Notes & Queries – August

Queries Q: I’ve always liked the song “Swinging A Nine Pound Hammer,” which I first heard from the singing of Mac Martin (from a 1970 album). I later heard live versions by Ralph Stanley (his first issue of the song was from 1983 on the Live At Old Home Place LP). I’ve long wondered where this song came from. Yesterday I discovered that one of the handful of 45 RPM records issued by County Records in NYC featured this song, as performed by the Shenandoah Valley Cutups (who I assume to be Tater Tate, Hershel Sizemore, Billy Edwards, and John Palmer). I am guessing that this County record is from 1970 or so. The County record label attributes “Swinging A Nine Pound Hammer” to “Perkins.” The first Stanley issue of the song attributes it to “E. Macgregor.” I have no idea who Perkins is; Macgregor seems to be a fictitious name associated with Zap Publishing. Mac Martin’s Just Like Old Times back cover says it is “a contemporary song learned from a lesser-known blu