Diamond Joe (II)

DESCRIPTION: Mostly floating verses with a hint of narrative; singer goes "up on the mountain, give my horn a blow...." "Ain't gonna work in the country, neither on (Parchman?) farm...." Chorus: "Diamond Joe, come-a get me, Diamond Joe"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (recording, Georgia Crackers)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Mostly floating verses with a hint of narrative; singer goes "up on the mountain, give my horn a blow/Thought I heard Miss Maybelle say, yonder comes my beau." "Ain't gonna work in the country, neither on (Parchman?) farm/I'm gonna stay till my Maybelle come, she gon' call-a me Tom." Chorus: "Diamond Joe, come-a get me, Diamond Joe"
KEYWORDS: love work floatingverses nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
DT, (DIAMONJ3 -- though this may be at least partly a parody)
Roud #3585
RECORDINGS:
Charlie Butler, "Diamond Joe" (AFS, 1941; on LCTreas, LC04)
Georgia Crackers [Cofer Bros.], "Diamond Joe" (OKeh 45098, 1927)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Yonder Comes My Love" (lyrics)
NOTES [168 words]: This should not be confused with the cowboy complaint song "Diamond Joe (I)," an entirely separate song.
Art Thieme has suggested that the Diamond Joe referred to in this song is a steamboat rather than a person. - PJS
Lyle Lofgren offers additional support for this view: "Joseph Reynolds (1819-1891) was a Chicago grain dealer who devised a logo ('JO' inside a diamond) to distinguish himself from another Joseph Reynolds. Dissatisfied with the shipping situation, he built a steamboat, the Diamond Jo, to haul freight on the upper Mississippi (St. Paul to St. Louis). He later expanded the business to become the Diamond Jo Line, with all the boats sporting his logo. After the railroads began to carry more of the grain, the steamboats became mostly passenger vessels. There are only two remnants of the operation: the Diamond Jo name is now used by an unrelated riverboat casino in Dubuque, Iowa, and Reynolds Hall, the University of Chicago student union, was built with an endowment from Reynolds." - RBW
Last updated in version 4.2
File: RcDiJoII

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