going like Jack the bear

[Tom Kysilko]

At 03:43 AM 5/5/2000 -0700, Margaret Lee wrote:
>Growing up in Virginia, I remember hearing black DJ's
>on the radio saying, "I'm like Jack the bear, making
>tracks and going nowhere."

This fits.  My own exposure to "Jack the bear" was from a track-layers'
work song I was taught sometime in grades 4-6.
...
Jack the lion -- HUNH
Jack the bear -- HUNH
Old Joe -- HUNH
Cancha pick it up -- HUNH
...
or something like that.  The tune was used by Copland in "Billy the Kid" or
"Rodeo".  If you're looking for the cite, my school used the _American
Singer_ series.  No doubt the version taught to impressionable youngsters
in Hibbing MN in the '50s was somewhat bowdlerized.  Perhaps the real McCoy
could be found in Lomax's (either one) work.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Tom Kysilko        Practical Data Services
  pds at visi.com       Saint Paul MN USA
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