Red River Valley (traditional)

[NorthAmericanSkies]

I grew up believing this, too, and have marveled at the thought many times in crossing the Red River just north of Texanarkana, but in reality this is the not Red River the song refers to. I wish it were, but it is a favorite old song of my youth and I was always so proud to think it was local. But alas, it is from up North.

[Artay72]

But where is the Red river valley? I have just finished reading John Grisham's 'The Confession' and there are frequent references to 'the red river' in Eastern Texas. That apart, it is a beautiful sone - the Jo Stafford version for me, but I like this.

[MrSteve55]

@Artay72 The Red River starts in Ok, Tx, or N Mex (opinions differ) flows across TX panhandle, is the border with OK, snips a tiny corner off of AR the flows diagonally across LA and hooks up with the Big Muddy...The scenes are from Texarkana, Bradley (AR), Shreveport, Coushatta (LA), Natchitoches (LA)..mostly from my clients farms or near my home, I live about a mile..

[JonahtheFigPucker]

@MrSteve55 It fits the Texas/Oklahoma river as well as the original. Which I'm trying to find the Spanish words for it. El Valle Rio Rojo was a Catalans/Irish song commemorating one of the battles in Spain in the early 1820s according to all I've found out about it. Translates well into English though. I only heard it in Spanish once and my God it's beautiful. There's supposed to be an Irish Gaelic version too. The battle commemorated involved Irish volunteers.

[JonahtheFigPucker]

@JonahtheFigPucker Irish soldiers, so it seems, have won wars for every kingdom and nation on earth except for Ireland. (ok, with the new Irish Republic that might be a bit dated) The one time I heard it in a version of Spanish I actually understand, was in a movie that was on late-night TV and involved a Texas youth going to Mexico to retrieve a stolen horse, and got sentenced to a couple years in Mexican prison for his troubles. The plot and title were forgettable, the song, not so.

[donadthegonad]

@JonahtheFigPucker Check this out, I'm a Manitoban (Red River Valley) living in Spain and I heard this song, en voz, at a Catalan funeral today and could not believe my ears, it was heart wrenching. That's what led me here. Now to find a Catalan version.

[donadthegonad]

@JonahtheFigPucker Check this out, I'm a Manitoban (Red River Valley) living in Spain and I heard this song, en voz, at a Catalan funeral today and could not believe my ears, it was heart wrenching. That's what led me here. Now to find a Catalan version.

[kingsindiandefence]

@donadthegonad Yes, it's a Canadian song, sung from the point of view of a native girl saying goodbye to a British soldier; this is well documented. It made its way over the border and the years all the way down to Texas (all the campfires it must have graced) where it became a well know song. But your Red river home is where it began. Before the creeps come out and start arguing, it's a beautiful song with a universal theme that has no real location.

[MrSteve55]

@Artay72 btw I am a Big Band Era buff and Jo Stafford, in my opinion, had the best voice of any of that era...she did an album of Celtic Songs that will never be topped....so to be put in the same comment with her is okay by me....

[mondeo577]

Die schönste Version die ich je gehört habe. (Spiele selber Country) DANKE

[Hirschhausen]

Thank you Mr. Steve for posting this song and "You are my Sunshine". I listen to them almost daily. Please don't ever remove them. God bess you. Judy King

[Dom303030]

M'Nonc Mitch would be proud to know how much we still think of him. This song means a lot to our family. My grandma sang it to our grandpa the day they were married.

[PlainzRyder]

My brother just passed away last fall. He once visited Baton Rouge, Louisiana when he was about 25 yrs old. He talked about the trip for years after. He was quite a bit younger than I was, he died at 42 of an unexpected heart attack. When he was about six years old, I taught him how to play a harmonica. Ironically, "Red River Valley" was the first tune he learned. This brought tears to my eyes. Thanks, from Canada with love.

[nemo1588]

This is a lovely version - thanks for posting

[MrSteve55]

@nemo1588 thank you for the comments, hope you are having a nice weekend...

[Sliceofcheesewithegg]

even thia song is orginated in canda, it transends borders and is about anyone who has loved and lossed, anywhere.

[itsspideyman]

It's a beautiful song.  I've got no problem with it's Canadian roots; Americans embrace it. It speaks to the moving, roaming spirit of Americans, and of lost loves. Beautiful.

[96money96]

Just watched The Grapes of Wrath and had to find out what was this great instrumental. Your version is exactly like the one in the movie. Thx for posting!

[3jxy781]

MrSteve55, thank you so much for this video.

[mystuff1911]

I quite agree with texan. Really soothing and powerful.

Thanks



[texan612002]

mrsteve55 this is so beatifull i sit and listen to it often i can relax to this . dont ever take it down cause i havent found any other like this. when i get down and need inspiration ill come listen to this

[MrSteve55]

@texan612002 thank you very much, I dont plan on removing it...

[MrSteve55]

@BeachyAir thank you for the comments....

[MtofShadows]

Thank you sir for posting this, my great grandmother who is long since gone, used to play this on a old record from her early years. She used to play parts of it on her old electric organ back in WI.

[MrSteve55]

@MtofShadows Thank you, the best comments are the ones that bring back family memories...

[Orion508]

MrSteve, Ive commented before on how beautiful this piece is. Now if i may ask, please sir, never, never take this video down. This music reminds me so much of my dad it nearly brings me to tears. It reminds me of all the times we spent hunting when i was growing up.

[MrSteve55]

@Orion508 I wont take it down intentionally.....one thing and I guess I shouldnt say this but there are youtube pirate programs you can use to download the video, or send me an email and I will send you the video file...I have been very honored by the comments from folks who say the music reminds them of loved ones who have passed and of happier times....may God bless you and those you hold dear...

[visxeyd]

Extreamly great ! , let me remember when I am young.

[Riccardo121234579]

super good music!!!

[brotherjohn25]

Oh my God. I love this song so much since I was a young boy.

[noelgsal]

i wish i will be given the chance to live in a place like this even for a week before i finally leave this wonderful earth.

[MrSteve55]

Unfortunately, since I posted this, this region of Louisiana has been practically plowed under by a newly discovered natural gas field...almost every place depicted in the slide show is a pile of muddy drilling rigs, pipeline construction, and transmission stations... I may do a followup pictorial just to show how fast some of our scenic gifts can be mishandled so quickly and dramatically...

[MtofShadows]

@MrSteve55

Now, my would they go and wreck good land like that, I know the world needs oil to function, but haven't we wrecked enough of it by searching and tapping deposits. Just look at the North Slope in Alaska, granted it helped people out for getting work, but I have seen what its done to their surroundings. Cant we strive for a balance, before we destroy everything.

[MrSteve55]

@MtofShadows If they would just use common sense on locations and pipeline routes, but if you google Haynesville Shale you will see this discovered in 2005 is going to be the 2nd largest play in US and they found another layer on top of this one....too many pros and cons to discuss, but just no common sense used at all...

[edwardobseesed]

im playing this song in band i play trumpet im playing it with a military band soon and it is very very pretty! :)

[MrSteve55]

I played flute and other woodwinds in band and this song is a good band song and a good crowd pleaser... wish you lots of success and fun with your music....

[ettore4964]

Che bella interpretazione, senza dubbio la migliore che abbia mai ascoltato,

Complimenti all'interprete di questa bella musica.

ettore

[MrSteve55]

well, not sure but it looks like a compliment, sorta something along the lines of good interpretation, and compliments for the nice music... and thanks for listening..

[Orion508]

Just beautiful. I learned this on harmonica years ago but Soybean Steve makes it sound so lonesome.

[MrSteve55]

well thank you... i was trying to give it a forlorn missing you kind of feel.... havent done much more on the harp, the dulcimer and now the tin whistle are stealing most of my free time, but I have a few songs I want to keep fresh on and this is one of them...

[WLLLZJUKEBOX]

the tune is what i remember from growing up. the lyrics i heard were jist a wee bit biased.

so ive added this tune to my list.

so

if this tune ruffles yir feathers then mail me and ask about barbie.

thats the codeword btw barbie.

[jbbentley83]

The Grapes of Wrath

[MrSteve55]

great movie, i commented on it in a prior posting from someone who made the same observation...and with the economical situation as it is, it may be more scary and relevant than 2012....

[jbbentley83]

But so many people are in denial over how bad the economy is though. They're like, "Well at least it's not as bad as the great depression." Well considering current un-employmen is %10 and in the great depression it was what %14.5? Well, consider the huge leap in populations since then that's %10 of a lot of people.

[MegaMarioGuy]

@jbbentley83 The great depression had an unemployment rate of over 25% and that doesn't include the millions of people who worked for wages that they couldn't even feed their family with.

[MtofShadows]

@jbbentley83

Yeah, Given the fact that the great depression only happened maybe 3 generations ago, the population has exploded thanks to the baby boomers having families. Id say that given the circumstances, the people today are on par with those of that era. We still haven't seen the end of this dastardly business. Maybe in 20 years it will be over, hopefully.

[chibinski]

absolutely beautiful.

[MrSteve55]

thank you very much...

[Fiawoo]

Actually this songs was not written about the red river that runs by Texas but about a different red river in canada and North Dokota. I used to think it was about the red river that borders texas too (I'm from Houston)....from Wiki "Edith Fowke offers anecdotal evidence that the song was known in at least five Canadian provinces before 1896.[1] This finding led to speculation that the song was composed at the time of the Wolseley Expedition to the northern Red River Valley of 1870 in Manitoba"

[MrSteve55]

yea, I did some research on the song earlier.... and came across the same information.... but I knew from way back that it wasnt about my Red River, but still co-opting songs is a favorite pasttime of most generations, lol...

[MrSteve55]

lol, it depends if you are from Tx, Ok, or New Mex... technically not called the Red until a few forks merge above Childress, Tx in Ok, or one of the main forks begins in New Mexico, right at the Tx border in Deaf Smith County, SW of Amarillo... One of my college friends from the 70s did some environmental work on the Red so this is all from his research......

[MrSteve55]

Most of the pics were just south of S'port, in Red River Parish... Some of the farming pics were from Gin City, outside of Bradley, Arkansas, just a stones throw east of Texarkana...... so howdy, neighbor, or useta be neighbor....

[patgeevoty]

Beautiful!! Thank you so much

[MrSteve55]

Thank you for visiting and your comment

[Whitedove31363]

Hi, MrSteve55. I wanted to say your pictures & music....... wow I haven't heard it played soooooo beautifully. I found your video on my 3rd one of "Red River Valley" . Really wonderful job...Thank You for posting it.

[MrSteve55]

Thank you for your comment... I had been wanting to do a video to that for a long time and came across the photographer while she was shooting on a local lake.... told what I wanted and she gave me access to everything she had done in the area...

[Classicguy66]

It reminds me of the 1940 classic film The Grapes of Wrath, starring Henry Fonda.

[MrSteve55]

that was (or is!) a great film, reminds me of my dad's family and the Depression Era stories his brothers and sisters and my grandmother use to relate.... thanx for stopping by....

[swampshine]

Excellent from the high desert in Nevada

[calebfdrr]

pretty. I give you a 10:)

[CptSato]

Thank you for nice posting, one of my most favorite song "Red River Valley"

An old Cowboy from Asia. ... CptSato

[MrSteve55]

Thanks, and I visited your site and saw you were a Marty Robbins fan, so 5 stars for you...

[conductorron]

Only George Strait does a better job

[MrSteve55]

Thanks, i sure dont mind being 2nd to GS

[Lonewolf927]

can u make a video with the same music with the words cause all the other videos of this song dont sound right but i want to know the word it woulds be greatly appreciated

[MrSteve55]

ugghh.... I dont sing, that's why I play the harmonica and penny whistle.... but I will try to rope one of my friends into doing it....

[bonnnti]

Only thing missing are the cowboys!

[lucky099nina]

*cry*thank u so much i've been looking for this song for a looooong time!!it a momentum of my dad teacher to me she was great but had cancer and die!!this song bring back memory of her thank u sooooo much

[MrSteve55]

I am glad it brought back fond memories...

thanks for the comment...

[manukyanv]

this song is the best

[MrSteve55]

thank you, one of my favorites.

[swtshannonlil]

Mr steve, It pulls my heart strings and reminds me of home. My mom on her guitar and me on my harp. In fact I'm crying. Thank you

[Classicguy66]

The 1940 Classic The Grapes of Wrath, I first heard this song where Henry Fonda is singing, while dacing with his mom.

[MrSteve55]

I enjoyed that movie also, today's economic situation makes it deja vu almost....

[sanchohour]

That's where I heard it too. It's kind of the theme of the whole movie isnt it?

[namastecanyousee]

Beautiful beautiful - one of my mother's favorites. I miss her. I'm posting on one of my blogs. Can't list html here or the message will be blocked. google clutterquake

[MrSteve55]

thank you and i will do the google search

[vickigirlcat]

I have to do this song for choir...but we get REALLY high when singing..so its a little difficult. :/

[MrSteve55]

what key does your choir sing it... this was done in D

[moesky14]

MAny Thanks Mr. Steve for so many wonderful memories of my dear Father who used to sing and whistle this song especailly while delivering the U S mail. Also the music was great. "Bien Merci voit Bon Amiee"

[MrSteve55]

Thank you for the kind comment and reflection...

[buttonnosebreda]

love this song and the pics are amazing my dad sang this song and i miss my dad but thank you for this

[MrSteve55]

wish i could take credit for the pics, but a friend provided them.... thank you for the comment..

[Iris35211]

I like this song and I just heard it for the first time today!

[MrSteve55]

hard to believe this is the first time you have heard it, but am glad you enjoyed it... thanks for stopping by..

[GNW92]

haha like everything liverpool stole thi good old decent folk song, and claimed the tune as theres as always

[WalkinDownLimeStreet]

Obviously we didn't invent the tune idiot.

[ShuNekozawa89]

I love this song

[kinkajou777]

Wonderful!

[MrSteve55]

Thanks, I am glad you enjoyed it.

[laviferns]

Awesome...just couldn't stop weeping...very touching indeed!!

[kaighnyne]

this is beautiful

[Daddling]

The music is haunting and shows the pathos of parting, great, Thank you.

[Jigaboo123456]

beautiful montage, thanks

[bri1031]

i had to sing this song in my 6th grade chorus class in 2006

[crussader150]

heh that where booooring

[DerekMoncur]

Beautiful

[irish89055]

RIP John Ford...

[MrSteve55]

Thanks for stopping by

[Sunriseatnoon]

This is very very beautiful!! Nowhere else on earth is there a USA...God Bless!!

[MrSteve55]

Thank you for your comments, and I agree.

[NGS712]

Sunrise: True, but almost every place on earth is unique in it's own way.

[hklovejoy]

Yup - God bless USA - with love from a Scot living in England; you guys create GORGEOUS music.

[magical11]

@hklovejoy Lol. The song is Canadian.

[MrSteve55]

@magical11 oh, I know, but I live in the Oklahoma, Texas, La Red River Valley, so we just co-opt it...there seems to be some debate on the origin, but the evidence heavily favors the Canadian origin...

[itsspideyman]

@hklovejoy And best to you from across the pond, from an American with a drop or two of Scotish blood. As a southerner we were settled by Scotts and Irish, and they're are Cronins, O'Hoyts, McDougals and the like all over.

[apscoradiales]

Eh, got news for you. the song originated in Canada!

It was composed in the Red River Valley in Manitoba, and is about the sorrow of a local Métis girl, as her lover prepares to return to Ontario.

Great song nevertheless.

[BenAliGtor]

@apscoradiales Spot on. The original words include, "..and the soldier who loved you so true."

[stevestoner13]

it reminds me of the late-but-divine

Sir Edmund Hillary.

[stevetooze52]

i love it, U.S.A.

[chaowned]

I sang this for a solo, back when i was in Junior high.

It was a great song to sing.

[livingforjesus16]

I was humming this song to my 16 year old daughter today and she wanted the words but for my life I couldn't remember the words just the melody and it is so beautiful tgank you for having it on the computer for us

[Henning2Henning]

Well done!

Sad melody, but touching that sadness we have all known at one time or another...and touching it with beauty.

[MrSteve55]

thank you for the comments. My photographer friend did a a great job...

[OnionQueen]

I love this song! X3

[jesussavesro623]

u know wat, its kinda funny that i have never really heard this song, but i feel like i know it, its all very familiar to me. I dont know wat it is, but i love this song

[WillMoyer150]

Everyone knows it, its something that people hear subconsciously during times of hardship, its been adapted with so many lyrics, one of the best adaptions of it, is The Po River Valley, sung by bomber crews.

[wolfeman282000]

I am 68, I remember when I was a child and my heroes were cowboys. They still are today. This was one of, if not my favourite, as I would sit on the floor with my ear pressed against the ole radio. Dreaming of horses, cows and open spaces where nary an unkind word was heard.

Thanks for the music MrSteve55.

Bob

[slobomotion]

Regretably, I had to explain to people in Iceland how sad the words are.  They had asked me to sing the song, and when I did, I cried. Who wouldn't?

[MrSteve55]

Yes, some of the older cowboy songs are somewhat sad... I plan on putting together another, Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie, sometime after the holidays when I can practice up on the music...

Thanks for stopping by..

[slobomotion]

My pleasure! I was certainly glad to finally know where the Red River is! Carry on.

[jessyquedens]

Very beautiful and the instrumentation is very effective.

[6Hades6]

it took me back in time to boy scout day about 20 years ago :D thx for make me feel younger :D

[michaeljello7]

i thought it was pretty but kinda stupid

[ken3arok]

I like it very much, it reminded me when I was a boy scout 50 year ago in Indonesia. Thanks.

[blauersalon2007]

These Pictures and the Song are Beatiful ... it reminds with the melody of a beautiful lives

[silver965]

you guys should check out "theres a valley in spain called Jarama"

[sdorr]

lovely setting...

[MrSteve55]

thank you, Sharon at Cloud 9 did a great job capturing what I wanted to expose about the area.....

[lostword]

beautiful

[MrSteve55]

thank you, i had been trying a way to showcase Sharon's photos properly and it just seemed natural to record RRV for the photos