1.
Wabash Cannonball listen
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The Lake Erie, Wabash, and St. Louis Railroad Company was formed in
1852. There was, however, no train named the “Cannonball”
when this song was first sung late in the 19th century. The anonymous
hobos who made the song up may have been paying homage to a specific
train, or to a “mythical train that runs everywhere,” as
suggested by George Milburn in The Hobo’s Hornbook.
2.
Go Tell Aunt Rhody
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This may have originated as a play-party song during New England’s
colonial days. Most Protestant communities had restrictions against
dancing and playing musical instruments. Play parties were designed
to sidestep those restrictions by using only handclaps for accompaniment
and the simple patterns of children’s games to replace the intricate
patterns of country dances. Depending on the locale in which this song
was sung, the aunt may have had a name such as Patsy, Dinah, or Nancy.
3.
Skip to My Lou
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In frontier communities throughout the country, young and old alike
skipped, marched, clapped, and swung each other by the hand to this
play-party song.
4.
Buffalo Gal
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As it was originally published in 1844, the song Lubly Fan
beckoned a young woman of that name to come out and dance. Although
credited to Cool White, the stage name of blackface minstrel John Hodges,
it was most likely adapted from other song sources. The words were frequently
localized as the popular song moved about the United States with traveling
minstrel troupes: Charleston Gals, Bowery Gals, New
York Gals, and Philadelphia Gals. By 1848, Buffalo
Gals had become the preferred version.
5.
Blue Tail Fly
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Although blackface minstrel shows relied heavily on negative racial
characterizations, this minstrel song has an abolitionist attitude.
It is usually associated with Dan Emmett, but was credited when published
in 1846 to F.D. Benteen. A supposed favorite of Abraham Lincoln, the
song reflects the hostility of slave towards master in Southern plantation
society.
6.
Oh Susanna!
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Stephen Foster was only 21 years old when he composed this song, and
he later wrote, “the two fifty-dollar bills I received [for Oh
Susanna!] had the effect of starting me on my present vocation
as a songwriter.” In his 37 years of life, Foster wrote more than
200 songs. He visited the South only once, yet many of his songs portrayed
blacks and slave life and were frequently performed by blackface minstrel
singers. Oh Susanna! was beloved by ‘49ers during the
California gold rush, helping it to become the most popular song in
America.
7.
On Top of Old Smokey
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The roots of this song stretch across the Atlantic Ocean to England,
perhaps as long ago as the 16th century. Its branches include many other
folk songs with similar lyrical stanzas and tunes. A lonesome love song,
it has frequently been sung high in the Appalachian Mountains for courting.
8.
Bile Them Cabbage Down
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“Bile” is a phonetic writing of the word “boil.”
A hoecake is a thin, flat cake made from cornmeal, originally baked
on a hoe. According to some, this tune can be traced to an English country
dance called Smiling Polly, first printed in 1765. As it has been played
and sung throughout the South, the song integrates African and European
musical elements: banjo and fiddle – slave, minstrel and mountaineer.
9.
Down in the Valley
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This is another popular Appalachian Mountain courting song that descended
from a British air.
10.
Pick a Bale of Cotton
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During the time of slavery and beyond, work on the Southern plantation
was often enlivened by the singing of work songs. Singing moved the
work along faster and made the physical labor and drudgery a little
easier to bear. A bale of cotton weighs 500 pounds, which is more than
anyone could really pick in a single day.
11.
I've Been Working on the Railroad
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This song was adapted late in the 19th century either from an African-American
spiritual about working on a Mississippi River levee or from an old
Irish hymn. Someone’s in the Kitchen with Dinah was a
separate song that was later tagged onto the end.
12.
Red River Valley
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Originally sung in New York State as The Bright Mohawk Valley,
by the 1880s this song had settled in the West as Red River Valley.
13.
Crawdad Song
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This song evolved from Anglo-American play-party traditions and African-American
blues. Workers building levees to prevent the flooding of the Mississippi
River in the South were among the first to sing it.
14.
Old Blue
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In 19th century America, hunting was a way of life for many people who
relied on game for food. From somewhere in the Mississippi Valley came
this sentimental tribute to a beloved hunting dog.
15.
Billy Barlow
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An old English version of this Southwestern ballad describes a quintet
shooting a cutty wren with bows and arrows. It was a song of protest
by the hungry British peasantry. In most American versions, a squirrel,
rat, or other small animal replaces the cutty wren.
16.
Home on the Range
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The words to this song were published in several newspapers during the
1870s, credited to Dr. Higley Brewster of Smith County, Kansas. The
tune was allegedly composed by Daniel E. Kelly. Other claims set the
origin of the song to an earlier time. It became hugely popular throughout
the English-speaking world in the first half of the twentieth century.
