The Bently Boys

Little to nothing is known about this '20s folk group, though their sharecropping saga "Down on Penny's Farm" (recorded in 1929 for Columbia) was enjoyed by many folk revivalists including Bob Dylan when it was included on Harry Smith's 1952 folksong compendium, Anthology of American Folk Music. Dylan borrowed the melody, arrangement, opening lines and alternate title ('Hard Times in the Country') to derive his early 'Hard Times in New York Town', and many have pointed to 'Down on Penny's Farm' as the inspiration for his 1965 offering 'Maggie's Farm'. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.