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14 Jun 16 - 11:58 PM (#3795774) Subject: Lyr Add: Abaco is Pretty From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch Was reminded of this one whilst digging ye olde Peas an' Rice references out of the catacombs: "The astonished native women who had rejoiced in a shilling a day weeding sisal left the fields to grow rich on $1.50 and $2 a day rolling barrels of rum through the streets singing: "Mammy don't want no peas, no rice, no cocoanut oil; All she want is sugar candy." And "I want to go to Abaco, Do ma, do ma. Abaco is a pretty place, Do ma, do ma." [10,000 Cases of Liquor Shipped to U.S. Weekly from Bahamas Islands, New York Herald, 22 August 1921, p.1] |
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14 Jun 16 - 11:59 PM (#3795775) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Abaco is Pretty From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch Abaco is a Pretty Place Round Dance (AAFS 436 B2) Performed by the Nassau string band. Recorded at the Lucerne Hotel in Nassau, Bahamas in July 1935. Previously unreleased This Nassau string band consisted of a tenor banjo player at least two guitarists, Blind Blake Alphonso Higgs (not to be confused with the American bluesman Blind Blake (Arthur Blake) led a string band similar to this at the Royal Victoria Hotel in Nassau for many years. In the 1950s, Blind Blake and his group made a number of recordings that are very reminiscent of the Nassau string band heard here. "Relie" is short for "Aurelia." Abaco is a pretty place, Do, Ma, do, Ma. Abaco is a pretty place, Do, Ma, do, Ma. When cockeye Liza knock her banjo, Mama Relie, Mama Relie, Mama Relie, Mama Relie, Mama Relie, Mama Relie, (Repeat) [Bahamas 1935: Ring Dances and Round Dances, Rounder 82161-1832-2, 2002, trk.19] Nassau String Band - Abaco Is a Pretty Place |
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15 Jun 16 - 12:43 AM (#3795782) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Abaco is Pretty From: Joe Offer Gibb Sahib posted a little bit about Abaco here (click):
On Abaco. // "There are large sugar cultivations on the mainland," writes Mr. Philpot from Abaco, "and the fields of waving cane, with their delicate green leaves and golden tassels, look very pretty, especially when they relieve a dark background of sombre pine-wood. A windmill crushes the cane, and when wind fails, manual labour is called in—a number of negroes turning the windlass to the wild chaunts of their own country." |
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15 Jun 16 - 01:54 AM (#3795786) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Abaco is Pretty From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch Joe: That is a good thread all around (hard to open the big ones lately tho) and the missionary periodicals in general are a solid resource for 19th century Bahamas. Abaco really is/was a pretty place donchaknow. My first thoughts when I read the old lyric again went back to the "Barbi Mare" herd. Hard mouthed as a cut nail and mean as snakes but… if one knew just where to scratch behind the ears you had a 400 kilo lap dog on your hands: The Abaco "Barb" Lyle Lovett - If I Had A Boat RIP ladies. |
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17 Jun 16 - 11:23 PM (#3796341) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Abaco is Pretty From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch Abaco is a Pretty Place I want to go to Abaco, do-ma, do-ma 'Cause Abaco is a pretty place, do-ma, do-ma-ma. Boys let me tell you 'bout Abaco, do-ma, do-ma-ma. Ev'rbody knows Abaco, do-ma, do-ma-ma. You see them gals with the wire waist, do-ma, do-ma, The wire waist and the figure face, do-ma, do-ma-ma. [Kennedy, Stetson, Grits & Grunts: Folkloric Key West, (Sarasota: Pineapple Press, 2008, p.157] This is my third or so reference to Florida folklorist Kennedy so it seems as good a place as any for these clickies. Wiki for Stetson "Beluthahatchee Bill" Kennedy. Mudcat Obit thread. |