more help: Jump Jim Crow

Subject: RE: more help: Jump Jim Crow
From: GUEST,#
Date: 15 Dec 14 - 09:10 AM

Google images contains many shots of sheet music which is sometimes difficult to locate through regular Google. It is an often underutilized resource. Try a search for

Images for Jump Jim Crow

and you'll see what I mean.

Subject: RE: more help: Jump Jim Crow
From: GUEST,Bob Coltman
Date: 14 Dec 14 - 07:10 PM

JenEllen (ony 13 years later) ...

The lyrics you quote above are sung (and presumably written) by Michelle Shocked as a way of turning around the racist connotations into a protest song. It's widely performed now (see YouTube) but hasn't anything to do with the original song.

By the way the sheet music for the original "Jump Jim Crow" can be found, among other places, at the Lester Levy Library website, also here:

http://www.chesnuttarchive.org/classroom/jcrowmusic.html

Bob

Subject: RE: more help: Jump Jim Crow
From: JenEllen
Date: 16 May 01 - 12:30 AM

Fascinating stuff. A girlfriend of mine taught me this one:

Jump Jim Crow
Jump Jim Crow
How do you, do you walk so slow
Like a little red rooster with one trick leg
Look like you the one laying the egg
I don't know when but it'll be real soon
Going down the road by the light of the moon
Going to the city to see Zip Coon
Going to the city to see Zip Coon

Hip Zip Coon you sure look slick
How do you do that walking trick
You got a woman on your left
A woman on your right
You all dressed up for Saturday night
Strolling down the street, feeling fine
Tipping your hat, saying "Howdy, Shine"
If I knew your secret I would make it mine
If I knew your secret I would make it mine

Tarbaby, Tarbaby, tell me true
Who is really the jigaboo?
Is it the white man, the white talking that jive
Or the black man, the black trying to stay alive?
You can't touch a tarbaby, everybody knows
Smiling all the while wit de bone in de nose
That's the way the story goes
That's the way my story goes

Subject: RE: more help: Jump Jim Crow
From: kendall
Date: 15 May 01 - 11:12 PM

Dave, I dont recognize those other titles, never heard of polenta until recently. We had songs such as, Jaunita, Celeto Lindo, La Paloma, Believe me (if all those endearing young charms) Then in high school, Finlandia, Rise Columbia, Who is Sylvia and The Lost Chord.

Subject: RE: more help: Jump Jim Crow
From: Hawker
Date: 15 May 01 - 06:20 PM

I agree Dave,
School songs are corrected by well meaning teachers to protect the kids and in the process. Often, their meaning is lost. The version I learned of Jump Jim Crow is:

Jump, Jump, Jump Jim Joe
You shake your head and nod your head and tap your toe
Round and round and round you go
Then you choose another partner and you Jump, Jim Joe.

The dance is based around the words....Big jump, big jump, 3 little jumps whilst holding hands across with your partner, people in 2's round room anywhere, shake head, nod head, tap toe on floor. Swing on round & round then drop hands with partner and grab another. Do 3 short jumps on Jump Jim Joe.
Tune? can sing it, but don't do dots etc, sorry!
Lucy

Subject: RE: more help: Jump Jim Crow
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 15 May 01 - 06:07 PM

Kendall, your school and mine evidently used the same songbooks. I remember the song well.

Well,,,,, I thought I did. Your words and mine are just a little different, but essentially the same. One of us may be off a little, but it's clearly the same basic set of words.

Do you remember, from the same book, "Centa, Sweet Centa, Refuses her Polenta" from an Italian folksong? Or "Island of My Desire", listed as a Phillipine folksong?

Of course my experience is that the school songbook compilers tend to water down folksongs almost past recognition.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: more help: Jump Jim Crow
From: nutty
Date: 15 May 01 - 11:26 AM

jlp - here is a link to the BODLEIAN LIBRARY

Scroll to bottom of page and click on ..accept conditions

On next page click on .....browse/search

On next page in BROWSE INDEX, change index to - 2.words in sheet titles, ballad titles etc. - and write - crow - in the Display from box

Click on - show index and you will have 25 documents containing the name "crow" to browse. Hope they help

Subject: RE: more help: Jump Jim Crow
From: GUEST,Ole Bull
Date: 15 May 01 - 11:08 AM

It was a song and a dance performed together by Daddy Rice and several imitators such as Geo. W. Dixon and Bob Farrell. It was a big deal, kinda like when MJ did the moonwalk. For the "supposed" origin and background of this song see Nevin's article on Stephen Foster in Atlantic Monthly Nov. 1867 (20:608)which has been quoted and reprinted by just about everybody who writes about this subject. There are lots of versions- many verses most all starting with "Come listen all you gals and boys I'm come from Tuckahoe, I'm gwine to sing a little song, My name's Jim Crow. Wheel about and Turn about et&..."

Subject: RE: more help: Jump Jim Crow
From: kendall
Date: 15 May 01 - 08:50 AM

When I was in grammar school, we used to sing a little ditty that went, Jump jump and jump Jim Crow, take a little turn and away we go, slide slide and stamp just so, then you take another partner and you jump Jim Crow. We didn't do the dance.

Subject: RE: more help: Jump Jim Crow
From: Lyndi-loo
Date: 15 May 01 - 08:49 AM

The Bodleian Library is at Oxford University, England

Subject: more help: Jump Jim Crow -- original lyrics?
From: jlp
Date: 15 May 01 - 08:46 AM

1) thanks for all the info on Jim Crow (previous thread on this subject) so far. The background links are definitely helpful and interesting. The sheet music one seems to be a compositon much later than 1820's. The Levy site is unavailable.

2? Bodleian Library??? One item mentions "There's a whole collection of Broadsides in the Bodleian Library" I guess bradside means a kind of newspaper. But what's the Bodleian Library? Or rather, where is it? and how can I get info I need from it?

3) on the pbs site (Stephen foster) there is also some background info on this. Jump Jim Crow was not only a song but a dance. However, no mention of the actual lyrics.

4) I'd like to find out the lyrics to the original song, which was called, as far as can understand by in info in the various sites: "Jump Jim Crow"