"I am a Pilgrim" authorship

[Britt Elliott]

Hello,

I'm wondering if the words to the song "I am a Pilgrim" are in the
public domain, or if they are copyrighted. I know that Merle Travis
performed the song, as did Bill Monroe; but as far as I know, neither
is the author. Does anyone know who wrote the song, and where it came
from?

Thanks

Britt Elliott

[Harvey Gerst]

britte...@hotmail.com (Britt Elliott) wrote:

Britt,

I'm pretty sure Merle wrote the song.

Harvey Gerst
Indian Trail Recording Studio
http://www.ITRstudio.com/

[Stephen L. Suffet]

Harvey Gerst wrote:

Obray Ramsay and others who recorded "I Am a Pilgrim" would likely dispute
that claim. Merle Travis is given credit as the author on Travis's own
recordings,but not necessarily anywhere else. The sold appears in Leisy's
1966 anthology, "The Folk Song Abecedary," without neither authorship
credit nor copyright notice, and it's the precise tune Travis sang! I
doubt that a major publisher, Hawthorn Books, would have risked an
infringement suit had they believed the rights belonged tp Travis. Leisy
does, however, name both Ramsay and Travis, as well as the Kentucky
Colonels, in his list of artists who had recorded "I Am a Pilgrim."

Whenever I sing "I Am a Pilgrim," I introduce it as a song I learned from
a Merle Travis recording, and I leave it at that.

--- Steve

[Carl Baron]

"Stephen L. Suffet" wrote:

> Obray Ramsay and others who recorded "I Am a Pilgrim" would likely dispute
> that claim. Merle Travis is given credit as the author on Travis's own
> recordings,but not necessarily anywhere else.

Well, BMI seems to differ from that opinion, though if you check at their site
there are 19 listing for the title "I am a Pilgrim" with Merle Travis at the
top of the list.Other recognizable names, I am assuming are copyrighted
arrangements.
http://bmi.com/home1.asp
Search the title and agree to the "Conditions and Restrictions" (no copying or
extracting).

Carl

[Jack Aldrich]

Merle wrote the song back in the 40's when he was part of the Brown's
Ferry Four (with Grandpa Jones & the Delmore Borthers). I have Ramsay's
LP which was done in 1958 or 59. This a fine example of backward
diffusion in the folk process, because the song was, apprantly, embraced
by folks all over the South (and the owrld, for tha matter). Travis was
a fine songwriter. My favorite Travis song title is "If You Won't Love
Me PDQ I'll Divorce You COD".

[Stephen L. Suffet]

Jack Aldrich wrote:

> Merle wrote the song back in the 40's when he was part of the Brown's
> Ferry Four (with Grandpa Jones & the Delmore Borthers). I have Ramsay's
> LP which was done in 1958 or 59. This a fine example of backward
> diffusion in the folk process, because the song was, apprantly, embraced
> by folks all over the South (and the owrld, for tha matter). Travis was
> a fine songwriter. My favorite Travis song title is "If You Won't Love
> Me PDQ I'll Divorce You COD".
>
>

Backward diffusion! What a wonderful way of putting it! I'll be sure to say
"written by Merle Travis" whenever I perform "I Am a Pilgrim."

--- Steve

[Britt Elliott]

"Stephen L. Suffet" <Suf...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message news:<3DDD9A61...@worldnet.att.net>...

Not so fast - the story gets more interesting! The following appears
on a website devoted to the Byrds:

"Though Merle Travis received a composer's credit for "I Am A Pilgrim"
(covered by the Byrds on Sweetheart), "Pilgrim" is actually an old
folk number. Travis learned the song from his mentor and neighbor,
Mose Rager, who had heard it from a black singer whose name was
unrecorded."
(See http://ebni.com/byrds/relcovers6.html)

The Byrds did a version of the song on their "Sweetheart of the Rodeo"
album. That version lists no author, though the arrangement is by
McGuinn/Hillman. I've also found the song in two print sources: The
Folksinger's Wordbook (Fred and Irwin Silber, 1973) and Blugrass
Guitar (Happy Traum, 1974). Neither of these two sources lists an
author, which seems to imply that it's in the public domain after all.

Thanks to everyone for responding. In case you're wondering why I'm
asking this question, it's for an author who wants to quote the first
2-3 lines of the song in a book he's writing. He's using song lyrics
as epigraphs to each chapter, and strangely enough, he's being asked
to pay for permission to quote copyrighted songs.

Thanks again,

Britt

[RB]

In article <ddede8a9.02112...@posting.google.com>,
britte...@hotmail.com (Britt Elliott) wrote:

> The Byrds did a version of the song on their "Sweetheart of the Rodeo"
> album. That version lists no author, though the arrangement is by
> McGuinn/Hillman.

Doc Watson did "Pilgrim" a long time back on his live "On Stage" album
for Vanguard.

It lists "Traditional" as the only credit.

Given that Doc named his son after Merle Travis, you'd think he'd have
given credit where it was due, if due.

Somebody phone up Doc and ask him!

[Mark Wingate]

Versions of "I Am A Pilgrim" were recorded by several black quartets
before Merle was a pup... I'll cite specifics if I can locate them.

Mark
Nashville

"Britt Elliott" <britte...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:ddede8a9.0211...@posting.google.com...

[Mark Wingate]

OK, he was more than a pup ...

According to Document CD 5452, The Heavenly Gospel Singers recorded "I'm
a Pilgrim and a Stranger" on February 13, 1936, in Charlotte, NC. I
doubt that's the earliest -- anyone know of others?
..

Mark Wingate
Nashville

"Mark Wingate" <mlwi...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:xM4F9.27255$vM1.2...@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...

[benjie...@gmail.com]

The best source of this kind of information is always mudcat- check out their entry on this song: https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=57033

[schmid...@yahoo.com]

Merle himself states that it's an old "brush arbor" song. He describes where he first heard the song in this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81UUWyQ8rtE