Today’s post was written by Paul.
I haven’t had a good opportunity to shoot a video in a while, so my good friend Sonny Reighard is filling in for me, singing the classic love song “When You and I were Young, Maggie.”
Pap and I used to sing this song with two-part harmony, Pap singing high lead on the chorus and me singing harmony underneath. Sonny sang a middle verse that Pap and I didn’t know or at least chose not to include. Sonny is a special treasure in Western, NC! Pap said that he is one of the best entertainers he ever saw. He said that Sonny could walk right into Carnegie Hall or Madison Square Garden and have no problem entertaining everyone with a joke and a song.
Below is a video of Pap and me singing the song, in case any Acorns never saw this video back in the day or would like to listen to it for comparison.
I apologize for the extremely poor lighting in that video. Though I never noticed it until Pap pointed it out, the chord pattern to the verses of this song was utilized (probably subconsciously) by Merle Haggard in his great hit song “Big City.” According to AI overview, “When You and I were Young, Maggie” was written as a poem in 1864, by George Washington Johnson, a teacher in Canada. He wrote it for his fiancé (Margaret “Maggie” Clark), who was suffering from tuberculosis. Sadly, she passed away shortly after they were married.
A musician and singer named Rob Mashburn popularized the song in our area in the late 80’s or early 90’s. Around here, folks refer to the song simply as “Maggie” or “I Wandered to the Hill, Maggie.”
After Margaret Clark passed away, one of her friends, James Austin Butterfield, an English musician, set Johnson’s poem to music, in 1866. According to Google’s AI overview, the song quickly became popular worldwide, though it has sometimes been mistakenly thought to have Scottish or Irish origins. Johnson was inducted into the Canadian Songwriter’s Hall of Fame for composing the lyrics.
Pap knew the song from his youth. In the early 90’s, an elderly gentleman, whose first name was Beverly, moved into our area from Florida. We all called him Bev. Bev was a trumpet player, not exactly an instrument that goes with Appalachian Gospel music, but since he could really find no other musicians in our area at that time, Bev liked to come to our practices and some of our shows and play with us. One day, I looked in his trumpet case and saw the lyrics to this song. That’s when Pap and I first started trying to sing it together. It was probably 15 years later that we discovered we could sing it better by moving it to A and having Pap sing the chorus with a high lead. Most singers, like Rob Mashburn, sang the song in D major, with a much lower pitch (similar to how Haggard sang “Big City”). That works well as a solo but not so well for a duet.
We hope you enjoyed hearing the great Sonny Reighard’s rendition of this beautiful song.
Paul
Original singles released on Spotify.
Shepherd of My Soul (Album released in 2016).
The Wilson Brothers Words of Life Album released in the 70s.
Both renditions were beautiful! I especially love the part where Pap sings high lead.
I love both renditions! So much talent and I am especially fond of Pap’s voice. So comforting!
That ‘un makes me cry.
“Maggie” was the first “thumb-picking” song that I learned to play. I was just a kid when my cousin, Clyde Mauney Jr came home from the Air Force. Junior, as he was known, played Chet Atkins & Merle Travis style. He threw away my flat picks and gave me a thumb pick. He taught me how to play “Maggie” finger style and it enabled me to develop my own style. I use thumb and two fingers, no picks. “When You and I Were Young, Maggie” was outdoorsman/author Horace Kephart’s favorite song and was played at his funeral at Bryson City.
Thanks, Paul. I love all y’all, even though I’ve never met any of you. Our families were raised so similarly, I feel an affinity to you all. I’m so sorry that Granny is not doing well. I am praying for y’all as you walk this difficult path. Thanks for sharing this music with us today. What a reunion we are going to have one day with our family members who’ve gone ahead of us. I always stood beside my Dad when our family would sing together. I can’t wait to stand beside him in Heaven and sing praises again!
My Pa, a native of Swain County, born in ’94, used to sing that song a capella as he rocked us to sleep. Sonny’s rendition if very near to that of Pa’s.
I loved this great oldie, Paul! I had a dear friend with whom we were more like sisters than friends right from the minute we met in church and remained such until she died from ‘Lewey Body’ (a form of dementia) and her name was Marguerite, but we all called her Maggie.
That was beautifully sung and written! Thank you for sharing! I’m new to The Blind Pig and Acorn. I’m like a kid in a candy store on here. 🙂
Sandra H. from Laurens, SC
Wonderful hearing this dear old song Twice! Wish my hearing was good enou,gh to make out the words Sonny sang in that lesser known 2nd verse! I’d love to see that verse in print, Paul.
A city so silent and lone, Maggie,
Where the young and the gay and the best,
In polished white mansions of stone, Maggie,
Have each found a place of rest,
Is built where the birds used to play, Maggie,
And join in the songs that were sung;
For we sang as gay as they, Maggie,
When you and I were young.
I would love to meet Sonny..brings back memories of my daddy! His personality is contagious!
Praying for all the family. Everyone have a day.
There is indeed a sad thread that runs through the thought “since you and I were young”, even without the parting of death involved. It is one of those things common to all of us that reach ‘advanced’ age. As the bible says it, ” Time and chance happened to us all.” It is a bittersweet thing to revisit scenes of childhood and youth because inevitably they will be much changed, as also will we. Somewhere along the line, it seems, we reach a place of not caring to see any more change of whatever kind.
Ron, I am at that place, I don’t want to see any more change in the name of progress. I know my mind is a basket case, many times I long to go back to “how it use be” and miss the character of the people in my youth.” When awake during the night, I am thinking of the memories of how it once was. My son teases me, many times when we are together going somewhere I will be pointing out places and telling him what use to be there, now he is beginning to do it too. I tell him to watch out you are starting to get old. When talking about the “good old days” my father in law would laugh and tell us you can have the good old days I lived them, I will take today’s days.
I love hearing Paul and Pap sing together. Also Granny and Paul.
Blessings and prayers for your family❤️
It’s a terrific song. This is one of the many old tunes I played on the piano growing up. I had an “old” song book I would play from since I didn’t have the money to buy music books on my own–plus no way to get to the music store! Between that old book and old hymnals I had plenty of “new” music to learn. I’m fortunate in the end though because I am aware of old music that many will never know.
I could listen to Sonny Reighard all day long. He is a wonderful entertainer. Thank you for this video of him singing When You & I were Young, Maggie. Listening to this song was a good way to start the morning.
Happy Sunday! I listed to both videos singing the song while getting ready for church. I enjoyed the song’s information Paul wrote about. What a lovely poem written by George Johnson for his sick bride and a good friend put the poem to music after she passed. Her husband and their friend showed great love for her and it continues to live on through singers that still sing it like Paul, Pap (before he passed) and Sonny.
Thank you for sharing this with us Paul.
Good morning Paul. TY for the videos. I gotta go out and walk mu mile now. I hope you are well. I keep you and Granny in my prayers.
I have listen to you and Pap sing this song before today. The song brings back many memories of my marriage to my wife Janice. We started dating when we 16 and 17 years old and married at 19 and 20. Add this to the years we were married and it comes close to 50 years. I am constantly thinking daily of our time together and the joy she brought to me. A preacher explained it to me like this, when you marry you become one, when one dies it is sorta like losing you legs, you are still living but it is no longer the same- you never get over losing of your legs.