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Banks of the Sacramento, The (Camptown Races Melody)
Traditional American, Country Dance Tune; English, North-West Morris Tune (4/4 time), Words and Melody of related Camptown Races by Stephen Foster- 1849.
ARTIST: Lyrics from Iron Men & Wooden Ships, by Frank Shay. Possibly created and certainly popularized by the Hutchinson Family (who published a text in their 1855 songbook).
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes DATE: 1849 (Journal of William F. Morgan of the La Grange)
RELATED TO: “Camptown Races;” "Ten Thousand Miles Away;" "A Capital Ship."
RECORDING INFO: Pete Seeger, "Camptown Races" (on PeteSeeger24); Atkins, Chet. Chet Atkins and his Guitar, RCA Camden CAS 659(e), LP (1964), cut#B.05c; Fahey, John. Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death, Takoma R-9015, LP (196?), cut# 12b; Fluharty, Russell. West Virginia Heritage, Page SLP 601, LP (197?), cut#B.05; Hamilton, Mark. Songs and Tunes from Wolf Run, Sampler 9223, Cas (1992), cut# 13 (First Four Right and Left, Sides Sashay); Homer and the Barnstormers. Blue Grass Banjos - Flaming Banjos, Alshire 2-120-1/2, LP (197?), cut#1B.04; Jackson, Bill. Steamboat Coming, National Geographic Soc. 07787, LP (1976), cut# 11; Leigh, Bonnie. Down in the Shady Grove, Maywind K56-03, CD (1998), cut# 7e.
SOURCES: Eddy 125, "California;" Warner 70, "Ho, Boys, Ho;" Doerflinger, pp. 68-70, "Sacramento;" Sandburg, pp. 110-111, "California"; 111, "The Banks of Sacramento;" Lomax-FSUSA 42, "Sacramento;" Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc; Meredith/Covell/Brown, p. 91, "Banks of the Sacramento;" Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 174-176, "The California Song; " Silber-FSWB, p. 88, "Sacramento"
OTHER NAMES: "Hoodah Day," "Camptown Races," “Gwine to Run All Night,” “Sacramento;" "Lincoln Hoss and Stephen A." “Ho! For Californ-I-O” “Bobtail Hoss/Horse” “ Californio”. Not to be confused with “New Camptown Races” composed by mandolinist Frank Wakefield about 1957 on Folkways FA 2492, New Lost City Ramblers - "String Band Instrumentals" (1964).
NOTES: "G Major (Sweet, Wade): Standard. AB (Wade): AABB (Sweet). Wade's version is the famous Stephen Foster song melody translated to the North-West Morris tradition (for use with either a polka or single step). In America there is a singing call to the tune for square dancers. Apparently, the melody was collected as a sea shanty called "Banks of Sacramento," whose origins were in the California Gold Rush of 1849. This seems to predate the Stephen Foster copyright, but the relation, if any, between the two is unclear." (Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).
Spaeth in a A History of Popular Music in America, p. 107 notes that a "folk-song" called "Hoodah Day" is very similar to the Camptown Races song, and speculates that it or "Banks of Sacramento" could have been the original of the Foster song. Same tune in "Lincoln Hoss and Stephen A."
Possibly created and certainly popularized by the Hutchinson Family (who published a text in their 1855 songbook), versions of this song are found throughout the U.S., and are well-known among sailors. Most of the lyrics are related to the California gold rush in 1849. The tune is a variation on "Camptown Races," perhaps in turn based on "A Capital Ship." (Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).
1. Sing and heave, and heave and sing,
To me hoodah! To me hoodah!
Heave and make the handspikes spring,
To me hoodah, hoodah, day!
Chorus: And it's blow, boys, blow, for Californio!
For there's plenty of gold,
So I've been told,
On the banks of the Sacramento!
2. From Limehouse Docks to Sydney Heads,
To me hoodah! To me hoodah!
Was never more than seventy days.
To me hoodah, hoodah, day!
Chorus:
3. We cracked it on, on a big skiute,
To me hoodah! To me hoodah!
And the old man felt like a swell galoot.
To me hoodah, hoodah, day!
Chorus:
4. O, around Cape Horn we are bound to go
To me hoodah! To me hoodah!
Around Cape Horn through the sleet and snow,
To me hoodah, hoodah, day!
Chorus: And it's blow boys blow, for Califor-ni-o
There's plenty of gold so I've been told
On the banks of Sacramento.
5. Oh around the Horn with a mainskys'l set,
To me hoodah! To me hoodah!
Around Cape Horn an' we're all wringin' wet.
To me hoodah, hoodah, day!
Chorus:
6. Oh, around Cape Horn in the month o' May,
To me hoodah! To me hoodah!
Oh, around Cape Horn is a very long way.
To me hoodah, hoodah, day!
Chorus:
7. Them Dago gals we do adore,
To me hoodah! To me hoodah!
They all drink vino an' ask for more.
To me hoodah, hoodah, day!
Chorus:
8. Them Spanish gals ain't got no combs,
To me hoodah! To me hoodah!
They comb their locks with tunny-fish bones.
To me hoodah, hoodah, day!
Chorus:
9. To the Sacramento we're bound away,
To me hoodah! To me hoodah!
To the Sacramento's a hell o' a way.
To me hoodah, hoodah, day!
Chorus:
10. We're the buckos for to make 'er go,
To me hoodah! To me hoodah!
All the way to the Sacramento.
To me hoodah, hoodah, day!
Chorus:
11. We're the bullies for to kick her through,
To me hoodah! To me hoodah!
Roll down the hill with a hullabaloo.
To me hoodah, hoodah, day!
Chorus:
12. Starvation an' ease in a Yankee ship,
To me hoodah! To me hoodah!
We're the bullies for to make 'er rip.
To me hoodah, hoodah, day!
Chorus:
13. Santander Jim is a mate from hell,
To me hoodah! To me hoodah!
With fists o' iron an' feet as well.
To me hoodah, hoodah, day!
Chorus:
14. Breast yer bars an' bend yer backs,
To me hoodah! To me hoodah!
Heave an' make yer spare ribs crack.
To me hoodah, hoodah, day!
Chorus:
15. Round the Horn an' up to the Line,
To me hoodah! To me hoodah!
We're the bullies for to make 'er shine,
To me hoodah, hoodah, day!
Chorus:
16. We'll crack it on, on a big skiyoot,
To me hoodah! To me hoodah!
Ol' Bully Jim is a bloody big brute.
To me hoodah, hoodah, day!
Chorus:
17. Oh, a bully ship wid a bully crew,
To me hoodah! To me hoodah!
But the mate is a bastard through an' through.
To me hoodah, hoodah, day!
Chorus:
18. Ninety days to 'Frisco Bay,
To me hoodah! To me hoodah!
Ninety days is damn good pay.
To me hoodah, hoodah, day!
Chorus:
19. Oh, them wuz the days of the good ol' times,
To me hoodah! To me hoodah!
Back in the days of the Forty-nine.
To me hoodah, hoodah, day!
Chorus:
20. Sing an' heave an' heave an' sing,
To me hoodah! To me hoodah!
Heave an' make them handspikes spring.
To me hoodah, hoodah, day!
Chorus:
21. An' I wish to God I'd niver bin born,
To me hoodah! To me hoodah!
To go a-ramblin' round Cape Horn.
To me hoodah, hoodah, day!
Chorus:
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