schlange - Posted - 02/23/2015:  13:39:45

Carl T. Sprague

This week's tune is a common one for beginners to learn because the melody is simple and it's well-known. "Red River Valley" tells the sorrow of a woman whose lover is preparing to return to the East.

In terms of the number recordings, this is a hugely popular song--perhaps the most popular one we've profiled yet.

Here's a great writeup on the history of the tune.

Lyrics:

From this valley they say you are going

We shall miss your bright eyes and sweet smile

For they say you are taking the sunshine

That brightens our pathway a while

Won't you think of the valley you're leaving

Oh how lonely, how sad it will be

Oh think of the fun heart you're breaking

And the grief you will cause me to sing

As you go to your home by the ocean

May you never forget those sweet hours

That we spent in the Red River Valley

And the love we exchanged with the flowers

There never could be such a longing

In the heart of a pure maiden's breast

That dwells in the heart you are breaking

As I wait in my home in the West

Come and sit by my side if you love me

Do not hasten to bid me adieu

But remember the Red River Valley

And the girl that has loved you so true

From the Delmore Brothers, In Memory, Vol. 1

Learn the Tune:

• Hear it using the GrooveShark playlist to the right.


• We have a lesson video from Casey Henry teaching you the lead break. Great for beginners... only $6 thru 1/19! Get it here >


• Backing Tracks: Band in a Box tracks are included below at various speeds for your practicing pleasure.


• Tabs: we've got a few in the BHO tab archives.

Share!

I (and others) would love to hear (and see!) you play your version of this tune--post it in a reply below!

VIDEO: Red River Valley - Excerpt from the Custom Banjo Lesson from the Murphy Method (click to view)	Red River Valley Backing Track (G) 70BPM	Red River Valley Backing Track (G) 90BPM	Red River Valley Backing Track (G) 110BPM
Red River Valley chords

bart_brush - Posted - 02/23/2015:  16:10:19

In the original(?) song, "Bright Mohawk Valley," the lover was headed west. There's a lot of history in this song: the politics, financing and engineering of the Erie Canal, also known as Governor "Clinton's Ditch" and "Clinton's Folly;" the digging began in the center of the state, Rome NY, for fear it might be stopped and never finished if started from Albany or Buffalo; it provided jobs for thousands of immigrants, noticeably the Irish who were widely discriminated against (Help Wanted signs often said "No Irish need apply"); the section through what is now the Montezuma Wildlife Refuge near Syracuse was so swampy they had to let it freeze and dig it in the wintertime; when finished, the Canal immediately increased the population and economy of upstate NY; which in turn gave rise to the Great Awakening and two other religious revival movements; the Canal also opened the way West, both for people and songs; and favorite songs like this were reworked for new lives and circumstances in far-away places.  And there's more!  Click the box at the top of the article for more of the "folk process."

Edited by - bart_brush on 02/23/2015 16:16:14

Catman - Posted - 02/24/2015:  04:10:20

As another option on how to play this song Ron Stewart's AcuTab instructional DVD complete with tablature has a great version of this song utilizing D tuners. Sounds great. 

Simon Rowe - Posted - 02/24/2015:  04:24:11

Fascinating stuff Bart. This is one of the first tunes I'm learning from a book I've bought. I've only just embarked on learning banjo so it's good to be able to get a bit of the background of the music too.