948. Oh! Susanna (Stephen Foster)

Warning - This song is politically incorrect!

This nonsensical love song was first published in 1848. When Stephen Foster was 16 (in 1843), he worked as a bookkeeper for his brother Morrison, who was a friend of Dan Rice, one of the first blackface clowns. This was the year that Dan Emmett established the first blackface minstrel troupe in New York and so-called "Ethiopian" songs were becoming popular. Foster wrote his first minstrel song, "Old Uncle Ned" and it was performed by the minstrel troupe, The Sable Harmonists. His second song, "Away Down Souf," was written for a contest sponsored by The Eagle Saloon in 1847, and his third effort was this now famous song, under the name "Susanna".

He was paid $100 by publishers, Peters and Field, but a New York publisher beat them to it with a pirated edition naming E. P. Christy of the popular Christy's Minstrels as the author. This Manhattan based group became the main performers of Foster's minstrel songs in the 1850s. "Oh, Susanna" was one of the first minstrel songs to be considered acceptable to the middle classes, possibly because it coincided with the sudden popularity of polka which was arriving from Europe.

Early recordings of the song include Dan Hornsby and the Young Brothers Tennessee Band (1927) and Arthur Fields. Since then it has been recorded by many great artists - such as Roy Rogers, Lew Dite, Johnny Cash and James Taylor.

These days the minstrel/blackface tradition is seen as a form of racism. The blackface minstrels were made up as caricatures of African slaves, and the performances mocked African-Americans, presenting them as uneducated figures of fun. It is ironic that this beloved American song had such racist beginnings. These days it has been watered down, with the most offensive lines left out. However, in the interests of historical accuracy, I am performing this song pretty much as Foster wrote it.

For lyrics and chords of my songs, please see my website: http://www.raymondcrooke.com

Category:

Music

Tags:

• folk
• song
• blackface
• minstrel
• lewdite
• johnny
• cash
• james
• taylor
• roy
• rogers

[mtnchn100]

your voice is nice.....

[raymondcrooke]

@mtnchn100 Thank you.

[DirtyBollix]

good job

[raymondcrooke]

@DirtyBollix Thank you.

[TheFlowster73]

I was looking for the original version of this song and I found this, which I believe to be the original lyrics. Reading the comments I can see there is some resentment toward the lyrics. I had heard a long time ago that it was about a freed slave after the civil war going to Louisiana looking for his wife who had been sold away. I see that Stephen Foster was a white man. Wonder if he stole the song. Or just had the imagination to write a song from the perspective of a freed slave.

[raymondcrooke]

@TheFlowster73 Thanks for your thoughts on this.

[themetalrip1]

0:03 his mouth suddenly opens

[TheFlowster73]

@raymondcrooke Thanks for recording the original version and putting it out there. Hate to see these old gems get lost to time.

[Haminsk122]

tabs?