Big Bill Boonzy, Lead Belly, & Bugs Bunny Cartoon - "Jimmy Crack Corn (The Blue Tail Fly)"

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part II of a two part pancocojams series about the song "Jimmy Crack Corn" ("The Blue Tail Fly").

Part II showcases a YouTube sound file of "Jimmy Crack Corn" by Big Bill Broonzy and by Lead Belly.

The Addendum to that post presents a sound file reproduction of a 1846 version of "The Blue Tail Fly". WARNING: This sound file includes one instance of the offensive referent that is often referred to as "the n word".

The Addendum also presents a clip of "Jimmy Crack Corn" from a Bugs Bunny cartoon as well as two comments from that YouTube video's discussion thread.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/09/some-theories-about-meaning-of-crack.html for Part I of this series. Part I presents some theories about the meaning of "crack corn" in the song that is now known as "Jimmy Crack Corn" ("The Blue Tail Fly").

The lyrics to the most often cited contemporary version of "Jimmy Crack Corn" ("The Blue Tail Fly") is also given in this post.

The content of this post is presented for historical, folkloric, and cultural purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the musical legacy of Bill Bill Broonzy and Lead Belly. Thanks also to all the publishers of these YouTube examples and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.

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SHOWCASE VIDEOS
Example #1: LeadBelly-Blue Tail Fly



TravelerIntoTheBlue, Published on Aug 21, 2013

[...]

Song: Blue Tail Fly
Artist: Leadbelly
Album: The Legendary Leadbelly
Writers: Leadbelly

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Example #2: Jimmy Crack Corn , Big Bill Broonzy



dooWopMan1961, Published on May 25, 2016

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ADDENDUM- ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES OF "THE BLUE TAIL FLY" ("JIMMY CRACK CORN")

Jim Crack Corn (1846) [sound file]


Sheet Music Singer, Published on Jul 6, 2018


[Disclaimer: derogatory racial terms. No hatred is intended. This song is presented in its original form as part of American history.]

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BugsBunnyJimmyCrackCorn.avi



theoutofdoors•Published on Apr 27, 2010

Bugs sings "Jimmy Crack Corn" or "Blue Tail Fly" all the way through to the end.
Bugs sings the song throughout the cartoon so I spliced the music together, along with the video, to make a completely fluid song. Hope you enjoy!
-snip-
Here are two comments from this YouTube video's discussion thread:
1. Xezlec, 2013
"Listen carefully to the lyrics. The slave causes the master's death (perhaps deliberately, judging by all the little hints), the jury lets him off, and he celebrates with gimcrack (cheap) corn (whisky). The master is left a powerless corpse beneath a humiliating epitaph. The song was popular with African-Americans for a long time in part because of its subversiveness. The verses are partially in a mock-mournful style, but mainly, the melody is very cheerful."

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2. ricaard, 2019
"As the son of southern parents, I never paid attention to the fact that this song was a slave's recounting, slanted or otherwise, of his master's demise. The things you don't pay attention to when you're a kid."

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This concludes Part II of this pancocojams series.

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