"The Lonesome Road" is a 1928 song with music by Nathaniel Shilkret and lyrics by Gene Austin, alternately titled "Lonesome Road"or "Look Down that Lonesome Road".
It was written in the style of an African-American folk song.
Sam Coslow, of the publishing firm Spier and Coslow, may deserve some credit as co-author.
In his book Cocktails For Two (Arlington House 1977), he recalls performing "necessary surgery" on the song prior to publication. Coslow recalls that Shilkret and Austin "had ...revised and dressed up an obscure old spritual".
Joel Whitburn lists recordings by Gene Austin (1928), Bing Crosby (1939), Ted Lewis (1930), and Nat Shilkret (1929) as being "charted" at Numbers 10, 12, 3 and 10, respectively.
In 1967 the Wonder Who (=The Four Seasons) also charted with their version.
The song was also covered by Louis Armstrong 1931, Mildred Bailey 1938, Ella Fitzgerald, Fats Waller 1938, Jimmie Lunceford 1939, Sam Cooke, Dick Dale, Stevie Wonder and Duane Eddy.
"Sugar Baby" is the final song on Bob Dylan's 2001 album Love and Theft. Part of the chord progression and the lines, "Look up, look up, seek your maker, 'fore Gabriel blows his horn" are taken from "The Lonesome Road",
"The Lonesome Road" was notably used as a substitute for Ol' Man River in the finale of the part-talkie 1929 film version of Edna Ferber's novel Show Boat. It was performed onscreen by Stepin Fetchit as the deckhand Joe. Fetchit's singing voice was supplied by bass-baritone Jules Bledsoe, who had played Joe in the original stage version of the musical.
As I said above Nat Shilkret and Gene Austin "revised and dressed up an obscure old spritual".
Nat Shilkret cleverly used the music of the traditional folk-song "In The Pines".
And the title and first line of "The Lonesome Road" or "Look Down That Lonesome Road" was copied from a version of "In the Pines", that Frank C. Brown had collected in 1921 from Miss Pearl Webb from Pineola, Avery County.
Like numerous other folk songs, "In the Pines" was passed on from one generation and locale to the next by word of mouth, the title changing in the meantime from "Black Girl" to "The Longest Train I Ever Saw" to "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" to "The Lonesome Road".
"The longest train" section probably began as a separate song, which merged with "In the Pines". References in some renditions to "Joe Brown's coal mine" and "the Georgia line" may date its origins to Joseph Emerson Brown, a former Georgia governor, who operated coal mines in the 1870's.
On August 18, 1917 Cecil Sharp and Maud Karpeles had collected a version ("Black Girl"), sung by Lizzie Abner at Oneida School, Clay County, KY.
It was contained in their book "English Folk-Songs from the Southern Appalachians" vol 2, which was issued in 1932
It comprised just four lines and a melody. The lines are:
Black girl, black girl, don't lie to me
Where did you stay last night?
I stayed in the pines where the sun never shines
And shivered when the cold wind blows"
Two years later, in 1919, Newman Ivey White obtained four lines that a student of his (Alvin W McDougle) had heard sung by a black railroad work gang in Buncombe County, North Carolina:
As "The Longest Train I Ever Saw" it was contained in White's "American Negro Folk-Songs" (1928) by Newman Ivey White.
The longest train I ever saw
Was on the Seaboard Air Line,
The engin pas' at a ha' pas' one,
And the caboose went pas' at nine.
In 1921-22, Frank C. Brown obtained a long text from Pearl Webb of Pineola, Avery County, North Carolina, that included both the “in the pines” couplet and the “longest train” couplet
and also an additional "look down this lonesome road" couplet.
"In The Pines" is song #283 on page 332 of Frank C. Brown's North Carolina Folklore Vol. Three
In the Frank C. Brown collection is also "(Look Up, Look Down) The Lonesome Road".
Sung by Miss Gertrude Allen from Taylorsville , Alexander County
It is song #292A on page 347 of Frank C. Brown's North Carolina Folklore Vol. Three
And "Look Up, Look Down The Lonesome Road". Sung by Miss Jane Christenbury, at Trinity College, probably in 1923.
It is song #292B on page 348 of Frank C. Brown's North Carolina Folklore Vol. Three
In vol 5 of the Frank C. Brown Collection, song # 283C is also mentioned, this time with the musical score. And with a reference to some other versions:
In vol 5 of the Frank C. Brown Collection, song # 292B is also given a musical setting:
Further reading:
The first recorded version I could find:
(o) Dock Walsh (1926) (as "In the Pines")
Recorded April 17, 1926 in Atlanta, GA
Released on Columbia 15094-D
Lyrics
In the pines, in the pines where the sun never shined
And I shivered when the cold wind blow
Oh, if I minded what Grandma said, oh were would I've been tonight
I'd've been in the pines where the sun never shined, and then shiverin' when the cold wind blows
The longest train I ever saw went down the Georgi' line
The engine, it stopped at a six-mile post, the cabin never left the town
Now darling, now darling, don't tell me no lie. Where did you stay last night?
I stayed in the pines where the sun never shined and I shivered when the cold winds blow
The prettiest little girl that I ever saw was walking down the line
Her hair, it was of a curly type, her cheeks were rosy red
Now darling, now darling, don't tell me no lie. Where did you stay last night?
I stayed in the pines where the sun never shines and I shivered when the cold winds blow
The train run back one mile from town and killed my girl, you know
Her head was caught in the driver wheel, her body I never could find
Now darling, now darling, don't tell me no lie. Where did you stay last night?
I stayed in the pines where the sun never shine and I shivered when the cold winds blow
The best of friends has to part some time, then why not you and I
Now darling, oh darling, don't tell me no lie. Where did you stay last night?
I stayed in the pines where the sun never shine and I shivered when the cold winds blow
Oh, a transfer station has brought me here, take a-money for to carry me away
Now darling, now darling, don't tell me no lie. Where did you stay last night?
I stayed in the pines where the sun never shine and I shivered when the cold winds blow
Listen here:
(c) Tenneva Ramblers (1927) (as "The Longest Train I Ever Saw")
Jack Pierce, f; Jack Grant, bj-md; Claude Slagle, bj; Claude Grant, g/v.
Recorded in Bristol, TN Thursday, August 4, 1927
during the influential Bristol Sessions
Released on Victor 20861
http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/matrix/detail/800014025/BVE-39770-The_longest_train_I_ever_saw
Listen here:
(c) Gene Austin (1928) (as "The Lonesome Road")
Accompanied by the Nat Shilkret Orchestra.
Recorded on September 16, 1927.
It was released on Victor 21098
Listen here:
(c) Nat Shilkret and the Victor Orchestra (1929) (as "The Lonesome Road")
Nat Shilkret recorded a more swinging version of "The Lonesome Road" on April 29, 1929 this time arranged for the Victor Orchestra, with Willard Robison contributing the vocal refrain.
Released on Victor 21996
Listen here:
Darby and Tarlton recorded the song originally in 1927 as "Lonesome in the Pines"
and reworked it the following year as "Lonesome Railroad".
But "Lonesome in the Pines" was released 3 years after "Lonesome Railroad".
(c) Darby & Tarlton (1927) (as "Lonesome In The Pines")
Tom Darby, Jimmie Tarlton, v duet; acc. Jimmie Tarlton, sg; Tom Darby, g.
Recorded November 10, 1927 in Atlanta, GA.
Released in 1931 on Columbia 15684-D
Listen here:
And the reworked version was released in 1928.
(c) Tom Darby & Jimmie Tarlton (1928) (as "Lonesome Railroad")
Darby and Tarlton's "Lonesome Railroad" from 1928 follows the melody of "The Lonesome Road" and uses some of the phrases of "The Lonesome Road" and "In The Pines"".
Recorded October 31, 1928 in Atlanta, GA.
Released in 1928 on Columbia 15375-D.
Lyrics
Look up, look down that railroad line, and bow your head and cry.
The longest train I ever saw was eighty coaches long.
The engine past at eight o'clock and the cab passed by at nine.
Look up, look down that railroad line, hang down your head and cry.
Hmmmm, Hmmmm (humming the melodic line).
Little girl, little girl, don't you tell me no lies, tell me where did you stay last night?
I stayed in jail ninety nine days with my face turned to the wall.
Hmmmm, Hmmm
Little girl little girl, what have I done, you to turn your back on me?
Take all my clothes, throw them all outdoors, farewell you love, I'm gone.
Listen here:
(c) Bob Nichols (=Clayton McMichen) (1930) (as "The Grave In The Pines")
Clayton McMichen, v; acc. poss. own g.
Recorded April 15, 1930 in Atlanta, GA
Released on Columbia 15590-D
Listen here:
Or here:
(c) Keesee & Bodine (1931) (as "The Longest Train I Ever Saw")
Howard Keesee, Loy Bodine, v duet; acc. prob. own g duet; unknown, u; Howard Keesee, y.
Recorded October 7, 1931 in Richmond, IND
Released on Champion S-16374 and Superior 2823
(c) J.E. Mainer's Mountaineers
(1935) (as "The Longest Train")
Joseph Emmett Mainer, f/v; Wade Mainer, bj; Zeke Morris, g/v; Daddy John Love, g/v.
Recorded August 6, 1935 in Atlanta, GA
Released on Bluebird B-6222 and Montgomery Ward M-7005
Listen here:
(c) Clayton McMichen’s Georgia Wildcats (1937) (as "In The Pines")
Clayton McMichen, f/v; Ken Newton, f/v; Jerry Wallace, bj/g; Hoyt
“Slim” Bryant, g/v; Raymond “Loppy” Bryant, sb;
Recorded July 22, 1937 in New York, NY
Released on Decca 5448
(c) Tex Dunn and his Arizona Cowboys (1937) (as "In The Pines")
Tex Dunn, unknown, v/y duet; acc. poss. Fiddlin’ Jack –––––, f; poss. Happy Wilson, g; Tex
Dunn, g; poss. Shorty Dunn, sb.
Recorded August 2, 1937 in Charlotte, NC
Released on Montgomery Ward M-7368
(c) Riley Puckett (1937) (as "The Longest Train")
Riley Puckett, vocal and guitar.
Recorded September 28, 1937 in New York
Released on Decca 5523
Listen here:
In 1939 Riley Puckett re-recorded it as "The Longest Train I Ever Saw".
Riley Puckett (solo vcl/gt)
Recorded February 1, 1939 Andrew Jackson Hotel, Rock Hill, SC -
Released on Bluebird B 8104
(c) Arthur Smith & His Dixieliners (1938) (as "In The Pines")
Arthur Smith, v; acc. own f; Howdy Forrester, f; Billy Byrd, g;
Joe Forrester, sb; .
Recorded September 27, 1938 in Rock Hill, SC
Released on Bluebird B-7943 and Montgomery Ward M-7686
Listen here:
Or here:
(c) Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys (1941) (as "In The Pines")
Bill Monroe [vcl/mandolin], Pete Pyle [vcl/gt], Cousin Wilbur [vcl/bass], Art Wooten [fiddle]
Recorded October 2, 1941 in Atlanta, GA
Released on Bluebird B-8861
Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys - Blue Yodel No. 7 / In The Pines (Shellac, 10", 78 RPM) | Discogs
Listen here:
Or here:
In 1952 Bill Monroe re-recorded "In The Pines", this time for the Decca-label.
Bill Monroe & Jimmy Martin, + & Boudleaux Bryant (Sonny Osborne [banjo], Ernie Newton [bass], Charlie Cline [fiddle])
Recorded July 18, 1952 in Nashville, TN
Released on Decca 28416
Listen here:
Huddie Ledbetter, a.k.a. Lead Belly, recorded over half-a-dozen versions between 1944 and 1948, most often under the title, "Black Girl" or "Black Gal".
His first rendition, for Musicraft Records is arguably his most familiar (where he rather sings "My Gal")
(c) Leadbelly (1944) (as "Where Did You Sleep Last Night")
Recorded in New York City, February 17, 1944
Released in 1944 on Musicraft 312
Re-released in 1954 on Allegro Elite 4027:
And also on Royale 18131:
Listen here:
Another familiar version was recorded in the summer of 1947 for Moses Asch, founder of Folkways Records, in New York City.
(c) Leadbelly (1947) (as "Black Girl")
Recorded summer 1947 in New York
Released in 1951 on Huddie Ledbetter Memorial vol 2 "Rock Island Line" (Folkways LP 14).
Listen here:
Lead Belly is often said to be the author of the song, e.g. by Nirvana on their MTV Unplugged album in 1994. However, as we already saw, Ledbetter didn't write the song, but reinterpreted it, as did other musicians before and after him. According to the American folklorist Alan Lomax, Lead Belly learned the song from someone's interpretation of the 1917 version compiled by Cecil Sharp, and by a 1925 phonograph recording.
(c) Bascom Lamar Lunsford (1949) (as "To the Pines, To the Pines")
Recorded on March 25, 1949 in Washington.
Listen here:
(c) Gordon Heath and Lee Payant (1954) (as "Black Girl")
On the album "Evening at L'Abbaye" (Elektra EKL 119)
Listen here:
(c) Kossoy Sisters and Erik Darling (1956) (as "In The Pines")
Recorded August 1956.
Released on the album "Bowling Green" (Tradition TLP 1018)
Listen here:
(c) Louvin Brothers (1956) (as "In The Pines")
Recorded May 2, 1956 in Nashville, TN
Contained on the album "Tragic Songs Of Life" (Capitol T 769)
Listen here:
(c) Pete Seeger (1958) (as "Black Girl")
Released on the album American Favorite Ballads Volume Two (Folkways FA 2321)
Listen here:
(c) Dave Van Ronk (1959) (as "In The Pines")
Released on his album "Sings Ballads, Blues and Spirituals" (Folkways FS 3818)
Listen here:
(c) Fred Gerlach (1959) (as "Little Girl")
On the album Gallows Pole and other Folk Songs (Audio Video Productions AV 102)
Listen here:
(c) Bob Dylan (1961) (as "In The Pines")
Bob Dylan performed the song on Nov. 4, 1961 at the Carnegie Chapter Hall in New York City.
Listen here:
He performed it again on January 12, 1990 at the Toad's Place in New Haven, Connecticut.
Neither of these recordings has been officially released.
Listen here:
(c) The Journeymen (1961) (as "Black Girl")
Realeased on their debut album The Journeymen (Capitol T 1629)
Listen here;
(c) New Christy Minstrels (1962) (as "In The Pines")
Released on the first New Christy Minstrels album (Columbia CS 8672)
Listen here:
(c) The Four Pennies (1964) (as "Black Girl")
The Four Pennies recorded and released the song as "Black Girl" in October 1964.
Their version reached #20 in the British charts, and achieved commercial success in the U.S. as well
Listen here:
(c) Grateful Dead (1966) (as "In The Pines")
Recorded on July 17, 1966, live at the Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco
On their 2001 box set, The Golden Road.
Listen here:
(c) Gene Clark (1977) (as "In The Pines")
Gene Clark recorded the song for his 1977 album Two Sides to Every Story.
Listen here:
(c) Mark Lanegan (1990) (as "Where Did You Sleep Last Night")
Nirvana occasionally performed the song during the early 1990s. Singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain was introduced to the song by fellow Seattle musician Mark Lanegan, and played guitar on a version on Lanegan's 1990 album, The Winding Sheet. Like Lanegan, Cobain usually screamed its final verse.
Here's Mark Lanegan's version:
(c) Nirvana (1993) (as "Where Did You Sleep Last Night")
It is likely that Cobain referenced Lead Belly's 1944 Musicraft version for his interpretation of the song; this is the version Lanegan owned an original 78 rpm of, and the one Cobain's version most closely resembles, in lyrics, form and title.
In a 2009 MTV article, Kurt Loder remembers arguing with Cobain about the song's title, with Cobain insisting, "But the Leadbelly version is called 'Where Did You Sleep Last Night,'" and Loder preferring the "In the Pines" title used by Bill Monroe (as well as Lead Belly).[6]
Cobain earned critical and commercial acclaim for his acoustic performance of the song during Nirvana's MTV Unplugged appearance in 1993. This version was posthumously released on the band's MTV Unplugged in New York album the following year, and was released as a promotional single. In 2002 the song featured on Nirvana's "best of" compilation album Nirvana.
Watch it here:
(c) Kurt Cobain (1990) (as "Where Did You Sleep Last Night")
A solo Cobain home demo, recorded in the summer of 1990, appears on the band's 2004 rarities box set, With the Lights Out.
Listen here:
More versions here:
Other artists:
- Roscoe Holcomb recorded a version, available on The High Lonesome Sound.
- Cryin' Sam Collins recorded a variant called "Lonesome Road Blues" in 1931.
- Josh White's version of "Black Girl" appears on his 1955 album, 25th Anniversary: The Story of John Henry, A Musical Narrative. Another version appears on New York to London (2002).
- Doc Watson often performed the song, and a live recording exists, dating from the 1960s.
- The Pleazers recorded "Poor Girl" in 1965.
- Jackson C. Frank recorded "In the Pines" in 1965.
- Clifford Jordan recorded a 1965 jazz arrangement with singer Sandra Douglass.
- The Osborne Brothers recorded a version for the album Up This Hill And Down (Decca DL-74767) in June 1966.
- Tiny Tim's version is the B-side of his single "April Showers," in 1966.
- Norma Tanega recorded the song, as "Hey Girl," for her only album, Walkin' My Cat Named Dog, in 1967.
- Jerry Reed recorded a version on Jerry Reed Explores Guitar Country, released in 1969.
- John Phillips' version of "Black Girl" appears as a bonus track on the remastered CD of John Phillips (John, the Wolf King of L.A.) recorded in 1969.
- Long John Baldry's "Black Girl," a duet with Maggie Bell, appears on his 1971 album It Ain't Easy. A rendition also appears on Long John Baldry Trio-Live (1999).
- Link Wray recorded two versions titled "Georgia Pines" and "In the Pines" on his 1973 folk-rock release Beans and Fatback.
- Mickey Newbury recorded a version on his 1977 album Rusty Tracks, as part of a four-song suite of traditional songs: "Shenandoah," "That Lucky Old Sun," "Danny Boy," "In the Pines."
- Charlie Feathers recorded a version in the 1980s in Memphis.
- The Oakridge Boys recorded "In the Pines" on their 1983 album, Deliver.
- The Triffids recorded "In the Pines" on 1986's album also named In the Pines.
- Dolly Parton's version appears on her 1994 album Heartsongs: Live from Home.[1]
- Odetta recorded the song for her 2001 Lead Belly tribute album, Looking for a Home – Thanks to Leadbelly.
- Dee Dee Ramone and Youth Gone Mad recorded a version on their 2002 album Youth Gone Mad featuring Dee Dee Ramone; the liner notes credit the song to Lead Belly.
- R. Crumb performed the song in Hamburg, Germany in 2003. The only known release is on R. Crumb's Music Sampler, included with the R. Crumb Handbook.
- (Smog)'s version appears on his 2005 album A River Ain't Too Much to Love.
- Ralph Stanley and Jimmy Martin's version appears on their album First Time Together, released in 2005.
- Jack Rose's version appears on his 2010 EP Ragged and Right.
- WZRD, an alternative rock duo composed of Kid Cudi and Dot da Genius, did a rendition of "In the Pines" (titled: "Where Did You Sleep Last Night"), on their eponymous 2012 album.
- Susheela Raman's version appears on her album 33 1/3, released in 2007.
- A Remix of Susheela Raman's version by 'Hit by a Rock' was released in 2009.
- Lee Abramson made a “bionic mouth” version of the song with his signature use of ModelTalker voice synthesizer on his 2011 album "Spices"
Joan Baez (1961) and Ian & Sylvia (1964) recorded a different variation of this traditional.
