- Hear My Sad Story: The True Tales That Inspired “Stagolee,” “John Henry,” and Other Traditional American Folk Songs by Richard Polenberg
Richard Polenberg’s examination and assessment of some of America’s best historically based folk songs is of significance to anyone interested in West Virginia, Appalachian, and American folk music, as well as Americana in general. In his prologue, he outlines a personal long-standing interest and background in the subject that led him, in 1957, to the homes and haunts of some important southern folk musicians like Samantha Bumgardner, George Pegram, and others (3–4). The book is arranged in themes, starting with “St. Louis,” and continues with “Lying Cold on the Ground,” “Bold Highwaymen and Outlaws,” “Railroads,” “Workers,” “Disasters,” and “Martyrs.” Twenty-seven folk songs are investigated, most all known to traditional music enthusiasts, with a prologue, epilogue, and an informative sources for readers and listeners.
Polenberg attempts to only engage historically accurate songs, saying, “Every song in this book is truthful, is grounded in historical fact, and illuminates the social history of the times” (5). His approach is clearly as a historian, and he has done a masterful job of gathering every scrap of historical background information on the songs and their makers if they are known. [End Page 185] He does show that time can bend historic accuracy, for instance in “Naomi Wise” and “Delia’s Gone.” Historical facts are presented in a very readable form throughout.
The author starts with an examination of W. C. Handy’s famous “St. Louis Blues.” One might question: is this really a folk song, given its popular bent and having been composed by a professional musician? It clearly is, and it easily slipped into oral tradition. Polenberg shows that Handy expresses the values of a downtrodden race and further convinces you that he employed the language of real people in his compositions (13). The author goes on to document Handy’s horrendous experiences in the racist Jim Crow South before escaping north to Harlem.
West Virginia–based songs included are “John Hardy,” “Engine 143,” and “John Henry,” and there are some with West Virginia connections (“Only a Miner”). “John Henry” could easily be considered a perfect folk song and was exploited by playwrights and others (152). In this one song, I disagree with the author’s claim of historical accuracy. There is little proof that a staged contest-event between a man and a machine actually took place. But we all want it to have happened, as it perfectly dramatizes the unstoppable onslaught of the industrial revolution. The David and Goliath motif is strongly in play, and motifs and emotions can easily substitute for historical evidence, resulting in a heroic folk song, even if only based on some minor incident. The song ends with a bittersweet theatrical ending, as John Henry, after conquering the machine, asks for “a cool drink of water ’fore I die” (155). Beyond the omission of nonhistorical possibilities, the author finally states, “Songs not only enable us to learn about the past: They also allow us to learn about ourselves” (262). Polenberg carefully delves into previous John Henry scholarship and recent ownership claims by Virginia and Alabama concerning the song’s origins. He gives most credence to former WVU professor Louis Watson Chappel’s 1920s “folk-lore study” (151), and subscribes to the song/event’s origin in the Big Bend Tunnel in Talcott, West Virginia, as stated in the first verse of most versions (149). Importantly, he notes that among Chappell’s interviewed informants (fifty years after the event) all but one were white (152), while the song itself is purely a product of black folklore.
There are no full texts or musical notation of the twenty-seven folk songs included here, as the author concerns himself throughout with important historical verses. All complete song texts and many performances are easily found online or among the many sources listed (263–283). I’ve heard many of these songs...