Going Around the World (Banjo Pickin' Girl, Baby Mine)

DESCRIPTION: "I'm going across the ocean (friends of mine/baby mine) (x3) If I don't change my notion." "I'm going across the sea... Say you'll love no one but me." "I'm going around the world... (with/I'm) a banjo-pickin' girl." Verses usually about courting
AUTHOR: Words: Charles Mackay, Music: Archibald Johnston
EARLIEST DATE: 1859 (antecedent song "Baby Mine" published)
KEYWORDS: courting love nonballad travel music money rambling
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (3 citations):
McNeil-SouthernMountainFolksong, pp. 58-66, "Banjo Pickin' Girl" (5 texts, 2 tunes; the texts with tunes are titled "Baby Mine" and "Banjo Pickin' Girl")
Silber/Silber-FolksingersWordbook, p. 54, "Baby Mine" (1 text)
Heart-Songs, pp. 356-357, "Baby Mine" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11519
RECORDINGS:
R. D. Burnett & Lynn Woodard, "Going Around the World" (recorded for Gennett 1929, but unissued; on BurnRuth01)
Coon Creek Girls, "Banjo-Pickin' Girl" (Vocalion 04413/OKeh 04413, 1938; on GoingDown)
Leslie Keith & the Blue Sky Boys. "Going Around This World" (on Protobilly)
Elizabeth Spencer, "Baby Mine" (CYL: Edison 2383, 1911)
Pete Steele, "Goin' Around This World, Baby Mine" (on PSteele01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Crawdad" (floating lyrics)
cf. "New River Train" (floating lyrics)
NOTES [80 words]: Old-time singers in the Revival era tend to sing this as "Banjo Pickin' Girl," with a much more feminist feel than the earliest version known to me (sung by Burnett and Woodard). I have to suspect that someone (presumably one of the all-girl groups) touched the song up slightly. It is still clearly the same song, however. - RBW
Your suspicion is right on the nose -- it was the Coon Creek Girls. Incidentally, it's been much more commonly recorded as "Banjo-Pickin' Girl." - (PJS)
Last updated in version 6.0
File: RcGAtW

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