La Marr, Harry (white). Wake up Gabriel (Boston: Chas. D. Blake, 1887) http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/hasm.b0154/pg.1/
Notes: Cover: “Carroll Johnson’s songs,” with three illustrations of Johnson, two in blackface, and a minstrel semi-circle. Title page: End song and dance. Schottishe tempo. G major. The verse melody points toward ragtime with its large interval leaps and more sophisticated harmonies (it’s just missing the syncopation); the “refrain” is actually a bridge (the relative minor phrase in unison) that then reverts to the verse melody. The only relation to spirituals is lyrics, about traveling to heaven.
Lakeman, J. Ed. (white). Waitin’ for de Horn to Blow (Boston: Oliver Ditson, 1894)
Notes: “To Arthur B. Flint” (cover). Verse and chorus. A retrogressive message about crossing over (more typical of the 1870s), no musical elements of spirituals. Cover portrays the gate to heaven with the angel Gabriel and his horn, African Americans dressed in white.
Lane, O. W. (white). Glory hallelujah (Boston: Oliver Ditson, 1883) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1883.20915
Notes: “The great jubilee song.” Internal refrain, minor key, lyrics index spirituals. Of 13 songs on deposit at LC, this is his only commercial spiritual. However Lane did write a sentimental plantation song called Good-by, old Suwanee River, which he dedicates to Sam Lucas (published by White, Smith & Co., 1878 – the year Lucas first played Uncle Tom on stage; perhaps that song was written for the play?).
Leonard, John F. (white). Cut that grass, John, in The Great Wesley Brothers’ Latest and Greatest Songster (New York: New York Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [ca. 1882]), p. 20; HTC, songsters
Notes: “Written by John F. Leonard of Leonard & Jones for the Virginia Trio, and sung by them with immense success.” I suspect that this is either a contrafactum or burlesque of anther commercial spiritual. The obvious implication of the word “hell” (end v. 2) and the bass response “grass is cut” (end of chorus) are humorous touches that jubilee gospel groups would exploit in the 1930s and 1940s. Lyrics:
I went down to the meadow in the middle of the day,
Cotch that devil making hay;
Hay was warm, the devil was strong,
Put out his arm, and says “Come along.”
Chorus:
Cut that grass, John, John, John!
Cut that grass, John, John!
Cut that grass, John, John, John!
Cut that grass! (Bass) Grass is cut.
Early in the morning, late at night,
Devil chased me out of sight;
Chased so fast down I fell,
I thought he’d chase me into ––.
Leslie, Herbert (white). Oh look at de Moses (Boston: G. D. Russell, 1880) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1880.10776
Notes: Title page: “Words from ‘Scribner.’” Cover: “Dedicated to Messrs. Morris, Little, Devonnear [sic] and Jones, Hamtown Quartette of Haverly Minstrels.” Lyrics index spirituals. Minor key, call and response. On second m. of response, there’s a fermata – this could be influence of the Fisk Jubilee Singers, who used such concert effects.
Oh! When I war dem gospel garments (Boston: G. D. Russell, 1880) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1880.11315
Notes: Words by George Russell Jackson (who co-wrote four songs with Sam Lucas; and Leslie himself co-wrote one). “Dedicated to Sam Lucas.” Verse minor, chorus major; uses fermatas as concert effect; lyrics index spirituals.
Let my people go, in Haverly’s Genuine Colored Minstrels’ Songster (New York: New-York Popular Publishing Co., 1879), p. 46; LC, Music Division, Dumont Collection
Notes: “End song – as sung by Geo. Stan [Staneily? Stansil? illegible].” This is a burlesque of Go down, Moses, probably sung to the same tune, or perhaps to the tune of Carve dat possum (see under Sam Lucas), since there is a double verse. As is common with end songs based on spirituals, it begins with religious imagery and devolves into nonsense verses that bear no thematic relation to one another. Lyrics:
Brother and sister, and I tell you, / Let my people go;
I’m glad to put on de golden shoe / Let . . .
And straight to glory I will go, / Let . . .
For the Angel Gabriel told me so, / Let . . .
Chorus: Way down in Moses, Way down in Egypt’s land
Tell Old Pharaoh to let my people go.
Great big nigger on a little fence, / Let . . .
A talking to a fat nigger wench, / Let . . .
The fence it broke and dey got a fall, / Let . . .
Down come fence, nigger wench and all! / Let . . .
Chorus.
Now of good things I get the best, / Let . . .
Take my advice, young man go West! / Let . . .
A schooner of beer only cost five cents! / Let . . .
And when you get full you got no sense, / Let . . .
Chorus.
Anthologies: Jas. B. Radcliffe’s Plantation Songster (New York: Popular Publishing Co., 1879), p. 32, LC, Music Division, Dumont Collection; Olympia Quartette Songster (New York: New York Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [ca. 1881]), p. 53, LC, Music Division, Dumont Collection; The Four in Hand Songster (New York: New York Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [ca. 1882 or later]), p. 34, LC, Music Division, Dumont Collection
Lewis, Dan (black). De gospel crown (San Francisco: Sherman, Clay & Co., 1882) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1882.16653
Notes: “Respectfully dedicated to my friend, Thomas McIntosh, Esq., of Callender’s Colored Minstrels.” End song. Arranged by H. M. Bosworth. A strange song, only vaguely a commercial spiritual (the title is the closest relation to spiritual imagery).
Jerusalem Road (San Francisco: I.L.A. Broderson, 1883) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1883.16211
Notes: “The great end song.” Cover: “To Billy Kersands, of Callender’s Minstrels.” First page: “To my friend, Billy Kersands.” This strongly resembles a folk spiritual musically. There is a double verse of 16 mm (8 + 8), with 8 mm structured abab, where b is the internal refrain. The a phrases consist solely of the pitch g, with the exception of the pickup (d). The chorus retains the internal refrain. Key is g-minor. The words are the usual superficial indexing of spirituals.
Lewis, Moses cart dem melon down (Boston: White, Smith & Co., 1880) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.award/rpbaasm.0740
Notes: Although this is dated 1880, the front cover advertises the 1881 songs Mother’s request and It don’t belong to me – both of which, by the way, have illustrations of dignified blacks, not whites, as actors of these white-coded songs. This is earliest illustration of Lewis’s head on front cover. It is a dialect song modeled on the spiritual: pentatonic, with internal refrain; double verse (8 + 8. abab for each 8, with b the internal refrain).
Put on de golden shoe (Boston: Louis P. Goullaud, 1881) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1881.16368
Notes: “Dedicated to Luke Schoolcraft, with Barlow, Wilson, Primrose & West Minstrels.” A verse structure of 8 + 8; the melody strongly echoes Zip coon / Turkey in the straw (a melody Will S. Hays got a lot of mileage out of; see above). Lyrics index spirituals.
The whale got Jonah down (Boston: White, Smith & Co., 1881) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1881.07679
Notes: A comic song. This is not a typical commercial spiritual; it has a consistent narrative and there are no musical elements resembling spirituals. However it is doubtful that so many songs on the topic of Jonah would have been written without the popularization of spirituals, which were filled with stories of triumph by unlikely heroes.
Anthologies: Full score in Plantation Songs and Jubilee Hymns (Boston: White, Smith & Co., 1881), p. 52, LC, Music Division
Way over yonder (Boston & Chicago: White, Smith & Co., 1881) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1881.17921
Notes: “To Thos. H. Mack.” The front illustrates Lewis in a dignified attitude. Song and chorus. Lyrics describe going to a wedding; imagery from spirituals. A musical aspects typical of folk practice: fills (between verse and chorus: “Keep a howlin oh…”) and in chorus as well.
Little, J. De new Jerusalem nine (Boston: Louis H. Ross & Co., 1887) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.award/rpbaasm.1219
Notes: Words by George Russell. The New Jerusalem Nine refers to a baseball team; in this song, heaven is the ultimate ball field, fenced by a golden wall, where the catcher has a golden mask and the season lasts the whole year through. G major. Allegretto. Verse form: A[ab]AB[ca']A'[a''] for a total of 20 mm: Each a and b phrase is really 2½ mm long. Prosodic syncopation, gapped melody.
Anthologies (lyrics only): Songs as Sung by Chas. B. Hicks’ Minstrels, Casket of Gems no. 170 (New York: New York Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [ca. 1886]), p. 43 – as sung by Will Eldridge, with Richards & Pringle’s Georgia Minstrels; HTC, songsters
Live humble, in The Great Wesley Brothers’ Latest and Greatest Songster (New York: New York Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [ca. 1882]), p. 45; HTC, songsters
Notes: “As sung by Johnny Allen.” See also Ned Goss, Jonah in de whale. Lyrics:
Jonah he was swallowed by de whale, / He didn’t stop to take in sail,
Da lost him in de briney deep, / And inside de whale he did sleep.
Now Solomon was a mighty man, / He lived in Jerusalem,
When Jonah he woke he took his hand, / And he led him in de promised land.
Chorus: Live Humble! Humble!
Humble yourself, de bells da done ring. [both lines 2x]
Cain he was in the land of Nod; / He went out there to take his tod.
He wander’d round till he got a wife, / And he liv’d with her the rest of his life;
Now Abel was a different man, / He always lived in de promise land,
And when he saw what Jonah done, / He cut his sticks and away he run.
Chorus.
Now my friends, there was a garden once, / Where Adam lived with Eve,
Everything was lovely, / No neighbors for to thieve,
Every day was Christmas, / And they got their rations free,
And eberything belong to them / Except one apple tree.
In 1890 May Irwin sang a version of this song, included in The Boston Howard Athenaeum Star Specialty Company (New York: New York Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [1890]), p. 11, HTC, songsters:
The world was made in six days / Then they made the sky;
Then they hung it over-head, / And left it there to dry.
Then they made the stars / Out of nigger wenches eyes,
Just to give a little light / When they didn’t rise.
Chorus:
Live humble, live humble,
Humble yourself, the bells am ringing;
Live humble, live humble,
Humble yourself to the Lord.
First the made the sea, / Then they made a whale;
Then they made a raccoon / With a ring around his tail.
Old Mother Eve / Couldn’t sleep without a pillow,
And the greatest man that ever lived / Was Jack, the Giant Killer.
Like old Jonah in the bosom of the ship, / The ship began to heave,
And ship began to toss, / And Jonah thought that he was lost
Like old Jonah in the bosom of the whale, / The whale took a notion,
To swim across the ocean from land to land, / And chucked old Jonah way upon the sand.
Anthologies of “Johnny Allen” version (lyrics only): “The Two Electric Lights”: Adams & Dennee Komical Kolored Koons Songster (New York: New York Popular Publishing Co., n.d.), p. 50, HTC, songsters
Lock dat lion’s jaw, in Goss & Fox’s “Huckleberry Picnic” Songster (New York: Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [ca. 1879]), p. 16; HTC, songsters
Notes: “As originally sung by [Edward/Ned] Goss and [James] Fox.” I have no information on the composer, but it may have been Goss. The first two lines could be based on the spiritual Go chain the Lion down (see Fisk anthologies), which similarly repeats the first line twice followed by “before the heaven doors close.” The song seems to incorporate one or possibly two other songs, however. Lyrics:
We’ll lock dat lion’s jaw, [3x]
When we get on Canaan’s shore,
Little children can’t you hold on, hold on,
We’ll get home by and by,
Little children can’t you hold on, hold on,
We’ll get on Canaan’s shore, Sunday morning.
Hold your light, Monday morning,
Hold your light, Tuesday morning,
Hold your light, on Mount Calvary. [repeat these 3 lines]
We’ll hold old Jonah down, [3x]
When we get on Canaan’s shore,
Little children can’t you hold on, hold on,
We’ll get home by and by,
Little children can’t you hold on, hold on,
We’ll get on Canaan’s shore, Sunday morning.
Hold your light, Monday morning,
Hold your light, Tuesday morning,
Hold your light, on Mount Calvary. [repeat these 3 lines]
Anthologies (lyrics only): Harrigan & Hart’s “Mulligan Guard Chowder” Songster (New York: New York Popular Publishing Co., 1879), p. 29, HTC, songsters; Jas. B. Radcliffe’s Plantation Songster (New York: Popular Publishing Co., 1879), p. 31, LC, Music Division, Dumont Collection; Fayette Welsh’s Celebrated Ethiopian Songster (New York: A. J. Fisher, 1880), p. 56, HTC, songsters; The Four in Hand Songster (New York: New York Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [ca. 1882 or later]), p. 35, LC, Music Division, Dumont Collection; Thatcher, Primrose & West Songster (New York: New York Popular Publishing, n.d. [1883 or later]), p. 44, HTC, songsters
Louis, M. De camp meetin' fire bell (Philadelphia: Lee & Walker, 1880) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1880.13246
Notes: Cover: “The great end song & chorus.” Title page: “words written and adapted by A.L.” D-minor, allegretto. Verse of 8 mm with internal refrain: abab' stated twice. There are different words to the chorus for each of the 3 verses (unusual in this genre). Lyrics index spirituals; stereotypes. This is the only commercial spiritual among the 15 titles on deposit at the LC.
Anthologies (lyrics only): J. H. Haverly’s New Mastodons Minstrel Songster (New York: New York Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [1883], p. 18 – “written and sung by John Wills of the Novelty Four” (not true), HTC, songsters
Lucas, Sam (black). Carve dat possum (Boston: John F. Perry & Co, 1875) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1875.10894
Notes: “Original song and chorus by the author of the words and music, Sam Lucas, of Callender’s Original Georgia Minstrels.” Sam Lucas’s first published song. Arranged by Herbert Henry. A-minor. The tune and rhythm are that of Go down Moses. The verse sets the form that Lucas would use in most of his commercial spirituals: a double verse of 16 mm: A[ab]AAA, where a is a 2-mm call and b a 2-mm response. The 8-mm chorus is repeated.
The song was parodied by G.W.H. Griffin (arranger) and E. D. Gooding (words), of the Hamtown Students. The music was changed from a-minor to C-major, but the basic melodic contour remained the same (although the end of the chorus cadences in a-minor, like the original). The lyrics, with music, are given in The “Hamtown Students” Songster, De Witt’s Song and Joke Book Series, no. 212 (New York: Robert M. De Witt, Publisher, 1875), p. 28 (HTC, songsters):
1. You bet dis chile knows what he’s at / Carve him to de heart,
Dar’s nuffin like de possum fat / Carve him to de heart,
You give de nigger all he wish / Carve him to de heart,
He’s satisfied wit de possum dish / Carve him to de heart.
Chorus: Carve dat possum, carve dat possum honey,
Carve dat possum, carve him to de heart.
2. Yer talk about yer quail on toast / Carve . . .
’Taint nuffin’ to de possum roast / Carve . . .
De mat am ’liscious, clean and pure, / Carve . . .
Watch him close, he fool yer sure.
3. De possum he’s a cunnin’ bird / Carve . . .
Mind I tole yer, take my word / Carve . . .
Eat plenty possum ’fore you die, / Carve . . .
Cotch him fust, he’s mighty sly, / Carve . . .
Anthologies with Lucas composition: Callender’s Georgia Minstrels Songster (San Francisco: printed at the office of Francis & Valentine, 1878), p. 48 – sung by Neal Moore, HTC, songsters; Haverly’s Genuine Colored Minstrels’ Songster (New York: New-York Popular Publishing Co., 1879), p. 7, LC, Music Division, Dumont Collection; Sam Lucas’ Plantation Songster (Boston: White, Smith & Co., n.d.[ca. 1879]), p. 11, HTC, songsters; James Bland’s “Golden Wedding” Songster (New York: N. Y. Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [ca. 1880]), p. 32, LC, Music Division, Dumont Collection; Olympia Quartette Songster (New York: New York Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [ca. 1881]), p. 29 – sung by Neal Moore, LC, Music Division, Dumont Collection; Callender’s Original Colored Minstrel Songster (New York: New York Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [1882]), p. 4 – sung by Neal Moore, LC, Music Division, Dumont Collection; McIntyre and Heath’s “Scenes on the Mississippi” Songster (New York: N.Y. Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [ca. 1882]), p. 27 – sung by Neal Moore; LC, Music Division, Dumont Collection
Anthologies with parody: Sol Smith Russell’s “Jeremy Jolly Boy” Comic Songster (New York: Robert M. De Witt, 1876), p. 168 (HTC, songsters)
Recordings: Recorded April 1917 by Harry C. Browne, with Peerless Quartet, Early Minstrel Songs Recorded 1916–1923 (BACM 076). Recorded 1927 by Uncle Dave Macon; available in several reissues, e.g., Keep My Skillet: The Complete Recordings (Bear Family, 2004). Browne performs the Lucas song, but Macon’s version is recognizable as the “same” song only by the theme, internal refrain and the chorus: The melodic contour, lyrics, and key (major) all differ.
Children I’m gwine to shine (Boston: White, Smith & Co., 1881)
Notes: Digitized sheet music not available. Full score was published in the songster Plantation Songs and Jubilee Hymns (Boston: White, Smith & Co., 1881), which was issued in hard- and soft-cover editions (at NYPL, Lincoln Center; LC, Music Division). “Written expressly for Williams & Sully.” Billy Williams and William J. Sully (Sullivan) were a duo from 1876 to about 1887; they specialized in camp meeting melodies in their variety act. F major. Andante. The song has several folk elements: flatted 7th in chorus; prosodic syncopation; repetitive verse of 16 mm (abcb' a'bcb', where each letter represents a 2-mm phrase). The andante tempo, and the lack of comic lyrics and a dance section, suggest a concert rather than a comic aesthetic.
Anthologies (lyrics only unless otherwise noted): Full score in Plantation Songs and Jubilee Hymns (Boston: White, Smith & Co., 1881), p. 35, LC, Music Division; Sheffer & Blakely’s “New Coon Done Gone” Songster (New York: Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [ca. 1886]), p. 10 – as sung by Billy Burke, with Moulton & Johnson’s Minstrels, HTC, songsters
De gospel cars (Boston: G. D. Russell, 1880) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1880.13847
Notes: “To Ed. Marble, of the Tile Club.” Definite folk flavor: Verse and chorus begin in a-minor but cadence in d-minor without returning to home key; verse is 8 + 8 with internal refrains; prosodic syncopation; the words sound like a spiritual and follow the content (and use some phrases) from the first 3 vv of Gospel train (as sung by the Fisk Jubilee Singers).
An apparent contrafactum of Lucas’s song was Angels bid you come (which is the internal refrain of De gospel cars); it is found in Harrigan and Hart’s “Mulligan Guard’s Surprise” Songster (New York: Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [ca. 1880]), p. 18 (HTC, songsters), with the credit line “written and composed by Bobby Kirk” and “end song.” The lyrics are:
As I was crossing o’er de fields, / Angels bid you come;
A rattlesnake bit me on de heel, / Angels bid you come;
I went home and laid on de shed, / Angels bid you come;
When all dem niggers dey thought I was dead, / Angels bid you come.
Chorus: Den won’t you come children? [3x]
Yes, yes, yes.
Never kiss a yaller girl, I’ll tell you why, / Angels bid you come;
Her nose is always runnin’, and her lips are never dry, / Angels bid you come.
[repeat these two lines]
This song is also found in Cool Burgess’ “In the Morning by the Bright Light” Songster (New York: New York Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [1880 or later]), p. 12, HTC, songsters; Olympia Quartette Songster (New York: New York Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [ca. 1881]), p. 14, LC, Music Division, Dumont Collection; and J. H. Haverly’s New Mastodons Minstrel Songster (New York: New York Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [1883], p. 13, HTC, songsters
De ole ship ob Zion (Boston: J. M. Russell, 1881) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.award/rpbaasm.1240
Notes: This was issued in two different editions (with different covers); the second is at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.award/rpbaasm.1239. [No relation other than title to The old ship of Zion by Rev. J. L. Gregg (Cincinnati: Church & Co., John, 1876) at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1876.10971] In a-minor, prosodic syncopation; continuous cadence from verse into chorus, chorus is pentatonic, verse is 8 + 8 with internal refrain. The first two vv sound like a folk spiritual, only the third verse sounds commercial (“Let’s stop a moment befo’ we go . . . Tro out a plank gib de sinners a show”).
De young lambs must find de way (Boston: G. D. Russell, 1880) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1880.11963
Notes: “To the Clipper Quartette with the New Orleans Minstrels” (white performers). Eb major. The words (especially the chorus) borrow from the traditional spiritual De ole sheep done know de road (see, Armstrong and Ludlow, Hampton and Its Students, 1874). Double verse of AAAA, where A is 2mm solo + 2mm response (internal refrain). Chorus is 8 mm, concluding with internal refrain. Gapped scale, prosodic syncopation.
Dem golden shoes (Boston: Thompson & Odell, 1881) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1881.12677
Notes: Banjo version (1882) at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1882.04921. Harry Davis also wrote Dem golden shoes (see above), but different tune/words. D major, allegro. This does not follow in the folk mold of most of Lucas’s commercial spirituals; there is less repetition in the form. Verse is 16 mm: A[aa'ab] B[ca''ab], 8-mm chorus. Prosodic syncopation, one fermata.
Dem silver slippers (Boston: White, Smith & Co., 1879) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1879.11282
Notes: “To Thos. McIntosh” (a comedian with Callender’s Georgia Minstrels). Answer song to James Bland’s “Oh, Dem Golden Slippers.” C-minor. This song describes a camp meeting in the wilderness; Aunt Jemima “gets happy” and sings the chorus (about putting on silver slippers). Double verse: A[ab]A'[ac] + AA' (16 mm). Chorus 1: a'b'a'c (8 mm.). Chorus 2 (sung only after last verse): Begins in relative major but ends in c-minor. Gapped melody. This song borrows the verse melody from Nobody knows the trouble I see, Lord! as printed in the Fisk anthologies (compare the first 4 mm. of Lucas’s song); the 2nd chorus borrows the phrase “Gwine to ride up in the chariot sooner in the morning” from the spiritual of the same title as sung by the Fisks.
Anthologies (lyrics only unless otherwise stated): Harrigan & Hart’s “Mulligan Guard’s Christmas” Songster (New York: New York Popular Publishing Co., 1879), p. 44, HTC, songsters; James Bland’s “Golden Wedding” Songster (New York: N. Y. Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [ca. 1880]), p. 35, LC, Music Division, Dumont Collection; Birch and Backus’ Songs of the San Francisco Minstrels, no. 20, ed. Frank Dumont (New York: De Witt Publishing House, 1881), p. 53, HTC, songsters; Olympia Quartette Songster (New York: New York Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [ca. 1881]), p. 33, LC, Music Division, Dumont Collection; full score in Plantation Songs and Jubilee Hymns (Boston: White, Smith & Co., 1881), p. 74, LC, Music Division; J. H. Haverly’s New Mastodons Minstrel Songster (New York: New York Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [1883], p. 34, HTC, songsters; Sam Lucas’s World-Renowned Songs [broadside], 1885, LC, Music Division, Dumont Collection
Down by de sunrise (Boston: White, Smith & Co., 1884) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1884.23437
Notes: Tempo di schottische. F-major. Very repetitive double verse with internal refrains: AAAA, where A is comprised of a 2-measure solo and 4-mm response (internal refrain), for a total of 24 (asymmetrically phrased) mm. The chorus is 4 + 4 (to be repeated), with the second 4 being the internal refrain. Flatted 7th in the chorus. Although the lyrics index spirituals, there is comical secular content as well. Goss and Fox include a parody of this song in their Medley of hymns; see Goss, Ned.
Every day’l be Sunday by and by (Boston: White, Smith & Co., 1881) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1881.14723
Notes: See John Rutledge, Ev’ry day gwine to be Sunday (1879). The phrase was in everyday currency at the time. Typographical cover, headed: “The world-renowned Sam Lucas’ songs, as sung by him with great success.” Definite folk model: repetitive verse (abababab, where each letter stands for 1 measure; b is the internal refrain). Melisma in chorus.
Anthologies (lyrics only): Sam Lucas’s World-Renowned Songs [broadside], 1885, LC, Music Division, Dumont Collection; Nick Roberts-Gardner 2-Ring Circus Songster (printed by Merchant’s Gargling Oil Co., Lockport, NY, n.d., p. 13; Wehman Bros.’ Good Old-Time Songs, no. 2 (New York: Wehman Bros, 1910), p. 21, HTC, songsters
Recordings: The Standard Quartette, The Earliest Negro Vocal Groups, vol. 2 (Document Records DOCD-5288), originally recorded on cylinder for Columbia ca. 1894/95.
I done got rid of my burden (Boston: Thompson & Odell, 1881) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1881.12750
Notes: D major. Asymmetrical phrase structure of 2 + 4 (the 4 being the internal refrain), stated 4 times for a total of 24 mm in the verse. The chorus is 4 + 4, but the text setting is awkward. Gapped scale. Words contain no stereotypes but a mix of images: starry crown tipped with gold; eating honey from the gospel bowl; old ship of Zion; git on board, etc.
I’se gwine in de valley (Boston: White, Smith & Co., 1879) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1879.12026
Notes: Borrows from Go down, Moses lyrically, and even the initial upward leap of a (major) 6th in the opening melody is reminiscent of the traditional spiritual. The words are respectful. Verse is 4 + 4 with internal refrains: A[a,b]A'[a,b'] AA' (8 mm.)
Chorus: B[b, c]B'[b, c']BB' (16 mm.).
A commercial spiritual called Meeting in the promised land seems to lift Lucas’s refrain; the verses could be made to fit the verse melody, but not as comfortably. The lyrics follow; it appears in Cool Burgess’ “In the Morning by the Bright Light” Songster (New York: New York Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [1880 or later]), p. 39, HTC, songsters, as sung by Tom Granger:
There’s gwine to be a meeting in de promised land, / Meeting in the promised land,
Where all colored children join the band, / Meeting in . . .
We’ll be at the fort when the people passes through, / Meeting in . . .
If a Christian he will meet you with a how de do, / Meeting in . . .
Chorus:
O, my, down in the valley for to serve my lord,
O, my, down in the valley for to pray,
O, my, down in the valley for to serve my lord,
O, my, down in the valley for to pray.
Poor Uncle Pete am a buried in the ground, / Meeting in . . .
Better friend to the colored folks never could be found, / Meeting in . . .
There’s one word what I heard the preacher man say, / Meeting in . . .
Be sure you’re right, then go ahead, / Meeting in . . .
This parody appears in J. H. Haverly’s New Mastodons Minstrel Songster (New York: New York Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [1883], p. 51, HTC, songsters.
Anthologies: Lyrics only in Sam Lucas’ Plantation Songster (Boston: White, Smith & Co., n.d. [ca. 1879]), p. 15, HTC, songsters; full score in Plantation Songs and Jubilee Hymns (Boston: White, Smith & Co., 1881), p. 68, LC, Music Division
Meet me at de sunrise in de morning (Boston: White, Smith, & Co., 1881) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1881.11941
Notes: “To Johnny Mack, of I. W. Beard’s Minstrels.” Allegretto. E-minor. The words mix phrases from Swing low, sweet chariot (v. 2: Look way over yonder what do I see . . . Dar’s a band of little angels lookin’ at me”) with a secular description of a social. E-minor, verse structure is 4 + 4 + 4 + 4, with each identical 4-measure phrase made up of a and b (b is the internal refrain). The chorus is 4 mm (the last 2 of which are internal refrain).
Anthologies: Full score in Plantation Songs and Jubilee Hymns (Boston: White, Smith & Co., 1881), p. 62, LC, Music Division
Oh, I’ll meet you dar (Boston: White, Smith & Co., 1880) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1880.17549
Notes: Cover: Sung by Lotta (i.e., Charlotte Crabree, white entertainer). Lucas’s song appears in I’ll meet you dar, medley and quadrille for orchestra, opus 92 (Boston: Catlin, E. N., 1880): http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1881.11167. The same orchestral score was published the next year as I’ll meet you dar, medley and quadrille for orchestra by E. N. Catlin, op. 92 (Boston: Thompson & Odell, 1881): http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1881.11167. Catlin was Musical Director at the Park Theatre in Boston. The medley included two Lucas songs: Talk about your Moses and I’ll meet you dar.
Ab major. Allegro. Deviates in form from other Lucas songs with internal refrain: Verse: A[a,b]B[a',b'] A[a,b]B[a',b'] Chorus: C[c,d]C'[c,b]. Internal refrain appears in chorus only at conclusion. Verse almost seems as if it will modulate to Bb minor, but a sudden Eb7 chord accomplishes a return to Ab major in the chorus. Nonetheless, harmonically this exhibits the same strangeness found in De gospel cars. The lyrics to verse 1 and the chorus tell of having a jubilee (hence: “Oh, I’ll meet you there”), although verses 2 and 3 focus on getting to heaven and are almost worthy of a traditional spiritual (except for the comic element of a hornet’s nest in v. 2).
Ned Goss “wrote” a version of this song, which he performed with his partner Jim Fox – they were a blackface song-and-dance team who performed with, among others, Simmons, Slocum, and Sweatnam’s Minstrels (1878) and Harrigan and Hart’s company in New York. Note the changes in wording (Lucas is roman, Goss italic):
Go an tell all de people around de town, “Oh! I’ll meet you dar.”
Go tell all the white folks in the town, . . .
Go an tell all de people for miles around
Go tell all the colored folk for miles around, “Oh…”
Dat we’re going to have a jubilee down on de green, “Oh…”
Go tell 'em dat we’re gwine to have a grand jubilee, “Oh…”
Whar all de colored people dey will be dar, “Oh . . .”
Dat de old man has come, and happy we will be, “Oh…”
Goss’s second verse deviates from Lucas’s completely with extremely offensive words: “Away over yonder on the horse shoe bend . . . Yonder comes a gun boat, full of nigger men . . . There’s meat upon the turkey, and there’s marrow in the bone . . . Jus show me a yellow gal, and I will see her home” (Ennis and Boniface’s Sensible Park Songster, New York: A. J. Fisher, 1879, p. 39; Harvard Theatre Collection, songsters). Lucas is not credited in the songster, but then again his sheet music was not published until 1880. Lucas was performing this song in 1879, however and it most likely predates Goss’s, which was never published as sheet music. Goss included this in his Medley of hymns.
Anthologies (lyrics only) of Lucas’s song: Sam Lucas’s World-Renowned Songs [broadside], 1885, LC, Music Division, Dumont Collection; Nick Roberts-Gardner 2-Ring Circus Songster (printed by Merchant’s Gargling Oil Co., Lockport, NY, n.d., p. 18
Anthologies (lyrics only) of Goss’s parody: Goss & Fox’s “Huckleberry Picnic” Songster (New York: Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [ca. 1879]), p. 12, HTC, songsters;
Harrigan & Hart’s “Mulligan Guard Chowder” Songster (New York: A. J. Fisher, 1879), p. 28, HTC, songsters; Bobby Newcomb’s “Pretty as a Butterfly” Songster (Pittsburgh: American Publishing Co., 1881), p. 54, HTC, songsters; Miss Clara Moore’s “Shamrocks, Thistle and Stars” Songster (Pittsburgh: American Publishing Co., n.d.), p. 46, HTC, songsters.
Ole Nicker Demus, “De ruler ob de Jews” (Boston: J. M. Russell, 1881) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1881.13935
Notes: A song that is not quite in the folk mold of most of Lucas’s commercial spirituals. Form of the verse (every letter represents 1 mm): abab' dea'f b'g (4 + 4 + 2), asymmetrical. The words extol the black man, although it is hard to reconcile praise of the “darkey” for his loyalty, dressing and feeding the white man, with praise for Nickodemus as leader of the Jews.
On de banks by de ribber side (Boston: White, Smith & Co., 1881) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1881.11784
Notes: F major. Lively. Internal refrain; this one is marked explicitly as “Solo” and “Unison Chorus” on the response. Odd text setting in m. 1 that counters prosody of words. Gapped scale predominates in melodic contour. Form of verse: A [abcb'] + A (4 + 4 mm.); chorus is 4 [cd] + 4 [cb'] mm. Song about the past, and best day of the week: Sunday. Hear the preacher, climb the steeple, see the angels’ wings flappin’ from that height. Soon I’ll go back [home] again.
Put on my long white robe (Detroit: C. J. Whitney, 1879) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1879.12590
Notes: “To James Bland.” A major. Allegro moderato. Form: Intro-Verse-Chorus-Dance. Double verse of 16 mm: A[a,b]A'[a,c] AA'[a,d]. Chorus: B[a'e]B'[a'd]. There is an internal refrain, although it is used less extensively than Lucas’s other songs: twice in verse, not at all in chorus. Lyrics index spirituals – long white robe; gates of the golden city; gospel trumpet; shouting; pearly gate. Whereas the verse lyrics sound commercial, the chorus lyrics sound traditional. The fermata at start of chorus is the kind of expressive devise the jubilee groups used. Continuous cadence from verse to chorus.
Anthologies (lyrics only unless otherwise noted): Harrigan & Hart’s “Mulligan Guard’s Christmas” Songster (New York: New York Popular Publishing Co., 1879), p. 46, HTC, songsters; Frank Lawton’s “Little Nigs” Songster (New York: New York Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [ca. 1880]), p. 50, HTC, songsters; Cool Burgess’ “In the Morning by the Bright Light” Songster (New York: New York Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [1880 or later]), p. 47, HTC, songsters; Birch and Backus’ Songs of the San Francisco Minstrels, no. 20, ed. Frank Dumont (New York: De Witt Publishing House, 1881), p. 56, HTC, songsters; Olympia Quartette Songster (New York: New York Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [ca. 1881]), p. 60, LC, Music Division, Dumont Collection; full score in Plantation Songs and Jubilee Hymns (Boston: White, Smith & Co., 1881), p. 125, LC, Music Division; The Four in Hand Songster (New York: New York Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [ca. 1882 or later]), p. 41, LC, Music Division, Dumont Collection; J. H. Haverly’s New Mastodons Minstrel Songster (New York: New York Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [1883], p. 54, HTC, songsters; Flora Moore’s “Bunch of Keys” Songster (New York: N.Y. Publishing Co., n.d. [1884 or later]), p. 37, HTC, songsters
Notes: Jacob J. Sawyer published Gwine to ring dem hebenly bells the same year (Cleveland: S. Brainard’s Sons, 1883; see below), with words by Sam Lucas. In fact, these two songs are almost the same. The words are identical, as is the melody of the chorus. Lucas does his usual double verse form of 16 mm: A[ab]B[cd] AB (where b and c are internal refrains with the same words but different tunes). Sawyer, the more experienced musician, devises a more complex form, briefly modulating in the verse to relative minor. The penultimate measure of Lucas’s chorus sets the text poorly; this mistake is not made by Sawyer.
Talk about your Moses (Boston: White, Smith & Co., 1880) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1880.12324
Notes: “Camp meeting hymn.” “To Joe Lang.” White, Smith published a version the same year for guitar and voice arranged by W. L. Hayden (with an incorrect time signature of 4/4 instead of 2/4): http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1880.15991. Lucas’s song also leant its name to a schottische by George Thorne (White, Smith, 1880), consisting of these songs: Which road you going to take? [see Frank Dumont, Which road is you gwine to take? 1880]; Send the boys home, Susan [E. H. Packard, 1879]; and Talk about your Moses:http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1880.14946. Moses is the one song in the trio that is not presented as a schottische.
Double verse of 8 + 8: A[a,b]A'[a, b']AA' Chorus: C[c, b'']A''[a'b'] ; the chorus has concert effects like those found in Fisk Jubilee songs: punctuating rests, hums, fermatas, dynamic contrast. The tempo is marked “moderato, maestoso.” The words are respectful; one could definitely interpret this as a traditional spiritual given the right kind of performance (although the front cover proclaims “the great end song and chorus”).
J. W. Harrington wrote a song called Oh, my! Talk about Peter, in The Great Wesley Brothers’ Latest and Greatest Songster (New York: New York Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [ca. 1882]), p. 53; HTC, songsters: “Written and sung with big success by J. W. Harrington at the Grand Central Theater, Philadelphia, Pa.” The title strongly suggests that this is a burlesque on Sam Lucas’s popular commercial spiritual Talk about your Moses, the lyrics fit the rhythm of the Lucas tune, and the internal refrains match (Lucas uses two: glory in my soul / glory hallelujah; Harrington uses one: glory in my soul). The free association of lyrics in the chorus is minstrelsy at its silliest:
Cow-catcher in front, cowcatcher [sic] behind, / Glory in my soul;
I went down fishing and loose my line, / Glory in my soul;
I t’rowed my line down in de bog, / Glory in my soul;
And I pulled right out with a great bull-frog, / Glory in my soul.
Chorus.
Oh, my! talk about Peter, / Glory in my soul;
Peter, Peter, pumpkin-eater,
Had a wife and couldn’t keep her, / Glory in my soul.
De golden crown am gwine to shine, / Glory in my soul;
Come ’long, hurry up, get dere in time, / Glory in my soul;
De white man and black one all de same, / Glory in my soul;
’Cause dey don’ ask your color when dey call your name. / Glory in my soul.
Anthologies: Full score in Plantation Songs and Jubilee Hymns (Boston: White, Smith & Co., 1881), p. 16, LC, Music Division
What kind of shoes you gwine to wear (Boston: White, Smith & Co., 1881) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1881.14693
Notes: See also the spiritual What kind of shoes you going to wear? (1880), listed below under Traditional Spirituals. “Sung with great success by the Minstrels” (first page of music). Begins in A minor, ends in relative major (the sheet music of the traditional spiritual is in Ab major). Lyrics relate to O dem golden slippers (1879, see James Bland) as well as the traditional spiritual. Notated call and response: solo call of 2 mm, response of 2 mm. This exchange happens twice, then a 4-measure phrase ends it: 4 + 4 + 4, for an asymmetrical 12-mm verse. The traditional spiritual is 4 + 4 (Lucas elongates the choral responses, which accounts for his longer form). Chorus: 4 + 4, with words that resemble those of the traditional spiritual, plus an identical melody – which happens to be the same as Joseph Eastburn Winner’s 1869 chorus in Little brown jug. The lyrics could come straight from a traditional spiritual.
When we meet in the sweet bye and bye (Boston: White, Smith & Co., 1879) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1879.12262
Notes: Dedicated to James Grace. Allegro. Bb major. Form: Intro-Verse-Chorus-Coda Verse: A (4mm) A (4mm) Chorus: phrase structure is 4 + 4 with solo call. The melody is gapped and there is a continuous cadence between the verse and chorus. The lyrics mix spiritual and secular imagery (“good darkeys”).
Bill Banks, of Haverly’s [Black] Minstrels, sang Lucas’s song with his own newly composed verses but Lucas’s chorus intact. Note that his first line comes from another Lucas commercial spiritual, Down by the sunrise. Banks’s verses are: (1) Oh, brothers what’s dis noise about? I know it by your full turn out – I can no longer with you dwell, So I will bid you a long farewell. (2) I say dis now to one and all; so when we come, now you must call, Rise up, brethren, we will sing, and won’t we make de welkin ring” (Haverly’s Minstrels, Official libretto for the National Standard Theatre, London, England, Nov. 1881; HTC, songsters).
Harry Woodson and Laura Bennett (white) also sang this song, but changed the first verse slightly: “I’m gwine for to sing a little song, / I hope it won’t detain you long,
It’s all about that happy home / That am the place where the colored man’s gone.” In Sheffer & Blakely’s “New Coon Done Gone” Songster (New York: N. Y. Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [1886 or later]), p. 25; HTC, songsters.
Billy Wa—s [name in songster illegible] sang a song that began with the following verse, which alternates lines from Lucas’s v. 1 with a refrain that refers to Heiser/Rosenfeld’s Climbing up de golden stairs:
Oh, now I’m gwine to sing a song,
Gwine up on de golden stairs;
If you will listen it won’t be long,
Gwine up on de golden stairs;
’Tis about dat bright and happy land,
Gwine up on de golden stairs;
Where all good darkies may be found,
Gwine up on de golden stairs.
The rest of the song borrows from Pete Devonear’s Dar’s a meeting here tonight. This can be found in J. H. Haverly’s New Mastodons Minstrel Songster (New York: New York Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [1883], p. 17, HTC, songsters.
Anthologies: Lyrics only in Jas. B. Radcliffe’s Plantation Songster (New York: Popular Publishing Co., 1879), p. 44, LC, Music Division, Dumont Collection; full score in Plantation Songs and Jubilee Hymns (Boston: White, Smith & Co., 1881), p. 109, LC, Music Division
Lyons, Fred (black). Down on de camp ground (Boston: Thompson & Odell, 1882) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1882.04920
Notes: Advertised on front cover as a comic song; arranged for the banjo by S. S. Stewart (white). Folk style: begins in minor, chorus in major; verse has internal refrain; about shouting at a camp meeting. Lyrical content of verses very similar to Great day… (see next).
Great day in de morning (New York: J. N. Pattison, 1881) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1881.17218
Notes: Jubilee song, illustration of Lyons on cover. This song seems to borrow from the spiritual Great day, in which the words “great day” are sung an octave above the keynote at the beginning of the measure, just as in Lyons’s song; also the words from the spiritual “this is the day of jubilee” begins Lyons’s first verse: “Dar’s gwine to be a jubilee.” Verse is pentatonic. Refrain is of a different character: homophonic, even rhythm, hymnlike. (See his Hail dat gospel tug; this may be a stylistic preference of Lyons.)
Hail dat gospel tug (Boston: Thompson & Odell, 1882) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1882.04922
Notes: Dedicated to Billy Kersands. The verse is 8 mm of aa'ab, where b is the internal refrain and each letter consists of 2 mm; the verse consists of 2 statements. The chorus sounds like a hymn, with slower rhythms and homophonic harmony. I would relate this more to influence of gospel hymns than spirituals.
I must go (Boston: Perry, John F., 1880) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1880.04420
Notes: “Cover: “Plantation song and chorus”; first page: Jubilee end song and chorus.” Internal refrain. Verse structure: abab' (this is repeated); a and b are each 2 mm and b is the internal refrain. Refrain uses fills (“den, den, den” and “my Lord”) in the style of folk practice. Pentatonic melody.
Anthologies (lyrics only): Barlow, Wilson, Primrose & West’s New Minstrel Songster (New York: New York Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [ca. 1880]), p. 6 – sung by Barlow, Wilson, Primrose & West’s Minstrels, HTC, songsters; James Bland’s “Golden Wedding” Songster (New York: N. Y. Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [ca. 1880]), p. 25 – as sung by Barlow, Wilson, Primrose & West’s Minstrels, LC, Music Division, Dumont Collection
Rise, my brothers, rise (Boston: John F. Perry & Co., 1880) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1880.11348
Notes: End song with chorus. Pentatonic, with internal refrain; textual allusion to spirituals. Lyons seems fond of jumping up to a high note; he does this at end on the word “sunrise” and places a fermata there.
Swinging on de golden gate (New York: Richard A. Saalfield, 1882) http://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/ (search by title)
Notes: F major. Lyrics index spirituals (and the chorus resembles the chorus of Dave Braham’s popular 1881 Dip me in the golden sea in the first 2 mm), with theme of crossing to heaven.
In 1884 White, Smith & Co., published Swinging on the golden gate by Charles Mansell; the words are identical to those of Lyons, and the tune is the same, with small variations. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1884.17671. Mansell was an end man and comedian with Duprez & Benedict’s Minstrels. Cover: “Dedicated to my friend, Geo. Edwards.” Arr. for piano by Chas. D. Blake. It is in the same key as Lyons’s song. Neither sheet music edition acknowledges the other composer. See also discussion in Abbott & Seroff, Out of Sight, 344–45.
We'll gather on the old camp ground (W. F. Shaw, 1884) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1884.17232
Notes: Cover calls this “Original Jubilee Song.” This has more in common with gospel hymnody than spirituals; has internal refrain, tells a consistent narrative about gathering for a camp meeting, and there are no black stereotypes – indeed, there’s a sense of pride: “And while de white folks stand and look, We’ll gather on the old camp ground” (v. 2).
When am you gwine (Boston: Thompson & Odell, 1880) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1880.17122
Notes: Arranged by F. Louis. Cover: “Plantation and end songs / Sung by Haverly’s Georgia Minstrels.” Banjo version at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1882.04919
The initial melody is a rising contour landing on high F (see other songs with similar motives); pentatonic; lyrics index spirituals (camp meetings). Verse includes breaks with spoken patter notated.
When I swim de golden ribber (San Antonio: Thos. Goggan, 1885) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1885.25625
Notes: The first verse is interesting for its equation of education crossing over in to higher social status (metaphorically swimming the golden river); the remaining two verses are more conventional and confined to religious imagery. Verse is pentatonic in 16 measures, but the second half is in relative minor – a new twist for a Lyons song. Lyrics index spirituals.
A different version of Lyons’s commercial spiritual appears in Jas. B. Mackie’s “Grimes’ Cellar Door” Songster (New York: Benedict Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [ca. 1891]), HTC, as sung by Samuel H. Speck, who was also a composer. The lyrics are clearly Lyons’s, but he is not credited. The differences between Lyons’s and Speck’s words are minimal (most slight rearrangement of phrases) until the end of the second verse:
Lyons: I’ll look like a lily and I’ll knock de people silly . . .
Speck: I know I am a lily, and I’ll knock you white folks silly . . .
When we gather in de gospel tent (New York: T. B. Harms, 1883) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1883.24703
Notes: A camp meeting–style song about gathering in the gospel tent. Verse in e-minor, but avoids the direct repetition of earlier songs; refrain in major. Verse 2 mentions “Brudder Gardner will be dar from the famous Lime-Kill Club, / That will be the very finest compliment.” [sic]
Anthologies: Full score in Thatcher, Primrose and West’s Minstrel Songs; A Collection of Old and New Jubilee and Minstrel songs (New-York: T. B. Harms, 1887), p. 31, UIUC Special Collections
When the big bell rings (New York: Frederick Blume, 1881) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1881.12760
Notes: “Jubilee.” “Sung with great success by Tom McIntosh. Internal refrain. Largely pentatonic verse; fill (“yes, yes, yes”) between verse and chorus. Lyrics index spirituals.
Maas, James (white). Sunlight of my soul (Boston: Perry & Co., John F., 1877) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1877.07673
Notes: Cover: “To my friend John Stetson Esq. of the Howard Atheneum.” This is labeled a musical dialogue. Title page: Arr. by J.H.W. Moderato. F-minor. An odd song. The “introductory song” is a commercial spiritual with nonsense words about going to heaven (“Gabr’el on a hickory tree, Hist up your attic windows…”), using an internal refrain and a chorus. There is a modulation to F, and a slower song follows that is a love dialogue between Rosy and Pete.
Major, Geo. W. (white) Climb de golden stair (New York: C. H. Ditson & Co., 1883) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1883.00499
Notes: Cover: “Shouting jubilee song & chorus.” A commercial spiritual of a different order among white composers. The words avoid disparaging blacks; there is dialect, but no lyrics that would be out of place in a camp meeting hymn. The music displays unusual folk characteristics: Besides the ubiquitous internal refrain, there’s a grace note on the word “shout” that not only paints the word but suggests a slide; this flexible approach to pitch is suggested by the slur connecting the two notes on which “lamb” is sung (and see the short roll in piano accompaniment, chorus). The chorus is in gospel hymn style, with the basses doing an echo response in first 2 mm; also note the fill (“hallelujah –lujah”) and, in the last measure the bass “ha-la-lu”). An unusually finely crafted song for this genre.
De gospel bells am sounding (Chicago: National Music Co., 1885) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1885.28316
Notes: Cover: “As sung by George Gorman of Haverly’s Minstrels” [white troupe]. Another well-crafted song, with innocuous lyrics. The two pitches on the first syllable of “sounding” give a folk flavor (melisma? slide?). Also, the song begins with the chorus – the way a spiritual would in folk performance. The first half of the chorus (m. 8) cadences on ii rather than V, also unusual (modal). Chorus ends in relative minor, and solo of verse continues in minor, using call and response (no harmony). Note end of verse: the soloist ends it. Also use of fermata (concert effect).
I’se so glad (Saint Joseph: Huyett Bros., 1883) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1883.07847
Notes: Cover: “Erected to Haverly’s Consolidated Mastodon Minstrels of the United States.” Jubilee song & chorus. Another well-crafted song with lyrics that sound as though they come from a camp-meeting hymn. The first tempo is marked “slow with feeling” – another unusual characterist, for usually jubilee songs by whites are lively, comic dance numbers. Also, the solo is marked soft, the choral response forte. The chorus picks up the tempo: “quicker with spirit.” Use of fill in chorus. Also, note syncopation on “good news.” The chorus seems to have 2 parts; the second begins with “Oh I’se so glad.” Note grace notes that indicate a shout, and the fills. There are 2 spirituals called I’m so glad, but this song resembles neither.
Oh! Dat preacher (Saint Joseph: Huyett Bros., 1883)
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1883.06307
Notes: “A minstrel end song.” Dedicated to Col. “Bob” Ingersoll. This uses internal refrain and graces, but the words are pure minstrelsy. The first verse is about “Brudder Gardner,” the leader of the fictional Lime Kiln Club (see Fred Lewis, who wrote 4 songs about Gardner).
Mansell, Chas. (white). Swinging on the golden gate (Boston: White, Smith & Co., 1884) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1884.17671
Notes: Cover: “Dedicated to my friend Geo. Edwards. Written, composed & sung by Chas. Mansell, with Duprez & Benedict’s Minstrels.” Mansell was endman with the troupe; the music was arranged for piano by Chas. D. Blake (title page). Moderato. F major. See notes to Fred Lyons, Swinging on the golden gate.
Markham, F. W. (white). Put on the golden shoes, in Sheffer & Blakely’s “New Coon Done Gone” Songster (New York: N. Y. Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [1886 or later]), p. 31; HTC, songsters
Notes: “Written and composed by F. W. Markham, and sung by Markham & Goldie with great success, with the California Minstrels.” Lyrics:
Where have you been since I been gone? / For to put on the golden shoes
I went away but I didn’t stay long, / For to put on the golden shoes.
How was all them people there? / When you put on the golden shoes.
Oh, they were well, I do declare, / And they put on the golden shoes.
Chorus:
And we’ll put on the golden shoes,
Put on the golden shoes,
I’ll tell you what to do
When you get up in the pew,
Put on the golden shoes.
Give me a hook, and give me a pole, / And put on the golden shoes.
On yonder shore I’ll fish for gold, / To put on the golden shoes.
I’ll fish away and fish for more, / And put on the golden shoes.
When I get tired I’ll sleep and snore, / When I put on the golden shoes.
Marshall, Bertha C. Jine de ban' (New York: Phelps Music Co., 1896) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.award/rpbaasm.0801
Notes: Cover: “Plantation melody. Words by Henry Denver.” Theme is joining the band that is traveling on the boat to heaven. Molto allegro. F major. Uses prosodic syncopation, internal refrains; the chorus is a gapped melody. The harmonies reflect the later time period in shift briefly from major to minor and back, and using V/V harmony.
Martyn, Frank L. (white). Contraband children (New York: C. H. Ditson & Co., 1872) http://hdl.loc.gov.music/sm1872.13898
Notes: Words by [T.M.] Hengler. “An echo from the old plantation. As sung with immense success by Delehanty and Hengler.” Dedicated to Miss Madonna May. Martyn was an orchestra leader in variety halls (Clipper of 15 July 1871, “Variety Halls,” notes that he was leading the orchestra at Shelby’s Comique in Buffalo, NY, and had just married Miss Carrie Avery on 25 June).
Pentatonic, internal refrain. Indexes spirituals: “sweet chariots,” “golden crown,” but also stereotypes: “[mo]Lasses now is pouring down,” “children cut de pidgeon wing.” This is one of the earliest commercial spirituals. This is the only song of its type among Martyn’s 12 on deposit at the LC, though he seems to have written at least 4 that aren’t there; also arr. 2 at beginning of career. Frank Dumont suggests this song was part of a different trend: “Early in the Civil War, General Ben Butler coined a new word for the minstrels, which proved both funny and of interest. To all the Negro refugees who were flocking to Fortress Monroe, having escaped from their masters, he applied the term, ‘Contrabands of War.’ The papers took up the phrase, and in fact everybody talked about it, and the word ‘Contraband’ crept into our conversation. The minstrels were quick to attach the word to songs, nigger acts and speeches. ‘The Happy Contraband,’ ‘Contraband From Dixie,’ ‘Contraband’s Lament,’ ‘Contraband Children,’ ‘Contraband’s Adventures’ and ‘Contraband Brothers’ appeared on all programs, and furnished subjects for all kinds of songs and dances” (“The Younger Generation in Minstrelsy and Reminiscences of the Past,” New York Clipper, 27 March 1915).
The song can also be found in The Luke Schoolcraft “Shine On” Songster (New York: A.J. Fisher, 1873), HTC, where the words “and music” are incorrectly ascribed solely to Hengler. It appears that Oh! Dat watermelon sung by Luke Schoolcraft (sheet music 1874; see Schoolcraft) and black banjo player Horace Weston (also in Schoolcraft’s 1873 Shine On songster, p. 34) is a parody of Contraband children. In the following comparison of texts, (1) is Martyn, and (2) is Weston (there is no musical score for versions 2 and 3). Verse 1:
1. Lamb of goodness praise and sing, / Gwine to get home by and by
2. My old missus promised me, / Gwine to git a home bye and bye
1. Children cut de pigeon wing / Gwine to get home by and by
2. When she died she’d set me free / Gwine to git a home bye and bye
1. Chariots flying in the air, Gwine to get home by and by
2. She did live till she got bald, / Gwine to git a home bye and bye
1. Taking all good darkies there / Gwine to get home by and by
2. And she never died at all / Gwine to git a home bye and bye
Chorus:
1. Oh, dat good old massa / Lamb of goodness coming down,
Gwine to join the contraband children / Gwine to get home by and by.
2. Den oh, dat watermelon, / Lamb of goodness you must die,
I’m gwine to join de contraband children / Gwine to get a home by and bye.
Anthologies (lyrics only): Harrigan and Hart’s Comique Songster (New York: A. J. Fisher, 1874, p. 91), HTC, songsters; Jas. B. Radcliffe’s Plantation Songster (New York: Popular Publishing Co., 1879), p. 13, LC, Music Division, Dumont Collection
Anthologies with parody (lyrics only): The “Old Man’s Drunk again” Songster (New York: Robert M. De Witt, 1873), p. 45; HTC, songsters; “Mother He’s Going Away” Songster (New York: American News Co., n.d. [1870s]), p. 54 – “sung by McAndrews,” HTC, songsters; Fayette Welsh’s Celebrated Ethiopian Songster, containing a great collection of Negro, Plantation and Jubilee Songs, as sung by him all over the country in all the principal theatres and minstrel halls (New York: A. J. Fisher, 1880), p. 16 – “sung by McAndrews,” HTC, songsters; Edwin Joyce and Verona Carroll “Face to Face” Songster (New York: Wm. J. A. Lieder Publisher, successor to A.J. Fisher, 1883), p. 44 – attributed to Luke Schoolcraft, HTC, songsters
McCosh, D. S. (white). Keep a inchin’ along (Chicago: Chicago Music Co., 1883) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1883.16651
Notes: “As sung by Billy Banks.” The front cover advertises McCosh as the author of “the popular Jubilee Songs ‘Hear dem bells.’” Billy Banks was a black minstrel performer singing jubilee songs with Callender’s Colored Minstrel Festival in 1883 (he had been with Callender in 1880, Haverly in 1881). Inching along, as sung by the Fisk Jubilee Singers, consisted of only 3 pitches; the stepwise melody effectively represented the message of the words. McCosh’s song takes only the title of the traditional spiritual; the words differ and the melody ranges a sixth for the most part. Internal refrain; the words are about Satan always at your back, prodding you along.
McCosh was probably from Freeport, IL; almost all of his 13 songs on deposit at the LC were published in Chicago (some in Cincinnati); Hear dem bells is an anomaly. He dedicated an 1874 song to the Dixon Conservatory of Music. For Freeport see: http://www.ci.freeport.il.us/about/freeporthistory.htm It is in northwest corner of the state: http://www.city-data.com/city/Freeport-Illinois.html. He wrote McCosh's guide for amateur brass bands, containing instruction in the elementary principles of music. To which is added a short treatise explanatory of the duties of a drum major, together with the most important positions in band drill, by Major F.W. Putnam (Lyon & Healy, Chicago, 1880); copy in Harrogate, U.K.
Hear dem bells (Chicago: Chicago Music Co., 1880) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1880.08556
Notes: Pentatonic, a little basing in the refrain, lyrics about growing old and hearing the bells calling (blacks) to the other side (lyrics index spirituals). A side note of interest: This song is included in The Ultimate Christmas Fake Book; see the table of contents at http://www.trombonespot.com/1230160.html for trombone and http://www.guitarspot.com/1300063.html for guitar (McCosh is given as composer but there are copyrights given for 1998 and 1995, respectively; accessed 28 Aug. 2010).
Recordings: Harry C. Browne, recorded New York, Nov. 1919, reissued on Early Minntrel Songs Recorded 1916–1923 (British Archive of Country Music, BACM CD D 076).
McIntyre, James (white). Come to de gospel show! (New York: Willis Woodward, 1884) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1884.20709
Notes: Cover: “The popular jubilee song.” “By James McIntyre, of McIntyre & Heath.” This does not fit the usual mold for this genre: The verse is in 6/8 (instead of simple duple) and narrates a description of the gospel show, where (in verse 3) one will encounter the unlikely assemblage of St. John, Ben Butler, Oscar Wilde with his flowing hair, and Lilly Langtry. It uses an internal refrain. This is McIntyre’s only song on deposit at the LC.
Sinners, do repent, in McIntyre and Heath’s “Scenes on the Mississippi” Songster (New York: N.Y. Popular Publishing Co., n.d. [ca. 1882]), p. 4; LC, Music Division, Dumont Collection
Notes: “An End Song sung by the Greatest of American Negro Delineators, McIntyre & Heath.” There is no composer/writer given. This does not explicitly reference African American life, but the religious topic was likely influenced by the prevalence of “jubilee” minstrel songs. Lyrics:
The road of the wicked is hard to walk, / So, sinners, do repent;
Before you get on old Nick’s toasting fork, / Sinners, do take care.
Lead a life that is free from sin, / Don’t drink rum or nigger gin,
Or Old Nick will surely haul you in, / So, sinners, do repent.
Now old Lot’s wife on the road did halt, / So, sinners, do repent;
She was turned into a pillar of cooking salt, / Sinners, do take care.
Do not look to de left, do not squint to de right,
But keep de Golden Gate in sight,
And when Saint Peter sees you you’ll be all right, / So, sinners, do repent.
Old Simon Pure was a curious man, / So, sinners, do repent;
He got married on the European plan. / Sinners, do take care.
By his mother-in-law he was badly mauled,
By the hair of the head round the street he was hauled,
In less than six weeks this man was bald, / So, sinners, do repent.
Now old Adam was foolish, but Eve was cute, / So, sinners, do repent;
She got Adam to eat of de forbidden fruit, / Sinners do take care.
The fruit was green and old Adam got sick,
He thought that he had swallowed a brick.
The Lord came along and bounced them quick, / So, sinners, do repent.
McLean, H. The Israelite band, in The American Four “Come Down to the Trough” Songster (New York: De Witt, Publisher, 1886), p. 11, HTC, songsters
Notes: “End song. . . Sung by Tom Warfield.” There is no copyright line and I doubt this was ever published as sheet music. Lyrics:
Oh shout! shout! the devil is about, / I’m gwine to jine de Israelite band;
We got him in de church, we’ve got to get him out, / I’m gwine . . .
Old Satan is a liar and a conjuror too, / I’m gwine . . .
If you don’t look out he’ll conjure you, / I’m gwine . . .
Chorus:
In de morning when you hear de bugle calling:
In de morning when you hear de bugle blow:
Git you ready, git you ready, little children,
For dat’s de time we all have to go.
When I git on de mountain top, / I’m gwine . . .
De angels will shiper, de chariot will stop, / I’m gwine . . .
When de chariot stops den I’ll get in, / I’m gwine . . .
And ride away from dis world of sin, / I’m gwine . . .
McPherson, John (white). When we cross over Jordan (St. Louis: Balmer & Weber, 1885) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1885.04089
Notes: Cover: “Inscribed to Fred. H. Walther, St. Louis, Mo.” Plantation song & chorus in call and response style, unusual in that the chorus (response) precedes the solo call with a “Hurrah! Hurrah!” Otherwise musically does not resemble spirituals.
Miller, Fred Jr. (white). Ketch on (New York: T. B. Harms, 1883) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1883.21338
Notes: Title page: Words by Ed. Dillon. Cover: “Jubilee or end song.” Allegro. Verse starts in g-minor and ends in relative major. Vague textual illusions to spirituals. Miller was known for his hit song “Ship Ahoy,” and apparently wrote musical farces (“Bijou Opera House,” New York Times, 4 Oct. 1893).
Anthologies: Full score in Thatcher, Primrose and West’s Minstrel Songs; A Collection of Old and New Jubilee and Minstrel songs (New-York: T. B. Harms, 1887), p. 28, UIUC Special Collections
Milton, W. S. (white) (arr.). Balm of Gilead (Philadelphia: J. E. Ditson, 1878) http://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/ (search by title)
Notes: See also H. T. Bryant. Cover: “Plantation song sung with great success by Matt Wheeler, at Carncross & Dixey’s Minstrels.” The earliest performance documentation of what I believe is this same song is Jan. 1874, when Harry Bloodgood sang it with the Plantation Minstrels (program for week ending 31 Jan at the Howard Athenaeum, Boston; HTC, minstrel playbills). It bears no relation to the sorrowful spiritual Balm in Gilead. Allegro. Bb-major. The verse form is extremely repetitive, consisting only of 4 mm of unique melody: A[ab]A + AA for a verse of 16 mm, where b is internal refrain. One interesting aspect is the constant momentum of the tune; there are fills at the end of the internal refrain and the only place to breathe is at the end of the second A in each 8 mm. The chorus is 8 mm., repeated. The verses only vaguely allude to spiritual imagery (in v. 2, his gal climbed “de golden stair” only to slip off, to comic effect), and the refrain is “I ain’t gone to work any more.”
Mitchel, Thos. L. Get de pass from Moses (Boston: Thompson & Odell, 1881) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1881.05953
Notes: Title page: “To Sam Lucas. Arr. F. Louis.” Allegretto. D major. This is an odd song: The verse (8 mm of abab') modulates without transition to G major to the 16-mm chorus. The style is that of a four-square hymn, no musical folk elements, lyrics index spirituals.
Murray, J. R. (white). Oh, rise and shine! (Cincinnati: J. Church & Co., 1881) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1881.12752
Notes: Cover: “Songs of the Jubilee Singers from Fisk University.” Title page: “Plantation song.” Title page: Arranged by J. R. Murray. This is an arranged traditional spiritual. “Note. In this beautiful specimen of ‘Jubilee Music,’ the syncopated notes should have special attention. As far as accent is concerned, the legato mark or tie is to have no force to destroy it. Words of one syllable must be as strongly emphasized at the syncopation as if a special syllable was provided for that note.” This is not the version contained the Fisk anthologies; rather, it is the Hampton Students’ version, although the Hampton score is in Eb and this sheet music is in D. The Hamptons’ version has a stronger folk flavor as judged by the notation, for it contains a lowered 7th. The Fisks may have adopted the Hampton version because it was more popular with audiences – they added several of the Hamptons’ songs to their repertory. On Murray, see Sandra Jean Graham, “Reframing Negro Spirituals in the Late Nineteenth Century,” in John Koegel (ed.), Music, American Made: Essays in Honor of John Graziano (Sterling Heights, MI: Harmonie Park Press, 2011).
Swing low, sweet chariot (Cincinnati: John Church & Co., 1881) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1881.07084
Notes: Cover: “Songs of the Jubilee Singers from Fisk University.” Title page: Arranged by J. R. Murray. An arranged traditional spiritual. “The solos may be sung by a single voice, or, as is the custom with many concert companies, by all the Trebles and Altos in unison. Let the Trebles closely connect the words “home” and “swing” as indicated by the legato mark. Accompaniment is marked for piano or organ. The accompaniment is artful: there is call and response between the right and left hands in the introduction, and rolled chords. Whereas the original Fisk version stayed on the tonic chord throughout the first 4 mm., Murray switches briefly to the dominant on the word “me,” and in the penultimate measure of the chorus introduces a diminished chord. This is the earliest written score that points toward the harmonies that are conventional in today’s hymnals.
Murray, Thomas H. Gwine to Zion’s land (New York: Hitchcock's Music Store, 1883) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1883.20091
Notes: Internal refrain, textual allusion to spirituals. See score: each member of male quartet sings “I’se a gwine” as a solo, leading into refrain, which uses rallentendo and fermatas, plus homophonic texture. There is a strange leap up in the melody, and perhaps an intended slide/swoop up on the last word of verse before internal refrain (“holes” in v. 1).
Medley: Last song in a medley titled Jubilee Echoes (New York Publishing Co., 1884), http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1884.26890. Consists of “Gwine to Zion’s Land,” “Hitch on dem Golden Wings,” “Napoleon Crossing the Rhine” (march), and “Getting for the Gospel Tree” (Bobby Newcomb, 1884)
Member ob society (New York: Hitchcock's Music Store, 1883) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1883.20092
Notes: Internal refrain (“hail, Jerusalem, a-hail”); the verse narrative is entirely secular; chorus uses the words “Jerusalem my happy home” (like the hymn).
Oh, bruddren, what am dat I see? (New York: Hitchcock's Music Store, 1883) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1883.20090
Notes: Like Gwine to Zion’s land, for male quartet, each quartet member has a solo line, and bass has spoken line. Pentatonic; melismas; fermatas in chorus.
Newcomb, Bobby (white). Getting for de gospel tree (New York: T. B. Harms, 1884) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1884.21066
Notes: “The Great Jubilee song.” C major. Internal refrain, secular verse lyrics with textual allusions to spirituals in internal refrain and chorus. Chorus is an 8-bar march with a fill connecting the two 4-bar phrases, to which an uncharacteristic andante coda is attached, meditating on the joys of heaven. Newcomb was a popular singer and dancer; this is the only commercial spiritual in his 20 songs on deposit at the LC.
Anthologies: Full score in Thatcher, Primrose and West’s Minstrel Songs; A Collection of Old and New Jubilee and Minstrel songs (New-York: T. B. Harms, 1887), p. 9, UIUC Special Collections.
Medley: Last song in a medley titled Jubilee Echoes (New York Publishing Co., 1884), http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1884.26890. Consists of “Gwine to Zion’s Land” (Thomas Murray, 1883), “Hitch on dem Golden Wings,” “Napoleon Crossing the Rhine” (march), and “Getting for the Gospel Tree.”