Can we call this ragtime? It sounds like it. From what I read (on Wikipedia), one of the characteristics of ragtime is that it has a harmonic progression. I don't really know what that means. I think it implies a progression that is smooth in its transitions, with a melody line that moves seamlessly from chord to chord. The progression of chords from major to major 7th, and then to 7th and to suspended 7th, along with the bouncy waltz-time rhythm, makes the song sound ragtime to me. Or maybe I think of it as ragtime only because of this version recorded by Waylon Jennings in the Wanted! The Outlaws album, which was the first recorded version I heard. The instrumentation in the break between the first and second verse sounds like ragtime music.
I think even Willie intended for it to be ragtime, especially when you hear his original version, which features ragtime-style piano fills.
Whether it's ragtime or rap, I liked this song the first time I heard it. That was when my father performed it during some company dinner. I remember that occasion for being embarrassed for my father because nobody seemed to pay attention to his singing and picking. They were all busy being gluttons at the buffet table filling their plates ... like swine of whom pearls were cast. I thought he sounded really good. I was twelve.
My father taught me the neat little intro run for this song. I think it's one of the best sounding things I've ever played on the guitar (0.07 - 0.14). And it feels very natural for your fingers too, the way it just goes up the fretboard. I had to think about how to play and arrange the solo (1.00 - 1.38). I decided to go with something very loose in the beginning and gradually got a beat going for the second phase of it (1.19). And on that note, over the years I have found that it is easier to arrange a guitar solo piece in waltz time, than it is in standard time. Often in waltz time, a note that is meant to be part of the melody can also doubly act as a rhythm marker.
Generally, I was, and still am happy with this upload. A YouTube friend of mine Tom Smith, who is an expert on Appalachian mountain music, has a wonderful banjo version, which he says is inspired by mine. I had never imagined that the song could be given the rough mountaineer treatment, until I heard Tom's brilliant work on this.
Apart from Waylon and Willie, I don't know think any other famous artist has covered this song. That's quite shocking, don't you think. It's such a beautiful little ballad. I love the song so much that I performed it during my wedding. That video is also somewhere on YouTube, but I'm not going to share it here. It was quite a bad performance and the sound system really sucked that day.
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