A Song from The American Songbag by Carl Sandburg

[LincolnMan]

Carl Sandburg's book The American Songbag is a wonderful collection of early American songs totaling 280 in the 1927 edition. Most of the songs contained therein are long forgotten by the public. Maybe Sandburg was aware that they were doomed to extinction if someone didn't "capture" them in his day. The following song is entitled: Lincoln And Liberty. It was sung to the tune of "Old Rosin Bow" for the campaign of 1860:

Lincoln And Liberty


Hurrah for the choice of the nation!
Our chieftain so brave and so true;
We'll go for the great reformation,
We'll go for the son of Kentucky,
The hero of Hoosierdom through;
The pride of the Suckers so lucky,
For Lincoln and Liberty too.


They'll find what by felling and mauling,
Our rail-maker stateman can do;
For the people are everywhere calling
For Lincoln and Liberty too.
Then up with our banner so glorious,
The star-spangled red, white, and blue,
We'll fight till our banner is victorious,
For Lincoln and Liberty too.

[Gene C]

Here's the tune

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=me597aIB6RQ

[LincolnMan]

Nice!

[RJNorton]

Please excuse if this was already posted. Carl Sandburg is singing here.

[LincolnMan]

Roger-not the same! Its great to see the old songs on Youtube. I think that the life of the songs will be further extended as people access such postings. I was thinking that what Sandburg did in collecting the songs before they potentially became lost was a bit like Herndon collecting Lincoln stories from the people who knew him before they passed away-and their stories forever lost.

[LincolnMan]

That link was to Carl Sandburg playing and singing I Ride An Old Paint. Johnny Cash covered that song in an album called Johnny Cash Sings the Ballads from the True West. I love that record!

[Gene C]

I like the Linda Ronstadt version

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAHGbhmGttQ

[LincolnMan]

Gene: Funny, I don't remember her covering that song! I've been a fan of hers since she was with the Stone Poneys. One of the best female voices in the business, as far as I'm concerned.

[LincolnMan]

Another song from the American Songbag is called Old Abe Lincoln Came Out Of The Wilderness. The book says this about it:

Torchlight processions of Republicans sang this in the summer and fall months of 1860. The young Wide Awakes burbled it as the kerosene dripped on their blue oilcloth capes. Quartets and octettes jubilated with it in packed, smoky halls where audiences waited for speakers of the evening. In Springfield, Illinios, the Tall Man who was a candidate for the presidency of the nation, heard his two boys Tad and Willie, sing it at him. The tune is from negro spirituals, When I Come Out De Wilderness and Ol' Gray Mare Come Tearin' Out De Wilderness.

Here are the lyrics:

Old Abe Lincoln came out of the wilderness,
Out of the Wilderness, out of the wilderness,
Old Abe Lincoln came out of the wilderness,
Down in Illinios.

[Gene C]

And here's the tune

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-4Pl0rrO...re=related

[LincolnMan]

Gene: She was cute as a button!

This fellow is also very interesting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mgi2uNyj...re=related

[L Verge]

Was Linda Ronstadt the singer who dated California's Jerry Brown for quite some time?

On the subject of Civil War songs, we recently had a program at Surratt House by Gilmore's Light Ensemble. The above songs were part of their show. There was a young fiddler in the group who looked like he had just stepped out of a Brady photo. He was so authentic looking in his civilian garb, and boy could he play that fiddle.

The other stand-out in the group was Ellen Jimerson, again in authentic garb from head to toe. She played the hammered dulcimer the best of anyone I have heard. Those two performers alone made my day!

[LincolnMan]

Yes, she did indeed date Jerry Brown. Its great that the old songs are being kept alive-they are a part of our history too.

[L Verge]

It's wonderful to see how many people turn out for our CW era musical programs. We try to present one each year (at least). All of our programs are free to the public. Our "multi-purpose" room comfortably holds 60-70.

The very first musical group that we had perform drew 148 people. They were sitting in every available chair; we brought every chair we had from the adjoining research center; people were standing, sitting on the floor, hanging from the ceiling -- there might have been some sitting on the toilets in the nearby restrooms! And, no one complained or left! Thank the good lord that no fire marshal visited that day...

[LincolnMan]

Continuing on in The American Songbag book, there is I Was Born Almost Ten Thousand Years Ago. It is also known as "The Bragging Song." It has been covered by a few recording artists over the years, most notably Elvis Presley. However, the Elvis version did not include the following stanza as in the book:

"Queen Elizabeth she fell in love with me
We were married in Milwaukee secretly,
But I schemed around and shook her,
And I went with General Hooker
To shoot mosquitoes down in Tennessee."

So there is our Civil War reference in the old tune. Wonder what it was like to shoot mosquitoes with General Hooker down in Tennessee? Come to think of it, wasn't General Hooker given to bragging also?