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Pig in a Pen
Traditional Bluegrass and Old-Time song
ARTIST: Stanley Brothers
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes
DATE: 1800s-First Recording 1937 "Pig at Home in a Pen" Arthur Smith with Delmore Brothers
RECORDING INFO:
Bailey, Mike. Banjo Newsletter, BNL, Ser (1973-), 1978/06,p26 (Pig in a Pen)
Bird, Elmer. Elmer's Greatest Licks, Bird, Cas (1980), trk# 11 (I've Got a Pig at Home in the Pen)
Camp Creek Boys. Original Camp Creek Boys Through the Years, Mountain 312, LP (197?), trk# 12
Cooper, Wilma Lee. Cooper, Wilma Lee. Songs to Remember, Cooper, Fol (196?), p13
East, Earnest; & the Pine Ridge Boys. Old Time Mountain Music, County 718, LP (1969), trk# 9
Gravely, Spud. Ballads and Songs of the Blue Ridge Mountains., Asch AH 3831, LP (1968), trk# A.11 [1960ca] (Pig in a Pen)
Gregory, W. L.; and Clyde Davenport. Monticello, Davis Unlimited DU 33014, LP (1975), trk# 7 [1974/09/29]
Hobbs, Smiley. American Banjo - Tunes and Songs in Scruggs Style, Folkways FA 2314, LP (1966), trk# B.01 (Pig in a Pen)
Leftwich, Andy. Fiddler Magazine, Fiddler Mag., Ser, 13/4, p15(2006) (Pig in a Pen)
Limited Edition. Limited Edition Presents the Limited Edition, Limited Edition, LP (1975), trk# A.02 (Pig in a Pen)
Morgan, Tom. Bluegrass with Friends and Family, Folkways FTS 31072, LP (1983), trk# A.04 [1963/05/18]
Old and in the Way. Old and in the Way, Sugar Hill SH 3746, LP (1975), trk# A.01 [1973/10]
Pegram, George; and Parham, Red (Walter). Music From South Turkey Creek, Rounder 0065, LP (1976), trk# b-2
Pine River Boys with Maybelle. Outback, Heritage (Galax) 003 (III), LP (1974), trk# B.02
Round Peak Band. Round Peak Band, Marimac 9044, Cas (1992), trk# A.10 (Pig in a Pen)
Rural Delivery. R. D. Breakdown, Hare 082082, LP (1982), trk# A.01 (Pig in a Pen)
Smith, Fiddlin' Arthur; & his Dixieliners. Fiddlin' Arthur Smith and His Dixieliners, Vol 2., County 547, LP (1978), trk# A.06 [1937/02/17] (Pig at Home in a Pen)
RELATED TO: Hard To Love (Little Turtle Dove); Liza Jane; Shady Grove; On a Cold Frosty Morning (Related Melody)
OTHER NAMES: "Pig at Home in a Pen"
SOURCES: Ford, Ira W. / Traditional Music in America, Folklore Associates, Bk (1965/1940), p 41a; Carlin, Bob. Brody, David (ed.) / Banjo Picker's Fakebook, Oak, Fol (1985), p117b; Hicks, Ed. Thede, Marion (ed.) / The Fiddle Book, Oak, Bk (1967), p 53b [1930s]; Skillet Lickers. Brody, David (ed.) / Fiddler's Fakebook, Oak, Sof (1983), p215 The Skillet Lickers (Atlanta, Georgia) [Kuntz]; Ed Hicks (Adair County, Oklahoma) [Thede]; Harvey Taylor [Phillips]. Brody (Fiddler’s Fakebook), 1983; pg. 215. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 41. Kuntz (Ragged But Right), 1987; pg. 331-332. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 1, 1994; pg. 180. Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; pg. 53. Also appears in Ira Ford's book. Flying Fish 089, The Red Clay Ramblers, "Chuckin' the Frizz" (1979. Learned from "Lowe Stokes et. al.). Rounder 1023, Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers (North Ga., 1928) "The Kickapoo Medicine Show." Rounder CD0421, Bruce Molsky - “Big Hoedown” (1997). Tennvale 004, Pete Sutherland, "An Anthology."
NOTES: The liner notes for Old & In The Way's album "Breakdown" say that Pig In A Pen was "composed by Grand Ole Opry fiddler Arthur Smith, who recorded it with The Delmore Brothers in 1937." Using "Beautiful Beautiful Brown Eyes" as a tradtional song aquired by Smith and The Delmores, it seems likely that Smith simple was the first to record this song.
They go on to say that as the song "became a favorite with old-time musicians," it "garner[ed] added verses from the old mountain lyric song traditions."
In Old & In The Way's Version "Jerry [Garcia] sings the same verses as Carter Stanley, which are different from those sung by Smith."
Meade categorizes the song under "Hard To Love" which isn't really the correct fit for the song. Meade's "Hard To Love" group includes songs like "I Wish to the Lord I Had Never been Born 'It's Hard To Love and Can't Be Loved" and white Oak Mountain.
Lyrics to "Pig in A Pen" by Stanley Brothers:
Pig In A Pen by The Stanley Brothers
I got a pig at home in a pen, corn to feed 'im on
All I need is a pretty little girl to feed 'im when I'm gone;
Goin' on the mountain to sow a little cane
Raise a barrel of Sorghum to sweeten old Liza Jane;
*When she sees me comin', she wrings her hands and cries
Yonder comes the sweetest boy that ever lived or died;
*Now when she sees me leavin', she wrings her hands and cries
Yonder goes the meanest boy that ever lived or died;
Black cloud's a-risin', surest sign of rain
Get the old grey bonnet on Little Liza Jane;
Yonder comes that gal of mine, how you think I know
Can tell by that Gingham gown hangin' down so low;
Bake them biscuits lady, bake 'em good 'n brown
When you get them biscuits baked, we're Alabamy bound.
*Not on original recording.
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