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"Blue Yodel no. 8 Mule Skinner Blues" | |
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Song by Jimmie Rodgers | |
B-side | Jimmie’s Mean Mama Blues [1] |
Published | February 13, 1931 by Southern Music Publishing Co., Inc., New York [2] |
Released | February 6, 1931 |
Recorded | July 11, 1930 [1] |
Studio | Hollywood Recording Studios, 7000 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, California [1] |
Genre | Hillbilly (Country) Country blues |
Length | 2:50 |
Label | Victor 23503 [1] |
Songwriter(s) | Jimmie Rodgers |
Alternative cover | |
![]() Record label from Bill Monroe's version, 1946 | |
Alternative cover | |
![]() Cover of the Fendermen's version,1960 |
"Blue Yodel no. 8,Mule Skinner Blues" (a.k.a. "Muleskinner Blues",and "Muleskinner's Blues") is a classic country song written by Jimmie Rodgers. The song was first recorded by Rodgers in 1930 and has been recorded by many artists since then,acquiring the de facto title "Mule Skinner Blues" after Rodgers named it "Blue Yodel #8" (one of his Blue Yodels).
"George Vaughn",a pseudonym for songwriter George Vaughn Horton,is sometimes listed as co-author. Horton wrote the lyrics for "New Mule Skinner Blues",Bill Monroe's second recorded version of the song. [3]
The song tells the tale of a down-on-his-luck mule skinner,approaching "the Captain",looking for work ("Good Morning,Captain." / "Good morning,Shine." / "Do you need another muleskinner on your new mud line?"). He boasts of his skills:"I can pop my 'nitials on a mule's behind" and hopes for "a dollar and a half a day". He directs the water boy to "bring some water round". The term "Mule Skinner",slang for muleteer,is a driver of mules,and has nothing to do with removing the animal's hide.
The first verse of the song is similar to Tom Dickson's 1928 recording "Labor Blues" in which the exchange is clearly between a white boss and an African-American worker who is quitting the job,not applying for it:
"Captain" was a traditional term for the white boss;"Shine" is a derogatory expression for "African-American". Dickson was black. After the narrator rebels and quits because he is not being paid,he turns his attention to his "Mississippi gal" and the remaining lyrics concern their romance. In this 12-bar blues recording,muleskinning is not mentioned,and the remaining Dickson lyrics differ from Rodgers',whose other Blue Yodels also used verses previously recorded by Blues musicians,such as Blind Lemon Jefferson.
"Mule Skinner Blues (Blue Yodel No. 8)" | ||||
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Single by Dolly Parton | ||||
from the album The Best of Dolly Parton | ||||
B-side | "More Than Their Share" | |||
Released | June 1970 | |||
Recorded | May 4,1970 | |||
Studio | RCA Studio B,Nashville | |||
Genre | Country | |||
Length | 3:10 | |||
Label | RCA Victor 47-9863 | |||
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) | Bob Ferguson | |||
Dolly Parton singles chronology | ||||
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Release date | Artist | Chart Positions | ||||
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U.S. C&W | U.S. | CAN C&W | U.K. | |||
1960 | The Fendermen | 16 [8] | 5 [9] | — | 32 [10] | |
1970 | Dolly Parton | 3 | — | 4 | — | |
1976 | Jerry Palmer | — | — | 3 | — |
Yodeling is a form of singing which involves repeated and rapid changes of pitch between the low-pitch chest register and the high-pitch head register or falsetto. The English word yodel is derived from the German word jodeln,meaning "to utter the syllable jo". This vocal technique is used in many cultures worldwide. Recent scientific research concerning yodeling and non-Western cultures has shown that music and speech evolved from a common prosodic precursor.
Same Train,A Different Time is the ninth studio album by American country music artist Merle Haggard backed by The Strangers,released in 1969,featuring covers of songs by legendary country music songwriter Jimmie Rodgers. It was originally released as a 2 LP set on Capitol (SWBB-223).
"Mule Train" is a popular song written by Johnny Lange,Hy Heath,Ramblin' Tommy Scott and Fred Glickman. It is a cowboy song,with the singer filling the role of an Old West wagon driver,spurring on his team of mules pulling a delivery wagon. As he goes about his work,the driver mentions the various mail-order goods he is delivering to far-flung customers. "Mule Train" was originally recorded by Ellis "Buz" Butler Jr. in 1947. Butler was the original writer of the song along with Fred Glickman. The original recording was released by Buz Butler on Decca Records.
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The Fendermen were an American rockabilly duo,composed of Jim Sundquist and Phil Humphrey,active in the early 1960s. They are best known for the 1960 hit single "Mule Skinner Blues",a cover of a song written by Jimmie Rodgers.
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The blue yodel songs are a series of thirteen songs written and recorded by Jimmie Rodgers during the period from 1927 to his death in May 1933. The songs were based on the 12-bar blues format and featured Rodgers’trademark yodel refrains. The lyrics often had a risquéquality with "a macho,slightly dangerous undertone." The original 78 issue of "Blue Yodel No. 1 " sold more than a half million copies,a phenomenal number at the time. The term "blue yodel" is also sometimes used to differentiate the earlier Austrian yodeling from the American form of yodeling introduced by Rodgers.
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Jack Elliot Sings is an album by American folk musician Ramblin' Jack Elliott,released in Great Britain in 1957. Elliott's name is misspelled on the cover.
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"Waiting for a Train" is a song written and recorded by Jimmie Rodgers and released by the Victor Talking Machine Company as the flipside of "Blue Yodel No. 4" in February 1929. The song originated in the nineteenth century in England. It later appeared in several song books,with variations on the lyrics throughout the years.
Roy Horton was an American music executive known for over forty year role with Peer-Southern Music. Though based in New York City,Horton was a founding member of both the Country Music Association (CMA) and the Country Music Foundation. It was while he was CMA chairman in March 1967,Horton participated in the opening of the first Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on Music Row in Nashville. Horton was himself inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1982.
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