When I'm Gone: A Song History

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The Carter Family recorded "When I'm Gone" for Victor on May 25, 1931, as a trio of A. P., Sara and Maybelle Carter with guitar and autoharp, under the supervision of Ralph Peer.[1] It was one of five sides the group cut that day, alongside "Sunshine in the Shadows" and "Let the Church Roll On."[2] Victor issued it on 23569, backed with "Can't Feel at Home," and the company's history card puts sales of that disc at 9,566 copies.[1] The same take later reappeared on Bluebird B-6053, paired with the Carters' 1927 "Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow."[3]

A dark wooden concert zither with a scrolled end, a fretted fingerboard and many strings running over two round sound holes.

Hartmann Bros. & Reinhard, New York, Concert Zither, wood with metal mounts, ca. 1890. A concert zither made in New York about 1890, a relative of the autoharp heard on the Carter Family's 1931 recording but not an autoharp itself; the instrument has no connection to the song.

Who wrote it is less settled. The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) lists A. P. Carter as arranger and credits the music to Thomas M. Hengler (died 1888) and the words to William H. Delehanty (died 1880).[1] DAHR gives the same pair credit for "You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone," which Charlie Monroe's Boys recorded for Bluebird in September 1938.[4] Sheet music for song-and-dance numbers appeared under the names Delehanty and Hengler in 1869 and 1870, one item catalogued under minstrel shows.[5][6] The sources consulted here did not identify the earlier song behind the 1931 credit, and a 2013 Bluegrass Today report simply traces the piece to A. P. Carter, so sources differ.[7]

The song found a new audience after 2009, when Luisa Gerstein of the British band Lulu and the Lampshades posted a reworked version on YouTube with plastic cups and clapping for percussion; it then featured on the 2012 Pitch Perfect soundtrack.[7] In 2013 NPR reported Anna Kendrick's "Cups" as the sixth song on the Billboard Hot 100, though that report traces it to the Carters' 1928 "Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone?" rather than this 1931 song.[8] The Bankesters recorded a bluegrass version for their album Love Has Wheels the same year.[9] Elwood Donnelly counts it among the 35 pieces, drawn from a Carter catalog of roughly 300 songs, in Such Singing You Will Hear: 35 Songs Of The Carter Family, a downloadable book in DAD tuning with material for mountain dulcimer, backup and voice.[10]

Our book that contains the song "When I'm Gone"

Sources

  1. Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Victor 23569 (Black label (popular) 10-in. double-faced)".
  2. Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Recordings made Monday, May 25, 1931".
  3. Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Bluebird B-6053 (10-in. double-faced)".
  4. Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Bluebird B-7949 (10-in. double-faced)".
  5. Johns Hopkins University, Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection: "Delehanty & Hengler's Songs & Dances. No. 17. Kome [sic] and Kiss Me".
  6. Johns Hopkins University, Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection: "Delehanty and Hengler's Latest Sensation. Hoop La! Where Are We Now? Song & Dance".
  7. Bluegrass Today: "Cups song video coming from The Bankesters".
  8. NPR: "A Year After Its Debut, The Song 'Cups' Becomes A Hit".
  9. Bluegrass Today: "Cups video from The Bankesters".
  10. Elwood Donnelly: "Such Singing You Will Hear: 35 Songs Of The Carter Family".
  11. Image: Hartmann Bros. & Reinhard, New York, Concert Zither, wood with metal mounts, ca. 1890. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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