Nearly five years ago, I had my first in depth experience diving into music history with my late mentor Joan Crane. This new record "Folk Songs For Old Time's Sake" is a culmination of what she taught me, and harbors mostly traditional material revisited and rearranged that Joan inspired in me. Some of the songs are by pioneers such as Elizabeth Cotten, The Carter Family, Mississippi John Hurt and Jimmie Rodgers, with the mindset of preserving their legacy and exposing their history to my generation and its successors. After starting the music history podcast "American Songcatcher", my desire for preservation has become a mission, and inside the liner notes of the limited edition vinyl gatefold resides a summary of the song or artists history behind the 14 tracks. This installment is the first of many to come honoring the legacy of American roots music.
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Though most people believe it was written by the famous songster Lead Belly, "Midnight Special" has origins in African American work and railroad songs of the south, and thus eventually the prison system due to the increased incarceration of African Americans that started in the 1700's. One of the most infamous institutions that has disenfranchised the lives of African Americans is the Mississippi State Penitentiary, also known as Parchman Farm. Created in 1901, it was one of the first to install a system of what’s called “convict leasing”, where inmates were essentially slaves again, creating fertile ground for expression of the incarcerated, some of whom are well known musicians like Bukka White, R.L. Burnside, Son House, and Mose Allison. Closely tied with Parchman Farm, “The Midnight Special” is one of the most, if not the most well-known prison song born around the turn of the century. It’s a true story about a train, called the Southern Pacific Golden Gate Limited, that departed from Jackson, Mississippi at 12:05 a.m. on Sunday mornings, and arrived at Parchman Farm Prison at dawn, 130 miles to the north. The light from that train would shine into the prison cells of the men, and over time there was a kind of superstition that developed. The saying goes that when the whistle called from the train, if you were in the light, the warden would set you free, and you’d be blessed with good fortune and salvation.
lyrics
Yonder comes Miss Rosie, how in the world do you know
I know about her apron and the dress she wore
Umbrella on her shoulder, a piece of paper in her hand
She’s gonna see the warden to turn loose her man
Let the Midnight Special shine a light on me
Let the Midnight Special shine it’s ever loving light on me
Let the Midnight Special shine a light on me
Let the Midnight Special shine it’s ever-lovin' light on me
Well, you wake up in the mornin', and the big bell rings
Go marching to the table, you get the same damn thing
Knife and fork are on the table, ain’t no pork up in that pan
Better not complain, boy, you’ll have trouble with the man
If you ever go to Boston, boys you better walk right
You better not stagger, you better not fight
Or the sheriff will arrest you, and take you downtown
You can bet your bottom dollar, you're jailhouse bound
Well now jumpin ‘ little Juy
She was a mighty fine gal
She brought it jumpin
To the whole world round
She brought it in the morning
Turnin round my mind
She got me thinking
About my great long time
credits
from Folk Songs For Old Times' Sake,
released November 2, 2021
Nicholas Williams - Guitar, Vocals
Gordon Inman - Clarinet
Host of the music history podcast
"American Songcatcher", Nicholas is a 37 year-old multi-instrumentalist and
storyteller who is dedicated to playing it forward by preserving the songs and styles that have shaped America: ragtime, Piedmont blues, traditional folk, old time and early country. He's opened for Taj Mahal and The Wood Brothers.
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