The video immediately above plays the version of this song many, myself included, will most likely know. There are of course many others. Some of which this post includes.
Pete Seeger himself tells this story of the songs origin, as you can hear here:
There are loads of folk doing versions of this classic online, mostly attempting to emulate the Pete Seegers/Weavers version. But some do later more pop/country type takes, more in the Jimmie Rodgers or Peter, Paul & Mary line (the latter performing here with Andy Williams):
There are a couple of more interesting ones, however, including one by Pete Seeger himself, doing a banjo version (see below), and this one:
What I like about the above – which is quite a raw almost clumsy sounding rendition – is that the guy going it is going back to the Leadbelly version. He even refers to the trad Irish tune ‘Drimmin Down’, that he says is the songs Irish origin. I’ll have to check that out!
Huddie – pronounced ‘who-dee’ – Leadbetter plays it on a 12-string. I’ve not seen or heard anyone else (yet) do it that way. I might do it. And I might also jazz it up harmonically. Hmmm!?
I wonder what Leadbelly and his Irish influences would’ve thought of the Jimmie Rogers version? Guitarists, note Rogers’ use of the ‘over the top’ thumb! Mind, he might’ve just been miming.
And coming back full circle, to The Weavers’ version, here they are doing it live at Carnegie Hall, way back in ‘55: