When we were at the beach a couple of weeks ago, we sang a rousing rendition of an old song that my dad use to sing to us call "I run the old mill." We asked Mom to come prepared to share her life history and to tell us more about her courtship and early marriage to dad. It was a wonderful evening and everyone enjoyed it and learned a lot about them both. She shared her testimony and love for my dad. We ended by singing "I run the old mill."
Turns out that the song was pirated by the folks in Clarkston, Utah to suit their purposes. Our internet whizzes found the lyrics of the song (Claire) and the original recording (Jake) preserved at the Library of Congress call "Wal, I swan." (or sometimes called Ebenezer Frye) recorded on 12/2/1912 in Camden, New Jersey of all places. Check it out and listen to it HERE.http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/recordings/detail/id/2962
Way to go Claire and Jake. Your skillz amaze me once again.
4 comments:
Very interesting to know the real derivation of this song. I always thought that the folks in Clarkston invented the song. Not so fast, Napoleon. They didn't, but just "borrowed" it for their purposes. Thanks for the post, Vonnie.
WHAAAT!!! I didn't know any of that. I run the old mill is a classic in our home, it's Lydia's favorite song. I think this song and "Good Ga'll he's been here!!" are Grandpa Earl's legacy he's left for his great grandchildren. Glad to know your grand kids are enjoying the same sentiment as my mom's grandkids.
FAScinaTInG! Good stuff Vonnie.
Jake is trying to sing the correct lyrics from the recorded version, but I refuse to let the girls learn it any differently than I did as a kid.
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