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Cat Came Back (Version 5)
Old-Time, Breakdown- USA; Ky., Missouri. "A Comic Negro Absurdity Minstrel Song" Words and Music by Harry S. Miller (1893)
ARTIST: As sung by the New Christy Minstrels;
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-New Christie Minstrels
Well, just like everybody you have troubles of your own
But let me tell you mister of the sorrow I have known!
I had an old grey cat, that I couldn't bear to keep
He spent the nights a-howl'n and he wouldn't let me sleep.
So I put him in a box and I tied it up quite well.
I had some fellows help me and I paid them not to tell.
We put it in a boxcar, the west-bound 7:10
The train pulled away and was never seen again.
But the Cat came back, the very next day
Yes the Cat came back and he wouldn't stay away!
Meow, kitty! Meow, so pretty!
Meow, such a pity, but the Cat came back!
So I took him to the harbor and I put in on a ship.
I bid him bon voyage! for that oceanic trip!
The captain was obligin' and glad to help us out
We tied him to the anchor so that there could be no doubt!
Well, we heard that sad report of that might storm at sea
And though it may sound heartless, I was happy as could be!
The paper said the ship went down beneath a heavy gale
And not a single soul was left to tell the awful tale!
But the Cat came back, the very next day
Yes the Cat came back and he wouldn't stay away!
Meow, kitty! Meow, so pretty!
Meow, such a pity, but the Cat came back!
So I gave him to a scientist, destined for the moon.
The Cat was used for ballast in an outer space balloon!
I guess you know what happened, that balloon's up there still,
And early that next morning, guess what came across the hill??
(Meow! That's right.)
Now, everyone in town was sworn to shoot that Cat on sight.
With that crazy cat around you couldn't sleep at night!
We even formed a posse just to hunt that critter down!
You could hear the guns a-blazin' as they ran him out of town!
But the Cat came back, the very next day
Yes the Cat came back and he wouldn't stay away!
Meow, kitty! Meow, so pretty!
Meow, such a pity, but the Cat came back!
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