Alberta (blues)
"Alberta" is the title of several traditional blues songs.
Lead Belly song
Lead Belly recorded four different version of "Alberta". One of these was recorded in New York on January 23, 1935, and a similar version was recorded in New York on June 15, 1940. Another version, recorded in Wilton, Connecticut, on January 20, 1935, included the lyrics "Take me, Alberta, take me down in your rocking chair" and is included on Gwine Dig a Hole to Put the Devil In. Lead Belly's fourth recorded version survives on recording disc BC-122 of the Mary Elizabeth Barnicle–Tillman Cadle Collection at East Tennessee State University, recorded near the date of June 15, 1948, with which several related discs are labeled.Wheeler 1944 song
Mary Wheeler, in her Steamboatin' Days: Folk Songs of the River Packet Era, records a song she collected from Gabriel "Uncle Gabe" Hester, with the lyrics:Wheeler also reports Hester's reminiscences of the steamboat work songs he had sung as a roustabout in his younger days. However, Wheeler's account does not explicitly give any evidence for Roger McGuinn's statement that, "This is a song sung by the stevedores who worked on the Ohio River."
The song became popular in the American folk music revival.
- Bob Gibson recorded it for his Carnegie Concert, and it was included on Sing Out!, vol. 8, no. 3.
- Jerry Silverman, Folk Blues, vol. 1
- Burl Ives, with the title "Lenora, Let Your Hair Hang Down, The Versatile Burl Ives!
- Chad Mitchell Trio, At the Bitter End
- Odetta, under the title "Roberta," Odetta Sings Folk Songs
- Valentine Pringle, I Hear America Singing
- Pernell Roberts, Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies
- Blues Project, Live at The Cafe Au Go Go
- Doc Watson, Southbound
- Actor Kiel Martin played a soulful version of this song in the Season 6 episode entitled "Hell Wind" of the American Western TV series The Virginian, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar, in 1968. Aside from this television episode, the performance remains unreleased on music media.
- Bob Dylan, two versions, Self Portrait
- Eric Clapton, Slowhand & ''Unplugged''