Cliff Carlisle - The Girl In The Blue Velvet Band - 1934

Recorded in New York, NY on August 28, 1934. Issued on Melotone 5-12-61, Perfect 5-12-61 and others in 1935. Flip side is “Georgia Moon.” Reissued on the anthology album “Far Beyond The Starry Sky” (B.A.C.M. CD D 032, 2002). Song composed by Cliff Carlisle (based on “The Black Velvet Band,” a traditional Australian folk song). (Melotone 5-12-61, Perfect 5-12-61 and others list composer as Carlisle-Calaway; William Ronald Calaway was an A&R man for the American Record Corporation from 1930-1938; later releases of the song by other artists credit the composer as Cliff Carlisle and Mel Forre.)

Transcribed lyrics:

One evening while out for a ramble
The hour was just about nine
I met a young maiden in Frisco
On the corner of Kearny and Pine

On her face there was beauty of nature
Her eyes they seemed to expand
That hair so rich and brilliant
Entwined in a blue velvet band

(short yodel)

We strolled down the street together
In my pocket she placed her hand
She planted the evidence on me
Oh the girl in the blue velvet band

I heard the old scream of the siren
And the girl in the blue velvet band
She left me to face all the trouble
With a diamond worth ten grand

Last night when bedtime was ringing
Standing close to the bars
I fancied I heard a voice calling
Far out on the ocean of stars

They sent me to Atlanta for stealing
God knows I’m an innocent man
The guilty one now she is dying
Oh the girl in the blue velvet band

(short yodel)

I’ll be out in a week and I’m leaving
But I’ll carry the name of a man
That served ten years in the prison
For the girl in the blue velvet band

When I get out I’ll endeavor
To live in some other land
And bid farewell to old Frisco
And the grave of my blue velvet band

(long yodel)

[frankchilds]

Amazing how creative and unforgettable the old country artists were!