What is the name of the female folksinger who recorded the song
"Roberta" prior to 1970.  One line is "Roberta, let your hair hang
low"

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Request for Question Clarification by grimace-ga on 24 Aug 2002 00:51 PDT

Hi,

Are you sure the lyrics aren't "Alberta, let your hair hang low."?

Dylan recorded it in 1970, but it seems to have been a folk standard before then.

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Request for Question Clarification by aditya2k-ga on 24 Aug 2002 03:00 PDT

Even I was able to come up with only "Alberta, let your hair hang low"

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Clarification of Question by moore-ga on 24 Aug 2002 12:34 PDT

No, it is "Roberta ..."  I have the song on my computer as a wave
file, and I  checked it.  Just a guitar and a beautiful voice pleading
with Roberta: “I’ll give you more gold than your apron can hold if
you’ll only let your hair hang low.”  I recorded this back about 1970
from UT Radio, the Folkways Program, on an open reel recorder.  The
old tape has degraded with time.  I’ve tried to save it but the sound
is poor.  I would like a new recording.  Each time I search for
“Roberta” I get Roberta Flack ..., not my Roberta.  I will check out
Dylan, but there is a Roberta out there somewhere.

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Clarification of Question by moore-ga on 24 Aug 2002 14:27 PDT

Thank you for your comments.  I have converted the wave file to an MP3
and you can download it from WinMX.  Perhaps you can recognize the
voice.  In keeping with the hypothesis, I have renamed the file
“mondegreen.”  Perhaps this will make it easier to find.  I’m grateful
for your working with me on this.

Sounds like a mondegreen.
http://www.bartleby.com/61/30/M0383050.html
http://www.kissthisguy.com/

The phrase "more gold than your apron can hold" is associated with the
song "Alberta" on several dozen Web sites:

://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22more+gold+than+your+apron+can+hold

It is certainly possible that a female folk singer recorded a variant
of this song which substituted the name "Roberta" for "Alberta," but I
haven't found any evidence that would help track down the singer.

The sleevenotes to 'Louisiana Cajun Music Vol 2: the early '30s'
mention, in relation to Lawrence Walker's fiddle/accordion/guitar
version of "Alberta":

	This song is also known as "Roberta" and "Corrine,
	Corrina" and is well-known among jazz musicians in
	New Orleans. I think it is a jazz tune with a cajun accent,
	but my friend Ridley Gagneaux thinks it's more
	hillbilly than jazz.

The editor, Chris Strachwitz, adds:

	This song belongs to both black and white traditions in
	the South and was first popularized on record by the 
	Mississippi Sheiks in the late 1920s. Perhaps it was a
	popular tune long before then. The accordion on this
	performance seems to show strong Negro Cajun
	influence and I think Lawrence Walker probably learned
	it from a Negro Cajun performer.

The number of covers of the three versions of this song is immense
(Dylan alone recorded both "Corrina, Corrina" [his first electric band
recording, in 1962] and "Alberta").

I've got a Retail Entertainment Data catalogue from a few years back
which lists the following albums as conting a song called "Roberta":

 The Animals - 'Animal tracks'
 Frankie Ford - 'Rockers & balladeers II' & 'Spotlight on rock 'n'
roll - live'
 Bob James - 'Hands down'
 Billy Joel - 'Streetlife serenade'
 Alexis Korner - 'Me'
 Leadbelly - 'Alabama bound'
 Furry Lewis - 'Shake 'em on down'
 Professor Longhair - 'Rum and Coke'
 Jack Simpson - 'Music while you work - Calling all workers'

Apart from Furry Lewis, I know all of these to be male -- but it does
confirm that you transcribed the lyric correctly.

There is a beautiful version of Alberta (including the lyrics
mentioned) by the Blues Project, recently released on their
"Anthology" compilation, but it is song by a man (Danny Kalb).