SPIN-A-Tune or A Tug-Of-War

[Roaring20s]

My internet browsing found this interesting essay Music as War Propaganda - Did Music Help Win The First World War? by K. A. Wells.
http://www.parlorsongs.com/issues/2004- ... eature.php

Within the essay, the author notes in 1915 with the war raging in Europe, that one of America's top songs was I Didn't Raise My Boy To Be A Soldier. It's no surprise once its context is known. The U.S. was neutral in 1915 and did not enter the war until 1917. Now, spin a tune for 1917 and I Did Not Raise My Boy To Be A Coward was born.

I enjoy knowing some of the historic context surrounding the records in my collection. Mostly it's nothing grand, but I find it interesting to look into. Take vaudeville, I never did care for the many stereotypes presented in those recordings. I understand the ease in its leap from the stage to the recording industry. They had an existing customer base with a need for entertainment. My personal taste has led me to filter those sketches from my collection. That threshold is not absolute, there are still recordings in my collection that use an unenlightened phrase or description within. One such record is Good-Bye Alexander.

I did not filter this one from my collection because of the strangely complementary description of African Americans. I say strangely due to its 1918 context. The song is an open letter filled with a mother's pride as her boy goes to war. Out of our country's need, this may be the earliest recording to portray African American men in a positive manner. Even the imagery on the sheet music portrays realistically illustrated men. Spinning this tune for enlistment, the green highlighted text is an amazing reversal in racial characterization. However, the blue text reinforces better known characterizations, of what you aint far from, as portrayed in vaudeville. Are the Irish included (orange text) as a stereotypical fighting bench mark? I think this song is more complex than I can articulate. There are overt white sentiments used as in being Old Aunt Dinah's son (a descendent from slavery) and having positive excitement in hearing Dixie (...old times there are not forgotten...). Emancipation is announced right at the start for its original military service aspect. It's probably as hard a spin that could be used to mechanically stir black patriotism while romancing the old ways. I find all of the above to be an interesting tug-of-war.



I did not find the lyrics on-line, so I've transcribed them from Victor recording 18492-A...

Song:
Alexander Cooper was a colored trooper
with his regiment he marched away.
Bands were gayly playing
colored folks where swaying on Emancipation Day.
From the crowd, Dinah Lee so proud
hollered to her sweetie good and loud.
Good-bye Alexander, Good-bye honey boy
dressed up in that uniform you fills my heart with joy.
You aint far from mopin, boy you sure can laugh
but you left that window open and they got you in the draft.
Alexander, I'll save my loving for you
I'll be waiting like Poor Butterfly
So get busy with that gun and don't come back here 'till you've won
Alexander good-bye.
Monolog:
Lord the parade is stopping, let me reach my man
Alexander honey you all have certainly got some band.
I have been marching along with you ever since you left the town
and I know your dogs are barking from the way your laying down.
But you certainly kept a-struttin, I don't see how you can grin
never mind, you tell your sweet puppies they're gonna walk you right to Berlin.
So go on across the ocean 'cause these white folks know your worth
for there was never born a colored traitor born on this here earth.
And they know you'll die fightin cause your old Aunt Dinah's son
and the world can see you're fast-black and fast-black will not run.
You're from one race of people that will clap and do it right
'Course that don't count the Irish 'cause they don't do nothin' else but fight.
Now Alexander, promise while your across that pond
at night don't care how hot you get, you keep your nighty on.
Lord there goes that bugle!
Son, you hear that band, honey they're playing Dixie!
Get 'em Alexand!
Song:
Good-bye Alexander, Good-bye honey boy
dressed up in that uniform you fills my heart with joy.
You aint far from mopin, boy you sure can laugh
but you left that window open and they got you in the draft.
Alexander, I'll save my loving for you
I'll be waiting like "Poor Butterfly"
So get busy with that gun and don't come back here 'till you've won
Alexander good-bye.

Searching the song title did yield the following link to a real soldier and his experience in this war.
http://www.americancenturies.mass.edu/c ... elliot1917

My recording is sung by Marion Harris on Victor 18492-A
http://www.redhotjazz.com/marionharris.html

Marion Harris, celebrated White Blues singer, left a recording company that objected to her making a record of St. Louis Blues. Miss Harris had used our numbers in vaudeville for a long time, and she sang blues so well that people sometimes thought that the singer was colored. - W.C. Handy


For more interesting reading, here is Making Sense of American Popular Song
John Spitzer and Ronald G. Walters (from the Making Sense of Evidence series on History Matters: The U.S. Survey on the Web, located at http://historymatters.gmu.edu)
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cac ... m3KNktn0ow

Thanks,
James

I occasionally reply to threads here and post threads on Antique Talking Machines forum. I thought I'd try this thread here. ATM's response on music threads is nil. I could not preview this, so I hope the colored text shows and the links work.

[Guest]

That's an interesting post James, thanks for taking the time to share. I too enjoy the history around the music and artists. I try to explain that attraction to my friends and family but I don't think they quite understand. The music is how I can connect with the history and understand what people where thinking and get a brief glimpse of what life was like at the time.

[FrankH]

My apologies, I realize that this is an old thread, but I thought forum members might be interested in an addendum. I filmed, and just recently tried to caption, a different version of "Goodbye Alexander," in this case Edison Blue Amberol #3612 sung by Ada Jones. It's one of my personal favorites, for whatever reason. Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUO1jAUJc9E

Hopefully the captions work correctly. I believe that what James heard as "you ain't far from mopin'" is actually "you ain't born for mopin'" which seems somewhat less derogatory. That said, the particularly complimentary lines highlighted in the Victor recording are also missing. Most of the monologue is replaced by a second verse which touches briefly on some of the themes of the monologue in the Victor version.

I also picked up a third version of this song recently on 78, Columbia #A2599 sung by the Farber Sisters, which differs from the two aforementioned versions. I will probably try and film this one too at some point.

[Roaring20s]

I just happened to be on line and saw your reply.
No apology needed for reviving an old thread. I was still posting as a guest for this one.
I listened to the the Ada Jones version you linked and she sure says "born".
I will dig out the Marion Harris version and re-listen to that line.

Thanks,
James

[Curt A]

I wonder if this is the same "Aunt Dinah" that had a Golden Wedding...

[FrankH]

A bit of Google searching turned up sheet music with lyrics. This includes both verses in the Ada Jones version but does not include any monologue:

http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/hasm_b0495/

I've corrected one or two brief passages in my captioning that I had gotten wrong.

[Roaring20s]

Frank,

I gave that passage a fresh listen. Loaded with the sheet music and Ada's enunciation, I'll can now say that Marion is singing "born for" and not "far from". Less derogatory, but not far from.

I'd like the hear the Faber Sisters version.

Thanks for re-visiting this, commenting, and providing further insight!

James.

[VintageTechnologies]

Deciphering lyrics from acoustic recordings loaded with dated and unfamiliar colloquial terms can be a real challenge sometimes.

[Roaring20s]

Deciphering lyrics from acoustic recordings loaded with dated and unfamiliar colloquial terms can be a real challenge sometimes.

Very true. I found that enunciation is one thing and the clarity in the recording is another. Often the questionable areas need to be played slowly to try and grab the syllables. This was one of those areas.

I tried doing this with some of my older blues records and gave up due to the rural accents, colloquialisms, and "what'd he say?" puzzlements.

James.

[FrankH]

I made a quick (and low quality, even for me, I'm afraid) movie of the Farber Sisters singing "Goodbye Alexander" for the Columbia label:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pCCzry_GkA

It includes basically the same lyrics as the Ada Jones version but one rather odd line at about 2:35 is added: "Let those foreign chicks alone, you've got a hen-house of your own."

Also, the Library of Congress has the Victor/Marion Harris version of this song available online here:

http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/recordings/detail/id/6760/