“Lonesome Valley” is a traditional American gospel folk song, first recorded in the 1920s. It has for a long time been pretty standard fare for country artists, including the Carter Family early on, and then the Monroe Brothers and the Statler Brothers, among others. Woody Guthrie also famously took a turn.
One of my favourite versions is by Mississippi John Hurt (1883-1966) because I can’t get enough of that particular variant of fingerstyle guitar, and his vocals are so real. Hurt was of course a bluesman from Avalon, Mississippi, who first recorded in the 1920s, though continuing to work as farmer, and then was”discovered” during the folk revival in early 1960s, adding so much to that experience.
As is well known, Elvis liked his gospel music and recorded “Lonesome Valley” a couple of times. It’s interesting to place him side-by-side with the Hurt version, which I do below by the Million Dollar Quartet (Presley, Perkins, Lewis and Cash).
You’ve got to walk that lonesome valley
Well you gotta go by yourself
Well there ain’t nobody else gonna go there for you
You gotta go there by yourself