Texas Style Dancing To "Cotton Eye Joe" With The "BS!" Curse Word Yell (video, information, & comments )

Wisegeorge, Jul 26, 2009 

Texans don't like line dancing, with one exception. When this song is done at the end of the night it is a real crowd pleaser. If you don't know how to dance the Cotton Eyed Joe yet (the real way)  you will, two and a half minutes from now. That new Cotton Eye Joe Dance, what's with that?

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcase one YouTube video of Texas style dancing to "Cotton Eyed Joe.

This post also presents information about the history of the custom of yelling "bullsh-t"* while dancing to certain versions of "Cotton Eyed Joe". 

Selected comments from the discussion thread for that showcased YouTube are included in this post.

The content of this post is presented for cultural and entertainment purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all musicians who are showcased in this pancocojams post and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
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WARNING: The showcase YouTube video and some of the selected comments in this pancocojams post include a curse word that is written with the following amended spelling "bullsh-t". That amended spelling is noted by my addition of an asterisk at the end of the word.  

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THE HISTORY OF TEXAS DANCING & YELLING OUT THAT CURSE WORD  TO CERTAIN VERSIONS OF "COTTON EYED JOE"

These excerpts are given in no particular order

Excerpt #1
From https://countrymusicnation.com/cotton-eyed-joe-artist-al-dean-passes-away-following-cancer-battle
"It’s a song that’s woven deeply in the fabric of country music, and American music in general. Called “Cotton-Eyed Joe, Holly Everett writes in The Many Lives Of Cotton-Eyed Joe that the song pre-dates the Civil War.

Many artists have recorded the song since it originated, including one man who earned the nickname “Mr. Cotton-Eyed Joe.” Al Dean recorded a purely instrumental version of the song in 1967, and that version led to the creation of a new round dance polka for couples. The dance craze stuck, and countless couples have kicked up their heels to Dean’s rendition of the song ever since.

Sadly, at the age of 85, Dean passed away on October 3 while in hospice care in San Antonio, Texas…

Dean’s career got its start in 1952 through a band called The Texas Teenagers. The group performed at dances, school functions, and benefits in South Texas, which eventually led to Dean’s recording career.

Once he hit it big with “Cotton-Eyed Joe” in 1967, Dean was considered an icon in the music community. In 1987, the American Music Association of Texas gave him an award to acknowledge the fact that his rendition of “Cotton-Eyed Joe” was the most-programmed record on a jukebox.

….. He made a great contribution to the Texas country music scene.”

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Excerpt #2
From http://www.slipcue.com/music/country/countryartists/dean_al_01.html
"Texas bandleader Albert Dean Callaway aka Al Dean (1931-2016) is best known as "Mr. Cotton Eyed Joe," in honor of his 1967 recording of an old dance tune that had been kicking around in the western swing scene for decades, and which he made the biggest jukebox hit in Texas history. Al Dean started his professional career way back in 1952 when he formed his first group, The Texas Teenagers, which played gigs in his hometown of Freer, and all throughout the south end of the state. He plugged away for years, built a family, brought them into the act, and established Al Dean and The All Stars as a rock-solid, back-to-basics, pure twang, Lone Star country party band.

On a trip to Nashville he recorded the songs that made him a legend -- his version of "Cotton Eyed Joe" became a durable hit, a single that played in countless bars across the South. Dean started his own label, Kik-R Records -- recording, touring and winning awards for decades to come. Al Dean played his last show in June of 2016, just months before he passed away. "...

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Excerpt #3
From https://www.museumofthegulfcoast.org/isaac-payton-sweat
"Isaac Payton Sweat

June 19, 1944 - June 23, 1990

Hometown: Nederland, Texas

Isaac Payton Sweat was born in Port Arthur, and graduated from Nederland High School in Nederland, Texas…

Isaac cut a vocal version of the Al Dean instrumental standard "Cotton Eyed Joe" in 1980, which became a huge regional hit, and featured its own dance. Sweat from then on was often referred to as "Mr. Cotton-Eyed Joe." No one anticipated the significance of the record when procuring the rights, and since it was an adaptation of a previously recorded song, Sweat made little from it. "...

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Excerpt #4
From https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/sweat-isaac-payton
"SWEAT, ISAAC PAYTON (1945–1990).Isaac Payton Sweat, singer and instrumentalist, was born in Port Arthur, Texas, on July 19, 1945. Ike was born into a musical family.

He had his first major success in the early 1980s with a vocal cover of Al Dean's instrumental standard, "Cotton-Eyed Joe." The song was popular, especially where people performed the eponymous dance. It was so popular, in fact, that Sweat became known as "Mr. Cotton-Eyed Joe." He performed regularly until his death. After returning from a show in Houston, Sweat was found shot dead in his garage in Richmond, Texas, on June 23, 1990. The case is still unsolved. Sweat is honored in the Gulf Coast Music Hall of Fame at the Museum of the Gulf Coast in Port Arthur."...

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Excerpt #5
From http://www.vitrifolk.fr/descriptions/descriptions-etats-unis-COTTON%20A1%20---%20Cotton-Eyed-Joe-anglais.html

" [...]

SOURCE:	Dick Oakes learned this dance at country-western get-togethers in Houston, Austin, and San Antonio, Texas. It was choreographed by Melton and Sue Luttrell and was presented by Carolyn Mitchill at the 1962 Santa Barbara Folk Dance Conference. It has also been taught by Nelda Drury of San Antonio, among others.
BACKGROUND:	Cotton-Eyed Joe is one of the most popular western tunes ever played with nearly 500 recordings made. The story goes that Joe would take a "cotton to" (or liking to) other fellows' gals he would see, and so the term "Cotton-Eyed Joe." The words given at the bottom of this description are those on the Bellaire recording and were written by Isaac Payton Sweat (of The Sweat Band) and D. Howard, and are as sung at Gilley's, the famous "kicker" bar in Pasadena, Texas (thus "Texas Style"). The traditional words were written in "Min Skål Din Skål: a songbook for folkdancers," by Richard Lindauer and Grace West, 1951.
MUSIC:	Bellaire (45rpm) 5081 (with vocal) Kik-R (45rpm) K-202 (no vocal) Belco (45rpm) B-257-B Imperial (45rpm) 1045-B Sheet Music: Vancouver International Folk Dancers Music Book, Vol. 2., Deborah Jones, 1982.
FORMATION:	Short lines of mixed M and W all facing LOD (CCW around the dance area) like spokes of a wheel, hands joined behind neighbors' backs with the second dancer in a back-basket hold.
METER/RHYTHM:	2/4
STEPS/STYLE:	Dancers should get their kicks, so to speak, during this dance, and should not be afraid to let out an "EE-haw!" or "YAH-hoo!" once in a while. Incidentally, the Bellaire recording has a modest vocal on one side and a B.S. version on the flip (a story went around Texas that a visiting group of Russians thought everyone was yelling "Bolshoi!").

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Excerpt #6
From https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=13537 Cotton-eyed Joe- true story/composite?

1. From: Frank Hamilton, Date: 07 Sep 99 - 10:30 AM
"I guessed from the preceding posts that there are two different variants being talked about. One, the plaintive tune I first heard on an old Burl Ives record. The other, which some might have found offensive (although I can't imagine why in this day and age) is the one popularized by the Texas night club owned by Mickey Gilley in which as part of the dance, the dancers call out "BULL SHIT!" One seems to be a slow holler and the other a set-running tune. Don't know if the two got together or whether they grew separately. Any ideas?"

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2. From: Arkie, Date: 09 Sep 99 - 11:21 AM
"Somewhere, tucked into the recesses of my mind, is a vague recollection of having heard a Texas swing band do a rather risque version of the piece. Can't remember if the R rating was due to explicit sexual references or the insertion of a vulgar word or two at a specific spot which the audience would enthusiastically scream with the band whenever it came around. Tend to think it was the latter. Since no one has mentioned it to this point, I'm beginning to think that possibly I am more creative than I had imagined."

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3. From: Scotsbard, 21 Feb 00 - 02:01 PM
"The verses to Cotton Eyed Joe were often made up on the spot, according to a couple of old geezers who used to call square dances for us. Apparently they took great pride in "improving" the words each time, and would have to continue rapping out verses until either the fiddler or the dancers called it quits....

That modern line-dance routine and the "BS" call were invented back in the late '70s as country music's response to disco dancing. Gilley's was a wild place back then, you really had to be there to get the full flavor. We'd play CEJ for 10 minutes and then get requests for Harlem Shuffle (as if we were actually going to try that on banjo/fiddle, guitar and bass). Hearing CEJ sandwiched between songs like Boogie Fever and Brick House at a local disco wouldn't have been unusual in the early '80s (at least around here, anyway.) CEJ is just one of those timelessly good dance tunes."

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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THE DISCUSSION THREAD FOR THIS SHOWCASE VIDEO

Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.

1. Chuck Aidukas, 2010
"Finally the real Cotton Eyed Joe by Isaac Payton Sweat.  I played this song as a DJ at the Peanut Gallery Dance Hall/ Bar in College Station back in the 1974-1975 era.  It was played twice nightly, once early, and finally the last song of the night.  Aggies loved it and so did I.  Especially after drinking all those Lone Star, and Budweiser suds.  Gig 'em Aggies!"
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The reply immediately below corrects the information about the music group tht recorded this ve rsion of Cotton Eyed Joe

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Reply
2.  Holton 345, 2021
"The performance used in this video was recorded by Al Dean and the All Stars (from Houston) in 1967. 100% sure. This is the version used at Spurs games for decades."

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3. bastroping, 2011
"I'm happy to see the dance done  right!!!!"

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4. Carlos Gallegos, 2011
"HELL YES!!!  THE REAL Texas Cotton Eye Joe!!!!!!! WOOOOOhooooooo sorry for all the caps..."

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5. Angie5769, 2011
"im so glad i found the real Texas version to this song!!! i've been looking for SO long! no one does it like Texans do!

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Reply
6. Ariel Nixon, 2021
"Exactly!!! Looked so long!"

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Reply
7. DarkRose, 2022
"We did it like this in NM when I was little"

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8. Joan Leons, 2022
"Instead of boring everybody I'm just going to say holy crap that does bring back a lot of memories of the seventies and eighties ! . Thank you !"

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9. richard harootunian, 2013
"Gid Tanner & the Skillet Lickers recorded in 1928 Cotton Eyed Joe, Wikipedia traces back to the Pre - Civil War South!!!! Still a popular song and dance in Texas, played and danced at the Bar closing time!!!!!"

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10. parteibonza, 2014
"@richard harootunian

Yup. I remember back in the late 90s...after this dance the floor was littered with dropped cell phones and pagers haha. I think I dropped my pager more than once.

 (of course, that was back when a cell phone could take a drop. Now you look at your phone wrong, and it shatters)"
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11. sulerick, 2013
"This looks like the old Broken Spoke in Austin! And it's the only true version of the "original" ---i.e. correct Cotton Eyed Joe. The "new one" and all other forms of the dance are scary! Thanks for posting this."

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Reply
12. donnewk, 2017
"You are absolutely right, this is the true way you do it, it is not a damn line dance like so many wannabe's want to make it. I am from South Texas, been doing this dance for my entire life."

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13. Brianna Hernandez, 2014

"What's the actual name to this dance, and who sings it??"

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Reply
14. EpiscoPiper, 2016
"+Brianna Hernandez this recording is by Isaac Peyton Sweat and is considered a classic by those of us who grew up with it.  The Rednex version is significantly different, and I don't think you could use these dance steps with that one."

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15. Reply
Joe, 2018
"Al Dean and the AllStars play this song also. I was dancing to this in South Texas where Al grew up early 70's. This the the original way we danced it back in the 70's and the announcer would ask "What you say?" and the crowd would say "BULLSH_T" "
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This is the way that word is curse written in that comment.

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16. Bradford Williams, 2017
"Ditto on the "Texans don't like line dancing." This is the quintessential Texas Dancehall style. Line dancing is for people who can't find a partner. This dance was always followed by the Schottische. Google that one. Hint: also not a metrosexual, thumbs in your pocket, by yourself line dance. Seriously...life is too short to dance alone."

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17. David D. Daigle, 2018
"02:05 to 02:24 ............... the couple with jeans / boots / blue checked short-sleeve shirt } ... THAT'S ,  how you do it .... Best example I could find in that video ...  8 shuffle -steps Forward ... 4  Backward shuffle -steps  & cross-over kicks .... { shuffle -steps being 3 Small half -steps on each foot .. btw .. }  ....... Best way to explain it I know how , Wisegeorge .... Think that'll take some of the mystery out of it for some folks .... ?"

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Reply
18. Jill Pearson, 2021
"Three years later and found this video and your comment. Both are absolutely correct! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 Have been searching fruitlessly for the original version of the song, only to find the “modern” Rednex version. So happy to find the Texas version I remember! We had it on our jukebox. I played it at my wedding later. The relatives from out of town were mystified at first, but had great fun once they joined in. Made sure to wait until well after the bar had been flowing for quite a while. 😍"

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19. Rick Smith, 2018
"Started line dancing in 1982 in buffalo ny.  This was the version we did back then.  Very few in buffalo remember this.  Line dancing didnt hit big until the early 1990's."

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20. donnewk, 2018
"Yeah, this is how you do the Cotton-Eyed Joe. Al Dean made it popular in south Texas back in the 60's and 70's."

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21. Sherrie Anglin, 2018
"This is how I learned how to do it, and I’m from Texas!! Yeehaw!!! I have watched so many other videos looking for this way of doing it and this is the only one I could find that is right!! Thank you for this!!! And we always said Bullsh-t* too!!! Hee Hee!!! :)"
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*This word is fully spelled out in this comment.

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22. Eileen Silverstein, 2020
"We did it the same way in New Jersey! And we also called out "bullsh-t*"! LOL! Even our state used to have a few honky tonks...sadly, they're all gone now."
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*This word is fully spelled out in this comment.

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23. MsNailgun, 2019
"Texans don't like line dancing? That's a new one. Every club I ever went to there were always people line dancing."

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24. MFT, 2020
"Feels like no one does this anymore.  Couldn’t go to a wedding in Texas without seeing this toward the end of the night.  Way better than the Chicken Dance."

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25. shirley arizaga, 2020
"I am from Texas and after the cotton eye Joe we would do the bunny hop. 😂"

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26. Nicole Says, 2021
"lol.. yes!"

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27. Linda Boris, 2020
"This is the way we used to do the Cotton Eyed Joe Dance in Texas back in the 1980s.  A lot of fun!"

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28. Eston Alford, 2020
"This is also the way we dance this in Georgia."

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29. Herman Guzman, 2020
"I'm sorry to say this but this stupid line dance ruined the song, I remember when the song was first released and it was a great song to dance and have fun until the stupid line dance came along."

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30. charlie tamez, 2020
"now this is what I remember, not that technocrap remix that came out in the early 2000s. I remember my father playing this song many times with his band. only time I was able to cuss when I was a kid lol. although the words were more like this from the band....."

what you step in?

bullsh-t!!*

what you say?

Bullsh-t!!*

one more time!

Bullsh-t!!*

here we go!
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* This word is fully spelled out in this comment.

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31. Julie Reis, 2021

"I grew up in southern NY and learned this in 1994 I believe, and yes it’s the only way this should be done"

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32. veggieoilerfan, 2021
"This must have been a carefree crowd, and not the politically correct type of crowd you would expect to see in the 21st century. Nobody seemed offended by the word bullsh-t.*"
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*This word is fully spelled out in this comment.

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33. CHRIS WILLIAMS, 2021
"So glad I found this after wading through all the posts that show line dancing to the Rednex version! I came here after seeing the movie "Places in the Heart (1984)" yesterday. In the scene where everyone is doing the Texas BS version of the dance while the band plays the song at a slow trot, the cameraman was not smart enough to film full profile: every dancer and every camera angle is from waist up, and no one can see what the dancers are doing with their legs - frustrating! But, props to the director for making the scene true to Waxahachie, the setting of the movie."

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34. lynn, 2021
"Man this is taking me back to some fun nights in my hometown of San Antonio. Weddings, quinceanera,  & dance halls. Love my Texas heritage!"

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35. Thaumh, 2021
"I first heard the BULL SH!T!!! version of this song at Rustler's Roost in Scottsdale AZ in 1985. I LOVED the 'Urban Cowboy OST' version, and requested the house band play it. They enthusiastically agreed. Imagine my 12yo joy as they got the ENTIRE restaurant calling out BS at the appropriate moments!"
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This is the way this comment was written in that discussion thread

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36. jean english, 2021
"This is the only version of the dance that I know. Learned it in Shreveport, LA."

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