Music and Texts of GARY BACHLUND
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On "With a Chicken on my Back" - (2024)
The tune is found in Songs and Rhymes for the South by E. C. Perrow. The collections were released in volumes, over time. 270 texts was published in three parts in three different editions of the Journal of American Folk-Lore: Vol. 25- 1912; Vol. 26- 1913; and Vol. 28- 1916. One learns, "At the time Songs and Rhymes was published Dr. Perrow was a professor of English at The University of Louisville in Louisville, KY."
The rhyme for this tune, noted as from East Tennessee, is: "With a chicken on my back, / I'm goin' to my shack, / En' it's nobody's business but mine. / Lord! Lord! / En' it's nobody's business but mine'." Perrow notes other variants as well : "With them bloodhounds on my track, / And a chicken on my back, / I'se gwine to make it my shanty, if I can. / If I can, can, can! / I'se gwine to make it my shanty, if I can." More are to be found in the greater text.
2 pages, circa 3' 00" - an MP3 demo is here:
The score is available as a free PDF download, though any major commercial performance or recording of the work is prohibited without prior arrangement with the composer. Click on the graphic below for this score and parts.
On "With a Chicken on my Back"
