**** Edited by Azizi Powell This post is a complete reprint of the January 20, 2012 pancocojams post with the same title except for the addition of the referent "African American" and except for this introductory portion. That 2012 post has no comments.
This post showcases a 2009 YouTube video of the song "Ranky Tanky" and features a 2007 YouTube video of that song. This pancocojams post also features a video of the Hip Hop dance "The Running Man" that may be similar to the "Ranky Tanky" (ranky tank") movement.
In addition, this pancocojams post presents definitions for the term "ranky tanky"("ranky tank")
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, socio-cultural, recreational, and aesthetic purposes.
**** INFORMATION ABOUT THE "RANKY TANKY" SONG "Ranky Tanky" is a social dance song that comes from the African American (Gullah) traditions of South Carolina and the Georgia Sea Isles. That song is also known as "Ranky Tank", "The Old Lady From Booster", and "The Old Lady From Brewster".
The earliest recordings of "Ranky Tanky" that I've found are from the 1970s. However, that song may have been composed in the late 19th century before the end of the United States Civil War. [Read the update below for a version of this song from around 1963.]
There are different versions of "Ranky Tanky". Each example of that song that I've found include the phrase "ranky tank" or "ranky tanky".
**** WHAT "RANKY TANKY" MEANS "Ranky tanky" (or "ranky tank") is - a phrase that refers to certain styles of dancing.
- the name of a particular family of social dance songs which include the repeated use of that phrase .
- an exhortation to do the "ranky tanky" dance, and/or an exhortation to "to dance well" (using contemporary slang "to dance funky").
Also, notice in the Georgia Sea Isles version of "Ranky Tanky" (given below) that "rank" and "rankin" are used as a verb: "I'm goin' to rank/ Ranky tank.../See me a-rankin'/ Ranky Tank" -snip- It's likely that these definitions of the word "rank" resulted in the use of that word for a form of dancing that in those times was probably considered to be risque:
COMMENTS ABOUT THE WORD "RANK" AND THE PHRASE "RANKY TANKY" The word "rank" is the base word in "ranky tanky" (or "ranky tank"). Here are some definitions of the word "rank" as used in the phrase "ranky tanky" (or "ranky tank")
[adjective] very fertile; producing profuse growth; "rank earth"
[adjective] very offensive in smell or taste; "a rank cigar"
[adjective] growing profusely; "rank jungle vegetation" -snip- The phrase "Ranky tanky" or "ranky tank" is an example of reduplication. Here's a definition of reduplication from http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/reduplication.html:
Reduplication: "The repeating of parts of words to make new forms is called reduplication. There are various categories of this: rhyming, exact and ablaut (vowel substitution). Examples, are respectively, okey-dokey, wee-wee and zig-zag. The impetus for the coining of these seems to be nothing more than the enjoyment of wordplay. The words that make up these reduplicated idioms often have little meaning in themselves and only appear as part of a pair. In other cases, one word will allude to some existing meaning and the other half of the pair is added for effect or emphasis."
HOW THE "RANKY TANKY" DANCE MOVEMENT MAY HAVE BEEN PERFORMED In the late 19th or early 20th century Gullah traditions where the "ranky tanky" family of songs originated, "Ranky tank" apparently referred to a certain style of dancing. There are different descriptions of how the "ranky tanky" was danced. In the record notes for the song "Old Lady From Booster", collected in St. John's Island, South Carolina in 1970, the writer describes a line game that is performed this way:
"The players stand with their feet slightly apart. Throughout this game, both feet tap out the following pattern: left, right, left, right, right moving slightly to the right on the last tap. The last tap then becomes the first tap of the second pattern, thus, line 5 has the right, left, right, left left moving slightly to the left on the last tap. Continue the foot patterns to the rhythm of the song until the end. Place hands on the different parts of the body mentioned in the song. Source: http://media.smithsonianfolkways.org/liner_notes/folkways/FW03840.pdf "St John’s Island, South Carolina: It’s People And Songs""
In the 1972 book Step It Down: Games, Plays, Songs, and Stories from the Afro-American Heritage (Bessie Jones and Bess Lomax Hawes: Athens, Georgia, The University of Georgia Press, 1972, pp. 129-130) the "ranky tanky" dance is described this way: "The Islanders had learned the "Ranky Tank" from the people of nearby Sapelo Island; no one was sure just how the dance was organized. but the chant and step was remembered. The step itself would be called a "buzz" step by dance teachers; the weight is keep on one foot while the other toe pushes the dancer along, very much like the motion of a child riding a scooter. The weighted foot "chugs" the offbeat. The dancer can progress either to the right or to the left (depending on which foot is carrying the weight) and in a straight line or around in a circle."
That Georgia Sea Isles description of "Ranky Tanky" reminds me of this 1980s Hip-Hop dance:
How to Do The Running Man
Uploaded by livestrong on Jun 24, 2009
The running man is a hip hop fundamental dance move... -snip- Is the "Running Man" a 1980s recreation of the 1970s or is it as old as the late 19th century "Ranky tank" dance? It's possible.
"RANKY TANK" USED AS AN EXHORTATION In each of the renditions of "Ranky Tanky" that I have found, the song includes a call & response portion in which the group says "Ranky tanky!" (or "Ranky tank!"). For instance, here are the lyrics to the Bessie Jones (Georgia Sea Isle) version of "Ranky Tank":
LYRICS Lead Voice - Oh, ranky tank Group Voice- Ranky tank Lead Voice - Oh, ranky tank Group Voice- Ranky tank Papa's goin' to rank Ranky tank. Mama's goin' to rank. Ranky tank. Down in the cornfield, Ranky tank. I'm goin' to rank. Ranky tank. Sun is hot, Rank tank. See me a-rankin', Rank tank. Oh, ranky tank, Rank tank. Oh, ranky tank, Rank tank.
[book citation given above]
-snip- It's likely that the phrase "ranky tanky" was used as a general exhortation to dancers the same way as the 1970s African American vernacular phrases "Get Down!", "Let it all hang out!", and "Ah Sukie Sukie!" None of those phrases are meant to be taken literally. "Do that funky dance!" and "Get funky!" are equivalent exhortations which also originated in African American culture. Another equivalent exhortation from contemporary African American culture is "Work it! Work it!"
I believe that "Ranky tanky!" may have come to mean the same thing as "Get funky" and each of those other exhortations - "to dance skillfully and with flair in an free, unrestrained manner. Of course, prudish people would probably consider those dancing styles to be "dirty" or "improper", but they don't know the value of being funky. -snip- One video of people doing "ranky tanky" dance moves is given at the beginning of this post. Here's an additional video of "Ranky Tanky":
**** Editor's Note As an aside, the Caribbean Dancehall music's use of the word "ranks" as a last name for vocalists (such as in "Shabby Ranks" and "Cutty Ranks") is different than the use of the base word "rank" in "ranky tanky". In the case of Dancehall music, the last name "ranks" comes from this definition of that word: Rank -"a high or eminent status" Source for definition: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/rank
**** UPDATE 12/15/2012 Hat tip to Dan Greenwood, who performs a version of "Old Lady From Booster". I received the following information from Dan in two emails:
"The version I referenced is sung by National Heritage Fellow Mrs. Janie Hunter, collected by Guy and Candie Carawan on John's Island in the early/mid '60s and later released on the 'Been In the Storm So Long' CD"
Here's that version of "Old Lady From Booster": The old lady come from Booster. She had two hens and a rooster. The rooster died. The old lady cried. He* couldn't get egg like he use ta.
Oh ma,** you look so. Oh pa,*** you look so.
Who been here since I will gone? Two little boy with the blue cap on. Hang **** him on the hickory stick. Ranky tanky done***** my shoe The buffalo boy ****** want to buy it back. Pain in the hip Pain in my knee. My leg Ranky tanky Pain in my elbow Ranky tanky Ranky tanky Pain in my shoulder Ranky tanky Pain in my neck Ranky tanky Pain in my head Ranky tanky
You'll didn't hear? The old lady come from Booster. He couldn't tell the news like he use ta. [singers start giggling.]
*The pronoun "he" is also used for females. Old lady come from Booster
** This word sounds like "my", but I think it's "ma". *** This word sound like "pie", but I think it's "pa". **** This word might be "hit". ***** "done my shoe" - took my shoe?; In that line "Ranky Tanky" appears to be used as a person's name or nickname. ****** Buffalo boy - I wonder if this could be a referent for a Black soldier (Buffalo soldier) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Soldier -snip- Here's a link to a sound file of Dan Greenwood's group's rendition of "Old Lady From Booster". That example is based on the version of this song that was sung by Mrs. Janie Hunter: https://soundcloud.com/#lonesomedstringband/old-lady-from-booster
Thanks Dan Greenwood for that information & example!
This is Part I of the pancocojams series on the Old Time Music tune and song "Granny Does Your Dog Bite?". "Granny Will Your Dog Bite?" is also known as "Chicken In The Bread Tray" and other titles.
This post presents several excerpts about the tune/song "Granny Will Your Dog Bite". These excerpts include lyrics for that song. Additional lyrics for "Granny Will Your Dog Bite" are also included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, historical, cultural, and entertainment purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the unknown composers of "Granny Will Your Dog Bite". Thanks to the collectors of this song and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
**** EXCERPTS ABOUT THE SONG "GRANNY DOES YOUR DOG BITE" These excerpts are presented in no particular order. Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.
Excerpt #1 From https://tunearch.org/wiki/Annotation:Granny_Will_Your_Dog_Bite%3F_(1) ...GRANNY, WILL YOUR DOG BITE? [1]. AKA and see "Betty
Martin," "Boating Up Sandy (3)," "Brad Walters,"
"Chippy Get Your Hair Cut," Gippy Get Your Hair Cut," "Hog
Eye an' a 'Tater," "Hog Eye Man (The)," "Hog Eye [1],"
"Jake Gilly," "Jake Gillie," "Old Mother Gofour,"
"Old Granny Rattle-Trap (1)," "Pretty Betty Martin,"
"Very Pretty Martin," "Sally in the Garden (1)," "Tip
Toe Fine," "Fire in the Mountain (1)," "Fire on the
Mountain (1)." American, Reel and Song Tune. USA; Kentucky, Nebraska,
Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma. ...
This melody is a popular and widespread American old-time instrumental
and song that can be found under several titles and in numerous variants. Tthe
title "Granny Will Your Dog Bite" is itself also a floating title
attached to several unrelated tunes. As a reel, it was frequently played at
Mid-Western fiddle contests.
R.P. Christeson says his version is dissimilar to
the tune of the same title in Ford (1940), but is similar to "Tip Toe,
Pretty Betty Martin" in the same book. Bayard (1981) notes the resemblance
between this tune and the "Betty Martin" variants, many listed as
alternates above. He believes the tune possibly has Norwegian connections
(though he did not elaborate or offer sustaining information). The tune was
recorded for the Library of Congress by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph
from Ozarks Mountains fiddlers in the early 1940's (in particular from Arkansas
fiddler Lon Jordan, in 1941), and was recorded commercially by Crockett's Kentucky
Mountaineers in 1928. See also related tunes "Gate to Go Through" and
"Old Coon Dog (2)."
Ford (1940) said that "occasional
verses" were sung by fiddlers while playing the tune, and indeed, various
verses have been collected from both white and black sources. (Ford's
collection area was the Mid-West, often Missouri, and Thede printed Oklahoma
versions). Charles Wolfe (1991) remarks the tune has been collected widely from
Mississippi to California, and notes that Ray Browne (writing in The Alabama Folk
Lyric, 445) heard it often as a banjo tune popular more with blacks than
whites.
[,,,]
African-American collector Thomas Talley, in his Negro Folk
Rhymes (edited in a new edition by Charles Wolfe in 1991) printed lyrics under
the title "Chicken in the Bread Tray." They go:
Auntie, will yo dog bite? No, Chile, No! Chicken in the bread tray A makin' up dough
Auntie, will yo broom hit? Yes, Chile, Pop! Chicken in the bread tray, Flop, Flop, Flop!
Auntie, will you oven bake? Yes, Jes fry! What's dat chicken good fer? Pie, Pie, Pie!
Auntie, is yo pie good? Good as you could 'spec, Chicken in the bread tray; Peck, Peck, Peck!
Bruce Baker found the following reference in the North
Carolina State Archives (Raleigh, N.C.) in the Lowry Shuford Collection in a
folder marked "Civil War Reminiscences." The folder contains a
document titled "From 1861 to 1865 As I Remember" by J. A. Bush, Sr.,
of Lenoir, N.C., wherein he writes:
D. A. Griffin was one of them (i.e. the musicians). When he
came to Lenoir to be sworn in, he was playing on his fife, 'Oh, Granny, will
your little dog bite? No, child, no.' He took his fife to camp with him and
played every evening.
Baker concludes that, while there is no way of knowing which
of the "Granny" tunes was the one Griffin played, the reference it
"does suggest the tune was playable on a fife and that this floating lyric
was floating around Caldwell Co., N.C., in the early 1860s."... -snip- The first portion of this comment beginning with the title "Granny Does Your Dog Bite?" was reformatted to enhance its readability.
Spoken and played on the washtub by Compton Jones, ncar
Senatobia,
MississiPPi, September 5, 1970. Recorded by David Evans.
This highly repetitious piece, which consists here of
fifteen almost identical couplets, is one of the most popular in this
community. I have recorded it as a banjo piece, a children's rhyme, a fife and
drum piece, a piece played on the drums only, and a chant by teenage
girl cheerleaders at a community baseball game, accompanied by beating on the
grandstand. Its popularity lies in the fact that the drum or other percussion instrument is made to correspond in its beats to the rhythm
of the words.
When drummers do this, they say that they are making the
drum "talk it." This ability to make the drums "
talk it" is highly regarded in the community and is considered the sign of a good drummer.
Older drummers often criticize the younger ones for making their
beats depart too much from the rhythm of the words.
Some performers in the area substitute "Sally" for
"Granny" in this piece. The words are commonly encountered in both the black
and white folk song traditions of the South, and Dorothy Scarborough
says that it is a piece that "every Southerner knows." Its usual
form is something like the following:
Chicken in the bread tray scratchinf( 0 111 dough. Grall/l )' , will your dog bile? No, cbild, 110.
These lines are commonly heard as a "floating"
couplet in various squaredance fiddle tunes.
The importance placed upon making a drum "talk it"
can probably be related to the widespread African (especially West
African) institution of "talking drums." In many African languages
pitch and rhythm are important factors in the determination of word meaning. As a
result, messages, usually of a proverbial or traditional nature, can
be beaten on drums and understood by the speakers of the language. It
would appear that this concept has persisted, in a considerably diluted
and altered form, among black people in the United States. In the English
language proper pitch and rhythm are not necessary for understanding, but
something of the value placed upon them in African languages has been
retained, as has the idea that speech can be reproduced on a musical
instrument. The ability to make a guitar, harmonica, saxophone, or any instrument
"talk" is one of the most important aesthetic criteria in all forms of
black music and is particularly highly valued in this area of Mississippi.
Usually, however, this expression is used only metaphorically, and it is not
expected that the musician will actually play something that can be
understood as a spoken statement. The recordings in this part of Mississippi
of "Granny, Will Your Dog Bite" are, therefore, rather unusual in
their strong emphasis upon correspondence between spoken text and
instrumental rhythm. Like many African talking-drum messages, the words
of this piece are almost proverbial. The real significance of the
expression, if any, is difficult to determine. Questions about it only produce
laughter and chuckles and the repetition of the phrase "Granny, will
your dog bite? No, child, no." A probable reason for the laughter is
the fact that the line is popular among children and therefore not to be given
serious consideration. It functions with children as a practice rhythm for
percussion
[page] 11
playing. It is very similar to the kinds of one-measure
phrases that form the rhythmic units in fife and drum music (cf. AI) and in
much of the string-band dance music, which is moribund in the area
today.
[Pancocojams Editor's Note: This summary includes here a lists of publication from
1922 through 1968 that include “Granny will your dog bite. The booklet text continues with these lyrics that end that commentary about that particular song.]
Granny, will your dog bite? Granny, will she bite? Granny, will your dog bite? No, child, no. Granny, will your dog bite? GranllY, will she bite? Grallny, will your dog bite? No, child, no, child, no,
child, no. Etc.
1. Subject: RE: Granny does your dog bite? From: Uncle Jaque Date: 09 Aug 00 - 10:57 PM
" "Granny" was a popular fiddle tune in the 1850s,
and was adapted by Military Fife-and-Drum Corps on both sides of the Civil War.
It is a regular part of the repitoire of the 3rd Maine Regimental Field Music
(F&DC) Reenactment Unit, of which I am a Member. It has a really kickin'
rudimental drum beat to it - particularly the bass, which really thunders. I
too would like to know the lyrics; all I know is "Granny will yer dawg
baht?; Hellfahre, no!". On the Ken Burns CW series, a historian recalls how
when one Volunteer Regiment had all of it's Musicians shot down in battle, one
enteprising Infantryman with a fiddle approached the Commanding Officer with
the offer to "fiddle the boys in" on the next charge... which he did,
to a rousing rendition of "Granny". It was his last tune."...
** 2. Subject: RE: Granny does your dog bite? From: PoohBear Date: 09 Aug 00 - 10:59 PM
"That sounds like one of the lines from the chorus of
"The Devil Went Down to Georgia" "
** 3. Subject: RE: Granny does your dog bite? From: Grab Date: 10 Aug 00 - 08:30 AM
"PoohBear, it is - it's one of the lines in the chorus. The
chorus is all names of fiddle tunes which Johnny and the Devil play.
"Devil went back to Georgia" incidentally has a different chorus -
same tune but with different fiddle tune names."
**** 4. Subject: RE: Granny does your dog bite? From: GUEST,Journeyman Alto Date: 26 Oct 16 - 10:33 AM
" "Granny does your dog bite, your hen peck, your rooster
fight? Your turkey walk a rail fence?" "No child
no." "Granny does your dog bite?" "No child no
child, Pappy took his biter off a long time ago." "
"Bob Wills lyrics: the verse "My Old Missus ...set me
free" occurs in many variations in Negro songs. "Chicken in the
breadpan" is another floating or borrowed verse.
One of the many "set me free" verses, this one
from Newman L. White, 1928, American Negro Folk-Songs, reported from Alabama,
1915.
My ole mistis promised me When she died she'd set me free. She lived so long That her head got ball, And the Lord couldn't kill her with a hickory maul.
Also this one from Alabama, 1915 (same reference): Chicken in the bread tray Scratching out dough; Sally, will your dog bite? No, child, no."
There are innumerable verses of this type, sung by both
Negroes and Whites, and used in play-parties by children and adults. They pop
up wherever a filler verse in needed.
** 2. Subject: RE: Origin of Ida Red From: GUEST Date: 25 Sep 02 - 11:21 PM
"So, far, it seems that "Ida Red" is an old fiddle
tune to which have been applied verses from numerous sources.
[…]
There is a parallel fiddle tune called "Chicken in the
Bread Tray" or "Granny, Will Your Dog Bite?" Here is what Talley
says about it*. "Ira Ford, in his Traditional Music of America (1940) lists
this as a square dance tune, with the lyrics as "occasional verses"
fiddlers sang in calling sets. It has been called [Chicken- Granny] and has
been collected widely from Mississippi to California [Note- also by Brown in
North Carolina and by Randolph in Missouri]." "Ray Browne, in The
Alabama Folk Lyric [1979], notes that he has heard it often as a banjo tune and
that it "seems to be a greater favorite with Negros than Whites." The
opening quatrain appears often in white old-time music recordings of the
1920s." Lines appear in "Shootin' Creek - Ida Red."... -snip- Regarding Guest's statement "Here is what Talley says about it", Guest is probably referring to Thomas W. Talley. Here's a quote from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_W._Talley "Thomas Washington Talley (October 9, 1870 – July 14, 1952) was a chemistry professor at Fisk University and a collector of African American folk songs
[...]
Negro Folk Rhymes (Wise and Otherwise)
Talley began collecting rural black folk songs later in his
life. Talley's first collection, published in 1922, Negro Folk Rhymes (Wise and
Otherwise) contained 349 secular folksongs and spirituals. Already being
well-known as the first such collection assembled by an African-American
scholar,[2] the book was seen at the time as a "masterpiece of the
field".[5] It was not only the first compilation of African-American
secular folk songs, but also of folk songs of any kind from Tennessee.[2] An
edited edition of Negro Folk Rhymes" was re-released in 1991. Additional
published works about music by Talley include The Origin of Negro Traditions
and A Systematic Chronology of Creation.[1]
The publication of Negro Folk Rhymes marked a
turning point in the study of African-American verse. Before its publication,
little note had been taken of black secular traditions. Talley's book, along
with a later collection by Howard Odum and Guy Johnson, called attention to
these works."... -snip- It's possible that Thomas W. Talley could have written that information that Guest shared, but I think it's more likely that they were added to the 1991 edition of Negro Folk Rhymes by Charles Wolf, that edition's editor.
**
3. Subject: RE: Origin of Ida Red From: Stewie Date: 26 Sep 02 - 07:59 PM
"Pope's Arkansas Mountaineers recorded a 'chicken in the
breadpan' variant under the title 'Hog-eye' which has some lyric similarities
with the 'Hog-eye Man', best known as a sea shanty. It is included in NLCR
'Old-Time String Band Songbook' and has been released on CD in Dr Bill McNeil's
box set 'Somewhere in Arkansas: Early Country Music Recordings From Arkansas
1928-1932' Center for Arkansas and Regional Studies, no catalogue #. Below is
McNeil's transcription:
HOG-EYE
Chicken in the breadpan kicking up dough Sally will your dog bite? No, child, no Sally's in the garden sifting sand Sally's upstairs with the hog-eye man
Sally's in the garden, sifting, sifting Sally's in the garden sifting sand Sally's in the garden, sifting sifting Sally's upstairs with the hog-eye man
Sally will your dog bite? No, child, no Daddy cut his biter off a long time ago Sally's in the garden sifting sand Sally's upstairs with the hog-eye man
Sally's in the garden, sifting, sifting Sally's in the garden sifting sand Sally's in the garden, sifting sifting Sally's upstairs with the hog-eye man
Source: transcription by W.K. McNeil of Pope's Arkansas
Mountaineers 'Hog-Eye' recorded in Memphis TN on 6 February 1928 and issued as
Vi 21295."
Comments Traditional American reel and song tune first recorded as an instrumental by the Virginia Ramblers (aka Floyd County Ramblers) in August 1930.
Granny will your dog bite, dog bite, dog bite, Granny will your dog bite , Lord, child no; Wolf bit 'er biter off long time ago.
Related to another fiddle tune Sally in the Garden / Hog Eye, which says "Sally will your dog bite, no sir, no..."
Granny will your dog bite, cow kick, cat scratch? Granny will your hen peck, sow root the corn patch? Granny will your duck quack, old grey goose hiss? Granny will your dog bite? "No, child, no!"
Open up the gate and walk on through, Spy an old dog but he won’t bite you. Granny will your dog bite? "No, child, no!" Hog bit’er pecker off a long time ago.
Chicken in the bread pan, bread pan, bread pan, Chicken in the bread pan, scratching out dough. Rooster in the barnyard, barnyard, barnyard, Rooster in the barnyard, a-strutting while he crows.
** 2. Answer "The old square dance tune is called "Granny Will Your
Dog Bite". Various pre-Civil War versions include the lines about cнιcκens
peckin' dough out of a bread pan and the line asking if the dog bites.
"Granny does your dog bite? No, child no."
** 3. Answer "All of the phrases after "He played..." are
traditional fiddle tunes.
1) Fire on the mountain
2) House of the rising sun
3) ᑕнιcκen in the bread pan
4) Granny does your dog bite
Johnny played some combination of these songs to beat the
devil"
**** This concludes Part II of this pancocojams series on "Granny Does Your Dog Bite?"
Songs for Children from New York City
℗ 2004 Smithsonian Folkways Recordings / 1978 Folkways Records
Released on: 1978-01-01
-snip-
The words for this version of "Sissy in de Barn" are found as Example #10 below.
****
Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post showcases a 1978 sound file of New York City children singing the children's game song "Sissy In de barn". Text examples of several versions of that singing games, including a transcription of this 1978 recording are included in this post along with explanations of some of the words that are found in those examples.
This sound file also features children singing the children's rhyme "Bamalam a Cummalla". That rhyme is more widely known now as "Cumala Vista" or some similar sounding words. The children's rhyme "Cumala Vista" is also known as "Flea Fly Flow" or similar sounding words. This sound file and other video and text examples of that rhyme is showcased in this pancocojams post: https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/09/examples-of-childrens-rhyme-flea-fly_14.html "Examples Of The Children's Rhyme "Flea Fly Flow" (also known a "Cumala Vista" or similar sounding words)".
****
The content of this post is presented for cultural and recreational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are featured in this record and thanks to the producers of this record.
Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post.
-snip-
Except for the embedded YouTube sound file, the content of this post is a reprint of this 2012 pancocojams post and one of its comments (with minor revisions or additions) Additional comments frohttps://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-evolution-of-game-song-sissy-in-barn.htmlm people who remember this singing game are also found in that post's discussion thread.
****
FEATURED EXAMPLES OF THE SINGING GAME "SISSY IN THE BARN"
One child stands in the center—a boy. All sing to child in center:
Sissy in the barn, join the wedding!
Sissy in the barn, join the wedding!
(Child in center chooses a partner who joins him). All sing:
Sweetest li'l couple I ever did see.
Barn! Barn!
Arms all around me! Barn!
Children in center put arms around each other. All sing:
Say, little Sissy, won't you marry me?
Two in center stand opposite each other and point fingers at each other saying:
Stay back, girl (or boy), don't you come near me.
All them sassy words you say!
O, Barn! Barn!
(All sing) Arms all around me!
Say, little sissy, won't you marry me? Marry me?
Two in center courtesy to each other—the child who was chosen partner remains and the game starts again.
-snip-
Thanks to Katharine Capshaw for alerting me to the monthly magazines entitled The Brownies Books. Click the link given for this example to find information about those magazines and to read the content of each month's magazine from 1920 through 1921.
****
Example #2: LITTLE SISTER, WON'T YOU MARRY ME?
Liddle sistah in de barn, jine de weddin'.
Youse de sweetest liddle couple dat I ever did see.
Oh Love! Love! Ahms all 'round me!
Say, liddle sistah, won't you marry me?
Oh step back, gal, an' don't you come a nigh me,
Wid all dem sassy words dat you say to me.
Oh Love! Love! Ahms all 'roun' me!
Oh liddle sistah, won't you marry me?
From: Negro Folk Rhymes, Wise and Otherwise: With a Study
Author: Thomas W. Talley; originally published in 1922
*Transcription by Azizi Powell from the sound file whose link is given above.
**This word might be "de lairy".
***These words might be "barn barn".
****
Example #4: field recording (Julia Griffin and group; Women's Dormitory; State Penitentiary, Raiford, Florida; June 4, 1939; collected & recorded by Alan Lomax & Ruby T. Lomax)
"When I was in the 4th and 5th grades in a little country school in North Alabama, we played this game, both girls and boys. I cannot remember how the went but we were in a circle. This is how we sang the song......................Sissy in the Bon, was the name of it or that is what we called it.
Sissy in the bon,
bon in the lerry.
Prettiest little girl that I ever did see.
Oh bon, bon, put your arms around me.
Say my little sissy won't you marry me.
Oh step back gal, don't you come nigh me,
All those sassy words you said.
Oh bon bon put your arms around me.
Pretty little sissy, won't you marry me
...........This was in the late 1930's. I will be 85 years on April 18, 2014. The reason why I remember the song so well is that I guess I liked it and I would sing it at home all the time. My uncle still at home at time learned it to and it stuck with him as long as he lived. I have a tape with him singing it. As I remember we would sing it real fast."
Subject: RE: lyr/info req: Sissy/Missy in the barn... (Bon Ton)
From: GUEST,Betty Pierce
Date: 31 Mar 14 - 09:03 AM
-snip- I changed the formatting of this comment for this post.
The word "nigh" in this example may be a typo for "near".
**** Example #6: From Altona Trent JohnsPlay Songs Of The Deep South(The Associated Publishers, Inc.; 1st edition; 1944)
Here's my comment:
Altona Trent Johns' book includes two versions of "Bon Ton or Sissy In De Barn" (pages 1-5) Two of these pages are drawings. One drawing shows Black girls & Black boys outdoors forming a circle [with the children not holding hands] and a girl & boy in the center of the circle. The other drawing shows a Black girl and Black boy outdoors dancing the two step [with no other children in the drawing.] A piano score is provided for the first "arrangement" of this song. The words to the second arrangement of "Bon Ton" are given within a piano score.
Here's the lyrics for that singing game and its directions from that book:
BON TON or SISSY IN DE BARN
Sissy in de barn,
O jine de weddin'
Sweetes' li'l' couple I e'er did see,
O Bon Ton, put yo' arms around me!
Say, Ii'l' Sissy, Won't you marry me?
Get back, gal.
Get yo' arms from 'round me!
All those sassy words you say,
O Bon Ton, put yo' arms around me!
Say, Ii'l' Sissy, Won't you marry me?
Get back, boy,
Don't put yo' arms around me!
All those foolin' words you say,
O Bon Ton, put yo' arms around me!
Say, 'li'l' Sissy, Won't you marry me?
"Sissy" is affectionate for "little Sister" [This is the author's statement and her performance directions follow.]
Directions
Any number may participate. The players form a large circle with a boy in the center.
They clap hands on each beat throughout as they swing.
1. Boy in center advances in short, skip-like steps to a girl in the circle and stops in front of her on the words, "li'l' couple".
2. He catches girl's right hand in his.
3. They take position for social dancing.
4. They move to center and dance the "two step" inside the circle.
5. Pushes girl gently from him
6. Shakes finger in mock anger at girl, meanwhile skipping back to her.
7. Same as (2)
8. Same as (3)
9. Same as (4)
10. Reverse (5), i.e. girl pushes boy from her.
11. Reverse (6)
12. Use steps (2), (3), and (4) again.
13. At the conclusion of the above directions this girl and boy join the ring, some other boy goes to center and the dance is begun again.
This should be sung and danced gaily and not dragged out.
-snip-
BON TON
"This second arrangement of "Bon Ton" can be played by more advanced pianists. It would provide a more colorful and more difficult accompaniment for the dance and could also be used as a piano solo".
-snip-
Altona Trent Johns provides more information provided about how the piano solo is played. The lyrics are the same as above.
Notice that this song is performed by a co-ed group of children (females & males). I believe this is the earliest way this courting game song was played.
Library of Congress, Washington [No date is given for this recording. However it must be 1950 or earlier as the cover art for the album is documented to have been donated in 1950.]
There are no collector's notes or performance instructions are given for this example.
Transcription by Azizi Powell from the download/sound file given as #15 on that list. This rendition is performed with the children clapping their hands and either stomping their feet while standing or the sounds of their feet while they move around.
Although the race of the children isn't noted, they are probably African American as "Carver Elementary School" was probably named after the African American scientist/inventor George Washington Carver.
****
Example #9: MISSY IN THE BARN
Yep! When we would sing this song in kindergarten every
morning back in 1960, the lyrics were:
Missy in the barn, the barn o'leary-
Sweetest little Missy I ever did see-
Oh, bon bon won't you be my partner-
Hey little missy won't you dance with me-
Step back Gal, Don't you come near me-
All those fancy words you say-
Oh,bon bon won't you be my partner-
Say, little Missy, won't you dance with me -Anonymous, December
12, 2016 [comment
**** Example #10: Folkways 07858,Songs for Children from New York City(1978)
SISSY IN DE BARN
Sissy in de barn, de barn de leary.
Prettiest little gal I ever did see.
Oh barn, barn put your arms around me.
Say pretty sissy won't you marry me.
Oh step back gal*, don't you come near me.
All those sassy words you say.
Oh barn, barn put your arms around me.
Say pretty sissy won't you marry me.
The children circle holding hands during the first part of the game. The child in the middle picks a partner and dances with him. The partner rejects the child with exaggerated movements on "step back gal." They reconcile and dance again at the end. The partner now becomes the new "Sissy."
-snip-
* "Oh step back gal" is spoken and not sung.
Collected by Alan Lomax from African American children.
Example #11: Caribbean Songs And Games: Puerto Rico, Haiti, Trinidad, Jamaica, The Bronx, 1978 [Trinidad]
SISSY IN THE BARN
Sissy in the barn the barn de lerie
Sissy in the cupboard, the cupboard we'll see,
Oh by and by, I'm the one who
Say little Sissy won't you marry me.
Just step back girl
Don't come near me
Say little Sissy won't you marry me.
The children are in a circle with "Sissy" in the middle. She chooses a partner on "Oh barn." On "step back," she pushes the partner from her, points her finger and shakes her hip. They reconcile at the end and she leaves her partner (usually a boy) in the middle of the circle to start again.
The line "Sissy in the cupboard the cupboard we’ll
see". This line is an obvious folk etymology form. The word
"cupboard" may have been used since a cupboard may have been more
familiar to those children then a barn. The ending words "we'll see"
may have been a folk etymology replacement for the words "the levee".
Also, notice that this example is the only one presented which doesn't include the line "All those sassy things you say".
****
MEANINGS OF CERTAIN WORDS IN THIS SINGING GAME
Here is a list of words from the game song "Sissy In The Barn" whose meanings may be unclear. Many of these featured words help document the evolution of that song over a period of time. The changes in these lyrics are probably a result of folk etymology - mishearing or misremembering words, or unknowingly replacing an unfamiliar word, phrase, or sound with a familiar word, phrase or sound. Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_etymology for more information about "folk etymology".
"Sissy"
"Sissy" is an affectionate nickname for females, from the word "sister". This nickname is used by family members and non-family members regardless of the females' personal name.
The Caribbean game song "In A Fine Castle" which includes the repeated line "do you hear my sisi-o" is another example of a game song that includes this meaning of the nickname "Sissy".
A somewhat familiar use of the nickname "Sissy" is Anglo-American actress "Sissy Spacek".
The song title "Sissy In The Barn" simply describes where the young woman called "Sissy" is. The title "Missy In The Barn" given in the Mudcat discussion forum link above is probably a misremembering of the title by the person seeking information about that song.
**
"De" - "the"
**
"O'lairy, "o'leary"; "de lerie"
"O'lairy" and similarly spelled words are forms of a phrase found in English language children's playground rhymes from at least the mid twentieth century on. Here's an excerpt from a Mudcat discussion forum post which includes a rhyme with the word "o'lairy" and which provides information about the source & meaning of the word "o'lairy":
"Chicago, early 1940s:
One, two, three a'leary,
Four, five, six a'leary,
Seven, eight, nine a'leary,
Ten a'leary, USA!...
[Folk singer] Jean Redpath pointed out, as she was doing one of these ball-bouncing/leg-cross-over games, that there is a line in [the British folk song] Piers Plowman about beggars sitting at the city gate, "Legs aleery." I'm not sure of the spelling, but the meaning was clear: they had their legs crossed, i.e.: sitting in what we call "Indian fashion." In the game, of course, the player crosses her leg (this is usually considered a girl's game) over the bouncing ball."
According to this information quoted by Sandy Paton, "o'lairy" pronounced "oh-LEER-ree"] means "legs crossed". Traditionally, when children bouncing a ball say the word "o'lairy" as part of a rhyme, they were supposed to raise one leg and bounce the ball under that leg. Or when children playing jump rope (skipping rope) say "o'lairy", they were supposed to cross their legs. Nowadays, in the United States, that movement is called jumping "criss cross".
However, I don't mean to imply that children singing "Sissy In The Barn" crossed their legs when they sang the words "o'leary". Actually, I believe that they probably did no such thing. In my opinion, the traditional meaning of the word "o'lairy" became largely unknown to children in the United States, if not elsewhere, decades ago. Children sang or recited "o'lairy" because it was/is a part of a rhyme or song, but they didn't/don't attach any particular meaning to it.
My opinion is that children started singing "o'leary" at the end of that line in "Sissy In The Barn" because they were familiar with the "o'leary" at the end of lines of text in children's rhymes & game songs. The "jine the wedding" with its outdated word "jine" was eventually dropped and was replaced by the words "de barn o'lairy" ["the barn o'lairy"] ["Sissy in the barn the barn o'lairy"].
Also notice how the words "o'lairy" [and similar sounding forms] were changed in Example #4 to the words "the levee". A levee is "an embankment built to prevent the overflow of a river."http://www.thefreedictionary.com/levee
In addition, it should be noted [no pun intended] that the words "the barn o' lairy" has five beats while the words "jine the weeding" has four beats. Yet Black children would have no difficulty whatsoever elongating the word "wedding" to make the words "the barn o'lairy" substitute for those earlier words.
**
"Bon Ton" and "Bye and Bye"
Example #3 of "Sissy In The Barn" posted above gives "Bon Ton" as the alternate title for that song.
"Oh bye and bye" in the line "Oh, bye-an'-bye put yo' arms around me" may have been an unintential folk etymology replacement for the words "bon ton".
"Bye and bye" means "eventually". In my opinion, that meaning doesn't fit the theme of the song as well as the meaning for the words "bon ton".
In the lyrics "O Bon Ton ["oh bon bon"] put your arms all around me", bon ton [bon bon] is similar to the affectionate terms "my sweetie, "my honey" or "my dearest one". However, "bon ton" also carries a connotation of a person with high fashion & sophistication.
a. A sophisticated manner or style. b. The proper thing to do. 2. High society. [French : bon, good + ton, tone.] bon ton (French) [bɔ̃ tɔ̃]. n Literary. 1. sophisticated ...
" "bon ton roulet" ("bon ton roula") is a phonetical approximation of "bons temps rouler", Louisiana Creole French for "good times roll" as in "Laissez les bons temps rouler" or "Let the good times roll", an unofficial slogan for New Orleans and the Mardi Gras celebration."
Latest Update- September 13, 2023 [This Update includes some additional content including three comments from a 2006 dailykos diary about that song. Those comments are given near the end of this post.]
****
This pancocojams post is provides a time line with citations and comments about the song "Pick A Bale Of Cotton" (PABOC) up to 1950. Lyrics for some examples of that song are also given in this post. A number of comments are given in the Addendum to this post below.
Notice that the familiar phrase "Oh Lordy" which introduces the line "pick a ball of cotton" in this song's chorus appears to have been introduced by Lead Belly (Huddie Ledbetter) in 1945.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, historical, cultural, and educational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the unknown composer/s of this song. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and all those who featured in these YouTube examples. Thanks also to all those who published these examples on YouTube. -snip- Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/02/what-breakdowns-mean-in-context-of-19th.html for the pancocojams post entitled "What "Breakdowns" Mean In The Context Of 19th
Century/ Early 20th Century Old Time Music/Fiddle Music". [Read the dailykos comments that are given below in the 9/13/2023 Update that indicates that Black Americans performed "Pick A Bale Of Cotton" a a breakdown song and dance.
****
PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S COMMENT
"Pick A Bale Of Cotton" (PABOC) is a song of African American origin whose lyrics have become quite controversial since at least the last part of the 20th century.
Hyperlinks to some online discussions about the controversial nature of "Pick A Bale Of Cotton" [since at least the late 20th century] are provided in this post. However, unlike most online blogs & articles about "Pick A Bale Of Cotton", this post focuses on the history of that song, with particular attention to documentation of pre-Lead Belly citations & performances of this song.
****
"PICK A BALE OF COTTON" SONG TIME LINE
DISCLAIMER: This time doesn't purport to document all of the recordings of "Pick A Bale Of Cotton" or the use of this song in movies or television etc.
No documentation of the song "Pick A Bale Of Cotton" has been found prior to the 1930s.
**
1934 - Verses of "Pick A Bale Of Cotton" are included in American Ballads and Folk Songs, edited by John Avery Lomax
From http://books.google.com/books?id=Dn0cSe2ecuoC&pg=PA231&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q&f=false [Google Books], pp. 231-233
My comment:
In that book John Lomax wrote that "Pick A Bale Of Cotton" was "a Negro work song that was sung in prison by “Clear Rock" [Moses Platt], who Lomax described as "a 70 year old 'water boy'” at Central State Farm, near Sugarland, Texas” [state farm = prison]. Lomax wrote that the song survived the Civil War and slavery as per its references to “massa”. [Read the comments in the Addendum below about Lomax's speculation that "Pick A Bale Of Cotton" was a Black American slavery work song.]
In that book, John Lomax includes two verses for PABOC:
"Dat n___r* from Shiloh kin pick a bale of cotton" etc.
"Later versions of the folk song had amended the lyrics ["Dat n___r* from Shiloh kin pick a bale of cotton" etc.] to :
Gonna jump down, turn around Pick a bale of cotton Gonna jump down, turn around Pick a bale a day Oh lordy, pick a bale of cotton Oh lordy, pick a bale a day
The song is sung with increasing speed as it progresses,
with ensuing verses having references to "me and my wife" replaced
with the likes of "me and my gal", "me and my papa",
"me and my friend".[3]
**
1936 - John and Alan Lomax write about "Pick A Bale Of Cotton" in their book "Negro Folk Songs as Sung by Leadbelly," Macmillan Company, 1936, page 92:
"In other versions of this song (see same title in "American Ballads and Folksongs") such lines as "Ol' massa tol' de n___rs*, Pick a bale o' cotton," and "Massa gimme one dram to Pick a bale o' cotton," are frequent. We are led to believe, [my italics] therefore, that "Pick a Bale o' Cotton" is a slave song, another of the old Negro tunes the Texas prison system has kept alive, while the prisoners died... The tune...is well known, especially among older prisoners, throughout the Texas penitentiary system."
-snip-
This is an excerpt of a comment that was posted by Guest, Autoharper [Adam Miller] on http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=90399
"Origins: Pick a Bale of Cotton" [hereafter given as Mudcat: Origins PABOC; 18 Apr 13 - 08:31 AM
*This word is fully spelled out in this book.
**
1939 - John & Alan Lomax record James 'Ironhead' Baker (and Moses 'Clear Rocks' Platt?) singing "Pick A Bale Of Cotton" [Rounder Records] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_%22Iron_Head%22_Baker_and_Moses_%22Clear_Rock%22_Platt
"James "Iron Head" Baker and Moses "Clear Rock" Platt were African American traditional folk singers imprisoned in the Central State Prison Farm in Sugar Land, Texas. They are notable for a number of field recordings of work songs and other material made by John Lomax for the Library of Congress Archive of American Folk Music in the 1930s."
-snip-
The first entry in the Addendum below includes an excerpt from a book Prison Writing in 20th-century America edited by Howard Bruce Franklin that comments about picking cotton in Texas prison farms and also includes a brief version of a pre-Leadbelly version of "Pick A Bale Of Cotton" that is sung as a lament by Texas inmates.
**
From Mudcat: Origins PABOC, posted by Q 14 Nov 05 - 08:16 PM
"...Just listened to the Rev. Mose Platt sing this perky little work song on the Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip (American Memory, Library of Congress). He used the phrase "jump down turn around, pick a bale a day.
The version is quite different from the one ascribed to 'Clear Rock' (Platt) in Lomax, ABFS 1934 [recorded in December 1933?], which has the Shiloh verse, but not the 'jump around' phrase. I can't find a recording listed for Platt before 1939. Platt could have changed his lyrics, or those in Lomax could be a 'combined' version put together by Lomax- which has happened before. His recording of the song in his "Deep River of Song" collection lists an "unknown axe-cutting group" as singing the song."
-snip-
My assumption is that Rev. Mose Platt & Moses 'Clear Rocks' Platt are the same person.
mokmok8080 Published on Feb 26, 2013
-snip-
Lead Belly also gave these comments in the beginning of that film clip. (also shown at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChYeb8ACjqw)
"And this is another work song. When we pick cotton, you got to jump down to pick a bale of cotton a day. You can't fool around. And we sing:
Lyrics:
Great God almighty
Gonna pick a bale of cotton
Great God almighty
Gonna pick a bale a day.
Chorus:
Ah Lawd, I can pick a bale of cotton.
Ah Lawd, I can pick a bale a day.
Ah Lawd, I can pick a bale of cotton.
Ah Lawd, I can pick a bale a day.
Ah Lawd, I can pick a bale of cotton.
Ah Lawd, I can pick a bale a day.
Oh, me and my wife, can pick a bale of cotton etc.
Chorus
Gotta jump down, turn around and pick a bale of cotton etc.
Chorus
Me and my buddy can pick a bale of cotton etc.
Chorus
Me and my papa can pick a bale of cotton etc.
Chorus
Me and my sister can pick a bale of cotton etc.
I can pick a bale, pick a bale of cotton etc.
Chorus
I'm gonna jump down, turn around, pick a bale of cotton etc.
-snip-
The tempo that Lead Belly used for "Pick A Bale Of Cotton" (as documented in the embedded sound file) is somewhat slower than the tempo that appears to be used for many contemporary renditions of that song.
Additional comments -including mine - about Lead Belly's performance of "Pick A Bale Of Cotton" are found in the Addendum below.
****
1956 Harry Belafonte
Jump Down Spin Around by Harry Belafonte on 1956 RCA Victor LP.
lrh1966, Published on Jul 4, 2011
RCA Victor record# LPM-1150. Album title: "Belafonte".
-snip-
Belafonte's version "Pick A Bale Of Cotton" doesn't include the "Oh Lordy" ("Oh Lawdy") phrase.
****
1958 Pete Seeger and Sonny Terry at Carnegie Hall
nemobose04, Published on Sep 21, 2015
-snip-
This version includes the phrase "Oh Lordy".
****
1959 Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee- Pick A Bale Of Cotton (live) at Newport Folk Festival
Pick A Bale Of Cotton
Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee - Topic
Published on Nov 8, 2014
-snip-
This version includes the phrase "Oh Lordy"
****
1962 Lonnie Donegan
Pick a Bale of Cotton - Lonnie Donegan
Malcalum, Published on Mar 22, 2007
Lonnie Donegan's version of this Leadbelly classic.
****
1979 -Pick a bale of Cotton by Sonny & Brownie from the Jerk 1979
Fortune Hunter, Published on Sep 8, 2015
-snip-
This is the same version that was recorded in 1959.
-snip-
This scene from The Jerk encapsulates why "Pick A Bale Of Cotton" is generally viewed negatively among Black Americans.
The Jerk is a American comedy movie that focuses on a story which is highly unlikely to occur in the United States*. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jerk "Navin R. Johnson, a homeless man, directly addresses the camera and tells his story. He is the adopted white son of African American sharecroppers, who grows to adulthood naïvely unaware of his obvious adoption. He stands out in his family not just because of his skin color but because of his utter lack of rhythm when his adopted family plays spirited blues music"
-snip-
Having worked in the adoption/child welfare system in the United States for more than fifteen years, I know that it's far more likely than non-White people can adopt Black children and other children of color than it is for Black people to adopt (or foster) White children.
-snip-
Notice the "Black sounding" first name and the use of the last name "Johnson" for this character, a last name that appears to be considered more common among Black Americans than non-Black Americans, although it had the same ranking (#2) in both populations in the 2000 US Census. http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/05/100-most-common-black-american-surnames.html
****
ADDENDUM
From Prison Writing in 20th-century America edited by Howard Bruce Franklin, Penguin, 1998 [Google Book], p. 29-30
"Chapter: Songs Of The Prison Plantation
"The work songs of African American convicts constitute the most poignant evidence of the continuity from Pre-Civil War chattel slavery to the twentieth century prison. The songs have served much the same function for modern prison slaves as the work songs of their slave ancestors. They pace collective labor such as picking cotton under the boiling sun on prison plantations, precisely time dangerous joint activities like chopping down trees, and provide an assertion of people’s creativity and a defense of their humanity. The songs thus made it possible to survive under the most brutal and degrading condition, conditions designed to reduce them to work animals.
Some of the old slave songs actually persisted well into the second half of the 20th century. For example, these lines were sung by modern convicts picking cotton on a Texas prison plantation:
Well old marster told old mistress I could pick a bale of cotton
Well old marster told old mistress I could pick a bale a day.
You big enough and black enough to pick a bale of cotton.
You big enough and black enough to pick a bale a day.
Chorus
But never will I pick a bale of cotton
How in the world will I pick a bale a day."
-snip-
From http://www.cotton.org/edu/faq/
"How much does a bale of cotton weigh?
A bale of cotton weighs about 500 pounds."
**
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_Belly : for information about, including the fact that "In 1930 Ledbetter [Huddie William Ledbetter (January 20, 1888 – December 6, 1949)] was in Louisiana's Angola Prison Farm after a summary trial for attempted homicide, charged with knifing a white man in a fight. It was there he was "discovered" three years later during a visit by folklorists John Lomax and his then 18-year-old son Alan Lomax.[12] Deeply impressed by Ledbetter's vibrant tenor and extensive repertoire, the Lomaxes recorded him on portable aluminum disc recording equipment for the Library of Congress. They returned with new and better equipment in July of the following year (1934), recording hundreds of his songs all in all. On August 1, Ledbetter was released after having again served almost all of his minimum sentence following a petition the Lomaxes had taken to Louisiana Governor Oscar K. Allen at his urgent request. It was on the other side of a recording of his signature song, "Goodnight Irene."
-snip-
I'm including this information although there's no documentation that "Pick A Bale Of Cotton" was among the "hundreds of songs" that the Lomaxes recorded of Lead Belly in 1934 while he was in Louisiana's Angola State Farm. [as per http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_Belly]
Notice that in "Negro Folk Songs As Sung By Leadbelly" [which is quoted above], the Lomaxes write that "Pick a Bale o' Cotton" is a slave song, another of the old Negro tunes the Texas prison system has kept alive"...
-snip-
Italics added by me to highlight that portion of the sentence.
Furthermore, I believe that it's also likely that many of Lead Belly's Black audiences who heard his comments prefacing his performances of "Pick A Bale Of Cotton" and heard his version of that song were aware that he was "lying" [telling tall tales, boasting, funnin'] when he said that he [and others] "picked a bale of cotton [in] a day. Those Black audiences, and others familiar with picking cotton knew that it wasn't humanly possible to pick a bale of cotton in one day.
Part of the problem was "Pick A Bale Of Cotton" nowadays is that many people don't understand the "lyin" tradition that Lead Belly is reflecting. African American writer/folklorist Zora Neale Hurston wrote about that same lying tradition in her book Mules To Men. The fact that "Pick A Bale Of Cotton" that was standardized and popularized by Lead Belly is a bragging song escapes most people since the 20th century because we're not familiar with those bragging/"lying" customs.
** http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5e4qwOQzmnc
Excerpt of the video summary statement published by raymondcrooke
"Pick a Bale of Cotton (Traditional American)", Uploaded on Mar 12, 2011
"First collected by Alan Lomax from prison farms in Texas, this is a boastful song about picking an impossibly large quantity of cotton (a bale is about a quarter of a ton). One version (1934) sung by Moses Clear Rock Platt, an African-American singer (and prisoner) has led to some controversy as it used the word "n____r"*. In fact, many people now consider it politically incorrect to sing this song at all because of its associations with slavery. There is a fascinating thread on the Mudcat site about a school that was pressured into withdrawing the song from a choral concert after complaints from parents. **
Pete Seeger has argued that it would have been sung fairly slowly as a work song if it was actually sung by the slaves on the cotton fields, so it is quite likely that it does not actually go back to those times. The version that we know today comes mainly from the singing of Lead Belly, who called it a "play-party" song, and has been carried on by singers such as Harry Belafonte, Odetta and the great blues duo, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee."
**Click http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=86330
"Where is thy sting?-'Pick a Bale of Cotton' Ban" [hereafter given as "Mudcat: Sting PABOC" for this Mudcat discussion. Full disclosure, I participated in that discussion as well as the Mudcat discussion on the origin of "Pick A Bale Of Cotton".
**
Mudcat: Sting PABOC", posted by Q, 14 Nov 05 - 02:05 PM
"First collected from prison farms in Texas, a boastful song about picking an impossibly large quantity of cotton (it has never been done). The version with the lines about the "n___r* from Shiloh" was sung by Moses Clear Rock Platt, African-American singer, story teller and sometime prisoner on prison farms in Texas. His material was first recorded by Lomax (printed in Lomax and Lomax, 1934, "American Ballads and Folk Songs," pp. 231-233).
Pete Seeger picked it up, and along with the printed version in Silber, "Folksinger's Wordbook," p. 123 (with chords), it became a standard among folk singers."...
-snip-
*This word is fully spelled out.
**
From "Mudcat: Sting PABOC", posted by Q, 14 Nov 05 - 09:33 PM
..."It ["Pick A Bale Of Cotton"] may never have been used by cotton-pickers. "Pick a Bale" has not been found in any collection before the 1930s, it may well have been just a handy line, much as 'pick a peck of pickles' in the kid's tongue-twister. The rhythm is wrong for picking cotton."
**
Editor's comment:
It appears that John Lomax considered the inclusion of the word "massa" in 'Iron Head' Baker's and 'Clear Rocks' Platts' version of "Pick A Bale Of Cotton" to be enough evidence to support his assertion that "PABOC" was sung by Black people during slavery while they were picking cotton or at other times. However, no folklorist has found documentation of "Pick A Bale Of Cotton" being sung during United States slavery. I wonder if Iron Head Baker & Clear Rocks Platt used the word "massa" in their rendition of "Pick A Bale Of Cotton" to veil the fact that they were actually referring to their prison overseers when they used the word "massa" or "master and "mistress".
[I used italic font to highlight this sentence.]
**
From http://www.allmusic.com/song/pick-a-bale-of-cotton-mt0011917299 Song Review by Barry Weber
..."Ledbetter took old folk ballads and reworked them into songs that would prove to pave the way for not only folk and blues, but for rock and roll as well. One of the greatest examples of this is "Pick a Bale of Cotton," an old work song that will forever be known as a Leadbelly tune. Though the original is most remembered as a working man's lament, Ledbetter transformed "Pick a Bale of Cotton" into a fast-paced, out-and-out dance number obviously influenced by his youthful "sookie jump" days. And while the early anonymous recordings of this song sadly reflect, "Never will I/pick a bale-a-day," Leadbelly's lyrics boast "I jump down, turn around, pick a bale of cotton/I jump down, turn around, pick a bale a day." Never mind that picking a bale of cotton in one day is unthinkable--the fact is Leadbelly took a song of hopeless anguish and turned it into a song of fantasy, of proving the impossible possible. This was a message that proved to resonate with the working class--particularly the southern blacks--and "Pick a Bale of Cotton" is a testament to Leadbelly's talent for completely transforming an old song in both performance and message. It is easy to listen to the unrestrained ecstasy in Ledbetter's performance and realize just why so many people refer to this song, despite it's [sic] traditional roots, as a Leadbelly original."
-snip-
Italics added to highlight these sentences.
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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S COMMENT
"Pick A Bale Of Cotton" was probably not a real 19th century work song - as no documentation of that song can be found until the 1930s. Lead Belly transformed the earlier lament to its uptempo danceable form.
In spite of its uptempo tune, it's important to recognize that many people, and particularly many African Americans, have negative perceptions of this song.
[These comments are numbered for referencing purposes only. The bold font was used in the original comments.]
1. john culpepper, Mar 09, 2006 at 03:15:10 PM "JUMPING to wrong conclusions I still think you are
dead wrong and are doing a disservice to your child yourself and the cause of
education, poetry, and music. The song is the context. When the child learns
history (later when he is developmentally ready) he will have a context to put
that history in. That is why it is good to teach songs, especially work songs,
in early childhood. Though as it happens, this is not a work song.
If you are going to teach the history -- the context, you
should take the trouble to inform yourselves so that you can teach it
correctly. I explained on the previous thread that this is a dance song, not a
work song. It was not sung by happy slaves or workers while picking cotton
-- so many of the posters assume and to be offended by the fact that it is a
lively energetic song, that in their minds conjures up the myth of the happy
slave" -- BUT THIS IS SOMETHING IN THEIR MINDS -- not in the song. Yes,
cotton picking is back breaking labor. But other aspects of growing cotton were
even worse -- namely picking the weeds out of the cotton fields by hand. At
least when you picked the cotton the end of the labor was in sight. Are you
ashamed of the fact that black people knew how to celebrate when the work was
done? Because that is what you seem to be saying.
The fact is that this is a dance song or "jump"
that was sung after the harvest and after the workers were paid. As in so many
African American songs, the verses are ironic -- IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PICK A
BALE OF COTTON IN ONE DAY. The song expresses relief that the work is over.
Jimmy Crack Corn is also an ironic song. It is a song
against slavery. I don't see why you feel guilty singing an anti-slavery song
-- or feel that it is somehow racist to remind people that this country was
built by agricultural labor and there was a song to go with almost every task.
I think this is a wonderful thing and something to be very proud of, not
ashamed.
I think that people such as yourself use political
correctness as an excuse for mental laziness, all-around anti-intellectualism,
and for throwing their weight around needlessly. You are setting a very bad
example of mob mentality for your child.
** 2. john culpepper - leftilicious AUTHOR
Mar 09, 2006 at 05:08:16 PM "The songs are the context I know that it was a reel
because I recently listened to a taped interview with Bessie Jones, a black
singer from the Georgia Sea Islands, whose grandfather was a slave, explaining
how she and her husband used to celebrate by singing and dancing Pick a Bale of
Cotton after the picking season was over when they went around the south
picking crops when she was in her twenties -- I don't know that she actually
picked cotton (a bale, by the way, is 500 pounds). Actually, she said that as a
child, she refused to pick cotton. At any rate, she sang a version of that song
and many many others. She did not learn them from Leadbelly -- they were sung
in the nineteen teens and twenties by the laborers at parties and picnics.
As far as minstrel songs, I just looked that up. It seems
that Jimmy Crack Corn was indeed originally a minstrel song, as were Old Dan
Tucker, Buffalo Gals, Oh, Suzanna, and Turkey in the Straw. They were white
imitations of black songs, and they were very good songs, so good, in fact that
that they made the full circle and entered back into the oral tradition and
were adopted as folk songs by black and white. They have a distinctive
character that is quintessentially American. It would be a shame to censor them
because of their minstrel origin. In fact, a case can be made that white
entertainers were in awe of African American music and that's why they imitated
it -- and still do today.
Alan Lomax has this to say about "Blue Tail Fly,"
which he calls "an abolitionist song" and which was the favorite song
of Abraham Lincoln. It was "frequently found among Negro folk
singers" and "subtly reflects the repressed hostility of slave
towards their master which was the undercurrent of Southern plantation
society." --Folk Songs of North America (1961), p. 493."...
**
3, narses - john culpepper
Mar 09, 2006 at 05:09:23 PM "Right on, John! This song is a dance tune, a
"breakdown" tune for dancers who would try to outdo each other with
fancy and fasters steps until the winner was the only one left standing.
Leadbelly'a version included the instrumental breakdown part between the verses. He sang "Me and my wife gonna pick a
bale of cotton," which underscores even more the impossibility of two
people picking 1000 pounds of cotton in a day." -snip- Here's the link to Part I of that dailykos diary: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/03/03/191309/-Racist-song-in-my-kid-s-music-class.
**
4. Silentspring
Mar 10, 2006 at 01:57:57 AM "dancing and minstrel songs Pick A Bale of Cotton was
not a minstrel song. It was an African-American dance song. I am sure that the
teachert used movement in singing it for pedagogical purposes -- a) musically
-- to emphasize the syncopation and b) because children especially young ones
learn best when moving their large muscles. c) also it is a big relief to kids
who have been sitting still all day to get to move around some. Songs for the
youngest children often do involve
movement. It is the pedagogically appropriate thing to do. Children need to use
all their senses.
As far as minstrel shows -- this has nothing to do with Pick
a Bale of Cotton -- but I googled Dan Emmett -- originator of minstrel shows --
and credited with writing Polly Wolly Doodle as well as Dixie -- and I found
that he was born in Ohio and was a very strong Union supporter in the Civil
War. He was appalled that the South appropriated his song Dixie (which
incidentally, Abe Lincoln thought was one of the best songs he ever heard and
which he requested a few days before he was assassinated). Here is a good link
http://www.pbs.org/... -- and there are
others.
Stephen Foster was also rather liberal and tried to reform
the minstrel tradition by purging his minstrel songs of racist stereotypes.
Suprisingly, at least to me, there was a bio-pic about Dan Emmett made in the
1940s and starring, of all people, Bing Crosby as Emmet. He would have
certainly worn blackface, and he was no bigot."
