The Old Folks at Home - 2nd South Carolina String Band
2nd South Carolina String Band
•
6m 59s
This song, also known as “Way Down Upon the Swanee River” was composed by Stephen Foster in 1851. He was commissioned by E.P. Christy to write a song for his popular band, The Christy Minstrels. Christy also paid Foster for the right to be credited as the song’s composer. Therefore, when the song was initially published by Firth, Pond & Co. of New York, the sheet music named Christy as the composer.
The Suwanee River starts in the Okefenokee Swamp and runs through Georgia and Florida before emptying into the Gulf of Mexico. The name is thought to be a corruption of San Juanee (“Little Saint John”). Foster intentionally misspelled the river’s name, as it had too many syllables to fit the melody and so when published, it came out as "Swanee River."
Up Next in 2nd South Carolina String Band
-
Dixie - 2nd South Carolina String Band
The Confederacy’s unofficial anthem was written by Dan Emmett and was originally titled "I Wish I Was In Dixie’s Land." Emmett composed Dixie in 1859, prior to the War Between the States, as a “walk around” for his band, Bryant’s Minstrels. The song premiered on April 4th 1859, at Mechanic’s Ha...
-
The Bonnie Blue Flag - 2nd South Caro...
THE BONNIE BLUE FLAG
The flag itself - a single white 5-point star on a dark blue field - first appeared in 1810 as the banner of the 'Republic of West Florida', but was quickly ushered off history's stage by the Louisiana Purchase after hardly 3 months. Some years after, another version reappe...
-
Old Rosin the Beau - 2nd South Caroli...
First published in Philadelphia in 1838, “Old Rosin the Beau” likely comes to us from the British Isles. The words and melody are ‘traditional’, meaning there is no known lyricist or composer on record. For the longest time, we naturally thought the title referred to the “bow” that is “rosined” t...
