MY BLUE-EYED JANE

(Lulu Belle White/Jimmie Rodgers)

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Original recording by Jimmie Rodgers with Bob Sawyer's Jazz Band (Bob Sawyer, piano; Mickey Bloom, cornet; Boyd Senter, clarinet; unknown banjo, tuba, guitar), Hollywood Recording Studios, Los Angeles, CA, Jun 30, 1930 (Victor 23549).

Recorded by Bob Dylan at Ardent Studios, Memphis, TN, May 9-11, 1994, included on "Jimmie Rodgers -- A Tribute" (Egyptian Records, 1997; produced and with liner notes by Bob Dylan).

An alternate take was recorded with Emmylou Harris, vocals.

• DOWNLOAD & LISTEN (Real Audio, 365 KB)

A fragment was released on the "Highway 61 Interactive" CD-ROM.

On 30 June Jimmie recorded "My Blue-Eyed Jane," written by Elsie McWilliams' niece Lulu Belle White about her sister Ruth. The accompaniment for this song was provided by cornet, clarinet, tuba, piano, banjo and guitar, played by Bob Sawyer and his band. The overall sound is swinging and heavily jazz-influenced.

Mike Paris & Chris Comber, Jimmie the Kid: The Life of Jimmie Rodgers, New York, 1977, pp. 97-98.

The sweetest girl in the world
Is my blue-eyed Jane.
We fell in love like turtledoves
While the moon was shining down.
I asked her then, I asked her when
Wedding bells would ring.
She said, "Oh, dear, it seems so queer
That this could happen here."

You are my little pal,
And I never knew a sweeter gal,
My little blue-eyed Jane,
I love you so.
And when the sun goes down
And the shadow's creeping over town,
Just meet me in the lane,
My blue-eyed Jane.

Janie dear, listen here,
I've come to say farewell.
The world is drear without you, dear,
But now I cannot linger here.
I'm going away this very day,
Oh please, come go with me.
I'll be sad and blue wanting you,
Longing all day through.

My little blue-eyed Jane,
You'll always be the same sweet thing,
I know you'll never change,
I love you so.
And when the sun goes down
And the shadow's creeping over town,
Then I'll come back again,
My blue-eyed Jane.

And when the sun goes down
And the shadow's creeping over town,
Then I'll come back again,
My blue-eyed Jane.