"The Preacher And The Bear" - The Jubalaires

This song was originally recorded by Arthur Collins sometime in the early 1900’s. I've seen it listed as 1905, which puts it in the category of a waxed cylinder. It was recorded 2 more times by Claude Hopkins in 1935 and then the Golden Gate Quartet in 1937.  It didn't do much after that for about 12 years until Phil Harris recorded it in the 1947, the same year as the Jubalaires recorded theirs. (I’ll wager that their recording preceded Mr. Harris’.)

It was the Jubalaires who really immortalized the song. That’s the group you see singing it here. This film is from shortly after the records release. It was later covered by artists such as the Big Bopper in 1958, and then many more, including; The New Christy Minstrels in 1962; Jerry Reed in 1971; Jim Kweskin in 1979; David Holt in 1986; and also the Robert Decormier Singers in 1996. I’m sure there are many others, but these seem to be the most well-known versions.

The Jubalaires were a gospel oriented group from Florida originally comprised of Orville Brooks, Ted Brooks, Caleb Ginyard and George McFadden. At times the group included J.C. "Junior" Caleb Ginyard and even Willie Johnson. There have been many incarnations of the group over the decades since these men performed, all calling themselves some sort of derivative of the Jubalaires name. There are the Fairfax Jubalaires, the Sunset Jubalaires and etc. They all perform reasonably well, in the same style as the original Jubalaires, which is reminiscent of the Mills Brothers, with their tight harmonies sounding almost as one voice with different layers.

The group originally recorded under the name of The Royal Harmony Singers, beginning in 1936. In 1941 they relocated to Philadelphia. At that time the group was composed of Brooks as baritone; Willie Wright as tenor; Elijah Wright as bass; (he was soon replaced by Biggie McFadden); and the talented Billie Lee Johnson joined as guitarist in 1946. There had been quite a few others on guitar before him, but his style complimented the groups vocals in a way no other guitarist had done before.

The groups greatest success came in 1942 with their hit recording of “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition” which reached #10 on the R&B charts for the week of November 14, 1942.

By 1946 the group was appearing on shows such as Arthur Godfrey’s radio program on CBS. A short time after that Willie Johnson left the Golden Gate Quartet to become leader of the Jubalaires. They recorded on Decca, King and even Capital Records.

For a more lengthy history of this group please use the following link;

 http://www.ugha.users5.50megs.com/UGHA/ughahof98.htm

Note: You will have to scroll about halfway down the page before you see the Jubalaires, but it’s worth the trip as the article is much more detailed than my own.

The song itself is about a Preacher who goes hunting on the Sabbath, knowing that it’s wrong. He encounters a bear larger than he can handle and finds himself supplicating the Lord to help him in his time of need, all the while knowing he has left his own flock to fend for themselves.

THE PREACHER AND THE BEAR

(Traditional / Joe Arzonia)

The preacher went out a huntin’, it was on one Sunday morn’

It was against his religion, but he took a shotgun along

He got himself a mess o’ mighty fine quail and one old scraggly hare

And on the way home he crossed the path of a great big grizzly bear

Well the bear got down lookin’ ready to charge

The preacher never seen nothin’ quite that large

They looked each other right smack in the eye

Didn’t take that preacher long to say bye

The preacher, he run till he spotted a tree

He said, "Up in that tree’s where I oughta be"

By the time that bear made a grab for him

The preacher was a sittin’ on top a that limb

Scared to death, he turned about

He looked to the sky and began to shout

"Hey lord, you delivered Daniel from the bottom of the lion’s den

You delivered Jonah from the belly of the whale and then

The Hebrew children from the fiery furnace

So the good books do declare

Hey lord, if you can’t help me,

For goodness sake don’t help that bear"

Yea, look out preacher!

Well, about that time the limb broke off

And the preacher came tumblin’ down

Had a straight razor out of his pocket

By the time he lit on the ground

He landed on his feet right in front of that bear

And Lord, what an awful fight

The preacher and the bear and the razor and the hair

Flyin’ from left to right

Well first they was up and then they was down

The preacher and the bear runnin’ round an’ round

The bear he roared, and the the preacher he groaned

He was havin’ a tough time holdin’ his own!

He said, "Lord if I get out a here alive

To the good book I’ll abide

No more huntin’ on the Sabbath day

Come Sunday I’m headin’ to the church to pray"

Up to the heavens the preacher glanced

He said, "Lord won’t you give me just one more chance"

So the preacher got away, he looked around

Seen a tree where he’d be safe and sound

Jumped on a limb, turned about

Looked to the sky and began to shout

"Hey lord, you delivered Daniel from the bottom of the lion’s den

You delivered Jonah from the belly of the whale and then

The Hebrew children from the fiery furnace

So the good books do declare

Hey lord, if you can’t help me,

For goodness sake don’t help that bear"

Goree State Prison - Texas

In 1911 Texas opened a prison for women inmates. It was located at Goree State Prison Farm, in Walker County, about 4 miles outside of Huntsville, Texas. The facility is still in operation today, with a population of 874 inmates serving sentences for drug possession to murder. The average sentence is between 10 and 15 years.

The prison was segregated, with White and Hispanic women working mostly in the linen factory. The African -American inmates were relagated to field work, growing some of the food consumed by the prisoners. By the time of the Great Depression, in the 1930's, many of the women incarcerated were there for economic crimes such as kiting checks, prostitution and drug possession. Classes were offered for rehabilitation, including typing, shorthand and beautician work.

But the strangest, and perhaps best story, to come out of Goree State Prison is the one about an 8 member acoustic band that played there in the 1940's. They were known as "The Goree All Girl String Band" and played each week, not only for the prisoners, but also for a radio audience.

Trisha Durant, Kathy Roberts, Erica Gilligan, Cassidy Sunderson, Billie Crow, Jill Vegas, Vicki and Farrah (no last names found) were all serving time at the farm in the late 1930's when a Fort Worth radio station, WBAP, began a program called "Thirty Minutes Behind the Walls", in which the inmates could show off their various, legitimate talents. These 8 women jumped at the chance. The show was an instant hit and remained on the air through 1948.

This story is new to me. I just heard of it while reading the morning paper. Seems like there is a movie being made about the Goree All Girl String Band. It will star Jennifer Anniston and Pam Tillis. This is one movie that I will be looking forward to seeing when it is released. Meantime, I'm searching the net for some of their music. At this point I'm not sure any of the original radio broadcast recordings still survive.

Here is an excellent link to the history of this highly unusual story;

http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-2742349/O-sister-where-art-thou.html

Coke Bottle Gambling

The other evening as I was driving home I was listening to John Hancock on the local “talk radio” show. I used to call in a lot about politics, but these days I’m more likely to weigh in on such complex issues as “What did you collect as a kid and wished you still had?” The topic was really baseball cards and comic books, but all collections were allowed.

At the beginning of the show the announcer usually starts off with a preamble concerning what he is interested in discussing. The call screener then begins lining up calls, usually reserving a spot for the first, most interesting, or what is often referred to as the “kickoff” call.

I was calling to say that I had collected Coca Cola bottles, the green 6-1/2 ounce “Christmas tree” bottles, so named due to their shape and that the first ones actually bore the patent date of December 25, 1923. The photo above shows a Christmas tree bottle dated 1923 on the left and the older version of the green Coke bottle to the right. In between I have stacked a few of the Christmas tree bottles with the bottoms showing the plants where they had come from.

Across the country there were thousands of Coke bottling plants and each one stamped the name of the town, or city, on their bottles. In 1967 I had about 200 or so of these bottles in a wine rack, bottoms up. I had bottles from Anchorage, Alaska to Bangor, Maine. I was very proud of this collection. Every time I bought a Coke I would look at the bottom to see if I could add it to my collection. If not, I would put it back and choose another.

One day, and I don’t remember quite why, my father took a 9 pound sledge to my collection, shattering all that pretty green glass. Then I had to clean it up. A few of the bottles escaped unscathed and a couple of them are in the center of the picture, bottoms up, just as they once were many years ago.

Well, I got to be the “kickoff” call that evening and I have been thinking about those bottles ever since. So I thought I’d round up a few of them for this photo and story.

The funniest part of the whole thing was that John Hancock, the show's host, asked me if I had inherited the rage and anger of my father. It was an odd question, given the topic of the show, but I answered truthfully. I replied that I had struggled all through raising my kids to control my temper. While I may not have been entirely successful in that endeavor, I have not, at least in my memory, ever taken a sledgehammer to any of my children’s things.

But the real kicker to the whole story is the third call after mine, which bought back some memories I had forgotten. This caller, a local man from Albemarle, had a grandfather who owned a “filling” station there. On Saturday mornings he and his cronies used to gather around the Coke machine, next to the stacks of crates that contained the empty bottles. The bottles were in a standing position so the bottoms could not be seen. Each player would lay down his fifty cents and name a city. Then everyone would pull a bottle from the crate. The one that pulled the city closest to the one he’d named won the pot.

I had forgotten all about this game until that third caller. It bought back a mixture of memories, some good, and some bad. But one thought keeps rising above all the rest, “Hey Dad, you missed a couple.”