That's Spilt Milk (addendum)
by Bryce Martin

Randolph gathered songs, poems, tales, anything he could capture regarding the culture of the people. His range was fairly narrow, primarily southeast Kansas, northeast Oklahoma, southwest Missouri and a corresponding part of Arkansas.

Big Jim Denoon. He was just Jim Denoon from Midco, Mo., being recorded by Randolph for his Ozark songs collection on such selections as "Root Hog or Die." Denoon moved to Salinas, Calif., and became Big Jim Denoon, "The Giant of Western Swing," recording for 4-Star and other record companies.

If you don't work, you don't eat. Hogs have to root to find food. In bad times, humans can find themselves in root hog or die situations.

Folklore? That is what folklore amounts to you ask. Imagine collecting some dirty jokes, some real crude ones, getting the person's name, their age and where they're from and then leaving a little explanation for each explaining what it means in a bigger, thematic context. Each entry fits into a numeric code system established by Kentucky folklorist Stith Thompson.


"What do you want to know for? Writin' a book?"
"As a matter of fact, I am."
"Then, kiss my ass and make it a love story."

Bryce Martin
Galena, Kansas
1958, overheard in a high school library

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