Cumberland Gap (folk song)
"Cumberland Gap" is an Appalachian folk song that likely dates to the latter half of the 19th century and was first recorded in 1924. The song is typically played on banjo or fiddle, and well-known versions of the song include instrumental versions as well as versions with lyrics. A version of the song appeared in the 1934 book, American Ballads and Folk Songs, by folk song collector John Lomax. Woody Guthrie recorded a version of the song at his Folkways sessions in the mid-1940s, and the song saw a resurgence in popularity with the rise of bluegrass and the American folk music revival in the 1950s. In 1957, the British musician Lonnie Donegan had a No. 1 UK hit with a skiffle version of "Cumberland Gap".
The song's title refers to the Cumberland Gap, a mountain pass in the Appalachian Mountains at the juncture of the states of Tennessee, Virginia, and Kentucky. The gap was used in the latter half of the 18th century by westward-bound migrants travelling from the original 13 American colonies to the Trans-Appalachian frontier. During the U.S. Civil War, Union and Confederate armies engaged in a year-long back-and-forth struggle for control of the gap.
Song history
Origins and early references
songster Bascom Lamar Lunsford, recording his "memory collection" for the Archive of American Folk Song in March 1949, suggested that "Cumberland Gap" may be a "sped up" version of the tune that once accompanied the ballad Bonnie George Campbell. Lunsford recorded both songs on fiddle to show the similarities.One of the earliest references to "Cumberland Gap" was published by author Horace Kephart in his 1913 book, Our Southern Highlanders. Kephart recalled taking part in a bear hunt that took place circa 1904-1906 in the Great Smoky Mountains. While waiting for weather conditions to improve, members of the hunting party sang "ballets" to pass the time. Kephart transcribed the opening stanzas to several of these songs, including a version of "Cumberland Gap" sung by Hazel Creek bear hunter "Little John" Cable:
"L-a-a-ay down boys,
Le's take a nap:
Thar's goin' to be trouble
In the Cumberland Gap"
Kephart simply wrote that the song was of "modern and local origin." Kentucky ballad collector H. H. Fuson published a lengthy version of "Cumberland Gap" in 1931, with the first three lines in the opening stanza reading "Lay down, boys, an' take a little nap" and the last line reading "They're all raisin' Hell in the Cumberland Gap," somewhat echoing the lyrics transcribed by Kephart a quarter-century earlier. Fuson's version also mentions key historical events in the Cumberland Gap's pioneer period and the battle for control of the gap during the Civil War. His last stanza ends with the line "Fourteen miles to the Cumberland Gap." This last line would appear again in a 1933 field recording of the song by an obscure Harlan, Kentucky fiddler known as "Blind" James Howard, and published by John Lomax in his 1934 book, American Ballads and Folk Songs.
Early recordings and performances
The earliest known recording of "Cumberland Gap" was a 1924 instrumental version by Tennessee fiddler Ambrose G. "Uncle Am" Stuart. The first singing and solo banjo version was recorded by Land Norris in August, 1924 by Okeh Records. Then, in September 1924, fiddle-and-guitar duo Gid Tanner and Riley Puckett recorded the song, and would re-record the song again in 1926 with their band, the Skillet Lickers. Tanner's lyrics bear little resemblance to Fuson's, although Tanner's chorus uses the line "Me and my wife and my wife's pap," which resembles a line in one of Fuson's stanzas.In the mid-1940s, Woody Guthrie recorded a version of "Cumberland Gap" for Moe Asch's Folkways label, containing the chorus, "Cumberland Gap, Cumberland Gap/Seventeen miles to the Cumberland Gap" and a stanza referring to the gap's distance from Middlesboro, Kentucky. Folk musician and folk music scholar Pete Seeger released a version somewhat similar to Guthrie's in 1954. Donegan's 1957 skiffle version, which reached No. 1 on the charts in the United Kingdom, also resembled Guthrie's Folkways version, although his chorus uses "fifteen miles" rather than "seventeen miles."
In May 1925, at the now-legendary Fiddlers' Convention in Mountain City, Tennessee, fiddler G. B. Grayson won first prize with his rendering of "Cumberland Gap", ousting rivals Stuart, Charlie Bowman, and Fiddlin' John Carson. Bluegrass banjoist Earl Scruggs delivered a memorable performance of "Cumberland Gap" at the Newport Folk Festival in 1959. The song has since been recorded and performed by dozens of bluegrass, country, and folk musicians, including the 2nd South Carolina String Band's rendition of the Civil War lyrics.
Notable versions
Pre-war commercial recording details are from Rusell| Artist | Year | Issue | Genre | Notes |
| Uncle Am Stuart | July 1924 | Vocalion Vo 14839 | Old-time fiddle | Instrumental |
| Land Norris | August 1924 | OKeh 40212 | Old-time | Solo vocal and solo banjo |
| Gid Tanner and Riley Puckett | September 1924 | Columbia Co 245-D | Old-time fiddle and banjo | |
| Gid Tanner and The Skillet Lickers | 1928, | Columbia Co 15303-D | Old-time with vocal | Riley Puckett plays guitar |
| The Hill Billies | 1926 | Vocation Vo 5024 | Old-time | |
| Dick Burnett, Leonard Rutherford & Byrd Moore | 1928 | Gennett Ge 6706 | Old-time banjo, fiddle, guitar | |
| Frank Hutchison | 1929 | OKeh OK44570 | Old-time guitar with vocal | |
| Blind James Howard | 1933 | Library of Congress | Old-time fiddle | Recorded for LOC by John Lomax |
| Gid Tanner and The Skillet Lickers | 1934 | Bluebird BB B-5434 | Old-time fiddle, guitar, mandolin | As Cumberland Gap On A Bucking Mule |
| Luther Strong | 1937 | Library of Congress | Old-time fiddle | Recorded for LOC by Alan Lomax |
| Woody Guthrie | 1944-1945 | Folkways | Folk | |
| Bascom Lamar Lunsford | 1949 | Library of Congress | Old-time fiddle | Plays "Bonnie George Campbell" and "Cumberland Gap" |
| Pete Seeger | 1954 | Folkways | Folk | |
| Don Reno and Red Smiley | 1956 | King | Bluegrass | |
| Lonnie Donegan | 1957 | Pye | Skiffle | UK no. 1, April–May. |
| The Vipers Skiffle Group | 1957 | Parlophone | Skiffle | UK no. 10 hit in April. |
| Dickie Bishop and his Sidekicks | 1957 | London Records | Skiffle | |
| Wade Ward | 1959 | Atlantic Records | Old-time banjo | Recorded by Alan Lomax and Shirley Collins |
| "New River" Jack Burchett | 1961 | Smithsonian Folkways | Old-time banjo with vocal | Released 1994 |
| Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs | 1961 | Columbia | Bluegrass | |
| Dock Boggs | 1963 | Folkways | Old-time banjo | |
| Hobart Smith | 1963 | Folkways | Old-time banjo | Fleming Brown sessions; virtuosic banjo instrumental |
| P.J. Proby with The Vernons Girls | 1964 | N/A | Pop-Rock | Performed during the internationally broadcast TV special Around The Beatles |
| Fred Cockerman | 1967 | County Records | Old-time banjo | - |
| Cuje Bertram | 1970 | Home recording | African American fiddle | Released 1999 by Document Records |
| Esker Hutchins | 1971 | County Records | Old-time banjo | - |
| Kyle Creed | 1977 | Heritage | Old-time banjo | Album: Liberty |
| Senator Robert Byrd | 1978 | County 967 | Old-time fiddle with vocal | LP U.S. Senator Robert Byrd - Mountain Fiddler. Accompanied by band |
| Chancey Brothers | 1979 | Dust-to-Digital | Old-time banjo with guitar | - |
| The Wedding Present | 1992 | New Musical Express | Indie Rock | Ruby Trax |
| Old Crow Medicine Show | 2001 | Blood Donor Music | Old-time | Greetings from Wawa |
| Frank Fairfield | 2009 | Tompkins Square | Old-time | |
| Xiu Xiu | 2010 | Kill Rock Stars | Indie Rock | |
| Felice Brothers | 2012 | Alt Folk | Home Recordings |