Yuba Dam

DESCRIPTION: Conductor asks the singer where he wants to go; he replies "Yuba Dam." Conductor beats him up. His wife scolds him, asks, "Where'd you get that load?" "Yuba Dam!" After more such troubles, he opines that "the town of Yuba Dam has no right on the map"
AUTHOR: William D. Hall (according to Spaeth, _A History of Popular Music in America_, p. 611)
EARLIEST DATE: 1899 (recording, S. H. Dudley); Spaeth lists it as a major composition of 1898
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer is asked by train conductor where he wants to go, and replies "Yuba Dam." Conductor is upset, and beats him up. When he gets home, his wife scolds him, asks, "Where'd you get that load?" "Yuba Dam!" She slugs him; he flees. He returns the next day, not realizing he has a long blonde hair on his coat; she finds it and he leaves home. She sues for divorce; judge asks him, "What brought this all about?" "Yuba Dam!" he replies, and is jailed for contempt. He opines that "the town of Yuba Dam has no right on the map"
KEYWORDS: jealousy infidelity marriage accusation questions humorous wife judge wordplay
FOUND IN: US(MW)
RECORDINGS:
S. H. Dudley, "Yuba Dam" (Berliner 0466-J, rec. 1899)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. I Want to Go to Morrow (subject, such as it is, and general atmosphere)
NOTES [177 words]: I assign the location thanks to Bob Bovee, whose father [uncle, according to the liner notes to Bob's album "The Roundup"] learned the song in Nebraska in the 1920s. After assiduous searching, I had been unable to locate a Yuba Dam, but a more recent Google search suggests that the congressional representative for the South Yuba River area is proposing that one be built.
From the website of Yuba State Park, Utah: "Yuba State Park got its name from the individuals who built the dam [between 1902 and 1917]. Local farmers and ranchers had to build the dam themselves or risk losing their water rights. The men working on the structure called it the U.B. Dam. As they worked they sang a song that stated they were damned if they worked and damned if they didn't. The phonetic sound of the reservoirs name was eventually spelled Yuba." - PJS
Bob recorded this long enough ago that I have it on LP, but after many years of attending Bovee/Heil concerts, I can't recall ever hearing him sing it. (I won't swear to that.) Maybe Yuba Dam is still causing trouble. - RBW
Last updated in version 4.0
File: RcYubaDa

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