The next day all they found was Freddie Wilson's ear --
(chorus)
Now the cat sat on the porch and he ate a piece of cheese,
An Irishman came by, he was feeling well at ease.
The cat he was a-smiling, for he was fully fed;
The Irishman sang "Britannia!" and the cat fell dead --
But his ghost came back, he wouldn't stay away,
He was sitting on the porch on the very next day.
His ghost came back, he didn't want to roam,
He haunted Freddie's house and his home sweet home.
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