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Jim Gaskin, fiddle & vocal; Buz Brazeale, guitar; Earl Barnes, banjo; Asa Martin, jug - Lost John

from Survey of Traditional Music, Vol. 4: The Anglo​-​African Exchange by Field Recorders' Collective

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For an in-depth discussion of this track, see the album notes: tinyurl[dot]com/V4NATnotes

lyrics

Well, the ugliest man I've ever seen
Is a man called John from Bowling Green
No hat on his head, no shoes on his feet
Always looking for something to eat.

Chorus:
Lost John, they call him Lost John.

Well, he come by my grandpa's house one day
Told him that he wanted to stay
They asked him what he wanted to eat
He said, "Forty-nine biscuits and a ham of meat."

Lost John sittin’ on the railroad track
Waiting for a freight train [to] come along back.
Freight train come along, didn't make a stop
You oughta seen Lost John gettin’ on top.

credits

from Survey of Traditional Music, Vol. 4: The Anglo​-​African Exchange, released August 7, 2023
Recorded by Mark Wilson and Gus Meade, Irvine, KY, 3/73.

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Field Recorders' Collective

The Field Recorders’ Collective is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and distribution of noncommercial recordings of traditional American music, material that is unavailable to the general public.

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