Annotation:Rock the Cradle Lucy (1)

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ROCK THE/THAT CRADLE LUCY [1]. AKA – "Rock that Baby Lucille.” Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; north Georgia, Oklahoma. D Major. ADae tuning (fiddle). AABB. Various sets of floating lyrics have been associated with the tune, some of which are shared with the similarly-titles "Rock the Cradle Joe." The song may have derived in part from an older minstrel era song called "Miss Lucy Long," if only to retain the name 'Lucy Long'; however, both music and words are significantly different, and a direct association is elusive. A later minstrel song called "Oh! Rock dat Cradle, Susie" (1883, words by James B. Marsh, music by W.T. Keefer) has words (in the chorus) that are much closer to the string band versions recorded in the 78 RPM ear by The Skillet Lickers, the Cofer Brothers (for which see "Rock the Cradle Lucy (2)"), J.E. Mainer's Mountaineers and others.

Rock that cradle Lucy, rock that cradle long,
Rock that cradle Lucy, keep that baby warm.

Rock that cradle Lucy, rock that cradle spry,
Rock that cradle Lucy, don't let that baby cry.

Rock that cradle Lucy, rock it Lucy Long,
Rock that cradle Lucy, keep that baby warm. ... ... [The Skillet Lickers]

Oh rock the cradle Lucy, don't you close your eyes,
Oh rock the cradle Lucy, don't let that baby cry.

Oh Lucy take a baby, she set him in the sun,
A bumble bee lit on his head, made that nigger run.

The Skillet Licker's version is similar to "Soldier's Joy." "Rock the Cradle Lucy" was also recorded by the Georgia string band the Cofer Brothers (Joseph Scott gives that Leon Coffer’s wife was seven months pregnant with Leon Jr. at the time).

Additional notes

Source for notated version: - Max Collins (Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma) [Thede]; The Skillet Lickers (Atlanta, Georgia) [Kuntz]; Mark Gaponoff [Silberberg].

Printed sources : - Kuntz (Ragged But Right), 1987; pp. 331-332. Silberberg (Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern), 2002; p. 132. Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; pp. 21-22.

Recorded sources: - Columbia 15538-D (78 RPM), The Skillet Lickers (1929). County 506, The Skillet Lickers - "Old Time Tunes Recorded 1927-1931."

See also listing at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]
Hear the Skillet Lickers recording on youtube.com [2]