Gallis Pole- Leadbelly (NY) 1935, 1939 REC
[Two transcriptions (mine; wiki's) 1. from Leadbelly's (Huddie Ledbetter's) first recording made in Wilton, Connecticut on January 20, 1935 (unissued at the time) Huddie Ledbetter vocal/guitar (LOC # 139-A-2) and 2. Ledbelly, vocal, 12 string guitar, tap). Musicraft, New York City, April 1, 1939. D1-11. GM 509-A.
Leadbelly made four recordings of this song between 1935 and 1948. Leadbelly's first recording (1935) for the LOC (John Lomax) was very restrained and slow. It has 3 stanzas with Mother, Auntie and Father. Possibly his version comes from another Texas inmate that the Lomaxes recorded a year earlier, James "Iron Head" Baker. I haven't heard Baker's recording of "Young Maid Saved from the Gallows." The title to Baker's version was surely given by John Lomax. Perhaps because Baker was the source, the Lomaxes intentionally didn't include Leadbelly's later titled "Gallis Pole" in their book, Negro Folk Songs as Sung by Lead Belly.
Leadbelly's second recording of the song "Mama, Did You Bring Me Any Silver?" was recorded in New York City on December 26, 1938 and was unissued at the time (LOC # 2501-A). It includes a long verbal introduction and tour de force 12-string guitar playing at 7 minutes long.
The original source for Led Zeppelin's "Gallows Pole" had been traced back to Leadbelly's "Gallis Pole." Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page adapted the song from a 1970 version by Fred Gerlach who based his version on Leadbelly's.
R. Matteson 2012, 2015]
1. "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" Wilton, Connecticut January 20, 1935 (unissued at the time) Huddie Ledbetter vocal/guitar
(LOC # 139-A-2) .
[brief guitar]
1. Mother, did you bring me any silvo[1],
Mother, did you bring me any gold?
What did you bring me, dear mother,
To keep me from the gallis[2] pole?
Son, I brought you some silvo,
Son, I brought you some gold.
Son, I brought you a little of everything,
To keep you from the gallis pole.
2. Auntie, did you bring me the silvo,
Auntie, did you bring me the gold?
What did you bring me, dear Auntie,
To keep me[3] from the gallows pole?
I didn't bring you the silvo,
I didn't bring you no gold?
I just come here to see you,
Hung on this gallows pole?
3. Father, did you bring me the silvo,
Father, did you bring me the gold?
What did you bring me, dear father,
To keep me from the gallows pole?
Son, I brought you some silvo,
Son, I brought you some gold.
Son, I brought you a little of everything,
To keep you from the gallis pole.
1. silver
2. gallows
3. sings "you" inadvertently
Gallis Pole- by Lead Belly- Text from Wiki. [My recording is Huddie Ledbetter (vo, g, tap). Musicraft, New York City, April 1, 1939. D1-11. GM 509-A. The Gallis Pole is similar but has no talking, a different arrangement. Listen: Huddie Ledbetter ]
[12 string guitar intro]
Father, did you bring me the silver,
Father, did you bring me the gold?
What did you bring me, dear father,
Keep me from the gallows pole?
Yeah, what did you?
Yeah, what did you?
What did you bring me, keep me from the gallows pole?
Spoken: In olden times years ago, when you put a man in prison behind the bars in a jailhouse, if you had fifteen or twenty-five or thirty dollars you could save him from the gallows pole 'cause they gonna hang him if you don't bring up a little money. Everybody would come to the jailhouse and boy would ran upside the jail; he was married, too. As for who brang him something, lot of comfort, here comes his mother.
Mother, did you bring me the silver,
Mother, did you bring me the gold?
What did you bring me, dear mother,
Keep me from the gallows pole?
Yeah, what did you?
Yeah, what did you?
What did you bring me, keep me from the gallows pole?
Son, I brought you some silver,
Son, I brought you some gold.
Son, I brought you a little of everything,
Keep you from the gallows pole.
Yeah, I brought it.
Yeah, I brought it.
I brought you, keep you from the gallows pole.
Spoken: Here come his wife. His wife brought him all kind of clock parts and trace change. Everything in the world she could to get him out of the jailhouse.
Wife, did you bring me the silver,
Wife, did you bring me the gold?
What did you bring me, dear wifey,
Save me from the gallows pole?
Yeah, what did you?
Yeah, what did you?
What did you bring me, keep me from the gallows pole?
Friends, did you bring me the silver,
Friends, did you bring me the gold?
What did you bring me, my dear friends,
Keep me from the gallows pole?
Yeah, what did you?
Yeah, what did you?
What did you bring me, keep me from the gallows pole?
--------------------------
[Below is my partial transcription of the same 1939 recording version- see wiki transcript above]
GALLIS POLE- Leadbelly; Huddie Ledbetter (vocal, 12 string guitar, tap). Musicraft, New York City, April 1, 1939. D1-11. GM 509-A Listen: Huddie Ledbetter
[extended guitar intro]
Father, did you bring me any silvo?
Father, did you bring me any gold?
What did you bring me, dear Father,
To keep me from the gallis pole?
Yas.
What didya? Yas.
What didya?
Whadya bring me
To keep me from the gallis pole?