Notes

1. An advertisement in Carron’s Directory touted Fisher-Leaf Co. as “manufacturers of marbleized iron and slate mantels and grates, stoves, air grates, dealers in all kinds of brass goods, and agents for American, English, and French tiles for halls vestibules, and hearths.” See Carron’s Directory of the City of Louisville, 1886, 284.
2. The city of Portland, KY no longer exists; Portland merged with Louisville in 1852.  The city called Portland in Adair County, Kentucky today is unrelated to the old Jefferson County town located on the river. General William Lytle bought three thousand acres of land from Henry Clay and Fortunatus Cosby to build a canal. To raise money for the project, he subdivided his land into lots to be sold.  His agent, Joshua G. Barclay, named the prospective town “Portland” and his surveyor, Alexander Ralston laid out the six -block grid of “Portland Proper” between 1812-1814.
3. Autobiography p. 77-79. The essential points of this account are corroborated through a 10/12/06 entry in notebook 45/2/24 that provides a map of the Graham family’s location and notes: “words of Graham family’s song copied from mother’s note book—it was kept in the piano bench with my song manuscript for many years.” A subsequent 12/24/06 entry in the same notebook notes that: “mother asked for some kind of singable version of the Graham family song, so I am trying to finish it off.” The autobiography account wrongly notes that it was nine years before he completed a version of the song.  See field note book 45/2.
4. Autobiography p. 104-105. R. E. Olds is Ransom Eli Olds (1864-1950) who released the first Olds automobile in 1897.  However, Henry Martin Leland had his design rejected by Olds and released his first Cadillac through Henry Ford on October 17, 1902.  By 1906 there were 50- model H Cadillacs manufactured. Thus, Niles’s letter to R. E. Olds might have been inspired by the sight of these early Cadillacs, but R. E. Olds had nothing to do with the Cadillac plant. Credit for the automatic turn signal and brake light is generally attributed to the actress Florence Lawrence who designed an “auto signaling arm” attached to the rear bumper of a car by 1914. (Kelly R. Brown. Florence Lawrence, The Biograph Girl: America’s First Movie Star. Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company, 1999. ) With 146.43 million cars registered in 1995 (U. S. Census) brake lights certainly seem to be essential today!
5. A more complete account of the genesis of the song may be found in Pen, Ron. I Wonder As I Wander. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2010. Pp.35-38.
6. “Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair” was noted as collected at “Airy [sic] on Troublesome Creek, Perry County, KY.  In fact, he did collect a version of the text and tune from the Combs family at Ary, but the version he published in More Songs of the Hill Folk (G. Schirmer 1936) couples the Ary version of the text with a tune that was completely composed by Niles.  By the time G. Schirmer published The Songs of John Jacob Niles in 1993, that attribution appropriately stated: “Text collected and adapted by John Jacob Niles.  Music by John Jacob Niles.”
7. August 1, 1907 the Army Signal Corps established an Aeronautical Division and July 18, 1914 they organized the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps.  It was not until The National Security Act of 1947 that the United States Air Force was established as an independent branch of the armed services.
8. An expanded account of the concert career of Niles and Kerby may be found in Pen, Ron. I Wonder As I Wander. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2010. Pp. 111-134.
9. An expanded account of the Niles Merton Songs may be found in Pen, Ron. I Wonder As I Wander. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2010. Pp261-271.

Books by Niles

Niles, John Jacob. “Autobiography” Margaret I. King Library, The University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, The John Jacob Niles Collection. (703 page typescript edited by David Burg)

Niles, John Jacob, Niles, Helene B., and Dean, Bob. Hinky Dinky Barley Brew: A Cry from the Heart: Being the Reincarnation of the Justly Famous Song Entitled Mademoiselle from Armentières. New York, New York: Old Grist Mill Press, 1932.

Niles, John Jacob. The Ballad Book.  Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2000. (Houghton-Mifflin Company, 1960, Dover Press reprint 1970.)

Brickdust and Buttermilk. Frankfort, KY: Heritage Press, 1977.

John Jacob Niles Cookbook: With Special Recipes by Mary Tippy Mullins. Lexington, KY: Watersign Press, 1996.

Mr. Poof’s Discovery. Lexington, KY: Bur Press, 1947.

One Man’s War. New York: Ayer Company Publishers, 

1980. (Reprint edition of New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company, 1929.)

Rhymes for a Wince.  Lexington, KY: Margaret I. King Library, Department of Special Collections, University of Kentucky Library Press, 1971.

Singing Soldiers. New York, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1927.

The Songs My Mother Never Taught Me. New York, New York: Macaulay Company, 1929.

Periodicals  with articles by Niles

Hall, Bert and Niles, John Jacob. “War Takes the Air.” Collier’s Weekly 83 (April 27, 1929) pp. 18, 20, 34, 36.

Cogswell, Theodore and Niles, John Jacob. “The Roper.” Science Fiction 23:2 (August 1964).  pp. 88-89.

Niles, John Jacob. “Black Is the Color.” Sing Out! 12 (December 1962) p. 41.

“Deft Hands Carve the Dulcimer.” The Courrier-Journal Magazine (January 1952) pp. 26-28. 

“Eleven A.M.” Scribner’s Monthly 87:1 (January 1930)

“Faire L’Ecole Buissonière” The Seven Seas. (April 1931)  p. 11.

“Gossip from English Inns” The Seven Seas. 7:5 (July 1931) pp. 17-19.

“Hedge Hoppers” Scribner’s Monthly 85:3 (March 1929) pp. 311-315.

“Hillbillies.”  Scribner’s Monthly 82:5 (November 1927) pp. 601-605.

“In Defense of the Backwoods.” Scribner’s Monthly 83:6 (June 1928) pp. 738-745.

“In the Beginning.” Sing Out!  11 (February 1961) pp. 19-20.

“John Jacob Niles/Louisville Poetry.” Kentucky Poetry Review. 15:2/3 (Summer-Fall 1979). pp. 2-6.

“My Precarious Life in the Public Domain.” Atlantic 182:6  (1948) pp. 129-131.

Review of Folksingers and Folksongs in North America. Music Educator’s Journal (November/December 1965) p. 107.

“Review of Southern Mountain Folksongs and Ballads.” Journal of American Folklore 71:280 (April 1958) pp. 182.

“Shout, Coon, Shout!” The Musical Quarterly 16 (October 1930) pp. 516-530.

“The Folk Music of America” New York Times (April 21, 1940)

“The Sixth Hangar” Scribner’s Monthly 84:1 (July 1928)

“The Passing of the Street Cry” Scribner’s Monthly.  87:3 (September 1929) pp. 265-271.

“Traveling Carpenters.” The Seven Seas. 8:2 (October 1931) pp. 13-14.

“Villeneuve les Avignon: The Versailles of the 14^th Century” The Seven Seas 8:6 (February 1932) pp. 4-5, 20.

“White Pioneers and Black.” The Musical Quarterly. 18 (January 1932) pp. 60-75.

“Woman….on a Good Man’s Mind” Mentor-World Traveler. 18 (March 1930) pp. 12-15.

Music Collections  by Niles

Niles, John Jacob. The Anglo-American Ballad Study Book. New York, NY: G. Schirmer, Inc., 1945.

The Anglo-American Carol Study Book.  New York, NY: G. Schirmer, Inc., 1948.

The Ballad Book. New York: Houghton Mifflin, Company, 1960; revised edition, Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2000.

Ballads, Carols, and Tragic Legends. New York, NY: G. Schirmer, Inc., 1937.

Ballads, Love Songs, and Tragic Legends. New York, NY: G. Schirmer, Inc., 1938.

Four American Carols for Organ. New York, NY: G. Schirmer, Inc., 1950.

Impressions of a Negro Camp Meeting. New York: Carl Fischer, Inc., 1925.

More Songs of the Hill Folk. New York, NY: G. Schirmer, Inc., 1936.

The Niles-Merton Songs Opus 171 and 172. Champaign, IL: Mark Foster Music Company, 1981.

Seven Kentucky Mountain Songs. New York: G. Schirmer, Inc., 1929.

Seven Negro Exaltations. New York: G. Schirmer, Inc., 1929.

The Shape Note Study Book. New York, NY: G. Schirmer Inc., 1950

Singing Campus. New York, NY: G. Schirmer Inc., 1964.

Song Book for Guitar. New York, NY: G. Schirmer Inc., 1963

The Songs of John Jacob Niles. New York: G. Schirmer, Inc., 1993.

Songs of the Hill Folk.  New York, NY: G. Schirmer Inc., 1934.

Ten Christmas Carols. New York, NY: G. Schirmer Inc., 1935.

Contributed Writings

Niles, John Jacob. “Folk Ballad and Carol.” (pages 217-238) in

Peattie, Richard (editor) The Great Smokies and the Blue

Ridge. New York, NY: Vanguard Press, 1943.

The Appalachian Photographs. Penland, NC: The Jargon Society, 1971. (Remembrance by John Jacob Niles)

Sound Recordings By John Jacob Niles

(Recorded by Niles except where indicated otherwise)

Marion Kerby (contralto) and John Jacob Niles (tenor) with piano accompaniment, Negro Exaltations, Roycroft 172 (78 rpm) Ca. 1930-1933.

Early American Ballads, “Collected and Arranged by John Jacob Niles, Mountaineer Tenor with Dulcimer accompaniment”; RCA Red Seal M604-1 through M604-8 (an album of four 78 rpm recordings, Victor 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, with booklet of notes and texts), November 1, 1939.

Street Cries, RCA Red Seal label (later expanded and re-released as American Folk and Gambling Songs) 1939.

Early American Carols and Folksongs, “Collected and Arranged by John Jacob Niles, Mountaineer Tenor with Dulcimer accompaniment”; M718  (an album of four 78 rpm discs, Victor 2119, 2120, 2121, 2122, with booklet of notes and texts), Released Fall 1940.

John Henry/Jack O’ Diamonds, RCA Victor 2051 (one 78 rpm disc), 1940. 

American Folk Lore Volume 3, “Collected and arranged by John Jacob Niles, Mountaineer Tenor with Dulcimer accompaniment”; Red Seal Label M-824 (an album of four 78 rpm discs, Victor 2171, 2172, 2173, 1807, with booklet on songs and texts), Released in October 1941.

John Jacob Niles--Early American Folk Carols. DISC 732 (three 10-inch 78 rpm discs with 8-page booklet), 1946.

John Jacob Niles—Child Ballads, DISC 665 (two 78 rpm discs), 1947.

John Jacob Niles, Vol. 2—American Ballads and Folk Songs, DISC album 733 (Three 78 rpm discs, with notes and text), in the 1947 catalogue.

Six Favorite Folk Songs, Camden CAE-197 (7-inch extended play 45 rpm disc), 195?

Folk Songs of Christmas, Camden CAE 205 (7-inch extended play 45 rpm disc) 195?

Folk Songs of Christmas Volume II, Camden CAE 206 (7-inch extended play 45 rpm) 195?

John Jacob Niles: American Love Songs, Boone-Tolliver Records BTR 22 (10 inch 33 1/3 disc) Recorded at Boot Hill 2/5-12/52, Released November 5, 1952.

Ballads by Niles, Boone-Tolliver Records BTR-23 (one 10-inch 33 1/3 rpm lp) recorded at Boot Hill 2/5-12/52, released November 5, 1952.

John Jacob Niles Sings American Folk and Gambling Songs; Camden CAL 219, (33 1/3 rpm lp), 1956. 

John Jacob Niles Sings American Folk Songs, Camden CAL 245 (33 1/3 rpm lp) 195?

50^th Anniversary Album, Camden CAL 330 (33 1/3 rpm lp), Released November 1956.         

I Wonder As I Wander: Traditional Love Songs and Carols by John Jacob Niles, Tradition TLP1023 (one 33 1/3 lp), released November 27, 1957. 

An Evening with John Jacob Niles, Tradition Trad 1036 (1 33 1/3 rpm disc), Released November 12, 1959.

Folk Festival at Newport, Volume 3, Vanguard VSD 2055 (33 1/3 lp disc, side 1/track 6), 1959.

The Ballads of John Jacob Niles, Tradition TLP 1046 (two 33 1/3 rpm discs), released October 15, 1961.

John Jacob Niles Sings Folk Songs, Folkways FW 02373 (one 33 1/3 lp disc, reissue of DISC recordings made by Moses Asch), 1964.

John Jacob Niles: Folk Balladeer, RCA V513 (1 33 1/3 rpm disc, reissue of RCA Red Seal label recordings of 1939-1940), 1965.

The Best of John Jacob Niles, Tradition released on Everest S-2055 (one 33 1/3 lp disc), 1967.

Folk Song and Minstrelsy, Vanguard SRL 7624 (anthology of four 33 1/3 lp discs, side 7/7), Released in 1962.

The Asch Recordings Vol. 2, Folkways AA004, 1939-1945 (recorded in 1939 and released on two 33 1/3 rpm lp discs), 1967. in 1967

The John Jacob Niles Collection, Gifthorse G4-10008 (cassette), 1992.

John Jacob Niles: My Precarious Life In the Public Domain, Revola REV 138 (compact disc), 2006.

An Evening with John Jacob Niles, Empire 545 450 832-2 (compact disc, digital reissue of Tradition Recordings), 2006.

John Jacob Niles: I Wonder As I Wander, Carols and Love Songs,

Empire 545 450 802-2 (compact disc, digital reissue of Tradition Recordings), 2006.

The Ballads of John Jacob Niles, Essential Media Group 942 311 018-2 (two compact discs, digital reissue of Tradition recordings), 2007.

Selected Posthumous Performances of Niles’s Music not performed by Niles

Jacqueline Roberts (soprano) and Nancie Field (piano), Songs by John Jacob Niles, Mrs. John J. Niles, Lexington, KY TR 1608234 (cassette); recorded 1/24/1980 at Track 16 studio, Lexington, KY.

Jacqueline Roberts (soprano) and Nancie Field (piano), The Niles-Merton Songs, Op. 171 and 172, self produced cassette, 1980 The Messenger

Jacqueline Roberts (soprano), Janelle Pope (piano) and Nancie Field (piano), Jacqueline Roberts Sings the Music of John Jacob Niles, self produced for the University of Kentucky Press (compact disc), 2001.

Chad Runyon (baritone) and Jacqueline Chew (piano),

Sweet Irrational Worship: The Niles-Merton Songs, MSR Classics MS 1174 (compact disc), 2006.

Hope Koehler (soprano) and James Douglass (piano), The Lass from the Low Countree: Hope Koehler Performs the Songs of John Jacob Niles, Albany Records TROY1015 (compact disc), 2008.

        Videography

John Jacob Niles directed by William Richardson, produced by Appalshop Headwaters Films (vhs format) AF 6027, 1978.

No Direction Home directed and produced by Martin Scorsese, documentary of Bob Dylan distributed by Paramount Pictures (DVD ) 03105, Contains original footage of Niles performing on Revlon’s Spring Festival of Folk Music on CBS television 6/16/1960.