The Carver Boys recorded Sleeping Lula at what was, regrettably, their only recording date — a September 6th, 1929, session in Richmond, Indiana. It was released on the Paramount label as #3233, as well as on Broadway and ARC-Broadway (credited to the Cramer Boys).

The tune is a fairly straightforward rag in C, with a motive that is similar to what Alex Hood and His Railroad Boys would record as L and N Rag a few months later.

The fiddler plays an F natural against a D7 chord in the third bar of the second strain, effectively outlining a D minor 7 chord. Most modern musicians would raise the F to F# to avoid the clash with the underlying chord and to more effectively establish the secondary dominant.

Sleeping Lula

As a side note, the last two tracks credited to the Carver Boys at the session were Wang Wang Harmonica Blues and Sisco Harmonica Blues. The matrix for the former is credited to Carver Boys and Joshua White, suggesting that the group were joined by the African-American guitarist Joshua White for the recording. Per Tony Russell in Country Music Records, “It has been impossible to confirm or definitely reject this.”

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