banjo bill-e - Posted - 06/16/2010:  14:52:08

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And do I even want to know about a "booger-boo"?

Jim D - Posted - 06/16/2010:  15:59:57

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Here ya go... [urlbluegrassmessengers.com/sandy-boys.aspx[/url] note the bolded segments for answers to your questions.

[quote] NOTES: SANDY BOYS A Mixolydian.

The song is of minstrel origin appearing in Phil Rice’s Correct Method for the Banjo (1857), a period tutor, and also in a 1844 minstrel songbook (reproduced by Harvard Theatre College Collection, Cambridge, Mass.). Under the title, Uncle Gabriel, it is found on-line in Marsh's Selection, or Singing for the million on Page 110, published in 1854. Here's an excerpt:

T.J. Booth's Kentucky minstrels UNCLE GABRIEL from Marsh's Selection 1854:

Mr. Coon is a mighty man,
He carries a bushy tail.
He steals ole Massa's corn at night,
And husks it on a rail.

CHORUS: Den cum along ole Sandy boy
Oh do cum along, oh do.
What did Uncle Gabriel say?
Jenny won't you cum along too.

De squirrel hab a bushy tail
Stumpy grows de hair.
De Coon's tail am ring'd all 'roun',
De possum's tail am bare.

De Peacock's tail am berry high,
It reach up to de moon,
He cast his eye upon his foot,
Tail drop bery soon.

"Uncle Gabriel." (1847) Sung by the Ethiopian Singers
The Only Correct & Authorized Edition. Music of the Ethiopian Singers.

[Words and Music -- anon.] New York: Firth & Hall, 1 Franklin Sqr. Plate Number: 4244 [Source: 020/184@Levy]

1. As I was guan to Sandy point de uder arter noon,
Dis *fellers heel com’l out ob joint a runnin arter a coon;
I thought I see’d him on a log, a lookin mighty quar.
Wen I cum’d up to de log, de coon he was’nt dar.

CHORUS [sung after verse]
O come along, O Sandy Boy, now come along O do;
O what will Uncle Gabriel say,
ya oh oh oh ya oh oh oh
What will Uncle Gabriel say,
why Jinny cant you come along too.

2. I blow’d de horn, I call’d de dog, and tell him for to bark;
I hunt all night in de hollow log, but de coon he still keep dark;
At last I hear de old coon sneeze, de dog he fly around;
And on to him he den did freeze, and pull him to de ground.

3. De coon he lay upon de ground, as stiff as any post;
I Knock him den upon de head, and he gabe up de ghost;
I took him to de old log house, as soon as he suspire;
He look’d just like a little mouse, and we roast him on de fire.

4. De darkies dey come all around, and kick up a debil of a splutter;
Dey eat de coon and clar de ground, to dance de chicken flutter,
Dey dance all night till de broke ob day, to a tune on de old banjo
And den dey all did gwan away, before de chicken crow.

At some point the boogerboo line, "Waiting for the boogerboo" was added to the chorus. The song is also known as "boogerboo," which means usually boogerman or boogieman (also buggyman), an evil spirit or ghost, the devil. Boogerboo is usually pronounced buggyboo or boogieboo.

Further investigation shows BOOGERBOO: verb [1940s-60s] (US Black) to behave in an unpleasant manner, to be insincere. BOOGERBOO n. 1) An unpleasent situation or person. 2) commotion, as in- He raised a big boogerboo about nothing.

Bill Rogers - Posted - 06/16/2010:  17:10:07

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American cultural history that I surely do not like and which certainly is uncomfortable today--but which we need to acknowledge and understand.

banjo bill-e - Posted - 06/16/2010:  17:13:41

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Thanks Jim, that is one complete answer right there!

banjo bill-e - Posted - 06/16/2010:  17:22:26

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These old songs show some of the character and personality of a people and an age that has passed on by. They give us a glimpse into their world, so I think that makes these songs valuable.

Tackhead - Posted - 06/18/2010:  06:57:15

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quote:

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Originally posted by Bill Rogers

American cultural history that I surely do not like and which certainly is uncomfortable today--but which we need to acknowledge and understand.

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Agreed, and thanks for the insightful comment. I grew up and live in the south (Central Florida and now North Florida), and this is a constant personal struggle--even today. The vestiges of the attitudes expressed in the Minstrel and OT repertorie die hard.

~John