Origins: Sweet Sunny South

Subject: Origins: Sweet Sunny South
From: GUEST,JL, Bennington College
Date: 05 Mar 06 - 08:32 PM

Hello all,

I am doing a mini-unit comparaing the "Sweet Sunny South" to "Darling Nelly Gray" at a local school in a few days. I found tons of info on DNG, but not a lot on SSS, or, at least, there seem to be many songs by that title. I'm looking for into on the song:

Take me back to the place where I first saw the light
To the sweet sunny south take me home
Where the mockingbirds sing me to rest every night
Oh, why was I tempted to roam?

And so on.

Can anybody tell me from when this song dates? Who wrote it? Was it a minstrel show song?

I'd appreciate your knowledge or sources you can point to.

Thank you,

Jonathan

Subject: RE: Origins: Sweet Sunny South
From: Peace
Date: 05 Mar 06 - 08:41 PM

Info here.

I will dig further.

Subject: RE: Origins: Sweet Sunny South
From: Peace
Date: 05 Mar 06 - 08:55 PM

Interesting bit at the bottom of the page.


The writer seems to be saying that the lyrics were 'corrected' for PCness. Therefore, the version in which the Massa is in the ground seems to give foundation to your remark about minstrel shows, etc.

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Sweet Sunny South (Take Me Back) *



Take me back to the place where I first saw the light
To the sweet sunny south take me home
Where the mockingbird sang me to sleep in the night
Oh, why was I tempted to roam?

Well, I think with regret of the dear home I left
Of the warm hearts that sheltered me then
Of the loved ones and family of whom I'm bereft
And I sigh for the old place again


Take me back to the place where the orange trees grow
To my cot in the evergreen shade
Where the flowers on the river's green margin did grow
And spread their sweet scents through the glade

Oh, the path to our cottage they say has grown green
And the place is quite lonely around
And I know that the faces and forms I have seen
Now lie deep in the cold mossy ground


Take me back to the place where my little ones sleep
And my parents are buried close by
O'er the graves of my loved ones I long for to weep
And among them to rest when I die

Oh, and yet I'll return to the home of my birth
Where my children have played 'round the door
Where they plucked the wild flowers that bloomed from the earth
That will echo their footsteps no more


Take me back, let me see what is left that I knew
Can it be that the old house is gone?
Oh, the friends of my childhood indeed must be few
And I must be left all alone

Take me back to the place where I first saw the light
To the sweet sunny south take me home
Where the mockingbird sang me to sleep in the night
Oh, why was I tempted to roam?
Oh, why was I tempted to roam?

_________________________________________________________________

* I wrote this out from memory, not from any particular version.
   I originally got my version from the "official" lyric in the
   book "Heart Songs", but modified it to modernize it, gender-
   neutralize it, and/or make it more politically correct.
   Since then, I've probably forgotten or garbled it some.

   When I perform this, I sing the verses in pairs, with solos
   between pairs of verses. For that reason, I repeat the first
   verse at the end, so it'll come out even. (Also, that warns
   people that the end is coming.)

Subject: RE: Origins: Sweet Sunny South
From: Peace
Date: 05 Mar 06 - 09:03 PM

Sweet Sunny South



Take me back to the place where I first saw the light
To that sweet sunny south take me home
Where the mockingbird sings me to sleep every night
Oh why was I tempted to roam

I think with regret of the dear home I left
Of the warm hearts that sheltered me there
Of wife and of children of whom I'm bereft
Of the old place again do I sigh

Take me back to the place where the orange trees grow
To my plot in the evergreen shade
Where the flowers from the river's green margins did grow
And spread their sweet scent through the glade

Take me back let me see what is left that I know
Could it be that the old house is gone
Dear friends from my childhood indeed must be few
And I must face death all alone

The path to our cottage they say has grown green
And the place is quite lonely around
I know that the smiles and the forms I once knew
Now lie beneath the cold mossy ground

But yet I return to the place of my birth
Where the children have played ‘round the door
Where they gathered wild blossoms that grew ‘round the path
Twill echo their footsteps no more

Take me back to the place where my little ones sleep
Where poor massa lies buried close by
O'er the graves of my loved ones I long for to weep
and rest there among them when I die

Subject: RE: Origins: Sweet Sunny South
From: Peace
Date: 05 Mar 06 - 09:31 PM

"to a Civil War ballad ("The Sweet Sunny South")."

From

http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cache:Gqlu5AP-bYsJ:www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1124875/a/Shady%2BGrove.htm+Sweet+Sunny

Subject: RE: Origins: Sweet Sunny South
From: Stewie
Date: 05 Mar 06 - 10:14 PM

Meade et alia 'Country Music Sources' cites: 'W.L. Bloomfield 1853/Raymond ca 1850s'. Earliest printed source given is 'Buckley's New Orleans Serenaders Song Book For the Parlour (NYC: P.J.Cozans 1855, pp59-60)'. [Info from Meade p343].

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Origins: Sweet Sunny South
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 06 Mar 06 - 01:08 AM

American Memory has fiddle versions. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html
American Memory
(Click on Music and enter Sweet Sunny South in the search blank).

There are two songs with this title, so check the notes in The Traditional Ballad Index. SWS (II) is the one you are looking for.
Traditional Ballad Index
Enter "Sweet Sunny South" in the Search blank. The notes given there may help you to other references.

Music for a folk version collected in North Carolina is given in Brown, North Carolina Folklore, vol. V, The Music of the Folk Songs, pp. 264-265. One verse given (perhaps more lyrics and versions in vol. II):

Take me home to the place where I first saw the light,
To the sweet sunny south take me home,
Where the mockingbird would sing me to rest ev'ry night;
Oh, why was I tempted to roam?

Take me home, take me home.
To my sweet sunny south take me home,
Where the mockingbird would sing me to rest ev'ry night;
Oh, why was I tempted to roam?

Subject: RE: Origins: Sweet Sunny South
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 06 Mar 06 - 01:14 AM

See the versions and notes in thread 53767 here at Mudcat. Some useful information.
Sweet Sunny South

Subject: RE: Origins: Sweet Sunny South
From: Bob the Postman
Date: 06 Mar 06 - 09:28 AM

The Da Costa Woltz recording has recently been reissued on Legacy's Charlie Poole compilation entitled "You Ain't Talkin To Me". It is the ultimate source of the Garcia/Grisman cover on "Shady Grove".

Subject: sweet sunny south
From: The Sandman
Date: 03 Sep 09 - 05:44 PM

here is some lovely banjo.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQTB0wBk-04

Subject: RE: Origins: Sweet Sunny South
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 03 Sep 09 - 07:40 PM

Nicely sung by Joan Baez, circa 1970, on the One Day At A Time album (I think).

Subject: RE: Origins: Sweet Sunny South
From: The Sandman
Date: 04 Sep 09 - 07:37 PM

heres a version using a up picking, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6of6YhTxlNM
I havent been playing very long but hope you enjoy

Subject: RE: Origins: Sweet Sunny South
From: The Sandman
Date: 09 Sep 09 - 07:34 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDIs_50cLyU

Subject: Origins: Sweet Sunny South
From: GUEST,Jimmy Mahone, Seneca, SC
Date: 13 Jun 19 - 01:39 PM

I know I'm a few years late joining this thread.

For the origin of the song known as "Sweet Sunny South," suggest you see the Library of Congress image for "Take Me Home" (published 1853) on https://www.loc.gov/resource/sm1853.710410.0?st=gallery. The lyrics of that song should answer your question.

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We've got two origins threads going for "Sweet Sunny South," and it's getting confusing. I'm going to close this one. Please post in this origins thread (click).
Thanks.
-Joe Offer, Mudcat Music Editor-