[Dixielandjazz] 50 Miles of Elbow Room -- probably not Buffum

[Joe Carbery]

P.S. The Firehouse Five Fakebook has the music on p. 166 and gives the
composer credit to a Rev. McGee.
Joe Carbery.

On Tue, Nov 25, 2014 at 5:06 PM, Joe Carbery <joe.carbery at gmail.com> wrote:

> The Golden Gate Rhythm Machine and Turk Murphy are on YouTube playing it.
>
> Joe Carbery.
>
> On Tue, Nov 25, 2014 at 4:28 PM, Jim Hillesheim <jwh66047 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Is Turk’s recording of 50 Miles available out there somewhere, to
>> hear/buy?
>>
>> Jim Hillesheim
>> Lawrence, Kansas
>>
>> > On Nov 24, 2014, at 6:41 PM, Dick Baker <djml at dickbaker.org> wrote:
>> >
>> > The story so far, as to the provenance of this tune, most famously (for
>> us) recorded by Turk Murphy:
>> >
>> > Bill Haesler reported that it was first recorded by the Vaughan Happy
>> Two in 1930, but the seminal early recording was 1933 by Rev. F. W. McGee
>> -- and McGee copyrighted the song in 1933 and renewed that copyright in
>> 1960.
>> >
>> > But more than a few reliable-looking sources claim that the song was
>> written by Herbert Buffum, a famous and prolific writer of gospel music.
>> At this point I picked up the cudgel and looked through all the Buffum
>> copyrights in the books from his first in 1910 until well into the 1930s,
>> several dozen in all.  Nothing like "Fifty Miles of Elbow Room" in that
>> list, but there was one song that seemed to have the same underlying theme,
>> called "There'll Be Room Enough in Heaven," from 1923.
>> >
>> > Could McGee have sung Buffum's song with a different title, perhaps
>> based on a line from the lyrics?  Well, there was, amazingly, a copy of the
>> published sheet on sale on amazon.com, so I just plunked down my credit
>> card and bought it.  (10 cents in 1923; $10 in 2014--at least the inflation
>> rate is easy to calculate.)  I've scanned it and put it on my Stomp Off
>> site for all to see:
>> >
>> >                http://stompoff.dickbaker.org/50miles/Buffum.pdf
>> >
>> > Alas, it's a different song.  Lyrics not even close, and while I don't
>> read music, I doesn't appear to me that Buffum's lyrics could be sung to
>> the same tune as the Carter Family's and Turk's:
>> >
>> > First verse:
>> >        When our work on earth  is ended, and we lay our burdens down,
>> >        And we answer to the final, solemn call;
>> >        When we go to meet the  Saviour and receive the promised crown,
>> >        There'll be room enough in Heaven for us all.
>> >
>> > Chorus
>> >        There'll be room enough in Heaven for us all,
>> >        For the wise and foolish, for  the great and small;
>> >        When we safely make the landing,
>> >        There'll be no misunder standing,
>> >        There'll be room enough in heaven for us all.
>> >
>> > Now what'll we work on?
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > To unsubscribe or change your e-mail preferences for the Dixieland Jazz
>> Mailing list, or to find the online archives, please visit:
>> >
>> > http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > Dixielandjazz mailing list
>> > Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> To unsubscribe or change your e-mail preferences for the Dixieland Jazz
>> Mailing list, or to find the online archives, please visit:
>>
>> http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz
>>
>>
>>
>> Dixielandjazz mailing list
>> Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
>>
>
>