The Birth of the Banjo Tutor

[razyn]

As far as I've heard, the earliest banjo tutor is Gumbo Chaff's, and specifically the 1848 edition referred to by Gura and Bollman in America's Instrument, p. 266, note 55. I've discussed (on that other Gumbo Chaff thread) an 1843 "accordeon" preceptor I have, that contains a few "Ethiopian" tunes. But I just noticed, I also have a violin book by Elias Howe that's dated 1847. This was the last year before he started publishing specifically for the banjo; specifically "Ethiopian" collections; and titles under the pen name "Gumbo Chaff" (all of which, I believe, refer on the title page to some minstrel company -- usually Christy's).

The back cover of this book lists a lot of publications he already had available in 1847; the front cover mentions Ethiopian Melodies; and the Index lists a few minstrel show tunes (they hover around p. 27). So I thought I'd post those pages as a sample -- "Gumbo Chaff's bookshelf, 1847."

Dick

[Rob MacKillop]

Interesting, Dick. I wonder why Ethiopia in particular, and not some other African country?

[razyn]

Rob MacKillop said:

I wonder why Ethiopia in particular, and not some other African country?

My impression is that "Ethiopia" was the commonest shorthand for "black Africa," or what contemporary scholarship often calls sub-Saharan Africa. "Guinea" was used in the same way, but less commonly. In the 1840s (or for a long time before), geographical precision about African place names was not widely known, let alone practiced, in Europe.

The shorthand for the Mediterranean side of Africa was "Egypt," which might really refer to Algeria (or Palestine, or anyplace else down along there, w/o reference to what an Atlas might show) -- e.g. in expressions like "dark as Egypt," referring literally to actual darkness (like a cloudy night with no moon, or the inside of a cave); or metaphorically to a lack of "enlightenment," especially of the Christian, preferably Protestant, sort. Levantine? I never heard that word, growing up. And I really doubt if it had much currency in your pubs, either. Maybe, in the age of BBC News it does. But it's a much more imprecise sense of "Egypt" that (for instance) supplies the root of the word "Gypsy," for Romany folk.

However: in the name of a minstrel group, or a banjo tutor, "Ethiopian" was just a euphemism, or kenning, for "the N word."

Dick

[Tim Twiss]

I saw a title in there "Wild Raccoon Track".
Would you be so kind as to put up a copy of that song?

[razyn]

Tim Twiss said:

I saw a title in there "Wild Raccoon Track".
Would you be so kind as to put up a copy of that song?

[Tim Twiss]

Thanks. It looks like a great melody. It appeared 7 times in the early songsters, as well as in the playbill of The Ethiopean Serenaders. Could be a good find and a new tune in the banjo repertoire with a key change.

[razyn]

Tim Twiss said:

It looks like a great melody.

And, a circular melody; i.e. the "B" part of the tune doesn't end on the tonic (Bb, as written here), but the "A" part does. So IMO, when performing it you should begin AND end with the "A" part.

I'd be willing to retract that opinion if the words don't work out, that way. Like, if the "A" part ends "And this is what she said:" or something of the sort. I haven't looked for the words.

Dick

[Trapdoor2]

There is a piece of sheet music called "In De Wild Raccoon Track" in the Library of Congress site (Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music)

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mussm&fileName=sm2/...

The lyrics are, um, definitely non PC. Not worth looking up, really.