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On the Wilderness Road/Cumberland Gap
Traditional Old-Time, Breakdown- US; Arkansas, southwest Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, western North Carolina, Alabama;
ARTIST: Words by Jimmy Driftwood- Art Thieme on On the Wilderness Trail, Folk-Legacy, 1986
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes. DATE: Early 1900’s (1924);
RECORDING INFO: Rutherford & Burnett, "Cumberland Gap" (Gennett 6706, 1929 -- a primarily instrumental version; on BurnRuth01) County 527, Leonard Rutherford & R.D. Burnett - "Old-Time Fiddle Classics, Vol. 2." Augusta Heritage Recordings AHR-004C, Harvey Sampson and the Big Possum String Band - "Flat Foot in the Ashes" (1986/1994. Learned by Calhoun County, W.Va. fidder Harvey Sampson from his father). Broadway 5118-A (78 RPM) {1924} and Library of Congress AFS 4804-B-3 {1941}, Osey and Ernest Helton (Asheville N.C.). Conqueror 8239 (78 RPM), Doc Roberts. County 723, Cockerham, Jarrell, and Jenkins- "Back Home in the Blue Ridge." Marimac 9008, The Lazy Aces String Band - "Still Lazy after All These Years" (1986. Learned from Arthur Smith). Rounder 1005, Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers- "Hear These New Southern Fiddle and Guitar Records." Rounder 0058, Corbit Stamper and Thornton Spencer - "Old Originals, Vol. 2" (1978). Rounder 0089, Oscar and Eugene Wright (W.Va.) - "Old-Time Fiddle." Vocalation 14839 (78 RPM, 1924) Uncle Am Stuart (b. 1856, Morristown, Tenn). Voyager 340, Jim Herd - "Old Time Ozark Fiddling." Yodel-Ay-Hee 05, The Wildcats - "On Our Knees" (1992). Gennett 6706 (78 RPM), Burnett and Rutherford (1928). Morning Star 45003, Leonard Rutherford/Dick Burnett (Ky.) - "Wink the Other Eye: Old Time Fiddle Band Music from Kentucky, Vol. 1" (1980); Adkisson, Steve. Old Time Banjo Pieces, Jowaisas SC 433, Cas (199?), cut#A.01; Blakeman, Guy. Snow on the Roof, Fire in the Furnace., Ohio Arts Council, LP (1979), cut#A.04; Burnett and Rutherford. Old Time Fiddle Classics, Vol. 2, County 527, LP (1973), cut# 3; Burnett and Rutherford. Fiddle Band Music from Kentucky, Vol.1, Wink the Other Eye, MorningStar 45003, LP (1980), cut# 8; Byrd, Robert (Senator). Mountain Fiddler, County 769, LP (1978), cut# 7; Carter Family. Original Carter Family in Texas - Vol 1, Old Homestead OHCS 111, LP (1978), cut# 21; Carter, Maybelle (Mother Maybelle). Dixie Darling, Mountain Dew S 7014, LP (197?), cut# 5; Caudill, Roy; and Henry Vanoy. Comin' Round the Mountain, Voyager VLRP 302, LP (197?), cut# 16; Cockerham, Jarrell and Jenkins. Back Home in the Blue Ridge, County 723, LP, cut# 7; Corbit, Stamper. Old Originals, Vol. 2, Rounder 0058, LP (1978), cut# 22; Cravens, Red; and the Bray Brothers. 419 W. Main, Rounder 0015, LP (1972), cut# 9; Creed, Kyle. Liberty, Heritage (Galax) 028 (XXVIII), LP (1977), cut#B.04; Crisp, Rufus. Rufus Crisp, Folkways FA 2342, LP (1972), cut#A.05; Double Decker String Band. Evolution Girl, Marimac 9021, Cas (1988), cut# 14; Dutch Cove Old Time String Band. Sycamore Tea, June Appal JA 0023, LP, cut# 14; Feldmann, Peter. How to Play Clawhammer Banjo, Sonyatone STI-104, LP (1975), cut# 9; Flatt & Scruggs & the Foggy Mountain Boys. Foggy Mountain Banjo, Columbia LE 10043, LP (196?), cut# 12; Fly By Night String Band. Fly By Night String Band, Fretless 146, LP (1980), cut#B.05; Freewill Savages. Tribute to the Appalachian String Band Music Festival, Chubby Dragon CS 1001, Cas (199?), cut#B.11; George, Franklin/Frank. Traditional Music for Banjo, Fiddle and Bagpipes, Kanawha 307, LP (1967), cut#B.05; Green, Sam and Charley. It's Just the Same Today, Tennessee Folklore Soc. TFC-108, LP (1987?), cut# 9 (Mulberry Gap); Gregory, W. L.; and Clyde Davenport. Monticello, Davis Unlimited DU 33014, LP (1975), cut# 10; Haley, Ed. Grey Eagle (Vol. 2), Rounder 1133/1134, CD (1997), 2.02; Hall, Leland. Old-Time Fiddling of Braxton County, Augusta Heritage AHR 012, Cas (1992), cut#B.01; Hammons, Edden. Edden Hammons Collection. Vol Two, West Virginia Univ SA-2, CD (2000), cut#1.18; Homer and the Barnstormers. Blue Grass Banjos - Flaming Banjos, Alshire 2-120-1/2, LP (197?), cut#1B.01; Horton, Abe. Old Time Music from Fancy Gap, Heritage (Galax) 019, LP (1978), cut# 6; Hotmud Family. Fox Hollow Lodge String Band Festival, Vol. 1. Comin' Home, Biograph RC 6008, LP (1976), cut# 2; Hughes, Delbert. Home Recordings., Augusta Heritage AHR 015, Cas (1994), cut#B.09; Kimble Family. Carroll County Pioneers, Marimac 9036, Cas (1992), cut# 11; Landers, George. High Atmosphere, Rounder 0028, LP (1974), cut# 7; Mainer, J. E.. Legendary J. E. Mainer. Vol 4, Rural Rhythm RRJE 208, Cas (196?), cut#B.02; Marion, Carlie. Going Across the River to Hear my Banjo Ring, Marimac 9018, Cas (1988), cut# 3 (Tumblin' Gap); McGee Brothers and Arthur Smith. McGee Brothers and Arthur Smith, Folkways FA 2379, LP (1964), cut# 1; Molsky, Bruce; and Bob Carlin. Take Me as I Am, Marimac 9023, Cas (1989), cut# 7; New Lost City Ramblers. There Ain't No Way Out, Smithsonian/Folkways 40098, CD (1997), cut#10; Pennington, Larry. 38th Annual Galax Old Fiddlers Convention, 1973, Gazette 38, LP (1973), cut# 20; Pine River Boys with Maybelle. Outback, Heritage (Galax) 003 (III), LP (1974), cut#B.07 (Cumblin' Gap) ; Powell, Dirk. Hand Me Down, Rounder 0444, CD (1999), cut#17; Proffitt, Frank. High Atmosphere, Rounder 0028, LP (1974), cut# 22; Ray, Jesse (Lost John). Galax Virginia; Old Fiddler's Convention, Folkways FA 2435, LP (1964), cut#A.05; Rhines, Marie. Reconciliation, Fretless 118, LP (1976), cut#B.05; Roan Mountain Hilltoppers. Down Home, Roan Mountain, CD (2000/1983), cut# 6; Robins, Butch. Fifth Child, Rounder 0130, LP (1980), cut# 2 ; Rucker, Sparky and Ronda. Blue and Gray in Black and White, Flying Fish FF 70611, CD (1992), cut# 3b; Sampson, Harvey; & the Big Possum String Band. Flat Foot in the Ashes, Augusta Heritage AHR 004, LP (1986), cut#1.04; Schwarz, Tracy. Dancing Bow and Singing Strings, Folkways FTS-6524, LP (1979), cut#B.04; Scruggs, Earl. Folk Festival at Newport. Vol. 3, Vanguard VRS 9064, LP (1960?), B.09 ; Sexton, Lee "Boy". Whoa Mule, June Appal JA 0051, LP (1987), cut# 19; Sexton, Morgan. Shady Grove, June Appal JA 0066C, Cas (1992), cut# 1; Slaughter, Matokie; and the Back Creek Buddies. Saro, Marimac 9028, Cas (1990), cut# 5 (Tumblin' Gap); Smith, Ralph Lee. Dulcimer; More Old-Time and Traditional Music, Skyline DD-106, LP (1975), cut# 12; Stoneman, Hattie Frost (Mrs. Ernest Stoneman). Stoneman Family Old Time Songs, Folkways FA 2315, Cas (1957), cut# 7; Stringbean (David Ackerman). Goin' to the Grand Ole Opry, OV 1726, LP (1976), cut# 10 (Old Cumberland Gap); Strong, Luther. American Fiddle Tunes, Library of Congress AFS L62, LP (1971), cut# 21; Sutherland, Pete. Eight Miles From Town, Marimac 9031, Cas (1982), cut# 11; Tenenbaum, Molly. And the Hillsides Are All Covered with Cakes, Cat Hair, Cas (1994), cut# 17; Ward, Wade. Roscoe Holcomb and Wade Ward, Folkways FA 2363, LP (1962), cut#B.05; Wiley, Paul. Comin' Round the Mountain, Voyager VLRP 302, LP (197?), cut# 10; Wine, Melvin. Hannah at the Springhouse, Marimac AHS 2, Cas (1989), cut# 17; Wright, Oscar And Eugene. Oscar & Eugene Wright, Rounder 0089, LP (1978), cut# 16;
OTHER NAMES: "Tumberland Gap;" “Doggett’s Gap(Lunsford);” “Riding a Buckin' Mule Through Cumberland Gap;” “Big Stone Gap”
RELATED MELODY: "Bonnie George Campbell" (Child 210); “Kennesaw Mountain Rag;” “End of My Line.”
SOURCES: From Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion: The tune was played by Rock Ridge, Alabama, fiddlers c. 1920 (D.B. Vol. 17, #2, pg. 20). It was in the repertoires of Fiddlin' Cowan Powers 1877-1952? (Russell County, southwest Va.) who recorded it in 1924 for Victor {though it was unissued}, and African-American fiddler Cuje Bertram of Kentucky's Cumberland Plateau region (Bertram recorded it on a 1970 home recording made for his family). Also in repertoire of J. Dedrick Harris who was from eastern Tennessee and who fiddled regularly with Bob Taylor in his run for Governor of the state in the late 1800's. Harris moved to western North Carolina in the 1920's and influenced a generation of fiddlers including the Helton brothers, Manco Sneed, Bill Hensley, and Marcus Martin. In the Round Peak region of western North Carolina the melody was known by the title "Tumberland Gap" for many years until the isloation of the area broke down. Near Round Peak, Mt. Airy, North Carolina, fiddler Tommy Jarrell (d. 1986) remembered the tune "came around" the region when he was a young man, around 1915, and was not known before then. The tune was mentioned by William Byrne who described a chance encounter with West Virginia fiddler 'Old Sol' Nelson during a fishing trip on the Elk River. The year was around 1880, and Sol, whom Byrne said was famous for his playing "throughout the Elk Valley from Clay Courthouse to Sutton as...the Fiddler of the Wilderness," had brought out his fiddle after supper to entertain (Milnes, 1999). The title appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. Leonard Rutherford (Ky.) [Phillips/1989]: Paul Warren with Flat and Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys [Phillips/1994]: Jeff Goehring with the Red Mules [Phillips/1994]: Charlie Higgins (Galax, Va) and Uncle Am Stuart (Tenn.) [Krassen]. Krassen (Appalachian Fiddle), 1973; pg 58 (includes 2 'A' part variations). Phillips (Fiddlecase Tunebook), 1989; pg. 15. Phillips(Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), 1994; pgs. 63 & 64. Hot Mud Family [Brody]. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 82. Biograph RC 6008, Hot Mud Family- "Fox Hollow String Band Fest." The Skillet Lickers medley of "Cumberland Gap" and "Buckin' Mule." Bluebird 5434-B (78 RPM), Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers {Ga.} (1934). Rounder Records 1023, Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers - "The Kickapoo Medecine Show". Rounder Records 1005, "The Skillet Lickers." Fenell, Walter. Fiddle Book, Oak, Bk (1967), p114; Hathaway, Ira. Devil's Box, Devil's Box DB, Ser (196?), 21/2, p58; Howard, James. American Ballads and Folk Songs, MacMillan, Bk (1934), p.274; Krassen, Miles. Appalachian Fiddle, Oak, sof (1973), p58; Lomax-FSNA 80, Cumberland Gap; Randolph 498, "Cumberland Gap"; Silber-CivWar, pp. 62-63, "Cumberland Gap;" Lomax-ABFS, pp. 274-276, "Cumberland Gap;" Arnett, p. 31, "Cumberland Gap;" Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 714, "Cumberland Gap;" PSeeger-AFB, p. 67, "Cumberland Gap;" Silber-FSWB, p. 49, "Cumberland Gap" Luther Strong [Phillips]: Walter Fenell (Latimer County, Oklahoma) [Thede]. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), 1994; pg. 62. Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; pg. 114. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 1, 1994; pg. 63. Ruthie Dornfeld [Phillips]. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 1, 1994; pg. 63; Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc;
NOTES: "G Major: A Major: D Major (Tommy Jarrell). Standard, DGDG (Harvey Sampson) or ADAD (Tommy Jarrell). ABCC'DD (Phillips): AABB (Thede): AABBCC (Brody)." (Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).
The Cumberland Gap is a pass in the Appalachians between upper Tennessee and Kentucky. Thomas Walker explored and named Cumberland Gap in 1750. The tune is derived from the Child ballad, "Bonnie George Campbell" (Child 210). A similar version called “Dogget’s Gap” came from Lamar Bascom Lunsford.
The lyrics to “Cumberland Gap” also have frequent lines about the Civil War (“fourteen miles to Cumberland Gap”) Here’s some info about Cumberland Gap and the Civil War: June 18, 1862 - Union troops under G.W. Morgan occupy the Gap after James Rains (who is outnumbered by two to one) evacuates the pass. Sept. 17, 1862 - Morgan evacuates the Gap, his retreat having been cut off by Bragg's and Kirby Smith's campaigns in Kentucky. Oct. 22, 1862 - Confederate troops from Braxton Bragg's army occupy the Gap. Sept. 10, 1863 - Confederates forced from the Gap by troops under Burnside. The Gap will remain in Union hands thereafter.
On the Wilderness Road- Jimmie Driftwood
Melody: Cumberland Gap
LYRICS:
I once had a fortune and a place of abode,
But I gave 'em away for the Wilderness Road.
When I couldn't pay all the debts that I owed,
I started to travellin' on the Wilderness Road.
High over the mountains, through the beautiful vales,
I counted the cabins on the buffalo trail.
I crossed the Kentucky, crossed the Tennessee;
I crossed Big Muddy and the lone prairie.
On the Wilderness Road, on the Wilderness Road,
I've been a-travellin' a long, long time on the Wilderness Road.
I met all the people 'way back In the hills;
I prayed in their graveyards and I drunk at their stills.
I heard of their joys and I heard of their wrongs
In their wonderful stories and their beautiful songs.
They planted their gardens by the beautiful stream,
And they planted their fathers in the land of their dreams.
With a pure inspiration, they carried their load,
And they built up a nation on the Wilderness Road.
If I was a rich man, I'd pay what I owed;
Build me a cabin on the Wilderness Road.
But I ain't a rich man, so I guess you know
I'll keep on a bummin' on the Wilderness Road.
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