BUFFALO SKINNERS

Created on 20/01/2001
Latest update on 17/07/2023

Artist: Pete Harris
Author: traditional
Label: Library Of Congress
Year: 1934

With spoken introduction by John A. Lomax. Recorded during a fieldtrip funded by Roosevelt's New Deal program.

Covers:

1935:

Woody Guthrie [and in '45 when he used the lyrics of Bogey Creek from father Lomax' Cowboy Songs collection]

1955:

Ramblin' Jack Elliott

1955:

Johnny Cash [lyrics and melody in New Mexico, a Sun recording released in '64 as a single]

1957:

Pete Seeger

1962:

Roscoe Holcomb [as Hills Of Mexico]

1963:

Cisco Houston

1963:

Eric Von Schmidt

1966:

Jim Kweskin Jug Band

1967:

Bob Dylan [as The Hills Of Mexico during the Basement sessions; called it "wasting tape"]

1969:

John A. Lomax Jr.

1972:

John Renbourn

1976:

Arlo Guthrie

1989:

Frank Tovey

1994:

Sid Selvidge

2007:

Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby [as Hills Of Mexico]

According to Bulletin #7 of the Folksong Society of the Northeast, Buffalo Skinners hails from a woodcutting song in Maine: Canadee-I-O (see there). When moving more to the west it became Michigan-I-O and the more western it went, the more it got popular among buffalo hunters. Once the prairie region of the Midwest was home to so many buffalos "they could drink the Arkansas river dry". That was before Buffalo Bill, the man responsable for trainloads of drive-by shooters slaughtering for sport.

Contact


If you noticed blunt omissions, mis-interpretations or even out-and-out errors,
please let me know:

Arnold Rypens
Rozenlaan 65
B-2840 Reet (Rumst)

info@originals.be

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