The Bently Boys, from which we know nothing except that they were from North Carolina, recorded “Down on Penny’s Farm” in 1929 for Columbia Records. It featured banjo and guitar and the flip side track “Henhouse Blues” feaured also a fiddle player. Apparently they didn’t record anything else but their version of “Penny’s farm”, thanks to the Anthology, inspired the young Bob Dylan for one of the first song he wrote when he came to New York City, “Hard times in New York Town”. It would also inspire him to write his “Maggie’s Farm” a few years after. Harry Smith said that “Penny’s farm” was “a regionalized recasting of an earlier song called “Hard times”. On this page of “Mudcat cafe”, there’s an interesting discussion about the song and its origin and it feaures the lyrics of the Bently Boys version as well.
-“Penny’s Farm” was done quite often in the recent years by folk musicians and old-time string bands,including a very unusual version on an album called “Wayne Horvitz:Joe Hill:16 Actions for Orchestra, Voices and Soloist”, a parody version called ” Down on the funny farm” by the Good Rockin’ Daddies…In the 1930’s, Gid Tanner (with Riley Puckett) did his version and called it “Tanner’s farm. During the folk revival, Pete Seeger recorded the song and a variant called “Hard times in the mines”. His brother Mike did as well with “Hard times in these mines”.
Enjoy!
TRACK LIST
Down On Penny’s Farm, The Bently Boys, from TheAnthology Of American Folk Music
Down On Penny’s Farm,Jeff Warner and Jeff Davis, fromOld Time Songs for Kids
Down On the Funny Farm,Good Rockin’ Daddies, fromBorn to Boogie
Penny’s Farm,Lost Mountain String Band, fromWaiting for the Boogerboo
Penny’s Farm,The Holy Modal Rounders, fromToo Much Fun!
Hard Times in These Mines,Mike Seeger, fromTipple, Loom & Rail
Penny’s Farm,Tom Akstens and Neil Rossi,All Around the Mountain
Joe Hill: Action 11 – Hard Time in the Country,Danny Barnes, Northwest Sinfonia, Bill Frisell, Rinde Eckert, Robin Holcomb, fromWayne Horvitz: Joe Hill: 16 Actions for Orchestra, Voices, and Soloist
Penny’s Farm,Pete Seeger,from Darling Corey/Goofing-Off Suite
Penny’s Farm ,Pete Constantini, fromWe Won’t Move: Songs of the Tenants’ Movement
Penny’s Farm,Olav Undeland, fromRiding The Blind
Hard Times in the Mill,Pete Seeger, from American Industrial Ballads
Down on Pennys Farm,Natalie Merchant, fromThe House Carpenters Daughter
Hard Times In New York Town,Bob Dylan, from The Bootleg Series, Vols. 1-3 : Rare And Unreleased, 1961-1991
-Here’s an interesting and funny clip of a 1960’s documentary about “young beatnicks” in England. In the beginning, a young Wizz Jones (british folk/Blues singer and guitar player) is doing a parody song using “Down on Penny’s Farm”
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Down On Penny’s FarmBently BoysAnthology Of American Folk Music
Down On Penny’s FarmJeff Warner and Jeff DavisOld Time Songs for Kids
Down On the Funny FarmGood Rockin’ DaddiesBorn to Boogie
Penny’s FarmLost Mountain String BandWaiting for the Boogerboo
Penny’s FarmThe Holy Modal RoundersToo Much Fun!
Hard Times in These MinesMike SeegerTipple, Loom & Rail: Songs of the Industrialization of the S
Penny’s FarmTom Akstens and Neil RossiAll Around the Mountain
On Tanner’s FarmGid Tanner & Riley PuckettEarly Country, Vol. 1
Joe Hill: Action 11 – Hard Time in the Country – Danny BarneDanny BarnesWayne Horvitz: Joe Hill: 16 Actions for Orchestra, Voices, a
Penny’s FarmPete SeegerDarling Corey/Goofing-Off Suite
Penny’s Farm – Pete ConstantiniPete ConstantiniWe Won’t Move: Songs of the Tenants’ Movement
Penny”S FarmOlav UndelandRiding The Blind
Hard Times in the MillPete SeegerAmerican Industrial Ballads
Down on Pennys FarmNatalie MerchantThe House Carpenters Daughter
Hard Times In New York TownBob DylanThe Bootleg Series, Vols. 1-3 : Rare And Unreleased, 1961-1991 [Disc 1]Down On Penny’s FarmBently BoysAnthology Of American Folk Music
Down On Penny’s FarmJeff Warner and Jeff DavisOld Time Songs for Kids
Down On the Funny FarmGood Rockin’ DaddiesBorn to Boogie
Penny’s FarmLost Mountain String BandWaiting for the Boogerboo
Penny’s FarmThe Holy Modal RoundersToo Much Fun!
Hard Times in These MinesMike SeegerTipple, Loom & Rail: Songs of the Industrialization of the S
Penny’s FarmTom Akstens and Neil RossiAll Around the Mountain
On Tanner’s FarmGid Tanner & Riley PuckettEarly Country, Vol. 1
Joe Hill: Action 11 – Hard Time in the Country – Danny BarneDanny BarnesWayne Horvitz: Joe Hill: 16 Actions for Orchestra, Voices, a
Penny’s FarmPete SeegerDarling Corey/Goofing-Off Suite
Penny’s Farm – Pete ConstantiniPete ConstantiniWe Won’t Move: Songs of the Tenants’ Movement
Penny”S FarmOlav UndelandRiding The Blind
Hard Times in the MillPete SeegerAmerican Industrial Ballads
Down on Pennys FarmNatalie MerchantThe House Carpenters Daughter
Hard Times In New York TownBob DylanThe Bootleg Series, Vols. 1-3 : Rare And Unreleased, 1961-1991 [Disc 1]Down On Penny’s FarmBently BoysAnthology Of American Folk Music
Down On Penny’s FarmJeff Warner and Jeff DavisOld Time Songs for Kids
Down On the Funny FarmGood Rockin’ DaddiesBorn to Boogie
Penny’s FarmLost Mountain String BandWaiting for the Boogerboo
Penny’s FarmThe Holy Modal RoundersToo Much Fun!
Hard Times in These MinesMike SeegerTipple, Loom & Rail: Songs of the Industrialization of the S
Penny’s FarmTom Akstens and Neil RossiAll Around the Mountain
On Tanner’s FarmGid Tanner & Riley PuckettEarly Country, Vol. 1
Joe Hill: Action 11 – Hard Time in the Country – Danny BarneDanny BarnesWayne Horvitz: Joe Hill: 16 Actions for Orchestra, Voices, a
Penny’s FarmPete SeegerDarling Corey/Goofing-Off Suite
Penny’s Farm – Pete ConstantiniPete ConstantiniWe Won’t Move: Songs of the Tenants’ Movement
Penny”S FarmOlav UndelandRiding The Blind
Hard Times in the MillPete SeegerAmerican Industrial Ballads
Down on Pennys FarmNatalie MerchantThe House Carpenters Daughter
Hard Times In New York TownBob DylanThe Bootleg Series, Vols. 1-3 : Rare And Unreleased, 1961-1991 [Disc 1]
Thanks for your usual sensitive posting. Just a suggestion ….. I think that in addition to Hard Times In New York, Bob Dylan also took Maggies Farm from The Bently Boys … if not the melody then at least the idea, and it is great to see this old song in such a furiously modern setting.
I mentioned in my introduction “Maggie’s farm” but didn’t include it in my compilation because i think most people have this song on record and i felt it’s not a real “variation” of the song, but rather a new creation.
I love your work on this blog, and this is one of my favorite songs from the Anthology — I’ve always especially liked Gid Tanner’s version, as that was the first one I knew about! Thanks for doing this thing!
I wonder if anyone has any info on some old texas country western groups. The Texas Blue Boys and Big D Ranchhands. They would have been in Dallas Tx around the 1930’s. One of the members would have been Roland Campbell. They played about the time “Pappy”W Lee O’Daniel was Texas governor. I appreciate anybodies help. Roland Campbell was my
grandfather.Thank you, Karen Barry
I wonder if anyone thought of Dickens. Why the Dickens? Because of his short novel, written out of his own need for money in 1854, entitled “Hard Times”. Furthermore, as a friend and I were just discussing the other day, there is Dylan’s “Good as I Been to You” track, entitled “Hard Times Come Again No More”. This song is in Roud’s Folk Index and is dated to 1854 (check wikipedia page for verification), published in NY by Firth, Pond, and Co. It would be interesting to know who was first; Dickens and his novel, or the American folk song?
My Old Weird America 
Thanks for your usual sensitive posting. Just a suggestion ….. I think that in addition to Hard Times In New York, Bob Dylan also took Maggies Farm from The Bently Boys … if not the melody then at least the idea, and it is great to see this old song in such a furiously modern setting.
I mentioned in my introduction “Maggie’s farm” but didn’t include it in my compilation because i think most people have this song on record and i felt it’s not a real “variation” of the song, but rather a new creation.
I love your work on this blog, and this is one of my favorite songs from the Anthology — I’ve always especially liked Gid Tanner’s version, as that was the first one I knew about! Thanks for doing this thing!
Thanks for this post — and, by the way, for undertaking this whole ineffably marvelous project.
Just to add my thanks to the others. For this and the two previous invaluable gifts: thanks so much.
I wonder if anyone has any info on some old texas country western groups. The Texas Blue Boys and Big D Ranchhands. They would have been in Dallas Tx around the 1930’s. One of the members would have been Roland Campbell. They played about the time “Pappy”W Lee O’Daniel was Texas governor. I appreciate anybodies help. Roland Campbell was my
grandfather.Thank you, Karen Barry
Thanks for gathering this great collection – also for some helpful links.
I wonder if anyone thought of Dickens. Why the Dickens? Because of his short novel, written out of his own need for money in 1854, entitled “Hard Times”. Furthermore, as a friend and I were just discussing the other day, there is Dylan’s “Good as I Been to You” track, entitled “Hard Times Come Again No More”. This song is in Roud’s Folk Index and is dated to 1854 (check wikipedia page for verification), published in NY by Firth, Pond, and Co. It would be interesting to know who was first; Dickens and his novel, or the American folk song?
Reblogged this on youdonthavetolovemeanymore and commented:
Just finding out some stuff I can do and I like this song, so thought I would share it