Angelina Baker, original melody

[Dave Leonard]

Hi folks,

I'm new here. I'd like to know if anybody has a copy of the original sheet music for Stephen Foster's Angelina Baker. There seems to be two popular melodies floating around with each claiming to be the original. I'm a bit of a stickler for authenticity and want to perform the correct one.

Also, a like a link to a video or sound track of the correct one would help.

Thanks,

Dave

[Barbara Mullin]

hi, Dave. 

This is one of my favorites.

There are a few recordings on this site..My favorite is by Paul Draper..

Haven't looked for the sheet music but it should be available online.

http://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/video/angelina-baker-1

[Dave Leonard]

Thanks!

Barbara Mullin said:

hi, Dave. 

This is one of my favorites.

There are a few recordings on this site..My favorite is by Paul Draper..

Haven't looked for the sheet music but it should be available online.

http://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/video/angelina-baker-1

[Wayne Seymour]

I have one that purports to  be orginal. It is a direct transcription from Foster's sheet music. I'll try to get a copy in  a form I can post. 

[Dave Leonard]

Thanks! That will be greatly appreciated!

Dave

[Tom Berghan]

https://youtu.be/wdodP3gA4cA

[Dave Leonard]

Thanks! Authentic sounding performance, or at least how I would picture it to be.

Tom Berghan said:

https://youtu.be/wdodP3gA4cA

[Wayne Seymour]

That sounds right. 

[Tom Berghan]

Thanks guys! I need to re-record it now that I have my first early banjo (a Hartel, Sweeney model). The fermata in my performance are actually notated in the music (In Briggs he describes the use of the fermata, but refers to it as a "pause." I'm glad you like it. Our Mister Foster was quite a songwriter! Best Wishes, Tom

[Tom Berghan]

Here is the "real deal" Dave. This is one of the published scores from the Antebellum period. http://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/catalog/levy:067.003
Best Wishes, Tom

[Dave Leonard]

Thank you. This is the melody I have always used. A couple of guys I occasionally jam with were trying to tell me that the melody fiddlers call Angeline the Baker was the melody Stephen Foster wrote. My research shows that this is a parody written about 20 years after Foster wroth Angelina Baker. The melody was similar, but written to be a bit more suitable for dancing (more square). The words, of course, were completely different. Later, in the 1920's (I think) a fiddler altered the tune even more and was responsible for the current Angeline the Baker (sometimes mistakenly called Angelina Baker). The Bluegrass and Old Time fiddlers play this a lot. Now, I just need to correct my two jamming friends.

BTW, my jamming friends say they got the melody out of a book written in the 1940's by someone who is supposed to be the definitive source of Stephen Foster's history. I've no idea which book this is, but it obviously wasn't researched enough.

Dave