Annotation:Old Mother Logo (2)

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OLD MOTHER LOGO [2]. American, Reel. D Dorian. A modal tune from the repertoire of fiddler Mel Durham [1] (1914-2008), originally from southern Illinois. Mike Seeger collected the following lyric from Bob Durham, Mel's banjo-playing brother.

Mel Durham

Old Mother Logo, she likes whiskey,
Old Mother Logo, she likes wine;
Old Mother Logo, she got drunk,
Crossed the river on a pumpkin vine.

Old Mother Logo, she had children,
Old Mother Logo, she had three;
Old Mother Logo, she had children,
One of them looked just like me.

Oh the death of my poor children,
Oh the death that they did die;
One got drunk, the other one drowned,
One got choked on a pumpkin vine.

Additional verses have been posted at Mudcat [2]:

Oh, the deaths of my poor children!
Oh, the deaths that they did die!
One got shot and one got stabbed
And one choked eatin' on a chicken pie.

From Mike Seegar:

Old Mother Logo, she got drunk
Fell in the fire and she kicked up a chunk
A red hot coal got in her shoe
And it's good god almighty how the ashes flew

Doodle adle oo da do da do da
Doodle adle oo da do die ay
Doodle adle oo da do da do da
Doodle adle oo da do die ay

Old Mother Logo, fare thee well
She tried to cross a river in a pumpkin shell
The river was deep and the river was wide
And she never did make it to the other side

Doodle adle oo da do da do da
Doodle adle oo da do die ay
Doodle adle oo da do da do da
Doodle adle oo da do die ay

Oh, my poor children
Oh, how they did cry
Some got sick and some got drownded
Some got choked on chicken pie

Some of the stanzas are shared with the southern-Illinois collected "Pennyrile Tea."

Source for notated version:

Printed sources:

Recorded sources: Folkways FTS 31062, "Ship in the Clouds: Old Time Instrumental Music" (1978. Learned from Virginia fiddler Chris Murray).

See also listing at:
See/hear versions on youtube.com [3] [4]
Hear slow and fast versions of the tune at the Old Town School of Folk Music site [5] [6]




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