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Golden Slippers, (Oh, Them Golden Slippers)
American; Reel, Two-Step, Polka, and Song (spiritual ) Tune USA, widely known, esp. in the northern tradition. Composed by James A. “Jimmy” Bland;
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes; DATE: Very popular minstrel tune in the 1880’s. Composed in 1870. OTHER NAMES: Oh Dem Golden Slippers;
SOURCES: Fennigs All Stars (N.Y.) [Brody]; Clyde McLean, 1976 (New York State) [Bronner]. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 123. Bronner (Old-Time Music Makers of New York State), 1987; No. 24, pg. 105. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 113 (appears as "Dem Golden Slippers;" song lyrics on pg. 410). Jarman (The Cornhuskers Book of Square Dance Tunes), 1944; pg. 9. Johnson (The Kitchen Musician's No. 7: Michigan Tunes), Vol. 7, 1986-87; pg. 1. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 1; pg. 28. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 1, 1994; pg. 99. Reiner (Anthology of Fiddle Styles), 1979; pg. 77. Shaw (Cowboy Dances), 1943; pg. 383. Spandaro (10 Cents a Dance), 1980; pg. 19. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1964/1981; pg. 6; Traditional Music in America, Folklore Associates, Bk (1940/1965), p410 (Dem Golden Slippers); Rains, Eileen. Dulcimer Player News, Dulcimer Player News DPN, Ser (1973-), 5/3, p14; Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc;
RECORDING INFO: Biograph 6008, Delaware Water Gap- "Fox Hollow String Band Festival." Brunswick 313 (78 RPM), Lonnie Austin (1929). County 705, Buddy Pendelton- "Virginia Breakdown." Folkways FA 2337, Clark Kessinger- "Live at Union Grove." Fretless Records 101, "The Campbell Family: Champion Fiddlers." Front Hall 01, Fennigs All Stars- "The Hammered Dulcimer." Front Hall 023, Michael, McCreesh & Campbell - "Host of the Air" (1980). Gennet 14060 (78 RPM), The Tweedy Brothers (Wheeling, West Virginia brothers Harry and George on fiddles, Charles on piano), 1928, unissued. Kicking Mule 204, John Burke- "The Old-Time Banjo in America." Mag 3901, Sumner and McReynolds- "Old Friends." Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers' Association, Vee Latty (1910-1956) - "Fever in the South." Okehdokee Records, Deseret String Band - "The Land of Milk and Honey" (c. 1974). Smithsonian Folkways SFW CD 40126, Lester Bradley & Friends - "Choose Your Partners!: Contra Dance & Square Dance Music of New Hampshire" (1999). Traditional Music in America, Folklore Associates, Bk (1940/1965), p113a (Dem Golden Slippers); Belleville A Cappella Choir. Southern Journey. Vol. 11: Honor the Lamb, Rounder 1711, CD (1998), cut# 8d; Bowers, Bryan. View from Home, Flying Fish FF-037, LP (1977), cut# 3; Burke, John. Old Time Banjo in America, Kicking Mule KM 204, LP (1978), cut# 4; Campbell, Scott. Campbell Family. Champion Fiddlers, Fretless 101, LP (1977), cut#A.03; Carol, Bonnie. Fingerdances for Dulcimer, Carol, CD (1980/2000), cut# 7b; Carpenter, Ernie. Old-Time Fiddling of Braxton County, Augusta Heritage AHR 012, Cas (1992), cut#B.07; Cherny, Al. Best of the Country Fiddlers, RCA Camden CL-50027, LP (196?), cut# 7; Cline, Curly Ray. Curly Ray Cline and His Lonesome Pine Fiddle, Melody MLP-17, LP (1970?), cut#A.05; Collins, Arthur; and Company. Minstrels and Tunesmiths, JEMF 109, LP (1981), cut#B.01a; Davis, Bill. Sounds of the Smokies, Old Tradition BWD 51471, LP (197?), cut#B.06; Delaware Water Gap. Fox Hollow Lodge String Band Festival, Vol. 1. Comin' Home, Biograph RC 6008, LP (1976), cut# 4; Deseret String Band. Land of Milk and Honey, Okehdokee 74002, LP (1974), cut# 7; Erbsen, Wayne. 38th Annual Galax Old Fiddlers Convention, 1973, Gazette 38, LP (1973), cut# 7 (Oh, Them Golden Slippers); George, Franklin/Frank. Swope's Knobs, Anachronistic 001, LP (1977), cut#3.06b; Hall, Kenny; and the Sweets Mill String Band. Kenny Hall and the Sweets Mill String Band, Vol.II, Bay 103, LP (197?), cut# 14; Hutton, Bruce. Old-Time Music - It's All Around, Folkways FA 2402, LP (1978), cut# 16; Juggernaut String Band. Greasy Coat, Wildbeest WB004, LP (198?), cut# 1; Kessinger, Clark. Live at Union Grove, Folkways FA 2337, Cas (1976), cut# 12; Latty, Vee. Fever in the South, MSOTFA 101, Cas (1992), cut# 12; Mansfield, Bill; and the Carolina Mockingbirds. Root Hog or Die, Flying Cloud FC 005, LP (198?), cut#B.07; Maxson, Charles; and Karen Skidmore. From the Heartland of West Virginia. The Hammered & Plucked Dul, Peaceable 4, LP (1975), cut# 20; McGee, Ralph. 51st Annual Galax Old Fiddlers Convention, Heritage (Galax) 703, LP (1987), cut# 12; Michael, McCreesh & Campbell. Host of the Air, Front Hall FHR-023, LP (1980), cut# 13; Miller, John. Let's Go Riding, Rounder 3002, LP (1974), cut#B.02; Original Dulcimer Players Club (Stage Ensemble). American Hammered Dulcimer, Vol. 2. 25 Years with the O.D.P.C., L-Three 8x510, LP (1988), cut# 1; Parker, Chet. Hammered Dulcimer, Folkways FA 2381, LP (1966), cut# 9b; Parker, Chet. Traditional Music at Newport, 1964, Part 1, Vanguard VSD 79182, LP (1965), cut# 18; Pearce, Fred. Sing, Say and Play, Topic 12TS 375, LP (1978), cut#B.09; Pendleton, Buddy. Virginia Breakdown, County 705, LP, cut# 8; Perry, Cliff. Puget Sound Guitar Workshop Album, Kicking Mule KM 128, LP (1977), cut# 20 (Oh, Dem Golden Slippers); Post, Jim. Jim Post & Friends, Flying Fish FF70 409, CD (1987/1993), cut# 4; Robison, Carson; & his Pioneers. Country-Western Radio. Rare Radio Recordings of Famous Count..., Radiola MR-1069, LP (1977), cut#B1.6; Robison, Carson; and his Pleasant Valley Boys. Square Dances, RCA (Victor) LPM-1238, LP, cut#A.07; Ryan, Buck. Draggin' the Bow, Rebel SLP 1552, LP (1976), cut# 12; Smoke, Herbert. Mountain Fiddler, Skyline DD 105, LP (1973), cut# 13b; Spence, Bill. Hammered Dulcimer, Front Hall FHR-001, LP (1973), cut# 12c; Stringer, Elliot. Steamboat Coming, National Geographic Soc. 07787, LP (1976), cut# 1 (Oh, Them Golden Slippers); Taylor, David. White Eyes Music Club. Traditional Music in Southeastern Ohio, Western Kentucky Univ. WKU #1, LP (1977), cut#B.08; Trail Band. Voices from the Oregon Trail, Trail's End TEP 001, Cas (1991), cut#A.04a; Wheeler, Carol Ann. Joy of Fiddlin' Vol II, Yahoo, LP (1980), cut#B.07; White Water. Echoes of the Northwoods, Clearcut 101, Cas (1988), cut# 14b; Yohey, Bill. 20 Country Strings, American Heritage ST 106, LP (196?), cut# 6
NOTES: "D Major (Brody, Ford): C Major (Jarman): G Major (Bronner, Phillips, Reiner, Shaw, Sweet). Standard. AB (Bronner): AAB (Phillips, Shaw): AABB' (Brody, Reiner): AABB (Jarman, Ford): AABB' (Sweet). Originally a song composed in by prominent black minstrel songwriter and banjo player (with Haverly's Minstrels) James A. Bland in 1870 as "Oh! Dem Golden Slippers," which later passed into folk and fiddling tradition (Bland also wrote "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" and "In the Evening by the Moonlight")." (Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).
“Jimmy” Bland was a most prolific African American songwriter and performer. He was born in 1854, and it is reported that he composed over 700 songs. Songs like “Carry Me Back to Old Virginny,” “In The Evening By The Moonlight” and “Golden Slippers” were popular numbers on the minstrel show circuit both in the United States and abroad.
"Due to this dissemination it appeared in song collections without credit to Bland, and was noted by several collectors in folk tradition in the early twentieth century (e.g. Frank C. Brown's Folk Songs from North Carolina). Played in the key of F Major by Arizona fiddler Kenner C. Kartchner, who played the tune in harmony with another fiddler for dances in the early 20th century (Shumway). In repertory of Buffalo Valley Pa. dance fiddler Ralph Sauers. This was one of the tunes described by the Clarke County Democrat (southwest Alabama) of May 9th, 1929, that "assuredly would be rendered in the most approved fashion" at a contest in Grove Hill, Alabama." (Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).
LYRICS:
Oh, my golden slippers am laid away
Kase I don't 'spect to wear 'em till my weddin' day,
And my long-tailed coat, dat I loved so well,
I will wear up in de chariot in de morn;
And my long white robe dat I bought last June,
I'm gwine to git changed Kase it fits too soon,
And de old grey hoss dat I used to drive,
I will hitch him to the chariot in de morn.
Chorus: Oh, dem golden slippers! Oh, dem golden slippers!
Golden slippers dat I'm gwine to wear be-case they look so neat;
Oh, dem golden slippers! Oh, dem golden slippers!
Golden slippers I'm gwine to wear to walk de golden street.
Oh, my ole banjo hangs on de wall
Kase it ain't been tuned since way last fall,
But de darks all say we will hab a good time,
When we ride up in de chariot in the morn;
Dars ole Brudder Ben and Sister Luce,
Dey will telegraph de news to Uncle Bacco Juice,
What a great camp meetin der will be dat day,
When we ride up in de chariot in de morn.
So, it's goodbye, children, I will have to go
Whar de rain don't fall er de wind don't blow,
And yer ulster coats, why yer will not need,
When yer ride up in de chariot in de morn;
But yer golden slippers must be nice and clean,
And yer age must be Just sweet sixteen,
And yer white kid gloves yer will have to wear,
When yer ride up in de chariot in de morn.
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