Clarence Tom Ashley was my great uncle. Got to meet him in early 60s when I was early teenager. He sang Pretty Polly for us. He was living in Saltville , Va. at the time.
i'm sitting outside on my front porch at almost 12 midnight and playing this song loud on my surround sound while the massive cold front thunderstorm is approaching. it's going great with the storm. :)
when someone says hey you americans dont have a culture you only have kardasians play that song at your phone and smash it to his head love you south from Greece
this music originates from England, Scotland ,Ireland and wales people took it with them when they moved to settle in America. Blues r n'b and jazz are original American types of music.
@@justahumanbeing.709 actually the origins of banjo comes from Africa (strings with a drum pot) and then to America via Joel Sweeney (1800s creating the modern 5 string, as heard hear) and headed to Ireland and Scotland from there. But thanks anyway
I am norwegian and we have also a rich folk tradition, but this is something else, i so wish i could visit someday and experience your culture and traditions also the beautiful nature and scenery! God bless america!
Gonna build me a log cabin on a mountain so high So I can see Willie as he goes passing by Oh the Cuckoo she's a pretty bird, she wobbles as she flies She never says cuckoo til the fourth day of July I've played cards in England I've played cards in Spain I'll bet you ten dollars I'll beat you next game Jack o' Diamonds Jack o' Diamonds I've known you from old You've robbed my poor pockets of my silver and my gold My horses ain't hungry they won't eat your hay I'll ride on a little further, I'll feed them on my way
Tom (Clarence) Ashley played with The Carolina Tar Heels back in the 1920's. My friend recorded an interview at his house back in the 1960's. I hadn't heard this version before. Really nice. Thanks for posting.
I discovered this song because I’m a fan of a current folksinger. I liked it so much I had to discover its roots, thanks for this video. It’s fantastic.
"The Cuckoo" (Roud 413) is a traditional English folk song. It has been covered by many musicians in several different styles. An early notable recorded version was performed by Appalachian folk musician Clarence Ashley with a unique banjo tuning.[1] The title of the song has multiple variations, including The Coo-Coo, The Coo-Coo Bird, The Cuckoo Bird, and The Cuckoo Is A Pretty Bird.[2] Lyrics usually include the line (or a slight variation): The cuckoo is a pretty bird, she sings as she flies; she brings us glad tidings, and she tells us no lies.[2][3] According to Thomas Goldsmith of The Raleigh News & Observer, "The Cuckoo" is reportedly descended from an old folk ballad; it's an interior monologue where the singer "relates his desires - to gamble, to win, to regain love's affection."[4] The song is featured in the E.L. Doctorow book The March. A soldier suffering from a metal spike stuck in his head sings verses from the song. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cuckoo_(song)
Jeffrey Wendt my chorus sang a SATB (Suprano, alto, tenor, base) variation of the song with the starting lyrics "oh the cuckoo, she's a pretty bird. She warbler as she flies, and she never says a cuckoo till the fourth day of July."
I am Irish and normally play trad stuff but people really like to dance to the appalachian stuff too, so I'm learning that too! I can play this guitar :) I will post soon.
Plucked me a chicken, then tossed the feathers... but l saved his beak. Washed its body, in ol skunk creek water... in a bucket that had a leak. Time l got back up to my cabin, that ol bucket had run plumb dry... aint got no broth to cook that chicken... made my poor ol pappy cry. Used that beak that l had saved, to write the U.S. president. Told him all about my 'hard luck' charlie, made damn sure, he knew what l meant. He wrote me back a few months later, took most a year to find my home. He sent a man to take our picture. A suit & tie & a yellow comb. Gussied up for that there picture, stood right up straight & tall... didnt know that lonesome picture would soon be on the wall. J. Edger Hoover, he thought most highly, of his own self, word gets around... and my picture, it got famous, in every post office in the town. It got famous, release the hounds...
That line turns up in many English folk songs. It is almost a thousand years old. Sometimes the singer "climbs a tower" or "builds a scaffold" to see Willie ride by. "Willie" is William the Conquerer.
