Four Videos Of The Song "The Crazy Baldheaded Chinese" ("The Crazy Old Man From China" ) & One Video Of Its Source Song "Old Shoes & Leggins"

happyxlxface, Jun 13, 2008
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For the purpose of this post, this is considered to be Showcase Video #1. 

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Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest Revision -August 18, 2023
 
This pancocojams post showcases all of the YouTube videos that I've found to date of the old song "The Crazy Old Man From China". This song is also known as "The Crazy Baldheaded Chinese" and similar titles.

This post also showcases a YouTube video of "Old Shoes And Leggins" which is the source song for "The Crazy Baldheaded Chinese".

The Addendum of this post presents a few comments about the tunes that are used for "The Crazy Baldheaded Chinese.:

The content of this post is presented for folkloric, socio-cultural, and entertainment purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are featured in these videos or who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
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This is part of an ongoing pancocojams series on the songs "Once In China There Lived A Great Man" and "The Crazy Baldheaded Chinese".

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2023/08/anti-chinese-songs-such-as-in-china.html  for the pancocojams post entitled "Anti-Chinese Songs Such As "Once In China There Lived A Great Man" & "The Crazy Baldheaded Chinese": Comments From Mudcat Discussion Forum & My Opinions & Recommendations."

Additional links to other posts in that series are included in that post. Click the tags below for other pancocojams post on or closely related to this subject.
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"The Crazy Baldheaded Chinese" (also known as "The Crazy Old Man From China" dates from the 1940s if not earlier. The song "Once In China There Lived A Great Man" is even somewhat older (from the late 1920s?) "The Crazy Old Man From China" is a racialized version of the 18th century Scottish song "Old Shoes And Leggings" that ridiculed an old man courting young women. Ridiculing Chinese people was part of the anti-Chinese practices and laws that were rampant in the United States at those times (and unfortunately, are still all too common today in 2023).

Click https://www.lizlyle.lofgrens.org/RmOlSngs/RTOS-OldShoes.html for an article about the song "Old Shoes And Leggings". Verses of that song are quite similar to verses in "The Crazy Old Man From China" ("The Crazy Baldheaded Chinese"), for example:
 "My mother she told me to put him to bed
For the girls wouldn't have him.
I put him to bed and he stood on his head
With his overshoes on and his leggings." 

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A.

ADDITIONAL YOUTUBE VIDEOS OF "THE CRAZY OLD MAN FROM CHINA" (ALSO GIVEN AS "THE CRAZY BALDHEADED CHINESE"

These videos are given in no particular order.

No lyrics are given and there's no attempt to identify a familiar song whose tune is the same or similar to the tune that is used (since I don't feel competent enough to do that, but you can share your identification/guesses about these tunes in the comment section below.)


SHOWCASE Video #2 - The crazy old man from china

  

Ethan Cook, Jul 30, 2022

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #3 - crazy old man from china

home videos from tom w, Feb 19, 2019

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #4 - The Crazy Baldheaded Chinese

Carol Myers, Sept. 21, 2016

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B. FOLK SONG ORIGINALLY 18th CENTURYFROM SCOTLAND: 

Uncle Eck Dunford - Old Shoes & Leggins

misterbamboostick Jul 23, 2012

(from Harry Smith's 'Anthology of American Folk Music : Ballads').

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ADDENDUM: MUDCAT FOLK MUSIC FORUM COMMENTS ABOUT THE TUNES FOR THIS SONG
https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=98174

Numbers are added for references only.   

1.
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Crazy Old Man From China
From: Bug Girl
Date: 16 May 12 - 04:56 PM

I learned it this way in the early 70's, it was definitely not to tune of Blow The Man Down. “…
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In 2007 in this same Mudcat discussion thread I shared my memories of this song (with the title "The Little Baldheaded Chinese" from around 1954/1955 in Atlantic City, New Jersey). I didn't include this information in my comment, but I believe the tune I remember was the same or very similar tune as the shanty "Blow The Man Down".

I'm not sure why that commenter mentioned "Blow The Man Down" as I can't find any previous comment in that discussion thread that indicated that that was the tune that was used for that song. It appears that the commenter must have heard or read someone connecting the tunes in those two songs together before since she was so adamant that they weren't the same.

2. 
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Crazy Old Man From China

From: GUEST,Pam A
Date: 21 Mar 12 - 02:23 PM

Does anyone remember the tune? Did it have it's own or was it from something else?....

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3.
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Crazy Old Man From China
From: Nathan in Texas 
Date: 05 Jan 18 - 06:49 PM

When I learned this in elementary school in the 60s, the tune was almost the same as "A Sailor Went to Sea, Sea, Sea."

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