SAIL AWAY LADIES [1A]. Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; Kentucky, Tennessee. G Major. Standard. ABB (Brody, Ford): AABB (Spandaro): AABBCC (Phillips). The tune is related to the numerous versions of "Sally Ann" played in the keys of A and G Major. According to Guthrie Meade (1980), the tune is identified with the south central Kentucky and middle Tennessee locals. The title also appears in a list of the standard tunes in the square dance fiddler's repertoire, according to A.B. Moore in his 1934 book "History of Alabama." Southern Kentucky fiddler Henry L. Bandy recorded the tune for Gennett in 1928, though it was unissued, however, the earlest recordings were Uncle Bunt Stevens (1926-without words) and Uncle Dave Macon (1927-with words). Paul Wells (Middle Tennessee State University) states that the song was collected around the turn of the 20th century and seems to have been common to both black and white traditions. Tom Paley (former New Lost City Ramblers member) believes the verses of "Sail Away Ladies" to be typical floating verses, and go:
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If ever I get my new house done,
(I'll) give my old one to my son.
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Children, don't you grieve and cry.
You'll be angels, bye and bye.
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Come along, girls, and go with me.
We'll go back to Tennessee.
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(I) got the news from Shallow (or "Charlotte") Town.
Big St. Louis is a-burning down.
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I chew my tobacco and I spit my juice.
I love my own daughter but it ain't no use.
(Paul Mitchell and others believe the words in Macon's last line sometimes heard as own daughter is really Dona, pronounced Dough-nee in the American South, a Spanish/Italian word for a mature love object, a woman.).
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Another version of this last couplet goes:
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I chew my tobacker and I swaller my juice
Sail away, ladies, sail away.
I'd like to go to Heaven, but it ain't no use.
Sail away, ladies, sail away.
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African-American collector Thomas Talley, writing in his book Negro Folk Rhymes (reprinted in 1991, edited by Charles Wolfe), printed a similar but different text:
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Sail away, ladies! Sail away!
Sail away, ladies! Sail away!
Nev' min' what dem white folks say,
May de Mighty bless you. Sail away!
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Nev' min' what you daddy say,
Shake yo liddle foot an' fly away,
Nev' min' if yo' mammy say:
"De Devil'll git you." Sail away!
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Kentucky fiddler H.L. Bandy sang the following lyric to "Sail Away Ladies", usually associated with the tune "Old Miss Sally":
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I asked that girl to be my beau
She hacked at me with a garden hoe
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I asked that girl to be my wife,
She took at me with a butcher knife
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Uncle Dave Macon also included a chorus which went, "Don't she rock, Die-Dee-Oh?" but Paley notes that other old recordings have variants like "Don't she rock, Darneo?" and even "Don't she rock 'em, Daddy-O?" (which seems to harken to the beatnik era). Some unknown "revival" wag re-interpreted Macon's lines as:
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Don't sheetrock the patio (x3)
Sail away, ladies, sail away
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Wolfe (1991) finds the song in several older collections: Brown (1:153), Brewer (165) and a 1903 collection by William W. Newell, Games and Songs of American Children (170). It also appears in a modern collection of African-American songs and games, Jones and Hawes's Step It Down (174, as "Horse and Buggy"). Sources for notated versions: Highwoods String Band (N.Y.) [Brody]: Uncle Bunt Stevens (Tenn.) [Phillips, Spandaro]. See Journal of the Society for Ethnomusicology, #1, 1968; Linda Burman - "The Technique of Variation in an American Fiddle Tune (Sail Away Lady)." Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 241. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 35. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 1, 1994; pg. 207. Spandaro (10 Cents a Dance), 1980; pg. 32. Columbia 15071-D (78 RPM), "Uncle Bunt Stevens" (Tenn.) {1926}. County 521, "Uncle Dave Macon: Original Recordings 1925-1935." Folkways FA 2395, New Lost City Ramblers- "Vol. 5." Folkways FA-2951, Uncle Bunt Stevens - "Anthology of American Folk Music, Vol. 2, Social Music" (1952). Gennet Records, Master #14361, Henry L. Bandy (1928. Not released). Kicking Mule 213, Susan Cahill- "Southern Clawhammer Banjo." Morning Star 45004, H.L. Bandy (southern Ky.) - "Wish I Had My Time Again." Rounder 0074, Highwoods String Band- "No. 3 Special" (1976. Learned from Uncle Dave Macon's recording). Rounder 0193, Rodney Miller - "Airplang" (1985). Vocalation 5155 (78 RPM), Uncle Dave Macon (1927).
T:Sail Away Ladies
L:1/8
M:4/4
K:G
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|: B2BG A2G2 | B3A G4 | B2GE D2E2 | G3G G4 :|