Is the old song "DIXIE", the one with the line in it that goes "cause I'm from Dixie too", appropriate for a bluegrass jam? Is it Bluegrass. Now I've done it. I've gone and asked that eternal question. Is it Bluegrass?
I haven't heard it in a bluegrass jam, but if you can figure out a banjo break for it -- go for it. I'd pick along with you on it gladly. It's a neat. song.
At a Jam a few weeks ago a gentleman was singing the song you mentioned, Are You From Dixie (Cause I'm From Dixie Too). I noticed that some of the lyrics seem to be derived from Dear old Dixie which is considered a bluegrass standard as far as I know. When he was done, I played and sang Dear Old Dixie for fun and we had a laugh at
So if this is a variation of Dear Old Dixie then it must be allowable at a "Bluegrass" jam. The Bluegrass repertoire ranges from 1880s tunes through the Beatles and the present day so I think if you play it with Bluegrass instrumentation it can be bluegrass.
Lyric from Are You From Dixie
Well if you're from Alabama Tennessee or Caroline
Anyplace below that Mason Dixon line
Similar Lyrics from Dear Old Dixie
And Im' headin down below that Mason Dixon Line.
Well, Tennessee, Mississippi good ole Alabam,
Butch Robins on one of my favorite banjo albums of all time, Grounded, Centered, Focused, does an absolutely great rendition of this song and if it ain't bluegrass there is not a cow in Texas and Texas is a heifers' hangout! If you can find it you will enjoy it MUCH.
A specific song is not a genre; it is just a song.
Fox on the Run is neither a bluegrass song nor a rock song, it is just a song.
When Mannfred Mann does it, it is not bluegrass in any way shape or form..
When the Country Gentlemen play it, it is not rock in any way, shape or form.
I wish there was a youtube of Butch Robins playing Are You From Dixie but here is a 30 second snippet of it. His rendition of it is much different than the Blue Sky Boys and done this way, I think even a minstrel would have to call this Bluegrass! Butch's banjo has such life: he can really play can't he.
Dixie was written by Dan Emmett, one of the original minstrels.
It became a theme song of the Confederacy.
It's a perfectly good song but not one that I would ever play anywhere's.
Same reason a lot of people don't play Wagner.
It was my high school song at South Dade, Home of the Rebels, Confederate flag flying at the school.
Then the Black high school was closed and all the kids bussed to the one school and we had no nickname, no song and no flag. But I think it was the right choice.
The song Are You From Dixie (Cause I'm From Dixie Too) is the song written in 1915 and contains the lyrics requested in the original post. The Dan Emmett song has different lyrics.
quote:
Originally posted by minstrelmike
I'm not sure where the listing came from.
Dixie was written by Dan Emmett, one of the original minstrels.
It became a theme song of the Confederacy.
It's a perfectly good song but not one that I would ever play anywhere's.
Same reason a lot of people don't play Wagner.
It was my high school song at South Dade, Home of the Rebels, Confederate flag flying at the school.
Then the Black high school was closed and all the kids bussed to the one school and we had no nickname, no song and no flag. But I think it was the right choice.
Is the old song "DIXIE", the one with the line in it that goes "cause I'm from Dixie too", appropriate for a bluegrass jam? Is it Bluegrass. Now I've done it. I've gone and asked that eternal question. Is it Bluegrass?
Gene Warner
Gene, "Are You From Dixie" was written in the 19-teens, which means it predates bluegrass by about 30 yrs. It is nominally categorized as a "TPA" (Tin Pan Alley) ballad and belongs with a raft of generic tunes about missing the "old home place" down in Dixie (many of them, including this one, are great tunes).
As it is simply a "tune" it can be incorporated into any genre by making appropriate adjustments to it. It has been done as Bluegrass (can't recall who) and it works quite well as an OT tune (clawhammer...which is how I play it). No doubt it could be done as hip-hop or rap.
TPA tunes were/are great souce/fodder for BG. Earl used 'em, no reason you shouldn't.
I play Dixie CH; it's the way it was probably first played. Been hearing it for most of my life. At high school football games, we'd all have to stand up when the band played it.
I think the original "Are You From Dixie" was done in Old Time or like someone else mentioned a Tin Pan Alley genre. Almost any song can be arranged and played in the Bluegrass style made famous by Bill Monroe. I would think "Are You From Dixie" would be appropriate for a Bluegrass Jam if it's played in the Bluegrass style.
Here's the "Victor Military Band" playing "Are You From Dixie". This recording was made in Feb of 1916...only a year after the tune was published. I believe I have a copy of Billy Murray singing it (from the same time period) buried somewhere.
It has been reported that it was Abraham Lincoln's favorite song.
There's some confusion here earlier, I think. DIXIE is not really the song in question, rather a song entitled "Are You From Dixie" . Abe Lincoln is said to have requested the Band to play Dan Emmett's "Dixie" when he received news of Lee's Surrender at Appomattox. "Are You From Dixie?" is much more recent (1915). I remember playing that tune at "Your Father's Mustache" quite often back in the early 70s. Definitely not Bluegrass the way we played it.
To answer the original question- it depends on how you play it. A band could certainly do a Bluegrass version of it with the right instruments and style.
I have included Are You From Dixie in my repertoire for over 30 years. It is a crowd-pleaser. It was one of Grandpa Jones' standards along with 8 More Miles to Louisville.
To add to the the confusion, there's also "Gwine Back to Dixie", as recorded by Uncle Dave Macon. Here's a link to the sheet music from "Are You From Dixie?" at the Lester S. Levy collection at Johns Hopkins:
Feeds
is DIXIE bluegrass?
would have to call this Bluegrass! Butch's banjo has such life: he can really play can't he.
