Annotation:Johnson Gals

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JOHNSON GAL(S). Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; Arkansas, Mississippi. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). ABC (Kuntz): AABBCC (Phillips): AA'BB'CCC EFF' (Milliner & Koken). The title appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. A tune by this name was in the repertoire of fiddler Archibald Alexander Shaw (Harnet County, N.C., located in the Sandhills section between the coastal plain and the piedmont), though Evelyn Shaw states it was not played in other parts of the state but was unique to Shaw's area (OTH).

Johnson Gals, dressed so fine,
(or: See those girls, dressed so fine,)
Ain't got Jesus on their minds.

No matter where in the world I go,
(or: Don't care where in the world I go,)
I can't get around for the calico.

Oh my Lordy, can't you see,
Can't get to heaven with a fool like me.

Wanna get to heaven, yes I do,
I wanna get to heaven with the Johnson crew.

Oh my lady, can't you see?
You never get to Heaven if you do like me.

Want to go to Heaven, want to go straight
Want to walk through that pearly gate.

A version of the lyrics in "negro" dialect was printed in Charles Shoemaker's Choice Dialect and other Characterizations, Containing Readings and Recitations in Irish, German, Scotch, French, Negro and other Dialects (c. 1915):

Oh ! taint nuffin' tall like de Johnson gals,
For dey bangs all de county out;

Folks on de creek gwine to look mighty sharp,
When de Johnson gals come 'bout ;

Dey libs in de quarters on de j'inin' place,
Right close to de en' o' de lane

Dey's sweet as de hole in de 'lases bar',
An' nice ae de sugar-cane.

CHORUS.

Den, cl'ar de track for de Johnson gals!
Johnson gals! Johnson gals!
Oh ! cl'ar de track for do Johnson gab
Johnson gals is de gals for me!

"Citaco" or "Citago" is a related tune, as is "Texas Farewell" and "Want to go to Meeting and Got No Shoes." There is no apparent relationship between "Johnson Gals" and the similarly titled "Johnson Boys."

Sources for notated versions: Allan Block, who learned it from the 1920's string band Mississippi's Leake County Revelers [Kuntz]; Wil Gilmer with the Leake County Revelers (Miss.) [Milliner & Koken, Phillips].

Printed sources: Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; p. 34. Kuntz (Ragged But Right), 1987; pp. 325-326. Milliner & Koken (Milliner-Koken Collection of American Fiddle Tunes), 2011; p. 348. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1), 1994; p. 128.

Recorded sources: Columbia 15149 (78 RPM), The Leake County Revelers (1927). Document CD DOCD-8029, Leake County Revelers. Living Folk LFR-104, Allan Block- "Alive and Well and Fiddling."

See also listing at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]

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