Cripple Creek (I)

DESCRIPTION: Often found as a fiddle tune with words: "I got a gal at the head of the creek, Goin' up to see her 'bout the middle of the week...." "Goin' up to Cripple Creek, Goin' at a run, Goin' up to Cripple Creek to have a little fun." Most verses involve courting
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (Cecil Sharp collection); +1913 (JAFL28)
KEYWORDS: fiddle courting river nonballad
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES (15 citations):
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore3 299, "Cripple Creek" (1 short text plus mention of 1 more)
Brown/Schinhan-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore5 299, "Cripple Creek" (2 tunes plus text excerpts)
Browne-AlabamaFolkLyric 178, "Going Up Hippocreek" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Lunsford/Stringfield-30And1FolkSongsFromSouthernMountains, p. 53, "Cripple Creek" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp-EnglishFolkSongsFromSouthernAppalachians 247, "Gone to Cripple Creek" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Bush-FSofCentralWestVirginiaVol2, p. 15, "Cripple Creek" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Roberts-SangBranchSettlers, #81, "Cripple Creek" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FolkSongsOfNorthAmerica 118, "Cripple Creek" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-TreasuryOfAmericanFolklore, pp. 898-899, "Cripple Creek" (1 text, 1 tune)
Rorrer-RamblingBlues-LifeAndSongsOfCharliePoole, p. 83, "Shootin' Creek" (1 text, with recitation and verses partly derived from "Ida Red (I)")
Silber/Silber-FolksingersWordbook, p. 37, "Cripple Creek" (1 text)
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore3 43, "Old Corn Licker" (a 2-line fragment, unclassifiable but with similarities to some texts of this song)
NorthCarolinaFolkloreJournal, John Allen Davidson, Jr., "The Songs of Caleb Mashburn," Vol. XX, No. 1 (Feb 1972), p. 56, "Goin' up Cripple Creek, goin' on a run" (1 fragment)
DT, CRIPLCRK
ADDITIONAL: James P. Leary, Compiler and Annotator, _Wisconsin Folklore_ University of Wisconsin Press, 2009, article "Kentucky Folksong in Northern Wisconsin" by Asher E. Treat, pp. 245-246, "Goin' Up Cripple Creek" (1 text, 1 tune, sung by Mrs. M. G. Jabobs)
Roud #3434
RECORDINGS:
Fiddlin' John Carson, "Going Down to Cripple Creek" (OKeh 45214, 1928)
Fruit Jar Guzzlers, "Cripple Creek" (Paramount 3116/Broadway 8108, 1928)
Charlie Higgins, Wade Ward & Dale Poe, "Cripple Creek" [instrumental] (on LomaxCD1701)
The Hillbillies, "Cripple Creek" (OKeh 40336, 1925) (Vocalion 15367, 1926/Vocalion 5115, c. 1927)
Roscoe Holcomb, "Cripple Creek" (on MMOKCD)
Doc Hopkins, "Cripple Creek" (Radio 1410B, n.d., prob. late 1940s - early 1950s); "Going to Little Creek" (unpublished? 1960s; this is a very different version)
Land Norris, "Red Creek" (OKeh 40433, 1925)
Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, "Shootin' Creek" (composite with "Ida Red (I)"; Columbia15286-D, 1928; on CPoole01, CPoole05)
Fiddlin' Doc Roberts, "Cripple Creek" (Gennett 6336, 1927)
Ernest Stoneman, "Going Up Cripple Creek" (Victor 20294, 1926)
Stove Pipe No. 1 [pseud. for Sam Jones], "Cripple Creek & Sourwood Mountain" (Columbia 201-D, 1924)
Frances Turbyfill (Campbell), "Cripple Creek" (Fragment: Piotr-Archive #149, recorded 04/25/2022, so noisy that it is almost impossible to be sure whether it is this or just noise)
Tweedy Brothers, "Cripple Creek" (Silvertone 4008, c. 1925)
Guy Wolff, "Cripple Creek" (Piotr-Archive #442, recorded 01/08/2023)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Sally Goodin" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Ida Red (I)" (floating verses)
cf. "Ida Red (III)" (floating verses)
NOTES [35 words]: The notes in Brown say that there was a gold rush at Cripple Creek, producing this song. But it's worth noting that the sources can't agree on the state in which Cripple Creek is located (Colorado, Virginia). - RBW
Last updated in version 6.7
File: San320

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