Long Journey Home: A Song History
The Traditional Ballad Index files this homesick lyric under the title "Two Dollar Bill (Long Journey Home)": its singer, nearly broke and far from home, catches sight of a train and thinks of the long road back.[1] The index lists no known author and points to "Worried Man Blues" for comparison of the tune.[1] The earliest date it records for the song is 1936, from a recording by the Monroe Brothers.[1]
Félix Bracquemond, La Locomotive, etching and drypoint; intermediary state between first and second of two, 1873. Shown for its subject; it has no connection to the song.
Charlie and Bill Monroe, performing as the Monroe Brothers, recorded it for Victor in Charlotte, North Carolina, on February 17, 1936, with Charlie on guitar and Bill on mandolin.[2] Issued as "My Long Journey Home," it appeared on Montgomery Ward M-4747 and on Bluebird B-6422, the Bluebird disc released in June 1936 and backed with "Nine Pound Hammer Is Too Heavy."[2][3] The Ballad Index also lists recordings by Jim Eanes and by the New Lost City Ramblers, and the New Lost City Ramblers' songbook prints a text and tune.[1]
Phyllis Gaskins includes it among the 42 tunes in Galax Dulcimer: A Job Of Journey Work, a book on the Galax style of mountain dulcimer playing, published by Fingers Of Steel.[4]
Sources
- Traditional Ballad Index: "Two Dollar Bill (Long Journey Home)".
- Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Victor matrix BS-99193. My long journey home / Monroe Brothers".
- Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Bluebird B-6422 (10-in. double-faced)".
- Fingers Of Steel: "Phyllis Gaskins, Galax Dulcimer: A Job Of Journey Work".
- Image: Félix Bracquemond, La Locomotive, etching and drypoint; intermediary state between first and second of two, 1873. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.