The Darling Family showed up on The Andy Griffith Show from time to time, and they always had a song. Maggie Peterson played Charlene Darling. There was one episode where she sang a haunting song that included the lyrics “up on the mountain…” IIRC (I’ve only seen the episode twice, years ago) she was singing inside of the house; but I could be wrong. As I said, it was a rather mournful song; not like the fast, happy stuff they usually played. Must’ve been a ballad about lost love. Anyone know what that song was?
Just checking IMDB.
I’m pretty sure the song in question was not in ‘The Darlings Are Coming’ or ‘Mountain Wedding’. I think the former was the first time we saw the Darlings, and that one seemed to have been replayed a lot. The latter is the one where Ernest T. Bass keeps throwing rocks, and they trick him by putting Barney in a wedding dress, right?
So I’m thinking it might have been in ‘Divorce, Mountain Style’ (sounds like a good episode title for a mournful song, right?) or ‘The Darling Baby’.
The Darlings were in fact the legendary bluegrass band The Dillards (plus Denver Pyle and Maggie Peterson). This page features tunes by the Dillards played on the Andy Griffith Show. The ones I reacall off the top of my head are “Dooley” and “Doug’s Tune,” both of which were “fast happy tunes.”
I’m not sure if Charlene’s song is on any of these cd’s, but it would be a good place to begin.
I am betting the song is “There Is a Time.” It is (as the OP suggests) a hauntingly beautiful song, and was performed by the Dillards (as the Darling family) on the Andy Griffith Show. You can find it here.
(That one makes me cry, Pa.)
Thanks, Labdad. The song I’m thinking of is:
Pardon the hijack, but did Maggie Peterson actually do the singing on the songs Charlene sang or was it dubbed?
PS- I believe the song you’re thinking of is either Never Hit Your Grandma With a Great Big Stick, Tow Sack Full of Love, or Wet Shoes in the Sunset.
And you, spoke-.
Looks like I was wrong about the ‘up on the mountain’ line.
Sampiro: As I recall, it sure sounded like her.
Okay, here’s another question: What are the chords? This is what I figured out:
Em G
There is a time for love and laughter
Em G
The days will pass like summer storms
Em G
The winter wind will follow after
Am (?) Em
But there is love and love is warm
I found one message board that has chords starting in Am (where I have Em) where the ‘Am (?)’ is shown as a Dm and an E, but this doesn’t sound right. The C just doesn’t sound ‘haunting’ enough. (Actually the ‘?’ is closer to the Am, but you get the idea.)
So what chord should I play between the Am and the Em on the last line?
A Bm sounds right. Good enough, anyway.