Irish folk song – "An droimfhionn donn dilís" / "Drimindown" The song is based on a version of the traditional Irish song "An droimfhionn donn dilís" (
Irish for "The whitebacked brown faithful cow/calf") about a farmer and his dead cow. It is of the type categorized as "
aisling" (dream) where the country of Ireland is given form. Most times the form is that of a comely young woman but here it is the faithful handsome cow. A retired Irish farmer named Tim Galvin was recorded in 1982 singing a version called "Droimeann Donn" which uses a very similar refrain melody to the one adapted by Leadbelly. Traditional recordings of the original Irish song, Anglicised as "Drimindown" or "Drimmin Doo", also survived in the oral tradition in North America, from
Prince Edward Island in Canada, to the
Ozark region of the United States.
Lead Belly – "If It Wasn't for Dicky" In his 1993 book
Where Have All the Flowers Gone,
Pete Seeger described the long genesis of this song. The American folk and blues singer
Lead Belly heard Irishman Sam Kennedy singing "Drimmin Down" in
Greenwich Village. Lead Belly adapted the song into "If It Wasn't for Dicky", which retained the tune he heard and the farmer/cow theme. Lead Belly did not like the lack of rhythm, a common feature of Irish songs, so he made the piece more rhythmic, playing the chorus with a 12-string guitar. "If It Wasn't for Dicky" was first recorded by Lead Belly in 1937.
The Weavers – "Kisses Sweeter than Wine" Seeger liked Lead Belly's version of the song. In 1950, the quartet
the Weavers, to which Seeger belonged, had made a hit version of Lead Belly's "
Goodnight, Irene", and they were looking for new material. Seeger and
Lee Hays wrote new lyrics), reaching number 19 on the US
Billboard chart. The music was credited to Joel Newman and the lyrics to Paul Campbell, both names being pseudonyms for
Howie Richmond, the Weavers' publisher. The Weavers' music publisher was Folkways Publishing, one of the many subsidiaries (aliases) of TRO/The Richmond Organisation, founded by Howard Richmond. Others are Ludlow Music, Folkways Music, Essex, Hollis, Hampstead House, Worldwide Music, Melody Trails, and Cromwell. In his 1993 book, Seeger wrote: "Now, who should one credit on this song? The Irish, certainly. Sam Kennedy, who taught it to us. Lead Belly, for adding rhythm and blues chords. Me, for two new words for the refrain. Lee, who wrote seven verses. Fred and Ronnie, for paring them down to five. I know the song publisher, The Richmond Organization, cares. I guess folks whom TRO allows to reprint the song, (like
Sing Out!, the publisher of this book) care about this too." ==Chart performance==