Black Them Boots (Goin’ Down To Cairo)
 Randolph Version

Black Them Boots (Goin’ Down To Cairo)

Old-Time, Bluegrass, Western Swing; Breakdown

ARTIST: Vance Randolph, in his Ozark Folksongs (Vol. 3, p. 359) In his headnote, Randolph says, "Compare the "Shiloh" game-song reported by Ames (JAFL 24, 1911, p.317), also a similar item published by Hamilton (JAFL 27, 1914, p.296) under the title "So Goodbye Susan Jane."

CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes

DATE: 1858- Early 1900’s (Listed as 1930 in the Traditional Ballad Index)

RECORDING INFO: Goodbye/Good-bye Liza Jane

At - Charleston Town Is Burning Down
Rm - Old Liza Jane ; Glendy Burk/Burke
Uf - Good-Bye 'Liza Jane ; Liza Jane (Song)
Ford, Ira W. / Traditional Music in America, Folklore Associates, Bk (1965/1940), p293
Brody, David (ed.) / Guitar Picker's Fakebook, Oak, Sof (1984), p 77
Delaware Water Gap. From the Rivers of Babylon to the Land of Jazz, Kicking Mule KM 205, LP (1979), trk# A.05
Erbsen, Wayne. Old Fashioned WindDing, Native Ground NG 114, CD (2000), trk# 6
Gallimaufry. Dig Me a Ditch, Galmfry --, CD (1999), trk# 6 (Going Down to Cairo)
Gardner, Worley. Mountain Melodies. Tunes of the Appalachians, Oak Leaf OL 3-7-2, LP (197?), trk# 2 (Middle of the Afternoon)
Gaster, Marvin. Uncle Henry's Favorites, Rounder 0382, CD (1996/1994), trk# 6
Hall, Kenny. Gray, Vykki M,; and Kenny Hall / Kenny Hall's Music Book, Mel Bay, Sof (1999), p 68 (Liza Jane)
Henske, Judy. High Flying Bird, Elektra EKS 7241, LP (1963), trk# B.07 (Charlotte Town)
Hicks, Bobby. Devil's Box, Devil's Box, Ser, 13/3, p63(1979)
Hicks, Bobby. Brody, David (ed.) / Fiddler's Fakebook, Oak, Sof (1983), p124
Johnson Boys. Singin' and Pickin', Bethlehem BX 4013, LP (1963), trk# A.03 (Scarlet Town)
Johnson, Harry. Johnson, Harry / North Dakota Old Time Fiddling, WOTFA, CD (2006), trk# 2.07 [1980s] (Good Bye Liza)
Lundy, Ted. Banjo Newsletter, BNL, Ser (1973-), 1975/08,p17
Lundy, Ted; and the Southern Mountain Boys. Ted Lundy and the Southern Mountain Boys, Rounder 0020, LP (1973), trk# 2
Marker, Mike; and Larry Hanks. Truth for Certain, Dandelion DL-102, CD (2004), trk# 10b (Liza Jane)
McIntosh, David. McIntosh, David S. / Folk Songs and Singing Games of the Illinois Ozarks, SIU Press, Bk (1974), trk# A.05 (Going Down to Cairo)
Palazzo, Steve; and Laura Smith. Like Strangers, Whiffletree WTR 165, CD (2006), trk# 12 (Liza Jane)
Petty, Pauline. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume III, Humorous & Play-Party ..., Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p359/#550 [1930/07/07] (Black Them Boots)
Reynolds, Velma. McIntosh, David S. / Folk Songs and Singing Games of the Illinois Ozarks, SIU Press, Bk (1974), p 68 [1948/03/28] (Going Down to Cairo)
Seeger, Pete;, Mike Seeger, and Larry Eisenberg. American Playparties, Folkways FC 7604, LP (1959), trk# A.07
Silberberg, Gene. Silberberg, Gene (ed.) / Complete Fiddle Tunes I Either Did or Did Not., Silberberg, Fol (2005), p 66 (Going Down to Cairo)
Silberberg, Gene. Silberberg, Gene (ed.) / Complete Fiddle Tunes I Either Did or Did Not., Silberberg, Fol (2005), p 70
Simmons, Jean. Potpourri, Dancing Doll DLP 612, LP (1985), trk# B.10 (Black Them Boots)
Simmons, Woody (West Va.). All Smiles Tonight, Elderberry ER 002, LP (1979), trk# 15 (Liza Jane)
Smith, Glen (West Va). Three Forks of Reedy, Unknown, Cas (199?), trk# 1
Smith, Glen; & the Mountain State Pickers. Glen Smith and the Mountain State Pickers, Kanawha 322, LP (197?), trk# A.06
Stoneking, Fred. Saddle Old Spike. Fiddle Music From Missouri, Rounder 0381, CD (1996), trk# 25
Webster, Lorena H.. McIntosh, David S. / Folk Songs and Singing Games of the Illinois Ozarks, SIU Press, Bk (1974), p 68 [1951/04/27] (Going Down to Cairo)

Traditional Ballad Index: Black Them Boots (Goin' Down to Cairo)
DESCRIPTION: "Black them boots an' make 'em shine, Goodbye, goodbye, Black them boots and make 'em shine, Goodbye lazy Jane." "Oh how I love her, ain't that a shame...." "See that snail a-pullin' that rail?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1930 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: playparty
FOUND IN: US(MW,So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 550, "Black Them Boots" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7656
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Goodbye Liza Jane (I)"
NOTES: From its form this would appear to be akin to "Goodbye Liza Jane" (or one of the other Liza Jane songs), but the fragment in Randolph is just too fragmentary for certainty. - RBW
[This is a variant of] "Goin' Down to Cairo," a southern Illinois fiddle tune with these verses and the chorus "Goin' down to Cairo/Goodbye, goodbye/Goin' down to Cairo/Goodbye, Liza Jane." The reference is to Cairo, Illinois. - PJS

RECORDING INFO- LIZA JANE: Two influential recordings were made of the tune in the 1920's which helped spread its popularity among early country musicians, remarks Charles Wolfe (1991). The first was by the east Tennessee string band The Hill Billies, who released it under the title "Mountaineer’s Love Song," and the second was by another band from the same area, the Tenneva Ramblers, as "Miss Liza, Poor Gal." Bob Wills (Texas), the father of western swing, said this was the first tune he learned (as "Goodbye, Miss Liza Jane") to fiddle. Here is a list of early recordings:

Old Liza Jane- Uncle Am Stuart 1924
Liza Jane - Riley Puckett 1924
Liza Jane - Henry Whitter 1925
Goodbye Liza Jane - Fiddlin' John Carson 1926
Mountaineer's Love Song - The Hillbillies 1926
Miss Liza Poor Gal - Tenneva Ramblers 1928
Liza Jane - Carter Brothers and Son 1928
Old Eliza Jane - Doc Roberts and Asa Martin 1928
Liza Up the Simmon Tree - Bradley Kincaid 1928
Poor Mary Jane - Charlie Craver 1928
Liza Up the 'Simmon Tree - Bradley Kincaid 1929
Liza Jane - Kessinger Brothers 1931

OTHER RECORDINGS: Doug & Bonnie Miller, Eric Weisberg (Eight More Miles to Louisville).

OTHER NAMES: “Goin' Down to Cairo;” “Charleston Is Burning Down” or “Charlottestown Is Burning Down.”

RELATED TO: “Goodbye Liza Jane;” “Susan Jane,” " Saro Jane," and "Little Saro Jane." The family including Old Liza Jane is a large one and can be cross referenced to other tunes including “Molly and Tenbrooks.”

SOURCES: Randolph 550, "Black Them Boots;" Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc;

NOTES: "Black Them Boots" is part of the large family of “Liza Jane” songs and in the “Goodbye Liza Jane” branch. Three songs similar in melody and meter make up the ‘Goin’ To Cairo’ group: "Black Them Boots;" “Goin' Down to Cairo;” “Charleston Is Burning Down.” Other versions of “Goodbye Liza Jane” also have the same tune and meter. Versions of "Black Them Boots" have the "Shilo" lyric which is also connected to the "Limber Jim"- "Buck Eye Jim" group.

"Black Them Boots" and “Goin' Down to Cairo” are different versions of the same song dating back to events in Cairo Ill. in 1858. I suspect that “Charleston/Charlottestown Is Burning Down” is an early version that was adapted to the events (see details below) around 1858. Look at the structure of the basic lyrics:

"Goin' down to Cairo/Goodbye, goodbye/
Goin' down to Cairo/Goodbye, Liza Jane," 

“Black them boots and make 'em shine/goodbye,goodbye/
Black them boots and make 'em shine/Goodbye, Liza Jane” 

“Charlottestown is burning down/Goodbye, goodbye/
Burning down to the ground/ Goodbye Liza Jane.”

Randolph references Ames- this play-party song published in 1911 by Ames:

SUSAN JANE

1. I went up to the hill-top,
And I gave my horn a blow;
I thought I heard somebody say,
"Oh, yonder comes my beau!"

HISTORY: The Cairo referred to in the song was Cairo, IL. It has all the earmarks of being an antebellum minstrel show song. There are only a handful of folk songs native to the state of Illinois, and “Goin’ Down to Cairo” (pronounced Kay-ro) is one of them. It's a song that is performed as a “singing game,” with accompanying steps similar to that of a square dance. Cairo, Illinois sits at the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, and the story behind “Goin’ Down to Cairo” goes back to the late summer 1858 when an early frost killed all the corn and tobacco in Southern Illinois.

As the crops south of the Ohio River had not been damaged at all, planters from that region sent a portion of their harvest up river to be sold in Cairo, IL. Men journeyed to Cairo, many arriving several days before the boats came in with cargo. R.B. Shelton, a native to the area remembers: “It was pretty hard to find a good place to pass the time away so the men began going into saloons and various other places to be entertained. Wives noticed on return trips that their husbands had ‘blacked their boots’ and were dressed up a great deal more than usual and they had been making frequent trips to Cairo.

“Many fabulous tales were told about the men having a ‘Liza Jane’ that they were interested in. As a result of this, wives began accompanying their husbands and the manner of entertainment in Cairo was somewhat changed.

“Play parties and singing games were played which usually wound up as a square dance. ‘Goin’ Down to Cairo’ was first played as a joke, to poke a little fun at the errant husbands, but the song and the singing game that accompanied it were well-liked and people brought it back with them from Cairo, IL. I remember this was one of the favorite games when I was a boy.”

Source: Folk Songs and Singing Games of the Illinois Ozarks, by David McIntosh, edited by Dale R. Whiteside. Southern Illinois University Press.

MORE NOTES: Named for the once rowdy town in "Egypt," at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio. Local legend carries the biblical reference: After a drought or frost ruined crops up north, people went down to Cairo for supplies, much like Joseph's brothers traveled to Egypt to purchase grain after their crops had been ruined back home. Folklorist Richard Dorson points out, however, that similar legends are told for "Egypts" in Texas, New Hampshire, Mississippi and New Jersey.

EVEN MORE NOTES: “Goin' Down to Cairo” was a minstrel song, traveling the mid-west circus route on the program for Rutledge & Rogers. [This is a variant of] "Goin' Down to Cairo," a southern Illinois fiddle tune with these verses and the chorus "Goin' down to Cairo/Goodbye, goodbye/Goin' down to Cairo/Goodbye, Liza Jane." Some of the other "Ring Party Games" that were very popular, were actually square dances, but of course no one dared call them dances in those days, so they were party games. Tommie Garrett was the most popular "caller" for the square dance type games during the 1920's. Some of the ring games of the day were called "Black Them Boots and Make Them Shine", "Build My House, Wilburn", "Same Old Two and Go Right Through", "Four In The Middle", "Dusty Miller" and "In And Out The Window".

Black Them Boots (Goin' Down to Cairo)- Randolph 

Black them boots an' make'em shine,
Good-bye, good-bye,
Black them boots an' make'em shine,
Good-bye, Lazy Jane.

Oh how I love her, ain't that a shame?
Goobye, goodbye,
Oh how I love her, ain't that a shame?
Goodbye lazy Jane.

See that snail a-pullin' that rail?
Goodbye, goodbye,
See that snail a-pullin' that rail?
Goodbye, lazy Jane.