"Goodbye Liza Jane" (also known as "Going To Cairo", "Black Them Boots" etc.) lyrics & videos

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post presents lyrics and five YouTube videos of the Old Time Music song "Goodbye Liza Jane" (also known as "Going To Cairo", "Black Them Boots", "Scraping Sand In The Bottom Of The Sea", and other titles). Comments about these songs are also included in this post.

The composers of these songs are unknown. However, many of these songs' verses are found in 19th century dance songs that have been attributed to African Americans.

The content of this post is presented for folkloric, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the composers and collectors of these songs, and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to the featured artists in these videos and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.

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COMMENTS ABOUT THESE SONGS AND SOME EXAMPLES OF LYRICS FOR THESE SONGS
(These comments/lyrics are presented in no particular order and are numbered for reference purposes only.

1. From http://web.lyon.edu/wolfcollection/songs/ferrellblack1271.html
BLACK THEM BOOTS
"Sung by: James Clifton Ferrell
Recorded in Memphis, TN 6/30/63

Black them boots and make them shine,
A goodbye and a goodbye.
Black them boots and make them shine,
Goodbye, Liza Jane.
Oh, how I love her,
It's a scandal and shame.
Oh, how I love her,
And it's goodbye, Liza Jane.

Black them boots and make them shine,
It's a goodbye and a goodbye.
Black them boots to make them shine,
And a goodbye, Liza Jane.

(Comment by Mr. Ferrell: "We used to have a . . . At school, there was four of us that used to play them things, them play-party numbers and dance to it. And there was a whole bunch of them things that we would do, and I just . . . Every once in a while once of them runs across my mind. Now that's one, and I . . . I bet I haven't put that together in years like that.")"
-snip-
"Black them boots" means to polish the boots with boot wax. (Initially, "black" was the only color of shoe and boot polish (wax).) My sense from these lyrics is that the singer was getting his boots polished so that he would make a good impression on Liza Jane who was leaving town after rejecting his romantic interest. Another song title in the large family of "Liza Jane" songs is "Rejected By Liza Jane"[Read Comment #5 below]. "Poor Liza" ("Poor Old Liza Jane") is another Old Time Music "Liza Jane" song. The lyrics to that song indicate that Liza died on the train.

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2. From http://hogfiddle.blogspot.com/2007/02/going-down-to-cairo.html
"The story behind “Going Down to Cairo" is certainly specific to Illinois. In his book “Folk Songs and Singing Games of the Illinois Ozarks,” David McIntosh said it comes from a “play party” circle dance for eight couples. In spite of its strong association with children’s singing games, it traces back to Cairo’s past as a wide-open river town when farmers shipped corn to market there by flatboat.

“It was pretty hard to find a good place to pass the time away so they began going to the saloons and various other places where they were entertained,” said McIntosh’s source for the song. “The women noticed on the return trips that the men ‘blacked their boots’ and dressed up a great deal more than usual and began to make frequent trips to Cairo.”

The words are:
Black them boots and make them shine,
Goodbye and a goodbye.
Black them boots and make them shine,
Goodbye, Liza Jane.

Going down to Cairo, with a goodbye and a goodbye.
Going down to Cairo, goodbye Liza Jane.

And another verse begins:
I ain’t got time to kiss you now,
Goodbye and a goodbye.
I ain't got time to kiss you now,
Goodbye, Liza Jane ..."
-snip-
“Cairo” (pronounced KAY-row] is a town in Illinois.

That blogger also wrote "Maybe there’s an echo here of how a rowdy old fiddle tune like “Going Down to Cairo” turned up in southern Illinois as a children’s game."

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3. From http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=48893#742204 "Lyr Req: Limber Jim: History & Lyrics", posted by John Minear, 04 Jul 02
[writing about songs that include the refrain "Shiloh" as does versions of "Limber Jim"]
"...I have found two other references on this. First of all is the play-party song in Ruth Crawford Seeger's AMERICAN FOLK SONGS FOR CHILDREN, pp. 96-97, called "Scraping Up Sand In The Bottom Of The Sea".... The chorus goes:
Scraping up sand in the bottom of the sea, Shiloh, Shiloh,
Scraping up sand in the bottom of the sea, Shiloh, Liza Jane.

[Pete] Seeger says that this comes from "The Missouri Play-Party" by Mrs. L.D.Ames, Vol. 24 of the AMERICAN FOLKLORE SOCIETY's bulletin.

There is a verse in this song that goes:
Black those shoes and make them shine,
Shiloh, Shiloh,
Black those shoes and make them shine,
Shiloh, Liza Jane.

Vance Randolph, in his OZARK FOLKSONGS (Vol ?, p. 359) has a version of this song, without the "Shiloh" response, that goes:
Black them boots an' make'em shine,
Good-bye, good-bye,
Black them boots an' make'em shine,
Good-bye, Lazy Jane.
Oh how I love her, ain't that a shame?
Goobye, goodbye,
Oh how I love her, ain't that a shame?
Goodbye lazy Jane
See that snail a-pullin' that rail?
Goodbye, goodbye,
See that snail a-pullin' that rail?
Goodbye, lazy Jane.

In his headnote, Randolph says, "Compare the "Shiloh" game-song reported by Ames (JAFL 24, 1911, p.317), also a similar item published by Hamilton (JAFL 27, 1914, p.296) under the title "So Goodbye Susan Jane."
-snip-
For the record (no pun intended), John Minear also mentioned that the song "Salt Rising Bread" (#110 pp. 71-72) in Thomas W. Talley's 1922 collection Negro Folk Rhymes Wise and Otherwise has a verse that mentions dancing "Shiloh". That blogger also wrote that "There is a very interesting discussion [about call and response and dancing Juba]... at the end of Talley's book (p.269). The response "Shiloh!" would be given by the larger group of people"...

A digital reproduction of Talley's book can be found at http://www.gutenberg.org/files/27195/27195-h/27195-h.htm

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4. From http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=892 "Going to Shiloh? (from John Hartford)", posted by Will,27 Feb 97
Subject: Lyr Add: SHILOH (from Kathleen Krull)
"I don't know about John Hartford, Kathleen Krull's book "Gonna Sing My Head Off" has the following lyrics.
2/4 time, in E
Scraping up sand in the bottom of the sea, Shiloh, Shiloh.
Scraping up sand in the bottom of the sea, Shiloh, Lisa Jan.
Ch: Oh, how I love her, O, Liza Jane. Oh, how I love her, goodbye Liza Jane.
v2. Black those boots and make them shine.
v3. A hump-back mule I'm bound to ride.
v4. Hopped up a chicken and he flew upstairs."

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5. From http://tunearch.org/wiki/Annotation:Goodbye_Liza_Jane_(1)
"GOODBYE LIZA JANE [1]. AKA- "Liza Jane (1)." Old-Time, Bluegrass, Western Swing; Breakdown. USA. ... Bob Wills (Texas), the father of western swing, said this was the first tune he learned (as "Goodbye, Miss Liza Jane") to fiddle.

Swing Ma, swing Pa, goodbye, goodbye,
Swing that gal from Arkansas, Goodbye Liza Jane.

Chorus:
Oh how I loved her, ain't that a shame,
Oh how I loved her, Goodbye Liza Jane.

Swing that gal and don't be late, goodbye, goodbye,
Knock down Sal, big fat gate, Goodbye Liza Jane.

Take a chaw of tobacco, spit on the wall, goodbye, goodbye,
Swing that gal clear across the hall, Goodbye Liza Jane.

Three wheels 're off and the axel's draggin', goodbye, goodbye,
You can't ride the little red wagon, Goodbye Liza Jane.

Other versions go:

Charlotte Town is burning down, goodbye, goodbye.
Burning down to the ground, goodbye, Liza Jane.

Chorus:
Oh, how I miss you, ain't that a shame,
Oh, how I miss you, goodbye, Liza Jane.

Alt. Chorus:
Ain't y'mighty sorry? Goodbye, bye-bye
Ain't y'mighty sorry? Goodbye, Liza Jane.

Liza Jane had a dress of red, goodbye, goodbye,
Queen of hearts, or so she said, goodbye, Liza Jane.

Liza Jane countin' her toes
You can smell her feet wherever she goes.

I got a gal and a hound dog too,
She don't bite, but the hound dog do.

Liza Jane 'bout half grown,
Jumps on a man like a dog on a bone

Liza Jane, pretty as a rose,
Bites her nails and picks her nose.

Goin' down to Caro, goodbye, goodbye,
Goin' down to Caro, goodbye Liza Jane.

Well, I blacked my boots and I made 'em shine, goodbye, goodbye.
I blacked my boots and I made 'em shine, goodbye Liza Jane.

A version of the tune and song, under the title "Rejected by Eliza Jane," was collected by the African-American collector Thomas Talley which he printed in his book Negro Folk Rhymes (1922, reprinted 1991 edited by Charles Wolfe). His lyrics go:

W'en I went 'cross de cotton patch
'I give my ho'n a blow.
I thought I heared pretty Lizie say:
"Oh, yonder come my beau!"

So: I axed pretty Lizie to marry me,
An' what d'you reckon she said?
She said she wouldn' marry me,
If ev'ybody else was dead.

An': As I went up de new cut road,
An' she go down de land;
Den I though I heared somebody say:
"Good-bye, ole Liza Jane!"

Well: Jes get 'long, Lizie, my true love.
Git 'long, Miss Lizie Jane.
Perhaps you'll sack "Ole Sour Bill"
An' git choked on "Sugar Cain." "

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FEATURED EXAMPLES:
These examples are presented in chronological order based on their YouTube posting date. The videos with the oldest dates are given first.

Example #1: Turkey Creek String Band - "Goodbye Liza Jane"



TurkeyCreekSB, Uploaded on Jul 15, 2009

The Turkey Creek String Band is an exciting seven-person acoustic ensemble centered in Southern Middle Tennessee.
Our repertoire consists of traditional fiddle tunes, folk, western swing, waltzes, bluegrass, and Irish jigs...

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Example #2: Going down to cairo

)

TheGriffon87, Uploaded on Jan 26, 2010

Groupe folklorique "LOU GAIS MARCHOIS" danses western

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Example #3: Goodbye Liza Jane - Bob Wills with Tommy Duncan vocal.wmv



radiobob805, Uploaded on Sep 15, 2010

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Example #4: Going Down to Cairo

)

dejibber, Uploaded on Jun 4, 2011

Julia Kindergarten Musical "Going down to Cairo"

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Example #5: Bullis Charter School Treble Voices Going Down To Cairo

)

Anthony Shortland, Published on May 16, 2013

Bay Section CMEA Area V - Large Group Choral Festival

Saratoga High School, Saturday May 11th 2013

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A Partial List Of African American Play Party Songs

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post provides a partial listing of 19th century American play party songs that I think may have been originally composed by African Americans or which may have African American variants. This post also includes my comments about why I think it's important to mention that a particular play party song or any other folk song (or rhyme) comes from originated from or was later influenced by African American culture and not just American culture.

The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, sociological, and educational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the unknown original composers of play party songs, and thanks to those who collected examples of this song. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post.

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INFORMATION ABOUT PLAY PARTY SONGS
"Play party songs" is a reference for singing games from 19th century America that took the place of dancing at social events since dancing & playing musical instruments were prohibited in those communities.

Online articles about play party songs routinely refer to the European sources of those songs and routinely omit any acknowledgement that a number of play party songs are of African American origin or have African American influences. For example, the album notes to "American Play Parties" by Pete Seeger, Mika Seeger, and Rev. Larry Eisenberg FW07604 provides this description of play party songs:
"To evade the religious prohibition against dancing in certain American communities, young people in the 19th century devised an ingenious solution—they adapted children’s games, which were permitted. The result was so-called play parties. Participants sang creative songs to cue movements, and the events were great “mixers.” The only element lacking was instrumental music."
http://www.folkways.si.edu/TrackDetails.aspx?itemid=19300

The author of that album's notes cites "Anglo-American" as the cultural group that is the source of the play party songs which are found on that album. However, I believe that at least three songs of the fourteen songs that are included on that album are of African American origin: "Shake Them 'Simmons Down", "Goodbye Liza Jane", and "Great Big House in New Orleans". Some of the other songs on that album may also be of African American origin or those versions of the song may have been African American influenced. Yet based on its wording, people reading those album notes would believe that all of those songs are only from Anglo-Americans.

Here are other examples of online articles about play party songs that only refer to the European and/or Anglo-American sources of those songs:

http://www.ecrs.org/ofplayandplayfulness/play_parties.html
"The play party is one of America's most important contributions to the world of folk dances and folk games. It is rooted in the customs of the old countries from which the early settlers came. Defined simply, a play party is a kind of country dance done to a singing accompaniment. The songs and figures of our early play parties harken back to Scottish, English, Irish and German folk traditions."

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http://www.upress.state.ms.us/books/792
"Waltz the Hall: The American Play Party" by Alan L. Spurgeon
“The play party was a popular form of American folk entertainment that included songs, dances, and sometimes games. Though based upon European and English antecedents, play parties were truly an American phenomenon, first mentioned in print in 1837.”

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Play_party
"A play party is a social event in which people gather to sing and dance. Play parties began in the 1830s in the United States as a route around strict religious practices banning dancing and the playing of musical instruments. The areas most influenced by the practice were the Southern and Midwestern parts of the United States. Folk songs, many of European and English origin, were used as means to give the attendants choreographed movements for each phrase. No instruments were played at the events, as they were banned by the religious movements of the area. Singing and clapping were used to convey each song. Because dancing was banned, the movements took on the quality of children's games. Though the performance of play parties dwindled in the 1950s, music educators use them as ways to incorporate music and dance in their classrooms."
-snip-
While I agree with the statement that the "figures [dance formations] of our early play parties harken back to Scottish, English, Irish and German folk traditions", I don't believe that the lyrics of every play party song came from European or Anglo-American sources. I'm also not certain if every tune used for play party songs came from European or Anglo-American sources.

Notice that I use past tenses, since it's my sense that any composition that would have been called a play party song in the 19th century is now called a "singing game". Indeed, "singing game" is commonly used to refer to those 19th century play party songs.

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WHY I BELIEVE THAT PLAY PARTY SONGS THAT HAVE AFRICAN AMERICAN SOURCES SHOULD BE IDENTIFIED AS AFRICAN AMERICAN AS WELL AS AMERICAN PLAY PARTY SONGS*
I strongly believe that it's important to acknowledge that African Americans also contributed to America's play party repertoire for the sake of historical documentation, and for psychological reasons. Providing the information that some American folk songs are of African American origin helps build and reinforce group esteem in a population that is still being maligned and a population that is still experiencing the effects and consequences of personal racism and of institutional racism.

People may think that they are being "color-blind" by not mentioning race (when they are teaching children folk songs and at other times). However, by not mentioning race they are actually reinforcing the viewpoint that only White people are responsible for accomplishments. This is because both online and offline "White" is the default race (just as "male" is the default gender). When no race is mentioned for an individual (unless the discussion is about some criminal act or something that is stereotypically considered to be the purview of a particular race/ethnicity), people automatically assume that that person is White (just as people automatically assume that people posting online are male).

Regardless of their race or ethnicity, children shouldn't be led to believe that White people were the only composers of play party songs or other folk songs.

*This comment also applies to other American folk songs.

UPDATE: February 26, 2014
I want to clarify that the list of songs below is mostly guessing on my part. I'm very interested in learning what songs other folks think should or shouldn't be on this list.

Also, I want to clarify that from my reading, it seems likely that Black folks sung and danced to play-party songs from Anglo-American sources, and White folks sung and danced to play-party songs from African American sources. Furthermore, some (if not many) of these songs may have had both Anglo-American and African American sources/influences, as was the case with many 19th century minstrel songs.

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A PARTIAL LIST OF AMERICAN PLAY PARTY SONGS THAT HAVE AFRICAN AMERICAN SOURCES/INFLUENCES*

"Alabama Gal"

"Buffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight"

"Charlie Over The Ocean"

"Chicken In The Fence Post"

"Draw Me A Bucket Of Water" (also known as "Frog In The Bucket")

"Goodbye Liza Jane" (and other "Li'l Liza Jane" songs)

"Going 'Round The Assembly" (also known as "Bounce Around") [This may be a singing game and not a play party game.]

"Great Big House in New Orleans"

"Hello Susan Brown"

"Tideo" (also known as "Jingle At The Window")

"Little Johnny Brown" [This may be a game song and not a play party song]

"Old Grandpaw Yet", [updated entry, 2/26/2014]

"Paw Paw Patch"

"Shake Them 'Simmons Down"

"Rabbit In The Pea Patch" [updated entry, 2/26/2014]

"Riding In A Buggy Miss Mary Jane"

"Roxie Anne" [updated entry, 2/26/2014]

"Weevily Wheat" (also known as "Charley He's A Dandy", "Four In The Middle", "Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss”, "Coffee Grows On White Oak Trees", and "Over The River ").

"We're Marching 'Round the Levy"

*This is only a partial listing of play party songs that I believe have African American sources. By "sources" I mean "origins and/or influences". I based this list on information I read from the collectors of those songs, and/or from the song's lyrics. By "song lyrics I particularly mean the following:
-the presence of floating verses which are found in (other) folk songs that are attributed to African Americans

-the presence of geographical references to places where Black people lived during the time the earliest examples of that song was collected

and
- the songs' use of African American Vernacular English (although I'm aware that non-Black Southerners also used that same or similar dialect and grammar
-snip-
Some of these song titles may be variant forms of the a particular play party song. Also, some of these songs have have Black versions and White versions.

I welcome additions & corrections to this list.

Some of these songs are showcased in other pancocojams posts. Links to two of those posts are given in the Related Links section below.

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UPDATE: February 26, 2014
The album notes to the vinyl record Old Mother Hippletoe: Rural & Urban Children's Songs (NW 291 Mono), written by Kate Rinzler include an informative overview of play party songs, as well as lyrics to three play party songs "Rabbit In The Pea Patch", "Old Grandpaw Yet", and "Roxie Anne". I believe those songs are of African American origin.

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RELATED LINKS
http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/08/chicken-in-fence-post-information-lyrics.html

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http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/03/united-states-play-party-songs-other.html
"Draw Me A Bucket Of Water & Three Other African American Children's Singing Games"

**
http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-african-american-origins-of-crawdad.html

**
http://www.cocojams.com/content/childrens-singing-game-going-round-assembly-bounce-around

**
http://www.balladofamerica.com/music/indexes/albums/volume2.htm

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Old Dan Tucker - Minstrel Song & Play Party Song

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post provides information, lyrics, and videos of the American song "Old Dan Tucker" (also given as "Ole Dan Tucker"}

The content of this post is presented for folkloric, historical, and educational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SONG "OLD DAN TUCKER"
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Dan_Tucker
"Old Dan Tucker", also known as "Ole Dan Tucker", "Dan Tucker", and other variants, is a popular American song. Its origins remain obscure; the tune may have come from oral tradition, and the words may have been written by songwriter and performer Dan Emmett. The blackface troupe the Virginia Minstrels popularized "Old Dan Tucker" in 1843, and it quickly became a minstrel hit, behind only "Miss Lucy Long" and "Mary Blane" in popularity during the antebellum period...

The first sheet music edition of "Old Dan Tucker", published in 1843, is a song of boasts and nonsense in the vein of previous minstrel hits such as "Jump Jim Crow" and "Gumbo Chaff". In exaggerated Black Vernacular English, the lyrics tell of Dan Tucker's exploits in a strange town, where he fights, gets drunk, overeats, and breaks other social taboos. Minstrel troupes freely added and removed verses, and folk singers have since added hundreds more. Parodies and political versions are also known...

Composition
The origin of the music of "Old Dan Tucker" has always been obscure, and no sheet music edition from 1843, its year of its first publication, names a composer. The first performance of the tune (but not lyrics) may have happened as early as 1841.[40] The music may in fact be from the oral tradition or may have been a product of collaboration.[33]

...[Some of the lyrics to “Old Dan Tucker]... seem to partially derive from an earlier minstrel song called "Walk Along John" or "Oh, Come Along John", first published in various songsters in the early 1840s.[46] Some verses have clear echoes in versions of "Old Dan Tucker":
Johnny law on de rail road track,
He tied de engine on his back;
He pair's his corn wid a rail road wheel,
It gib 'em de tooth ache in de heel.[

Possible slave origin
A story dating to at least 1965 claims that "Old Dan Tucker" was written by slaves about a man named Daniel Tucker who lived in Elbert County, Georgia. Tucker was a farmer, ferryman, and minister who appears in records from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The story, as related by Mrs. Guy Rucker, the great-great-granddaughter of one of Tucker's neighbors, claims that Tucker became quite well liked by the slaves in his area through his ministry to them.[49]

According to this interpretation, the lyrics address Tucker directly. The chorus, "You're too late to get your supper" is a kindhearted taunt to a man who often arrived after dark, forcing his hosts to scrape up a meal for him.[49] The song's occasional lewdness is explained by the natural impromptu nature of its supposed origin.[50]

"Old Dan Tucker" does show evidence of black influence. For example, bizarre imagery in folk versions of the song (e.g., "toothache in his heel") may be a sign of legitimate black input (or of someone poking fun of slaves who had an incomplete knowledge of English).[45] "Old Dan Tucker" most closely resembles African music in its call-and-response refrain.[35]
Daniel Tucker was buried in Elbert County in 1818.[51] The Elbert County Chamber of Commerce today promotes his grave as a tourist attraction due to his possible connection with the character from the song."
-snip-
Here's another comment about the possible Black American origin of this song and the possible connection between the Egbert County Dan Tucker and the character mentioned in that song from http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=27246 "Old Dan Tucker", posted by Bill D, 10 May 03 - 12:14 PM
"My wife was just looking thru some old newspapers saved by her aunt in Georgia in 1945 and found an entire article on Rev. Daniel Tucker, with photographs of the gravesite, and of Fiddlin' John Carson. ...I will try to scan the article, which claims the the original song was begun by the local Negroes, who adored Rev. Tucker...the implication being that Dan Emmett merely added to it and popularized it. (not surprising, given the loose way 'ownership' and credit was treated in those days)......THe article in the Atlanta Journal gives a LOT of history of Rev. Tucker and the area and culture

In the meantime, search found this page with this quote in it [hyperlink no longer viable]

"Old Dan Tucker"
Rev. Daniel Tucker owned a large plantation on the Savannah River and is buried near his old hometown, "Point Lookout", six miles from here. Born in Virginia, February 14, 1774, Daniel Tucker came here to take up a land grant. A revolutionary soldier, planter and minister, he owned and operated Tucker's Ferry near his home. He died April 7, 1818 - but not "of a toothache in his heel". Esteemed by his fellow planters, he was loved by the Negroes who composed the many verses of the famous ditty, "Old Dan Tucker", a favorite song at corn shuckings and social gatherings. Marker is on GA 72 southeast of Middleton."
-snip-
Click that Mudcat link for the "original" lyrics that are credited to Daniel Emmett, and other comments that include lyrics for that song. Here's a quote* followed by a comment that was posted by Dicho Date: 04 Jun 02 - 10:53 PM
" "Composed by Dan D. Emmet, and sung by him with unbounded applause in Howe's Amphitheatre of the Republic, New York." Page 622 in "Marsh's Selection, or Singing For the Million, Containing the Choicest and Best Collection of Admired Patriotic, Comic, Irish, Negro, Temperance, and Sentimental Songs Ever Embodied in One Work." Three volumes in one, New York, Richard Marsh, 374 Pearl Street, 1854. Reproduced in Newman I. White, 1928, American Negro Folk Songs, pp. 446-447 (1965 reprint)."

Some verses borrowed from Negro song, some Negro folk song verses were borrowed from Emmett. A complete version of a minstrel song. Note: Spelling preserved."
-snip-
WARNING:
Some verses of early versions of "Old Dan Tucker" include what is now known as "the n word".

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"OLD DAN TUCKER" PERFORMED AS A PLAY PARTY SONG
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Play_party
"A play party is a social event in which people gather to sing and dance. Play parties began in the 1830s in the United States as a route around strict religious practices banning dancing and the playing of musical instruments. The areas most influenced by the practice were the Southern and Midwestern parts of the United States. Folk songs, many of European and English origin, were used as means to give the attendants choreographed movements for each phrase. No instruments were played at the events, as they were banned by the religious movements of the area. Singing and clapping were used to convey each song. Because dancing was banned, the movements took on the quality of children's games. Though the performance of play parties dwindled in the 1950s, music educators use them as ways to incorporate music and dance in their classrooms.

Some traditional examples of play-parties are: Skip to My Lou, Coffee Grows on White Oak Trees, Shoot the Buffalo, Buffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight, B.I.N.G.O., Pop Goes the Weasel, Old Dan Tucker."
-snip-
From http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=27246 posted by Dicho, 29 Apr 02 - 09:36 PM
"...here is a "playparty" version from Missouri.

OLD DAN TUCKER

"In this game all the players choose partners and form a big circle, holding hands. An odd boy is called "Old Dan," and he stands alone in the center. Everybody sings lustily:
Old Dan Tucker down in town,
Swingin' the ladies all a-round,
First to the right and then to the left,
An' then to the one that you love best.

At the words "first to the right" it is "Old Dan's" privilege to pull a girl out into the ring by her right hand, turn her around once, and thrust her back into her place again. When they sing "then to the left" he takes another girl out by the left hand and swings her as before. At the words "then to the one that you love best" every boy swings his own partner. It is at this moment that "Old Dan" tries desperately to grab a girl for himself, and if he succeeds, the man who has lost his partner must be the next "Old Dan."

The following stanza is a sort of chorus, used to keep "Old Dan" in the ring as long as possible, since he has no opportunity to get a partner while it is being sung.

Git out of the way for old Dan Tucker,
He's too late to git his supper,
Supper's over and breakfast a-cookin',
An' Old Dan Tucker standin' a-lookin'.

If "Old Dan" really wishes to expedite matters he can use one girl for all three movements of the game, and thus be sure of getting himself a partner, but this is not considered the sporting thing, and is not often done- usually not unless "Old Dan" loses his temper. Several other verses are used as filler in this game:

Old Dan Tucker down in town,
A-ridin' a goat and leadin' a hound,
The hound gives a howl an' the goat gives a jump,
An' throwed Old Dan a-straddle of a stump.

Old Dan Tucker he got drunk,
Fell in the fire and kicked out a chunk,
Fire coal got in Dan's old shoe,
Oh my golly how the ashes flew!"

From Mr. Carl Durbin, Missouri, 1927.
Found in minstrel shows as early as 1841. Often credited to Dan D. Emmett. A related piece, "Get Out of the Way, Old Johnny Tucker" (Negro Minstrel's Song Book, 1850), and many other citations.
Vance Randolph, 1982, Ozark Folksongs, Vol. 3, pp. 301-304. Several other sets of verses given from Missouri and Arkansas.
-snip-
From http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/playparty-indiana/playparty-indiana%20-%200178.htm "Indiana Play Party Song"

Old Dan Tucker's still in town,
Swinging the ladies all around,
First to the East and then to the West,
Then to the one that you love best.

Chorus
Get out of the way of Old Dan Tucker!
He's too late to get his supper.
Supper's over and breakfast's cooking,
Old Dan Tucker's stands a-looking.

Old Dan Tucker's a fine old man,
Washed his feet (or face) in the frying pan,
Combed his hair with a wagon wheel
And died with a tooth-ache in his heel.

[version collected from] Mrs. Leslie Beall, Versailles, Ind:
Get out o' the way for Old Dan Tucker,
He's too late to get his supper.
Some are black and some are blacker,
Some are the color of a chew a' terbacker.

Ripley County [Indiana] variants.
Swing three ladies, Old Dan Tucker [3 times]
Down in the valley.
Promenade round Old Dan Tucker [3 times]
Down in the valley

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VIDEOS OF "OLD DAN TUCKER"
(These videos are posted in chronological order based on their posting date, with the oldest dated video presented first.)

Example #1: Ol Dan Tucker



AMSOMmp, Uploaded on Jul 7, 2009

Andy and Opie sings Ol Dan Tucker

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Example #2: Ol' Dan Tucker From the Second South Carolina String Band.



rosestar77, Uploaded on Feb 19, 2010

Shot in Gettysburg, PA.

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Example #3: Grandpa Jones - Old Dan Tucker



ClassicCountryMusic1, Uploaded on Feb 20, 2011

Grandpa Jones And His Wife Ramona Jones On The Grand Ole Opry.

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Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks to the performers & musicians, and thanks to the producers of these videos on YouTube.

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Visitor comments are welcome.

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