November
27
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Did A Black Family of Musicians Write “Dixie”?
From the University of Illinois Press:
“Who really wrote the classic song “Dixie”? A white musician, or an African American family of musicians and performers?
This book traces the lives of the Snowdens, an African American family of musicians and farmers living in rural Knox County, Ohio. Howard L. Sacks and Judith Rose Sacks examine the Snowdens’ musical and social exchanges with rural whites from the 1850s through the early 1920s and provide a detailed exploration of the claim that the Snowden family taught the song “Dixie” to Dan Emmett–the white musician and blackface minstrel credited with writing the song. This edition features a new introduction in which the authors discuss the public response to this controversial claim, and present new information on the Snowdens’ musical and social experiences.
“An intriguing and textured portrait of a black family in the nineteenth-century North. . . . Arguing that those who have searched for black influences on minstrelsy have exclusively and mistakenly focused on the South, the authors seek to demonstrate the closely intertwined traditions of black and white music above the Mason-Dixon line. . . . Not only has blackface minstrelsy exerted ‘a pervasive impact on American music’ . . . it has also served as both symbol and metaphoric expression of the complexities of American racial identity.”–Drew Gilpin Faust, New York Times”
Here is the 1916 rendition of Dixie by the Metropolitan Mixed Chorus with Ada Jones and Billy Murray
Lyrics (Daniel Decatur Emmett) :
I wish I was in the land of cotton,
Old times there are not forgotten;
Look away! Look away! Look away, Dixie’s Land!
In Dixie’s Land where I was born in,
Early on one frosty morning,
Look away! Look away! Look away, Dixie’s Land!
(chorus)
Then I wish I was in Dixie! Hooray! Hooray!
In Dixie’s Land I’ll take my stand, to live and die in Dixie!
Away! Away! Away down South in Dixie!
Away! Away! Away down South in Dixie!
Old Missus married “Will the Weaver”;
William was a gay deceiver!
Look away! Look away! Look away, Dixie’s Land!
But when he put his arm around her,
Smiled as fierce as a forty-pounder!
Look away! Look away! Look away, Dixie’s Land!
(chorus)
His face was sharp as a butcher’s cleaver;
But that did not seem to grieve her!
Look away! Look away! Look away, Dixie’s Land!
Old Missus acted the foolish part
And died for a man that broke her heart!
Look away! Look away! Look away, Dixie’s Land!
(chorus)
Now here’s a health to the next old missus
And all the gals that want to kiss us!
Look away! Look away! Look away, Dixie’s Land!
But if you want to drive away sorrow,
Come and hear this song tomorrow!
Look away! Look away! Look away, Dixie’s Land!
(chorus)
There’s buckwheat cakes and Injin batter,
Makes you fat or a little fatter!
Look away! Look away! Look away, Dixie’s Land!
Then hoe it down and scratch your gravel,
To Dixie’s Land I’m bound to travel!
Look away! Look away! Look away, Dixie’s Land!
5 Pt. Salt 
That’s what you think…