The versions show considerable variations AUTHOR: unknown EARLIEST DATE: 1907 (Jekyll-JamaicanSongAndStory); "Take This Hammer": 1915 (collected by Newman Ivey White); "Nine Pound Hammer… Stream ad-free or purchase CD's and MP3s now on Amazon.com. 28 July 2001 • 12:00am . THIS OLD HAMMER KILLED JOHN HENRY BY KAREN ASHBURNER) You bought some books, they were fashionable books and that is why you liked them. to take his hammer to the captain; the singer is running away. Text in upper right reads “Stripes but no Stars” (Image from North Carolina Office of Archives and History) Take this hammer, carry it to the Captain, Tell him I'm gone, tell him I'm gone. This old hammer killed John Henry But it won't kill me, it won't kill me. The whites driving them were not their owners. Postcard image. There was no reason for you to buy them; we had a house full of books. The shaker would twist and turn the drill to optimize each blow of the sledgehammer. John Henry and the other hammer men worked with a partner known as a shaker, who held a chisel-like drill. Ain't nobody's hammer on this here mountain Rings like mine, that rings like mine. Chain gang near Asheville, 1915. It’s not a pretty story, like the myth, but it’s ours. This old hammer, it killed John Henry Ain’t gonna kill me, ain’t gonna kill me. It invokes the memory of John Henry, saying “this old hammer it killed John Henry, but it won’t kill me.” “Shove it Over” was collected by Zora Neale Hurston by memorization rather than recording, and performed by her for folklorist Herbert Halpert in 1939. Take This Hammer DESCRIPTION: The singer tells a (fellow prisoner?) Posted on Jul 25, 2012 by Ken Bigger September 1, 2016. In the 1920s, folklorists, notably Dorothy Scarborough (1925) and Guy Johnson and Howard W. Odum (1926), also collected transcribed versions. In the 1920s, folklorists, notably Dorothy Scarborough (1925) and Guy Johnson and Howard W. Odum (1926), also collected transcribed versions. And of course they could have. THERE is a passage in Colson Whitehead's second novel that neatly pre-empts any review. This old hammer killed John Henry But it won't kill me, Lord, it won't kill me. It’s a long way to Harlan, and a long way to Hazard Just to get a little booze, just to get a little booze. Well this old hammer, it killed John Henry Killed John Henry, but it won't kill me. An' this old hammer rings like silver Rings like silver, rings like gold. It's a long way to Harlan, it's a long way to Hazard Just to get a little brew, just to get a little brew. The hammer (which killed John Henry) will never kill him. The real life of John Henry embodies so much of what’s shoved under the rug in our collective memory—the ghost of slavery, the backlash to progress, the bloody trail of money, labor and law. A … This was known as “rocking and rolling,” and thus did two act as one, and so, no matter how incremental, was progress made. Check out This Old Hammer Killed John Henry by Mr William Henry Smith's Jubilee Singers on Amazon Music. "This one is about the rhythm of nature," you said. For the sake of brevity, we will not dwell on the Nine Pound Hammer group of songs, except to mention that thorough discussions can be found in Long Steel Rail 7 and Only A Miner 8. This old hammer, huh Killed John Henry Killed my brother, huh Won’t kill me. This old hammer killed John Henry. This old hammer killed John Henry, But it can't kill me. This old hammer killed John Henry, But it can’t kill me. But still, for many blacks, … Take this hammer, take it to the Captain, Tell him I’m gone, babe, tell him I’m gone. Buddy when I’m log gone, won’t you make my tombstone Out of number nine coal, out of number nine coal. Take this hammer, take it to the Captain, Tell him I'm gone, babe, tell him I'm gone. Another refrain perhaps allowed the men to imagine they could walk away from the tunnel. 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