Cumberland Gap (folk song)

"Cumberland Gap" is an Appalachian folk song that likely dates to the latter half of the 19th century and was first recorded in 1924. The song is typically played on banjo or fiddle, and well-known versions of the song include instrumental versions as well as versions with lyrics. A version of the song appeared in the 1934 book, American Ballads and Folk Songs, by folk song collector John Lomax. Woody Guthrie recorded a version of the song at his Folkways sessions in the mid-1940s, and the song saw a resurgence in popularity with the rise of bluegrass and the American folk music revival in the 1950s.[1] In 1957, the British musician Lonnie Donegan had a No. 1 UK hit with a skiffle version of "Cumberland Gap".[2]

"Cumberland Gap"
Song
RecordedJune 1924 (first recording)
GenreFolk, country, skiffle, bluegrass
Lengthappx. 1.5 to 5 minutes, depending on version
Songwriter(s)Traditional

The song's title refers to the Cumberland Gap, a mountain pass in the Appalachian Mountains at the juncture of the states of Tennessee, Virginia, and Kentucky. The gap was used in the latter half of the 18th century by westward-bound migrants travelling from the original 13 American colonies to the Trans-Appalachian frontier. During the U.S. Civil War (1861–1865), Union and Confederate armies engaged in a year-long back-and-forth struggle for control of the gap.[3]

Song history

Origins and early references

North Carolina songster Bascom Lamar Lunsford (1882–1973), recording his "memory collection" for the Archive of American Folk Song in March 1949, suggested that "Cumberland Gap" may be a "sped up" version of the tune that once accompanied the ballad Bonnie George Campbell. Lunsford recorded both songs on fiddle to show the similarities (although many folk tunes from the British Isles are very similar).[4]

One of the earliest references to "Cumberland Gap" (the song) was published by author Horace Kephart (1862–1931) in his 1913 book, Our Southern Highlanders. Kephart recalled taking part in a bear hunt that took place circa 1904–1906 in the Great Smoky Mountains. While waiting for weather conditions to improve, members of the hunting party sang "ballets" to pass the time.[5] Kephart transcribed the opening stanzas to several of these songs, including a version of "Cumberland Gap" sung by Hazel Creek bear hunter "Little John" Cable:

"L-a-a-ay down boys,
Le's take a nap:
Thar's goin' to be trouble
In the Cumberland Gap"[5]

Kephart simply wrote that the song was of "modern and local origin."[5] Kentucky ballad collector H. H. Fuson published a lengthy version of "Cumberland Gap" in 1931, with the first three lines in the opening stanza reading "Lay down, boys, an' take a little nap" and the last line reading "They're all raisin' Hell in the Cumberland Gap," somewhat echoing the lyrics transcribed by Kephart a quarter-century earlier. Fuson's version also mentions key historical events in the Cumberland Gap's pioneer period and the battle for control of the gap during the Civil War. His last stanza ends with the line "Fourteen miles to the Cumberland Gap."[6] This last line would appear again in a 1933 field recording of the song by an obscure Harlan, Kentucky fiddler known as "Blind" James Howard, and published by John Lomax (who conducted the recording) in his 1934 book, American Ballads and Folk Songs.[6][7]

Early recordings and performances

The earliest known recording of "Cumberland Gap" was a 1924 instrumental version by Tennessee fiddler Ambrose G. "Uncle Am" Stuart (1853–1926). The first singing and solo banjo version was recorded by Land Norris in August, 1924 by Okeh Records. Then, in September 1924, fiddle-and-guitar duo Gid Tanner and Riley Puckett recorded the song, and would re-record the song again in 1926 with their band, the Skillet Lickers.[1] Tanner's lyrics bear little resemblance to Fuson's, although Tanner's chorus uses the line "Me and my wife and my wife's pap," which resembles a line in one of Fuson's stanzas.

In the mid-1940s, Woody Guthrie recorded a version of "Cumberland Gap" for Moe Asch's Folkways label, containing the chorus, "Cumberland Gap, Cumberland Gap/Seventeen miles to the Cumberland Gap" and a stanza referring to the gap's distance from Middlesboro, Kentucky.[8] Folk musician and folk music scholar Pete Seeger released a version somewhat similar to Guthrie's in 1954.[9] Donegan's 1957 skiffle version, which reached No. 1 on the charts in the United Kingdom, also resembled Guthrie's Folkways version, although his chorus uses "fifteen miles" rather than "seventeen miles."

In May 1925, at the now-legendary Fiddlers' Convention in Mountain City, Tennessee, fiddler G. B. Grayson won first prize (although accounts vary) with his rendering of "Cumberland Gap", ousting rivals Stuart, Charlie Bowman, and Fiddlin' John Carson.[10] Bluegrass banjoist Earl Scruggs delivered a memorable performance of "Cumberland Gap" at the Newport Folk Festival in 1959.[11] The song has since been recorded and performed by dozens of bluegrass, country, and folk musicians, including the 2nd South Carolina String Band's rendition of the Civil War lyrics.

Notable versions

Pre-war commercial recording details are from Rusell (2004)[12]

Artist Year Issue Genre Notes
Uncle Am Stuart July 1924 Vocalion Vo 14839 Old-time fiddle Instrumental
Land Norris August 1924 OKeh 40212 Old-time Solo vocal and solo banjo
Gid Tanner and Riley Puckett September 1924 Columbia Co 245-D Old-time fiddle and banjo
Gid Tanner and The Skillet Lickers 1928, Columbia Co 15303-D Old-time with vocal Riley Puckett plays guitar
The Hill Billies 1926 Vocation Vo 5024 Old-time
Dick Burnett, Leonard Rutherford & Byrd Moore 1928 Gennett Ge 6706 Old-time banjo, fiddle, guitar
Frank Hutchison 1929 OKeh OK44570 Old-time guitar with vocal
Blind James Howard 1933 Library of Congress Old-time fiddle Recorded for LOC by John Lomax
Gid Tanner and The Skillet Lickers 1934 Bluebird BB B-5434 Old-time fiddle, guitar, mandolin As "Cumberland Gap on a Bucking Mule"
Luther Strong 1937 Library of Congress Old-time fiddle Recorded for LOC by Alan Lomax
Woody Guthrie 1944–1945 Folkways Folk
Bascom Lamar Lunsford 1949 Library of Congress Old-time fiddle Plays "Bonnie George Campbell" and "Cumberland Gap"
Pete Seeger 1954 Folkways Folk
Don Reno and Red Smiley 1956 King Bluegrass
Lonnie Donegan 1957 Pye Skiffle UK no. 1 (five weeks), April–May.[13]
The Vipers Skiffle Group 1957 Parlophone Skiffle UK no. 10 hit in April.
Dickie Bishop and his Sidekicks 1957 London Records Skiffle
Wade Ward 1959 Atlantic Records Old-time banjo Recorded by Alan Lomax and Shirley Collins
"New River" Jack Burchett 1961 Smithsonian Folkways Old-time banjo with vocal Released 1994
Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs 1961 Columbia Bluegrass
Dock Boggs 1963 Folkways Old-time banjo
Hobart Smith 1963 Folkways Old-time banjo Fleming Brown sessions; virtuosic banjo instrumental
P.J. Proby with The Vernons Girls 1964 N/A Pop-Rock Performed during the internationally broadcast TV special Around The Beatles
Fred Cockerman 1967 County Records Old-time banjo
Cuje Bertram 1970 Home recording African American fiddle Released 1999 by Document Records
Esker Hutchins 1971 County Records Old-time banjo
Kyle Creed 1977 Heritage Old-time banjo Album: Liberty
Senator Robert Byrd 1978 County 967 Old-time fiddle with vocal LP U.S. Senator Robert Byrd – Mountain Fiddler. Accompanied by band
Chancey Brothers 1979 Dust-to-Digital Old-time banjo with guitar
The Wedding Present 1992 New Musical Express Indie Rock Ruby Trax
Old Crow Medicine Show 2001 Blood Donor Music Old-time Greetings from Wawa
Frank Fairfield 2009 Tompkins Square Old-time
Xiu Xiu 2010 Kill Rock Stars Indie Rock Appears on Dear God, I Hate Myself (2010)
Felice Brothers 2012 Alt Folk Home Recordings
Rising Appalachia 2012 & 2017 Independent Alt Folk The studio version appears on Filthy Dirty South (2012); a live version appears on Alive (2017)
Cameron Knowler & Eli Winter 2021 American Dreams Records Instrumental guitar Appears as "Cumberland Application"

Music

"Cumberland Gap" is most commonly played on fiddle, guitar or banjo. The banjo tuning, f#BEAD, used by Dock Boggs, Hobart Smith, and Kyle Creed, is sometimes called the "Cumberland Gap tuning". It allows banjo players to play the tune in D, the same as a fiddler would, by extending the bass range of the instrument.[14]

The song recorded by David Rawlings is also used in the movie, The Gentlemen.

See also

References
  1. Robert Waltz and David Engle, Cumberland Gap. The Ballad Index. Retrieved: 8 June 2009.
  2. Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 31. ISBN 0-85112-250-7.
  3. Rebecca Vial, Cumberland Gap and Cumberland Gap National Historic Park. Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, 2002. Retrieved: 9 June 2009.
  4. Song notes in Bascom Lamar Lunsford: Ballads, Banjo Tunes, and Sacred Songs of Western North Carolina [CD liner notes]. Smithsonian Folkways, 1996.
  5. Horace Kephart, Our Southern Highlanders (Knoxville, Tenn.: University of Tennessee Press, 1976), pp. 82.
  6. John Lomax, American Ballads and Folk Songs (New York: MacMillan, 1968), pp. 274–276. Lomax cites Fuson's Ballads of the Kentucky Highlands.
  7. U.S. Library of Congress – Catalog entry for "Cumberland Gap/Blind James Howard (sound recording)." Retrieved: 8 July 2009.
  8. Cumberland Gap – Lyrics. Retrieved: 9 June 2009.
  9. Pete Seeger, Notes in Frontier Ballads [CD liner notes]. Smithsonian Folkways, 2009.
  10. Mark Freed, "The Johnson County Fiddlers' Convention at Laurel Bloomery, Tennessee Archived 24 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine." The Old-Time Herald, Vol. 10, no. 10 (c. 2006). Retrieved: 9 June 2009.
  11. Bob Mitchell, The Essential Earl Scruggs (album review). Louisville Music News, 2004. Retrieved: 9 June 2009.
  12. Russell, Tony (2004) Country Music records, A Discography, 1921-1942, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-513989-5.
  13. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 70–1. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  14. Stephen Wade, Notes in Hobart Smith: In Sacred Trust – The 1963 Fleming Brown Tapes [CD liner notes], 2004. p. 45.
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