by Bob Waltzin 1996 but the Carter Family recorded it in 1935. Most people I’ve met believe that all songs had an author somewhere; even if it was centuries ago, and the song is hardly recognizable today. A few scholars, though, believe that the old ballads arose spontaneously and collaboratively; they have no authors In general I think that the first group is right; somebody wrote most of those old songs But there are exceptions. “The Storms Are on the Ocean” appears to have been assembled from at least two sources (perhaps more; some texts of this song include “floating verses” such as the famous text “Oh don’t you see that lonesome dove / that flies from pine to pine”). I just heard it for first time last week.
Songs with Banjo from Harold Hagler
