"Hand Me Down My Walking Cane" is a song written by African-American

James A. Bland James Alan Bland (October 22, 1854 – May 5, 1911), also known as Jimmy Bland, was an American musician, song writer, and minstrel performer. He is best known for the song "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" which was the official State Song o ...

in 1880. It has acquired the status of a

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...

, and is cataloged as

Roud Folk Song Index The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud (born 1949), a former librarian in the London ...

No. 11,733.

Recordings

The song has been recorded many times, in a variety of styles including country, cajun, jazz, mountain, bluegrass, rock and roll, and acoustic and electric blues. Recordings by artists having Wikipedia articles include: * Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers with Riley Puckett (1926) * Kelly Harrell (1926),

Victor The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

20103 * Earl Johnson (1927) (unreleased) *

Ernest V. Stoneman Ernest Van "Pop" Stoneman (May 25, 1893 – June 14, 1968) was an American musician, ranked among the prominent recording artists of country music's first commercial decade. Biography Born in a log cabin in Monarat (Iron Ridge), Carroll Count ...

(1927)

Edison Record Edison Records was one of the early record labels that pioneered sound recording and reproduction, and was an important player in the early recording industry. The first phonograph cylinders were manufactured in 1888, followed by Edison's found ...

11481 *

Sid Harkreader Sidney Johnson "Fiddlin' Sid" Harkreader (February 26, 1898 — March 19, 1988) was an American Old-time fiddle player and string band leader. He was an early member of the Grand Ole Opry, at first accompanying banjoist Uncle Dave Macon and ...

and Grady Moore (1927)

Paramount Records Paramount Records was an American record label known for its recordings of jazz and blues in the 1920s and early 1930s, including such artists as Ma Rainey, Tommy Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson. Early years Paramount Records was formed in 19 ...

3022 * Karl Radlach and His Orchestra (directed by

Bernie Cummins Bernard Joseph Cummins (March 14, 1900 – September 22, 1986) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Early years Cummins was born in Akron, Ohio. In his youth, Cummins was a boxer, besides playing drums in local bands in Ohio. Or ...

) (1930) * Cléoma Breaux (1937), Decca 17059 * Jerry Lee Lewis (1956), Sun Records *

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

included the song in a medley on his album ''

101 Gang Songs ''101 Gang Songs'' is an LP recorded in December 1960 by Bing Crosby for his own company, Project Records and distributed by Warner Bros. (W 2R-1401) and the RCA Victor Record Club in 1961 with lyric sheets to help the listener join in with the si ...

'' (1961) *

Vern Williams Vern Williams (born Delbert Lavern Williams) (December 9, 1930 – June 6, 2006) was a singer and mandolin player who was instrumental in introducing bluegrass music to the West Coast of the United States. Early life Williams was born on Decembe ...

and Ray Parks (1966), ''The Cabale, Berkeley, CA'' * Norman Blake, '' Whiskey Before Breakfast'' (1976) * The Knitters, '' Poor Little Critter on the Road'' (1985) * On ''The Skillet Lickers Vol. 1 (192627)'', Document Recordshttps://www.amazon.com/Skillet-Lickers-Vol-1-1926-1927/dp/B001W4GCAK * Robert Earl Keen, ''

Gravitational Forces ''Gravitational Forces'' is an album by Texas-based country/ folk singer-songwriter Robert Earl Keen. It was first released in the United States on August 7, 2001, on Lost Highway Records. One reviewer described this album, Keen's ninth, a ...

'' (2001), Lost Highway Records *

Michael Knott Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

(2003), ''Spring 2003 Tour CD #2'', independent * Lavay Smith and Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers (2005) * Junior Wells and Pistol Pete (bluesman), ''Chicago Blues Jam Vol. 5'' (DVD) (2005) *

Charlie Byrd Charlie Lee Byrd (September 16, 1925 – December 2, 1999) was an American jazz guitarist. Byrd was best known for his association with Brazilian music, especially bossa nova. In 1962, he collaborated with Stan Getz on the album '' Jazz Samba' ...

and the Charlie Byrd Ensemble (2008), ''Great Chefs. Great Music'' * Jack Rose and the Black Twig Pickers (2009), ''Jack Rose and the Black Twig Pickers'', Klang Industries *

Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup Arthur William "Big Boy" Crudup (August 24, 1905 – March 28, 1974) was an American Delta blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known, outside blues circles, for his songs "That's All Right" (1946), "My Baby Left Me" and "So Gla ...

* Tex Morton * Carson Robison

References in other songs

*The 1945 song "

Look on Yonder Wall "Look on Yonder Wall", or "Get Ready to Meet Your Man" as it was first named, is a blues song first recorded in 1945 by James "Beale Street" Clark. Clark, also known as "Memphis Jimmy", was a blues pianist from Memphis, Tennessee. During the 19 ...

" includes the line "Look on yonder wall, hand me down my walkin' cane". *"Please Don't Bury Me", on John Prine's 1973 album '' Sweet Revenge'', has the line "Hand me down my walking cane / It's a sin to tell a lie", which also references the 1936 song " It's a Sin to Tell a Lie" *The opening line of the 1976 song " The Rubberband Man" from the album ''

Happiness Is Being with the Spinners ''Happiness Is Being with the Spinners'' is the seventh studio album recorded by American R&B group The Spinners, released in July 1976 on the Atlantic label. It was produced by Thom Bell and recorded at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia and ...

'' is "Hand me down my walking cane / Hand me down my hat" (lyrics Linda Creed, music Thom Bell). * The 1985

Dire Straits Dire Straits were a British rock band formed in London in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (lead vocals and lead guitar), David Knopfler (rhythm guitar and backing vocals), John Illsley (bass guitar and backing vocals) and Pick Withers (drums and percuss ...

song " Walk of Life" includes the lyric "Here comes Johnny, gonna tell you the story / Hand me down my walkin' shoes". * The 2002 Guy Clark song " Soldier’s Joy, 1864" includes the lyric "Hand me down my walking cane / I ain’t cut out for war". * Bob Dylan sings the line "Hand Me Down My Walking Cane" in his song " Ain't Talkin'" on his 2006 album ''Modern Times''.

References

1880 songs 1926 singles American songs Blackface minstrel songs Jerry Lee Lewis songs Songs written by James A. Bland {{Folk-song-stub