Darling Nellie Gray
written by benjamin russell hanby
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DARLING NELLY GRAY
DARLING NELLY GRAY (SONG CAR-TUNES) 1926
DARLING NELLY GRAY (SONG CAR-TUNES) 1926
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Darling Nelly Gray was composed in the mid-1800's by composer and pastor Benjamin Hanby. The popular anti-slavery song was written from the point of view of a slave in Kentucky whose sweetheart had been taken away by the slave-owners and sold off in Georgia - a considerably harsher place for a slave. In the sad but beautiful song, the grieving slave eventually dies and joins his lover in heaven. It has been called the saddest song ever written. Hanby was an abolitionist and he was actively involved with the Underground Railroad. He also was the composer of some well-know Christmas standards such as Up On The Housetop and Jolly Old Saint Nicholas. In 1926, Darling Nellie Gray was the basis and title of an installment of Max Fleischer's Song Car-Tunes series.
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1913
METRO- POLITIAN QUARTET |
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1917
ALMA GLUCK |
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1925
VERNON DALHART |
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1937
MAXINE SULLIVAN |
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1937
THE MILLS BROTHERS AND LOUIS ARMSTRONG |
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1938
BING CROSBY |
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1950
THE CARTER SISTERS AND CHET ATKINS |
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19??
EMILE BARNES |
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19??
THE GOLDEN GATE QUARTET |
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1959
? |
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1959
THE DAVE BRUBECK QUARTET |
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1960
CHRIS BARBER |
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1962
JERRY WILLIAMS AND THE VIOLENTS |
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19??
JERRY WILLIAMS |
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1988
MOUNTAIN MAGIC |
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19??
JOHNNY GIMBLE |
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1998
DANSK- SVENSK JAZZFOR- SYNING |
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2000
JERRY ERNST |
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2003
DOC HOULIND |
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2009
CURTIS & LORETTA |
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2009
DOC HOULIND ALL STARS |
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2011
SALLI TERRI |
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20??
BEN MOORE |
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20??
GADAYA |
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20??
DWIGHT HAWKINS AND THE PIEDMONT HIGHBALLERS |
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20??
TOM ROUSH |
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2017
GUNCHILD CARLING |
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DARLING NELLIE GRAY
1.
There’s a low green valley on the old Kentucky shore
There I’ve whiled many happy hours away
A sitting and a singing by the little cottage door
Where lived my darling Nelly Gray
Chorus:
Oh! my poor Nelly Gray, they have taken you away
And I’ll never see my darling any more
I’m sitting by the river and I’m weeping all the day
For you’ve gone from the old Kentucky shore
2.
When the moon had climb’d the mountain
And the stars were shining too
Then I’d take my darling Nelly Gray
And we’d float down the river in my little red canoe
While my banjo sweetly I would play
3.
One night I went to see her but
“She’s gone!” the neighbors say
The white man bound her with his chain
They have taken her to Georgia to wear her life away
As she toils in the cotton and the cane
4.
My canoe is under water and my banjo is unstrung
I’m tired of living any more
My eyes shall look downward and my songs shall be unsung
While I stay on the old Kentucky shore
5.
My eyes are getting blinded and I cannot see my way
Hark! there’s somebody knocking at the door
Oh! I hear the angels calling and I see my Nelly Gray
Farewell to the old Kentucky shore
Final chorus:
Oh! my darling Nelly Gray, up in heaven there they say
That they’ll never take you from me any more
I’m a-coming-coming-coming, as the angels clear the way
Farewell to the old Kentucky shore
1.
There’s a low green valley on the old Kentucky shore
There I’ve whiled many happy hours away
A sitting and a singing by the little cottage door
Where lived my darling Nelly Gray
Chorus:
Oh! my poor Nelly Gray, they have taken you away
And I’ll never see my darling any more
I’m sitting by the river and I’m weeping all the day
For you’ve gone from the old Kentucky shore
2.
When the moon had climb’d the mountain
And the stars were shining too
Then I’d take my darling Nelly Gray
And we’d float down the river in my little red canoe
While my banjo sweetly I would play
3.
One night I went to see her but
“She’s gone!” the neighbors say
The white man bound her with his chain
They have taken her to Georgia to wear her life away
As she toils in the cotton and the cane
4.
My canoe is under water and my banjo is unstrung
I’m tired of living any more
My eyes shall look downward and my songs shall be unsung
While I stay on the old Kentucky shore
5.
My eyes are getting blinded and I cannot see my way
Hark! there’s somebody knocking at the door
Oh! I hear the angels calling and I see my Nelly Gray
Farewell to the old Kentucky shore
Final chorus:
Oh! my darling Nelly Gray, up in heaven there they say
That they’ll never take you from me any more
I’m a-coming-coming-coming, as the angels clear the way
Farewell to the old Kentucky shore
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