Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part I of a four part pancocojams series about the "Little Liza Jane" song family.
This post presents general information about the "Little Liza Jane" song family.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/08/some-lyrics-for-little-liza-jane-songs.html for Part II of this pancocojams series. That post presents selected comments from the online Mudcat Folk Music Forum that include examples of lyrics for "Little Liza Jane" songs
Click ____for Part IV of this pancocojams series. That post showcases five YouTube videos of the song "Little Liza Jane".
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The content of this post is presented for historical, folkloric, socio-cultural, and entertainment
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the unknown composers of "Little Liza Jane" songs. Thanks to the early collectors and publishers of these songs, and thanks to the performers and arrangers of "Little Liza Jane" songs. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this pancocojams post.
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INFORMATION ABOUT "LITTLE LIZA JANE" SONGS
Based on documentation by folklorists, the earliest examples of "Little Liza Jane" songs originated among African Americans in the 19th century United States South.
Here are some online excerptsabout "Little Liza jane" songs
These excerpts are presented in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only:
EXCERPT #1
from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li%27l_Liza_Jane
" "Li'l Liza Jane" or "Little Liza Jane"
is a song that dates back to the Antebellum South and is closely related to a
suite of other songs with similar titles, including "Oh! Liza Poor
Gal," "Goodbye Liza Jane," and "Steal Miss Liza."
Songs in the "Liza Jane" family have become perennial standards (as
both instrumentals and tunes with lyrics) in traditional jazz, folk music, and
bluegrass, as well as appearing in numerous other genres including rock and
roll, blues, and R&B. Numerous scholars and musicologists have written
about the song, and it is one of the standards of the New Orleans brass band
tradition, where it thrives today. According to a 2023 book, Poor-Gal: The
Cultural History of Little Liza Jane, many "Liza Jane" variants have
enjoyed "big audience" moments throughout American history. For
instance, "Li'l Liza Jane" became a sensation in the World War I era
when a version was placed in a songbook given to all American servicemen and
again in 1960 when Harry Belafonte performed a version as part of his CBS
television special New York 19.[1]
Origins
Lyrics published in the Evening Star as a "dialect song" in 1905. In his book, Poor Gal, scholar Dan Gutstein attributes these lyrics to a short story published by Anne Virginia Culbertson in 1904.[2]
In his book, Poor Gal, scholar Dan Gutstein indicates that
"Little Liza Jane" and "a suite of closely related folk songs
likely originated among enslaved people during celebratory dances or 'frolics'
on southern plantations."[3] Gutstein cites ten narratives from the Works
Progress Administration Slave Narrative Collection in establishing the song's
origins.[4] During the Civil War, some "Liza Jane" songs likely
"leaked out" from the folk repertoire of enslaved people and were
adopted by regiments from both sides of the war, including the 43rd United
States Colored Troops Regiment, the 23rd North Carolina Regiment (known as the
Pee Dee Guards), and the Indiana 67th Regiment.[5]
After the war concluded, some "Liza Jane" variants were popularized in burnt cork minstrelsy—most notably an early version of "Goodbye Liza Jane," which was published as sheet music by bandleader Eddie Fox in 1871.[6] However, the best-known variant "Little Liza Jane" likely remained fixed in folk tradition until a variety of writers and performers popularized the melody and certain lyrics in the early 20th century; these individuals would include the writer Anne Virginia Culbertson, the composer Ada de Lachau, the actress Ruth Chatterton, bandleader Earl Fuller, and banjoist Harry C. Browne.[7] Even as many "Liza Jane" variants therefore appeared in nineteenth century and early twentieth century popular culture, Gutstein attributes their ultimate origins as being the name Liza Jane "affixed to 'snotches' of folk melodies or as several 'one-verse songs' among enslaved people on plantations in several states."[8] This may account for the many different titles (such as "Little Liza Jane" and "Goodbye Liza Jane") as well as a wide variety of lyrics.
In popular culture
"Li'l Liza Jane" was first published as lyrics
(without notated music) in 1904 by Anne Virginia Culbertson as part of her book
At the Big House.[9] A different version of the song was published as sheet
music in 1916 by Sherman, Clay & Co of San Francisco, California, with
compositional credit going to Countess Ada de Lachau (Ada Louise Metz,
1866–1956). The tune was featured as entr'acte entertainment during the
1916-1917 Broadway show Come Out of the Kitchen.[10]
In addition to "Liza Jane" songs appearing in a World War I songbook (Songs of Soldiers and Sailors U.S.) and in Harry Belafonte's widely watched television special, they also appeared in the early talking film Coquette, an early Mickey Mouse cartoon, the popular Fibber McGee and Molly radio show, and hit televisions series such as The Andy Griffith Show and Gunsmoke; these are just a few of the appearances that would help popularize "Liza Jane" songs.[11]
Drawing on minstrelsy versions of the Goodbye Liza Jane" variant, Tin Pan Alley composer Harry Von Tilzer published sheet music in 1903 entitled "Goodbye, Eliza Jane." This version of the song became a "hit" through sheet music sales and cylinder recordings by the likes of Bob Roberts, Arthur Collins, and Billy Murray.[12] Gutstein indicates that the versions of "Goodbye Liza Jane" that circulated later in the 20th century and those that are still popular today -- including titles such as "Black Them Boots," "Going Down to Cairo," and "Charlotte Town" -- descend from late nineteenth century / early twentieth century play party tradition, are nonracial in character, and do not share anything with minstrelsy versions except for the title. Notably, a version by Bob Wills was performed by Wills and his bandmates in the 1945 film Blazing the Western Trail. In addition to Wills, many musicians recorded the play party version (i.e., the nonracial version) of "Goodbye Liza Jane" including Judy Henske, Pete Seeger, and Nora Brown.[13]
As noted, the song's origins go back to the Antebellum South. Lucy Thurston remembered a song with the refrain "Ohoooooooo lil Liza, lil Liza Jane" being sung by enslaved people in the area of Covington, Louisiana before the American Civil War. While the melody is not preserved in the written interview, the lyrics and their rhythm strongly suggest a relationship to the Culbertson and de Lachau lyrics published decades later.[14] Thurston is one of ten women and men to document "Liza Jane" songs in their Works Progress Administration interviews, referring to a wide variety of lyrics and dance traditions, including stealing partners ring games.[15] In 1919, musicologist Natalie Curtis Burlin documented a stealing partners version of "Little Liza Jane" that had been popular for decades among students at Hampton Institute, now Hampton University. As part of the game, couples would dance in a circle, with an extra man in the middle. The extra man would "steal a partner" from one of the couples thereby forcing the man without a dance partner to assume the spot in the center of the circle, and so on, as the process repeated.[16]"....
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EXCERPT #2
From https://themusicclass.com/blog/little-liza-jane "The Story of Little Liza Jane: From African American Roots to Jazz and Kids’ Music"
"The song “Little Liza Jane” has a long and complex history
in the United States. It originated from enslaved African Americans on Southern
plantations and was passed down for years through oral folk traditions before
the first version was published in 1916. It’s become a traditional New Orleans
Jazz standard, but there are countless versions of the song in other musical
styles like bluegrass, country, folk, and rock and roll. If you want to do a
deep dive, check out the book “Poor Gal: The Cultural History of Little Liza
Jane”!"...
-snip-
That webpage includes more information about "Little Liza Jane" songs as well as some YouTube videos of that song.
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EXCEERPT #3
from https://sweeneygumbo.com/2015/05/30/lil-liza-jane-rises-to-whatever-the-occasion-demands/ "L’il Liza Jane rises to whatever the occasion demands" by Tim Sweeney, Posted on May 30, 2015
...."According to the Preservation Hall Foundation, the song L’il Liza Jane “has been established as a New
Orleans jazz standard since as far back as the 1910s.” Without doubt, the song
was making the rounds before Sherman, Clay & Co. of San Francisco printed
it up in 1916, describing it as a “Southern Dialect Song.”
[...]
The simple structure of each line of a couplet set off by a
choral response of “L’il Liza Jane” makes it a communal experience where others
on stage and audience members can participate.
In true folk tradition, the song has been played in many
musical styles from big brass bands to bluegrass pickers, with lyrics added and
amended based on the occasion. There is something about the couplet structure
of the lyrics that invites embellishments.
The call and response part is easy to follow. No need to
rehearse ahead of time, just figure it out as the song proceeds.
Most of the time, the song is about the attraction and joy
of having Liza Jane as your life partner. “I got a gal that I adore” (this is where you sing “L’il Liza Jane”)
“Way Down South in Baltimore. “I don’t care how far we roam (Little Liza Jane)
Where she’s at is home sweet home.“
Huey Piano Smith, an early R&B and rock and roll
performer inspired by Professor Longhair, cut a version of the song with his
own set of lyrics but stayed true to the song’s theme.
Hey pretty baby can we go strollin’?
(Little Liza Jane)
Yes, you got me rockin’ When I ought to be rollin’
(Little Liza Jane)
The Black Indians of Mardi Gras use the song with lyrics appropriate to their unique practices but the response part is still the same –“L’il Liza Jane.” ”…
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This concludes Part I of this pancocojams series.
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