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Screw Willie Nelson! Here's the definitive version!

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southendmd:
A little research suggests that "He Was a Friend of Mine" is closely related to an older folk song called "Shorty George".  

The first line goes "Well-a Shorty George, he ain't no friend of mine", and was collected by the Lomax brothers as early as the 1930s.  Apparently, there are several versions by Ledbelly.  Another goes, "Well it's Shorty George, he died on the road."

I'll see if I can dig up an early recording somewhere...

southendmd:
I found a version of the lyrics. Obviously, like many folk songs, it's changed a lot over the decades.  Note the red(!)

Well-a Shorty George, he ain't no friend of mine
Well-a Shorty George, he ain't no friend of mine
He's taken all the women and left the men behind

Well-a Shorty George, he done been here and gone
Yes, Shorty George, he done been here and gone
Lord he left many a poor man a great long way from home

Well my baby caught the Katy, I caught the Santa Fee
Well she caught the Katy, I caught the Santa Fee
Well, you can't quit me, baby, can't you see

Well I went to Galveston, work on the Mallory Line
Went to Galveston, Lord on the Mallory Line
Babe you can't quit me, ain't no use tryin'

Shorty George, travelin' through the land
Shorty George, he's travelin' through the land
Always looking to pick some woman's poor man

When I get back to Dallas, I'm gonna walk and tell
When I get back to Dallas, gonna walk and tell
That the Fort Bend Bottom is a burning hell

One source notes that "Shorty George" referred to the train that took visitors to and from the state penitentiary.

Katie77:

--- Quote from: southendmd on February 19, 2010, 09:06:52 am ---Take a look here, Sue:

http://bettermost.net/forum/index.php/topic,36828.0.html

--- End quote ---

When I first started reading this thread, I stopped listening to the original song as soon as I heard "that shit aint right".....

Now Ive read through all the posts here, (including all the way "off topic" ones), and now Ive just listened to Willie Nelson's version.

For what its worth I do not think the song is homophobic, but the more I listen to it, I think when Willie is referring to "that shit aint right", I think he is saying....all cow herders and sheep herders dont do what was done on Brokeback Mountain...I think when he says "that shit aint RIGHT"...I think he means "that story is not CORRECT about all herders"......(and not meaning it is WRONG)....

The saving grace in the song is "what you do is your own business".

It would be assumed that a lot of cowboys who do herding and ranching would probably have been the butt of a lot of jokes since Brokeback Mountain, and I think the song is a rebuff to all those sniggers and misconceptions, by telling us that cowboy work is dirty and dusty, long hours from dusk till dawn, it is not representing the majority of  cowboys CORRECTLY in Brokeback Mountain, hence the phrase "that shit aint right".

Just by using the "what you do is your own business" takes the homophobia away from the song, even the "then fuck off" is saying, I dont care what you do, its your business, but Im not interested.

As far as the ketchup bottle on the original song....well, that has nothing to do with Willie Nelson.

southendmd:
From The American book of the Dead:  the definitive Grateful Dead encyclopedia:

The origins of the mournful "He Was a Friend of Mine" are somewhat curious. The song was recorded for, but not included on, Bob Dylan's Columbia debut album Bob Dylan.  But when he was interviewed by Robert Shelton for the liner notes to the record, Dylan mentioned his own version was an adaptation of a song he'd learned from a Chicago street singer named Blind Arvella Gray.  Supporting this is the original copyright filed by Dylan that indicates it is a traditional composition with supplemental lyrics.

Elsewhere it is reported that the source is a traditional Southern prison song entitled "Shorty George", which was recorded by Ledbelly in 1935 and by some penitentiary singers for the Library of Congress (1939).  It was from those Library of Congress cuts that Erik Von Schmidt taught himself the tune.  Von Schmidt, an early influence on, and colleague of Dylan's, claimed credit for teaching the song to Dylan.

Despite the fact that "He Was a Friend of Mine" didn't make it onto Dylan's first album, he did perform it often in Greenwich Village folk clubs.  In turn, his version was adopted as a standard by other local folkies, including Dave Van Ronk, who included his own recasting of the song on his 1963 LP......Later the Byrds recorded its most famous release in 1966 as a tribute to the late President Kennedy.

The Dead's ragged but right performances of "He Was a Friend of Mine" in the late 1960s have an air of distinct personal loss about them and fit right in with the death-themed songs that were a constant aspect of their concert performances.

Lynne:
Thanks for doing all this research, Paul.  It's fascinating to learn the etymology(?) of a song, isn't it?  I'm just glad it's not a WN original.  Between Dylan and the Dead, there is likely no shortage of appropriate versions.

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