Long Lost John
Long Lost John , alternatively also Lost John , Lost John Dean or Lost John from Bowling Greene , is an American folk piece that has been covered many times over the years. The song was especially popular in Kentucky and Arkansas , but also known in Texas , for example .
history
Emergence
The roots of Long Lost John have not yet been clarified. It is believed to have an Afro-American origin, based on the minstrel song Old John Booker . The text of the song, which is documented in numerous variations, goes back to an incident in the Bowling Green prison, after which the imprisoned John Dean was selected to act as "test rabbits" for a new pack of bloodhounds. Dean escaped the dogs, however, and escaped from prison. This story was picked up by WC Handy , who published a written version of Lost John in 1920. The song, however, had been in circulation decades earlier and was passed on orally, which resulted in variations in text and melody. The title as a work song was particularly popular among African American workers and prison inmates .
Recordings
Long Lost John was first recorded by rural folk musicians in the 1920s . Henry Whitter made the first recording for OKeh Records as Lost Train Blues on December 10, 1923 . The Kentucky old-time duo Burnett and Rutherford recorded the piece in November 1926 for Columbia Records under the title Lost John , followed by Travis Hale and EJ Derry, Jr. on June 6, 1927 for Victor Records as Long Gone . In the following years, among others, Bascom Lamar Lunsford (1928) as Lost John Dean , DeFord Bailey (1928), the Allen Brothers (1934) as Long Gone from Bowling Green or Lonnie Glosson (1936) as Lost John again on the song . These versions, recorded by white, rural musicians with the exception of Bailey, varied in the text. The recordings of African American musicians include those of Papa Charlie Jackson , Charlie Turner and Little Hat Jones (recorded in 1930 as Kentucky Blues in Texas).
To date, Long Lost John has been recorded by a wide variety of musicians from different genres. There are versions of John Lennon , Lonnie Donegan , Roy Acuff , the Everly Brothers , Merle Travis , Curly Fox , Hank Thompson , the Southern Moonlight Entertainers , Casey Clark and others. Kenny Owens recorded a rock 'n' roll version in 1969 , while Wayne Raney, along with the Delmore Brothers, set the song to music as Lost John Boogie in 1947 , which Merle Travis did in a similar way in 1951.