Among various other forgotten items in storage at my grandmother's house, there was recently discovered a treasure trove of WWI era sheet music. Lest I misrepresent my grandmother's taste in music, I should mention right off that only a few of the pieces are as shocking as the image above, and it appears by the pencil writing on them that they were mostly acquired from a neighbor down the street. In any case, I've posted three of the more eye-popping titles below, along with their transcribed lyrics. They are, respectively, about:
- A mother consoling her child about the color of his skin
- A man's foolish, plucky, perserverence in his attempts to win at gambling
- A woman whose husband has gone to war
Click on the thumbnail of "Seven or Eleven" for a larger image to verify that the man portraying Rufus Johnson is not, as he might have you believe, an African American.
Mammy's Little Coal Black RoseLyrics by Raymond Egan
Music by Richard A. Whiting
Copyright MCMXVI
I heard a pickaninny crying
Down in Tennessee one night,
His little heart was nearly breaking
Just because he wasn't white;
Then his dear old Mammy kiss'd him,
And she said "Chile don' you sigh
Weep no more my baby,"
Then she sang a Dixie Lullaby:
(Chorus:)
You better dry your eyes, my little Coal Black Rose,
You better go to sleep and let those eyelids close,
'Cause you're dark, don't start a pinin',
You're a cloud with a silver lining;
Tho' ev'ry old crow thinks his babe am white as snow,
Your dear old Mammy knows you're mighty like a rose;
And when the angels gave those kinky curls to you,
They put a sunbeam in your disposition too, that's true,
The reason you're so black I 'spose
They forgot to give your Mammy a talcum powder chamois,
So don't you cry, don't you sigh,
'Cause you're Mammy's little Coal Black Rose.
And then I saw that dear old Mammy
Kiss those baby tears away
While in her arms the baby nestled
Happy as a child at play;
Then she whisper'd "Mammy loves you,
You're as sweet as 'possum pie',
Go to sleep, my honey,
While your Mammy sings a Lullaby:"
(Chorus)
Seven or Eleven (My Dixie Pair O' Dice)Words by Lew Brown
Music by Walter Donaldson
Copyright MCMXXIII
At the railroad station
Almost ev'ry day
Hangin' round the porters there
Tryin' hard to win his fare
You'll see Rufus Johnson
Gamblin' his dough away
(Chorus:)
'Ginny shore
It means I lose the blues
Means a hat and shoes,
Means an overcoat and cane
Means I'll have my fare, a little bit to spare,
Means I'm on the midnight train
Come on you Seven or Eleven
Oh! boy, won't that be nice
I'll be on my merry way back to Heaven,
With my Dixie Pair O' Dice.
Ev'ry time they break him
Rufus goes away
Gets a brand new bank roll, then
Comes to roll those bones again
Never seems to worry
While he's got dough to play
(Chorus)
Nigger War Bride BluesMusic by "Mitch" Le Blanc
Words by "Jimmie" Marten
Copyright MCMXVII
Listen folks I'm goin' to tell you
Oh baby's gone an I'm feelin' awfull terribly blue
Done j'ined the war an' lef me all alone that's true
Oh I'm blue
He lef' a note
It was all edged in black
Jes' tellin' me that he never was a comin' back
Jes' staten' he was never never comin' back
Now that's fact.
(Chorus:)
Easy greasy breezy John
Easy greasy breezy John
Makes me blue an' sick an' out an' down
Easy easy easy greasy breezy John
Down the road just as far as I could see
Thought I saw my dear old used to be
Thought I heard my Johnie callin' me
Engine whistled like it ne-ev-er-er whistled before
Saw him walkin' inside,
Turn around and shut the door
I felt so bad I nearly fell down on the floor.
An' what's more
Two sixteen down carried poor John away
It's a long long way
So I heard mos' all the white folks say
Yes two sixteen done took my lovin' Johnie away
T' other day.
(Chorus)
7 comments:
This sheet music came from three huge paper sacks of music(hundreds of titles), all given to a family of 6 piano playing sisters in the hopes that some of it might be useful.
As one of the sisters, I have to say that I don't remember seeing this collection. It remained in the sacks until last December when we were emptying the far reaches of the basement storage.
These titles and the war music give a startling view into our cultural history.
I wonder what about our current scene will seem shocking to generations a half century from now.
I play the piano and saw some sheet music at a thrift store, a huge bundle of very vintage looking sheet music. I came across the war bride sheet music as well. Mine of course was not in any good shape and had quite a bit of damage to it. I was in awe. It is really something to think about, how different our society was then.
A follow-up to Mammy's Little Coal Black Rose--Raymond B. Egan, the lyricist, was my great-grandfather. His son, my grandfather (also Raymond B. Egan) was extremely committed to the idea of equality for African-Americans. His grandson, my uncle (also Raymond B. Egan) is a composer and church musician with a particular interest in gospel--and the first white music director at an African-American church in South Central Los Angeles, Agape Christian Fellowship. Knowing my uncle and having known my grandfather, it's so funny to see the lyrics written by my great-grandfather.
I recently wrote a very good barbershop quartet arrangement of Mammy's Little Coal Black Rose. It's a well written song, and a lot of fun to sing.
Have you worked on preserving you sheet music?? I recently was given over 260 pieces and they have some serious value for museums. Tax deductable!! I preserve my collection by putting them in acid-free plastic page protectors and sealing them with acid-free tape. I also have researched and then catalogued them on my computer. Its paying off taxes for quite a few years!!
I would love so much to get the musical score for the song, Coal Black Rose. My Grandfather sang this song when I was little, and I was told my Grandmother sang this song all the time. (Even though I don't remember). Because it was my favorite, I would ask my father to sing it to me. What a beautiful warm, sweet song.
Now I have found the lyrics on google, and I can remember only parts of the melody. My father has since died, so I don't have him to help me learn the song. If you know where I can find the melody, please let me know. Such a sweet, sweet song.
I remember hearing the song sang in an amateur minstrel show when I was a young boy.
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