A Lazy Farmer Boy by Buster Carter and Preston Young [Anthology Revisited - Song 11]
TL;DR -- Farmer loses crop, girl won't maintain, courtship ends. Credit kerfuffle causes continual confusion. Significant new information emerges on performer who wrote bluegrass standard.
Welcome back to the eleventh edition of Anthology Revisited, our song-by-song journey through the Anthology of American Folk Music, the epic collection of pre-depression era recordings compiled by Harry Smith and released by Folkways Records in 1952.
In this edition, we’re checking out “A Lazy Farmer Boy” as performed by Preston Young and Posey Rorer, (although the record’s label and this article’s title say something different). In a broad sense, this is a song that reminds us that we each must live with the choices that we make. In a more focused lens, it’s about a lazy farmer boy who wouldn’t hoe his corn, and the consequences of his inaction.
This is the sixth consecutive song to deal with courtship, and like each of the songs that preceded it, this one has a different outcome.
The courtship suite began with two songs by Buell Kazee; “The Butcher’s Boy” which ended in the girl’s suicide due to the young man’s infidelity and “The Wagoner’s Lad” which concluded with the titular character breaking off the relationship because the girl’s parents refuse to allow them to marry. From there, we examined “King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Me-O”(by Chubby Parker) about a courtship that ended in marriage, “Old Shoes and Leggins” (Uncle Eck Dunford) about an old man’s failed efforts to court younger women, and “Willie Moore” (Burnett and Rutherford) about a courtship that ends in a girl’s suicide because her parents won’t allow to marry Willie Moore. This time around, we’ve got a song about a young farmer who fails to properly attend to his crops, and the impact his inaction has upon his relationship with his fiancee.
Before we get into the song itself, I simply must clear up the factual error in the Anthology that I referenced in the opening of this piece. The Anthology (and every other source) attributes the song to Buster Carter and Preston Young, but that is inaccurate. The performers on the recording were Preston Young and Posey Rorer. Although Buster Carter appeared on other sides with Young and Rorer that were recorded on the same day as this song, Carter had nothing to do with this particular song.
Now, before you ask why Harry Smith wasn’t pilloried for his crime of gross misattribution, you should know that he is blameless. Smith was just working from the label of his 78 record, which, as you can see below, clearly assigns credit to Carter and Young.
While it’s been known for years that the label is incorrect, the inaccurate information continues to be used to identify the song because that’s what one does when a primary source identifies itself with an inaccurate description of its own contents. We can’t go changing all the labels now, and no actual harm is caused by these inaccuracies. So, it’s one of those “if you know, you know” kinda things. Now, you’re in the know, and when you find yourself at some dinner party where the topic of “A Lazy Farmer Boy” comes up, (which it most assuredly will), you’ll already know the score and be prepared to pontificate with authority.
We’ll get deeper into the Posey Rorer situation in the section on “The Performers”, but for now, just know that Posey Rorer played fiddle on every recording attributed to Buster Carter and Preston Young, but he never got credit on the label. As stated above, Buster Carter (who played banjo on their other recordings), doesn’t appear at all on this recording, but gets credit nonetheless.
So, with the inaccurate label and “Bustergate” controversy out of the way, let’s take a look at Harry’s headline and get moving.
YOUNG AGRICULTURALIST NEGLECTS SEED - LOOSES [sic] BOTH CROP AND FIANCEE
I’m trying not to let Harry’s typo (or incorrectly chosen word) derail me, but it’s hard to ignore. Harry Smith didn’t have the luxury of built-in spelling and grammar checkers, and here, he accidentally let loose a “looses” that should’ve been a “loses”.
Between Smith’s succinct headline and the song’s alternate title “The Young Man Who Wouldn’t Hoe Corn”, the main points of the song have been made known, leaving the song to fill in the details. Harry’s best headlines are good that way, especially here in the first volume, Ballads.
We’ll break down the song, what it’s saying, and who performed it in just a moment, but first, give the song a listen. The lyrics are just beneath the video.
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
I'll sing a little song but it ain't very long
About a lazy farmer who wouldn't hoe his corn
And why it was I never could tell
For that young man was always well
That young man was always well[Verse 2]
He planted his corn on June the last
In July it was up to his eye
In September there came a big frost
And all that young man's corn was lost
All that young man's corn was lost[Verse 3]
He started to the field and got there at last
The grass and weeds was up to his chin
The grass and weeds had grown so high
It caused that poor man for to sigh
Caused that poor man for to sigh[Verse 4]
Now his courtship had just begun
She said, "Young man have you hoed your corn?"
"I've tried I've tried I've tried in vain
But I don't believe I'll raise one grain
Don't believe I'll raise one grain"[Verse 5]
"Why do you come to me to wed
If you can't raise your own cornbread?
Single I am and will remain
For a lazy man I won't maintain
A lazy man I won't maintain"[Verse 6]
He hung his head and walked away
Saying "Kind miss you'll rue the day
You'll rue the day that you were born
For giving me the devil 'cause I wouldn't hoe my corn
Giving me the devil 'cause I wouldn't hoe my corn"[Verse 7]
Now his courtship was to an end
On his way he then began
Saying "Kind miss I'll have another girl
If I have to ramble this big wide world
If I have to ramble this big wide world"
The Song
“A Lazy Farmer Boy” is believed to have originated in the 19th century. Since the text is in English and discusses growing corn (a very American crop), it is assumed that the song originated in the United States.
The song was first collected in Missouri, then later in other parts of the country, specifically Indiana, Iowa, Vermont, West Virginia, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Nebraska. Variants took titles like “The Young Man Who Wouldn’t Hoe Corn” or “The Farmer Who Wouldn’t Hoe His Corn”. The Tennessee variant, collected in Flag Pond, TN on August 31, 1916 by Cecil Sharp, from a man named Alfred Herbert Norton was called “Harm Link” by the performer. The lyrics are fundamentally the same, even if the title is more vague.
I’ve included two of the oldest versions of the song here.
The Missouri Variant
Our first version is the earliest known version of the song, which was collected from Mrs. Carrie Phelps of West Plains, Howell County, Missouri in 1905 by H. M. Belden. The text of this version varies little from the words sung by Preston Young, although in the 1931 recording, Young sings the final line of each verse twice.
The Young Man Who Wouldn’t Hoe his Corn
Come, girls, come and I'll sing you a song
Concerning a young man who would not hoe his corn.
The reason why I could never tell,
For this young man was always well.He planted his corn in the month of June.
In July it was knee high.
In September there came a big frost;
And this young man's corn was lost.He went to the fence and he peeped in.
The grass and the weeds were up to his chin.
The careless weeds they grow so high
Caused this young man for to sigh.He went into his neighbor's door,
Where he had often been before;
And when the courtship she began,
Says, 'Young man, have you hoed your corn?'He hung his head and began to sigh,
Saying, 'Madam, I'll tell you why.
I tried and tried and tried in vain;
Don't believe I'll raise a single grain.''Then what makes you ask me to wed
When you can't raise your own corn bread?
Single I am, single I'll remain.
A lazy man I won't maintain.'He picked up his hat and he went away,
Saying, 'Madam, you'll rue the day,
Rue the day as sure as you're born,
Giving me the mitten 'cause I didn't hoe my corn.'
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32435065469538&seq=470
--------------
The Indiana Variant
This variant was collected in Kokomo, Indiana in 1906 by O.B. Sperlin from his mother who referred to the song as simply “The Lazy Man”. I’ve included the text primarily to show the regional variations, specifically; the order of the second and third verses, the month of the failed harvest, and the young man’s lack of rebuttal at the end. You’ll also notice that the planting isn’t even discussed in this variant.
The Lazy Man
Come, all my good people, and listen to my song;
I'll sing you of a lazy man that wouldn't tend his corn.
The reason why I cannot tell.
For this young man was always well.He went to the fence and peeped therein;
The chinkey-pin bush as high as his chin.
The weeds and grass they grew so high
They often made this young man to cry.In July his corn was knee-high;
And in September he laid it by;
And in October there came a large frost,
And all this young man's corn was lost.He went to his nearest neighbor's house,
A-courting as you may suppose;
And in conversation this question came around:
Says she: "Young man, have you hoed your corn?"This young man made a quick reply.
"Oh, no," says he, "for I've laid it by.
It ain't no use to strive and strive in vain,
For I can't raise a single grain.""Oh, then, kind sir, why do you wish for to wed.
When you can't raise your own cornbread?
Single I am and single I remain;
The lazy man I never will maintain”
https://archive.org/details/journalofamefolk29ameruoft/page/180/mode/2up?view=theater
While there are some minor variations between the ballad as collected in Missouri in 1905, in Indiana in 1906, and the version recorded by Virginia natives Preston Young and Posey Rorer in 1931, the lyrical changes don’t alter the meaning or narrative arc of the song at all.
So, what’s this song about?
Simply, it’s a song about a young farmer who fails to raise quality crops, and who has no valid excuse for this failure. He’s young, he’s healthy, and he’s got his own farm, but for reasons no one can understand, he doesn’t want to do the work required to have a proper yield.
If you’ve never worked on a farm or in a garden of any type, and have no idea what “hoeing corn” means, then you’ll be happy to know that I was born and raised in rural North Carolina, and am qualified by personal experience to break this down for you.
What is “hoeing corn”? To grow a healthy plant, it’s important to remove the weeds that inevitably grow around the base of the plant. Weeds consume valuable resources that the plant needs, so they’ve gotta go. The act of clearing weeds from the cornfield is called “hoeing corn”. To do it, one uses a hoe to turn the soil around the base of the corn plant to remove weeds. How does one determine if something is a weed? Easy. If it’s growing in the cornfield and it ain’t corn, it’s a weed, and you need to hoe it. Tedious though the task may be, it’s a job of critical importance, for if the cornfield goes unhoed, the weeds will take over the field, and there will be no corn to harvest.
If agriculture isn’t your bag, you might know that in North Carolina, corn is not planted in June. Carolina corn farmers usually plant the crop in late April or early May. Planting corn in June is entirely out of the question. Planting it on “June the last” is just plain stupid. Y’see, Carolina summers ain’t no joke, and by early June, it’s already too hot for the plants to sprout and yield corn in time for harvest. By the end of June, forget it. Your odds of getting a yield from a corn crop planted on June 30th in North Carolina are roughly as good as the odds of picking the winner of a Kentucky Derby four years in advance.
These facts about planting times only dig the farmer’s hole deeper. Not only was he too lazy to hoe the corn, he was too lazy to plant it in time, and he was stupid enough to think it would grow when he planted it in June.
The farmer starts the song with a fiancee, but the engagement doesn’t survive the song. Upon realizing the farmer’s incorrigible laziness, his fiancee backs out of the engagement because she doesn’t want to be tethered to some lazy man. The dejected farmer says he’ll go to the ends of the earth to find another woman, but I suspect he’s probably too lazy to actually ramble the big wide world.
So there you have it, the sixth song in the courtship suite ends with the woman calling off the engagement due to the man’s laziness.
The Performance
Recorded on June 26, 1931 in New York City for Columbia Records, this is the first known recording of “A Lazy Farmer Boy”. It’s a straightforward, down home reading of the song.
Young’s guitar playing creates a solid rhythmic base, and his vocals are as straight up and matter of fact as they can get. Posey Rorer shows off some pretty hot fiddle chops to add nice flavoring throughout.
This is a common structure that appears frequently in string ensemble performances. In such performances, the guitar is usually relegated to being strictly a rhythm instrument, and with larger string bands, the guitar can be difficult to single out when listening. But the guitar lays the foundation (even if you can’t quite hear it in the recordings), creating a space for instruments like the fiddle, banjo, and mandolin to come in on top to add texture and depth to the melody. In this case, the guitar is audible and accurately played throughout, creating a solid musical background over which Rorer’s fiddle soars.
The Performers
I’m gonna tell you everything there is to know about Buster Carter and Preston Young in a minute, but I want start with a map so you can get an idea of where the events we’ll be discussing occurred.
The image below is a cropped map of the north-central Piedmont region of North Carolina. I just want to give you an idea of where Mayodan, NC is located, and where it is in relation to Martinsville, Virginia, a few miles north of the NC/VA border. Some additional geographical information that isn’t on this map but which may be helpful is that Martinsville, VA is in Henry County, VA, and Franklin County, VA is Henry County’s immediate neighbor to the north.
Before we go headlong into Buster Carter and Preston Young, let’s talk about Posey Rorer. His fiddle is clearly heard throughout the record, but his name doesn’t appear on the label, so I’m going to reveal the mystery man first, before we get to the credited performers.
Rorer was a hotshot fiddler who had played on over 100 recordings prior to the session that yielded “A Lazy Farmer Boy”, and far more is known about Rorer than Buster Carter or Preston Young. In fact, Posey Rorer will make several more appearances as we make our way through the Anthology, so I’m only providing a bit of his story now and will pick it up again when we get to the next track on which Rorer appears (I promise, you won’t have to wait very long).
The Posey Rorer Story (Part 1)
Posey Rorer was born in Franklin County, Virginia (which is north of Martinsville) in 1891. He was born with a club foot and had tremendous difficulty getting around as a child. Consequently, Rorer couldn’t go outside to run and play with the other kids. His father was a banjo player, and Posey picked up the fiddle when he was young, quite possibly due to the limitations imposed by his disability.
During World War I, Rorer worked as a trapper in the Big Stick, Virginia coal mines. (Trappers were usually younger men who would quickly open and close the trap doors in the mine to allow coal cars to pass out of one area and into the next. This was a crucial job, as the trap doors regulated airflow within the mines.)
While working as a trapper, Rorer met banjo player Charlie Poole, and the two became friends and soon began to play together. In 1920, the Rorer and Poole’s friendship became kinship when Poole married Rorer’s sister Lou Emma. At some point between Poole’s marriage in 1920 and 1925, Rorer had surgery to repair his club foot. This enabled him to perform even more frequently with his brother-in-law, Charlie Poole.
In 1925, Rorer, Poole, and guitarist Norman Woodlieff went to New York City to see if they might be able to make some recordings. The trio were an absolute smash hit, and further details of their adventures will be revealed in nine weeks, when we get to song 20, White House Blues, performed by Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers.
Rorer’s sessions with Carter and Young were among the final recordings of Rorer’s five year career as a recording artist. Between 1925 and 1931, Posey Rorer recorded with multiple artists, appearing on over 100 sides released by six different record labels (Brunswick, Columbia, Edison, Gennett, Okeh, and Victor). We’ll get into the how and why of it all when we return to Rorer in future installments of Anthology Revisited.
A Chilling Interlude
On Christmas Day, 1929, Charles Lawson, a farmer from Germanton, North Carolina (an unincorporated community in Stokes County, NC), killed his wife and six of their seven children at their home before taking his own life.
This mass murder was, understandably, very big news, not only in the region, but throughout the world, and not long after the killings, Lawson’s brother, Marion opened the house as a tourist attraction.
A few days before that fateful Christmas, the Lawsons went into town to purchase new clothes and have a family portrait taken. The family’s final portrait is above, and the young man standing on the left side of the photo is Lawson’s 19 year old son Arthur, the only member of the Lawson family not to die on Christmas Day, 1929. Shortly before beginning his killing spree, Charles Lawson sent Arthur off to run an errand for him.
Years after the killings, it was determined that Charles Lawson had impregnated his daughter Marie (she’s standing between her brother and father in the picture above), and the fallout from this incestuous affair seems to have been the root cause of Lawson’s murderous rampage. For those who want to know more, Deadly Secrets: The Lawson Family Murder is a six-part podcast that explores the whole messy affair. (Apple or Spotify).
Enter the “Kid”
Walter “Kid” Smith was a singer, songwriter, and guitar player who lived not far from Stokes County, NC. Smith wrote a song about the Lawson family murder, and sent the lyrics to Columbia Records. They liked the words for the song and told Smith that they would record and potentially release the song if he went to New York City to record the song, along with three other sides.
“Kid” Smith was already acquainted with a number of musicians from the area, including Charlie Poole, Posey Rorer, Norman Woodlieff, Buster Carter, Preston Young, among others. Smith recruited Posey Rorer (fiddle), Buster Carter (banjo), and guitarist Lewis McDaniel to accompany him to New York City to make the record. The quartet went to New York and under the name “The Carolina Buddies”, they recorded “Murder of the Lawson Family”, “In a Cottage by the Sea”, “The Story that the Crow Told Me”, and “My Sweetheart is a Shy Little Miss” on March 25, 1930, exactly 90 days after the Lawson murders took place.
Over 8,000 copies of “Murder of the Lawson Family” were sold in 1930, and it was among Columbia’s better selling records in the “hillbilly” category for the year. “Kid” Smith and the Carolina Buddies returned to New York in 1930 to record an additional seven sides for Columbia, that featured Smith with an entirely different lineup.
Were Carter, Young, and Rorer really Buddies?
We’ve already dealt with misattribution in this article, and we may have another case of it here. I both like and dislike the image above. I like that we have the image, and it’s the only one I can find of Carter, Young, and Rorer. I’m troubled by the text beneath, which identifies them as “The Carolina Buddies”.
Here’s why I’m confused. As stated previously, Carter and Rorer appeared with Walter “Kid” Smith on the Carolina Buddies’ 1930 recordings. Preston Young, however, did not play in those sessions. That job was handled by Lewis McDaniel.
In 1931, when the Carolina Buddies returned to New York to record seven more sides for Columbia, the lineup consisted of Walter “Kid” Smith with Odell Smith on fiddle, and Norman Woodlieff on guitar.
No Carter.
No Rorer.
No Young.
Meanwhile, in the above photo (clearly labeled “The Carolina Buddies - 1930”), we’ve got Carter, Rorer, and Young, but no Walter Smith. However, Walter Smith is the only performer to appear on all of the Carolina Buddies’ recordings. This makes me think the Carolina Buddies were Walter Smith’s band (similar to how the North Carolina Ramblers were Charlie Poole’s band). If that’s true, and the Carolina Buddies were Walter Smith’s band, why isn’t Smith in the picture with Carter, Rorer, and Young.
It’s possible that the three performed as The Carolina Buddies prior to the March 1930 recording session, and it’s possible that Walter Smith borrowed (and never returned) the name. But, apart from this image, I’ve seen no further evidence that Carter, Young and Rorer performed together as the Carolina Buddies.
Lastly, the sides released from the Carter, Rorer, and Young’s lone recording session as a trio were attributed to Buster Carter and Preston Young, not the Carolina Buddies. Why are they identified by their names here, but as the Carolina Buddies in the image? Maybe there were two groups called the Carolina Buddies, one with Smith, and one without?
So, yeah, I like that this image exists, but I don’t like the confusion it brings to my brain. Is it misattribution? Perhaps. If I find any conclusive answers, I will update this article to reflect my findings. Meanwhile, if you, dear reader, have any information that could clear up my confusion, I’ll gladly accept it.
The Recording Session
On June 26, 1931, the trio went into the New York City studios of Columbia Records where they made 10 sides, including “A Lazy Farmer Boy”. Because their output was so scant, and because one of the songs is REALLY important, I’ve added links to all the recordings they made on that fateful day in 1931. The songs are listed in the order that they were recorded.
It’s Hard to Love That Can’t Be Loved (words and music by Buster Carter)
Wish That Gal Were Mine (unissued)
I’d Rather Be [with] Rosy Nell (words and music by Buster Carter)
We’ll Be Married when the Sun Goes Down (unissued)
It Won’t Hurt No More (songwriter credits given to both Carter and Young)
Bill Morgan and His Gal (words and music by Buster Carter)
I’ll Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms (words and music by Buster Carter) see The Note Below.
She’s a Darn Good Gal (words and music by Buster Carter)
THE NOTE BELOW: While researching this article, I was surprised to learn that Buster Carter wrote “I’ll Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms”, and that Carter, Young, and (the uncredited) Rorer made the first recording of the song.
Unlike the Monroe Brothers, Carter and Young didn’t have a firecracker mandolin player. But they had a hotshot fiddler named Posey Rorer, and thanks to his contributions, the original recording of the song still cooks, nearly a century later. Check it out!
I can’t talk about “Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms” without talking about Bill Monroe’s take on this song. I love the version he did with the Bluegrass Boys, and I really like what Flatt and Scruggs did with the song, but the Monroe Brothers’ 1936 recording of the song has long been a favorite of mine, and I only recently learned it was written by someone who appeared (in name only) on the Anthology of American Folk Music.
Technically speaking, the Monroe Brothers’ 1936 recording isn’t bluegrass. It has a bluegrass feel, but it’s still a string band number, not a bluegrass recording. It’s a step in Bill Monroe’s journey, and it shows that in 1936, the idea of bluegrass music had taken root in Bill Monroe’s mind. A few years later, he created the genre of bluegrass music, but that’s not my story to tell (today, at least).
Buster Carter
Prior to the publication of this article, most of the facts known about Buster Carter were drawn from two specific dates in his life. March 25, 1930, when he recorded four sides with the Carolina Buddies in New York City, and June 26, 1931, when Carter returned to New York with Young and Rorer to record “A Lazy Farmer Boy” and 9 other sides for Columbia Records (although we all know that Carter didn’t actually play on the one recording). Apart from references to the recording sessions, the only stray fact I could locate about Buster Carter was that he had lived in Mayodan, NC.
Fortunately, that stray fact proved incredibly valuable. Knowing that Carter lived in or around Mayodan, NC in 1930, I began to analyze US Census data, looking for Carters who lived in the area when the 1930 Census was conducted. After some digging, I did, indeed, find our man, Buster Carter. From there, I was able to piece together this thumbnail sketch of his life story.
Born Robert Bryant Carter on July 16, 1899 in Stokes County, North Carolina, and taking the nickname “Buster” somewhere along the way, the elusive Mr. Carter lived within 50 miles of Stokes County for his entire life. In the 1900 census, the one year old Buster lived with his parents in Snow Creek Township in Stokes County, NC. Buster Carter married Ethel Moore Pringle in March 1920, and the couple had one daughter.
According to the 1930 US Census, Carter worked as a laborer for Mayodan Bottling Company, and lived in Madison, North Carolina, a couple of miles south of Mayodan, NC. In the 1935 and 1940 censuses, the Carters lived in Mayodan, and in 1940, Carter’s profession was listed as Surveyor.
Carter died of a massive cerebral hemorrhage on December 17, 1977 in a Greensboro, NC hospital, one month after hip surgery. His death certificate stated “Retired Surveyor” as his occupation. Buster Carter was buried in Delta Methodist Church Cemetery in Sandy Ridge, NC.
While I’m happy to have found this information and to have located his grave, there is a bit of irony here because Buster Carter didn’t actually appear on the Anthology, even though his name did. But, if nothing else, I’m happy to have unearthed new information about the guy who wrote “I’ll Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms”. I’ll take the win.
Preston Young
William Preston Young was born in Martinsville, Virginia in 1907. Young played banjo, guitar, and autoharp. Geographically speaking, Martinsville, VA is just north of the North Carolina/Virginia border, less than 25 miles away from the towns of Mayodan and Spray, NC, where Carter and Poole, respectively, lived.
How it came to happen is unclear, but Young came into the cluster of musicians in Charlie Poole’s orbit, which, as mentioned, included Rorer and Carter.
Although we don’t know much about Young’s life after his one-day career as a recording artist ended, we do know that Young returned to Virginia and ultimately had a career in the sheet metal business because in 1971, he did an interview with Tony Russell for Old Time Music magazine. In this interview, Young explained why he made a profession in the sheet metal business instead of the music industry by simply stating "You've got to either make music or work...you can't do both." He’s not wrong. A professional musician’s life requires constant dedication with absolutely no guarantee of future returns. Young, like so many others, took the steadier, stabler day job route.
SLIGHT SPECULATION AND LIKELY NEW INFORMATION ON YOUNG
NOTE: What follows is well-informed guesswork. I’m not 100% certain that I’ve found the correct Preston Young, but I’m 99% convinced that this is the right guy.
With some research and a lot of luck, I located genealogical and census records for a man whom I believe to be the Preston Young on this recording. I cannot make any absolute guarantee that this is the very same person that played guitar and sang on “A Lazy Farmer Boy”, but I would be very surprised if I am wrong.
The genealogical and census records I found were for a William Preston Young who was born on February 9, 1907 in Franklin County, Virginia (which abuts Henry County, home to Martinsville, VA). This Preston Young lived with his parents in Franklin County when the 1910 censuses was taken. When the 1930 census came around, Young and his parents lived in Henry County. When the 1940 census visited his family’s Henry County home on April 12, 1940, Preston and his younger brothers (Paul, Melvin, and James) all lived with their parents, John and Henrietta. Like Preston, his brothers Paul and Melvin worked in the sheet metal business, while brother James worked in furniture manufacturing.
When Preston Young registered for the WWII draft in October 1940, he was staying in a boarding house in Roanoke, Virginia where he worked at Montgomery Ward on West Campbell Avenue. This was a bit surprising to find, but on his draft card, Young’s date of birth and the name and address of Young’s family match all the other records, leaving no doubt that this was the same individual. The draft card gives additional facts about Young’s appearance that don’t appear elsewhere. He stood 5’10” tall, had blue eyes, brown hair, and tattoos on his forearms.
The 1950 census shows that Young’s father had died (seemingly in 1944) and that Young lived with his mother in the Henry County area, where Preston worked in a local sheet metal business. Unlike previous Census records, none of Young’s siblings lived with Preston and his mother at this time. No further census records reference Preston Young, but he died on November 30, 1976. The death certificate indicates that Young never married and lived with his mother until his death. He was buried in Roselawn Burial Park in Martinsville, Virginia.
Questioning the data: My primary concern for Anthology Revisited is accuracy. While I take great delight in discovering new information, I must repeatedly check and recheck my sources to confirm that my conclusions are watertight.
When I can’t find anything about an artist (See “Old Lady and the Devil” by Bill and Belle Reed), I make it known. When I find shreds of information that may or may not be accurate (see “Drunkard’s Special” by Coley Jones), I also make it known.
In this case, I’m certain that I’ve found the correct person with Buster Carter because a cropped version of the Carolina Buddies photo (about which I have questions) was on the FindAGrave entry. I’m 99% sure that I’ve got the right Preston Young, but there is a sliver of a chance that I’m wrong about Young.
Here’s where the possibility of inaccuracy comes into the equation about Preston Young.
In 1900, the population of Henry County, Virginia was roughly 20,000 people. Is it possible that more than one Preston Young was born in the area in 1907? Yes.
Is it possible that this other Preston Young remained in the Martinsville/Henry County /Franklin County area for most of his life? Yes it is.
Could this other Preston Young have worked in sheet metal, the very same industry as the Preston Young who sang “A Lazy Farmer Boy”? Yes, I suppose.
Could the other Preston Young have lived into the 1970’s? Of course.
Is it likely that there was another guy named Preston Young for whom all of the above was true, who didn’t sing “A Lazy Famer Boy”? From the information I have, it is possible, but highly unlikely, especially since I didn’t locate any records for another Preston Young who was from the Martinsville, VA area in that time.
The clincher for me was knowing Young’s line of work from references to his 1971 interview with Old Time Music magazine. His was a relatively specific profession, and finding that same profession listed in multiple census records for this person make me quite confident I’ve found the correct person.
NOTE: Please feel free to check my work! The links to my sources are at the end of this article. Just note that to view records on FamilySearch, you will need to create a free account on the site.
Connections
Like the five songs that preceded it, “A Lazy Farmer Boy” is a song about courtship. Here’s a quick breakdown of our courtship collection, and how each courtship ended.
The Butcher’s Boy (Buell Kazee) - courtship ends with girl’s suicide due to Butcher’s Boy’s infidelity.
The Wagoner’s Lad (Kazee) - girl’s parents don’t approve of Wagoner’s Lad. Rather than state in a relationship with no possibility of marriage, Wagoner’s Lad leaves, putting an end to the relationship.
King Kong Kitchie Kitche Ki-Me-O (Chubby Parker) - courtship ends in marriage.
Old Shoes and Leggins (Uncle Eck Dunford) - courtship never gets off the ground, due to old man’s weirdness.
Willie Moore (Burnett and Rutherford) - courtship ends when girl’s parents refuse to allow daughter to marry Willie Moore.
A Lazy Farmer Boy (Young and Rorer) - courtship ends because farmer’s fiancee won’t maintain a lazy man, and I can’t say that I blame her.
This is also our 3rd consecutive song featuring multiple instrumentalists, the 3rd in a row with fiddle, and the second consecutive song to originate in the USA. As I’ve already mentioned, Posey Rorer is going to be a connection in future songs. This is also the second consecutive song where one of the performers composed a song that went on to become incredibly popular.
It’s our fourth song to include a profession in the the song’s title (the others were “The House Carpenter”, “The Butcher’s Boy” and”The Wagoner’s Lad”), but it’s the first song to actually discuss life on the job to any degree.
Other Interpretations
Smith didn't provide a discography for this song, so we’re left to find other interpretations on our own.
Robert Plant - The Boy Who Wouldn’t Hoe Corn - wow. I was extremely tempted to have this section consist of this one performance. Robert Plant owns this song, and the crackerjack collection of name brand musicians behind him creates an amazing sonic palette for Plant’s unmistakable vocals. Again, I say…. wow.
Alison Krauss and Union Station - The Boy Who Wouldn’t Hoe Corn - When searching for different performances of this song on YouTube, a funny thing happened. I ran into a big chunk of videos that were covers of the Alison Krauss and Union Station version of the song.
This smokin’ version of the song make is abundantly clear why so many folks think this is an Alison Krauss and Union Station original. It’s flaming hot stuff.
Now, coming into this track, I didn’t expect to include Krauss and Plant in this section, and I certainly didn’t expect to be including them separately, but here we are.
Dan Tyminski - The Boy Who Wouldn’t Hoe Corn - Tyminski appeared in the previous track, so don’t think you’re seeing double. I just though it’d be cool to share another recording of the song as performed by one of Alison Krauss’ bandmates. It’s quite the fine version.
Peggy Seeger - The Young Man Who Wouldn’t Hoe Corn - Okay, we’re gonna wind it down here with an older school version of the song. When Peggy Seeger says a song won’t take long, she isn’t kidding.
Conclusion
This has been a fruitful episode for me. While we still don’t know exactly where this song came from, we’ve unraveled the confusion caused by the misattribution on the label, pieced together enough biographical information to finally have a thumbnail sketch of Buster Carter’s life (even though he didn’t appear on the recording). and filled in a few blanks on the life of Preston Young (who actually appeared on the recording). Lingering questions remain, and I hope answers will emerge in time.
In our next episode, we shift gears a bit, turning away from courtship and back into the workplace with another song about the job, with “Peg and Awl” by the Carolina Tar Heels. It’s a song about life in the early 1800’s with surprising parallels to life in this modern world, and I look forward to sharing it with you.
Until then, I want to thank you, dear reader, for the kindness of your attention. If you’ve been entertained, educated, or enlightened by this piece, and know someone else who might appreciate it, please pass it along.
Finally, I close with my usual reminder that the work in this article is an extension of work done by other researchers over the years. While I’ve managed to bring a few new bits of information into the mix, I stand on the shoulders of giants, drawing greatly from the work of others to reach the conclusions in this article. If you’d like to learn more, the sources I used when writing this article are below.
Sources
"A Lazy Farmer Boy" - Buster Carter and Preston Young
Where Dead Voices Gather: Life at 78RPM
https://theanthologyofamericanfolkmusic.blogspot.com/2009/11/lazy-farmer-boy-buster-carter-and.html
The Young Man who Wouldn’t Hoe his Corn
Ballads and Songs Collected by the Missouri Folk-lore Society
Edited by H. M. Belden
Volume 15, Number 1, 1940, p 440
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32435065469538&seq=470
The Lazy Man
American Folklore Society
Journal of American Folk-Lore, xxix. 1916 p. 181
https://archive.org/details/journalofamefolk29ameruoft/page/180/mode/2up?view=theater
"Come in, come in …"
Jeff Stockton and the Flag Pond singers
https://www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/f_pond.htm
‘Deadly Secrets: The Lawson Family Murder’
Episode 3: Ballad of the Lawson Family Murder | FOX8 WGHP
https://myfox8.com/miniseries/deadly-secrets/deadly-secrets-the-lawson-family-murder-episode-3-ballad-of-the-lawson-family-murder/
Murder of the Lawson family - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_the_Lawson_family
Walter “Kid” Smith - Discography of American Historical Recordings
https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/mastertalent/detail/209626/Smith_Walter_Kid
Robert Bryant “Buster” Carter - FamilySearch.org
https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/about/L8SL-5BF
Robert Bryant “Buster” Carter - FindAGrave.com
https://findagrave.com/memorial/25086937/robert_bryant-carter
Buster Carter - Discography of American Historical Recordings
https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/mastertalent/detail/110406/Carter_Buster
William Preston Young - FamilySearch.org
https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/about/L2HX-QC4
William Preston Young - FindAGrave.com
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/103648685/william-preston-young
Preston Young - Discography of American Historical Recordings
https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/mastertalent/detail/110411/Young_Preston
An article about Posey Rorer
by Kinney Rorrer
https://www.document-records.com/show_news.asp?articleID=295
This is an amazing deep dive! So impressive and the writing is wonderfully funny! Thank you for all of this. One thing you don’t discuss and I’m curious for your take on is whether “hoeing the corn” can be understood, ahem, euphemistically. Thanks for this wonderful project and super deep dive. It’s a credit and honor to these nearly forgotten musicians.