Smithsonian Folkways, Dec 5, 2012
Watch Ella Jenkins' performance of "Who Fed the
Chickens?" from the Ella Jenkins Live at the Smithsonian DVD. Recorded
with children from the Smithsonian Institution Early Enrichment Center, Ella
made this video so kids at home could also participate. This song is included
on her Smithsonian Folkways album 'Get Moving with Ella Jenkins.'
Directed by Pete Erikson
Sound by John Tyler
Production Facility: Potomac Television/Communications,
Inc.
All songs written or arranged by Ella Jenkins/Ell-Bern
Publishing Co., ASCAP
'Get Moving with Ella Jenkins' available on CD and Digital.
-snip-
Ella Jenkin's rendition of "Who Fed The Chickens?" includes verses of "Did You Feed My Cow"?
Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post provides general information about about call & response songs and chants and also provides information about three types of call & response songs & chants: 1) echo responses, 2) fixed (unchanged) responses, and 3. changed responses
This post showcases the song "Did You Feed My Cow"* as an example of a call & response song that has a fixed response.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, cultural, and entertainment purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the unknown composer/s of this song and thanks to Ella Jenkins for this rendition of this song. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
-snip-
"Did You Feed My Cow" is generally categorized as an American children's folk song. That song has been traced to the Gullah Geechie culture of the Georgia Sea Isles.
Click https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gullah for information about Gullah Geechie culture.
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WHAT DOES "CALL & RESPONSE" MEAN IN SONGS & CHANTS?
Explanation #1
From https://www.twinkl.com/teaching-wiki/call-and-response-music "What Is Call & Response Music?"
"In music, a call and response is a series of two parts usually played or sung by different musicians. The second part is heard as a comment about or an answer to what the first has sung."
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Explanation #2
From
"In music, call and response is a compositional technique, often a succession of two distinct phrases that works like a conversation in music. One musician offers a phrase, and a second player answers with a direct commentary or response. The phrases can be vocal, instrumental, or both.[1] Additionally, they can take form as commentary to a statement, an answer to a question or repetition of a phrase following or slightly overlapping the initial speaker(s).[2] It corresponds to the call and response pattern in human communication and is found as a basic element of musical form, such as the verse-chorus form, in many traditions."...
INFORMATION ABOUT THREE TYPES OF CALL & RESPONSE SONGS & CHANTS
Here's information about three types of call & response patterns:
1. "Echo" responses (usually referred to as "Echo songs")
In echo songs, the leader (caller) sings or says a passage (a word, phrase, or a short line and the group responds by exactly repeating (echoing) what the leader sang or said (with the same tune , tempo, and inflections i.e. They sing or say the same way the leader sang or said it.)
A familiar example of an echo children's song is "Row Row Row Your Boat".
An example of a R&B song that includes an echo portion is is James Brown's R&B hit song "Say It Loud-I'm Black And I'm Proud". In some portions of that song James Brown (the lead/the caller) commands the group to "Say It Loud" and the group always sings (responds with) the words "I'm Black And I'm Proud".
**
2. Fixed (unchanged) responses
In fixed (unchanged) responses, the leader (call) changes, but the group (response) remains the same throughout the entire song or throughout a portion of the song (In another portion of the song, the group (response) may sing or chant another passage (word or phrase) that then remains fixed (unchanged) for a time or for the rest of the song.
An example of a fixed call & response children's song is "Did You Feed My Cow?"
**
3. Changed responses
In some songs and chants that include call & response or entirely consist of call & response, the responses change and the call may also change.
Here's an example of an American military cadence in which the calls change and their responses change :
from https://www.bbcmaestro.com/blog/what-is-call-and-response-in-music
" The traditional army chant “My Granny” uses a call-and-response structure:
Call: “When my granny was 91”
Response: “She did PT just for fun.”
Call: “When my granny was 92”
Response: “She did PT better than you.”
Call: “When my granny was 93”
Response: “She did PT better than me"
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LYRICS - DID YOU FEED MY COW?
(The composer of this song is unknown)
Well, did you feed my cow? (Yes, ma’am!)
Well, did you feed my cow? (Yes, ma’am!)
Well, tell me what did you feed her? (Corn and hay)
Well, tell me, what did you feed her? (Corn and hay)
2. Well, did you milk her real good? (Yes, ma’am!)
Well, did you milk her like you should? (Yes ma’am!)
Well, show me, how did you milk her? (Squish, squish,
squish)
Well, now, how did you milk her? (Squish, squish, squish)
3. Well, did my cow get sick? (Yes, ma’am!)
Oh, was she really, really sick? (Yes ma’am!)
Well, show me, how did she look? (Uh, uh, uh)
Again, now, how did she look? (Uh, uh, uh)
4. Well, did those buzzards come? (Yes, ma’am!)
Oh, did those buzzards come? (Yes ma’am!)
Well, tell me, how did they come? (Flop, flop, flop)
How did they come? (Flop, flop, flop)
online source: https://www.bethsnotesplus.com/2014/04/did-you-feed-my-cow.html
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ADDENDUM- A VARIANT CALL & RESPONSE PATTERN IN FOOT STOMPING CHEERS AND IN SOME OF THE CHILDREN'S CAMP SONGS THAT ARE ADAPTED VERSIONS OF THOSE CHEERS
The girls' cheerleader cheers that I refer to as "foot stomping cheers" use/d a variant form of call & response that I refer to as group/consecutive soloists. In those cheers, the group voice (usually commanding a particular action) is heard first and a soloist responds. At the end of the first iteration of that cheer, the cheer begins again from the beginning with the group voice making the same command and the next soloist responding. This pattern continued continues until everyone in that group has had the same equal length time as the soloist.
A few foot stomping cheers live on as particular examples of children's camp songs. Most of those children's camp songs are abbreviated versions ("clips"; portions) of the foot stomping cheer that inspired them. Also, those camp songs usually don't start with the group voice and, partly because of time concerns, each person in the group usually doesn't have a chance to be the soloist.
Here's an example of one of those foot stomping cheers/camp songs that is sometimes sung as a children's camp song. Notice that this cheer/song begins with the group voice and notice the call & response patterns in that cheer/song:
Rock the boat. Don't tip it over.
Hey, Aniya. "Hey what?"
Hey, Aniya. "Hey what?"
Can you rock the boat? "No way."
Can you rock the boat?! "Ok."
She slides. She slides. She do The Butterfly.
She dips. She dips. She shakes her little hips!
-ti55, Mar 16, 2008, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9QuTsAtQPY
-snip-
This is my transcription of that cheer which is composed using the traditional foot stomping cheer structure. The "rock the boat/don't tip it over" line is a clear indication that this cheer was heavily influenced by The Hues Corporations' 1973 record "Rock The Boat".
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/09/foot-stomping-cheers-alphabetical-list_22.html "Pancocojams Compilation Of Foot Stomping Cheers (Alphabetical List: P- Z)"
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