Darling Corey

Song composer(s)

Traditional

Grateful Dead Recordings

Not recorded by the Dead

Dead Related Recordings

No Dead related recordings entered

Other Recordings

Buell Kazee (April 20, 1927)
B. F. Shelton (1927)
Single : Monroe Brothers (1936)
The Wayfaring Stranger : Burl Ives (1955)
Live At Carnegie Hall : The Weavers (1956)
Blood, Booze 'n Bones : Ed McCurdy (1956)
Buell Kazee Sings and Plays : Buell Kazee (1958)
Belafonte At Carnegie Hall : Harry Belafonte (1959)
Folk Scene U.S.A. : Cumberland Three with John Stewart (1960)
The Watson Family : Doc Watson (1963)
Dick Farina & Eric Von Schmidt : Richard Farina & Eric Von Schmidt (1963)
Smokey Mountain Ballads : Monroe Brothers (1964)
Single : Bill Monroe & his Blue Grass Boys (1964)
Folk Box : Pete Seeger (1964)
Celebrations for a Grey Day : Mimi and Richard Farina (196?)
Buell H Kazee : Buell Kazee (196?)
Close To Home : Roscoe Holcomb (196?)
Act One : Seldom Scene (1972)
Blue Ridge Mountain Blues : Bill Clifton and the Dixie Mountain Boys (1973)
Feast Here Tonight : Monroe Brothers (1975)
Close To Home : Roscoe Holcomb (1975)
Pickin' Around the Cookstove : Various Artists (1975)
Doc & The Boys : Doc Watson (1976)
Mother Jones' Will : Nimrod Workman (1978)
Red Allen and Friends : Red Allen (1981)
Rare Belafonte : Harry Belafonte (1981)
Folk Jazz USA : John Benson Brooks (1983)
Home in West Virginia: West Virginia Project, Vol. 2 : Dick Justice (1987)
Clawhammer : Joel Mabus (198?)
Greatest Hits : Pete Seeger (1990)
The Doc Watson Family : Doc Watson (1990)
Bluegrass 1959-1969 : Bill Monroe (1991)
Early Years 1957-1958 : Bill Clifton (1992)
Folksongs and Ballads, Vol 4 : William May (1992)
Darling Corey/Goofing Off Suite : Pete Seeger (1993)
Family Songs & Stories From The North Carolina Mountains : Doug & Jack Wallin (1995)
Kentucky Folksongs & Ballads : Various Artists (Logan English) (19??)
My Privelege : Mike Fenton (19??)
Anglo-American Songs & Ballads : Various Artists (Pleaz Mobley) (19??)
Sweet Sunny South : The Bill Sky Family (19??)
Smoky Mountain Ballads : Various Artists (Bill Monroe) (19??)
Neiman-Marcus First Edition : Various Artists (Monroe Brothers) (19??)
The Legendary Monroe Brothers Collection : Monroe Brothers (19??)
2nd Generation (19??)
Low Ground (19??)

Performance History

Played by Jerry Garcia, Marshall Leicester and Robert Hunter at the Carlos Bookstall in San Carlos in July 1961.

Notes

Lead vocals - Garcia.

A traditional song that exists with many variations in form. Constant elements in the song are the command for the girl of the title to wake up and lines about digging a hole in the ground. Some recordings are as Darlin Corey or Darlin' Corey but majority are Darling Corey.

The lyrics of the version performed by the Dead on 11/20/70 are barely audible, only a verse and chorus are sung.

The version performed by Garcia, Hunter and Leicester in 1961 is clearer, the lyrics are;

Wake up, wake up, darling Corey
What makes you sleep so sound
The revenue officers are coming
Gonna tear your still house down

Dig a hole, dig a hole in the meadow
Dig a hole in the cold, cold ground
Dig a hole, dig a hole in the meadow
Gonna lay darling Corey down

Wake up, wake up, darling Corey
Quit hanging around my bed
Bad liquor has ruined my body
Pretty women gone to my head

Wake up, wake up, darling Corey
What makes you sleep so sound
The revenue officers are coming
Gonna tear your still house down

The song Country Blues originally recorded by Dock Boggs in 1928 is closely related to Darling Corey. Recordings of this can be found on the following;

Anthology Of American Folk Music : Various Artists (Dock Boggs) (1952, reissued (1997)
New Lost City Ramblers, Vol. 5 : New Lost City Ramblers (1963)
Doc Watson : Doc Watson (1964)
Faro Annie : John Renbourn (1972)
Art of the Mountain Banjo : Art Rosenbaum (1975)
Old-Time Music - It's All Around : Bruce Hutton (1978)
Legendary Dock Boggs : Dock Boggs (197?)
Meat and Potatoes and Stuff Like That : Hotmud Family (1981)
Essential Doc Watson : Doc Watson (1986)
Essential 2 : Doc Watson (1988)
Portrait : Doc Watson (1988)
Crossing Over : Hesperus (1988)
Untold Stories : Hot Rize (1989)
Giant Step/De Ole Folks At Home : Taj Mahal (1989)
Blue Lightning : Jody Stecher & Kate Brislin (1990)
Taj's Blues : Taj Mahal (1992)
Acoustic Routes : Various Artists (1995)
First Families of Country -Sons & Daughters : Various Artists (1997)
Vanguard Collector's Edition : Various Artists (Doc Watson) (1997)
Run Mountain : J.E. Mainer (1997)
Complete Early Recordings, 1927-29 : Dock Boggs (1998)