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1976 A Selective Study of Negro Worksongs in the United States Margaret E. Hilton Eastern Illinois University This research is a product of the graduate program in Music at Eastern Illinois University. Find out more about the program.
Recommended Citation Hilton, Margaret E., "A Selective Study of Negro Worksongs in the United States" (1976). Masters Theses. 3429. https://thekeep.eiu.edu/theses/3429
This is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Theses & Publications at The Keep. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of The Keep. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A SELECTIVE STUDY OF NEGRO WORKSONGS
IN THE UNITED STATES (TITLE)
BY
MARGARET E. HILTON
THESIS
SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENlS
FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF ARTS
IN THE GRADUATE SCHOOL, EASTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY
CHARLESTON, ILLINOIS
1976 YEAR
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pdm TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE • • • • • • iii
T • • • • • • • • • CHAPTER . �. FOLKSONGS 1
CHAPTER II. INDIVIDUAL TRADITIONS OF NEGRO FOLKSONGS 5 12 CHAPTER III. MUSICAL ASPECTS OF NEGRO FOLKSONGS • •
BI BLI OG RAPHY • • • • • • * • • • • • • • • 46 .� .. ;;�,,
DISCOC,�APHY • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 48
ii PREFACE
When visiting an Amish home in Arthur, Illinois I observed a blacksmith at work. I discovered that his horse shoeing was done to a specific rhythmic pattern. This prompted my interest in learning more about the musical concepts used in various oc cupations. The original intent of my research was to survey the work songs found in the United States. It was immediately apparent that this was an enormous project which would require years of research. A ter some preliminary research I decided that a study of Ne gro worksongs would expose me to many different classifications of worksongs, while providing a set of boundaries within which to work. I owe a great deal of thanks to the University of Illinois Music Library for the use of their recordings and also for access to their Graduate Library. I would also like to give a special thank you to my graduate committee, Dr. James Robertson, Dr. Alan Aulabaugh, Mr. Donald Tracy and Dr. Robert Weidner, for their continuous support, encouragement, and constructive criticism.
iii CHAPT:E:R I
FOLKSONGS
Folksongs consist of words and mu sic that circulate orally
in traditi onal var iants among members of a particular group .
Like other kinds of oral traditions , folksong s have come from vari ous sources , hav e app eared in various media, and have some-
times been lifted out of folk circulation for various professional or artistic uses. But all of th ose whi ch qualify as true folk
songs haire variant s found in oral tran smi ssion.
Since folksongs consist of ora l-traditional words and music , it is possib le to imagine examples in which one element is stronger than the other , or even exi.sts alone. This vo cal music without text , whi ch is called wordless folksong , is found in
American folklore in such tradition s as "chin music ," or is som e- times called "diddling ," wh en the voice imitates the sound of danc e mus ic played on a fiddle.
In "near songs" the melody is we ak and the words are domi nant . The peddlers' chants are sometimes delivered in a sing
song chan t . Children's play and gam e rhymes fall into this same area betw een verse and song , as do Negro field hollers .
The group of true songs with both traditional word s and music are those which closely match the rhythm of some sp ecial activity , and thus have been called "functional songs ." Inc lud ed here are lullabie s that are smoothly rhythmical , peaceful, or 1 2
�epetitious so that they will induce sleep. Work songs belong in
this category if they are associated with the repeated pulses of
activities such as chopping , ha mm ering , marching , or the pulling
·:Jf ropes .
These three broad divisions--wordless folk songs , near-songs ,
?nd fun ctiona l folksongs constitute clear ly di fferentiated groups
�ith easily recognizable content s. However , the folksongs that
fit into them include only a small fraction of the whole. The
last two rlivisi ons , lyrical folksongs and narrat ive fo lksongs, are
�uch more complicated groups. For the purpose of this pap er it is
�nough to say that a narrative folksong tells a story. The many
�ypes of bal lads fall under this category of nar rative folksong.
Some lyrical folksongs are true folk lyrics, that is, tra ditional songs devoted to expressing a mood or feeling wi thout
tellin� any conne cted story. Many are expressions of despa ir for a lost or ho peless love and are sometimes deve loped a s a series
of impossible desires. Other folk lyrics have the thread of a
story imp lied in them , whi le others simply take the form of warn
ings to lovers ab out the wiles of the opposite s ex. Apart from the joys and sorrows of love , some folk lyrics refer to death, hom esickness , and general di scont ent.
Spirituals and other traditional religious songs sometimes allude to a Bib lical story or religious legend . Their narrative content is subordinat e to their expression of strong feeling and they may be considered lyrical folksongs except for the relative ly few that are "religious ballads ." There are "white spirituals" as well as Negro one s, and the controversy over origins and pre cedence. has filled several books . J In the same spirit as religious songs are the homiletic
songs that dispense advice. Many are songs of gamblers, drinkers, ramblers, and prisoners. In these the singer often glorifies or sometimes recommends the dissolute life.
Folksongs cf courtship and marriage form a distinct group.
These include songs that describe a courtship, those that repre
sent a courting dialogue, a few that ex.press a desire for marriage, and many more that celebrate the single life.
The logical sequel to songs of courting and marriage is the group of nursery and children's songs, many of which derive
their appeal and are easy to remember because of the use of a
simple repeated pattern. Also included are songs, that involve
imitations of animal sounds, dramatic dialogues, gestures, and
jump or scare endings. Three bodies of modern folksongs of child
hood and adolescence that have not been collected or studied sys
tematic ally are the summer camp songs� high school songs, and
college ::: ongs.
Although many folksongs are humorous, there are at least three kinds of funny songs that might be separately noted. First are dialect songs which derive their humor from an exaggeration of racial of national speech characteristics. Second are non sense songs which take their comedy from a stream of meaningless verbiage, often delivered at a rapid-fire pace. Third are the parody songs which are seldom collected and are rarely studied.
Regional and occupational folksongs are numerous in this country and offer insights into the history of labor and of set
tlement that few other sources give. Cowboy songs are now well known, thanks largely to the early collecting efforts of 4
N, �oward Thorp and John A. Lomax, who first started to collect
ind p�blish them after 1908. There are also songs of loggers,
�ailroaders, sailors, miners, military men, and other workers,
�nd such hobby groups as mountain climbers, skiers, and surfers.
American folksongs have been collected and published with
�uch �ore energy than has been devoted to their classification and study. They have hardly been analyzed at all. The few cat egories for folksongs suggested in this introduction have exam ples i� almost every published collection, but the specific songs placed under them vary widely. One man's regional song may be another's comical song and a third's satirical song. Entirely
"!ifferent terms, including "historical songs, " "jingles, " "mar
:ial a�d political songs, " and "dance songs, " appear in some
�ollections and every system has its "miscellaneous'' under which
lsually appear what is sometimes referred to as ballad-like
;:iieces. CHAPTER II
INDIVIDUAL TRADITIONS OF
NEGRO FOLKSONGS
Harold Courlander states that "different settings, differ ent local histories, and different social juxtapositions in the
United States produced different kinds of 'Negro' music. "l Courlander notes the interplay of traditions and the perpetuation
of West African elements in both vocal and instrumental music.
"Negro music" and "Negro folk music" in his text are "intended to refer not to a phenomenon of race, but to a complex musical de velopment- which took place, and is taking place, within the Negro
communities of the United States."2
Cultural conditions of slavery and segregation allowed for
a limited sharing of musical heritage because Negro musicians and
composers faced prodigious odds outside of the realm of folk
music. In folk music, inter-group influence began early. Social
restrictions, which tended to increase poverty and illiteracy,
worked in favor of Negro folk music in some ways since musical
change relates to social change. The denial of musical literacy,
which has nothing to do with aptitude or musical sensibility,
lHarold Courlander, Negro Folk Music, U.S. A. (New Yerka Columbia University Press, 19 J), p. 43. 2ttarold Courlander, Negro Songs From Alabama (New Yorks Oak Publications, 1962), p. 7. 5 6 long provided a loose and fertile soil in which oral traditions could sustain their growth. Under the different environmental circumstances of Europe, Negro composers could and did contri bute to art music.J Studies of pre-minstrel Negro music and white adaptations of it suggest that the proliferation of Negro folk music was such in the 18th century that it had already begun to affect the char- acter of American music in general. This was reflected in Afro- American songs of field hands as it was in more Anglo-American songs such as those which house Negroes sang to their white charges. Under slavery, particularly in areas of British Colo- nial America, it was inevitable that the use of African lyrics (where such survived) would be discouraged and the adaptation of European musical practices would be praised. Negro music very early took on a unique, indigenous char acter that not only entered into secular songs and church music of the plantations but also into sea shanties and the music of frontier dances. Often what was mistaken for a crude reorgani- zation of a song from the British Isles was a transformation into a Negro folk song. Musically knowledgeable listeners of the 18th century, for example, Thomas Jefferson, recognized that the Negro people had the gift of music. What was not always understood then was that this was a matter of heritage, not heredity. I t presupposed a cultural setting in which, although not everyone was musically gifted, music had a special importance in everyday life.
3 Hans Nathan, Dan Emmett and The Rise of Early Nerro Minstrelsy (Oklahomaa University of Oklahoma Press , 1963 , p. 12. 7 Thus, Negro folk music in the United States represented a high degree of musical knowledge and sensitivity even before the process of acculturation had gotten well under way. Once it did, what emerged was not only what Courlander calls "the largest body of genuine folk music still alive in the United States,"4 but the most mobile, and the most improvisational. Like the folk music of India (though the latter exhibits a more sophisticated devel opment) it can be either simple or complex. For example, its approach to variation and to the melodic line is comparable to that of jazz and art music. Negro music in general, from field hollers to ro~k and roll, has always been in a rather special situation. In 1874 it was necessary for Negroes in Southern States to petition for their rights, rights freshly underscored by the pas sage of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. That Negroes were capable of being educated and were developing responsible leadership was more frightening to former slave-owners than were the carpet baggers. And though this part of history was not usually taught in schools, Negro citizens did, infact, petition Congress. An example is a statement from Alabama in 1874 which notes that "as citizens, we never have enjoyed, except partially, imperfectly, and locally, our political and civil rights in the State. Our right to vote has been denied, abridged and rendered difficult and dangerous ever since we became voters."5 Aided and abetted by prejudice, poverty and illiteracy and
4courlander, Negro Folk Music, U.S.A., p. 50. 5Aptheker, A Documentary History (Citadel Press). 8 with the aid of the white North, segregation became a way of life in the South. Sometimes it was called an "accomodation" and it was said that r.;egroes were comfortable with it, at least in the·
South. Many Negroes did, in fact, adjust to it in ways that out wardly fit the white concept of "accomodation" but it was a lit tle like being comfortable with the weather whose malevolence was beyond one's power to control. It is in this special setting that one r.iust think of the music which comes from the ;�egro South.
Frederic Ramsey got to rural Alabama in 1954 and could see for himself how records and radio would soon bring change. In some i nstances it had begun to do so though there was still lit tle appreciable change in the environment itself ,6
f.Iusical heritage represents what is accessible and mean- ingful. Origins of many Negro spirituals have been traced to psalms, hymns and gospel tunes. For that matter, melodies of many blues, worksongs and early jazz tunes can be traced to
European sources. African elements may be slight or, no longer be readily identifiable as such, having undergone a process of change. Nevertheless the end product will, in certain cultural circ umstances, be Negro folk music. Negro music is essentially unique in what is done with heritage, regardless of source.
In Courlander's introduction to "Negro Folk Music Of
Alabama" he states thata "A number of the songs that may be heard in Negro communities are delivered in an English style of some antiquity, and appear to be completely outside the realm of what
6 Frederic Ramsey and Charles Edward Smith, Jazzmen ( New York a Hartcourt Brace, 1939), p. 101. 9
is sc::etimes called 'Afro-American• music. Some 'Negro music' in
Louisiana is basically French in character; elsewhere it is color
ed :�· regional tradition, the phonograp h and radio» as is the
ca. se ·.vi th folk music anywhere. " 7
Though survival of African elements (and songs) is muc h
more �xtensive than had previously been thought, there is not, in
NBgro folk music of the United States, such direct and strong con
tinuity ( except in isolated i nstances ) as exists between that of
W�.s-t Afric a and Haiti and that of West Africa and parts of Brazil.
What were preserved, in addition to melodic material the extent of
which is impossible to estimate , were elements of musical style,
inclu8.ing structural elements , ways of singing, ways of making in-
st:ru::ments and ways of playing them. Of the latter, the Afro
American banjo is the best known. While Irish, Scottish, and
Alllglo-American folk music represented both a literary and musical
conti�uity, Negro folk music almost had to be born, with all the
turbulence that this impli es . Its traditions have, to some ex
tent, been non-formalized and of great mobility. Broadly speak
ing, phases of Negro American folk music consisted of a series of
magnificent improvisations.
Until recently, analysis of Negro folk music has been done
al.most entirly in terms of Western European music al traditions.
Even so, the introduction of the blues scale, as described in w.c.
Handy•s 1926 book on blues, was not readily accepted. Musicolo
gists came to recognize that they could go a step further and
71vegro Folk Music of Alabama, recorded by Harold Courlander .:-:hnic Folkways Library FE4417, 4418, 4471, 4472, 447J, 4474), :��roductory notes. 10 recognize that this musical genre, having existed long before they wrote about it, had the right to be taken on its own terms.
In an attempt to see the music from inside, various new approaches were and are being employed in notation and analysis.
In spiritual singing there sometimes is an acceleration of tempo. In work songs flexible tempos are employed, according to the job to be done. Rhythmic accent is important as the singer sets the pace, fits song to stroke of axe or the blow of hammer .
Such use of music in everyday life has West African precedents as does also the use of interpolated phrases. Courlander mentions the softening of syllables, as in "father" to " fathum . " 8
In lyrics, works that have a poetic force often gain an added potency in the ways in which they are used . Field c;;tlls have a kinship to the calls that in slavery days employed mean ingful sounds borrowed from drums.
?reoccupation with sound as timbre is a wide-spread Afro
America;. trait and a survey of usage bears out the correctness of Courlander's remarks quoted earlier, with respect to the variety of Negro folk music, according to locality and other factors. To ears accustomed to standardized voice production and vibrato, some Negro folk singing will seem rough and rasping. But there is room in Negro folk singing also for lyric ism and limpid tones and, in fact, many ind i genous styles of singing.
There is, understandably, less and less of folk music in a
folk setting as one finds it in " Negro Folk Music of Alabama, "
8.Folk Music U.S.A., compiled by Harold Courlander (Ethnic Folkways-Library FEt-1-530), Introductory notes. 11
"Music From The South." or comparable sets of field recordings such as those undertaken by Alan Lomax. When the culture changes, the music changes. The pace of living affects its mortality ; the closer it comes to cities, the more it is susceptible to sophi sticated technologies. City singers put the blues firmly between bars, and it takes a great singer to give them back their freedom .
Finally, social and technological changes can take folk music out of that category entirely. CHAPTER III
MUSICAL ASPECTS OF
NEGRO FOLKSONGS
�egro folk music in the United States has both general and special characteristics which distinguish it from the folk music of European or Anglo-American origin. This is true, first of all, of fhe music per se, i. e. , its tones, intervals, rhythms, and har monies. It is also true of the manner in which these effects are achieved, through exploitation of instruments ( including the hu man voice ) , and in the concept of sound as an aspect of motion. f�egro mus ic, furthermore, varies from other American folk music in the uses to which it is put, and the events and circumstances to which it is related. It is also significantly different in the literary sense--the specialized qualities of its imagery and the nature of the ideas with which the images deal.
This body of music is the result of a blending process.
Certain melodic lines may be indisputably European. Certain rhythmic patterns may be almost identical to rhythms found in the
West Indies or West Africa. Certain images may coincide precise ly with those found in songs of English or Irish derivation.
Certain themes may correspond to similar themes known in non
Negro mountain communities, or recall songs typical of the west ern ranch country. Despite the permutations and influences, there remains the reality that, taken as a whole, the Negro folk music
12 lJ idiom is an integral and somewhat separate phenomenon and has a character completely its own.
It is not likely that any over-all definition of the nature of Negro folk music could be stated, but it is possible to exam ine some of the elements and aspects of that music and to see how and where it can be distinguished from other folk music.
A great deal of American Negro music is based upon the nentatonic scale, which in folk music is made up of the tones cor respon::::ing to the black keys on the piano. Many Negro songs ut il ize other so-called "gapped" systems like the major scale, but lacYing its fourth or s eventh. Other scales are the Mixolydian mode (major with a flatted seventh), and the minor with a raised seventh. These four have been characterized as probable s urvivals of sca les brought from Africa.
It is apparent from earlier writings that few had a full understanding of the African musical culture. It is only withir recert""times that there has been access to a large body of re cordings of African music, but this short aquaintance has made it evident that African music has more in common with Western folk music than was previously recognized.
It was once fashionable to speak of African musical at tributes as being quite exotic. Africans were believed to use scales of their own devising and to be fairly ignorant of harmony.
::owever, studies of African melodic concepts which were made through available recordings indicate that there are many paral lel to be found in African and European or Euro-American folk music. It is further evident that African use of harmony is far more frequent than had previously acknowledged . 14
In some African areas, four-part harmonization is a fairly standard practice. Richard Allen Waterman states that "almost nothing in European folk music •••is incompatible with African mu sical style, and much of the European material fits readily into the general ized African mold. Thus, in the United States, as in other l\ew World areas controlled by English-speaking Europeans, folk tunes and hymns stemming from the British Isles were often seized upon by African slaves and their descendants and, after 9 suitable remodeling, adapted as American Negro tunes. "
In evaluating the belief held by some specialists that
�n��ed States Negro songs are almost entirely indebted to European melodic influence, it must be taken into account that many of the studie� on which the conclusion is based dealt primarily or ex clusive ly with spirituals. If the conclusions are valid for Negro songs in general, then references to blues, worksongs, preaching singing styles, prayer singing, game songs, secular songs of ridicule and recrimination, songs accompanied by percussion de vices or ban jo, and numerous others that must be included. It seems likely that the religious activities would be likely to include a larger percentage of European elements than would be the case in a situation where such an entire, preformulated institu• tion was not involved. Whatever the validity of conclusions re garding the European so urce for spirituals, they do not seem to apply to the field of Negro folk music as a whole.
Furthermore, closer familiarity with Negro folk music as it
9 Richard A. Waterman, "African Influences on the Music of the Americas," in Acculturation in the Americas, ed ited by Sol Fax, p. 209. 15 is heard in its natural setting, and with the problem of notat- ing it without merely approximating it or distorting it altogether, unavoidably suggest that the notation from which much Negro music has been analyzed may be inadequate and includes false implications.
An example is the many times that the partially flatted third and seventh notes have been transcribed as naturals or as simple flats.
Another observation concerns the assumption that the essence of Negro music has been adequately explored when melodic or scale characteristics have been probed. Melody is only a single facet of 'the problem. A growing interest in jazz origins has created a heightened interest in rhythmic aspects. Whether jazz enthusiasts a�e correct in assuming that rhythmic motifs in jazz are mainly
African is beside the point. The point is that early studies dis missed rhythmic elements and ma.ny others, as a style of presenta tion, did not recognize that a style of presentation is itself an integral part of a musical concept.
Also to be considered are harmony and polyphony, canonical elements, various relationships between singers, the use of the voice, the relationship between music and motor activities. the manner of projecting tne music, tone requirements as they relate t� instruments, the form of accompaniment, the content of the songs, the use to which music is put, and traditional attitudes toward singing in general.
One of the commonly cited characteristics of the Negro blues song is "blue tonality," the partially flatted third or seventh notes. This commonplace of the blues is found in Negro work songs, religious songs, and others. In describing the style of a well known gospel singer, the jazz specialist Marshall Stearns 16 says, "two areas in the oc tave -- the third and seventh in the scale
, ••are attacked with an endless variety of swoops, glides, slurs, smears, and glisses ."10 Thi s difficult-to-define treatment of the thirds and sevenths is what produces the blues tones.
It is generally accepted that the blue tones are a charac teristic which developed in the United States, but it is not safe to regard the blue tones as aspects of a rigid scale concept.
Accurate transcri.ption of Negro songs as they are sung in their own environment shows that some other note s of the scale are oc ca sionally partially raised or lower ed . In evaluating the par tial�y lowered or partially raised tones heard in the United States
Negro sing5.. ng one must consider whether they are truly accidentals or whether they are the result of certain freedoms allowed the s inger within the tradition. Many of the singers who use these pitches have a fine sense of music and are clearly capable of distingui shing one tone from another.
One general impre ssi on that c omes from listening to spirit ua ls , worksongs , and other traditional forms of Negro mu sic is that there is an absence of harmony. Group singing tends to be in uni son or some time s in octave s . However, certain notes or groups of notes may be sung in simultaneous seconds, thirds, fourths or fifths. This i s particularly true in church singing and gang singing.
Some improvisatory and semi-improvi satory singing produces unmistakable polyphonic effects. While voice interplay of this type is most easily heard in the church setting, it is not unknown
lOMarshall Stea rns, The Story of Jazz , p. 7. 17
in secular singing s i tuation s, and it is pertinen t to wonde r
whether jazz instrumentation does not owe s ometh ing to it.
In �o st of the traditional Negro si nging there is no ap-
parent striving for the ''smooth• and "sweet" qua li ties that are
so highly regarded in We stern tradition. Some outs tan ding blues,
g�s?el, and jazz singers have voice s that can be described as
� "foggy," "hoarse," "rough ," or "sandy." Not only is this kind of
·10 i :e 1erogated, it is often hig hly valued.
r� :he course of reco rding gang songs in Ne gro prisons in
�he sou"".:''i.ern United State s , Alan Lomax asked hi s informants what
·.11as Tequired in a good singing leader. One man , reflecting the
general view, declareds
It wouldn ' t just exactly make any difference about the dependability of his voice , or nothing like th at • • • But i� would take a man with the most experience, to my under standing, to make the best leader. You see, if you'd bring a brand ne w man here, if he could have a voi ce , why he could sing just like a Pete r could preach, and he didn't know what to sin� about , we ll , he wouldn't do no good, see? Well, here's a fe llow, maybe he ain't got no voice for singing, but • • • he been on the job so long till he knows exactly how it should ber an d if he can just mostly talk it, why, you understand how to work with him • • • It don't make any difference about his v oice • • • The time, that ' s all it is • • . You can just whi stle • • • and if you know the time and can stay in there with the axes you can cut just as good as if you was singing . But you have to be experenced.11
:here are various singing conventions in Negro tradition
which, although not unkn own elsewhere, ar e generally not found in
other American folk musi c . One of them i s the te ndency to break
into falsetto tones, sometimes for a no te or two, on o c ca sion for
whole phrases or e nt ire song s. Thi s is not the result of in-
l lNeero Pri son Song s, re corded by Alan Lom ax (Traditional 2�cords TtP 1o2o), Introductory notes. 18
ability on the part of the singer to reach tones higher than his
natural register . In Negro tradition the falsetto has an a esthetic
value. African singers often use falsetto as an informal style
for singing solo and in small groups , and men singing at work in
the fields of forests may sing to themselves in thi s register .
Other noteworthy Negro singing elements are humming and
moaning and gro�ing . They are found in religious songs, work
songs, old style blues , and field cries. Moaning doe� not imply
grief or anguish; on the contrary, this is a bli ssful or ecstatic
rendition of a song, and is characterized by full and free ex
ploitation of melodic variation and improvisation , sometimes with
an open throat , sometimes with closed lips to create a humming
effect. On occasion moaning is done in falsetto or utilizes
falsetto breaks. Another characteristic that has been observed in a large
body of Negro songs is the alteration of or softening of various
ultimate consonants to produce a desired aural effect. Thus r's
and l's may be converted into musical n's and m's, the resulting " '' tone resembling humming . Father is sometimes sung as "fathum•; " ' ' " " 11mother as ''mothum·; ' angel as ''angun·� "hammer'' as hammuri' , ''steel as
"steem'� somewhere as somewhen, there as then, and ark as arm. Such
softenings are clearly musical devices and are not heard in con
Yersational speecht (which has its own formula for modifying ter minal sound�).
One of the readily recognized characteristics of Negro
group singing is the leader and chor11s responsive pattern . Where
ever group singing takes place , whether in work gangs , in the home ,
or in the church, there is a natural tendency for two-part singing, 19 the first part being that of the le ader and the second that of the group. In a typical call and response form , the leader make s a
statement of one or more phrases, with the chorus coming in at·
some point to add to the statement . In some instances the leader
sings the entire sor..g, with the chorus joining in towards the end of a line of phrase. In others, the response may consist of a .. repetition of the line sung by the leader. In addition, there are numerous combinations of these patterns .
A frequently observed practic e is for the leader's part and the response part to overlap. And so the leader may start a new phrase be fore the chorus has quite ended, or the chorus may come in before the leader has quite finished .
In secular group s i nging, the relationship of leader and response is often developed by the s ingers according to t he ir feelings. Once the pattern has been set, it is followed through out. R esponsive parts in r e ligi o us songs are rarely improvised • .. In the chur ch setting there is a familiarity with the song rep- ertoire and recognition of proper responses is set by custom.
The stat i ng of a re s ponse is de e p rooted in Negro culture, and great value is placed upon it. It is apparent in numerous situations rangi ng from story telling and preachi ng to simple conversations. The interplay of narration and exclamation some times sets up a rhythmic, near-musical pattern . But if the preach er d eli vers his sermon in a rhyt hmi c, compelling, and musical fashion, as is common, the interplay of statement and response becomes simi lar to music.
Another common element in traditional Negro music is the part pl aye d by patting and handclapping. Clapping is a normal 20 way of providing percussive effects and maintaining a rhythmi c pulse for singing. Thigh - slapping or patting was a c ommonplace accompaniment to old-time social dances and to certain kinds of singing. Patting and clapping are integral to most old style church singing and are used in many children's games and play party songs. Clapping beats may or may not coincide with mel- • odic accents. Often the clapping songs fall between the stressed voice tones and constitute a regular offbeat. In some church singing and games, one part of the group claps on the melodic accent and the other in mid -measure , producing an entirely dif ferent effect than if the entire group were to clap double time.
There are also variations of these schemes , some of them result ing in syncopation or some other of the various rhythmic pat- terns.
In worksongs, tools s uch as axes and hammers provide per cussion effects of a different but ·related kind . The tempo of work with heavy tools is necessarily slower than handclapping • • But the work beat can relate to the melodic accent in various ways.
In de scribing the relationship of work accents to the voice parts in songs of thi s type that he heard in the southern
United States , the singer Peter Seeger stated•
If all the strokes came in unison , they would occur normally on the third beat of each four-beat measure. If two groups alternated strokes, the sound would come on the first beat as we11.12
Rhythmic characteristics of Negro music in general have
12 , Prison Camp Work Son�s recorded by Peter Seeger and others {Ethnic Folkways Library FE 475), Introductory notes. 21 been well explored in recent times because of the considerable interest in blues, jazz, and it precursor, ragtime, As remote as United States Negro rhythm is from African today, it is cer tainly closer to it in rhythmic concepts than it is to either
English or French folk tradition.
In an analysis of African musical style, Waterman found that, whereas the accents in European melodies tend to fall on the beat, the main accents of Afr ican melodies regularly fall between the beats.
The effect thu s produced is that of a temporal displace ment of var ious notes of the melodic phrase, in relation to rne percussion phrase is dominant, however, this te chnique can best be understood as an artful fl irt ing w ith the po s sibility of establishing9 by means of the melody, another, and disor ienting, beat at the same tempo as competing · �hat established by the percussion.13
The Negro Worksong, particularly the kind sung by rail- road gangs, roustabouts, woodcutters, fishermen, and prison road gangs, is part of an old and deeply rooted tradit ion. Few Negro musical activities come closer to what we think of as an African style than ga.ng singing. The melodi�'E.!s may be essentially European, the rhythms may be simple (dictated by the nature of the work be ing done ) , and the harmonic sounds may be no more African than
European, but the over-all effect instantly calls to mind the group labor of Jamaica, Haiti, and West Africa.14
lJTribal, Folk, and Cafe Music of West Africa, recorded by Arthur s . .Alberts.
14 Folk Music of Jamaica, recordings made by Edward Seega (Ethnic Folkways Library FE 4453)1 �egro Folk Music of Africa And America, r ecord ings made by Harold Courlander, (Ethnic Folk way� Library 4500); Folk Music of Liberia, recordings made by Packard L. Oakie ( Ethnic Folkways Library FE 4465); and Folk Music of the Western Congo. recordings made by Leo A. Vswilghen ( Ethni c Folkways Library�FE 4427). 22
The substance of the gang songs ranges from ribald to
devout, from humorous to sad , from gentle to harsh �nd from
tolerant to unforgiving. The meanings can be personal or gen
eral. The statement can be direct, tangential, or metaphoric.
As throughout Negro singing generally there are examples of
social c riti cism , ridicule, gossip, and protest. The men may
sing of the work they are doing, women , heroic events , places
where they have been, good l ives or lives gone wrong, preachers
'.1.nd gan('" bosses , the hard lot of the Negro, or e..al vat ion. Some
fan� songs, or certain portions of them, are taken over from
ch:..i.('.ch singing, children ' s games, or from balladry. But most of
them draw their substance from life on the levies, in the pine
!orests, in the fishing boats, on the tracks, and from the living
scene generally.
The singing leader, or "caller," is as essential to the
work gang as the singing leader or as the preacher is in the
church. He must have the feel of the wo rk that is being done, an
understanding of the men with whom he is working. and the capacity
to evoke both musical and motor response. As in the dance, musical
and motor activity are inseparable. Although the prime objecti ve
of the gang song is not entertainment, it nevertheless must be more
than melody, words, and timing; the song that captures the imagin
ation of the workers, that engages them, will get the work d one by keeping the men in a working spirit. For members of work gangs,
many of the songs they hear are part of an old familiar repertoire.
A good singing leader senses what kind of song is needed at a given time, and how to sing it. Frequently he has a talent for improvi
sation of new songs. Vany worksongs were heard for the first time 23 only a few moments after the events about which they comment took place . Some action of the boss or captain, some overheard con versation, a passing woman, a quarrel, or something else could be turned into a song if the leader could grasp it and make it into a singing statement . Sometimes a leader improvises on a theme which has personal meaning to him, but in such terms that it can also have personal meaning for the other men in the group.
In its choice of sub j e ct matter, its responsive form , its improvi sation, its direct relation to work being done , and in the tie betwe en sound and action, the Negro group worksong bears a striking affinity to its counterparts in the African traditions .
Singing and , sometime s , percussive effects customarily accompany work such as the cutting of tree s, the clearing of brush, the hoe ing of fields , the hoi sting of sails , the hauling of a hawser , the pounding of grain in a mortar , and the winnowing of rice , An in dividual working alone at such tasks may employ singing to aid his physical activity.
Through identification and experience with work , the sing ing leader is ab le to convert song into movement and effort . Tim ing is important s he must not pace the workers too fast or too slow . He senses when he can accelerate and when he must slacken .
So valuable is a good leader or caller that in some gangs he is excused from actual work .
The structural patterns of the Negro gang worksongs are varied. Some of these commonly encountered are a
1. Unison singing , leader and chorus singing together note for note , except for accidental harmonies in seconds , thirds , fifths , sometimes in octaves of falsetto . 24 Fig. 1. Leader a a b c
C horus a a ' b' c'
2 . The leader s ings hi s first solo line , follows with the response line , then sings his second solo line , after which the group picks up the indicated response . Each line of the solo part , except for occasional repetition , is different .
Fig . 2. Leader a a b c d e f
Chorus 1 b b b b
J. The cho rus repeats in full the solo lines, each of whi -.h is different .
Fig . J. Leader s a b c d
C horus a a b c d
4. The leader sings every line twice, a fixed chora l re
Gponse following each solo line .
·"·Fig . 4 . Leader a a a c c d d
Chorus • b b b b b b
5 . The le ader sings a line with one or more repetitions , wi th the chorus picking up the last word or several words of each line and then singing the responsive part .
Fig. 5. Leader s a a a chorus chorus chor us b Chorus 1 a a a
c c c chorus chorus chorus b c c c
6. The leader sings each line twice, with an alternat ing choral response between . 25
Fi� . 6. L e ader s a a d d e e
Chorus a b c b c b c
Peter S e eger , who recorded gang song s in 'l' exas , remark s
that the singing he heard there was marked by ant i phony , the most
casual attent i on to ha rmony , and a tendency toward changing mel-
ody .
Harmoni cally, most of the song s rarely leave the tonic chord . Only a few have occas ional dominant or subdominant feeling, However , any singer able to would readily sing a hi �h t enor part or bass . 15
These observations appe ar to hold for Negro gang s i nging in other
areas and settings as well.
The Negro rai lroad wo rker , like any other rai lroad hand ,
often followed the tra cks i n search of work , or moved from one
place to another with the se ction crew. A man who j o i ne d up in
Georgia mi eht eventually find himsel.f in Arkansas ; Louisiana , or
Ohio. He mi ght then shift to another railroad line in order to
work hl s way back home . Some of his work expedi tions turned into
long voyaf!eS that lasted a year or more . Many of the son gs of the
railroad hands reflected their homesickness. The following song (Example 1) expresses the desire of the singer to go back to East
Colorado , a plac e name for whi ch each man can imaginative ly sub
stitute a lo cat ion of his own cho osing .
Ne ro ison Cam Work Son s, rec orded by Peter Seeger and others Ethnic Folkways Library FE 4475), introduction. 26
:::XAYPLE il6
EVALI NA
.I w-anf fo _ see m.y wife t111d chiI �.__:_ ¥J J JJU: I� rE;U d 6;.,! Oh yes 1 !, Jo, ___ Jiu. f!JlJ 1 JJ. I·-- F -E buclJy bud J; 'fe$ l do. Cap , -fa.it1
ttwa·� f!' J=n1 r#=-j#d � ·Ir Er �� - �r. w� I - kcr, wb in the ,,,,,..Id cl:±.r COii< � '? fJ y ;11 11 r r�PJ .J11 � 8 i m ! w lk!n'd you Cf¥f't!. here,he.re, bud �Jy wkr:1Jyou tome here.? _f= J J I J EJ.1F f- J ·1J¥J.6 E Cl.p-fain send me. dONn a.. �oolJ.;/\ t of Wil.·t�"f!· f J J,0 J J Lr.F I /jJ J :J ; I Bi,..! Just fo heaJ my s'rJe,side1bud-dyJus f fo "'*21 "'Y
.. f J. t]I f ·· � • lttc· 1(,\ �f12nLl side. Ev -il. - Ii - nc?. , _
16Harold Courlander , Negro Folk Music U.S.A. , p. 94 27
From the early morning call. to the gambling songs that acc ompanied the late-night coon-can games , there was a tune for every part of the railroad wo rker ' s day and every job he did. The shack rou.ster , who rapped on the boxcar doors and woke the men of the railroad construction crew, has been known to sing the follow ing a
EXAI'iPLE 217
. Big bell call you , little bell warn you , If you don't come now,· ·I 'm gonna break in on you , Aincha gwine , aincha gwine , boys , aincha gwine •••
The mule s�nners ho llered the lonesome blues at their mule s as they plied up the right of way . The tie-toters chanted as they t1�:Jtted along with the ties on their shoulders . When the steel r�: d. ls were dumped off the flat cars there was a steel caller to coordinate the efforts of the gang who mus cled the two-ton rails • "118 ..,.,T:i'Y...... �l..a., ;o\:'P"'".. .- � E -'
All righ-ty now, boys , don 't get hurt , I want you to go home lookin ' all right • • • The gang who picked up the rai ls wi th their iron dogs and swung them into the buckles and screwed in t he bolts had another vo ice whi ch kept them moving in rhythm, one minute to a rail, twen ty rails in twenty minutes . The gravel was poured round the ties from the gravel car, and the tramping gang came along to pack it in tight , tapping in syncopated rhythm as their leader sang .
Whi le the standard and improvisatory verses sung by the callers for track lining are seemingly endless in number , and
1 7Alan Lomax , Folksongs of No r t h America ( New York a Double day and Company, I nc ., 1975), p . 5 24. 18rbid. 28 while they may vary considerably according to the individual cal- lers , there is a common element which runs through many of them , part icularly in the part of the song whi ch accompanies the shak ing operation. The metallic • rattle • sounds made by the bars a�ainst the track are , in the ears of the workmen , an integral part of the music. Whenever a man sings one of the se songs out side the actual work setting, he finds the need of filling in with onomatopoet ic sounds to represent the shaking . One si nger
1 may use 'ratta-datta-datta-datta ,• and another , "yakka-yakka- yakka.••
EXAMPLE 419
All right, Captain want to line track . Hoh l Hold 'em right there t Get you six bars l
Put two bars on this side over here! All right •••shake it east l All right , Rich Amerson call the track l
Oh , the Captain can 't read, the Capt ain can't write , Captain can't tell you when the track's lined right . Mobile , Alabama . Biml Dattle datta datta •••etc. Mobile , Alabama . Biml Dattle datta da tta •••et c.
Oh •••move it , give me j'int ahead , j'ine Dem back behind the j'int ahead! Set two bars in there and hold it east l Three bars , shake it westl Oh, set it down boys , call it !
Woh, eat 'em up whiskers , one-eyed shave, Eat 'em up by the light ( ) day . Big boy , let 's line it . Baml Dattle dattle •••etc . Big boy , let 's move it. Baml Dattle da ttle •••et c . Big boy , shake it over . Biml Datt le dattle • ••etc .
Oh , j'ine ahe ad , j'int back , ahead of the j 'int ahead! All right , set 'em down and shake 'em west ! Woh , set 'em down boys ! 29
Woh, Captain when you get your section, want to be your straw , Git your daughter , be your son-in-law • • • Big boy , line it over . Baml Dattle dattle •••etc . Big boy , for the Captain. Baml Dattle dattle •••etc . Mobile e Alabama . Biml Dattle dattle •••etc . Mobile , Alabama . Dattle dattle •••etc .
Let 'em line the tracks up for the Captain That 's rai lroad .
If there is a secular song in American Negro tradition that can be safely said to be known on every rai lroad gang it is "John Henry. " The song appears in many lengths and forms .
The story is that Qf a railroad worker of great strength and pri de who att empts to prove in a contest that the new steam dri ll cannot replace a hard working hammer man , and who dies of exhaustion as a consequence . Some scholars beli eve that they have established the identity of the original John Henry , a wor kerwof the Che sapeake and Ohio Railroad . But as Guy B. Johnson concluded ,
all questions of authenticity of the John Henry tradi tion fade into insignificance before the inc ontrovertible fact that for countless admirers John Henry is a reality . To them he wi ll always be a hero • • , 2 0
Shorter forms of the song only hint at the poetry and grandeur of the story , whi le some of the longer versions qual ify as epic ballads . The story is cent ered around the dramatic contest between man and machine in the Bi g Bend Tunnel, but there
19Haro ld Courlander , Negro Songs From Alabama , p. 10 .
20Guy B. Johnson , John Henry a Tracking Down A Negro Legend (Chapel Hi ll s University of North Caro lina Press , 1929) , pp . 142- 146. 30
are stanzas that recall his childhood, even to the day of his
birth , and anticipate scenes that follow his death . Some ver
sions cont end that when John Henry was a baby he had a clear
premonition of his life 's work and the drama of his end s
EXAMPLE 5 21
John Henry wa s a little baby , Settin ' on his mama 's knee , Said the Big Bend Tunne l on the c. and o. Line Going to be the death of me , Lord , going to be the death of me .
The details of the monumental struggle against the mac hine
vary a great deal as the story is told through the song in dif
f6rent places at different times . Individual singers have im
parted something of their own visions and dreams to the ballad e
The substanc e of most versions , however , is the tale of the ham
mer man and spike driver who wielded a nine (or twelve , or twenty )
pound hammer as no one else ever did before or since . He could
drive from both shoulders (from either side ), and he had so much
stami na that he wore out his shakers (the men who he ld the drills) .
One rendition has it that two crews of workmen compe ted in
the Big Bend contest , one operating the steam drill , the other
"shaking '' for John Henry . At the end of thirty-five minut es the
machine had dri lled a hole nine feet deep, but John Henry had dri lled two seven-foot holes , winning for himself a pri ze of one
hundred dollars . But he was so exhausted from the cont est that
he died that night in bed . Other renditions say that he hammered
himself to death right on the job .
21 Harold Courlander , Negro Folk Music U.S.A. , p. 111. 31
The version given here is one that Harold Courlander re corded in Alabama in 1950.
EXAN.PLE 622
JOHN HENRY
Jo hn Hen- ry Scii d fo +he Ca.p- faln_ iAaf cl €P Jo 1 ;J. �P �&rttrran ls no+ _ bu+ a. man ._ said he-
F ·_ ;IP J j J ii @1 _ F fl me :ftt-Vo.• 1 /ef �;is sk..> J�111 becl J';;:,, 1'11
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r r r r r 1 Y � 'vHen - ry had a. /;f -1/e. WomilJI ·-r¥:' ..ve lt fhe
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., � �1 'v·shoes sher wrxe.fg it 's Dttl. _ red,r vve.11 fh e
r r J J, trrhat she. had onff@_ if>s flla _JI 1'ed, _ f.h;zBt_
r r;r £J1r 6fijJJ1 $p _ worn - d>Q'S eyes they t�rned rrdwrth blo od.. Wt /I_ )2 �Ff E rfln1J W-JU She. C«*tJ-Sa'el>'ll - in'
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The prison camp songs are worksongs in a special sett ing .
They cont ain a higher incidence of reference to pri son camp life ,
escapes, and other adventures, and an understandable melancholy is
lurking behind even humorous themes. The continuing association
of the pri soners over long periods of time , the ir day by day ex
perie11c es , their lack of normal emoti onal and intellectual out-
lets , their shared sense of frustration and , some times, injustice,
and their practiced fami liarity with a large body of song liter
ature have combined to bring the Negro work song to its highest
point . As Alan Lomax remarks • "The wi ldest and most beauti ful
of •••Neg ro work song s come from the penitentiary where the - old Southern system of forced labor reaches its apogee . " 2J
Escape from prison or pri son camps is a favorite subject for s ongs of Negro convict laborers . Many of these songs are
short lived , but others such as "Here Rattler Here ," and "Lost
John" have become classics. They are found in numerous versions
throughout the South wherever Negro convicts work together .
The dramatic "Lost John" rates wi th the fine st of escape
songs . It tells of a prisoner named Lost John who escaped and outwitted hi s pursuers by placing an extra heel on the front of
22r bid. pp . 280- 285.
2JNegro Pri son Song s , recorded by Alan Lomax (Tradition Records TLP 102 0) , Introduc tory notes. 3 7
ea.ch shoe . ·11 hen hi s foot prints were dis c overed, it was i mpo s sib le to tell the direction of hi s fli ght . As sung responsively, each
I of the following li ne s , delivered by the l eader , was re peat e d by
th� chorus .
3XAMPLE 72 4
One day , one day I were walking along And I he ard a little vo ice Didn 't see no one . It was old Lost John , He said he wa s long gone Like a turkey through the corn With hi s long c lothe s on. Had a heel in front And a heel behind , Well you couldn 't hardly tell Well you couldn 't hardly tell Whichaway he was goin ' Whi chaway he was go in •. One day , one day , Well I heard him say Be on my way Be on my way 'Fore the break of day Got a he e l in front , Got a heel b e hi nd , Well you c an ' t hardly tell Well you can ' t hardly tell Whi chaway I'm go in ' .
,At this p_o i nt the song turns to commentary on t he conditions which had driven Lo �t John to escape :
Ought c ome on the river Long time ago , You could find a dead man Right on your row . Well the dog man '!d l l e d him Well the dog man killed him 'Cause the boy couldn 't go ' C aus e the boy couldn 't go . Wake up the dead man , He lp me carry my row, 'Cause the row ' s so heavy Can't hardly make it To the lower turn row To the lower turn row. Oughta come on the river Nineteen and ten, JS
Well the women was rolling Just like the men .
Fol lowing ano ther rendition of the escape story , there is more
comment on prison camp life :
Ought come on the river Long time ago , I don 't know partner, Say, you oughta know , You 'd catch plenty trouble Eve rywhere you go Eve rywhere you go . One day , one day , Heard the captain s ay If you boys work Gonna tre at you mighty well , I f you don 't go to work , Says we may give you hell.
And at last a small note of hope �
One day , one day I'll be on my way And you may not never Ever hear me say One day , one day , I'll be on my way .
Comment s on the long terms being served by the pri soners often find their way into work music . In this song , for exampl e, the singer notes that the captain is in a hurry to get the wo rk done , though the pri soners aren 't going anywhere and wi ll be in the vic inity for the foreseeable future .
EXAMPLE s 25
CAPTAIN HOLLER HURRY
s'e f 1 J•4.J J =o 143 uJ]�. iS1 Ike f!atlai�hof. (q br-rtt , qoi:JL' fa
24Harold Courlander , Negro Folk Mus ic U.S .A. , pp . 102-lOJ . 39 40 4.1 J J JI'; J 01fJJI Cap -� U tv A.11l*- l'fj1 ----- ' jU J J J' J JI.)' J V ft __:::/)� 1Ji:n.'fo -/aJt11y -6� . .fa� ,i� 'Jlt1i-iit1
' ii)1 I ' .Ji; J J J J I � I 3 II ;nf)� - 1-j, _ tJJ&t, Ik "Ji�ft; -.left�� _
Love themes form one of the important categories of pri son s�ngs . They are not expressed in the customary romantic idiom but by tangential references and in physical imagery . Words and music neverthe less have a poignancy and strength not often sur- pre ssed o�r traditional Western love cliches. As heard in its natural setting, the following song , recorded by Alan Lomax in
IV:issi ssippi , was sung by the gang leader , wi th the group coming i :i. or. the last two or three words of. each line .
EX AMPLE 9 26
25rbid. pp . 265-266. · 41
' ! B P?f @'-#ZJ I brq1 II� t,(!,
: . __
- aL �o - - ��=-!!_!���19a!_:____ 42
Although worksongs heard to day are mainly on the railroads and in the prison camps , a generat i on or two ago group singing was commonplace in planting , harve s ting , and other agri cultural operations . Grain wa s planted , reaped, threshed, winnowed , and pou.nded to the accomp miment of re sponsive s inging . Though time has altered the social and technological aspec ts of these opera tions, many of the songs identified wi th them have survived .
When rice was harvested it was tied in sheaves , At thresh- ing time , the sheaves were laid on a clean floor, and the grain was beaten out of them with flails . Some flails were construc t ed of a short stick or wooden knob att ac hed to a woo den handle by a length of cord or rawhide . Usually two peo ple worked on a single sheaf, facing each other and alternating their blows rhythlr�cally .
Thi s is described by Lydia Parri sh •
When two Negroes ' t ' rash tog ether , they always sang as they faced each other . The short part of the flail whi ch . flew in the air in s eemingly reckless fashion was called a 'bob� · and it was rather important to have its gyrations rhytl'.. " i cally controlled , As soon as one side of a sheaf was clear of rice it was turned over •••By the time the string ( whi ch bound the sheaf ) wa s broken , the grain was in a long row in the middle . .. �7
One of the threshing songs taken down by Parri sh was thi s
��e with a Biblical allusion s
EXAMPLE 1028
John say you got to reap what you sow, John say you got to reap what you sow , If you sow it in the rain, you got to reap it just the same , You got t o reap in the harvest what you sow .
26r bi d . p. 26 2 .
27Lydia Parrish, Slave Songs of the G e or i a Sea I s lands t?ennsylvani aa Folklore Associates , Inc. , 1965 T , p. 225. 28r bid . 43
Another worksong that remains fr om slavery times is:
E:XAMPLE 1129
Mi ssus in the big house , Mammy in the yard , �issus ho ldin ' her whit e hands , Mammy workin' hard , Mammy workin ' hard , Mammy work.in • hard . Mis sus ho ldin ' her white hands , Mammy workin ' hard .
Old Marse ridin ' all time , Nigger workin ' round , Marse sleepin ' day time , Nigger diggin ' in the ground , Nigger diggin' in the ground , Nigger diggin' in the ground . N:arse sleepin ' day time , Niggers diggin' in the ground .
That group work singing among Negroes remains a living
��adition elsewhere than in the deep South is evidenced by chance e;.c ounters wi th Negro construction gangs at work almo st anywhere .
�:egro worksongs may even be heard at sea. Fishermen hauling nets a:oard boats in t he Atlantic have been recorded singing rousing w�rks ongs timed to the tempo of their work . J O
Boat rowing and poling song s sung by Negroes in t he early
��:ieteenth century must have had a marked Afri can character , if
�:ie may rely on the acc ounts of the period. Frances Anne Kemb le 's
:�urnal of a Residence on a Georgia Plantation , depicting life in the vicinity of the Sea Islands in the late 18JO 's, contains some i�pressi ons of Negro singing whi ch, though limited, help to give us a pic ture of what it sounded like . To get from one small is l and to another , her plantation-owner hu sband was rowed in what
2 9ttoward Odum and Guy B. Johnson , Negro Workaday Son�s �orth Carolina : The University of North C aro lina Press , 192 ) , p. 117.
J OFrances Anne Kemble . Journal of a Residence on a Georgia Plantation (New York , Harpers , 1863), p. 127 . 44 mu st have been a sort of longboat by a c r ew of slave oarsmen .
Mrs . Kemble describl':'d seeing him off on one of his trips s
as the "coat pushed off and the st e er sman took her into the stream, the men at the oars set up a chorus , whi c h they chanted in unison with each other , and in time with their stroke, till voices and oars were heard no more from the distance.Jt�e
Lafc adio Hearn in hi s " Americ an Sketches" gives consider- able space to the sub ject o f N egro roustabout songs some forty years later . One such song , which he called "one of the mo s t popu.lar roust about songs •••on the Ohio, " was sung in unison by a Negro boat crew. Called " Mo l ly Was a Good Gal," to Hearn 's
2 ear§ lt" was a "low and me lancholy air. 0 3
SXAMPLE 1 233
Molly was a good gal and a bad gal too . Oh �o lly , row, ga l . �o lly was a go od gal and a bad gal too . Oh Mo lly , row , ga l.
I'll row dis boat and I'll row no more , Row, Mol ly, Row, gal . I'll row dis boat and I'll row no more , Row, Molly , Row , gal .
Captain on the boiler deck a-heavin ' of the lead , Oh, Molly, row , gal . r, allin' to the pilot to give her turn ahe ad, Oh, Mo lly , row , �al .
The tie betwe en work and mus ic in Negro tradition in the
Uni ted States has survived in many places and forms . Even a person working alone may respond to this deeply rooted impulse , especia lly when hi s work has a rhythmi c c hara c t er .
3 1Franc es Anne Kemble , Journa l of a R e s i d ence on a G eorgia Plantation (New York , Harper s , 1863), p. 1 27.
12Lafcadio Hearn , " American Sketches ," in Selected Wri ti ng s of Lafcadio Hearn, edited by Henry Goodman ( New York , Citadel, 1949 ) , pp . 218-219 .
3 3rbid. 45
Worksongs seem to offe r a particularly promising area for future research, Hundreds of songs have been c o lle cted in numer ous variants, and many of them are avai lable in print . The broad outlines of a suitable classifi cation system seem clear, but the details need to be worked out and published . Almost any s ong or son� -type that might be s e le c t ed for study exsists in enough var iants from enough different regi ons to yield fascinating data .
Both the texts and the tune s are usual ly intrinsically appealing .
Questions of style , funct i on , and me aning would immediately pre sent themselves in the study of any of the s e songs . BIBLI OGRAPHY
Aronald , Byron . F o lks ongs of Alabama . Alabama a University of Alabama Press , 1950.
?runvand , ,Jan Earc ld . The Study of_A merican Folklore . New York : :·:.VI. Norton and Company , Inc. , 1968. Courlander , Har·old . Negro Folk Mus icl U.S.A •• New York and London : Columbia Univers i ty Press , 19 ).
Courl"".nd er , Harold . Negro Songs From Alabama . New York : Oak Pub licat i ons, 196) .
?.:. sher , f,!i les r1.ark . N egro Slave Songs in the Uni ted States. New Yo�k a Corne ll University Pr ess, 1953 .
Snrdon, Robert Winsl ow . Folk Songs of America. New York s National '.3ervice Bur eau , 19)8. ".: 1 ·;.�c:-:.vay , John . AmE:rican Folksongs of Prot e s t . New York : A .s . B arnes and Company , Inc. , 195) .
Hearn , lafcadio. Selected Wri tin;gs of Lafcadi o Hearn • l'iew York ' _ C i ta de l , 1949 . jc 1msori , Guy B. John Henry :_ Tracki n_g Down a Ner;rc_1.Qgend. Chan�1 �i ll s University of North Caroli na Press , 1929 .
·�f mbl0 , Fr'.1nces nne Journal of a Residence on a G t-:orP-ia Planta A . ·- tion . New York : Harpers , l�:b)7"
r of Kr·appe� , .A l exande H. The Science Fo-lklore . New York : W.W. Norton and Company , Inc., 1964 .
L��.wless , Ray M. Folk s i ngers and Folksongs in Ameri ca. New York a Duell , Sloan and Pearce, 1960 .
Locke , Alain . The Negro and His Music . New York s Arno Press and The New York Times , 1969 .
Lomax , Alan . Folksongs of North America. New York : Doubleday and C ompany , Inc., 1975 .
Lomax , John A. and Alan . Our Singing Countr;y . New York : The r.:acmi l lan Company , 19Iil .
46 47 Nathan , Har:is. :1�!\,:2i:nmett and the Rise of Ea:ly Negro rt: i nstrelfa>Y . Okldhome . unive rsi. ty of Oklahome Pre�s , 19 J. l'lettl, 3runo . ?olk and Traditional Music of the Western Contine11ts . New Jersey i Prentice-Hall, Inc. , 1973 .
Nettl , :.:runo . �olk '.\lusic in the United States , an introduction . '.Je-,;.r York : Wayne State University Press, 1976.
0<, um , Howarc� !3.nd :Cuy B. Johns on. Negro Workaday Songs . North Carolins The University of North Carolina Pr ess , 1926 .
P�·".'rinh , Lydia. 3laye Songs o.J:...:the Georgia Sea Islands . Hatboro , �8nnsylv�nias Folklore As s o c i ates , Inc., 1965 .
�arr:sey , Frederic Jr . , and Charles Edward Smith. JazzIJ!§...D • New York t ''.'.1rcourt Brace , 1939 . :.:.;neg:er , Charles and Ruth . Folk Songs U.S •.!.. , New York : Du e l l , Sloan and Pearce , Inc. , 1948 . Siegmeister , ::: lie . Work and Sing , a,. C o l le c t i 9n of Songs t hat Bu�1J America, New York s U.R. S cot t, 1944 .
Stearn s , Karshall . The S tory of Jaz1.• New York : Oxford lJni 'lersity Press t 1956.
Waterman , Richard A . " Afri can Influences on the Mus ic of the Americas ," in Sol Tax , Acculturation in the Americas , �hicago & University of Chi cago Press , 1952.
White , fiewman I. Ame rican Negro Folksongs . Hatboro , Pennsylvani a , 1965 .
1�1ork , John w. American Negro Sones . New York i Howe ll , Soskin and Company , 1940 . DI SC OGRAPHY
:·od1: :usic of ·��i ca , recordP.d by Edward Seaga . Ethni c Folkways Li °l:: !''lr�r FE1'i4'53 . Notes by the collector .
?ol� ��sic 0f ��e Western Congo , recordings mad e by Leo A. '!erwi lghen , Ethnic Fol1cways Library FE4427 .
:.'ol:� '"·::;ic 1! .3 •.a.., co mpi led by Haro ld Courlander , Ethni c Folkways Ltbrary FE4530. Two record set , wi th notes by Charles ::: dward �mith.
-:'rn ...... :�- �--.,, ::�.wi c o:f :\frica and Ameri ca, compi led by Haro ld ·: our lander , Zthnic Folkways Library FE45 00 . Notes by Richard A. :/aterman and the compi ler .
?r-, ,_ �-· :.:u�>ic of "Liberia, re c ordi ng s made by· Packard L. Uakie , E:: thnic 1-'o 1 kw3.ys Library .PE446 5.
�·�ic From the South , recorded in southern states by Frederic �amsey Jr . , Folkways Records FA 265 0 , 2651, 2652, 265J , ?654 , 2655. 265 6, 2657 , 2658, 2659 .
��era _Prison Caren Worksongs , recorded in Texas by Tosti and �eter
"·'" Seee:er , John Lomax , Jr ., Chester Bower , an d Fred Hollerm�i , �thnic F o lkways Library FE4475 . Notes by Peter Seeger .
'.'i i.>rrrc Pri. son Sone s , recorded in Mi ssissippi by Alan Lomax , Tra d:i-fion R e c ord s TLP1020.
N'":?..!,9_jvork .s ongs and Cal ls , recorded by John A. � Ruby 'I., and Ala.n Lomax , Herbert Halpert , and Mary Eli zabeth Barnicle , Library of Congress AAFS -L8 .
48