In 1950, the quartet The Weavers, which Pete Seeger belonged to, had made a hit version of Leadbelly's "Goodnight, Irene", and they were looking for new material.
Leadbelly had recorded a song called "If It Wasn't for Dicky" adapted from a traditional Irish song. Pete Seeger liked Leadbelly's version of the tune, and his chords as well. With new lyrics The Weavers turned "If It Wasn't for Dicky" into a love song: "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine".
In his 1993 book Where Have All the Flowers Gone, Pete Seeger described the long genesis of this song. Apparently the folk musician Leadbelly heard Irish performer Sam Kennedy in Greenwich Village singing the traditional Irish song "Drimmin Down" aka "Drimmen Dow", about a farmer and his dead cow. It is of the type categorised as "aisling" (dream) where the country of Ireland is given form. Most times the form is that of a comely young woman but here it is the faithful handsome cow.
See also: Drimindown
And here's a recent version that tried to reconstruct the version, Leadbelly heard from the Irish singer Sam Kennedy.
LYRICS:
It's a ditty sad story i tell you right now,
'bout a man who lost all but his very last cow.
He put his old cow on the fields to be fed,
when the word came to him that old drimmin was dead.
Oh- ho ru musha, sweeta than dow,
Oh- ho ru musha, sweeta than dow,
When the old man was told that his cow was so dead,
over hetches, and ditches, and fields he did fled,
over hetches, and ditches, and fields that were plowed,
and he never looked back, till he came to his cow.
Oh- ho ru musha, sweeta than dow,
Oh- ho ru musha, sweeta than dow,
"I would sooner loose Patsy, me only first born,
than to part with you drinnin, now that you are gone
so i will sat down, and i eat my dry bread,
and i will have no butter, since drimmin is dead".
Oh- ho ru musha, sweeta than dow,
Oh- ho ru musha, sweeta than dow,
This song maybe a variant of "Dear Black Cow" (or "the poor Irishman's Lamentation of the loss of his cow"), which was published in 1840 in Edward Bunting's The Ancient Music of Ireland (song # 42 on page 32).
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The Levy Sheet Music Collection has an undated version titled "Drimendoo" as sung by Mrs Melmoth.
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DRIMENDOO
A much admir'd Ancient Irish Air as Sung with great applause by Mrs Melmoth
To which are adapted some verses written by Miss Owenson
A sorrowful ditty I'll tell you just now
Of a poor man and he had but one Cow.
It us'd for to drive her master's plow.
He lost his poor Drimendoo & he can't tell you how.
CHORUS:
O my Drimindoo O my gra
O my Drimendoo deelish bra
O my Drimendoo O my gra
My Drimendoo deelish go dee thu slaun.
A Saturday morning being Friday last,
I milk'd my poor Drimendoo on the green grass.
So sweet was her milk and so sleeke was her tail,
Och! I thought my poor heart wou'd leap into the pail.
CHORUS
Arrah, dev'l take you! Drimendoo, why did you die?
And lave me here alone for what and for why?
I'd have rather lost my paydeen, my bouchill beg,
Than my poor Drimendoo. Ochone, she is dead.
CHORUS
* * *
[A second song to the same tune:]
Oh! Farewell, dear Erin! My country, adieu!
And farewell, my soul's dearer idol, to you!
Tho' forc'd from my love and my country to part,
Yet Eveline and Erin still hold my sad heart.
Fast flows the tear of despair from my eye.
Wild from my breast heaves the soul-rending sigh.
Wherever I wander my suff'rings pursue,
While my heart bleeds, dear Eveline, for Erin and for you.
Say, canst thou, oh maid of the dark falling eye,
From Erin's green shades with a fond lover fly?
Thy dear native land for thy lover resign,
And far from dear Erin, dearer Eveline, be mine!
An exile, an alien, they force me to stray,
No faint beam of hope to illuminate the way.
But wouldst thou, sweet Eveline, my destiny share,
Ev'ry sorrow were light, ev'ry suff'ring I'd bear.
As we can read on the sheet music above it says: "To which are adapted some verses written by Miss Owenson"
As it turns out Miss Sidney Owenson was responsible for the English words of Twelve Original Hibernian Melodies from the Works of the Ancient Irish Bards, published in 1805.
On page 13 of this collection is the song: "Oh! Farewell Dear Erin" or "Drimenduath"
Leadbelly adapted the tune from Sam Kennedy for his own farmer/cow song "If It Wasn't for Dicky", which he first recorded in Washington DC on June 22, 1937 for the Library of Congress.
Leadbelly did not like the lack of rhythm, which had been a part of many free flowing Irish songs, so he made the piece more rhythmic, playing the chorus with a 12-string guitar.
(o) Leadbelly (1937) (as "If It Wasn't for Dicky")
Recorded on June 22, 1937 for the Library of Congress in Washington DC
Finally released in 1965 on the next album
Listen here:
On February 18, 1941 Leadbelly also sang the song in a radio program, broadcast on WNYC.
Ooohhhh, oohhhh, switches beated him down
And that everyone but Dicky I would change you right now
But this old man he had but one cow
He would send her to the field to be fed
And the way they beat old Jemma dropped dead
Ooohhhh, oohhhh, switches beated him down
When the old man heard that his cow she was dead
Over hedges and ditches and fields he had fled
Over hedges and ditches and fields that were ploughed
Had a visit to his wife til he came to his cow
Ooohhhh, oohhhh, switches beated him down
When he first saw Jemma she was in the green grass
The ol' carter-man passed that Jemma so fast
She gave her milk freely without any bill
But the blood of her life spilled out of her pail
Ooohhhh, oohhhh, switches beated him down
So now I sit down and eat my dry meal
But I have no butter to put in my tea
And that everyone but Dicky I would change you right now
But this old man he had but one cow
He would send her to the field to be fed
And the way they beat old Jemma dropped dead
Ooohhhh, oohhhh, switches beated him down
When the old man heard that his cow she was dead
Over hedges and ditches and fields he had fled
Over hedges and ditches and fields that were ploughed
Had a visit to his wife til he came to his cow
Ooohhhh, oohhhh, switches beated him down
When he first saw Jemma she was in the green grass
The ol' carter-man passed that Jemma so fast
She gave her milk freely without any bill
But the blood of her life spilled out of her pail
Ooohhhh, oohhhh, switches beated him down
So now I sit down and eat my dry meal
But I have no butter to put in my tea
I have no milk to sup with my bread
But the way they beat ol' Jemma dropped dead
Ooohhhh, oohhhh, switches beated him down
If it wasn't for Dicky I would change you right now
But this old man he had but one cow
He would send her to the field to be fed
And the way they beat old Jemma dropped dead
Ooohhhh, oohhhh, switches beated him down
Ooohhhh, oohhhh, switches beated him down
If it wasn't for Dicky I would change you right now
But this old man he had but one cow
He would send her to the field to be fed
And the way they beat old Jemma dropped dead
Ooohhhh, oohhhh, switches beated him down
As I said above, Pete Seeger and Lee Hays wrote new lyrics (Hays wrote all new verses, Seeger re-wrote Leadbelly's chorus), turning "If It Wasn't for Dicky" into a love song: "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine".
The music was credited to "Joel Newman", the lyrics to "Paul Campbell".
Joel Newman was a pseudonym for Howard Richmond, publisher of The Weavers.
Paul Campbell was a pseudonym used by Ronnie Gilbert, Lee Hays, Fred Hellerman and Peter Seeger (=The Weavers) between 1950 and 1953.
The Weavers version reached #19 on the US Hit Parade.
(c) The Weavers (1951) (as "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine")
Recorded on June 12, 1951 in New York City
Released on Decca 27670
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Listen here:
In 1953 Peter Kennedy recorded a version in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
(c) Maureen Melly (1953) (as "Drimin Droo")
Recorded August 2, 1953 in Belfast, Northern Ireland
Released in 1970's on the next cassette:
In 1955 Mary Celestia Parler collected a version in Bentonville, Arkansas
(c) Fred Smith (1955) (as "Drimmendoo")
Recorded October 16, 1955 in Bentonville, Arkansas
Fred Smith says he learned the song in Corpus Christi, Texas twenty years ago from an Irish man named Gorman, who came from Canada.
Listen here: OzarkFolkSong/Audio/FolkProjectr231t1use.mp3
In 1956 Helen Creighton recorded 2 authentic versions in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, Canada
(c) Ernest Sellick (1956) (as "Drimindown")
Recorded September 1956 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada
Released in 1962 on the next album
See linernotes: FW04307.pdf
Listen here:
"Kisses Sweeter Than Wine" was also a #3 US hit for Jimmie Rodgers in 1957.
(c) Jimmie Rodgers (1957) (as "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine")
Recorded September 1957 in New York City
Released on Roulette R-4031
Listen here:
And in the UK, it was a #8 hit for Frankie Vaughan.
(c) Frankie Vaughan (1958) (as "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine")
Listen here:
(c) Marlene Dietrich (1958) (as "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine")
Orchestra conducted by Burt Bacharach
Released February 1958 on Dot 45-15723
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Listen here:
(c) Ralf Bendix (1958) (as "Küsse Süsser Als Wein")
German lyrics Ralph Maria Siegel
Released February 1958 on Electrola 45-EG-8794
Listen here:
(c) Werner Overheidt und die Starlets (1958) (as "Küsse Sind Süßer Als Wein")
German lyrics by Theo Hansen
Released in 1958 on Philips 345 045 PF
Listen here:
(c) Bob Azzam (1959) (as "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine")
Released in 1959 on the next EP:
Listen here:
In 1959 David Sear recorded a fairly authentic version of the song, probably similar to the version Leadbelly had heard from Sam Kennedy in the 1930's
(c) David Sear (1959) (as "Dhrinnin Dhu Dhrinnin")
Listen here:
(c) Theodore Bikel and Judy Collins (1963) (as "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine")
Recorded at Southern Methodist University in Dallas
Originally telecast on November 9, 1963 for the Hootenanny TV Show
Listen here:
(c) Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt (1998) (as "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine")
Released in March 1998 on the next album
Listen here:
More versions here: Cover versions of Kisses Sweeter than Wine | SecondHandSongs
Some sources say this song is a variant of "Drimín Donn Dílis", which was published in 1909 in P.W. Joyce's Old Irish Folk Music and Songs) (song # 371 on page 169/170).
In the accompanying text, Joyce refers to an "Ulster" version, published in 1855 in Dr. Petrie's Ancient Music of Ireland (page 114/115/116)
See also P.W. Joyce´s "Munster" version, published in 1901 in his Irish Music and Song
(song # 18 on page 38/39/40)
And in 1845 Charles Gavan Duffy published a version in The Ballad Poetry of Ireland (page 131/132)
But as you see in the songbooks right here above and as you can hear in the versions below, only the lyrics have floating lyrics.
In 1948 Seamus Ennis recorded a version of "An Droimeann Donn Dílis" in 1948
The Sands Family recorded a version of "An Dhroimeann Donn Dilis" in 1974.
Listen here:
A dhroimeann donn dílis, a shíoda na mbó,
cá ngabhann tú san oíche is cá mbíonn tú sa ló?
Bíonn mise ar na coillte is mo bhuachaill i m’ chomhair
agus d’fhág sé siúd mise ag sileadh na ndeor.
Níl fearann, níl tíos agam, níl fíonta ná ceol,
níl flatha i m’ choimhdeacht, níl saoithe ná sló
ach ag síoról an uisce go minic sa ló
agus beathuisce agus fíon ag mo naimhde ar bord.
Dá bhfaighinnse cead aighnis, nó radharc ar an gcoróin
Sasanaigh a leidhbfinn mar a leidhbfinn seanabhróg
tré chnocaibh is tré ailtibh, is tré ghleanta dubha ceo
agus siú mar a shaorfainn mo dhroimeann donn óg.
"Drimindown" as a relative to "The Maid On The Shore" is covered extensively in Folk Songs of the Catskills. This book traces roots to early Scottish, Irish, Welsh, English, and American sources. Both texts and musical structure are compared to other traditional songs. Extended search for tune relatives is directed towards tracing the known use of each tune strain, whether in variants with similar texts or quite different texts.
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