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| Lyr/Chords Req: 31 Depression Blues |
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Subject: 31 Depression Blues From: GUEST,Martoons Date: 16 May 01 - 10:26 PM I'm looking for the lyrics and chords for this song I've heard on a New Lost City Rambler CD. Is there anyone out there who can help? Thank you G |
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: 31 Depression Blues From: Sorcha Date: 16 May 01 - 11:37 PM No lyrics but I found this-- click me, baby! |
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: 31 Depression Blues From: GUEST,Martoons Date: 17 May 01 - 10:01 AM Excellent site there. I'll be wandering for hours. Thanks |
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: 31 Depression Blues From: Joe Offer Date: 22 Jan 08 - 02:00 PM refresh Sound clip here (click). Also recorded by the New Lost City Ramblers, who learned it from composer Ed Sturgill. Here's the Traditional Ballad Index entry on this song: '31 Depression BluesDESCRIPTION: Coal miner tells of hard times in the Depression. Miners go to work hungry, ragged and shoeless and are cheated of their pay. The Supreme Court rules the National Recovery Act unconstitutional. The singer urges listeners to join the U.M.W.AUTHOR: Credited to Ed Sturgill EARLIEST DATE: 1968 (recording, New Lost City Ramblers) LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer, a coal miner, tells of hard times in the Great Depression of the 1930s. Miners go to work hungry, ragged and shoeless; when they go to the office for scrip, they're told they're behind and owe the company as the scale boss cheats them of their pay. The National Recovery Act offers hope, but the Supreme Court rules it unconstitutional. Roosevelt declares a bank holiday; John L. Lewis wins the miners' battle; the singer urges listeners to join the U.M.W., saying the Depression is now gone KEYWORDS: strike mining work hardtimes labor-movement FOUND IN: US(Ap) RECORDINGS: New Lost City Ramblers, "'31 Depression Blues" (on NLCR15, NLCRCD2) Ed Sturgill, "'31 Depression Blues" (Big Pine 677M-7157, n.d.) CROSS-REFERENCES: cf. "Bright Sunny South" (tune) cf. "Sixteen Tons" (lyrics) SAME TUNE: Three Stripped Gears, "1931 Depression Blues" (OKeh 45553, 1931) Notes: Well, we have a conundrum here. I'd be prepared to suggest that the Sturgill song is based on the Three Stripped Gears' recording, but not having heard the latter, I refrain for now. If this turns out to be the case, I suppose it should get its own listing. Sturgill's last verse incorporates lines from Merle Travis's "Sixteen Tons." - PJS File: Rc31DB Go to the Ballad Search form The Ballad Index Copyright 2007 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle. |
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Subject: ADD: 1931 Depression Blues From: 12-stringer Date: 22 Jan 08 - 07:02 PM I haven't heard the 3 Stripped Gears recording, but Tony Russell's Country Music 1920-1942 indicates it's an instrumental. Anyway, the text of the song shows quite clearly that it was composed some time after the events in the title. The Gears were a mandolin/guitars trio and probably didn't use the modal melody of Ed Sturgill's song. 1931 Depression Blues (Ed Sturgill, as sung by New Lost City Ramblers) (from the NLCR cover; Ed Sturgill's original has been reissued on that set of coal mining songs produced by a small community org in southwestern VA but I don't have a copy of it) Now come on boys and listen while I tell Oh, the old depression that we all remember well Oh, the year it happened, is when it begun The year that it happened Nineteen hundred and thirty one. When we go to the mine with half enough to eat With old rags on our backs and no shoes on our feet And we go to the office with scrip on our minds And the scrip writer says, "You're one dollar behind." When we used to load coal we loaded it for fun Oh, we loaded by the acre and it wasn't by the ton Then we'd go to the scale house to look at our weight And the scale boss says that we dumped it over slate. (banjo solo) Oh, depression is gone, I am glad it is gone Oh, the year that it happened, Nineteen hundred and thirty-one When the NRA it was made over night And the big supreme judge he said it wasn't right. Then Roosevelt stepped in, he was doing his best When he closed all the banks and he gave them a rest Then he opened them up and he put them on their feet Says, "Boys, use your pockets now, your money can't be beat." (banjo solo) Oh, depression is gone, I am glad it is gone Oh, the year that it happened, Nineteen hundred and thirty-one, And the public said, "John L, it can never be done," But somehow he got the miners' battle won. Now, come on, boys, you can give me your hand You can join the UMW if you want to be a man Oh, you may be eating now, have a place to sleep, It won't be so long you'll be kicked out in the street. For it's 16 tons and what did I get? Just one day older, little more in debt Depression is gone, I am glad it is gone, The year it began, Nineteen hundred and thirty one. As for chords, there aren't any, but you can get by with Dm and C if you're doing this on guitar. The song should be played on banjo, in f#CGAD ("Dock Boggs" tuning). Ed Sturgill, who composed and recorded it, was a neighbor and admirer of Dock Boggs and replicates his style very well, as does Mike Seeger in the NLCR cover. When I met him in 1968 Dock spoke of Ed Sturgill and played a verse or two of the song for me on his banjo. |
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Subject: ADD: 31 Depression Blues From: Joe Offer Date: 23 Jan 08 - 01:31 AM Thanks a lot, 12-Stringer. I hear a few things just a bit different, expecially on the first verse. Here's what I hear: 1931 Depression Blues (Ed Sturgill, as sung by New Lost City Ramblers) Now come on boys and listen while I tell Oh, the old depression that we all remember well Oh, the year that it happened, it's when it begun It was the year Nineteen hundred and thirty one. When we go to the mines with half enough to eat With old rags on our backs and no shoes on our feet And we go to the office with scrip on our minds And the scrip writer says, "You're one dollar behind." When we used to load coal we loaded it for fun Oh, we loaded by the acre and it wasn't by the ton Then we'd go to the scale house to look at our weight And the scale boss would say that we dumped it over slate. (banjo solo) Oh, depression is gone, I'm glad it is gone Oh, the year that it happened, Nineteen hundred thirty-one When the NRA it was made over night And the big supreme judge he said it wasn't right. Then Roosevelt stepped in, he was doing his best When he closed all the banks and he gave them a rest Then he opened them up and he put them on their feet Says, "Boys, use your pockets now, your money can't be beat." (banjo solo) Oh, depression is gone, I'm glad it is gone Oh, the year that it happened, Nineteen hundred and thirty-one, And the public said, "John L, it can never be done," But somehow he got the miners' battle won. Now, come on, boys, you can give me your hand You can join the UMW if you want to be a man Oh, you may be eating now, have a place to sleep, It won't be so long you'll be kicked out in the street. Lord, it's 16 tons and what did I get? Just one day older, little more in debt Depression is gone, I am glad it is gone, The year it began, Nineteen hundred and thirty one. |
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Subject: ADD: '31 Depression Blues (Ed Sturgill) From: Joe Offer Date: 23 Jan 08 - 01:49 AM Hmmm. I found the original version. Didn't know I had it. -Joe- '31 Depression Blues (Ed Sturgill) Come on boys and listen what I tell Of the old depression that we all remember well. Oh, the year that it happened is when it begun It was the year nineteen hundred and thirty one. When we'd go to the mines with half enough to eat, With old rags on our backs and no shoes on our feet, And we'd go to the office had scrip on our mind, And the scrip writer'd say, "You're one dollar behind." When we used to load coal, oh, we'd load it for fun. Oh, we loaded by the acre and it wasn't by the ton. And we'd go to the scale house to look at our weight, And the scale boss would say that we'd dumped it all for slate. The depression is gone and I'm glad it is gone. Oh the year that it happened, nineteen hundred and thirty one. When the NRA, it was done late one night And the big supreme judge then he said it wasn't right. Then Roosevelt stepped in, he was doing his best, Then he closed all the banks and he give them a rest. Then he opened them up when he put them on their feet, He said, Boys you can deposit now, your money can't be beat. Oh, the depression's gone, I'm glad that it is gone. Oh the year it happened nineteen hundred and thirty one. And the public said, "John L., it could never be done." But somehow he got this final victory won. Now come on boys you can give me your hand You can join the UMW if you want to be a man. For you maybe eating now, out of faith you sleep, It won't be 'fore long you'll be kicked out on the street. I load sixteen tons and what did I get? Just one day older a little more in debt. The depression is gone I'm glad that it is gone. The year it began nineteen hundred and thirty one. Nineteen hundred and thirty one. from the CD booklet, Music of Coal: Mining Songs from the Appalachian Coalfields (Lonesome Records and Publishing, 2007) Ed Sturgill recorded this cut in 1964 on his own label, Big Pine Records. |