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Wagoner's Lad
Composer: Traditional

Wagoner's Lad was played by an unnamed bluegrass band with Jerry Garcia on banjo at an unknown venue in Burlingame in January 1962. The song is sung a capella by Garcia. The lyrics from the tape of this performance are given at the bottom of this page.

Wagoner's Lad is one of a complex of related songs dating from at least the start of the 20th century and probably much earlier. The song or similar related songs occur as An Inconstant Lover, The Rambling Gambler, My Horses Ain't Hungry and I'm A Rambler, I'm A Gambler.



Recordings

This list is not intended to be comprehensive.

no info Buell Kazee, 1928
no info Anthology of American Folk Music, Vol. 1, Ballads, Various Artists (Buell Kazee), 1952
info Songs of Courting and Complaint, Peggy Seeger, 1955
info Bowling Green, Kossoy Sisters with Erik Darling, 1956
no info Songs From A Village Garret, Raphael Boguslav, 1957
no info American Favorite Ballads, Vol. 1, Pete Seeger, 1957
no info Buell Kazee Sings and Plays, Buell Kazee, 1958
no info Carnegie Hall Concert, Bob Gibson, 1958
no info Spotlight on, Bud & Travis, 1960
no info I Ain't Got No Home, Cisco Houston, 1960
info Obray Ramsey Sings Folk Songs From The Three Laurels, Obray Ramsey, 1961?
info Joan Baez, Vol. 2, Joan Baez, 1961
no info The Best of ,Peggy Seeger, 1961
no info Coming Attraction: Live!, The Journeymen, 1962
no info More Hootenanny, The Hootenairs, 1963
no info Hootenanny At Carnegie, Bob Gibson, 1963
no info The Serendipity Singers, The Serendipity Singers, 1964
info Newport Folk Festival 1963: The Evening Concerts, Vol. 1, Various Artists (Joan Baez), 1964
no info Jack Orion, Bert Jansch, 1966
no info Bert & John, Bert Jansch, 1966
no info Legends & Tall Tales, Hylo Brown & his Timberliners, 1967
no info Banjo Music Of The Southern Appalachians, Kossoy Sisters, 196?
info Sounds of the Smokies, Bill Davis and his Singing Dulcimer, 1971
no info Porches Of The Poor, Jean and Lee Schilling, 1971
info The Joan Baez Ballad Book, Joan Baez, 1972
info Tell It To Me, Ebenezer , 1975
info The Songbook, Joan Baez, 1977
info Let Me Fall: Old Time Bluegrass from the Virginia-North Carolina, Cullen Galyean and Bobby Harrison, 1984
no info Diamonds: Best of the Vanguard Years, Joan Baez, 1991
no info After The Dance, Bert Jansch/John Renbourn, 1992
info Rare, Live and Classic, Joan Baez, 1993
no info Shine Where You Stand, Phil Cooper, 1993
no info Songs of Yesterday, White Mountain Singers, 1994
info All Kinds of Folks: Prestige/Folklore Years, Vol. 1, Various Artists (Peggy Seeger), 1994
no info Trails and Bridges, Rich Lerner, 1995
info Old-Time Mountain Ballads, Various Artists (Buell Kazee), 1995
info Mountain Music of Kentucky (CD), Various Artists (Mr. and Mrs. John Sams), 1996
no info Willow, Mac Benford & The Woodshed All-Stars, 1996
no info Jack Orion/Nicola, Bert Jansch, 1997
no info Two's Company, Hamish Imlach & Muriel Graves, 1997
no info Bruce Molsky & Big Hoedown, Bruce Molsky & Big Hoedown, 1997
info The Very Best of the Journeymen, The Journeymen, 1998
no info Folk Guitar, Various Artists (Bert Jansch), 1998
no info Thanksgiving: A Windham Hill Collection, Various Artists (John Sebastian), 1998
info The Crossing, Tim O'Brien, 1999
no info The Serendipity Singers/Many Sides of the Serendipity Singers, The Serendipity Singers, 1999
no info Song of the Hills: Instrumental Impressions of America's Heartland, Various Artists (John Sebastian), 1999
no info The Pentangle Family, Various Artists (Bert Jansch), 2000
no info Treasures from the Folk Den, Roger McGuinn, 2001
info Doc Watson at Gerdes Folk City, Doc Watson, 2001
no info The Songs & Ballads of Hattie Mae Tyler Cargill, Acie Cargill, 2001
no info Stirrin' It Up, Stairhead Gossip, 2002
info Images of Women, Robin Greenstein, 2002
info American Favorite Ballads, Vol. 1, Pete Seeger, 2002
no info Folksongs: Old Time Country Music: USA: 1926-1944, Various Artists (Buell Kazee), 2002
no info Americana Roots Songbook: Man of Constant Sorrow, Various Artists (Brian Keane/John Sebastian), 2002
no info Americana: The Genuine Article, Various Artists (Brian Keane/John Sebastian), 2002
info Rain And Snow, Elizabeth LaPrelle, 200?
no info Bluegrass Roots, Various Artists (Kossoy Sisters), 2004
no info The Duhks, The Duhks, 2005
no info Awake, Awake, Ellen Gozion, 2005
no info Far Gone From Me, Out Of The Blue, 2005
no info Nobody's Fault But Mine: The Anthology 1965-2006, John Renbourn, 2006
no info Gloryland, Anonymous 4, 2006
no info The Motherlode, Sara Hickman, 2006
no info Bob Dylan's Jukebox, Various Artists (Buell Kazee), 2006
no info The Emergency Lane, Dudley Saunders, 2007
no info Sugar Babe, Kate & Hollis, 2007
no info Bring Me Home, Peggy Seeger, 2008
no info American Folk Anthology, Pete Seeger, 2008
no info I Won't Go Home Til Morning, Sarah McQuaid, 2008
info Mountain Frolic: Rare Old Timey Classics 1924-37, Various Artists (Buell Kazee), 2008
no info Flashback! 1963, The Kingston Trio, 2009
no info Weaver's Bonny, Atwater-Donnelly, 2009
no info A Family Tradition, Philip Kazee, 2010
no info The Best of Traditional American Bluegrass, Various Artists (Kossoy Sisters), 2010
no info Angie: The Collection, Bert Jansch, 2011
no info Four Classic Albums Plus, Pete Seeger, 2011
no info Bob Dylans Greenwich Village, Various Artists (Kossoy Sisters), 2011


Lyrics

The lyrics used by Garcia are as follows;

The heart is the Autumn of all womankind,
They're always controlled, they're always confined,
Controlled by their parents until they are wives,
Then slaves to their husbands the rest of their lives.

I am a poor girl my fortune is sad,
I've always been courted by the wagoner's lad,
He courted me daily, by night and by day,
And now he is loaded and going away.

Your horses are hungry, go feed them on hay,
Come down by me darling as long as you may,
My horses ain't hungry, they won't eat your hay,
So fare ye well darling I'm going away.

Your parents don't like me because I am poor,
They say I'm not worthy of entering your door,
I work for my living, my money's my own,
And if they don't like me they can leave me alone.

Your wagon needs greasing, your whip is to mend,
Come here down beside me as long as you can,
My wagon is greasy, my whip's in my hand,
So fare ye well darling, (I'll no longer stand?)

 
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