Annotation:Johnson's Old Grey Mule
X:1 T:Johnson's Old Grey Mule M:C| L:1/8 C:Thomas Westendorff R:Song air Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion N:the "x2" indicates a shouted "Hee" or "Haw" K:D d2d2 d3B|d2d2 B2A2|d2d2 c2e2|d6 A2| d d3B2A2|d2d2B3A|d2d2c2e2|d6 cd| e2e2e2 cd|e2d2c2B2|A6c2|e e3 e2cd| e2c2e2c2|e2d2cB3|A2 AA B2c2|d8-|d2|| d2-A2 AB|c2 d4 x2|c2c2c2 AB|d2 d4 "x"z2|"x"z2"x"z2"x"z2 AA| Bd3e2e2|d8"fiddle"AB|d d2 d2 e dc|BcBA-AFAB|dBde-ed e2|d8||
JOHNSON'S OLD GREY MULE. American, Song Tune. USA, north Georgia. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). One part. A comic song by Thomas Westendorf, written in 1884. The lyric (from the Georgia Yellow Hammers) begins:
Johnson had an old grey mule,
His name was Simon Slick;
He’d roll his eyes and switch his tail,
Mmh, how that mule would kick.
Well rode him down to the foot of the hill,
He hooked him to his cart;
He loved that mule and that mule loved him,
With all his muley heart.
The combination of banjoist Jack Reedy (of the Hill Billies) along with Frank and Edd Blevins, won top honors at the White Top Folk Festival in 1933. They played "Johnson's Old Grey Mule" and "Cluck Old Hen" in a special performance for visiting First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, captured by Paramount Newsreel, footage now unfortunately lost. The group expanded in 1934 with the addition of guitar player Corwin Matthews and assumed the name Southern Buccaneers. They became the foremost string band in southwest Virginia in the latter 1930's.
