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Subject: RE: Buffalo Gal Won't you come out tonight From: Bruce O. Date: 22 Feb 99 - 01:51 PM There are several copies in the Levy sheet music collection (Mudcat's Links). Use 'bibliographic search' on 'Buffalo Gals'. Note that several of these were published in London. The oldest copy that I've ever seen was on an English broadside. |
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Subject: Buffalo Gals From: dedlyperil Date: 11 Sep 99 - 05:12 PM The Buffalo Soldiers were black troop in the Old West. Does anyone know if Buffalo Gals were black women? Thanks for any help you can give.
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: Joe Offer Date: 11 Sep 99 - 05:40 PM Hey, this is interesting - in Best Loved American Folk Songs John and Alan Lomax say that Buffalo Gals comes from a minstrel song published in 1844 by Cool White, a song called LUBLY FAN WILL YOU CUM OUT TO NIGHT?. The Lomaxes suspect White got it from traditional sources. The minstrel boys soon began changing it to "New York Gals," "Philadelphia Gals," or "Bowery Gals," depending on the theater they were playing. The Lomaxes don't exactly say it, but the implication is that the "Buffalo" in the song is the city in the State of New York. -Joe Offer- Here's the Traditional Ballad Index entry on this song: Buffalo GalsDESCRIPTION: As requested, the Buffalo [Bowery, etc.] girls promise to come out tonight, to dance or otherwise disport themselves by the light of the moon.AUTHOR: unknown EARLIEST DATE: A Christy Minstrels' version was copyright in 1848 KEYWORDS: bawdy playparty dancing FOUND IN: US(MW,SE,So) Tobago REFERENCES (19 citations): Wolford, p. 32=WofordRev, p. 227, "Cincinnati Girls" (1 text) Randolph 535, "Buffalo Gals" (2 texts plus an excerpt and a fragment, 1 tune) Owens-2ed, p. 159, "Buffalo Girls" (1 text, 1 tune) BrownIII 81, "Buffalo Gals" (2 short texts); also 491, "We'll Have a Little Dance Tonight, Boys" (1 fragment, too short to properly classify but it might go here) Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 112-114, (no title) and "Buffalo Gals" (2 texts plus a fragment possibly from this, 1 tune) Randolph-Legman I, pp. 424-425, "Buffalo Gals" (2 texts, 1 tune) Lomax-FSUSA 33, "Buffalo Gals" (1 text, 1 tune) Lomax-ABFS, pp. 288-290, "Louisiana Girls" (1 text, 1 tune) Fife-Cowboy/West 101, "Buffalo Gals" (3 texts, 1 tune) Botkin-AmFolklr, p. 841, "(Buffalo Gals)" (1 text, 1 tune) MHenry-Appalachians, p. 233, (fourth of four "Fragments from Maryland") (1 fragment) Elder-Tobago 22, "Lambeau Gal Le' A-We Go" (1 text, 1 tune) Arnett, p. 58, "Buffalo Gals" (1 text, 1 tune) Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 107-108, "Buffalo Gals" (1 text, 1 tune) Coleman/Bregman, pp. 38-43, "The Cowboy's Christmas Ball" (1 text, 1 tune, with elements of "Buffalo Gals" and "Skip to My Lou" as bridges) Scott-EnglishSB, pp. 74-75, "Buffalo Gals" (1 text, 1 tune, "Sung by the Ethiopian Serenaders) PSeeger-AFB, p. 34, "Buffalo Gals" (1 text, 1 tune) Silber-FSWB, p. 36, "Buffalo Gals" (1 text) ADDITIONAL: Charles Edward Russell, _A-Rafting on the Mississip'_, 1928 (republished 2001 by the University of Minnesota Press), pp. 211-213, "Buffalo Gals" (1 text, 1 tune); also a "Cornfed Gals" stanza on p. 219 ST R535 (Full) Roud #738 RECORDINGS: Fiddlin' John Carson, "Alabama Gal" (OKeh 40204, 1924) Collins & Harlan, "Ain't You Coming Out To-Night?" (CYL: Edison [4-min.] 480, n.d.) Crockett's Kentucky Mountaineers, "Buffalo Gal's Medley" (Crown 3075, c. 1930) Harlan Miner's Fiddlers [pseud. for Crockett's Kentucky Mountaineers], "Buffalo Gals" (Montgomery Ward M-3022, 1931) [I am assuming this is a different recording from Crown 3075, as the latter is a medley] Vernon Dalhart, "Ain't-Ya Comin' Out Tonight?" (Columbia 257-D, 1924) Vernon Dalhart & Co., "Ain't You Comin' Out Tonight?" (Edison 51430, 1924) Frank Hutchison, "Alabama Gal Ain't You Coming Out Tonight" (OKeh 45313, 1929; rec. 1928) Earl Johnson & his Dixie Entertainers [or Earl Johnson and his Clodhoppers], "Alabama Girl Ain't You Comin' Out Tonight" (OKeh 45300, 1929; rec. 1928) Guy Massey, "Ain't Ya Comin' Out Tonight" (Perfect 12170, 1924) Shorty McCoy, "Buffalo Gals" (Bluebird 33-0511, 1944) Pickard Family, "Buffalo Gals" (Brunswick 363/Banner 6371/Conqueror 7326, 1929) Riley Puckett, "Alabama Gal" (Columbia 15185-D, 1927) Bookmiller Shannon, "Buffalo Gals" [instrumental] (on LomaxCD1707) Pete Seeger, "Buffalo Gals" (on PeteSeeger17) CROSS-REFERENCES: cf. "Hangtown Gals" (tune) cf. "Horsham Boys" (tune) cf. "Gwine Follow" (partial form) SAME TUNE: Birdie in the Cage / Buffalo Gals (Square dance calls) (Welsch, pp. 87-89) Quadrille/Variant (square dance call) (Welsch, p. 119) ALTERNATE TITLES: Alabama Gals NOTES: According to Spaeth (A History of Popular Music in America, p. 101), this originated as the Cool White (John Hodges) song "Lubly Fan" (1843). From the present perspective, it's hard to prove whether Hodges actually did write the thing or borrowed an existing piece -- but I rather suspect the latter. - RBW The tune to Elder-Tobago is close to the usual one and has the same structure. Here, the Lambeau gals are called to dance at Carnbee Hall, at what was once a great sugar plantation. - BS Last updated in version 3.7 File: R535 Go to the Ballad Search form Go to the Ballad Index Instructions The Ballad Index Copyright 2015 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle. And the Digital Tradition lyrics: BUFFALO GALS Buffalo gals, woncha come out tonight, Woncha come out tonight, woncha come out tonight? Buffalo gals, woncha come out tonight, And dance by the light of the moon? I danced with a gal with a hole in her stockin', And her heel kep' a-rockin' and her toe kep' a-knockin', I danced with a gal with a hole in her stockin', And we danced by the light of the moon. O yes, pretty boys, we're comin' out tonight, We're comin' out tonight, we're comin' out tonight, O yes, pretty boys, we're comin' out tonight, And dance by the light of the moon. I danced with a gal with a hole in her stockin', And her heel kep' a-rockin' and her toe kep' a-knockin', I danced with a gal with a hole in her stockin', An' her heel kep' a-rockin' to the moon." Other verses - In most cases the last part of the first line is repeated 3 times, these phrases are in () As I was walking ( down the street) A pretty girl I chanced to meet under the silvery moon I asked her if she'd ( stop and talk) Her feet covered up the whole sidewalk, she was fair to view I asked her if she'd stop and dance, Have a dance, care to dance I thought that I might get a chance to shake a foot with her I asked her if she'd (be my wife) Then I'd be happy all my life if she'd marry me ALT. (I'd be so very happy all my life, if she were by my side) I danced with the dolly with a hole in her stocking And her feet kept a-rocking & her knees kept a-knocking O I danced with the dolly with a hole in her stocking And we danced by the light of the moon. note: The song was a popular play party or square dance song in many parts of the country. The following verses are some of the varaiants that were used directly in the dance calling. RR Break and bounce with (the couple on the right) Break and bounce with the couple on the right and swing four hands around. Everybody wait ('til we get all around) Everybody wait 'til we get all around and swing four hands around. First lady swing with the right hand gent, with the right hand round, with the right hand round Partner with the left and the left hand round, lady in the center and seven hands round ALT....(birdie in a cage and seven hands round.) Ain't you coming out tonight, ain't you comin out tonight? and birdie hop out and a crow hop in lady swing out and the gent swing in and join your hands (paddies) and go round again. from ""Folk Song USA"" John and Alan Lomax @minstrel filename[ BUFFGALS RB, RR OCT98 |
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Subject: Lyr Add: LUBLY FAN WILL YOU CUM OUT TO NIGHT From: Joe Offer Date: 11 Sep 99 - 07:37 PM I think it's interesting to compare the two: LUBLY FAN WILL YOU CUM OUT TO NIGHT (composed by Cool White, 1844) As I was lumb'ring down de street, Down de street, down de street A pretty gal I chanced to meet Oh she was fair to view Den lubly Fan will you cum out to night Will you cum out to night, will you cum out to night Den lubly Fan will you cum out to night And dance by the light ob de moon. I stopt her and I had some talk…/ But her foot covered up de whole side walk and left no room for me. (chorus) She's de prettiest gal ibe seen in my life… An I wish to de Lord she was my wife Den we would part no more (chorus) Her lips are like de oyster plant… I try to kiss dem but I can't Dey am so berry large. (chorus) Oh, make haste Fan don't make me wait… I fear you've kept me now too late Yes dere's de obening gun. Yes lubly Fan will cum out to night… Yes lubly Fan will cum out to night An dance by de light ob de moon. Lubly Fan is cumming out to night Cumming out to night For to dance by de light ob de moon. JRO |
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: Wally Macnow Date: 11 Sep 99 - 09:26 PM I've always thought that it was a canaller's song that, if it didn't start out there, got the most prominence from the Erie Canal boatman heading into and out of Buffalo, NY. I can't think of a single citation that causes me to believe this; maybe it just pleases me to have this great image in my head. |
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: DonMeixner Date: 11 Sep 99 - 09:40 PM My understanding is that Buffalo Gals were hookers. Its possible that they were called that because of canallers heading for Buffalo NY which is the last stoop on the Erie Canal. I really doubt this. I would guess they where called Buffalo Gals because they followed the men in the buffalo camps who where shooting the herds. The camps would set up as a small, movable city and ship out hides, bones, tongues and salted meat back east. With lots of commerce came money and the men on the shoots needed places to spend it. Saloons, gambling houses, and prostitutes where the most likely places. The herds would be shot out and the camps would move further out on the prairie. The prostitutes would the buffalo hunters. Hence the name. I suspect that Buffalo Gals was chosen as a name because nobody at that time knew what an Independent Sub-Contract Hostess is. Don |
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: raredance Date: 11 Sep 99 - 11:29 PM The information in the Frank C Brown Collection of North Carolina Folklore supports the these that "Lubly Fan" was a direct antecedant of "Buffalo Gals". The former was copyrighted in 1844 by Cool White, whose real name was John Hodges. The Bowery Girls version was in the Christy Minstresl repertory. The Buffalo Gals version was copyrighted in 1848 with no composer or author listed. It took off as a hugely popular play-party song and many of the verses offer specific dancing instructions. Its popularity at community socials would seem to indicate that hookers were not the source of inspiration, but rather a town name that fit the meter. It would also seem to predate the attempted bison extermination on the Great Plains. The cowboys likely brought it with them from back east. The Frank C Brown text that it may have been inspired by an old English singing game "Pray, Pretty Miss" which also involves a bouncy rhythm and an invitation to dance and adds that "any place-name may be substituted for Buffalo. It cites versions with "Alabama Gals", "Round Town Gals", "Down Town Girls" and says that the tune is basically the same as an old German music hall song,"Im Grunewald, im Grunewald ist Holzauktion". Botkin in "treasury of American Folkore" says that he had been "told that this song originated on the old Erie Canal and landed early on the Mississippi in the keel-boat days." He doesn't offer any specific evidence but it is plausible and Wally will be pleased by this. Botkin also includes a couple of verses from the upper Mississippi called "Corn-Fed Girls" and a long story of the supposed origins of that particular text. Versions in "Cowboy and Western Songs" by Austin and Alta Fife include some pretty detailed dance instructions, e.g "break and bounce with the couple on the right, and swing four hands around" and "partenr with the left and the left hand round- Lady in the corner and seven hands round" etc. Vance Randolph in "Ozark Folksongs" references a "Cincinnati Girls" version and ancludes one of the sweeter gentler sets of lyrics:
I says, my angel, would you lide to walk,
And would you like to take a dance,
For I will love you all my life, rich r |
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: DonMeixner Date: 12 Sep 99 - 01:02 AM Dedlyperil didn't ask specifically about a song. There is no doubt that the song Buffalo Gals has a lot of varients and documentation is everywhere in that regard. I am amazed at myself for not even thinking of the song when I made my first post. Don |
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: dedlyperil Date: 12 Sep 99 - 04:44 AM Well, thank you one and all! We try to be "authentic" in the versions we chose, but I think "Lubly Fan" would be a bit too politically incorrect to perform at family shows. We have similar challenges with much of Steven Foster. Yes, my question was in reference to the song. The answers have opened up a few avenues of research. Well done. |
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: Banjer Date: 12 Sep 99 - 05:31 AM Ah, again the dreaded PC is allowed to rewrite tradition, what a shame! What a wonderful day it will be when we can just accept our heritage and move on! Oh well, don't get me started. |
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: Bill D Date: 12 Sep 99 - 11:06 AM yep, banjer..... music is not like the hallowed halls of Congress, where a speech can be given one day, and printed in the "Congressional **Record**" the next after being 'revised and extended' bearing little resemblance to what was said....we at least have the ability to track down 'most' of the original and preserve it among those who care....As long as Mudcat survives, we just may make some difference...*grin* |
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: Pete Peterson Date: 12 Sep 99 - 03:49 PM 1) Weren't the Buffalo Soldiers the 10th US Cavalry, primarily a black regiment from AFTER the Civil War? (In James Michener's book TEXAS I know it is, but I have learned not to rely on Michener's research; too bad cause he told some great stories) this would seem to preclude a song written before the "late unpleasantness" ((my g-grandfather marched with Sherman to the sea)) from being about the Buffalo Soldiers and their sweethearts. 2) I also would adapt the song to the locale. I first heard the song on Oscar Brand's radio show on WNYC in about 1960 where he would sing New York Gals. So I decided that was a good idea, later heard the Skillet Lickers sing Alabama Gals which I decided scanned MUCH better) and have sung , while in Florida, first chorus: Gainesville Gals second chorus: Florida Gals third chorus: Micanopy Gals (you have to be from there. It's pronounced Mick-kuh-no-pie with the first syllable accented. Like all northerners, I first said My-canopy) anyway welcome, dedlyperil |
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: K~~ Date: 12 Sep 99 - 04:31 PM I love tangents like this arising from legit forum questions. But Michner had it partly correct, the so called Buffalo Soldiers were formed in 1866 into the 9th and 10th Cavelry and the 24th and 25th Infantry units. Prior to their formation black soldiers were only recruited during war time and were not much appreciated during peace time. The units were sent to the western frontier to serve int he constant Indain wars that were coming. The story goes that they got their name 'Buffalo Soldiers' from the AmerIndians due to a)their hair which was thought to resemble the coat of the buffalo or b)the courage and stubborn cussedness of their fighting style, take your pick. They served with distinction in Cuba in 1898 and in the Phillipines in 1899 and became the first black soldiers to escort an American President in 1903 (T.R.). (I'm full of semi-relevant trivia like this.) The first time I ever heard the song Buffalo Gals was when I was a kid watching the Capra classic "It's a Wonderful Life" George and Mary sing it to each other while their courting. |
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Subject: Buffalo Gals From: GUEST,JasGriffin@worldnet.att.net Date: 08 Nov 01 - 06:24 PM Someone asked me how the term "buffalo" was attached to a particular group of "gals". I assumed they were like saloon gals, but probably associated more closely to buffalo hunters. I could be wrong and I would appreciate someone putting me straight. jas |
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Buffalo Gals From: Tinker Date: 08 Nov 01 - 06:42 PM If you type Buffalo Gals in the Blue box at the top of the page it will bring you right to the lyrics. Then click on the super search box there are several threads of discussion on this song. Have fun... Tinker |
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Buffalo Gals From: Joe Offer Date: 09 Nov 01 - 03:14 AM This thread addresses your question. Apparently, it was first a minstrel song called "Lubly Fan Will You Cum Out Tonight," published in 1844. It became New York Girls, Philadelphia Girls, and Buffalo Girls. I wonder why Buffalo is the one that stuck, instead of Youghiogheny or something like that... -Joe Offer- |
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: GUEST,Jas Date: 10 Nov 01 - 10:01 AM I thank you all for the lively discussion about the question that I orignally asked concerning the song Buffalo Gals. I'm sure that somewhere within all of these answers is the truth, for that matter all of them are probably true to some extent. At least I have a better idea of the origin of the song. |
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: Gypsy Date: 10 Nov 01 - 08:42 PM Joe, thanks for the post. The only recollection i had was the explanation that Lomax made about reference to the town. Never occurred to me that it could have different ramifications. |
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: rich-joy Date: 02 Aug 02 - 06:12 AM I came across an old photocopy of a chapter from a book by, I believe, Roy Palmer, the UK Folk Historian. (I can't believe that I didn't write a reference on my copy!!!!) Anyway, the 7th chapter is called "The Life of a Man : Seasons and Ceremonies" and in it is a song entitled "Bell Tune" from Lancashire, UK. (there was some thought that the title MAY have been a corruption of "Beltane" the Celtic May festival). It bears a striking similarity to "Buffalo Gals" (the first line is "I danced wi' a girl wi' a hole in her stockin' an' her heel kep' a-rockin' ...") I'll type in part of the preface (and hope I don't lose my connection!):
"The meaning of the song seems to be that a girl is tempted to join in a witches' orgy, but is saved by the young man who agrees to marry her. It was sung at Stockenbrig, St Michael's-on-Wyre, in the Fylde, a remote part of Lancashire, between 1849 and 1853, both on May Days and at Lammas (1 August, 3 months later). It was first published in 1936, and caused some eyebrows to be raised by its exoticism. I'll type in the 8 verses of the song at a later date (I have to go now!) ... Cheers R-J
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: Snuffy Date: 02 Aug 02 - 08:53 AM Isn't the tune also known as "Old Johnny Walker"? |
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: GUEST,Les B. Date: 02 Aug 02 - 12:03 PM A friend of mine who teaches fiddle had a student who really had trouble with this song. From listening to her off-beat timing he was inspired to come up with a version with a Calypso beat, which he has dubbed "Bermuda Gals"! It's actually quite fun to play. |
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: Dicho (Frank Staplin) Date: 02 Aug 02 - 01:37 PM According to Dichter and Shapiro, "Early American Sheet Music," 1941, p. 141 (quoted in Randolph, Ozark Folksongs, vol. 3, p. 332) "Buffalo Gals" was published by William Hall and Son, NY, 1848. Richr (early post) quotes from Brown about its similarity to a German tune and to "Lubly Fan...." which was published in 1844. It was certainly widespread by the mid-19th century, in many guises, and tying down its origins will be difficult. Looking forward to the verses Rich-Joy has. The 1844 minstrel tune, "Lubly Fan Will You Cum Out To Night?," by Cool White (Hodges) in the DT and in Joe Offer's post above, lacks one verse from the original sheet music (5, just before the oyster plant verse): I lub to taste dem lubly lips, Lubly lips, Lubly lips, Oh den I sure would lose my wits, An' drop down on de floor. Cho.: Den lubly Fan will you cum out to night, etc. Sheet music reproduced in: Three Centuries of American Music, vol. 1, American Solo Songs Through 1865, Ed. Nicholas Tawa, G. K. Hall & Co, 1989, pp. 107-108. |
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: Snuffy Date: 02 Aug 02 - 05:10 PM I was nearly right, just spelled it wrong. In Michael Raven's One Thousand English Country Dance Tunes it is given as:
Buffalo Girls WassaiL! V |
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: GUEST Date: 02 Aug 02 - 07:50 PM Therre are some early copies under the 'Buffalo' title on the Bodleian Ballads website. |
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: Dicho (Frank Staplin) Date: 02 Aug 02 - 09:50 PM Two songs at Bodleian; one is about going west to chase the buffalo, etc., of the first quarter of the 19th c., the other is the Buffalo Gals minstrel ballad of the 1840s. Looked up Walker(see Snuffy, above) and found, with Walker the Two-Penny Postman, one called "The Flea," which is amusing. I can spend hours at this site. |
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: masato sakurai Date: 02 Aug 02 - 10:56 PM Notes to "Round Town Gals" performed by Henry Reed (fiddle) at Fiddle Tunes of the Old Frontier: The Henry Reed Collection (Library of Congress) say:
"Accounts of the history of American popular song often cite the composer of the song and tune as a minstrel performer, Cool White, whose song "Lubly Fan" was published in 1843. But a set in Knauff's Virginia Reels (1839), vol. 4, #8, bearing the title "Midnight Serenade: Varied," suggests that it was already in circulation, with similar verses, before it found its way onto the minstrel stage. Indeed, it may be international in origin, for similar tunes have turned up in central Europe (see Bayard, Hill Country Tunes, #1a and 1b)."
From The Fiddler's Companion: Buffalo Gals:
"In America it is one of the most frequently mentioned fiddle tunes of the entire repertory. It appears listed in the early 20th century repertories of such geographically disparate Arizona fiddler Kenner C. Kartchner and Union County, Pa., fiddler Harry Daddario. Musicologist/Folklorist Vance Randolph recorded the tune from Ozark Mountain fiddler for the Library of Congress in the early 1940's. Cauthen (1990) says the tune had folk origins but was published in 1848 as a minstrel tune. "It was already well known in the gulf town of Mobile, Alabama, in 1846, where a woman who had once been "a flower, innocent and beautiful but long since turned from its stem, trampled, soiled and desecrated" was arrested for drunkenly singing 'Mobile gals, won't you come out tonight' on the streets" (pgs. 13-14). Bronner (1987) says that although the tune had a long traditional history its popularity in America stems from its use in the 19th century popular theater. In the 1840's one Cool White (real name: John Hodges), a blackface performer, sang a tune called "Lubly Fan, Won't You Come Out Tonight" with the popular minstrel troupe the Virginia Serenaders. He claimed to have composed it, and credit is often given to him, but it was first printed on sheet music in New York in 1848 with "author unknown." Alan Jabbour found a tune called "Midnight Serenade" in George P. Knauff's Virginia Reels, volume IV, printed in Baltimore in 1839, that is a set of "Buffalo Gals," and since it preceeds the minstrel era or at least publication of "Lubly Fan," he suggests the tune was at the time in oral tradition at least in the Upland South. ~Masato
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: GUEST Date: 03 Aug 02 - 12:29 AM The tune "Whar'll Bonnie Annie Lie" in the John Peel thread doesn't seem to be it, and I don't know what the bothy ballad could be. It isn't in John Ord's 'Bothy Songs and Ballads', or in the Greig-Duncan collection.
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: GUEST Date: 03 Aug 02 - 12:44 AM "Lubly Fan", 1844, is on the Levy sheet music website. Search for "Buffalo Gals" to find it and the others, of uncertain date. |
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: GUEST Date: 03 Aug 02 - 01:10 AM S. P. Bayard in 'Dance to the Fiddle, March to the Fife", #167 (where he gives 10 tradiional versions of the tune), refers readers for the history of the tune to Alan Jabbour, 'American Fiddle Tunes from the Archives of Folk Song', Lib. of Congress, 1971. It's apparently a booklet that came with the phono record AFS L62, which I don't have. Andrew Kuntz in his 'Fiddler's Companion' takes data from just about any source (including my website), and not all of it is reliable. |
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: masato sakurai Date: 03 Aug 02 - 01:14 AM "Midnight Serenade" in Knauff's Virginia Reels is Virginia Reels: Transcribed for Guitar by Joseph Weidlich (Centerstream/Hal Leonard, 1999, pp. 76-78; "arranged by Joseph Weidlich"; with CD). The book is based on the one "Originally arranged for pianoforte by George P. Knauff and Published in 1839." The tune (without words) resembles "Buffalo Gals".
The reproduced sheet music of "Lubly Fan" is also in S. Foster Damon, Series of Old American Songs (Brown University Library, 1936, No. 39). ~Masato |
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: masato sakurai Date: 03 Aug 02 - 01:40 AM From Alan Jabbour's notes to "Buffalo Gals" (on American Fiddle Tunes, Rounder 18964-1518-2):
"Going under a wide variety of titles that substitute various localities for Buffalo, the tune "Buffalo Gals" is known to old-time fiddlers in every part of the United States. In the North the tune is usually called "Buffalo Gals," but older musicians of the Appalachian upper South frequestly call it "Round Town Gals," and some musicians under the influence of Nashville recordings and broadcasts have adopted the title "Alabama Gals." Spaeth (A History of Popular Music in America, pp. 100-101) and others have attributed authorship of the song and tune to the minstrel Cool White (John Hodges), whose version appeared in 1844 under the title "Lubly Fan." But the set of the tune in Knauff's Virginia Reels (1839), entitled "Midnight Serenade," clearly preceded the song's vogue on the minstrel stage. In 1839 Knauff was residing in Farmville, Virginia, and his collection as a whole is redolent with tunes traditional in the upper South. It is thus reasonable to assume that the tune to "Buffalo Gals," associated with the usual "Won't you come out tonight" verses, was already popular on the minstrel stage. Bayard (Hill Country Tunes, No. I) cites several Continental sets suggest that the tune originated in Germany." (pp. 45-48) ~Masato |
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: GUEST Date: 03 Aug 02 - 01:47 AM Many thanks for the quotation from Jabbour, Masato. |
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: masato sakurai Date: 03 Aug 02 - 02:02 AM Joyce H. Cauthen (With Fiddle and Well-Rosined Bow: Old-Time Fiddling in Alabama, University of Alabama Press, 1990) says:
"'Buffalo Gals, (Won't You Come Out Tonight?)' is another tune that had folk origins though it was published in 1848 as a minstrel tune. It was already well known in Mobile in 1846, where a woman who had once been 'a flower, innocent and beautiful but long since torn from its stem, trampled, soiled and desecrated' was arrested for drunkenly singing 'Mobile Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight?' on the streets." (pp. 13-14; the documentation is "Alabama Planter, 10 December 1846"). ~Masato |
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: Stewie Date: 03 Aug 02 - 02:26 AM As well as 'Round Town Girl(s)/Gals', 'Alabama Girl' etc mentioned above, it was also recorded under titles such as 'Ain't You/Ya/She Comin' Out Tonight' (Vernon Dalhart, Bill Boyd'), 'Dance In the Light of the Moon' (Emmett and Aiken String Band), 'Maxwell Girl' (Aulton Ray), 'Brownstown Girl' (Kessinger Brothers), 'Arkansas Girl' (Bob Miller and His Hinky Dinkers). The very popular 'Dance All Night (With a Bottle in Your Hand)' tune, originating in Georgia, is possibly derived from 'Buffalo Gals'. [Info from Meade, Spottswood, Meade biblio-discography). --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: masato sakurai Date: 03 Aug 02 - 02:46 AM This might be part of the answer to the original request by dedlyperil.
'The "Buffalo Gals" or "Lubly Fan" melody is probably the source tune used for most of the texts quoted, although "De Boatman's Dance" may have been used for "Charleston Gals" since the latter's text does not fit "Lubly Fan" very well. But what does the title mean? "Buffalo Gals" and the other "gals" songs are not harmless nonesense numbers. They are not to be read just as humorous invitations to the women in the audience. The word buffalo had some specific meanings, and its appearance in the title of this song is not mere chance. Buffalo sometimes referred to black women, just as yaller gals also identified women of mixed race.' -- William J. Mahr, Behind the Burnt Cork Mask: Early Blackface Minstrelsy and Antebellum American Popular Culture (University of Illinois Press, 1999, p. 276). ~Masato |
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Subject: Lyr Add: BELL TUNE (from Lancashire) From: rich-joy Date: 06 Aug 02 - 01:52 AM further to my post of August 2nd :
BELL TUNE There is a melody line score given, in 2/4 time, but I don't read music, so I can't comment further ... Cheers! R-J
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: masato sakurai Date: 06 Aug 02 - 04:34 AM As Dicho said above, the entry in Harry Dichter and Elliott Shapiro, Early American Sheet Music; Its Lure and Its Lore, 1768-1889 (1941; reprinted by Dover as Handbook of Early American Sheet Music 1768-1889, 1977, p. 141) is:
*BUFFALO GALS. Wm. Hall & Son. New York. 1848
(asterisk indicates the copy is illustrated) ~Masato
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: Kaleea Date: 07 Aug 02 - 04:32 AM As Kaleea runs to look up "Buffalo Gals" in her text books aka song books, she recalls being in the Buffalo Soldier Museum many, many moons ago, whilst her dearly departed was stationed in Fort Sill, Oklahoma (which has on the front of the old jail on the fort--where Geronimo was held captive in a tiny cell underneath the building for much of his life--a sign which says, "DO NOT SHOOT BUFFALO FROM HERE." The Buffalo Soldiers were most definately called so as "their skin was the colour of the buffalo's nose and their hair as the buffalo robe . . ." according to one song sung by soldiers of the time. And notes at the museum pointed out that the Oklahoma sun made their skin all the darker. The museum showed pictures of black women who were "brought out west" for the Buffalo Soldiers to attempt to keep them there by providing women for wives &, uh, girlfriends, thus "Buffalo Gals." And some of the "Buffalo Soldiers" did indeed marry the "Buffalo Gals" and begat children who helped to populate Oklahoma. "A Treasury of American Songs" by Elie Siegmeister states, "Another perennial minstrel favorite, Lubly fan took on a number of pseudonyms early in its career. It was composed in 1844 by Cool White, of the Virginia Serenaders, for his banjoist, Jim P. Carter, {{(. . . P. CARTER !?!? could it mean . . .?)} and was sung by him and the 'Virginia Serenaders at their concerts throughout the United States with unbounded applause.' In the same year a black-face comedian brought the song closer to home in New York by singing 'Bowery gals' instead of 'Lubly Fan, won't you come out to-night?' This practice was adopted by other minstrels on tour, and that is how the song became known as 'Buffalo Gals,' 'Lousiana Gals,' 'Pittsburgh Gals,' etc." hmmmmm . . .and Burl Ives sang a verse that goes: "Wichita gals, ain't you comin' out tonight, ain't you comin out tonight, ain't you comin out tonight, Wichita gals, ain't you coming out tonight and dance by the light of the moon? Oh, ain't you, ain't you, ain't you, ain't you, comin' out tonight, ain't you comin' out tonight? Oh, ain't you, ain't you, ain't you, ain't you comin' out tonight and dance by the light of the moon?" |
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: Amos Date: 07 Aug 02 - 12:36 PM I think the similarities in the auld "Bell Tune" are irrefutable indications of precedent. That's just MHO, though. A |
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: GUEST,Ian Darby Date: 07 Aug 02 - 10:29 PM The Hemlock Cock and Bull Band (U.K.) did a great version of this tune. I think I've got a MIDI file of it somewhere. I also seem to remember the above playing in the background of an old cowboy film. I could be wrong.. |
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: EBarnacle1 Date: 08 Aug 02 - 03:53 PM There are too many examples of folk tunes being slightly recast and taken over by so-called authors to consider any answer definitive at this point. As Baron Munchausen used to say "Wuz you dere, Sharley?" It's all interesting and it's all speculation. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Buffalo girls From: Richie Date: 13 Dec 02 - 07:50 AM Here's some info: NOTES: The name Buffalo for the New York town derives from the name of a Native American and was first called Buffalo Creek, becoming simply Buffalo as the town grew. The tune is widespread in American tradition, though as Samuel Bayard (1944) points out, the song is widely disseminated and is now an 'international melody'. Curiously, he thinks the air itself probably originated in Germany, but came to America and was assimilated in 'British style'. Instrumental versions, not surprisingly, are more ornate than vocal settings and display much wider variation, as a comparison of the sources listed below will attest. "Version B ('Johnstown Gals') affords a good example of how the influence of common melodic formulae, combined with tendencies toward attaining easy bowing and fingering will modify the outlines of a tune in instrumental tradition. Version A ('Hagantown Gals') is much like some recorded further south; B is in some ways distinctive. Sets from American tradition are Lomax, American Ballads and Folk Songs, pp. 288-289; Ford, p. 53; Adam, No. 12; and three playparty versions from Texas in Owens, Swing and Turn, pp. 45, 54, 103. (Bayard, 1944). See also "O Dear Mother My Toes Are Sore " [3] for a 6/8 version ('A' part only). In America it is one of the most frequently mentioned fiddle tunes of the entire repertory. It appears listed in the early 20th century repertories of such geographically disparate Arizona fiddler Kenner C. Kartchner and Union County, Pa., fiddler Harry Daddario. Musicologist/Folklorist Vance Randolph recorded the tune from Ozark Mountain fiddler for the Library of Congress in the early 1940's. Cauthen (1990) says the tune had folk origins but was published in 1848 as a minstrel tune. "It was already well known in the gulf town of Mobile, Alabama, in 1846, where a woman who had once been "a flower, innocent and beautiful but long since turned from its stem, trampled, soiled and desecrated" was arrested for drunkenly singing 'Mobile gals, won't you come out tonight' on the streets" (pgs. 13-14). Bronner (1987) says that although the tune had a long traditional history its popularity in America stems from its use in the 19th century popular theater. In the 1840's one Cool White (real name: John Hodges), a blackface performer, sang a tune called "Lubly Fan, Won't You Come Out Tonight" with the popular minstrel troupe the Virginia Serenaders. He claimed to have composed it, and credit is often given to him, but it was first printed on sheet music in New York in 1848 with "author unknown." Alan Jabbour found a tune called "Midnight Serenade" in George P. Knauff's Virginia Reels, volume IV, printed in Baltimore in 1839, that is a set of "Buffalo Gals," and since it preceeds the minstrel era or at least publication of "Lubly Fan," he suggests the tune was at the time in oral tradition at least in the Upland South. -Richie |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Buffalo girls From: Kim C Date: 13 Dec 02 - 10:09 AM Something I read somewhere said that it was common for the singers to insert the name of whatever town they were in at the time, and it just happened to be Buffalo that stuck. Either way, it's a fun, lively tune. :-) |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Buffalo girls From: Richie Date: 13 Dec 02 - 11:18 PM Kim, Here's more: The "Buffalo" name can be changed to any city's name, and was used as New York Gals. "Round-Town Girls/Gals," "Alabama Girls/Gals," are two of the most popular. "Portsmouth Airs" and "Bear Creek Hop" have the same melody. |
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: GUEST,Paul Date: 27 Apr 03 - 08:13 PM Does anyone know the name of the artist(s) who performed the version of Buffalo Gals on "It's a Wonderful Life." In the movie a 78 RPM record was played. Is there such a record? If so, who was the artist? Does anyone know where one can buy this 78 RPM record? Thanks. |
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Subject: Lyr Add: BUFFALO GALS (1848) From: Jim Dixon Date: 09 Feb 04 - 09:10 AM From The Library of Congress American Memory Collection: [This is one of 18 songs bound together with a cover that says:] THE ONLY CORRECT & AUTHORIZED EDITION. MUSIC OF THE ETHIOPIAN SERENADERS [A minstrel troupe.] BUFFALO GALS [1848] 1. As I was lumb'ring down de street, Down de street, down de street, A handsome gal I chanced to meet. Oh! She was fair to view. CHORUS: Buffalo gals, can't you come out tonight? Can't you come out tonight? Can't you come out tonight? Buffalo gals, can't you come out tonight And dance by de light ob de moon? 2. I ax'd her would she hab some talk, Hab some talk, hab some talk. Her feet covered up de whole sidewalk As she stood close to me. 3. I ax'd her would she hab a dance, Hab a dance, hab a dance. I taught dat I might get a chance, To shake a foot wid her. 4. I'd like to make dat gal my wife, Gal my wife, gal my wife. I'd be happy all my life If I had her by me. |
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Subject: Lyr Add: BUFFALO GIRLS From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 09 Feb 04 - 10:20 PM Lyr. Add: BUFFALO GIRLS Christy's Nigga Songster ca. 1850 As I was lumbering down the street, O down de street, O down de street, Dat pretty color'd gal I chanc'd to meet, O, she was fair to view. Oh, Buffalo gals, wont you come out to night, Wont you come out to night, Wont you come out to night, O de Buffalo gals wont you come out to night, And dance by de light ob de moon. Den we stopp's awhile and had some talk, O we had some talk, O we had some talk, And her heel cover'd up the whole sidewalk, As she stood right by me. Oh Buffalo gals, etc. I'd like to kiss dem lubly lips, Dem lubly lips, Dem lubly lips, I think dat I could lose my wits, And drap right on de floor. Oh Buffalo gals, etc. I ax'd her would she go to a dance, Would she go to a dance, Would she go to a dance, I thought that I might have a chance, To shake my foot wid her. Oh Buffalo gals, etc. I danc'd all night and my heel kept a rocking, O my heel kept a rocking, O my heel kelt a rocking, And I balance to de gal wid a hole in her stocking, She was the prettiest gal in de room. Oh Buffalo gals, etc. I am bound to make dat gal my wife, Dat gal my wife, Dat gal my wife, O, I should be happy all my life, If I had her along wid me. Oh Buffalo gals, etc. pp. 96-98, Christy's Nigga Songster, ca. 1850. Every minstrel troop probably had a version if the Cool White song and dance; new verses frequently substituted. It wasn't long before the song obtained folk variants in both black and white communities. http://jefferson.village.edu. |
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: GUEST,.gargoyle Date: 09 Feb 04 - 10:52 PM I opt for the local-performer's-geographical adatptation.
No notation of "buffalo gal" is in The Randon House HISTORICAL DICTIONARY of AMERICAN SLANG J. E. Lighter, Volume I (A-g)
While the tune varies..... the theme is consistant for all girls in Amsterdan, New York and Buffalo....
We have a master's thesis....going once.....going twice.... (oh hell...no master's needed....nor theory....nor talent....just a well stoned mind capable of dismissing 99.7% of the world thrust in her face.....and working with the "dangerous minds."
Sincerely, |
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 09 Feb 04 - 11:09 PM Christy's Nigga Songster (pp. 44-45) also has a song called "New York Gals" sung by T. G. Booth's Kentucky Minstrels, but it is not related to "Buffalo Gals." |
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Subject: RE: Help: Buffalo Gals From: GUEST,Hootenanny Date: 10 Feb 04 - 06:49 AM I don't believe anyone has yet mentioned the pop song of the 1940's/maybe early 50's, same tune: Dance with a dolly with a hole in her stockin' Knees keep a knockin' Toes keep a rockin' Dance with a dolly with a hole in her stockin' Dance by the light of the moon |
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