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JanetB - Posted - 12/25/2020: 00:25:09
Always on the lookout for a tune with a Christmas theme, thanks to a Tune of the Week feature by Paul Kirk, Jr., here is one for Christmas Day. Several of us old-time players are interested in the search for old-time tunes newly rising to the surface of recognition and popularity. Paul’s crooked version of Christmas Time In the Morning came from Mississippi fiddler Stephen B. Tucker and was a part of a seminal collection by Herbert Halpert in 1939 called “Great Big Yam Potatoes,” a field recording project for the Library of Congress, coming to the forefront little by little. Thanks more recently is due to Harry Bolick, who is furthering this effort with his publication, along with Stephen Austin, of Mississippi Fiddle Tunes and Songs from the 1930's (pages 342 - 368) and his good website (harrybolick.com).
Digging deeper, one finds the tune is similar to a 1928 recording by Fiddlin’ John Carson and his Virginia Reelers called Christmas Time Will Soon Be Over, the source for a Jack White performance on the popularized Cold Mountain Soundtrack. Before John Carson’s recording, the tune draws a relationship to an African American spiritual called I Hope I’ll be in the Band, said to have been composed by John Wesley Work II in 1915. It’s also been linked more recently to Tex Logan’s Christmas Time’s a Comin’. Check out this Family Christmas site.
It’s both interesting and moving to pursue its links to the African American spiritual, learning about three generations of John Wesley Work. All three were led to collect, compose, perform and teach music. Fisk University in Nashville came into each one of their lives, though the third John Work eventually felt unwelcome there and moved on to another college to teach music.
The first John was born a slave in Kentucky and was a choir director at the university, some of whose members sung with the Fisk Jubilee Singers. Fisk University was established in 1871 for former slaves. The singing group was established to preserve slave songs, which became known as African American spirituals, and the group went on tour to raise money.
John Work’s son, John W. Work II became a teacher, eventually teaching at Fisk University. He and his brother, Frederic, contributed two major collections of African American spirituals in the early 1900’s. He was a known composer as well, and the 1915 date of Christmas Time in the Morning is linked below. One of the songs he collected, Go Tell It on the Mountain, became famous later in the civil rights era of the 50’s and 60’s. John was a tenor in the quartette Jubilee Singers, a group reduced in size due to financial hardship. The links below include their version of I Hope I’ll Be in the Band, recorded in the 20’s.
John Work II’s son, John W. Work III, graduated from Fisk University in 1923, the year his father left the school, one year before the recordings of the Jubilee Singers were done. Like his father and grandfather, he made significant contributions to African American music. One of the songs in his 1940’s collection included This Little Light of Mine. He collaborated with Alan Lomax, directed the Fisk Jubilee Singers, and composed and arranged numerous tunes, adding grand substance to African American’s cultural heritage. Information and musical samples are in this link: John Wesley Work, 3-generation history.
Stephen Tucker recorded our tune at age 80 in 1939. Other tunes he recorded at this time have been included in our TOTW list of tunes. Different commentators attribute parts of Christmas Time in the Morning to Ed Haley’s Cuckoo Nest in the 20’s and to the Fisk Jubilee Singers in 1915. John Carson’s Christmas Time Will Soon Be Over, recorded when John was 60, is most similar to our TOTW. To learn more about Mr. Tucker, the most information available is in the liner notes for the compilation called "Great Big Yam Potatoes, Anglo-American Fiddle Music from Mississippi" in the PDF link below, beginning on page 17, from Abbott Ferriss' field notes (he worked with Herbert Halpert) and also in Harry Bolik's book, noted already.
With much background to ponder for this TOTW, I welcome any related versions you may play, whether it’s an old tender spiritual or the frolicking secular version. Personally, I like Christmas Time’s a Comin’ a la Bill Monroe from Tex Logan’s composition, another tune which is said to have been influenced by this week’s TOTW.
Happily, I was able to find some modern-day recordings of the tune in addition to Paul’s TOTW with our BHO member friend Stephen Rapp.
Jack White's version for Cold Mountain
Oakwood Aeolians sing John Work's I Hope I'll Join the Band
Norfolk Jazz and Jubillee Quartets, early 20's
Fiddlin' John Carson, 1928 w/lyrics
Joe Huff on banjo and John Meade on fiddle
Tim Rowell & friends, a crooked version
Traditional Tune Archive musical notation
Great Big Yam Potatoes liner notes
For my recording I chose two of the verses I liked, one from John Carson’s rendition and one from the Fisk Jubilee Singers.
Merry Christmas on this 25th of December. It shall soon be over indeed, but let’s hold onto its joyfulness throughout the New Year!
Edited by - JanetB on 12/25/2020 13:54:35
JanetB - Posted - 12/30/2020: 11:01:35
Thanks truly for your kind words. TOTW is a fun part of my life, as well as being interesting and creative. I'm grateful to everyone who has continued to keep our thread alive. It's really nice when somebody who usually looks on, actually chimes in. It's nice to know you're there!
I wanted to add a bit of commentary on the tune and also recorded a medley. The spirituals were lovely and moving to hear. I arranged the melody of the singers for clawhammer, though my tempo is quicker and the nuances of held notes are missing in my medley. You'll first hear Stephen Tucker's version, followed by two versions -- similar to each other -- of the spiritual I Hope I'll Join the Band recorded in the 1920's, the same period as John Carson's recording of Christmas Time Will Soon Be Over.
John Carson had lyrics (Stephen didn't), a line of which was similar to the spiritual -- "then we'll join the band." The fiddle tune lyrics are otherwise secular and I'm thinking the singer heard the spiritual and borrowed enough to suit his frolicking spirit.
Check out this comparison:
John Work's 1915 lyrics:
Ride up in the chariot,
Soon-a in the morning,
Ride up in the chariot,
Soon-a in the morning,
Ride up in the chariot,
Soon-a in the morning,
And I hope I’ll join the band.
Refrain:
Oh, Lord, have mercy on me,
Oh, Lord, have mercy on me,
Oh, Lord, have mercy on me,
And I hope I’ll join the band.
Here is what John Carson sang:
Christmas time will soon be over
Christmas time will soon be over
Christmas time will soon be over
Then we'll join the band
Come on gals, let's go up the river
Come on gals, let's go up the river
Come on gals, let's go up the river
Then we'll join the band
The difference in intent, one religious and one secular, reminds me of the book The Devil's Box, Masters of Southern Fiddling by Charles Wolfe. As quoted from the book on page 54, the success of "John Carson also represented...to the other musicians the potential of the new mass media on their music. His recording career, which had begun by accident barely a year before [1924], had won him instant fame and given him a huge audience." His success was in the secular realm. The Black bands were also trying to earn money and recording producers found an equally enthusiastic audience. Old Time music today remains mostly secular, but some of the spiritual is also being revived, as in Jake Blount's new and well-received CD, "Spider Tales."
The melody of the fiddled reel is somewhat different from the spiritual, but there is resemblance, which is what I wanted to explore with my medley. Perhaps the spiritual morphed into the secular, as it was perhaps older and sung by slaves. Then again, the reel may have been passed around the pioneering mountain musicians in the 1800's, too, as one written source speculated. Can we ever really know who influenced who?
Secular and spiritual music both bring us gladness and get us tapping our feet, swaying and dancing. This week's TOTW has been a gratifying time of exploring both genres.
Edited by - JanetB on 12/30/2020 11:10:34
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