Parallel Anthology Track 11

Track 11: Buster Carter and Preston Young - A Lazy Farmer Boy  Columbia 15702-D; Recorded in New York, 26.6.1931

Record label does not assign authorship. Nor does either Anthology booklet, or www.78discography.com.

The Roud Folksong Index classes this song as a version of Roud 438.

A search on the Roud Folksong Index under Roud 438 gives a number of examples of this song collected before the recording of Carter and Young's version from a wide geographical area (Nebraska, Missouri, N Carolina, Tennessee, W Virginia), dating from as early as 1905.

The Where Dead Voices Gather blog states that "'A Lazy Farmer Boy,' also known as 'The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn' and 'Harm Link,' is believed to date to the middle of the 19th century."

There are reasonable grounds for treating this composition as public domain.

Parallel anthology main index page

Alternative Versions
The Young Man Who Wouldn't Raise Corn by Jean Ritchie and family   album released in 1958: Spotify (first half of track only)   ''Whole album is within the frame of traditional songs sung in the family home. See liner notes.''

The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn by Peggy Seeger   album released in 1955: Spotify   Liner notes make no claim to copyright for writing or arranging.