Soldier's Joy - The oldest song about dope?

[okie dokie]

Soldiers Joy is an American Folk song that originates during the American Civil War (1861–1865). It was originally played by "string bands" which are made up of guitar, fiddle and banjo.

The term "Soldier's Joy" refers to Morphine which was the only Joy that injured soldiers could get at the time, so they would sing this song in and around the war field hospitals.

This song is still very popular and is considered a Bluegrass standard and is played at EVERY festival. my wife and i play it alot as well!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLio4CfUqZ4

Soldier’s Joy

I am my mama’s darlin’ boy
I am my mama’s darlin’ boy
I am my mama’s darlin’ boy
Play a little tune called soldier’s joy

15 cents for morphine
& 25 cents for the beer
It’s 15 cents for the morphine
Gonna take me away from here

I love somebody, yes I do
I love somebody, yes I do
I love somebody, yes I do
I love somebody and it might be you

I’m a gonna get a drink don’t you wanna go
I’m a gonna get a drink don’t you wanna go
I’m a gonna get a drink don’t you wanna go
Go down that old dark road

[Thanat0s]

well howdy fellow okie.
mighty fine folk song ya got there...

[okie dokie]

well howdy fellow okie..

well whadoyaknow!! i am right down the turnpike from ya neighbor

[Ickyuck]

Nice!:D

[Uncle Wiggly]

That's interesting. I've heard "Soldier's Joy" but only as an instrumental. The song is mentioned in Bill Monroe's "Uncle Penn". I've got it on the the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" album. The first one.

It's dual banjo piece featuring Earl Scruggs and John McEuen. I've never heard it with a fiddle out front and those guys are burning it up. It's always cool to learn, and hear, something new. I think I still prefer it as a banjo piece - especially with Earl Scruggs doing it. :D

[okie dokie]

That's interesting. I've heard "Soldier's Joy" but only as an instrumental. The song is mentioned in Bill Monroe's "Uncle Penn". I've got it on the the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" album. The first one.


i think the melody is originally from a traditional irish or scottish fiddle tune, then, as are done with many traditional fiddle tunes, the melody is taken and lyrics are added. i am thinking that is what the american soldiers did with the original melody:

http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/SO_SOR.htm

scroll down 1/3 of the way to read an article about the origins

"He played an old piece he called quotSoldier's Joy
And the one called &quotThe Boston Boy"
The greatest of all was &quotJenny Lynn"
To me that's where the fiddle begins."
from uncle pen

[Shadowsblaze]

Is there a rock version, you know sompin I can shake a leg to.

[okie dokie]

Is there a rock version, you know sompin I can shake a leg to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLio4CfUqZ4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFd7oSNaZdA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esRVDQT48qs

those are all rockin versions!!

[okie dokie]

It's dual banjo piece featuring Earl Scruggs and John McEuen. I've never heard it with a fiddle out front and those guys are burning it up. It's always cool to learn, and hear, something new. I think I still prefer it as a banjo piece - especially with Earl Scruggs doing it. :D


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaoj9vxxZ2o

[Shadowsblaze]

YEA that song kicks.

[30_Units]

Heard one from 1864, here's the link, same topic, different lyrics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpPW7PK2i5w

[okie dokie]

Heard one from 1864, here's the link, same topic, different lyrics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpPW7PK2i5w

this version was written by Guy Clark in 2002

[Shadowsblaze]

Heard one from 1864, here's the link, same topic, different lyrics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpPW7PK2i5w


Good recording being 1864,wonder what the used?

[okie dokie]

wonder what the used?

a time machine

[MoreNowAgain]

Love it! Thanks so much for posting this. I never realized what "soldier's joy" referred to.
I love this song by Gillian Welch, it moves me everytime I hear it. One of my all time favorites, and you've just given it twice the meaning. . . . . . I hope you enjoy it too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnT8cuEJ4Qs&feature=related
Standing on the corner with a nickel or a dime
There use to be a rail car to take you down the line
Too much beer and whiskey to ever be employed
And when I got to Nashville, it was too much soldiers joy
Wasted on the wayside, wasted on the way
If I don’t go tomorrow, you know I’m gone today

Back babe, back in time
I wanna go back when you were mine
Back babe, back in time
I wanna go back when you were mine

Black highway all night ride
Watching the times fall away to the side
Clear channel way down low
Is comin’ in loud and my mind let go

Peaches in the summertime, apples in the fall
If I can’t have you all the time, I won’t have none at all
Oh, I wish I was in Frisco in a brand new pair of shoes
I’m sittin’ here in Nashville with Norman’s Nashville blues
So come all you good time rounders listenin’ to my sound
And then drink a round to Nashville for they tear it down

Back babe, back in time
I wanna go back when you were mine
Back babe, back in time
I wanna go back when you were mine
Hard weather, drivin’ slow
Buggies and the hats in town for the show
Oh darlin, the songs they played
All I got left of lovin’ me

Back babe, back in time
I wanna go back when you were mine
Back babe, back in time
I wanna go back when you were mine

[mikey5string]

ive always thought that was a cool tune because of that.

Flatt & Scruggs play it as a tune called "old folks" on live @ carnagie hall i think. i didnt realize it was thge same tune until someone told me. ive got a few good versions of it one by tony rice that rips. it gets played sooo much at jams its cool to hear a great version.

okie, maybe we should do it and upload it! im gonna go play it right now!

i like to play it with fishers hornpipe.

[Uncle Wiggly]

Hey Okie thanks for posting that link for me. See that banjo that John's playing. It used to belong to Uncle Dave Macon.

[bindegal]

Most interesting, thanks for the info!

[okie dokie]

Hey Okie thanks for posting that link for me. See that banjo that John's playing. It used to belong to Uncle Dave Macon.

i didnt know that, but he is playin a pretty mean clawhammer!!

[Thanat0s]

anyone familliar with xubuntu linux and issues with audio on youtube? firefox browser.

:(

[okie dokie]

xubuntu linux

i dont even know what those words mean!:speechles

[Uncle Wiggly]

anyone familliar with xubuntu linux and issues with audio on youtube? firefox browser.

:(

I was thinking about this yesterday when you mentioned you were having audio problems. I'm of no use in that department, Windows/DOS only, but if you can find Chops I'm pretty sure he can help you.

Do you have a PCI sound card or is it a chip-set on your MoBo?



i didnt know that, but he is playin a pretty mean clawhammer!!

Do you have the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" series. There are three of them. I and III are double sets. II is a single.

From what I gather Earls Scruggs gave that banjo to John McEuen during the making of the first album. It's a four string open back if I'm not mistaken.

Yeah he's is playing a damn mean claw-hammer. Sort of becoming a lost art these days.

[Citricburn]

This is a good one about war/morphine..

Sam Stone came home,
To his wife and family
After serving in the conflict overseas.
And the time that he served,
Had shattered all his nerves,
And left a little shrapnel in his knee.
But the morphine eased the pain,
And the grass grew round his brain,
And gave him all the confidence he lacked,
With a Purple Heart and a monkey on his back.
Chorus:
There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes,
Jesus Christ died for nothin' I suppose.
Little pitchers have big ears,
Don't stop to count the years,
Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios.
Mmm....
Sam Stone's welcome home
Didn't last too long.
He went to work when he'd spent his last dime
And Sammy took to stealing
When he got that empty feeling
For a hundred dollar habit without overtime.
And the gold rolled through his veins
Like a thousand railroad trains,
And eased his mind in the hours that he chose,
While the kids ran around wearin' other peoples' clothes...
Repeat Chorus:
Sam Stone was alone
When he popped his last balloon
Climbing walls while sitting in a chair
Well, he played his last request
While the room smelled just like death
With an overdose hovering in the air
But life had lost its fun
And there was nothing to be done
But trade his house that he bought on the G. I. Bill
For a flag draped casket on a local heroes' hill.
Repeat Chorus


the best version is the studio one off the Haystack album..



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mo7p7ictF8

[Thanat0s]

i just got the audio/video to work.


I LOVE old crow medicine show.
badass, okie.

[okie dokie]

i just got the audio/video to work.


I LOVE old crow medicine show.
badass, okie.

yeah they are great, have ya seen them live? did ya see them at cains?? that was awesome

[mikey5string]

I was thinking about this yesterday when you mentioned you were having audio problems. I'm of no use in that department, Windows/DOS only, but if you can find Chops I'm pretty sure he can help you.

Do you have a PCI sound card or is it a chip-set on your MoBo?





Do you have the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" series. There are three of them. I and III are double sets. II is a single.

From what I gather Earls Scruggs gave that banjo to John McEuen during the making of the first album. It's a four string open back if I'm not mistaken.

Yeah he's is playing a damn mean claw-hammer. Sort of becoming a lost art these days.


if hes playing clawhammer, its most likely a 5-string open back. you really need that 5th string to play clawhammer. not sure ive seen any 4 string open backs not that i think about it. bluegrass, newgrass, and "grass" really is played on a 5 string. as is clawhammer and most other old time styles.

the 5th string serves as a pedal tone to keep that flow of notes going in BG and the chucka-chucka rhythm of clawhammer.

the 4 string banjo is usually played in celtic and jazz/ragtime music. although both and be played on a 5string pretty damn good. (bela fleck, leon hunt, jens kruger, RYAN CAVANAUGH, tony furtado)

there is a pretty decent old time music scene in the US. clawhammer banjo is a staple in all these old time bands.

here are a couple awesome clawhammer banjo players you could check out if you like

adam hurt
mark johnsen
ken perlman
howie bersen
mac benford

[Uncle Wiggly]

Just watched the video again. You're right it is indeed a five-string. I don't play banjo but I do understand what you mean about needing that fifth string for the drone. Thanks for taking the time to post the players.

[Fat Pie]

Unbelievable! I used to play this on the fiddle when I was in my dad's Irish folk group band, and 'Soldier's Joy' was one of my tunes (an instrumental; I didn't know it had words)! I learned to play the fiddle in school when I was 8 years old, but only Classical music. However, I gained the ability to read sheet music. My dad showed me an Irish song's sheet music one time to see what I could decipher from it, and in no time at all I was playing Irish music. I've been playing ever since in pubs, both here and in Galway, Ireland, and as a showpiece for the school orchestra until I left primary school. I was pretty good at it (everyone used to tell me I was brilliant, but I was nothing compared to real musicians, like my favourite fiddle player of all time, Stéphane Grappelli).

My dad's band and I (just a group of us that would change every night depending on who could make it) would play in pubs, sometimes for money, but mostly free. We had a few regular spots in Kingston where we would play on Sunday nights in 'The Lucky Rover' (my dad played there for over ten years, along with a few other pubs; I went to play with him after I got older, learned the fiddle and had memorised a few tunes: I would always play a tune with the sheet music to learn it, but then toss away the notes and play it by ear at the pub; hence I never needed sheet music to play, and remembered all the tunes I played, even Soldier's Joy! This also meant that I was able to pick up tunes that weren't in the book by ear), and on Thursday nights for a while in a couple of other pubs. I also played at the Irish Centre in Hammersmith with the legendary Tommy Peoples (look him up on youtube) along with a few other local well-known musicians of great talent (like Jim Beard, reputed to be the greatest fiddle player is southern England), and was even professionally recorded by a music producer with my dad and his band! I had a great time playing music, but it all ended when pub licensing for musicians came into effect.

The owners of 'The Lucky Rover', a husband and wife who we knew really well, told us that they were stopping live music there (ironically enough, our last night there had been possibly the best night even; the place was jam-packed because of the band!), probably because they were afraid that the law would force them to pay us, or throw us out. They chose to throw us out, so we picked up another venue for St. Patricks night, but then decided to just pack it in. Things were never the same after that; I just stopped playing (got bored I suppose), the husband who ran 'The Lucky Rover' with his wife died (I went to his funeral), and 'The Lucky Rover' was never the same without us: live music had been the big draw there; once it was gone, the pub wasn't very appealing to visit, since it was situated right beside a motorway in an isolated area next to a roundabout, making it very hard to get to. The pub itself was also very small, and the drinks were pricey. St. Patrick’s night at 'The Lucky Rover' was meant to be the highlight of the year thanks to the band, but on the first St. Paddy’s night without us, the pub was empty.

The crowd eventually stagnated, with only pissheads turning up to drink through the day, watch the footy at night, and then leave. The youngster/yuppie/hip crowd were all able to either go to a club, or buy the drinks from a supermarket for much cheaper. The kids knew they had less chance of being rejected at the corner shop than a pub, and for everyone else who wanted to party, 'The Lucky Rover' really wasn’t the right scene. I think that forced the wife to sell the place eventually, but I don’t blame them for wanting us out (the licensing laws weren’t their fault); our guitar player/singer was a bit loud, the crowd could be a bit thin even when we were there, and I think they just wanted to move on. In my opinion, the licensing laws for musicians in pubs has killed the Irish music scene, rather than helped it (which I think was the real intention behind it). The majority of players were amateurs, and they played not for profit, but for entertainment, because they loved music. The licensing act destroyed that, and now all you get is beatbox shit booming out of loudspeakers (people also drink more if they aren’t concentrating on music, which is why music in pubs and clubs is always generic shite).

Still, things are sort of back to normal (that was several years ago); my dad still plays at the Irish Centre and in a couple of pubs now, London-based (Hammersmith) this time, which is better, as he doesn’t need to travel so far; we were able to get rid of the car too, since we didn’t need it to drive to Kingston every Sunday. I sometimes play the fiddle too, but still not very often. I do, however, remember all the tunes I played, and ‘Soldier’s Joy’ was definitely one of them, a song I learned along with several other ones from a music book with sheet music and an audio disk by the famous American fiddle player Jeanine Orme. It’s strange, but no matter how much time passes by, I can still pick up and play the fiddle, along with all the tunes I used to play, any time (including 'Soldier's Joy'), without sounding rusty or forgetting any notes. I consider my musical talent to be a fantastic gift, and while I don’t play music much anymore, I listen to it all the time (The Rolling Stones and The Doors being my two number one favourites; I have vinyl records of my favourite albums; all six of The Doors’ albums and six of the Rolling Stones’ albums, from 1968 to 1974, which includes their best work from the Mick Taylor years, and is considered their best work ever by many).

[Dhedmo]

This is a good one about war/morphine..
Sam Stone

the best version is the studio one off the Haystack album..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mo7p7ictF8

John Prine...saw him play that...waaaaaaaaaaay too many years ago!

[Dhedmo]

The crowd eventually stagnated, with only pissheads turning up to drink through the day, watch the footy at night, and then leave.
Yeah, it's almost a crime to cite just this one line from Pie's superb post, but I loved, "watch the footy!"

Great story, Fats. I really liked, in a sad way, how your musical career paralleled the bar's "life," and how the only dope reference was "Soldier's Joy," which, I take it, you didn't know at the time was a drug song. Super post, awesome thread.