Hop High Ladies (Uncle Joe)

DESCRIPTION: Floating verses ("Did you ever go to meeting, Uncle Joe?" "Every time you turn around you jump Jim Crow"). Characterized by the refrain "Hop high ladies, (the cake's all dough/Three in a row), Don't mind the weather when the wind don't blow"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1924 (recording, Henry Whitter)
KEYWORDS: nonballad dancing dancetune floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES (12 citations):
Randolph 252, "Jump Jim Crow" (1 text, 1 tune, a short text with the chorus of "Jump Jim Crow" and other material that might float)
Randolph/Cohen-OzarkFolksongs-Abridged, pp. 219-220, "Jump Jim Crow" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 252)
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore3 85, "Hop Light, Ladies" (2 fragments)
Brown/Schinhan-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore5 85, "Hop High, Ladies" (1 tune plus a text excerpt)
Hudson-FolksongsOfMississippi 147, pp. 293-294, [no title] (1 text, a square dance sample with a lot of material appropriate to that setting but with a chorus that seems to place it here)
Browne-AlabamaFolkLyric 174, "Hop Light, Ladies" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune)
Roberts-SangBranchSettlers, #90, "Did You Ever See the Devil, Uncle Joe?" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FolkSongsOfNorthAmerica 116, "Uncle Joe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax/Lomax-OurSingingCountry, pp. 58-59, "Hop Up, My Ladies" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood-NewLostCityRamblersSongbook, pp. 64-65, "Hop High Ladies, the Cake's All Dough" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber/Silber-FolksingersWordbook, p. 33, "Uncle Joe" (1 text)
DT, HOPUPLAD*
Roud #6677
RECORDINGS:
Fiddlin' John Carson, "Hop Light Lady" (OKah 45011, 1925)
Uncle Dave Macon, "Hop Light Ladies The Cake's All Dough" (Vocalion 5154, 1927)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Hop High, Ladies" (on NLCR10) ; "Hop High, Ladies, the Cake's All Dough" (on NLCR12)
Fiddlin' Powers and Family, "Did You Ever See the Devil, Uncle Joe?" (OKeh 45268, 1927)
Riley Puckett, "Hop Light Ladies" (Bluebird B-5514, 1934)
Red Fox Chasers, "Did You Ever See The Devil, Uncle Joe" (Gennett 6461/Champion 15522, 1928)
Doc Roberts, "Did You Ever See the Devil Uncle Joe" (Perfect 12724, 1931; Melotone 12390, 1932; Conqueror 8136, 1933)
Oliver Sims, "Hop About Ladies" (Columbia 15103-D, 1926)
Ernest V. Stoneman, "Hop Light Ladies" (Edison 52056 [may also have been listed as by the Dixie Mountaineers, same record number], 1927)
Henry Whitter, "Hop Light Ladies and Shortenin' Bread" (OKeh 40064, 1924)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Miss McCleod's Reel " (tune)
cf. "Jump Jim Crow" (floating lyrics)
NOTES [29 words]: Randolph has a report that this song has been heard as far afield as Delhi, India, but seems to be referring to "Jump Jim Crow" (of which his version has just the chorus). - RBW
Last updated in version 4.3
File: R252

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography