Hi Janice, Bud and Tom,

I'm not sure how say just how magnificent this sounded as I sat here, eyes closed, listening. 'Excellent' is nowhere near good enough! 'Brilliant' doesn't do the job. 'Top Notch' fails to capture just how spellbound I felt as Janice's vocals, Tom's guitar and Bud's arrangement intertwined and wove their magic ...

This was such an emotive presentation from every angle, from every contribution.

I thought I knew most of Stephen Foster's songs but this was a new one for me. I would never have picked it as one of his. Because of this, curiosity got the better of me and I enlisted Google.

After a brief visit to here on Wikipedia, I discovered that Foster's original words varied slightly in places from this version. If these changes were made by you, I congratulate you on some fine lyric writing. Personally, I think your choice of lyrics was much much better for the blues format.

When I had a look at Foster's music (click on the image below to make it larger)...



...I noticed that Foster originally labelled the tempo as "Moderato". This would put it between 108 - 120 bpm and, as such, would fit with the description of 'parlor song' that Wikipedia gives. After listening to your version, though, I cannot, for the life of me, hear this song as more up-tempo than you present it. Personally, I think your collective interpretations show a greater understanding of the material than the understanding it seems Foster had.

This was an outstanding listen.

Regards to all,
Noel



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