AFTER THE BALL

Richie Untermeyer:

“Like its predecessor, After The Ball sank like a stone in the marketplace, remaining obscure even to some devotees.”

Denny Bruce:

“He had many little rituals to ‘get ready’ to record. If the session was at six, the engineer and I were there, he’d show up later and retreat to the men’s room for the finger-pick cleaning. This could take 45 minutes. Every finger-pick and the thumb-pick would be scrubbed and then set out to dry on individual paper towels.”

New Orleans Shuffle

Based on the version by the Halfway House Orchestra

Om Shanthi Norris

Shanthi Norris was Yogi Satchidananda’s secretary.

I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free

Composers: Taylor and Dallas. A hit for Nina Simone in 1976. Music by the master jazz pianist and composer, Billy Taylor

When You Wore A Tulip (And I Wore A Big Red Rose)

Composers: Wenrich and Mahoney. Fahey used to tap-dance to this tune at the age of 8.

Hawaiian Two-Step

FANDANGOS, FLANG DANGS AND TWO STEPS

Hawaiian Two Step became a Fahey staple in concert until the late 1980s. There are two different but related songs which may be said to blend into JF’s version.

A) FANDANGOS

1. Spanish Fandango by John Dilleshaw and the String Marvel, 1930

2. Spanish Rag by Herschel Brown, 1930 - a distant variation of (1)

3. Spanish Fandango by Bill Boyd and his Cowboy Ramblers, 1938 sweetened pop version of (1)

4. Spanish Fandango by Mississippi John Hurt, 1966. Arguably a distinct, unrelated piece, just to confuse us all.

B) FLANG DANGS

1. Logan County Blues by Frank Hutchison, 1930. Introduced into concerts as part of a medley with Hawaiian Two Step in the 1980s.

2. Spanish Flang Dang by Elizabeth Cotton (pretty version of (1).

3. Spanish Fandango by Norman Blake, 1976. Not a Fahey source, of course, but an interesting comparison - distant version of (2).

4. American and Spanish Fandango by Smith & Allgood, 1930 (a rich year for guitar playing). We have already come across this piece, which is the direct source for Beautiful Linda Getchell. The middle part of the song is a variation of (1) and (2) – so presumably one part of the tune is the American fandango and the other is the Spanish.

Bucktown Stomp

Version of Smoketown Strut by Sylvester Weaver, 1924.

Candy Man

Reverend Gary Davis’ version.

After the Ball

Composed in 1891 by Charles Harris.

Lyrics:

A little maiden climbed an old man's knee
Begged for a story - "Do, uncle, please!"
Why are you single; why live alone?
Have you no babies; have you no home?"
"I had a sweetheart, years, years ago;
Where she is now, pet, you will soon know.
List to the story, I'll tell it all,
I believed her faithless, after the ball."

After the ball is over, after the break of morn
After the dancers' leaving, after the stars are gone;
Many a heart is aching if you could read them all;
Many the hopes that have vanished
After the ball.

"Bright lights were flashing in the grand ballroom,
Softly the music, playing sweet tunes.
There came my sweetheart, my love, my own -
'I wish some water; leave me alone.'
When I returned, dear, there stood a man,
Kissing my sweetheart, as lovers can.
Down fell the glass, pet, broken, that's all.
Just as my heart was, after the ball."

"Long years have passed child, I've never wed
True to my lost love, though she is dead.
She tried to tell me, tried to explain;
I would not listen, pleadings were vain.
One day a letter came from that man,
He was her brother - the letter ran.
That's why I'm lonely, no home at all;
I broke her heart, pet, after the ball."
After the ball is over . . . .