Grey Cat On A Tennessee Farm: A Song History

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"Grey Cat on a Tennessee Farm," also spelled "Gray Cat," is closely associated with Uncle Dave Macon (1870–1952),[1] the banjo-playing showman who was among the earliest members of the WSM Barn Dance and became the first major star of the Grand Ole Opry.[2] He often performed and recorded with guitarist Sam McGee and Sam's brother Kirk.[2] On May 9, 1927, Uncle Dave Macon and His Fruit-Jar Drinkers recorded "The Gray Cat on the Tennessee Farm," and Vocalion issued it on record 5152, backed with "Rock About My Sara Jane."[3] According to the Discogs listing, the session took place in New York, with Macon singing and playing banjo, Kirk McGee and Mazy Todd on fiddles and Sam McGee on guitar.[3] One song database credits the song to Macon with a 1927 copyright.[4] The Traditional Tune Archive, however, links it to "Rabbit in a Pea Patch" and the "Fort Smith" family of tunes, and notes that the African American Kentucky fiddler Cuje Bertram played it on a 1970 family tape. How much of the piece Macon made up himself and how much he adapted is not settled in the sources consulted.[1]

Russell Lee photograph of a tabby farm cat reaching into a pail of fresh milk, 1941

Russell Lee, The cat drinks foamy, fresh milk. Farm, Canyon County, Idaho, photograph, 1941. Farm Security Administration collection, Library of Congress. No known restrictions on publication. A farm cat of the era, photographed in Idaho rather than Tennessee.

The New Lost City Ramblers later recorded it for Folkways on Gone to the Country, citing Macon's Vocalion record as their source, with John Cohen singing and playing banjo, Mike Seeger on fiddle and Tracy Schwarz on guitar.[5] Old-time bands such as the Highwoods String Band and the Freight Hoppers have recorded it too.[1] Today it belongs to the mountain dulcimer jamming repertoire and is one of the 75 tunes in Stephen Seifert's Join the Jam.[6]

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Sources

  1. The Traditional Tune Archive: "Annotation: Grey Cat on a Tennessee Farm".
  2. Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum: "Uncle Dave Macon".
  3. Discogs: "Uncle Dave Macon And His Fruit-Jar Drinkers – Rock About My Sara Jane / The Gray Cat On The Tennessee Farm".
  4. SecondHandSongs: "The Gray Cat on the Tennessee Farm".
  5. Smithsonian Folkways: Liner notes, The New Lost City Ramblers, Gone to the Country (FA 2491).
  6. Stephen Seifert: "Join the Jam DAD Tuning".