Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part II of a pancocojams series of the song "Funky Butt" (also known as "Buddy Bolden's Blues").
Part II presents information about Zora Neale Hurston and showcases a variant form of "Funky Butt" called "Tampa" that was sung by folklorist and author Zora Neale Hurston from her childhood memories of growing up in Florida.
A segment of a YouTube video that features the song "Tampa" is highlighted in this post along with my transcription of that recording.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/04/online-excerpts-about-song-funky-butt.html for Part I of this series. Part I presents various excerpts from online sites that provide information about the African American song "Funky Butt" (also known as "Buddy Bolden's Blues"). Some of these excerpts include lyrics.
A 1939 YouTube example of this song that is performed by Jelly Roll Morton and a later YouTube example of this song that is sung by Sidney Betchet are also included in this post along with selected comments from those sound files' discussion threads.
The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who composed or helped influence the composition and documentation of early examples of this song. Special thanks to folklorist/author Zora Neale Hurston.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT ZORA NEALE HURSTON
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zora_Neale_Hurston
"Zora Neale Hurston (January 7, 1891[1][2] – January 28, 1960) was an influential author of African-American literature and an anthropologist, who portrayed racial struggles in the early-20th-century American South, and published research on Haitian voodoo.[3] The most popular of her four novels is Their Eyes Were Watching God, published in 1937. She also wrote more than 50 short stories, plays, and essays.
Hurston was born in Notasulga, Alabama, and moved with her family to Eatonville, Florida, in 1894. She later used Eatonville as the setting for many of her stories. It is now the site of the Zora! Festival, held each year in her honor.[4]
In her early career, Hurston conducted anthropological and ethnographic research while a student at Barnard College and Columbia University.[5] She had an interest in African-American and Caribbean folklore, and how these contributed to the community's identity."...
****
SHOWCASE VIDEO: Zora Neale Hurston Fieldwork 1928
Andrew Rasmussen, Published on Aug 11, 2013
I do not claim anything original from this video.
The film was shot by Hurston in 1928 and I got it from here: https://www.floridamemory.com/audio/hurston.php
The audio is Hurston herself, as recorded in the mid 1930's. You can [sic] these tunes and more here:
-snip-
Note that the publisher mistakenly indicates that this film was recorded in 1930, when he had previously noted that the film was shot by Hurston in 1928.
****
LYRICS FOR "TAMPA"*
(as sung by Zora Neal Hurston)
[Hurston speaking beginning at 1:34 in the film]
"This is a song called “Tampa”. I’ve known it ever since I could remember. So I don’t know who taught it to me, but I heard it sung in my native village when I was a child. Now this was sung by the old folks of course.
[song actually begins at 1:50-2:38]
Thought I heard somebody say
Your nasty butt, your stinky butt
Take it away.
Ah, Your nasty butt, your sticky butt
Take it away.
Ah, I do not want it in here.
Oh, I do not want it in here
Oh, I’m so glad Mr. Bolden** says
The women in Tampa gotta wipe their ass.
Oh, the women in Tampa gotta wipe their ass.
Oh, do not want it in here.
Oh, I thought I heard somebody shout.
Open the window, let the stink go out.
Oh, open the window, let the stink go out.
Oh, yes I heard somebody say
Your nasty butt, your stinky butt
Take it away.
Your nasty butt, your stinky butt
Take it away.
I do not want it in here.
-snip-
*Transcription by Azizi Powell from the song in the Hurston's 1928 film.
**I’m not sure about this name., but I wrote it because it is used in other examples of this song.
Additions and corrections are welcome.
Read the comments that are included in Part I of this pancocojams series that suggests that this is a folk song and not a song that was composed by Buddy Bolden or one of this fellow musicians in the early 1900s.
****
This concludes Part II of this two part pancocojams series on the song "Funky Butt".
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
No comments:
Post a Comment