Lyr Add: (De) Blue Tail Fly

Subject: DE BLUE TAIL FLY
From: Dicho
Date: 24 Oct 01 - 05:10 PM

The original Blue Tail Fly by Daniel Decatur Emmett, published 1846 by Keith's, Boston. Some verses are different and the last line of the verses is left out in modern transcriptions. The refrain "jimmy crack corn" is NOT in the original. The title has also been revised. For these reasons, I believe it requires a separate listing from the modern version in DT.

DE BLUE TAIL FLY

If when you come in summer time,
To South Carolinars sultry clime,
If in de shade you chance to lie,
You'll soon find out de blue tail fly,
An' scratch 'im wid a brier too.

Dar's many kind ob dese here tings,
From diff'rent sort of insects springs;
Some hatch in June, an' some in July,
But August fotches the blue tail fly,
An' scratch 'im wid a brier too.

When I was young, I used to wait,
On Massa's table an' hand de plate;
I'de pass de bottle when he dry,
An brush away de blue tail fly,
An' scratch 'im wid a brier too.

Den arter dinner massa sleep,
He bid me vigilance to keep;
An' when he gwine to shut he eye,
He tell me watch de blue tail fly,
An' scratch 'im wid a brier too.

When he ride in de arternoon,
I foller wid a hickory broom;
De poney being berry shy,
When bitten by de blue tail fly,
An' scratch 'im wid a brier too,

One day he rode aroun' de farm,
De flies so numerous did swarm;
One chance to bite 'im on de thigh,
De debble take dat blue tail fly,
An' scratch 'im wid a brier too.

De poney run, he jump an' pitch,
He tumble massa in de ditch;
He died an' de jury wonder why,
De verdict was de "blue tail fly,"
An' scratch 'im wid a brier too.

Dey laid 'im under a 'simmon tree,
His epitaph am dar to see;
Beneath dis stone I'm forced to lie,
All by de means ob de blue tail fly,
An' scratch 'im wid a brier too.

Die Massa's gone, now let him rest,
Dey say all tings am for de best;
I neber shall forget till de day I die,
Ole Massa an' de blue tail fly,
An' scratch 'im wid a brier too.

De hornet gets in your eyes an' nose,
De 'skeeters bites y'e through your close,
De gallinipper sweeten high,
But wusser yet de blue tail fly,
An' scratch 'im wid a brier too.

gallinipper- a larger mosquito, crane fly, etc.

Lyrics and music reproduced from original sheet music; in Three Centuries of American Music, Vol. 1, American Solo Songs Through 1865, Ed. Nicholas Tawa. Pub. G. K. Hall & Co., 1989.
@minstrel song

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: (De) BLUE TAIL FLY
From: 53
Date: 24 Oct 01 - 11:29 PM

does that have the same tune as jimmy cracked corn?

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: (De) BLUE TAIL FLY
From: Dicho
Date: 25 Oct 01 - 12:21 AM

It has the same tune as the blue-tailed fly, almost. The last line of each verse, which ends on a very low note, is left out in modern versions. Where Jimmy and his corn likker came from is a mystery. Could that refrain about Jimmy come from another song altogether?? Maybe Masato knows.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: (De) BLUE TAIL FLY
From: GUEST,masato sakurai
Date: 25 Oct 01 - 05:04 AM

James J. Fuld (The Book of World-Famous Music) says:
The first known printing of this song ["Jimmy Crack Corn"] was on Jan. 20, 1846, under the title Jim Crack Corn, or Blue Tail Fly by F.D. Benteen, Baltimore.... The opening notes of the song are similar to those in Miss Lucy Long, copyrighted in 1842 by George Willig, Philadelphia.

I'm not at home now. I'll check another reference later. Not that "Masato's gone away."

~Temporary Guest Masato

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: (De) BLUE TAIL FLY
From: masato sakurai
Date: 25 Oct 01 - 05:52 AM

The original version Dicho posted above is in Levy, but no images are given:

Title: De Blue Tail Fly. A Negro Song.
Composer, Lyricist, Arranger: na
Publication: Boston: Keith's Music House, 67 & 69 Court St., 1846.
Form of Composition: strophic with refrain
Instrumentation: piano and voice
First Line: O when you come in summer time, To South Carlinar's sultry clime
First line of refrain An scratch im wid a brier too
Plate Number: 449 3

The "first known printing" is HERE also in Levy:

Title: The Virginia Minstrels, No.5. Jim Crack Corn, or, The Blue Tail Fly.
Composer, Lyricist, Arranger: Composed for the Piano Forte [na].
Publication: Baltimore: F.D. Benteen, 1846.
Form of Composition: strophic with chorus
Instrumentation: piano and voice
First Line: When I was young I us'd to wait On Massa and hand dim de plate
First Line of Chorus: Jim crack corn I don't care, Jim crack corn I don't care
Engraver, Lithographer, Artist: Webb
Plate Number: 771

There's another edition with the "O when you come in summer time, To South Carlinar's sultry clime line" HERE:

Title: De Blue Tail Fly. A Negro Song.
Composer, Lyricist, Arranger: na
Publication: Boston: Oliver Ditson, 115 Washington St., 1846.
Form of Composition: strophic with refrain
Instrumentation: piano and voice
First Line: O when you come in summer time, To South Carlinar's sultry clime
First line of refrain An scratch im wid a brier too Plate Number: 449 3

~Masato, who is still not at home

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: (De) BLUE TAIL FLY
From: masato sakurai
Date: 25 Oct 01 - 06:02 AM

I forgot to add "Miss Lucy Long." One page is given in Levy, too.

CLICK HERE.

~Masato

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: (De) BLUE TAIL FLY
From: Dicho
Date: 25 Oct 01 - 11:57 AM

Both were published in 1846. The Ms, if it still exists, would be interesting to see. Emmett had a habit of revising his songs almost immediately, either to suit the publisher or the minstrelsy circuit. Dixie's Land is another example where the published versions differ; the Ms version, presumably the first, was recently posted.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: (De) BLUE TAIL FLY
From: masato sakurai
Date: 25 Oct 01 - 12:19 PM

Some of the previous related threads are:

Blue-Tail Fly (lyric reguest)

Jimmy Crack Corn and I Don't Care

What was Jimmie doing?

The entry in The Traditional Ballad Index:

Blue-Tail Fly, The [Laws I19]
DESCRIPTION: A young slave is made into a household servant, with the particular task of keeping away the (stinging) blue-tail flies. One day the master goes out riding; a fly stings his pony; the master is thrown and dies.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1844
KEYWORDS: bug servant death
FOUND IN: US(SE,SW)
REFERENCES (10 citations):
Laws I19, "The Blue-Tail Fly"
Friedman, p. 453, "The Blue-Tail Fly" (1 text)
Lomax-FSNA 267, "The Blue-Tail Fly" (1 text, 1 tune)
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 91-92, "Jim Crack Corn or the Blue Tail Fly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnett, p. 66, "Jim Crack Corn (Blue-Tail Fly)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 709, "The Blue-Tail Fly" (1 text, 1 tune)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 12, "The Blue-Tail Fly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 30, "The Blue-Tail Fly" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, p. 312, "Jim Crack Corn"
DT 669, BLUETAIL
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Shoo Fly" (chorus)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Jimmie Crack Corn
Notes: Sometimes credited to Dan Emmett, and one of the earliest publications was in a series credited to him -- but the absence of his name on the earliest copies goes far toward discrediting his authorship. - RBW
The subtext for this song is that the slave in fact killed the master himself, blaming it on the blue-tail fly. This is hinted at, to varying degrees, in some versions of the song. -PJS
File: LI19

The Ballad Index Copyright 2000 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

According to the index, this song is not discussed or mentioned in Hans Nathan, Dan Emmett and the Rise of Negro Minstrelsy. Nathan seems to discredit Emmett's authorship.

There's another "Blue Tail Fly" in a song sheet (without music) titled A Collection of Newest Songs (Printed at [Pitts] Wholesale Toy Warehouse, Great St. Andrew Street 7 Dial. [n. d.]) at American Memory, Library of Congress:

THE BLUE TAIL'D FLY,
A Hungry fish once chanced to copy
Fal de ral Nes
A little wicked blue tailed fly,
Tal de ral, &c.
This fly unto the fish did say,
As in the flood he saw him play,
If you can bite my tail you may,
Fal de ral, &c
This hungry fish then made a spring,
Fal de ral, &c.
But he could not catch this blue tail'd, thing,
Fal de ral &c.
So like the Fox he lost a treat,
For the fish the fly could not eat,
say she your nasty tail's not swet
Fol de rol, &c.
Now a little man by chance came by,
Fal de ral, &c
And he caught with his hand this blue tail'd
fly,--Fal re ral, &c
Then on a hook this fly he hung,
And in the river this blue thing flung,
Where Death soon stopped his wicked tongue
Fal de ral &c.
This hungry fish saw the blue fly fall,
Fal de ral &c.
I'll says be, his body and all
Fal de ral, &c
My hungry belfy you shall fill.
The fly I'll eat against his will,
He bit...but the hook stuck in his gid
Fal de ral, &c
The Little man drew him on Land
Fol de ral, &c
And took this hungry fish in hand
Fal de ral, &c
Then on a twig did him suspend
For to eat the fish he did intend
So my song, good folks is at an end

There're two mentions of "Jim Crack Corn" in the following book and article:

(1) Mary Jones Polk Branch, MEMOIRS OF A SOUTHERN WOMAN: "WITHIN THE LINES" AND A GENEALOGICAL RECORD (THE JOSEPH G. BRANCH PUBLISHING CO., Chicago, 1912).

In the "quarters," as the negro cabins were called, there was usually a band, which played at night for the "white folks" to dance. "Old Master" always led off in the "Virginia Reel." Negroes are always fond of music, and as they would play "Jim Crack Corn, I Don't Care," or "Run, Nigger Run," or "The Patrolers Will Catch You," or some other especial favorite, they would become wildly excited and beat the tambourines over their heads. (p. 11)

(2) "The Virginia Springs," Putnam's monthly magazine of American literature, science and art. / Volume 6, Issue 35 (G.P. Putnam & co. Publication, November 1855) (in Making of America).

If, then, at night, he will also give a boy a quarter to "pick" the banjo under his window, and sing "Going Over Jordan," and "Jim Crack Corn," he will end his day with perfect stomachic satisfaction, falling sound asleep in the very act of ha-ha-ing, and dreaming of nothing short of the Moor's paradise, and a heaven carved in ebony. (p. 485)

Jim, where are you from?

~Masato

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: (De) BLUE TAIL FLY
From: masato sakurai
Date: 25 Oct 01 - 12:23 PM

(1) Mary Jones Polk Branch, MEMOIRS OF A SOUTHERN WOMAN: "WITHIN THE LINES" AND A GENEALOGICAL RECORD (THE JOSEPH G. BRANCH PUBLISHING CO., Chicago, 1912).

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: (De) BLUE TAIL FLY
From: Dicho
Date: 25 Oct 01 - 04:01 PM

Masato, you obviously have more information than I do. I haven't yet pulled up complete music for Miss Lucy Long. Is it available on the internet?
It is difficult to handle sheet music without the composer's name. I believe there is still a question about a couple of Foster's tunes, since first publication was under Christie. Music was printed in different localities by different publishers, often with variations, just to confuse a tyro like me.
What now makes me think that you are right about authorship is that the Blue Tail Fly is missing from Emmett's "Plantation Songs" as used by Bryant's Minstrels and published in 1860. The song had already been published in several places and apparently had some popularity by that time.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: (De) BLUE TAIL FLY
From: GUEST,Ole Bull
Date: 25 Oct 01 - 05:14 PM

I perform both versions of the above; "Scratch him.." and "Massas gone away..." They do have different melodies and as far as I am concerned are different songs. This situation is not uncommon for the period; it seems to be a type of Title plagerism. And also many authorships of that time are in question. It was not unheard of for a performer to "lay claim" to a song that he had heard somewhere. Another good example of this type of occurance is "Mary Blane." The title was maybe more famous than the song and there are two widely published very different versions with many different (claimed) authorships.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: (De) BLUE TAIL FLY
From: masato sakurai
Date: 25 Oct 01 - 06:17 PM

The C.K. Keith version of "De Blue Tail Fly" (1846) is in

Public Domain Music with lyrics and MIDI. "Lucy Long"

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: (De) BLUE TAIL FLY
From: masato sakurai
Date: 25 Oct 01 - 06:29 PM

The C.K. Keith version of "De Blue Tail Fly" (1846) is in Public Domain Music with lyrics and MIDI. There're several "Lucy Long" songs in Levy, the version Fuld mentions seems to be the one published in 1844 (CLICK HERE), also in Public Domain Music with lyrics and MIDI.

~Masato

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: (De) BLUE TAIL FLY
From: masato sakurai
Date: 25 Oct 01 - 06:38 PM

Much more research has be done with Foster's songs. The results so far can be obtained in Steven Saunders and Deane L. Root, The Music of Stephen C. Foster: A Critical Edition, 2 vols. (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1990) and Calvin Elliker, Stephen Collins Foster: A Guide to Research (Garland, 1988)

~Masato

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: (De) BLUE TAIL FLY
From: 53
Date: 25 Oct 01 - 07:21 PM

thanks.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: (De) BLUE TAIL FLY
From: W y s i w y G !
Date: 25 Oct 01 - 07:45 PM

Dang, you guys are GOOD.

~S~

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: (De) BLUE TAIL FLY
From: masato sakurai
Date: 27 Apr 02 - 07:08 AM

In Christy's Nigga Songster As Sung By Christy's, Pierce's, White's and Dumbleton's Minstrels (New York: T. W. Strong, c. 1850) [note the publication date too], BLUE TAILED FLY (pp. 45-47) and JIM CRACK CORN! I DON'T CARE (p. 109) are treated as two separate songs, though the beginning lines are the same.

BLUE TAILED FLY.

If you should go, in summer time,
To South Carolinar's sultry clime,
An' in de shade you chance to lie,
You'll soon find out de blue tail fly.
An' scratch 'um wid a briar too.

Dar's many kind ob curious tings,
From different sort ob inseck springs;
Some hatch in June an' some July,
But Augus fotches de blue tail fly.
An' scratch 'um wid a briar too.

When I was young I used to wait
On massa table and hand de plate
I'd pass de bottle when he dry,
Den brush away de blue tail fly.
An' scratch 'um wid a briar too.

Den arter dinner massa sleeps,
He bid dis nigga vigils keeps;
An' when he gwine to shut his eye,
He tell me watch de blue tail fly.
An' scratch 'um wid a briar too.

When he ride in de arternoon,
I foller wid a hickory brom;
De pony being berry shy,
When bitten by de blue tail fly.
An' scratch 'um wid a briar too.

One day he rode aroun de farm,
De flies so numerous did swarm,
One chance to bite 'im on de thigh,
De debil take de blue tail fly.
An' scratch 'um wid a briar too.

De pony run he jump an'`pitch,
An' tumbl'd massa in de ditch;
He died and de jury wondered why--
De verdic was de blue tail fly.
An' scratch 'um wid a briar too.

Dey laid him under a 'simmon tree,
His epitaph am dere to see

'Beneath this stone I'm forced to lie,
All by de means ob de blue tail fly.
An' scratch 'um wid a briar too.
Ole massa's gone, now let 'im rest,
Dey say all tings am for de best;
I neber shall forget till de day I die,
Ole massa an' dat blue tail fly.
An' scratch 'um wid a briar too.

De hornet gets in your eyes and nose,
De skeeter bite you troo your clothes;
De yalla nipper sweeten high,
But wusser yet de blue tail fly.
An' scratch 'um wid a briar too.

JIM CRACK CORN! I DON'T CARE.

If you should go in summer time,
To Souf Carolina sultra clime,
And in de shade you chance to lie,
You'll soon find bout dat blue tail fly.
Jim crack corn I don't care!
Jim crack corn! I don't care!
For massa me gave away.

When I was young I used to wait,
On massa's table and hand de plate,
I'd pass the bottle when he dry,
An brush away de blue tail fly,
Jim crack, etc.

When ole massa take his sleep,
He bid dis nigga sight to keep,
An when he gows to shut his eye.
He tell me watch dat blue tail fly.
Jim crack, etc.

Ole massa ride in arternoon,
I follow arter wid a hickory broom,
De pony he is bery shy,
Kase he bitten by de blue tail fly.
Jim crack, etc.

De pony run dar jump an pitch,
He trowed ole massa in the ditch,
He died an de Jury all did cry,
Dat de verdict was de blue tail fly.
Jim Crack, etc.

Ole massa's dead now let him rest,
Dey say all tings am for de best,
I nebber shall forget till the day I die,
Ole massa and de blue tail fly

~Masato

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: (De) BLUE TAIL FLY
From: Dicho
Date: 27 Apr 02 - 02:05 PM

This Virginia website is welcome. Thanks. In the Trad. Ballad Index, the date given is 1844, but this seems to refer to a Lucy Leal-Lucy Long set of verses. 1846 seems to be the earliest recorded printing of the Blue Tail- Jim Crack versions.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: (De) BLUE TAIL FLY
From: Q
Date: 12 Jan 04 - 06:35 PM

A minstrel routine in American Memory, "Sittin' On a Rail," or "The Raccoon Hunt," has these verses, among others:

My ole massa he lub gin,
De way he drink him was a sin;
It case um him to tumble in
A hole bout eight feet deep.

Spoken- You see, my ole massa, he did lub gin to obstruction, an he git drunk one night and go to bed on de wiskey barrel, an he wake in de mornin, an he fine heself dead, an I mak calffimalashund how he die juss fore he time cum, an I spose- seein, dat my massa dead, dare no harm for de nigger to sing little bout him.

O my ole massa dead and gone,
De debil sing him funeral song;
A little poison help him on,
Bress um, let um go- bress um let um go-
bress um, let um go, wid de bottle in de hand.

Probably inspired by the Emmett's De Blue Tail Fly.
Undated, Boston and Middlebury, VT, L. Deming, 19c undated.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: (De) BLUE TAIL FLY
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 12 Jan 04 - 08:57 PM

Q

Nice Job!

Could you Please post your printed or http:// sources for the above? AKA a link, a title, a URL a SOMETHING?

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: (De) BLUE TAIL FLY
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 12 Jan 04 - 09:05 PM

Q

.....

Interesting set of postings over the past six months....let me guess????????

You are either Max or a Clone trying to

desperately

keep the MC alive for an enhanced resale at the top 50K of websites .... or you sincerely, research American Folk Traditions....and stumbled into this stink-eddy of the flow....which was once a florishing fountain of American Blues and Folk tradition.

Sincerely,

Gargoyle

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: (De) BLUE TAIL FLY
From: Q
Date: 12 Jan 04 - 09:38 PM

American Memory: Search
Insert Sittin on a Rail in the Search box, and it will appear at the top of the list, 1.

Max I certainly am not- If I had to fiddle with the computers, Mudcat would be down 100% of the time!

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: (De) BLUE TAIL FLY
From: masato sakurai
Date: 12 Jan 04 - 09:38 PM

Sitting on a rail, or, The raccoon hunt. Sold, wholesale and retail by L. Deming, No. 61 Hanover Street, Boston. [n. d.]

For transcription, click on "Bibliographic information."

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: (De) BLUE TAIL FLY
From: GUEST,freeatlast
Date: 13 Jan 04 - 05:21 PM

The clue for 13 down in the January 13th, 2004 cryptic puzzle in the "Globe and Mail" was: "Poorly made Russian fighter goes up with a bang (8)".
The answer, of course, is GIMCRACK.
I know, I know… you don't care.
Anyway, "gimcrack" or "jimcrack" got me to thinking about the song and just what "Jim-crack Corn" might be. As the crossword clue says, gimcrack means "poorly made." And "corn," as we all know, is a care banishing beverage.
The narrator of the song says, "When I was young." This means he is no longer young. This would make him what -- old?
He's got a lot to think about; some of it is painful. His carefree youth when all he was required to do was to brush away a few flies might seem pretty golden when viewed through a whiskey bottle.
Jimcrack corn might just be cheap whiskey, moonshine, Tennessee wine, granny's rheumatiz medicine. It's still good for what ails you – especially at those moments when you realize that none of us are ever going to be free.
Cheers

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: (De) BLUE TAIL FLY
From: Joybell
Date: 13 Jan 04 - 05:51 PM

I don't want to go here again because I am not interested in point scoring, but I am still trying to find the link between Robert "Billy" Barlow and "The Blue-tail Fly". He was called "The Blue-tail Fly" because of the song he sang by that title. (which was called "his") BUT WHICH "Blue-tail Fly"? That is the question - or one of the questions. I'm not suggesting he DID write either of these songs, just making the point that he COULD have. He was England born, in America in the 1840s, and settled in Australia by the early 1850s. I already have a lot of information about him, and am in contact with a descendant of his, but I'm no closer to finding his connection with "The Blue-tail Fly".
Please Q let's not go down the Billy Barlow path again - I'm asking questions here as an interested researcher.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: (De) BLUE TAIL FLY
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 13 Jan 04 - 10:03 PM

IF

the Mudcat were to add a third division...an "intellectual" American folk topic division that stayed up three-days or even three-weeks....I am sure YOUR answer would quickly come forward.

Unfortunately, given the "slow-chat-room" nature of the 24-hour-forum....your question (and an excellent one it is) will probably drift off into oblivion until another

Q

type person "drops in" three years from now.

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: (De) BLUE TAIL FLY
From:
Date: 30 Apr 06 - 08:02 PM

I have a 45 that has blue tail fly with vocal and full Orchestra on 2001P and on the other side is the song Carry Me Back To Old Virginny 2oo1P.With vocal and full orchestra . The record guild of america,INC. N.Y. Copyrighted,made in U.S.A. This record is made of some sort of cardboard and still plays the music. It has full pics of the meanings of these songs. They are very well done. For a 45.
Question what time frame did it come from and why cardboard. How many where made this way ect.   
I have hade this record since the early 70s.It looked very old then.
Please send info to me on this great 45.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: (De) BLUE TAIL FLY
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Dec 06 - 05:12 PM

Joybell

Do you find yourself running around like a "blue arsed fly"????

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: (De) Blue Tail Fly
From: GUEST,Black Deep
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 03:21 PM

Crack Corn. Moon shine was made from cracked corn, then mixed with sugar and water and fermented, the distilled. Up until I was in my early 30's they called it cracking corn. Or another term for moonshining wisky.