Absolutely! As a blues performer I hear mix & match happen all the time.
For instance I can't remember lyrics, even to my own material, so many
times I'll make them up as I go along, except for the hook, of course...
the listener has to be able to ask for the tune, after all!
John Lee Hooker and Jimmy Reed are two biggies who had the same quirk.
I think that lyrical and harmonic innovation are what helps keep
repeated material from becoming boring to the performer. How's that for
justification?
Mal Rockwell

*******

Pete Tinker wrote:
> Michael Ridderbusch wrote:
>> Could a song title have different melodies assigned to it over the
>> years?
>> If so, how many of them are out there?
>>
>>
> It was often the case in the early part of the last century that rural
> performers would hear a song or tune only once or twice via recording
> or radio and incorporate it into their repertoire. That meant that
> both lyrics and melodies relied on memory, and so there are plenty of
> examples of same tune / different lyrics and same lyrics / different
> tune. Also, because of the "folk tradition" (and poor enunciation)
> two performers will seldom use exactly the same words or the same
> tune, even if both allegedly learned from the same source (thank you
> Charlie Poole).
>