Songs of the American Civil War

Subject: RE: Songs of the American Civil War
From: Lighter
Date: 05 Feb 11 - 07:59 PM

Is it this? (At least it has "Pat Murphy" and "Roll Alabama.")

http://www.folkways.si.edu/albumdetails.aspx?itemid=1080

If not, about when did you hear it? There was a National Geographic collection of Civil War music, but it didn't have any of the three songs you mention.

Subject: RE: Songs of the American Civil War
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 05 Feb 11 - 09:28 PM

While there are many songs from the Civil War era that are known to have been enjoyed by the participants, I've come across four or five books apparently published in that era that imply that music was popular, but lots of the music "never quite made the big time."

A comment above is applicable:

The American Civil War provided some of the sloppiest, most sentimental songs! ...

My working theory is that with all the men gone (except perhaps the preacher), when the ladies ran out of sheets to roll into bandages a fair number of them turned to "writing songs."

Lyrics that I've seen are comparable to the "boilerplate" poems found in small-town church bulletins, and several bear close resemblance to "inspirational messages" currently in circulation in email chain letters. Some of the war era lyrics may be the same texts found in some of the current chain letters, although I almost never read the emails so I don't have samples for comparison.

A couple of the books have had individual songs noted as "performed by Mrs (the composer) for the Ladies of the (local church circle or troop support group) on (some date)" - which may be suspected of being the one and only performance ever. (Although we may be sure that the ladies all applauded - politely.)

It is a bit surprising that there apparently was a "vanity press" industry to support self-publishing of books, and particularly of music books; but a few of them appeared to be fairly well put together. I would not have expected most local print shops to have type adequate to setting music, but some of the composers may have been in larger cities with access to established book publishers willing to make a buck.

Most of the ones I've seen (generally in antique shops) have been "flipped through" and put back in the pile, but I think I may still have one that looked like it might be worth the $2 price asked. Closer examination at home found it slightly below the "artistic level" of a couple of political "Campaign Songbooks" I've come across from around the same era. I think "maudlin'" is a fair assessment.

If I eventually get to unpacking a box that the book that I think I kept happens to be in I may be able to pull out some samples; but that will depend on which of my several dozen remaining unmarked "book boxes" it may pop out of, and when, and on whether my "archiving machines" haven't worn out by the time I get to it.

Has anyone else run across - and kept - similar worthless trash?

John

Subject: RE: Songs of the American Civil War
From: Bobert
Date: 05 Feb 11 - 10:54 PM

BTW, for going back 30 or so years (okay, maybe 40...) I been doing a song entitled "Drummer Boy"... I got it off an 'ol' LP by an obscure southern band, Heartsfield... Don't know much about it's origin but it was attributed to a Fred Dobbs...

Mighty fine Civil War song if anyone can find it some where...

B~

Subject: RE: Songs of the American Civil War
From: Lighter
Date: 06 Feb 11 - 08:38 AM

Maudlin sentimentality about doomed young boys and their aged mothers was to the pop music of the 1860s what rage and craziness are today. People couldn't get enough.

The war itself had something to do with this, but much American popular culture was incredibly mawkish throughout most of the century.

Part of the reason was a belief that being made to weep for   imaginary characters was good for you. It led to a greater concern for others, and there were spiritual benefits too: the vivid awareness of piteous mortality turned people toward God.

Subject: RE: Songs of the American Civil War
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 06 Feb 11 - 11:38 AM

See also this old thread with the same title. I believe I started it right after the actual American Civil War.

Subject: RE: Songs of the American Civil War
From: Ebbie
Date: 06 Feb 11 - 02:08 PM

I posted this on a May 2005 thread but I still think it is one of the most powerful songs of the era.

Write a Letter to My Mother          E. Bowers 1864

Raise me in your arms, my brother
Let me see the glorious sun
I am very faint and dying
Was the battle lost, or won?

I remember you, my brother,
Who sent to me that fatal dart
Brother fighting, yea, against brother
Perhaps 'tis best that thus we part      

Chorus:
Write a letter to my mother,
Tell her that her boy is dead.
That he perished by his brother,
Not a word of that be said      

Father's fighting for the Union
You may meet him on the field
Would you raise your arm and smite him
Would you bid your father yield?

He who loved us in our childhood
Taught the infant prayers we said
Brother, take from me this warning
I'd sooner be among the dead

Do you ever think of Mother,
In our home within the glen,
Watching, praying for her children,
Would you see that home again?

Brother, I am surely dying.
Keep the secret, for 'tis one
That would kill our angel mother,
If she but knew what you have done,

Subject: RE: Songs of the American Civil War
From: GUEST,Bridget
Date: 15 Feb 11 - 11:48 AM

Thank you! That sounds like it could be it! I could have sworn that it had Liliburlero on it though. Know of any good recordings of the American Civil War version? I can only find the English and Irish versions.

Subject: RE: Songs of the American Civil War
From: AnneMC
Date: 15 Feb 11 - 01:41 PM

Couple of gaps where I couldn't get the words, but this is a great song from Willie Norton about drummer boys in the Civil War.

DRUMMER BOY
Willie Norton


CHORUS:         He's going off to be a drummer boy
                He's going off to be a drummer boy
                Going off to be a drummer boy
                He's fighting with the Union plan

His brother is of a different opinion
His brother's wearing grey
This war ain't done nothing
but divide this country in piece


Well, they say this weren't about slavery
One thing you best understand
This war 's about the federation
and their union plan
If the union wins this war,
the land will never be the same
No matter black or white,
we'll live in economic chains


Well there used to be four ----- on the farm
No ------ where I used to work
Some were black and some were white
But we all dug in that dirt

When the evening came around
we'd sit around the flame
Play a fiddle and guitar
To the good Lord we'd sing

                        

Ain't no crops in the field,
there ain't no crops no more
Only the tombstones growing there
and that's due to this war

                        

Well one thing 'bout slavery
and that I understand
Just 'cos a man ain't wearing chains
Don't make him less than a man

Man was born oh yeah
Man was born to be free
Just like he takes a stand,
just like my brothers and me

Subject: RE: Songs of the American Civil War
From: Lighter
Date: 22 Mar 18 - 12:23 PM

These guys are probably as close to an authentic Civil War-era "folk sound" as one can get:

https://hardtacks.bandcamp.com/album/hardtacks-civil-war-songster-companion

Great work of recreation, but for buffs only.

Subject: RE: Songs of the American Civil War
From: robomatic
Date: 24 Mar 18 - 05:47 PM

Not anything like authentic, because they date from the 1940s:

Bloomer Girl

Notable not only because it resurrects the Civil War era in WWII context
"When The Boys Come Home"
but also because it brings up perennial American subjects such as slavery:
"The Eagle and Me"
sexual predation:
"Farmer's Daughter"
and women's rights:
"It Was Good Enough For Grandma"

It is full of swell lines:

"Ever since that day, when the world was an onion."

"She only knew what love was from eight to half-past eight."

Subject: RE: Songs of the American Civil War
From: Hrothgar
Date: 26 Mar 18 - 04:48 AM

We did a presentation of "Songs of the American Civil War" at a National Folk Festival in Canberra many years ago. The programme was:

John Brown's Body
Lincoln and Liberty
The Bonnie Blue Flag (Original)
The Bonnie Blue Flag With the Stripes and Stars (Union version)
Dixie's Land (Original)
Dixie's land (Confederate version)
Dixie's Land (Michigan version)
Dixie's Land (Texas version)
Maryland, My Maryland (Original)
Maryland, My Maryland (Northern reply)
Battle Cry of Freedom (Original)
Battle Cry of Freedom (Confederate version)
Johnny is Gone for a Soldier (Shule a gra)
The Battle Hymn of the Republic
The Battle on Shiloh's Hill
In the Hills of Shiloh (This was the only modern song - I could not resist putting it in)
We are Coming, Father Abra'am
Lorena
Aura Lea
Just Before the Battle, Mother (Original
Just Before the Battle, Mother (Parody)
Year of Jubilo
Tenting on the Old Camp Ground
Goober Peas
Hard Crackers Come Again No More
Marching Through Georgia
When Sherman Marched Down to the Sea
Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!
The Yellow Rose of Texas (Original)
The Yellow Rose of Texas (Parody)
The Alabama
Oh, I'm a Good Old Rebel
When Johhny Comes Marching Home

It went over pretty well.

Subject: RE: Songs of the American Civil War
From: Lighter
Date: 26 Mar 18 - 09:29 AM

Wot, no "Booth Shot Lincoln"?

Subject: RE: Songs of the American Civil War
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 26 Mar 18 - 12:51 PM

Disparaged in a recent thread as too Southern. Here's the whole artist/track list. Not too shabby.

Divided & United: The Songs Of The Civil War, ATO Records, 2xCD, ATO0204, 2013.

Artist/Track
1-1 –Loretta Lynn - Take Your Gun and Go, John
1-2 –Del McCoury - Lorena
1-3 –Sam Amidon - Wildwood Flower
1-4 –Bryan Sutton - Hell's Broken Loose in Georgia
1-5 –Ricky Skaggs - Two Soldiers
1-6 –Old Crow Medicine Show - Marching Through Georgia
1-7 –Vince Gill - Dear Old Flag
1-8 –Steve Earle & Dirk Powell - Just Before The Battle, Mother/Farewell, Mother
1-9 –Shovels And Rope - The Fall Of Charleston
1-10 –John Doe w/ The Milk Carton Kids - Tenting on the Old Campground
1-11 –Carolina Chocolate Drops - Day of Liberty
1-12 –Chris Thile & Michael Daves - Richmond is a Hard Road to Travel
1-13 –Chris Stapleton - Two Brothers
1-14 –Norman Blake, Nancy Blake & James Bryan - The Faded Coat of Blue
1-15 –Stuart Duncan Featuring Dolly Parton - Listen to the Mockingbird
1-16 –Pokey LaFarge - Kingdom Come

2-1 –Jamey Johnson - Rebel Soldier
2-2 –Lee Ann Womack - The Legend of the Rebel Soldier
2-3 –Jorma Kaukonen - The Mermaid Song
2-4 –Karen Elson & The Secret Sisters - Dixie
2-5 –Ralph Stanley - The Vacant Chair
2-6 –Chris Hillman with The Milk Carton Kids - Hard Times
2-7 –Taj Mahal - Down by the Riverside
2-8 –Noam Pikelny & David Grisman - Old Folks at Home/The Girl I Left Behind Me
2-9 –The Tennessee Mafia Jug Band - Secesh
2-10 –T-Bone Burnett - The Battle of Antietam
2-11 –Ashley Monroe & Aubrey Haynie - Pretty Saro
2-12 –Joe Henry w/ The Milk Carton Kids - Aura Lee
2-13 –A.A. Bondy - Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier
2-14 –Angel Snow - When Johnny Comes Marching Home
2-15 –Bryan Sutton - Battle Cry of Freedom
2-16 –Cowboy Jack Clement - Beautiful Dreamer

Subject: RE: Songs of the American Civil War
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 26 Mar 18 - 12:54 PM

Old vinyl and such:

Win Stracke, Songs Of The Civil War, Wonderland Records, LP-138, 1974

Tracklist:
A1 Weeping Sad & Lonely
A2 Yankee Doodle
A3 Dixie
A4 John Brown's Body
A5 Battle Hymn of the Republic
A6 Goober Peas
A7 Lorena
A8 Corporal Schnapps
A9 Just Before the Battle Mother
A10 Parody of Just Before the Battle Mother
A11 Battle Cry of Freedom
B1 Bonnie Blue Flag
B2 Tenting Tonight
B3 Old Soldier-Wooden Leg
B4 Hard Crackers
B5 Stonewall Jackson's Way
B6 We Are Coming Father Abraham
B7 All Quiet Along the Potomac
B8 When Johnny Comes Marching Home

(Narration and voice of Win Stracke, male chorus, banjo, fife, drum and bugle corps.)

Subject: RE: Songs of the American Civil War
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 26 Mar 18 - 01:01 PM

The Cumberland Three ?– Civil War Almanac, Vol. 1, Yankees
US – Roulette, SR25132, 1958
US – Roulette, R25132, 1960
UK – Columbia, 33SX1318, 1960

Tracklist
A1         Battle Hymn of the Republic
A2         Down to Washington
A3         Marching Home
A4         Story of the Lamb
A5         Tobacco Box
A6         Gonna Get You
B1         Bring the Good Old Bugle
B2         Minnie Balls
B3         Song of the Hungry
B4         Shipmates Come Gather
B5         The Boys are Home
B6         Back to Home


The Cumberland Three ?– Civil War Almanac, Vol. 2, Rebels
US - Roulette, SR25133, 1958
US - Roulette, R 25133, 1960
UK - Columbia, 33SX1325, 1960

Tracklist
A1         Hallowed Ground
A2         I Don't Want no Pardon
A3         Lay Ten Dollars Down
A4         Number 292
A5         Aura Lee
A6         The Yellow Rose of Texas
B1         Goober Peas
B2         Picket's Lament
B3         Hold Our Glasses Steady
B4         Bessie
B5         The Coward
B6         We'll All Take a Ride

Both reissued on compilation:
The Cumberland Three, Songs Of The Civil War, Rhino Records, 2xCD, R2 70739, 1991

The Cumberland Three were:

Gil Rubin (Gilbert “Gill” Robbins, 1931-2011) father of actor Tim Robbins.
John Stewart (1939-2008) of Daydream Believer and Kingston Trio fame (61-67 lineup.)
John Montgomery – 'nother California boy.

14 of 23 tracks arranged by Oscar Brand.
Produced by Pete Kameron, co-founder of Track Record (Hendrix & The Who) and the LA Weekly newspaper.

The only “Southerners” are of the SoCal type. I guess Brand is the North.

Notes:
PDQ's Harold Thom was in The Cumberlands. I don't think he was a member of the old ...Trio. Maybe one of the reunion bands. (See: 01 Feb 08 - 10:00 PM, above.)

Gil Robbins was on The National Geographic, Songs of the Civil War, LP, 00789, 1976. Which has absolutely none of the songs GUEST,Bridget was looking for (see: 05 Feb 11 - 06:31 PM, above.)

Subject: RE: Songs of the American Civil War
From: Lighter
Date: 26 Mar 18 - 05:18 PM

In the case of the Cumberland Three albums, "arranged" usually means "rewritten" (and/or retitled: "Down to Washington," for example, is "Abraham's Daughter, and "Bring the Good Old Bugle" is "Marching Through Georgia").

"Number 292" is "Roll, Alabama, Roll!" (See that thread.)

"The Boys are Home" is (wait for it) "When Johnny Comes Marching Home."in

"Gonna Get You" (inspired by "The Pateroller Song") seemed pretty innocent in 1960, but would now be described as an artifact of "rape culture."

Etc.

Like a couple of , "Hold Your Glasses Steady" is entirely original. It describes the battle of Shiloh as a Southern victory and a whole heap o' fun.

Makes me sorry I missed it.

Subject: RE: Songs of the American Civil War
From: GUEST,julia L
Date: 27 Mar 18 - 06:26 PM

I've been perusing archives of songs here in New England, esp Maine. The Maine Historical society has a number which were included in letters sent from the front. Apparently the Union government actually employed songwriters who went around the camps singing songs (mostly sentimental) and passing out the lyrics which the boys then sent home to their loved ones. If the loved ones wanted the tunes, they had to buy the sheet music!
Have also found several interesting personal songs as well..
best- Julia

Subject: RE: Songs of the American Civil War
From: Lighter
Date: 27 Mar 18 - 07:05 PM

> the Union government actually employed songwriters who went around the camps singing songs (mostly sentimental) and passing out the lyrics

Isn't this kind of implausible? Why would the U.S. government pay songwriters to hawk their own creations?

Moreover, the modern concept of propaganda as a government function hardly existed. It was hardly necessary, since newspapers and sermons were rife with it on both sides. Extreme partisanship was the norm.

Which isn't to say that *music publishers* couldn't have sent salesmen to army camps to tout their songs.

But if they did, surely it would have made more sense to sell the sheet music directly to the soldiers, with the suggestion that loved ones at home might like copies as well?

Subject: RE: Songs of the American Civil War
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 28 Mar 18 - 02:11 AM

Here's the full listing on the Nat. Geo. album mentioned earlier:

Various, Songs Of The Civil War, National Geographic, LP, ?00789, 1976

Tracklist:
A1 Day of Drums
A2 Dixie
A3 Wait for the Wagon
A4 I've Been in the Storm so Long
A5 The Homespun Dress
A6 Goober Peas
A7 Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier
A8 Richmond is a Hard Road to Travel
B1 The Southern Soldier Boy
B2 Follow the Drinking Gourd
B3 The Yellow Rose of Texas
B4 Marching Through Georgia
B5 The Battle of Shiloh Hill
B6 The Rebel Soldier
B7 Year of Jubilo
B8 Twilight at Appomattox

One fiddle/mando player is none other than citybilly Jay Ungar about six years before Ashokan Farewell which, thanks to Ken Burns, is now as cliché Civil War as the acacia to Africa.

Full credits are too much to list,
Discogs: Songs Of The Civil War, National Geographic

PS: I'd like to learn more about those Federal Government song pluggers as well. Plenty of shady dealings during the war but this one's news to me.

Subject: RE: Songs of the American Civil War
From: Lighter
Date: 28 Mar 18 - 08:17 PM

Dozens of genuine Civil War pop songs and MIDIs:

http://www.pdmusic.org/civilwar2.html

How many of them has anyone ever heard of?

Consider the titles alone. It was like one of those science-fiction planets that resemble the Earth we know, without quite being a duplicate.

Subject: RE: Songs of the American Civil War
From: topical tom
Date: 29 Mar 18 - 10:51 AM

Another song of the civil war:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2N3bIMV-1E

Subject: RE: Songs of the American Civil War
From: Mrrzy
Date: 29 Mar 18 - 11:03 AM

Hee hee I must mention that thanks to folk songs, I knew that the side which lost the Civil War wore grey and the side which won wore blue... but as an Embassy brat I did not know which side was the North and which the South. My dad was appalled.

I can think of several songs that mention blue and grey, like Hey Nellie Nellie and All on a beautiful morning, and a couple which are named blue and grey in the title.

I think it's spelled Gray, actually, in the US.

Subject: RE: Songs of the American Civil War
From: topical tom
Date: 29 Mar 18 - 11:05 AM

Another civil wear song:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFoDphhHh6U

Subject: RE: Songs of the American Civil War
From: Bill D
Date: 29 Mar 18 - 11:59 AM

There are a number of albums by The 2nd North Carolina String Band which are as authentic as the band can make them.

One example

also, Tennessee Ernie Ford did an excellent job on one album... (hard to find, but I'm sure available with looking.)

Subject: RE: Songs of the American Civil War
From: Lighter
Date: 29 Mar 18 - 01:16 PM

Amazon has Ernie Ford on CD.

Lush, 50's style instrumentation.

I find the 2nd S.C.S.B. more enjoyable. Also outstanding are three CDs by Jim Taylor & Friends.

Lots of first-rate (or nearly first-rate) tracks by more performers than you're likely to imagine are available via Amazon.

Ex.: Soprano Custer Larue singing "The Rebel Soldier" unaccompanied. Less ethereal but also superior are several performances by Douglas Jimerson. Frank Proffitt's totally trad renditions of "Going 'cross the Mountain" and "Old Abe" are classic.

Bobby Horton has recorded a number of Civil War albums with many unfamiliar songs. Very well done.

I believe Horton started the trend of playing "Dixie" as a lament, on Ken Burns's TV series "The Civil War." Pianist Jacqueline Schwab gave the same treatment to "Marching Through Georgia," "The Battle Cry of Freedom," and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" on the same classic series.

The 1st Brigade Band is a brass ensemble that plays many Civil War-era
popular tunes. They sound perfectly authentic, at least to me.

Subject: RE: Songs of the American Civil War
From: GUEST
Date: 29 Mar 18 - 12:42 PM

I believe Horton started the trend of playing "Dixie" as a lament

Is that a lament for "The Lost Cause" or a lament for the abolition of Slavery? Or both?

Subject: RE: Songs of the American Civil War
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 29 Mar 18 - 06:49 PM

Ernest Jennings “Tennessee Ernie” Ford (1919 – 1991)
(An Americana classic)

Tennessee Ernie Ford Sings Civil War Songs Of The North, Capitol Records, T-1539 (mono), 1961

Tracklist
A1 The Army of the Free
A2 Virginia's Bloody Soil
A3 Marching Song
A4 The Why and the Wherefore
A5 The Vacant Chair
A6 The Fall of Charleston
B1 The New York Volunteers
B2 The Faded Coat of Blue
B3 Marching Through Georgia
B4 Just Before the Battle, Mother
B5 The Girl I Left Behind Me
B6 Union Dixie


Tennessee Ernie Ford Sings Civil War Songs Of The South, LP, Capitol Records, T-1540 (mono), 1961

Tracklist
A1 Stonewall Jackson's Way
A2 Lorena
A3 Riding A Raid
A4 Maryland, My Maryland
A5 Goober Peas
A6 I Can Whip the Scoundrel
B1 The Bonnie Blue Flag
B2 The Valiant Conscript
B3 The Rebel Soldier
B4 The Southern Wagon
B5 Flight of Doodles

Catalog numbers are typical. There were at least six individual album (re)releases before the first compilation CD saw daylight. I'm not aware of a 2xLP set:

Sings Songs Of The Civil War, Capitol Records, CD, CDP 7 95705 2,1991
Songs Of The Civil War, Bear Family Records, CD, BCD 16635 AS, 2004

Subject: RE: Songs of the American Civil War
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 29 Mar 18 - 07:17 PM

From that 400lb gorilla of Civil War docs:

Various, The Civil War: Original Soundtrack Recording, Elektra Nonesuch, CD, E279256, 1990

Tracklist:
1 Drums of War
2 Oliver Wendell Holmes (Quote)
3 Ashokan Farewell
4 Battle Cry of Freedom
5 We Are Climbing Jacob's Ladder
6 Dixie/Bonnie Blue Flag
7 Cheer Boys Cheer
8 Angel Band
9 Johnny Has Gone For a Soldier
10 Lorena
11 Parade
12 Hail Columbia
13 Dixie
14 Kingdom Coming
15 Battle Hymn of the Republic
16 All Quiet on the Potomac
17 Flag of Columbia
18 Weeping Sad and Lonely
19 Yankee Doodle
20 Palmyra Schottische
21 When Johnny Comes Marching Home
22 Shenandoah
23 When Johnny Comes Marching Home
24 Marching Through Georgia
25 Marching Through Georgia (Lament)
26 Battle Cry of Freedom
27 Battle Hymn of the Republic
28 Ashokan Farewell/Sullivan Ballou Letter

Subject: RE: Songs of the American Civil War
From: Mrrzy
Date: 01 Apr 18 - 10:50 AM

Also Two Little Boys.

Subject: RE: Songs of the American Civil War
From: GUEST,Seth in Winfield - hijacking thread
Date: 08 Apr 18 - 06:32 PM

Bill D.—

Apologies for hijacking a thread. I am winding down a master's thesis on the Walnut Valley Festival and then will transition into some history collection in preparation for the 50th anniversary.

Based on your post history, you have a lot to say—and maybe some old recordings to hear.

If you see this and might be willing to talk, please reach out.

You can verify that I'm an actual human being here: http://communityengagementinstitute.org/center-and-initiatives/center-for-ld-staff

Best email is sethsbate [at] icloud [dot] com

Back to your regularly scheduled Civil War tunes ...

Seth

Subject: RE: Songs of the American Civil War
From: Thompson
Date: 10 Feb 21 - 05:29 AM

Interesting blog: Four Years of the Irish at War in Poetry & Song

Subject: RE: Songs of the American Civil War
From: Thompson
Date: 10 Feb 21 - 05:30 AM

By the way, I searched the "Forum and DT" search for "civil war" and while there were many results from the DT, none came up from the forum; a little glitch, maybe?

Subject: RE: Songs of the American Civil War
From: GUEST,Pariah
Date: 10 Feb 21 - 12:49 PM

Is that a lament for "The Lost Cause" or a lament for the abolition of Slavery? Or both?

Both, certainly.

It also pays to remember that the "Cause" in question was the establishment of a nation founded upon slavery as a positive good and dedicated to white supremacy.

Rather like the current TrumPublican party.