The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #10459   Message #73034
Posted By: Ole Bull
23-Apr-99 - 09:20 PM
Thread Name: Origin: Jimmy Crack Corn and I Don't Care
Subject: RE: Jimmy Crack Corn and I Don't Care
Jim Crack Corn is a bootlegger. Cracking the grain is what you do before you prepare the mash. Hence the references to the bottle. This song has obscure and complex origins. It was associated with the Minstrel groups of the 1840 in several different versions, one attributed to Dan Emmett. Because these varients all popped up about the same time one suspects an earlier, unrecorded source.